Chapter 19: A Suitable Feast.
"Melida?"
Trajan arrived in front of the palace. Today was the day he was supposed to meet the King.
"You are late."
Melida had been waiting for him. The king had all of a sudden called upon an emergency meeting, and everyone important was invited.
"What is all this about?"
There were hundreds of Nobles standing outside the gates.
"I don't have enough time to explain. We shouldn't keep Gaius waiting."
They both elevated above the ground and flew inside the palace.
A short while later, they entered the throne room.
"Your majesty, is there a problem?"
Gaius looked at Trajan and said,
"I have called in an ambassador from the church of the four gods. Yesterday, they sent a few assassins to kill me."
The entire court began murmuring. Gaius looked at his ministers and said,
"Silence!"
The murmurs stopped.
"Trajan, were you keeping an eye on Benedict?"
Trajan broke into a cold sweat.
"No, your majesty."
Gaius was enraged.
"Then who was responsible for guarding him?"
His voice scared everyone present, except Melida.
"Prince Nero. He had personally requested me for the job."
Gaius looked at one of his guards and said,
"Bring Nero here."
The guard bowed down and left.
"Melida, can you ask the Kindred family to help us negotiate?"
"Gaius, you know how they are. Vultures are better in comparison. This Kingdom will see nothing but ruin."
Gaius sighed. Her words made sense.
"Then everyone, what do you suggest?"
The ministers fell silent. Normally, they would have given Gaius advice, but the church of the four gods was a completely different matter. They knew nothing about their inner workings and any advice that they presented would be guesswork.
After a few minutes of thinking, the doors to the throne room opened. Nero entered inside, along with Benedict.
"Father, I have arrived."
Benedict was in chains. Nero was dragging him to walk forward.
"Nero, remove his chains."
"But father-"
"I said, remove his chains."
Nero took out his rapier and broke the chains in the blink of an eye.
"What do you want now, Gaius?"
Benedict asked.
"Did you send an envoy to the church of the four gods?"
Benedict sighed.
"You took my people from me, you took my freedom from me, and now you have the gall to accuse me of betraying the kingdom?"
"Answer my question."
He raised his hands and said,
"I haven't taken a step out of my quarters for the last month. As for my men, your minister would be a better person to ask that question."
Gaius looked at Trajan, who said,
"All of his men are accounted for."
Gaius placed his palm on his forehead.
A few minutes passed. The courtroom was silent.
"Your majesty!"
A messenger came running in.
"Speak."
"The representative from the higher church is here. He is asking for your presence."
He got up from his throne.
"Melida, Trajan. Come with me."
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"Gaius."
Seated atop an Azure Dragon, a bearded saint looked down at the king.
"Rasputin."
Gaius felt terrified. This was the last person he wanted to see.
"I am here to enact justice."
Even worse. This was the church, and the definition of justice was sentenced.
"Are you going to come down?"
Seeing that the king remained speechless in front of him, Melida spoke up.
The dragon lowered its tail. Rasputin walked on it and stepped on the ground.
"Ah, Miss Kindred. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
A complete 180. His behavior towards Melida was spent. He was a well-known pervert all around the world.
Gaius placed his hand on his shoulder and said,
"What are you doing here?"
"I am here on church orders."
He took out a paper from his bag and handed it to Gaius.
"I was informed that the representative of the church of Malen had committed a grievous sin."
The stamp of the church. This was legitimate.
"May I see this heretic?"
Gaius looked back at him and said,
"Sure. Follow me."
He patted the dragon twice, and it flapped its wings. It was at least an S-class monster.
The shockwave was strong. Melida created a barrier to protect them.
A few seconds later, the dragon flew away.
"Lead the way."
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Anna had asked Vincent to bring in some wood for the fire. It had been quite some time since he had left.
"Mona, I am going to look for Vincent."
Anna left the camp inside the forest.
"Vincent!"
She called out his name. She had set up a barrier around the forest. If anything happened, she would be the first one to know.
"Vincent!"
No sign of him.
She took a deep breath in.
<<Scan>>
A single wave of mana spread out in every direction.
'There he is.'
He was carrying some wood and bringing it back towards the camp.
<<Boost>>
Sound type magic. Propels the user with sound.
Creating a light shockwave, she appeared in front of Vincent.
"Anna, look how much wood I collected."
To specify, this wasn't ordinary wood. Anna had been training Vincent in the art of survival.
He had been working for hours to bring in the perfect batch for cooking.
"Well done."
She gave him a slight pat on his head.
"Let's head back-"
Her entire body felt a cold shiver.
"Watch out!"
A single hit. He was sent flying in an instant.
She was speechless after that.
An S-class Monster.
Vincent crashed into a tree.
'A Dragon!'
Her sword transformed into a barrier.
<<Imprison>>
It closed in and tried to stop the Dragon.
"Vincent!"
<<Boost>>
She arrived in front of him. As she was about to pick him up, her senses went off again.
<<Radiance>>
She tried to blind the dragon with a sudden flash of light.
But it closed its eyes as soon as she gathered enough mana.
Its claws cut through the barrier like a knife through butter, and they reached her in an instant.
<<Sacred Art>>
In a last-ditch effort to protect herself, she used her strongest move.
<<Golden Apocalypse>>
Thousands of copies of her sword appeared. They all merged into one sword and slashed towards the Dragon.
The Dragon used its wings to block the attack, but he was being pushed back. Unable to hang on, the attack tore through one of its wings.
It roared in pain. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, as his wings absorbed most of the attack. But it was painful to take damage.
She looked at the Dragon in front of her while she fell to her knees. Even with her strongest attack, she fell short.
As her body collapsed to the ground and her limbs had no more strength left, she was in no condition to continue. No hope left.
"FINALLY!"
A Demonic voice echoed through the forest. She managed to move her body a little.
"A Mana Entity..."
The Dragon looked in its direction and roared as loud as it could.
"A Suitable Feast."
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