Pursuit

The chaos in the city continued, and there was no time for a specific count of how many knights had not yet defected, excluding the five hundred or so taken by Hilda and Nar.

Less than a hundred knights remained by my side.

"Ella!"

"Present, Your Highness!"

Ella had not made an appearance from start to finish. As the manager of the inner court and my personal nun, her task was to help me stabilize the inner court, and she did not need to worry about anything else.

Because of this, the inner court was the most stable part of all Brilliant City.

I had not expected her to have such a talent for management.

It was a bit surprising, yet it also made sense.

She had been in this position for many days and had been my personal nun for over a month. There were fewer than five hundred nuns and three hundred priests in the entire Temple of Brilliant City.

If she could not even manage that much, she would be truly useless.

This was not a war; it was just about maintaining a stable life, which was not a huge deal.

"From now on, these fifty knights are under your command. Your task is to guard the Temple well. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter, regardless of who they are."

"Yes, Your Highness."

This was my base of operations, my original foundation. The display room in the Temple housed most of the treasures accumulated by the Kingdom of the Moon over the past millennium.

Other valuable things were not as important, but equipment that could serve as combat power was a treasure among treasures.

Losing even one would break my heart.

"Ligeia, let us go!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

At this stage, she was the only one who could command the dragon army. Because of this, such a powerful force could not be split up and had to be kept together.

It was such a waste!

If nothing else, if I had four people proficient in the dragon language right now to split the two thousand skysoar dragons into four groups, I could have completely suppressed this chaos in an instant.

The gap between the dragon race and humans was just that massive.

I needed to have the knights become semi-proficient in the dragon language. Even if they could not use complex speech, they at least needed to be able to direct the dragons smoothly so that the dragon army could exert its proper power.

Leaving the Temple, I boarded the carriage. The remaining fifty knights followed on either side, while Ligeia had it much easier, sitting directly atop the leading skysoar dragon.

Unfortunately, although I had a big glutton in my carriage, I still could not ride it.

Because it did not understand me, if it accidentally dropped me, I would become a Saintess pancake!

The Saint's Carriage slowly set off, heading straight for the noble district in the southeast of the city. Almost all the estates of the nobles in Brilliant City were located in this area.

Of course, there were huge differences in the size of the estates based on each noble's rank.

For example, the Garnet family estate covered an area of nearly one square kilometer, all enclosed by high walls.

This area was also part of the inner city of Brilliant City.

The current Brilliant City was likely even larger than the Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty I remembered. Each of the four major noble families had an estate about one square kilometer in size.

Despite this, the estates of these four major noble families were merely a small corner in the southeast of Brilliant City.

To put it bluntly, if one wanted to walk from the East Gate to the West Gate, it might take a whole day to arrive.

One could only imagine how brilliant Brilliant City had been in the past.

Following Moonrise Road, the main road of the East Main Street, we headed straight for the East District. After a turn, we arrived before a massive manor gate.

The tall iron gates were about three stories high and over ten meters wide.

At this moment, the two intricately carved gates were tightly closed, and the voices of many people could be heard from inside.

The walls on either side extended to the edge of vision, almost as far as the eye could see.

The walls were even a bit higher than the gate; it could almost be called a city within a city.

The four major noble families were truly thousand-year-old parasites living off the Kingdom of the Moon to have grown so fat!

Standing on the carriage, I leaned on my sword and faced the gate.

"You all, repeat my words."

I glanced at the fifty knights around me and took a deep breath.

"Listen, members of the Garnet family! I give you fifteen minutes to abandon resistance and surrender your weapons. After fifteen minutes, if you still persist in your stubborn resistance, no mercy will be shown!"

Just as those words were spoken, a blue light suddenly flashed from inside the gate. That light was like a meteor streaking across the night sky, reaching me in the blink of an eye.

I had no time to react at all. I could only watch as that blue streak of light drew near, and I could even feel the magic power contained within it!

'Am I going to die?'

Those words flashed through my mind for an instant.

And at that very moment!

A childish voice rang in my ear!

"Ya~"

With a sharp crack, my eardrums felt a piercing pain. A burst of blue light erupted before my eyes as the massive magic power began to dissipate.

I instinctively closed my eyes and raised my hand to shield them. The entire process lasted for nearly two seconds.

When the blue light gradually faded and I could see clearly again, I found that Astrid, the infant holy white dragon, had somehow blocked the way in front of me.

At this moment, it was firmly biting an arrow in its mouth, and the remaining magical radiance on the arrow was slowly fading away.

"Astrid!"

Seeing this, my heart immediately leaped into my throat!

This was a holy white dragon, one of the two true dragon species alongside the golden dragons. Every single one was incomparably precious!

If I died, it was just one person, but if Astrid died, the entire Kingdom of the Moon would have to endure the wrath of the dragon race!

"Ya~ Ptu!"

With a 'ptu' from Astrid, a clatter sounded as an arrow made of pure metal dropped to the ground.

A small amount of silver blood remained on the arrow. This was a characteristic of the holy white dragon; their blood was silver.

Holy crap!

Dragon blood!

If nothing else, the blood of a holy white dragon on this arrow alone would be worth a fortune if auctioned off!

Uh... okay, that is not the point right now!

"Astrid, are you alright?"

Even though I knew it could not understand human language, I still instinctively rushed forward and cupped its large head with both hands to turn it toward me.

"Ya~"

Astrid showed no external injuries, but when it opened its mouth to let out that childish roar, I could see that its tongue had been cut.

I pulled Astrid into my arms. The little fellow was about as tall as I was now, and its chubby appearance was very endearing.

"Thank you. If not for you, I fear I would have died here today."

I let out a long sigh of relief. A cut on the tip of the tongue was not a big deal. I raised my hand and cast a healing art, pouring a streak of light into its body.

In the blink of an eye, the wound was restored to its original state.

"Ya~"

It was exceptionally close to me, rubbing its large head against my chest. Those short, spiral dragon horns poked me, and it actually hurt a bit.

Though they were short, they were still very sharp. Fortunately, I was wearing my Saintess's robe; otherwise, those two pokes might have gouged out two chunks of flesh.

I patted its large head, and at the same time, a surge of rage could not help but rise in my heart!

Ligeia descended from the sky, a trace of panic still in her eyes. Only when she confirmed I was unharmed did she let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Fortunately it was here, otherwise today would have been disastrous."

Her face was filled with lingering fear; she was clearly powerless against what had just happened.

After all, she was still in the sky, and casting spells took time, whereas a bow and arrow were clearly much more covert.

Therefore, once she confirmed I was fine, she immediately constructed a magic barrier around the carriage.

Ligeia looked down and picked up the metal arrow from the ground. She examined it closely, her brow furrowing slightly.

Seeing the expression on her face, I instinctively asked, "Do you recognize this arrow?"

"This is a special arrow that only elves can use. It is inscribed with elven language and can channel magic power to exert immense force."

In other words... the Garnet family estate had actually recruited elves?

As expected of one of the four major noble families, their foundations were truly something else.

I set Astrid down and turned to look toward the gate.

No new arrows were being fired now. They probably realized we were on guard and did not want to expose themselves further.

"All unrelated personnel, leave the Garnet family immediately. The time remains the same, still fifteen minutes. Ligeia, begin the countdown."

"Yes, Your Highness."

As a ruler, my word was final. If I said fifteen minutes, it would be fifteen minutes even if the sky fell!

Leaning on my sword with both hands, I stood on the carriage and gazed at the quiet Garnet manor. After a slight hesitation, I still had Ligeia spread out the two thousand dragons to surround the entire estate.

This was to prevent anyone from secretly escaping through the back door.

However, fifteen minutes passed quietly. Although there were still sounds inside the large manor, not a single person came out.

It seemed the people inside were determined to meet their end.

"Your Highness, the time is up."

Ligeia checked her pocket watch and reported the time.

What a pity... I thought there might be a few who valued their small lives. If they were willing to surrender, I could have punished only the ringleaders.

But since you have chosen this, do not blame me.

"Ligeia! Order the dragon army to sweep the entire estate with dragon breath! Leave nothing standing!"

"Yes!"

Ligeia gave a crisp response, raised her staff, and chanted a line of dragon language I could not understand. In an instant, the two thousand skysoar dragons in the sky all opened their mouths at once.

"Roar—!"

Flames like a torrential surge of rage crashed down upon the Garnet family estate!

Dragon breath with temperatures exceeding three thousand degrees turned the entire manor into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye!

Screams erupted from within, and along with them came the heavy scent of charred wood and burning flesh.

I did not move, staring fixedly at the large manor. But after watching for a moment, I felt something was wrong.

Although screams kept coming from inside, not a single person had tried to escape from beginning to end.

This was not normal. Logically, when a person faced danger, their instinct would be to seek a safe place.

Escaping the manor was their only correct choice, as the dragon breath was only burning inside the estate.

Furthermore... although there were voices inside the manor, I had not heard a single coherent sentence from start to finish.

"Ligeia, do you not think something is a bit off?"

Ligeia furrowed her brow and thought for a moment.

"It... does not seem like anything is wrong?"

"No, it is wrong. Go up and take a look!"

"Yes."

Although Ligeia was somewhat confused, she followed orders and flew up, circling above the manor.

When she came down, her face had clearly turned pale.

"Your Highness, inside... they are all dead slaves. I did not see a single person who looked like a noble."

Slaves and nobles were too easy to distinguish. Not to mention the difference between rough and delicate skin, one could tell at a glance just from their clothing and complexions.

No extra evidence was needed at all.

"I see. Ligeia, do you have any skills that can search for things like secret tunnels?"

"Does Your Highness suspect they escaped through a secret tunnel?"

"Mmm. If they did, they cannot have gone far."

Ligeia furrowed her brow and closed her eyes, raising her staff and lightly tapping the air.

She chanted, "Explore."

'Ding~'

As her staff touched the air, a sound like a bell ringing actually rang out.

This sound spread out, and in just an instant, Ligeia seemed to sense something.

"Found it. Over there. It is indeed a secret tunnel."

"Can you find the exit?"

I remained standing on the carriage without moving. The members of the Garnet family had killed the slaves in the manor before leaving, likely to prevent anyone from revealing their method of escape.

And that arrow was probably meant to make me hesitate and stall for time.

"I will try."

Ligeia nodded and closed her eyes again.

At the same time, her staff touched the air once more.

"Explore — Deepen."

Was this... a secondary magic?

This was the first time I had seen secondary magic.

It was a way of casting where magic was used again on top of an existing spell to expand it.

The previous exploration magic was like a wide-range search, but this time, she concentrated all the search parameters into that secret tunnel.

Therefore, there was no 'ding' response this time, but one could see a distortion in the air, something like a small whirlwind, winding its way into the Garnet manor.

After waiting for about a minute, Ligeia suddenly let out a cry of surprise!

"Ah!"

She stumbled back half a step.

"Ligeia!"

"I am fine... someone just discovered my spell and interrupted it."

Ligeia shook her head, a trace of gravity in her expression.

"It is a bit of a headache, but not a major problem. I have not failed Your Highness's trust. The direction they fled is to the south, over there."

As she spoke, Ligeia raised her hand and pointed.

"They have already reached the outskirts of the city by now."

"Pursuit!"

Without any nonsense, I left twenty knights to handle the aftermath here and took thirty knights and the two thousand skysoar dragons to give chase!

Everywhere we passed was filled with chaos; some were looting while others were in a panic.

Occasionally, people could be seen on the roadside capturing others.

These should be Hilda's doing, but the level of chaos exceeded my expectations.

I should properly comfort these frightened citizens later.

Without lingering, the carriage continued forward, passing through the South Gate at full speed.

Looking toward the direction Ligeia pointed...

Under the moonlight... a convoy of vehicles could be seen in the distance, about a dozen carriages and over a hundred people.

They were driving away at a fast pace, but their speed was still quite slow compared to the knights and the Saint's Carriage.

It took over half an hour of chasing before we completely caught up.

Realizing they could no longer escape, the convoy ahead slowly came to a halt. Over a hundred people drew their weapons and turned toward my side.

And the person in the lead was dressed in ornate noble attire; that elegant aura made his status clear at a glance.

When the carriage slowly stopped, the person who spoke first was the opponent.

"Great Elder of the Garnet family, second-class Marquess, Fitch Garnet. I never imagined our first meeting would be under such circumstances."

He looked up with a bitter smile.

"Your servant... greets Your Highness. I pray for your holy well-being."