Chapter 82: I’ll Go
Kruse’s seemingly fair words held a subtle edge, which Brute didn’t miss. He snorted, saying nothing more.
Diana, her attention elsewhere, seemed to be focused on Bai, her thoughts unreadable.
“In that case, gentlemen, I will leave the matter we discussed earlier in your capable hands,” Kruse said with a smile, turning to the two beastkin. “When facing demons, I trust our interests are aligned.”
“You don’t need to tell us that,” Brute muttered, then stood up and left.
Diana gave Bai a lingering, sultry look, then followed Brute, her hips swaying.
She had barely spoken throughout the entire exchange. Although nominally their leader, she was, by nature, not one for leadership.
However, on important matters, Brute still followed her orders.
Clearly, this wasn’t an “important matter.”
With the beastkin gone, the atmosphere in the room relaxed. Kruse dropped his polite smile, sighing and rubbing his forehead.
Kweil also looked exhausted. With no outsiders present, they no longer needed to maintain their stoic facade.
“Miss Bai, you seemed to be holding something back earlier,” Kruse said, his gaze sharp, his usual carefree demeanor gone. “Speak freely. Although Kweil and I don’t trust you completely, we are willing to trust Lady Leticia’s judgment.”
Kweil also looked at Bai, his expression a mirror of Kruse’s.
They weren’t fools. They had sensed something was amiss.
And Bai hadn’t made a significant effort to conceal her demonic nature, only enough to avoid immediate detection.
“I may know the attacker,” Bai said simply. “Her name is Ice Lily. She’s a demon commander, powerful enough to defeat both of you at once. Only Lady Leticia, fighting alongside one of you, could secure a victory.”
“And she wasn’t alone.”
Kweil and Kruse didn’t seem offended by her blunt assessment of their strength. They knew it was true.
There were Legendary Knights who could defeat a demon commander single-handedly, but they weren’t among them.
Their expressions turned grim. Bai’s words confirmed their own suspicions, the conclusions they had reached after a sleepless night of investigation.
“Rest assured, I’ve summoned all the other Legendary Knights. They will arrive by tomorrow,” Kweil said, his voice low. “There’s still time. The news of His Majesty’s assassination has been suppressed.”
“We must recover the scepter before the final ceremony.”
The Imperial Festival was a three-day event. The first day was a grand opening ceremony, with parades and city-wide celebrations.
The Emperor would tour the capital in his dragon carriage, greeting his subjects, their only chance to see him in person.
But this was all just ceremony. Even if the Emperor didn’t appear, it wouldn’t be a major issue.
The second day, however, was the Offering to the Gods, a sacred ritual where the Emperor personally made offerings at the Clock Tower Cathedral, praying for victory in battle and prosperity for the Empire.
Of course, the “gods” were merely a religious construct, created during the war to give the people hope, a focus for their faith. They held no real power.
The Empire’s high command knew this; it was an open secret.
On the final day, the Emperor, holding the scepter, would ascend to the top of the Clock Tower alone and use the scepter to invoke a “miracle.”
In other words, he would use the scepter, the key, to open a connection to Vikarn and activate the ancient empire’s devices stored within.
Besides the capital’s large-scale detector, the other devices remained in Vikarn, the North Empire unable to retrieve them.
Free access to Vikarn required either the Gatekeeper’s bloodline or the Gatekeeper’s ring, but both only allowed individual entry, and the devices couldn’t be brought out.
There was another way. Using the scepter on the day of the festival, with the power of the nine Authorities, they could temporarily breach the barrier between Vikarn and Solor, allowing free access.
But after that, the passage would collapse, severing the connection forever, leaving Vikarn a lost island in the void.
Sasha’s intention was clear. She wanted to use the second method to enter Vikarn, activate a pre-existing sealing protocol, and then sever the connection, burying the source of all calamities forever.
But Bai didn’t know this. The files she had accessed hadn’t mentioned how to enter Vikarn, only that the festival was the key.
She had assumed it was a temporary opening.
Of course, the other Legendary Knights were also unaware of this. These secrets were known only to the Imperial family.
Besides them, only Sasha, who had lived since the time of the ancient empire, knew the full truth. Even Lugner had only had a vague understanding, piecing together clues from Sasha’s actions.
And now, Ares, the only one who knew the truth, was unconscious.
So, Kweil and Kruse assumed the attacker’s goal was to disrupt the festival, not destroy Vikarn.
“But the immediate problem is the opening ceremony…” Kruse said, a headache forming. “His Majesty is in no condition to attend. He won’t be able to participate in the Offering to the Gods either, let alone the final ceremony…”
“Your Highness, can’t you take his place?” Bai asked. She remembered that Kruse was also a member of the royal family, Ares’s uncle.
“…I’m not in the direct line of succession. And with my current… reputation, it wouldn’t be appropriate,” Kruse shook his head, a hint of sadness in his voice. “The only suitable candidate is Princess Lilia, but in her current state…”
Before he could finish, a weak voice came from the doorway.
“I’ll go.”
