Erwin immediately conjured up a magic shield upon seeing this, yet something that was even more bewildering to him happened. Some of the magic swords were kept at bay by the magic shield, but some of them directly passed through the magic shield without encountering any impediment before plunging into Erwin's body. Some of the swords weren't magic-based. Instead, they behaved like actual, physical swords!

Erwin looked down at the holes that had been punched into his body, which were bleeding profusely. He was unable to plug all of them with just his own two hands, and he was completely rooted to the spot, still yet to come to terms with the fact that he seemed to be about to die.

I never thought that I would die in such an inexplicable way... I don't even know who that woman is! Also, isn't this entire thing Larwood and Chase's fault? Why the hell am I the one being killed? 

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? All of you, stop right this instant!" The firestorm and icestorm unleashed by the woman finally attracted the city's guards to the scene, and the commander of the guards, Finnley, and his subordinates surrounded half of the entire street in the blink of an eye.

"Do you all have a death wish? How dare you fight in the middle of Sarus like this? Do you know how many civilians you're putting under threat with those large-scale spells? Looks like you lot really do need to be taught a lesson!" Finnley seemed to be reprimanding everyone, but he didn't actually do anything to Larwood and the others. Instead, he instructed a few of his subordinates to keep an eye on the man and the woman who were fighting against Erwin and his friends. After all, he was already very familiar with Erwin and his group, and over the years, he had taken quite a few bribes from them.

Larwood's trio heaved a collective sigh of relief at the guards, then immediately rushed over to Erwin, who had already collapsed onto a puddle of his own blood. By the time they reached him, he was already unconscious, and his breathing had become very shallow. No one knew what the extent of his injuries were like, so they didn't dare to move him.

"You were the ones who instigated this, and this goes far beyond just a brawl; this is attempted murder!" Larwood said with a furious expression as he rose to his feet.

Finnley hurriedly made his way over to Erwin, and just as Larwood had said, Erwin was bleeding profusely from several holes on his body, and he was already on the brink of death.

Finnley's brows immediately furrowed tightly upon seeing this. He had thought that this was only a matter of breaking up a fight, but if someone were to die here, then the case would be escalated to something far more serious. In particular, this was Count Friar's only son. If he were to die in a part of the city that was being patrolled by him and his guards, then he wouldn't be able to escape at least partial liability.

With that in mind, cold sweat began to bead up on Finnley's forehead as he yelled toward his subordinates, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and carry him to the count's manor for treatment!"

If Erwin were to succumb to his injuries in the count's manor, then significantly less liability would fall upon Finnley.

"I wouldn't move him if I were you. He has my magic sword energy inside his body. The more he's moved, the faster he'll die," the woman said in a cold voice.

"Who are you? Do you know how serious it is a crime to commit murder on a noble in public in Sarus?" Finnley asked as he glowered at the woman before him with a furious expression.

"He's just the son of a count, isn't he? It's no big deal," the woman countered in a disdainful voice. 

The young man beside him shook her head at her in silence, indicating for her to stop talking, and she duly obliged. It appeared that she was quite obedient when it came to him.

Finnley's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets after hearing what the woman had to say.

His tone softened significantly as he asked, "May I ask which family you hail from, young lady?"

"We hail from Prince Lazaar's manor. My name is Jeff Lazaar, and this is my sister, Lana," the young man said to Finnley as he positioned himself in front of the red-haired woman, and he made sure to speak in a voice that was just audible to Larwood and the others.

[Just to clarify, the title of prince here does not refer to the son of the king, so Prince Lazaar is not King Cameron’s son. Instead, “prince” is the loftiest title one can receive in the Chinese nobility system.]

Prince Lazaar was the governor of the province of Burmen, and it was no exaggeration to say that his status ranked only below that of the king in the Effer Kingdom. In contrast, someone like Governor Jenkins had a very lofty official rank, but his noble title was only duke. As for someone like Larwood's father, Duke Nandoon, he was only a legion commander in the military. Aside from the king himself, Prince Lazaar was at the very pinnacle of the entire Effer Kingdom regardless of whether it came to noble title or official rank. The province of Burmen that he presided over stretched all the way to the Terarody Mountain Range in the north, which stretched for thousands of kilometers. The mountain range was home to a large number of ancient creatures, such as cave-dwelling primal giants and pack-dwelling twin-foot flying dragons. If it weren't for Prince Lazaar's conscientious efforts, the entire province of Burmen would've ceased to belong to the Effer Kingdom long ago.

Larwood and the others also realized just how serious the situation was upon hearing mention of Prince Lazaar.

"So what? You can disregard the law and murder nobles in public just because your father is Prince Lazaar? No matter how you look at this incident, you two are at fault!" Chase accused in a loud voice, making sure that all of the bystanders present could hear him.

"You instigated by speaking inappropriately to my sister first! How are we at fault for teaching you a lesson?" Jeff argued.

"It's a common occurrence for people to speak out of line after drinking too much in a tavern. If you only wanted to teach us a lesson, then you could've done so with far less dire consequences! Do you go around killing everyone that you don't like the look of? If everyone is like you, the city of Sarus would be filled with corpses!" Larwood said in an unyielding voice.

It was actually quite a common occurrence for brawls to break out in taverns and pubs over women. This was particularly common among nobles, who often escalated verbal conflicts into physical altercations. However, there was no way that anyone would go into a pub brawl with the intention of killing their opponent. Not only would that be a permanent stain on their reputation, the crime of killing someone could easily lead to one's noble title being removed by the king.

Jeff was naturally aware of this. If he wanted to defeat Larwood's trio as quickly as possible, then he could've ended the fight long ago. However, he wanted to take his time and teach them a lesson, which was why he had inflicted those gashes upon their bodies, but none of those wounds were lethal. In contrast, Lana had been spoiled by her father from birth, so she was extremely wilful and petulant. Even so, Jeff couldn't understand why his sister had decided to take things so far here.

"If you have time to be arguing here, then I suggest you take him to seek medical attention," Finnley urged in an anxious voice. He had no interest in hearing these nobles bicker about who was at fault.

Kaiba also gave Larwood and Chase a meaningful look, indicating that their priority was indeed to get Erwin some medical attention.

"I'll take care of him. With my magic potion, just a few drops will be required to heal the wounds inflicted by my magic swords. After that, all he'll need is a few days of rest and he'll be full recovered," Lana said in an indifferent voice, as if she wasn't the one responsible for the person lying at her feet in a puddle of his own blood.

She turned to Larwood and the others to find them looking at her with suspicious expressions, and a cold smile appeared on her face as she said, "Just trust me. If I wanted him dead, then he would already be long dead."

Larwood and the others exchanged a glance before getting out her way. No matter how wild and wilful she was, surely she wouldn't escalate this incident any further.

They looked on as she pulled out an intricate magic potion vial from her waist, then made her way over to Erwin and dripped a few drops of blue potion onto his wounds. Immediately thereafter, the wounds that had been inflicted by her magic swords began to miraculously heal.

After that, she squatted down and supported Erwin's head before positioning the vial under Erwin's nose so that he could inhale its scent. It was incredible to Larwood and the others that this gentle and caring woman could be the same person that had almost killed their friend in cold blood just a moment ago.

All of a sudden, a gust of wind swept over Haven Street, causing Lana's sheep wool cape to flap around her. As a result, slight glimpses of her gorgeous long legs and proud voluptuous chest were revealed, captivating all of the surrounding bystanders. Larwood and the others certainly weren't going to pass up such a golden opportunity, and even Finnley couldn't help but sneak a few glances.

"Ahem!" Jeff cleared his throat with a steely expression, and only then did everyone return to their senses before hurriedly pretending to look elsewhere.

Erwin stirred slightly upon inhaling the scent of the magic potion, then slowly awakened. As soon as he caught sight of the red-haired woman before him, his eyes immediately widened, and he hurriedly pushed her hands aside before scurrying back in retreat.

"Hmph, what an ungrateful brat you are," Lana scoffed as she stowed her potion vial away.

Everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief upon seeing Erwin awaken from his unconscious state.

Larwood immediately called over his family's horse-drawn carriage, while Chase and Kaiba helped Erwin to his feet before carrying him over to the carriage. On the way there, Erwin suddenly turned around and glared at Lana before allowing himself to be carried into the carriage.

Lana's face had taken on an ashen complexion, and she could clearly see the message in Erwin's eyes. They told her: "This isn't over yet!"

She had seen many fearsome creatures in the Terarody Mountain Ranges, but she had never seen a pair of eyes so vicious and determined, and she couldn't help but shudder in response.

"I'll have to ask you to come with me to the city's department of defense and give me a recount of this incident so that I can put it on file," Finnley said to Jeff, then turned to Larwood.

His intentions were very simple. It seemed that Erwin had mostly recovered, but if any after-effects from his injuries manifested themselves in the future, then he had to have some records of the incident on file so that he wouldn't be held liable.

"Alright." Larwood nodded in response.

Jeff also nodded in agreement to this, then strode over to Lana and said, "I have to go to the city's department of defense to provide some records. You can go back for now."

A smile then appeared on his face as he consoled, "Don't look so upset. Just like you said, he's just the son of a count, isn't he? It's no big deal."

Lana nodded in response with a dejected expression.

"What's going on with you? Are you worried that you'll be scolded by Father when we get back? It's fine, I'll explain everything to him." A stern look then appeared on his face as he continued, "Having said that, what you did today really was unacceptable. No matter how much you want to teach someone a lesson, you can't kill them in public!"