Theia's command, “All of you, get out here!” echoed through the empty mine.
But other than the faint sounds she made holding Caesar hostage, there was no other response.
The shadows remained silent, as if Viper and Black Scorpion had never existed.
As if the assassination attempt just now had been nothing but an illusion.
Theia clicked her tongue, not at all surprised.
She knew the creed of these assassins all too well.
The mission was above all else, and once exposed, a companion's life became entirely expendable.
An attempted rescue would only lead to greater losses, or even their total annihilation.
Right now, they had to be hiding in the dark, like coiled vipers.
Waiting for any potential opening to deliver a fatal blow.
Seeing this from above, Lin Gui...
...was about to use the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 once again to envelop both Theia and Caesar.
To shield them from any potential attacks.
However, Caesar, with the dagger pressed against his throat, suddenly spoke up.
He suppressed the excruciating pain from his broken arms and the internal shockwaves of Theia's energy.
His voice was raspy, yet it carried an unnatural calmness.
He spoke to the surrounding shadows, “All of you, come out.”
Viper and Black Scorpion had been gathering their strength, looking for an opportunity to launch a second strike.
In their attempt to rescue their leader or at least retrieve the artifact, Viper and Black Scorpion froze simultaneously.
The concealment of their presence faltered for a split second.
This was against the rules.
When an assassin was exposed, especially when the leader was captured...
...the most correct course of action was to retreat immediately or look for an opportunity to silence him. There was absolutely no reason to reveal themselves willingly.
An assassin exposed to plain sight could be easily handled by anyone, unlike support classes like Priests.
Knowing their doubts, Caesar took a breath and emphaized,
“There is someone else behind them! If you don't want us to be wiped out entirely, come out... and meet our guests!”
“Someone else behind them?”
Viper and Black Scorpion frowned.
But then, as if realizing something, their pupils shrank.
This was not a simple order. This was a code.
It was the signal to initiate the "final plan," the details of which were unknown to them and only shared between Caesar and Cold Face.
Caesar had once vaguely hinted at it.
Once this plan was set in motion, it would definitely kill the Saintess and turn the tables!
Though their hearts were filled with doubt and unease...
...their long-ingrained habit of obedience, coupled with a near-blind trust in Caesar, made them choose to comply.
Two figures emerged from the corners of the shadows.
They were indeed Viper and Black Scorpion.
Their expressions were solemn, and their eyes swept warily across the surroundings.
Particularly focusing on Theia and the empty space behind her.
Almost at the exact same moment Viper and Black Scorpion revealed themselves.
Elvia's figure materialized out of thin air beside Theia.
Moving with extreme speed, she snatched the black wooden box containing the so-called "artifact" from beneath Theia's feet.
Elvia held the wooden box in her hands.
She sneered, lightly kicking the kneeling Caesar with the tip of her boot.
“Caesar, even at a time like this, what tricks are you trying to play? Where is Cold Face? Tell him to get his ass out here too!”
Instead of showing fear, Caesar's face...
...pulled into a twisted grin, and he said submissively,
“Sure, as you wish, Princess Elvia.”
His attitude caused a sudden surge of intense unease in Elvia's heart.
The box containing the artifact had been taken. Why was he still so calm?
Without hesitation, she slammed the lid open!
Inside, there was no rune-engraved dagger radiating terrifying energy as she had expected.
There was only a seemingly ordinary, slightly rusted knife.
At the very moment the lid was flipped open, Caesar mustered all his strength and shrieked,
“Cold Face! Activate the 【Soul-Slaying Blade】 now!!”
“Theia! Kill him, quick!”
Realizing they had been tricked, Elvia's face changed drastically as she screamed at Theia.
Yet, the hand with which Theia held the dagger remained as steady as a rock.
She showed absolutely no intention of cutting his throat.
Her gaze continued to sweep coldly over the surroundings.
As if keeping a wary eye out for "Cold Face," who had yet to show himself.
Theia's inaction left Elvia both anxious and furious.
She couldn't help but push Theia, urging her in a low, frantic whisper,
“What are you doing?! The artifact isn't on him! We've been tricked! Kill him quickly, and let's hide and run!”
Although Elvia did not know exactly what the 【Soul-Slaying Blade】 was...
...as long as it was an artifact, its power was definitely not something they could withstand head-on.
Theia remained unmoved, merely replying calmly,
“It's fine. Lin Gui anticipated this.”
“Huh???”
Elvia's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
“He anticipated this? Why didn't I know? Why didn't he tell me?!”
Theia gave her a speechless glance.
“Why would we share important information with someone who encourages stabbing others in the back?”
Elvia: “...”
Feeling as though she had been stabbed by an invisible blade, she stewed in silence for a long moment before grumbling resentfully,
“Has your trust in me really hit rock bottom?!”
Meanwhile, Caesar, who was being held hostage, felt his heart turn cold upon hearing Theia's words.
A cold dread washed over him, quickly followed by a surge of anger at being so thoroughly dismissed.
He let out a raspy, bitter laugh.
“Anticipated this?”
“Arrogant! You have absolutely no idea what the 【Soul-Slaying Blade】 is! You don't know what kind of power it possesses!”
He tried to turn his head toward Theia and Elvia.
His eyes were filled with mockery and a near-manic confidence.
“Do you know how that Legendary Duke guarding the Twilight Fortress was crippled?”
“It was because of this! Just a single strike!”
“A single strike shattered his Legendary-rank protective qi and severely damaged his soul!”
“Even if he isn't dead yet, he's nothing more than a crippled wreck gasping for his final breaths!”
“You...!”
Elvia gasped in shock at the revelation, which was instantly replaced by a towering rage.
“Do you have any idea what you've done?!”
“The Twilight Fortress that the Duke guarded is the crucial gateway resisting the demon tide from the northwestern coast!”
“Now that he has fallen, how long can the fortress hold?”
“The demon tide will march right through, and before long, they'll reach the outskirts of the Royal Capital!”
“Do you know how many people will die because of this? Do you?!”
“I know! Of course I know!”
Caesar seemed to have all his suppressed rage and despair ignited.
He stopped looking at Elvia, instead raising his head to roar at the dim ceiling.
As if interrogating this unjust world.
“But so what?!”
“Do you know what we've been through?! Do you know what true despair is?!”
“The feeling of slowly starving to death! You high-and-mighty nobles will never understand!”
His voice carried an accusation that sounded like tears of blood.
“Ten years ago! That winter!”
“The Dark Tide branch had just receded, and the borderlands were hit by a once-in-a-century drought!”
“The fields yielded absolutely nothing, and trading children for food was no mere legend!”
“My father, my sister... they starved to death right before my eyes! They were reduced to nothing but skin and bones!”
“And what about you?!” He suddenly glared at Elvia, his eyes resembling those of a vengeful ghost.
“The granaries of the Royal Capital were bursting with grain, while the leftover slops from noble banquets were sold outside for a gold coin per pound!”
“Those knights riding on tall horses pointed their swords not at demons, but at commoners who only wanted a mouthful of food!”
“The gutters were stuffed with the corpses of starved infants, and the refugees of the Seventh Ring barely survived by gnawing on tree bark and eating inedible clay!”
“Even then, none of you were willing to share a single grain from your overflowing storehouses!”
“Why? Because you were afraid!”
“Afraid of how long the disaster would last, afraid that if you shared your grain, you wouldn't have enough for yourselves!”
“You would rather let the grain rot in your warehouses than bring it out to save a single life!”
“Such a Royal Capital! Such nobles! Such a world! What pity is there if it is destroyed?!”
Caesar roared like a madman.
“As long as I can tear these blood-sucking parasites to pieces, as long as I can make them experience the despair we went through...”
“...even if I have to drag everyone in the entire Royal Capital to the grave with us, I will do it without a second thought!!”
Elvia was left utterly speechless by his bloody, visceral accusation.
That winter ten years ago... of course she knew.
It was the most painful year the Carter Kingdom had seen in nearly a millennium.
The wounds of war had not yet healed when natural disasters struck one after another.
The royal family and the nobles had chosen self-preservation and cold indifference.
And it was precisely at that time...
...relying on the limited resources at her disposal, she had distributed some meager charity to the lower districts of the Royal Capital.
That was how she had won her reputation and her first followers, establishing her own intelligence network.
Now, listening to Caesar's accusations...
...and recalling the scenes of those years...
...an unprecedented wave of shame washed over her.
She had always known the cruelty of the nobility.
But never before had she felt so clearly and deeply the despair and weight pressing down on the commoners' backs.
She could even imagine...
...how Lin Gui would look at her with cold, disdainful eyes if he heard this.
Filthy, wretched...
She felt as if, through a pair of invisible eyes belonging to Lin Gui...
...she was looking at the deeply ingrained, ugly nature of the noble class beneath her glamorous exterior.
This caused the Seventh Princess, who had always prided herself as the most beautiful woman in the Royal Capital...
...to feel a profound, heartfelt terror and shudder.
Meanwhile, listening to Caesar's frantic rant, Viper and Black Scorpion were plunged into even deeper confusion.
Crippling a Legendary Duke in a single blow?
If the 【Soul-Slaying Blade】 really possessed such power...
...then what about Caesar's previous claim that "the other brothers all died to the Duke's dying counterattack"?
Before they could puzzle out this contradiction...
...an extremely faint, slightly sweet, and metallic scent quietly drifted into their noses.
Immediately after.
Pfft!
“Argh!”
Viper and Black Scorpion felt an unbearable, sharp pain in their chests almost simultaneously.
As if an invisible hand was squeezing their hearts ruthlessly!
They fell to their knees, their mouths hanging open uncontrollably.
They coughed up large mouthfuls of dark, discolored blood!
Clutching their chests, they struggled to lift their heads, their faces written with utter disbelief and horror.
It was poison! The poison inside them had erupted.
Did Caesar poison them?! But why would he choose to do it at this critical moment...
Rate on N.U.
