Actually, Elvia could probably guess what it was.
Ever since Lin Gui had given her that booklet and she learned he had visited the Magic City two years ago, she had suspected something.
She knew he had to be connected to the event that had shaken the entire City-State Alliance.
“Ten years ago, in the Central City-States region where the Magic City is located, a revolution known as the 'Spark' broke out.”
“They proposed many things... things that sounded beautiful.”
“Equality, freedom, the rational distribution of resources... a world without nobles and privileges, where there were only 'citizens.'”
Her voice gradually grew softer, as if she were sinking into some heavy memory.
“At first, that revolution even took over several city-states without shedding a single drop of blood, winning the support of all their citizens.”
“But in the end, it was ruthlessly suppressed.”
“The one hundred and twenty-six people who participated in the core uprising had their heads severed and hung from the city walls, exposed to the elements for a hundred days.”
“To deter anyone else who harbored discontent, the City-State Alliance ordered a massacre of the three city-states deemed to be the 'sources of the rebellion.'”
Elvia's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
“That wasn't war; it was a slaughter.”
“Whether they were nobles, officials, merchants, commoners, or vagrants... even children and the elderly, none were spared.”
“Blood stained the streets red, and the sound of wailing lasted for days and nights before it finally subsided.”
“To this day, those three city-states remain forbidden cities that no one dares to approach.”
After speaking, she gently tucked her blonde bangs behind her ear.
She turned to look at Lin Gui, her face carrying a complex expression of near-certainty.
“You... were one of them, weren't you? You want to avenge them?”
Lin Gui neither admitted nor denied it, simply asking in return.
“Aren't you afraid I'll silence you right now?”
Elvia wiped all the smiles from her face. Her expression was unprecedentedly serious, with a hint of... earnestness?
“Lin Gui, take my advice. You cannot fight against those people.”
“The Black Dragon Army responsible for the suppression is unstoppable now.”
“Of the twenty-five existing Epic Rank powerhouses in the human race, a full ten of them are in its ranks.”
“And the force driving this suppression is the City-State Alliance, which pools all the resources and top powers of the entire human world!”
“And you are just one person.”
Elvia reached out and tightly grabbed Lin Gui's arm.
Lin Gui could clearly feel her fingertips trembling slightly.
It was a fear originating from the depths of her heart.
Not for herself, but... for him.
Elvia admitted it.
At least at this moment, she truly considered this cold, reclusive, yet terrifyingly pure-in-some-ways guy as a friend.
A true friend.
She advised him once more, and this time, her words were free of any personal calculations or interests, containing only pure worry.
“Stay in the Carter Royal Capital, stay in the borderlands. At least this place is far enough from the Central City-States.”
“Or... after you and Theia go to Avalon, don't leave.”
“Marry her, have children there, and live out a peaceful life.”
“Forget the hatred and live.”
Lin Gui listened to her words, his face devoid of expression, only offering a soft smile.
Indeed, his enemies were so powerful that they practically represented the collective might of the highest and largest factions in the entire city-state human society.
After that incident, he had returned to New Covenant City and thought about spending the rest of his life in peace.
However, when he accepted that “Carrier Pigeon” commission...
The possibility of revenge had found him.
He could not give up.
Besides, revenge was, after all, only one stop on his life's journey.
His ultimate goal was to deliver that special letter in his heart across time and space to the other shore.
Naturally, he could not explain any of this to Elvia.
He simply turned his head, looked at Elvia's beautiful face filled with worry, and spoke in a light yet resolute tone.
“Don't worry. When it comes to staying alive, you can absolutely trust me.”
“To survive, I can kneel to those enemies...”
...Until I possess the power to utterly crush them.
A cold, icy glint flashed through Lin Gui's eyes.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Inside a dark passage, Caesar listened to his subordinate's report, his rugged face furrowed in a deep frown.
“Leader, the targets have left the sewers and are heading toward the abandoned dark iron mine east of the city.”
“We've confirmed there are only three of them: Lin Gui, Princess Elvia, and the Saintess.”
“The Disciplinary Knights and other Holy Church personnel have not appeared.”
“All the Holy Church guards on the list provided by that lord are currently attending the Oracle Assembly hosted by the King.”
Another subordinate stepped forward, a bloodthirsty light gleaming in his eyes.
“Leader, should we strike? The guards aren't here—this is a god-given opportunity! It's practically delivering the Saintess straight into our hands!”
Caesar did not answer immediately.
His scar-covered face looked even more menacing in the dim light.
He was as silent as an old stone statue holding back a volcano.
“Where exactly are they going?” he asked in a low, raspy voice.
“The dark iron mine east of the city. It has been abandoned for many years and is completely deserted.”
A mine... deserted...
Caesar rapidly weighed his options in his mind.
The core of the Saintess Assassination Plan was originally to assassinate the Saintess right in front of the Holy Church's escort team, thereby enraging the Holy Church and triggering a crusade.
They, the assassins, would pay with their lives to throw mud at the royal family.
Without anyone from the Holy Church present to witness it, this indeed deviated from the plan.
However, that didn't stop them!
A ruthless light flashed in Caesar's eyes.
What if... what if they directly threw the Saintess's corpse right in front of those Disciplinary Knights and priests?
Insulting the symbol of their faith and trampling on their dignity right before their eyes!
He refused to believe that even this wouldn't enrage those arrogant religious zealots!
As long as the Holy Church's wrath was ignited and a crusade was launched, the Carter Royal Capital would still fall into eternal damnation!
The moles planted in the royal family could still point the 'evidence' toward the targets that had to be eliminated!
This would achieve their goal just the same!
Perhaps even... more directly, and more violently!
At this thought, Caesar's heart pounded violently.
A madness mixed with fear, excitement, and a desperate, back-to-the-wall resolve burned in his chest.
The only thing he couldn't figure out was...
Why?
Why would the Disciplinary Knights allow the Saintess to act alone?
This was too abnormal, so abnormal that it made his skin crawl.
But the arrow was already on the string; there was no turning back.
He had waited half his life for this moment, wagering the lives of all his brothers and the future of the rebels.
There was no way out.
Caesar stood up abruptly, reflexively patting the cold wooden box in his coat.
The bone-chilling coldness gave him his final burst of courage.
His facial muscles contorted into a smile that mixed determination with cruelty as he squeezed out an order through his teeth:
“Assemble everyone involved in the plan, and bring half of the rebel forces to surround the entire mining area.”
His gaze swept over his subordinates, his eyes filled with a desperate madness:
“When the time comes, the assassination team will enter and kill the Saintess!”
He paused, his voice sounding like poisoned icicles:
“And then... throw her corpse right into the faces of her guardian knights!”
“I want to watch those high-and-mighty Disciplinary Knights rage in despair over their dereliction of duty and incompetence!”
“I want them to know that the 'Light' they protect is less than dog shit to us!”
“I refuse to believe this won't force the Holy Church to launch a crusade! It's time to wash this stagnant pool of Carter with blood!”
Rate on N.U.
