“In the market ahead, the honey pastries are delicious. Let’s go try them. A couple of days ago the guild leader gave that little shop owner more than a dozen gold coins, so now the pastry shop has hired several more helpers and the treats taste even better,” Green said happily as he walked with Booth along the morning streets. “We can eat there completely free of charge.”
“…” Booth gave a polite nod. She thought to herself that being taken on a first date to eat free food was truly… She suddenly sensed something and turned to look behind her.
“What’s wrong?” Green asked.
“I don’t know why, but I keep feeling someone is watching us from behind. It can’t be Ye Chui and Debbie and the others, can it?” There was nobody there. Nearby stood an old tree. Though it was summer, the leaves were still sparse. A few birds perched on the branches. There was no sign of any peeper. She shook her head. “It must be my imagination. How could they possibly be that bored…”
“Exactly. The guild leader and Miss Debbie promised me they wouldn’t follow,” Green said quickly, though his voice suddenly wavered. Knowing his own guild members, they very well might do something like secretly spying… So Green hurriedly scanned the surroundings too. Seeing nothing suspicious, he continued leading Booth forward.
…
Inside the Arbitrary Name Magic Guild, in the ground-floor lounge, a shimmering screen of light hung on one wall. In a magical world, light-and-shadow magic was hardly rare, but a projection this clear was extremely uncommon. Most importantly, this was not magic but a magical construct, which made it all the more precious.
It was a holographic device Ye Chui had bought from the mall. It could connect to Redwing and project whatever Redwing detected onto the screen.
The image currently displayed showed Booth and Green strolling through the streets together.
On the soft seats in the lounge, Ye Chui and the others were munching snacks, drinking wine, and shamelessly watching the show. They were even placing bets on whether the pair would kiss later, or do something even more daring. Ye Chui grandly claimed he was simply concerned about the daily lives of guild members…
High in the sky, Redwing looked like nothing more than an unremarkable little bird. No one would suspect it was actually a surveillance magical construct.
Everyone expressed intense affection for Ye Chui’s peeping equipment.
“From the start until now, Green hasn’t even held Booth’s hand once. What’s he so shy about? Look, when Booth turned her head away just now she looked a bit unhappy. Surely the boy has to make the first move,” Debbie commented enthusiastically.
“At this rate, let alone kissing when they part, I doubt they’ll even manage to hold hands,” Ye Chui sighed. “I gave him over a thousand gold coins to spend freely, and he takes Booth to eat free food…”
In the end he could only shake his head, feeling Green was too useless. Maybe before the date he should have unlocked a few adult films for Green to study. They weren’t expensive anyway; one point could unlock an entire pile. Of course, Ye Chui knew the price wasn’t because he had unlocked any with impure intentions… He had unlocked them for legitimate reasons. He had planned to create a powerful spell called the Harem Seduction Curse, but in the end he abandoned the idea for the sake of his image.
Time was approaching noon. On the screen the pair still showed no further progress, and everyone in the lounge was starting to feel anxious for them. At that moment Ye Chui suddenly noticed something. “Someone is approaching them.”
He adjusted Redwing’s viewing angle. Not far behind Green and Booth, a figure was sneaking about in a dark alley. Though cloaked, the build was unmistakably Krean!
“That kid is planning to cause trouble!” Ye Chui declared at once.
As the son of the Phase King, Krean had suffered a huge loss at Ye Chui’s hands and lost all face in front of Booth. He must be seething with hatred at how close Green and Booth had become. Knowing today was Booth’s farewell date, he had secretly planned to interfere. With his powerful magnetic magic, Green stood no chance against him.
“What do we do? Although Green treats Krean as his arch-enemy, right now he is absolutely no match for him,” Leisha said nervously.
“It’s too late to rush over now…”
Ye Chui’s expression grew slightly grave. He controlled Redwing to dive towards Krean hiding in the corner, intending to harass him with it.
…
Krein crouched in the alley, watching the pair walking together. His face twisted with rage.
Booth was the new generation’s Heavenly Maiden Phase King. A handsome and talented man like himself was beneath her notice, yet she chose that baldy Green. To him this was utter humiliation!
Today she was originally scheduled to leave the Star Empire for the Magic Guild, but Booth had left for some business and strictly forbade Black Phase Servant from following. Krean had hoped she was going to challenge Ye Chui again, but instead she was on a date with Green. He absolutely could not tolerate it.
Krein quietly took out a handful of thin nails from his pocket. Under his magnetic magic, the nails slowly floated into the air.
Back when he had only just awakened his grimoire and had yet to master powerful spells, sneak-attacking people with nails had been his strongest trump card. Now he planned to use the same trick again.
Under his control, the nails drifted slowly towards Green. He intended to kill Green with a surprise attack!
However, at that moment he heard a “whoosh” of something cutting through the air by his ear. Though Krean had seemed useless against Ye Chui, he actually possessed considerable combat experience. The nails he had been controlling to attack Green instantly turned and shot towards the source of the sound. Ding, ding, ding. A few light clinks rang out. Sparks flew from Redwing. Its diving momentum greatly weakened, but it still crashed into Krean’s body with a bang.
Krein let out a startled cry and toppled sideways.
Redwing flipped and soared back into the air, circled once, then charged at Krean again with tremendous force.
Krein raised his right hand. Under his magnetic magic, what looked like several bolts of electricity crackled through the air. Redwing froze half a metre away from him. Although Redwing was an exquisite magical construct, it was still made of metal and thus restrained by magnetic magic.
Seeing Redwing’s strange appearance, Krean looked baffled. “What on earth is this thing?”
…
Inside the castle, the screen happened to be zoomed in on Krean’s puzzled face.
“Looking at it this way, he really is even stupider,” Debbie remarked.
Everyone else agreed wholeheartedly.
…
“Krein!?”
An angry shout suddenly came from behind Krean.
Krein shuddered all over and hurriedly turned around. Booth’s face, cold as frost, appeared before him. Green stood warily behind her, having already summoned his enchanted brick.
Ye Chui had never expected Redwing to finish Krean off. Though Krean was a good-for-nothing, he was still a powerhouse worth over a thousand points. Ye Chui had only wanted Redwing to make some noise and draw Booth’s attention.
“No wonder I kept feeling watched. So it was you… You’ve been following us since morning!” Booth said coldly.
Krein hurriedly tried to explain. “I just got here…”
The next instant his body was frozen solid into a block of ice. With a wave of her hand, Booth sent the huge ice chunk flying through the air like a meteor hurled far away.
Green suddenly felt the brick in his hand was utterly powerless.
Having casually dealt with Krean, Booth clapped her hands, turned back to Green, and smiled radiantly. “Shall we continue?”
Green: “…Yes.”
As they walked away, Booth glanced doubtfully back into the alley once more. She thought she had just seen something fly away from beside Krean… Probably her imagination?
…
Inside the castle, Ye Chui and company all marvelled at Booth’s decisiveness.
Our Sister Li, ruthless and laconic.
…
It was now noon.
A sumptuous lunch had been prepared in Ye Chui’s castle. The group shamelessly watched Green and Booth’s awkward date while eating.
In the Red River of the imperial capital, Krean, having finally melted the ice covering his body, shivered as he crawled ashore, only to be mocked by a crowd of women doing laundry. Naturally Booth had not killed him; she had merely frozen him into a block and thrown him into the river.
At that very moment, Prince Gale stood in his mansion with a somewhat solemn expression, gazing through the window towards the imperial palace.
Today was the day he and the old emperor would carry out their grand plan!
They had chosen today because it was the day Ye Chui had promised the Hanamura Magic Guild to heal Evans. According to his calculations, Ye Chui and his unruly little band would surely cause another commotion and have no attention to spare for anything else, leaving him and the emperor free to execute their plan, one Ye Chui would never agree to. Yet according to the intelligence he had received, the Hanamura side was very quiet and showed no sign of coming to trouble Ye Chui…
Of course, his greatest concern right now was the old emperor inside the palace.
He poured himself a glass of wine, raised it towards the palace in a toast, and drained it in one gulp.
…
Inside the imperial palace, in the luxurious banquet hall, the table was laden with all manner of delicacies, yet only two people sat at it: the old emperor and the red-robed Archbishop Elisha.
By tradition, the red-robed archbishop visited the palace once a month to expound scripture to His Majesty and spread the faith. As the Church’s leader in the Star Empire, Elisha had grown extremely familiar with this palace over the decades.
But today felt different.
“I must confess I do not understand.”
Elisha suddenly set down his knife and fork. His kindly face turned to the old emperor. “I have always known you bear deep hatred for the Church and wish to drive it out of the Star Empire. For decades you have worked towards that goal. I too have waited to see what you would do, imagining many possibilities and wondering when you would strike.
“But I never expected it now, and in this manner.”
Elisha rose from the table. A layer of sinister-feeling magic arrays suddenly flared to life on every wall, window, the floor, and the ceiling of the banquet hall.
The crimson runes seemed to possess a strange power. The murals and carvings on the walls shattered and burned. Fine tables, chairs, and chandeliers collapsed into rubble with loud crashes. Food scattered across the floor. Two maids who rushed in screamed as that eerie force flung them back. The blood-red runes writhed like living things, swiftly crawling over Elisha’s body and binding him like chains.
Only the old emperor remained calmly seated.
A smile played on his face as he gently stroked a ring on his right hand.
“This is the Demon-Sealing Magic Array recorded in the Book of Sauron. Though you may not know it, this array itself originated from the Church. The legendary swordsman Sauron obtained it from the Church’s hands!” Elisha’s breathing grew slightly laboured, yet his expression remained utterly calm.
From the moment he had sat down to dine he had sensed something amiss. The array had locked his body in place. Only now, when the old emperor fully activated it, did he recognise what it was. A trace of mockery appeared on his aged face. “This array cannot hold me.”
“But it is enough.”
The old emperor smiled and said, drawing a deep breath. His expression became solemn beyond measure.
“The Star Empire hereby declares war on the Church!”
