Ye Chui had won a mental attack spell from the draw: [Goddess Aqua’s Blessing].
The spell’s effect was to lower the target’s intelligence. Since Ye Chui instantly mastered it upon acquisition, he could vividly sense its effects and how to cast it. Staring at the iPad screen displaying an icon of Goddess Aqua, he was speechless for a long moment.
Undoubtedly, this spell came from that anime about adventuring with a dim-witted goddess. Aqua was that very goddess. Thinking of the anime’s plot, Ye Chui felt a newfound respect for the spell’s potential.
This was bound to be a powerful spell.
He immediately felt an urge to test it on someone.
Luck seemed to stay with him, as he soon found an opportunity to use it.
Setting aside the new mental spell for now, Ye Chui began to consider how to use his newly acquired wealth of points and the free [Comprehension] opportunity.
It was enough to unlock two or more magical attributes. What kind should he choose next?
As he pondered, Guni’s scream interrupted his thoughts. Instantly alert, he noticed Guni wasn’t in the house but in the courtyard outside. Had she been attacked?
Ye Chui rushed out, with Debbie, Winsa, and Lesha close behind. In the courtyard, they saw Guni brandishing her stone sword, warily eyeing the rising sun with an expression as if facing a formidable enemy. Having never seen the sun in the Sword Burial Ground, she had gone out to relieve herself and was startled by the bright, round object in the sky, mistaking it for an attacker.
Realising what had happened, Ye Chui, Debbie, Lesha, and Winsa couldn’t help but smile wryly. Lesha stepped forward to comfort Guni. “Don’t be scared. That’s just the sun. It rises and sets every day, marking day and night, bringing light. It’s normal in the outside world.”
Ye Chui, Debbie, and Winsa also reassured Guni, who finally lowered her sword, relaxing her guard. She found the outside world strange, with its alternating light and dark, freezing cold, and heavy clothing that felt so uncomfortable.
“I prefer Holy Light Forest. At least I didn’t have to wear these thick, bothersome clothes,” Guni complained, tugging at her outfit.
“It’s cold now, so we need them to stay warm. But in summer, you won’t have to,” Debbie said with a smile.
Guni’s eyes lit up. “In summer, can I wear my old clothes again?”
“Er…” Ye Chui, Debbie, Lesha, and Winsa shook their heads in unison. “Absolutely not!”
Guni’s old attire, a wild style barely covering essentials, was common in Holy Light Forest. To Ye Chui, it was practically a bikini. Such clothing would cause a stir, not just in this medieval world but even in Ye Chui’s modern society.
Teaching Guni to adapt to the outside world was going to be a challenge.
“You can’t wear that in public. It’d cause a panic. But in private, with no strangers around, it’s… not entirely out of the question,” Ye Chui said with a grin, thinking the view shouldn’t be wasted on others.
As they bantered, Ye Chui’s expression sharpened. He heard something and quickly signalled for silence.
“Thud, thud, thud.” The sound of countless footsteps approached from outside, at least a hundred strong.
Ye Chui checked his iPad grimoire’s map. Without a map pack, it only covered a ten-metre radius, enough to include the courtyard. Red dots were rapidly surrounding them.
“Is this normal too? So fascinating…” Guni asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
“No!” Debbie summoned Jirga, warily eyeing the courtyard gate.
Their location had been exposed.
With a loud crash, the gate was kicked open. A squad of heavily armed soldiers stormed in, imperial guards mixed with a few city guards bearing Fengyan City’s emblem.
“Didn’t expect you’d escape that wretched place too!” a smug voice called out. The soldiers parted, revealing the Fourth Prince.
He had cleaned up, his wounds from the mountain cats healed, likely by a healing mage. His princely attire was pristine, though his green hair remained inexplicably vivid. His handsome face twisted with furious contempt as he glared at Ye Chui’s group, his eyes lingering on Winsa.
“You wretch! Where’s your lover? Did he die in the relic world?”
Winsa’s face was icy, her grip tightening on her short sword.
“What are you doing, Chubby?” Debbie felt a flicker of relief seeing the Fourth Prince safe, but his words made her wish he’d perished in the Sword Burial Ground.
“What did you call me?” the Fourth Prince roared hysterically at Debbie. “Who’s Chubby? Anduin girl, don’t push me! Today, you’ll die here, and your Anduin family will suffer!”
“Hmph, as if you have that kind of power,” Debbie sneered. The Anduin family was the largest south of the Warm River. A mere prince couldn’t challenge such a titan.
“You keep crossing my line!” the Fourth Prince bellowed, stepping forward and flailing his arms. His fiancée Winsa had humiliated him, but Debbie’s familiarity, calling him “Chubby” as if they were close, was infuriating. Who gave her that confidence?
You’ll all die before me today!
In his rage, and perhaps emboldened by the hundreds of elite imperial soldiers, the Fourth Prince assumed they wouldn’t dare attack. He stepped to the front of the formation. As he waved his arm to order the soldiers to seize them, a white light shot from Ye Chui’s iPad grimoire.
A few imperial guards reacted quickly but couldn’t block it. The light struck the Fourth Prince.
Mid-level mental spell: [Goddess Aqua’s Blessing]
“You dare attack me, you…” the Fourth Prince began to roar, but his words faltered. His willpower seemed to dissolve, his mind dizzy, as if stuffed with mush. Who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing?
“Your Highness!” the soldiers cried, alarmed.
“Let’s go!” Ye Chui shouted, pointing to a wall. The house was surrounded, but that spot had the fewest soldiers. Guni, in sync with Ye Chui, let out a “Hah!” and charged, swinging her greatsword at the wall.
With a boom, the already dilapidated wall collapsed, knocking over soldiers on the other side. Jirga covered their rear, fending off approaching soldiers. Ye Chui activated [Wind God Legs], grabbing Debbie with one hand and Lesha with the other. Lesha pulled Winsa along, and they fled.
Jirga fought briefly before returning to Debbie’s side.
The imperial guards, furious, moved to pursue, but the Fourth Prince suddenly screamed, “Don’t chase them! Protect me! Protect me now!”
“Your Highness?” a soldier asked, confused. There was no danger here, was there?
“I don’t care! My safety comes first! Don’t chase them!” the Fourth Prince shouted, his intelligence plummeting.
The soldiers were speechless.
Ye Chui’s group reached the slums’ main street.
Morning had arrived, and the slums buzzed with activity. The ragged residents, frightened by patrolling soldiers, cowered in corners.
Ye Chui’s group encountered more soldiers, whom Guni knocked out with her stone sword. Their hideout in the slums was clearly compromised. The Fourth Prince’s raid had been backed by heavy forces.
“President!” Green’s shout rang out. Ye Chui turned, stunned, to see Green and Cass running toward them, pursued by a squad of heavily armoured black-armoured warriors.
“Black Guards! They’re incredibly strong, each with the power of a senior swordsman!” Debbie recognised them, shouting in surprise. Several Black Guards swiftly blocked their escape routes. Debbie’s face grew grave. “The Black Guards are exclusive to the royal family, and only prince-level figures can command them. Chubby’s just a prince. How does he have Black Guards?”
“They’re Prince Gail’s personal soldiers!” Cass said, leaping to Ye Chui’s side with Green, holding Winsa close. “We barely gathered any information before noticing soldiers flooding the slums. We ran into these Black Guards. They’re formidable, so we hurried back to you.”
“Prince Gail?” Debbie paused, puzzled. “I know most of the empire’s princes, but Prince Gail? There’s no such person. The Seventh Prince, who I’m closest to, is named Gail, but he hasn’t been made a prince…”
“Prince Gail came to Fengyan City because of the Fourth Prince’s disappearance,” Green said, panting, glancing at the Black Guards surrounding them. His gaze settled on a tall man approaching on horseback. “That’s Prince Gail!”
The man was elderly, perhaps in his seventies, with white hair and beard, yet his body was robust. His armour, marked with sword scars and cracks, exuded an aura of awe rather than ruin. The marks were badges of a warrior’s honour. His sharp eyes fixed on Ye Chui’s group from afar.
“Who’s this old guy?” Debbie asked, confused. The empire had no such prince, though he seemed vaguely familiar.
Ye Chui frowned at Debbie, holding back from breaking out. If he was right, Debbie was in for a shock.
Amid the commotion, the Fourth Prince, recovered from Ye Chui’s intelligence-lowering spell, arrived with more soldiers. Seeing Ye Chui’s group surrounded by Black Guards, he grinned maniacally. “You’re done for today! My seventh grandpa’s Black Guards have you trapped. No matter how strong you are, you can’t face them!”
As he spoke, Prince Gail dismounted, approaching with a cold demeanour. But when his eyes fell on Debbie, his body trembled, and he stopped.
“Seventh Grandpa! Order your Black Guards to seize them!” the Fourth Prince shouted. The Black Guards answered only to Prince Gail, not even to him.
In the Star Empire, male heirs with inheritance rights were called princes, not all siblings. The First Prince was the emperor’s youngest son, while the Twelfth Prince, still in swaddling clothes, was the emperor’s great-grandson. If a prince became emperor, tradition granted surviving princes the title of prince regent.
In Prince Gail’s generation, he was the Seventh Prince, while the Fourth Prince of that time became emperor. As the current Fourth Prince was the old emperor’s grandson, calling Prince Gail “Seventh Grandpa” was fitting.
Prince Gail’s body trembled slightly as he approached Ye Chui’s group, specifically Debbie.
Debbie looked up, puzzled, at the old man whose eyes seemed to glisten.
The Fourth Prince, confused, asked, “What’s wrong, Seventh Grandpa?”
Then, trembling, Prince Gail said to Debbie, “Sister Debbie… is that you?”
