Green took Booth to a small tavern for lunch. This was not because Green was stingy and refused to treat her to a proper feast. Booth herself had asked to eat ordinary people’s food. As a magical prodigy heavily cultivated by the Magic Guild and the heir to the Phase King, her daily meals were always of the highest standard, far surpassing even what imperial royalty enjoyed. Today she wanted to set aside her heavy status and experience life as a commoner for once.
After a simple yet tasty lunch, Booth gently patted her stomach, feeling she had not eaten this comfortably in ages.
The two left the tavern and stood under the blazing afternoon sun.
Booth smiled at Green. “Well, it’s time for me to go.”
Green fell silent with reluctance, then nodded slightly. “I’ll walk you to the city gate.”
They began walking quietly towards the gate. Green hesitated for a long while before finally stepping closer and taking Booth’s hand. His face looked tense. When he saw the faint reproach in her eyes, as if complaining that he had finally made a move, he relaxed a little.
They did not really look like a couple on a date. Both were stiff, their posture awkward as they walked together all the way to the north gate of the capital.
Black Phase Servant, Krean, and the black-robed fire specialist were already waiting there, along with two anxious-looking magisters. Seeing the pair arrive hand in hand, all three wore strange, angry expressions.
The dignified Phase King magister was actually this close to a talentless, unremarkable baldy…
Although the Magic Guild placed no strict restrictions on a Phase King’s marriage, past Phase Kings had usually chosen sufficiently powerful partners to produce strong offspring. Booth’s behaviour was simply too reckless and irresponsible!
Yet remembering how stubborn she was about this, none of them said anything.
The two stopped at the gate and released their hands. High in the sky, a tiny dot circled like a bird. Both seemed hesitant. Green’s body trembled slightly; he was caught between impulse and reason. He wanted to give Booth a farewell hug but could not bring himself to do it. Sweat covered his face; his expression looked pained and rather comical.
In the end, Booth took the initiative. She hugged him and lightly kissed his lips. Half a capital away, inside the Arbitrary Name Magic Guild castle, a cheer erupted. Then, like a shy little bird, Booth ran to the carriage beside Black Phase Servant and Krean and slipped inside.
“Booth, you…” Krean growled angrily. His face was still pale from being frozen earlier; he looked unwell.
“Shut up!” Booth snapped imperiously.
“Miss Booth, you just…” Black Phase Servant began.
“I said shut up!” Booth shouted. “We’re leaving!”
With that, the carriage drawn by three white horses began to move. Black Phase Servant glanced hesitantly at Green, sighed, and climbed in.
Krein glared at Green with pure hatred before jumping onto the carriage, only to be kicked back out by Booth.
The black-robed man followed at a distance.
The carriage gradually disappeared from sight.
Watching it go, Green suddenly felt a surge of impulse. He shouted, “Booth! I will definitely come to the Magic Guild to find you!”
The Magic Guild was one of the most sacred and inviolable places in the world. To seek out a Phase King magister there, the two magisters who had come to see her off instinctively sneered. But when Green gave them a cold glare, they shivered. For some reason, their mockery vanished completely.
“I’ll wait for you!” Booth’s clear voice carried back from afar.
…
When the carriage was no longer visible, Green turned and began walking back towards the guild castle, filled with loneliness.
For some reason, the two magisters did not leave immediately. They whispered to each other.
Just then, another believer came running up in a panic. “Bad news! Archbishop Elisha seems to have been attacked inside the palace! Hurry, we must go help! The Star royal family… they’re going to war with the Church!”
War with the Church!?
This was quite possibly the most shocking news imaginable.
Green’s melancholy was instantly swept away by astonishment. He quickened his pace towards the guild castle to tell the guild leader and the others.
At that moment, with a clatter, a strange magical construct fell from the sky and landed squarely in his arms.
It was Redwing.
Its bizarre design, utterly unlike anything in this world, left Green stunned for a moment before he instantly realised what it was.
He glared angrily at the sky, then back at Redwing. He had known the guild leader and the others could not possibly be uninterested in his date…
…
After hearing the shocking news through Redwing, Ye Chui immediately cut the connection and let Green keep the device. He and Debbie, Leisha, and the others swiftly left the guild castle and headed for the palace.
They had long known of Prince Gale’s hostility towards the Church. Back in Windrock City, the prince had hinted at parts of a grand plan, of which Ye Chui pretending to be an illegitimate son was just one piece. War between the empire and the Church had always been coming; they simply had not expected it to begin so suddenly, and at this particular moment.
Yet for something this huge, why had neither Prince Gale nor the old emperor mentioned a word to them?
Ye Chui used [Divine Might Null] to teleport with Debbie in several rapid jumps straight to the palace. The spell allowed extremely fast movement, but he could not carry many people at once, so only Debbie came with him instantly while the others hurried behind.
Outside the palace, angry believers had already surrounded the place, along with crowds of onlookers.
Prince Gale was there too. Black-armoured guards and golden-robed officials tensely guarded the palace gates, preventing anyone from entering.
The standoff looked strange. Though the believers were furious, they had not yet clashed directly with the guards.
“Little Seven, what on earth is going on?” Debbie felt dizzy from the successive teleports. She clutched Prince Gale’s shoulder and asked urgently, “What happened inside the palace?”
“Ye Chui, Sister Debbie…” Seeing them appear, Prince Gale instinctively felt his scalp tingle. The last thing he wanted was for them to get involved. “Archbishop Elisha is suspected of attacking Fourth Brother. The entire palace is shrouded in faith power. We cannot enter!” he said gravely.
“Impossible! Elisha would never attack His Majesty! It was His Majesty who attacked Elisha! Let us in at once!” a bishop-level believer rebuked coldly.
“The power enveloping the palace is the power of faith, and right now Elisha is the only believer inside!” Prince Gale countered coldly.
Looking up, they could see faint, sinister red light emanating from a room high in the towering palace, the banquet hall. The outer walls were covered in writhing blood-red runes.
That bishop clearly recognised them. “The Demon-Sealing Magic Array from the Book of Sauron… It is indeed something of the Church, but the Church is not the only one who can use it!”
“If Elisha did not deploy this array, are you saying His Majesty did? That His Majesty used Church power against the red-robed archbishop?” Prince Gale retorted coldly.
Debbie whispered in confusion, “If that’s the case, why aren’t we rushing in to save the old emperor?”
“The situation inside is extremely dangerous. The Demon-Sealing Array is deadly. We cannot act rashly. I’ve already sent people to break it,” Prince Gale replied.
“Let Debbie and me take a look. We might be able to help,” Ye Chui said immediately, yet he instinctively sensed something off.
The red-robed archbishop had no reason to attack the old emperor now. The emperor had reason to strike, but how could he use Church power against Elisha? What was really going on? Ye Chui pulled Debbie towards the palace.
But Prince Gale coldly blocked them. “You two children stop fooling around. This concerns His Majesty’s life. Today no one may enter these gates!” He turned and gave a chilling order to the black-armoured guards behind him. “Anyone who forces entry into the palace, kill without mercy!”
“Kill!” the guards roared in unison.
Ye Chui and Debbie stared at Prince Gale in shock. The old man who had always been so close to them seemed like a completely different person at this moment.
“You must not get involved here. Leave!” Prince Gale said in a low voice to them, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.
Debbie was about to argue, but Ye Chui quickly stopped her and shook his head. He whispered to Prince Gale, “So this is the plan you and the old emperor made?” He had vaguely figured it out.
Prince Gale nodded slightly. “Please respect Fourth Brother’s resolve.”
Debbie was still confused and angry. “What are you two talking about?”
Ye Chui did not answer. He pulled her away.
Prince Gale smiled faintly with relief. Ye Chui, at least, knew when to back off.
To wage war against the Church required more than just military might. For countless years the Church had held profound influence over the people of the Castro continent. They believed in and feared its rule.
To make the people resist the Church, they needed a reason worth fighting for.
The emperor’s call to arms? Too weak.
The Church’s brutality? Too feeble.
Only blood feud could make the empire’s people take up arms against the Church.
The old emperor intended to sacrifice himself, creating the illusion that Elisha had murdered him, thereby igniting the fury of the Star Empire’s citizens against the Church and kindling this war of resistance!
The old emperor was not a wise ruler, but during his decades on the throne he had earned the genuine love of the people. Through his efforts, the Church’s power within the Star Empire had already been greatly curtailed. By having Ye Chui pose as an illegitimate son, they had provoked the Church into revealing many hidden forces. Now, if he died, murdered by the Church’s leader in the empire, the red-robed archbishop, then the empire would have a magnificent justification for war against the Church!
This was the old emperor’s resolve!
Prince Gale watched Ye Chui and Debbie leave with a faint smile.
Then he overheard their conversation.
“Ye Chui, what are you doing? Are we really just leaving?”
“Prince Gale is blocking the gate. We can’t fight him, can we?”
“Then what do we do?”
“Obviously we break in from the air!”
Prince Gale: “…”
…
Inside the banquet hall, blood-red runes writhed and flickered across every wall. Elisha’s body trembled as he slowly advanced towards the old emperor. He looked utterly exhausted. An hour had passed since the old emperor activated the array. It had taken a full hour to reach the emperor’s side. His aged face wore a mixture of satisfaction and ferocity.
His outstretched hand was about to touch the old emperor.
The old emperor still sat calmly in the only remaining chair, gently stroking the ring on his finger, smiling as if quietly awaiting death.
“I told you… the Demon-Sealing Array cannot hold me… Charlie, your pathetic trap has failed!” Elisha said haltingly. His hand was inches from the emperor’s plump chin.
The old emperor closed his eyes.
Then suddenly he heard a strange buzzing sound. His eyes snapped open towards the source. Through the rune-covered glass window, a massive object was hurtling straight at them!
BOOM!
The strange thing smashed through the window and slammed directly into Elisha’s frail body.
Elisha’s hand had been mere millimetres from the emperor. The sudden impact sent him flying, pinned against the far wall by the enormous steel construct. He let out a muffled scream of pain!
The old emperor stared in shock, eyes moving from the shattered window and the skid marks on the floor to the bizarre steel object now crushing Elisha against the wall. For a moment he was completely dumbfounded.
It had flown in!
How was that possible!?
The Demon-Sealing Array was called “demon-sealing” precisely because it restricted the flow of magical elements to a degree. Anything approaching the array would have spellcasting severely hampered. Whether magister, swordsman, believer, or summoner, unless one’s power was utterly supreme, flying in from outside was impossible. Even magical constructs should be affected!
Yet this steel behemoth was clearly a magical construct.
Crack!
The broken glass canopy on top of the construct popped open. Bang! Two figures locked in an embrace were ejected, rolling across the floor until they came to a stop at the old emperor’s feet. Then they immediately sprang up.
“Whew, that was exciting!” Debbie patted her chest and said to Ye Chui beside her.
Old Emperor: “…”
