Erwin let loose a loud roar as he instantly injected all of the magic energy that had been building up inside his body into the light shield, where Cheren was still trapped.

In that instant, immense compressive force was exerted upon Cheren's bones and meridian, and the very space around him was crushing him from all directions. His entire face had been warped out of shape, and blood began to gush incessantly out of his seven orifices. His mouth was gaped open in a gruesome and exaggerated manner, but he was unable to make any sound. The upper and lower halves of his jaw had been separated in an unsightly fashion. To put it more accurately, the entire bottom half of his face was jutting out slightly to the side, and it was truly a horrific sight to behold.

In addition to that, one of his eyes was rolling upward, while the other was rolling downward, and all of his skin and flesh had become torn and mangled. In fact, his bones had become exposed and were clearly visible at many of his joints, and almost all of the nobles in the garden had already turned away, unable to bear witnessing such a terrible sight any longer.

At this point, Cheren didn't even look like a human anymore.

Under the spatial compression, Cheren instantly lost consciousness before tumbling out of the sky, falling onto the ground with a dull thump.

However, Erwin knew that he wasn't dead. After all, he had decided to hold back at the last moment.

Even so, there was naturally no way that Cheren could stand back up and continue the fight.

Theresa didn't immediately rush over to inspect Cheren's condition. Instead, she was glaring at Erwin with a resentful expression.

Meanwhile, Baron Teffrey was leaning against a leg of a certain dining table, and looking at the gruesome fate suffered by Cheren, he couldn't help but feel quite fortunate that he hadn't ended up in the same horrific state.

As for Count Onen, he was left in a rather awkward predicament. No one could've imagined that a tea party would devolve into such a bloodbath.

All of the nobles in the garden were looking away with rather fearful expressions, not daring to look directly at Erwin.

Everyone knew that Cheren was one of the most powerful martial artists in the city of Newfando. In fact, it was no exaggeration to claim that he was one of the finest warriors in the entire Boll Dukedom, yet at this moment, he was lying on the ground like a broken puppet.

In the wake of this incident, all of the nobles present were left wondering exactly who Erwin was. At this point, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Erwin definitely wasn't just an artist. Just as Christine had said to Elder Nachi, there was no way that Erwin would remain out of the limelight for long as the spotlight simply seemed to follow him.

None of the nobles dared to look at Cheren's mangled body, and they were even more frightened to look at Erwin. At this point, all they wanted was to leave as soon as possible.

Given the severity of the situation, Count Onen and his wife naturally had to step forward to take care of the subsequent proceedings.

Of course, even though Cheren had been reduced to such a gruesome state by Erwin, Count Onen couldn't blame Erwin for this incident. After all, it was Cheren who had attacked first, and it was also Cheren who had first struck with the intent to kill.

Meanwhile, Erwin descended back down onto the ground, and after taking a moment to steady himself, he gently lifted the back of his own collar. His robe was drenched in sweat and clinging to his back, and it was quite uncomfortable.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies, Mr. Erwin. I have failed in my duty as a host and put you in undue danger," Count Onen said as he approached Erwin with an apologetic expression. "I'll take care of everything from here, so you can rest assured."

Erwin nodded in response and didn't say anything.

Here in the city of Zans, Count Onen was the one calling the shots, so Erwin was in no place to say anything.

It seemed that this tea party was about to come to an abrupt and unhappy conclusion.

Count Onen made a subtle gesture toward his wife, indicating for her to see off their guests. In the meantime, he had something more important to do.

Meanwhile, Erwin made his way directly over to Onean before offering her his arm. 

Onean smiled as she wound her arm around his, and the two of them were just about to leave, but a thought suddenly occurred to Erwin as he drew to a halt, then turned toward Faya before giving her an apologetic smile.

Faya shook her head in response, indicating that it wasn't Erwin's fault.

Prior to their departure, Erwin cast a glance toward a woman who was standing in a quiet corner of the garden. She had been standing there by herself the entire afternoon with an absentminded expression, and even the two fights that had just taken place had failed to garner much interest from her.

That's probably Chahan's ex-lover, Erwin remarked internally to himself.

...

Right as Erwin and Onean were preparing to return to their hotel room, they were stopped by Count Onen.

"Mr. Erwin, I have something to discuss with you. Please come with me," Count Onen said with a serious expression, then guided Erwin and Onean to the second of the manor before entering a lavish study.

Generally speaking, people who owned studies as luxurious as this one were very unlikely to be avid readers.

"What would you like to discuss with me, Count Onen?" Erwin asked with a smile after taking a seat on the comfortable leather sofa in the study.

The two fights that he had just endured didn't seem to have affected his mood in the slightest.

After taking a seat, Onean took a glance at the bookshelves constructed from walnut wood behind her. The bookshelves were stacked with all types of books, and aside from the poem anthologies and fictional novels, which she had no interest in, there were also several shelves full of magic and magic potion books, which she had much more interest in.

"This may come as a slight surprise to you, but I would like to extend an employment offer to both of you," Onen said with a smile.

Erwin pretended not to understand what Onen was referring to, and he quickly inspected the decor in the room before asking, "Are you missing an artist as well? Or would you like to buy some of my paintings to hang up in your study?"

"Surely you jest, Mr. Erwin. It would be a criminal waste of your talents if I were to hire you as an artist," Onen said with an amused expression. "As for whether I'm interested in purchasing your paintings, let me put it this way: as long as it's something painted by you, I would be happy to purchase it, and you can state whatever price you like. You might think that I'm trying to appease you by offering to purchase your paintings, but I assure you that's not the case. With so many dukedoms on the continent, there's no lack of nobles who are experts when it comes to fine art. I guarantee you that there will be many people visiting you with the intention of purchasing your art, and it won't take too long, either."

"You're far too kind, Count Onen." Even Erwin himself was rather surprised to hear such glowing praise of his art.

"Let's get back on topic here," Onen said as a serious look appeared on his face. "Setting aside the subject of your artwork for now, I have some serious business to discuss with you. I would like to hire the two of you to serve in my legion."

"You think far too highly of us, Count Onen. With our half-assed skills, we'll only embarrass ourselves if we go to your legion," Erwin said with a wave of his hand.

"Modesty is a virtue, but excessive modesty can be detrimental, Mr. Erwin. I don't know much about magic, but what I do know is that Cheren is one of the best martial artists that our Boll Dukedom has to offer," Onen said with a serious expression. "The fact that you were able to defeat him so easily clearly tells me that your magical prowess is far more formidable than what you'll have me believe."

"I was only lucky," Erwin placated. "Perhaps Mr. Cheren was simply holding back against me."

Holding back? He almost died! Who would possibly hold back in a situation like that? Onen was becoming a little displeased at this point.

"Mr. Erwin, it seems like you're going out of your way to turn down my offer. Are you perhaps opposed to the idea of joining my legion?" Onen asked in a straightforward manner, and his displeasure was being displayed in the tone of his voice.

That's right! No one wants to join your crappy legion! This was the reply that Erwin wanted to give.

"That's not the case," Erwin replied, contrary to his own thoughts. "The main problem is that my wife and I are used to traveling freely wherever we please, and we have no plans of being tied down anywhere. If I've somehow offended you, then please accept my sincerest apologies."

Onen heaved a forlorn sigh upon hearing this, and the tone of his voice softened as he asked, "You've already been living for some time in Zans, right, Mr. Erwin?"

"That's correct," Erwin replied with a nod.

"Then I'm sure you've already heard about the new nobles in Tellier. They're becoming more powerful by the day, and a showdown between them and our nobles of Zans could be imminent," Count Onen said. "At a time like this, I'm desperate for powerful magicians like yourselves."

Count Onen was being very honest here.

Erwin took a glance at Count Onen, then pretended to put on a thoughtful expression. In reality, he was trying to turn down Count Onen's offer through his silence.

Onen could tell what Erwin was trying to do, and he suddenly stood up before making his way to his desk, then pulled an intricate wooden box out of one of the drawers.

Erwin and Onean both looked on with intrigued expressions, wanting to see what Onen was going to bring out to sweeten the deal.

Onen set the wooden box down onto the tea table before slowly opening it.

Inside was a luxurious purple fleece cushion, atop which sat a short staff that wasn't exactly particularly beautiful or refined in design. The shaft section of the staff looked like a piece of wilted wood that was riddled with blemishes, while a blue gemstone was situated at the top of the staff, and at close proximity, one could feel a slightly cool sensation coming from the gemstone. However, no matter how one looked at it, the staff simply didn't seem worthy of being placed in such an intricately crafted vessel.

Count Onen made an inviting hand gesture, allowing Erwin to come forward and inspect the staff.

Erwin knew that his knowledge in magic materials was downright pitiful, so he cast his gaze toward Onean, passing on Count Onen's invitation to her instead.

Onean rolled her eyes as she gave him an exasperated glance, as if she were silently teasing him for his lack of magical knowledge.

She reached out with her hand before gently stroking a finger over the length of the staff, following which her brows furrowed slightly as a hint of shock flashed through her eyes.

She then drew the staff into her grasp to examine it with greater care, as if she were trying to confirm something.

Erwin was quite surprised to see Onean's reaction to the staff. Not only was she the royal princess of the Effer Kingdom, she was also Master Piro's most prized disciple. What about the staff could've possibly been so astonishing to her?

"Is this an Everlife Stone embedded onto a length of hundred-year-old frostsky chinaberry wood?" Onean asked as she cast her gaze toward Count Onen for confirmation.

Count Onen was also quite astonished to hear Onean accurately naming the two materials, and he immediately burst into genuine applause as he praised, "Mr. Erwin, your wife truly has a brilliant eye."

"That's for sure," Erwin replied with a pleased smile. At the same time, he was frantically searching through his own memory bank for any information about hundred-year-old frostsky chinaberry wood and Everlife Stones, but no matter how frantic his search was, it was doomed to fail to yield anything as he simply had no knowledge on those two items.

"Everyone knows that the fire phoenix can be resurrected from its own ashes," Onean said. "But the ice phoenix looks down upon that type of practice with disdain. When an ice phoenix is about to reach the end of its lifespan, it'll seek out a hundred-year-old chinaberry tree, then transform into a stone known as an Everlife Stone."

"Indeed. Generally speaking, a frostsky chinaberry tree can only survive for several dozen years at the very most, but the tree that this length of wood belongs to has survived for over 100 years. As a result, most people are unaware of just how precious this staff is." A derisive sneer appeared on Count Onen's face as he spoke, and he continued, "There are even many people who believe that the gemstone at the tip of the staff is nothing more than an ordinary Icejade Stone."

Erwin's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but internally, he was feeling a little embarrassed. At first glance, he had also mistaken the gemstone for an Icejade Stone. However, he quickly decided that this couldn't be the case. Given how wealthy Count Onen was, there was no way that he would bring out an Icejade Stone staff to try and hire the two of them.