Chapter 215: Little Deer’s Heart Pounding
“I command you, in the name of the Imperial Princess, to cease fire immediately!”
Diana pointed at Hecate’s nose, her tone arrogant.
Unbeknownst to Lena, the cute little princess was also fighting hard.
“My fiancée, the young lady of the Falmouth family, Lena, is in there, you will not harm a hair on her head, or you’ll see what I’m capable of!”
Her childish voice was filled with rage.
Diana paced back and forth anxiously, but Hecate remained unmoved, his hands in his pockets, his back to her.
“Did you hear me?! Hecate!”
“I heard you, Your Highness.”
“Then stop them! Aren’t you the commander of the Imperial Guard?!”
“…”
Hecate looked at Diana with his calm, dark eyes, his expression unchanging, a chilling sight.
Diana took a step back, intimidated…
Hecate slowly approached, brushing the raindrops from Diana’s violet hair.
“Your Highness, don’t catch a cold, I don’t think Prince Red would be pleased to see you pleading for a woman…”
“You mean, this is all Red’s doing?!”
Diana’s sharp mind immediately understood.
Hecate remained silent, looking up at the night sky.
The sky had already darkened, and his silence was a tacit admission.
Until an umbrella appeared.
Hecate took the black umbrella from a subordinate, opening it and holding it over Diana’s head. “Your Highness, have you heard the story of the [Nea Cult]?”
“A group of rebels, spreading evil teachings?”
Diana had a vague recollection.
She had heard of their wicked ways at the palace, human sacrifices, child grooming, cannibalism.
The mere words sent a shiver down her spine.
But Hecate shook his head. “Just a fabricated enemy created by the empire. The [Nea Cult] is real, but they’re not the evil cult they’re made out to be. I’ve seen them with my own eyes, a group of peaceful, like-minded people, their teachings not of murder and arson, but of love.”
“…Love.”
Diana was stunned. “But why would the empire want to eliminate them?”
Hecate chuckled softly. “Your Highness is still too young, you’ll understand when you’re older.”
His words were a reflection of his own powerlessness.
Hecate didn’t want to destroy the [Nea Cult], but his superiors wouldn’t allow such a “subversive” organization to exist.
And before this, the [Nea Cult]’s influence had reached its peak, the commoners rallying behind them, but the empire had ways to turn a saint into a pariah, a fall from grace in just three months.
How did they do it…?
Slander, rumors, bribery, creating fear and chaos, sowing the seeds of evil…
The [Nea Cult]’s hard work, their reputation among the people, all destroyed by the empire.
This was what Hecate had first learned about the [Nea Cult].
Now, they were just a joke among the nobles, a dreaded plague among the commoners.
Diana, seemingly understanding, felt a pang of sympathy.
“Can’t we save them?”
Hecate replied calmly, “The Empress’s orders are absolute, all we can do is watch and pray.”
“So, even my status can’t help Lena…”
She tugged at Hecate’s sleeve, her eyes pleading. “You have a way, don’t you? You’ve watched me grow up, you’ve always doted on me, Hecate…”
Diana’s eyes were red-rimmed, like a wronged little rabbit.
Hecate paused, he hadn’t heard her call him “brother” in a long time, how nostalgic…
“Hecate, please help me, Lena is in danger! If she dies, I’ll be a lonely widow.”
Diana sobbed, wiping her tears. “I’m so young, I don’t want to be a widow…”
She hadn’t even had a taste of love, and now she was about to become a young widow.
Alone, Diana couldn’t imagine her life without Lena.
“You have to help me, I don’t care! You promised to protect me for the rest of my life!!”
Crying and shouting, Diana reverted to her usual tantrums.
She didn’t care about the dirt or the water, she just wanted to make a scene.
Hecate sighed, as if making a difficult decision.
He bent down and helped her up, his large hand gently patting her head.
“Don’t cry, Your Highness, remember the story I told you? Every year at this time, a blizzard comes, and when it passes, the sun will shine again. Just wait a little longer, when the blizzard stops, Lena will come home…”
“But when will it stop?”
Diana wiped the dirt from her face, her eyes still teary.
“Soon.”
Hecate promised.
He zipped up his raincoat, his strong arms outlined by the black fabric, standing firm in the rain, like a giant.
Diana realized what Hecate was about to do, but she swallowed her words. “You have to come back safely too, Hecate…”
“Mm.”
He nodded, his black hood obscuring his face.
The tall man disappeared into the rainy night.
…….
Silence.
The storm of blades had shattered several fireballs, the clash of fire and steel creating a spectacular scene.
Snow’s skill was truly remarkable, her technique far surpassing Lena’s.
Lena watched in awe, her applause feeling inadequate.
“Truly… a hero.”
This was the protagonist’s halo!
She had made the right investment, Lena thought.
“Are you tired…?”
Lena was about to step forward, but Snow’s attack wasn’t over.
Without a moment’s rest, a seventh-rank Grand Magus’s [Fire Blast] descended!
The flames seemed to burn the sky, leaving behind gray embers.
Snow didn’t move…
No, her wrist moved at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, [Dark Plum Blossom] still in its scabbard, its sharpness palpable.
The fire blast descended.
The flames roared, devouring everything.
A seventh-rank Grand Magus’s full-power attack could destroy a small city.
But Snow’s blade, her will, would swallow this sea of fire, leaving nothing behind…
[Absorb]
She thought silently.
A simple name.
Snow used a flash step, appearing in the air, the tip of her blade touching the fire blast, her pupils suddenly glowing with a strange light.
Even stranger, the terrifying fire blast didn’t harm Snow at all, not even the shockwave reaching the ground, it simply vanished.
The civilians in the cellar were saved.
It was Snow who had saved them.
“Amazing, amazing.”
Lena didn’t know what to say, only clapping, her eyes filled with admiration and relief.
“To break through in the middle of a battle, you saved everyone, what should I call you, Miss Monster?”
“Ugh… pfft—”
Snow coughed up a mouthful of blood, crimson trickling from her nose and mouth.
She swayed, like a drunkard about to collapse, leaning against a broken wall, gasping for breath.
“Snow!”
Lena rushed over. “What’s wrong?! Internal injuries?”
That shouldn’t be, Snow had absorbed the entire fire blast… unless…
“You absorbed too much?”
Lena asked cautiously.
“…” Snow’s expression was blank, her ears red.
Well, that was probably it.
“Why did you have to be so stubborn? Now you’ve hurt yourself, what are you going to do?”
“…Sorry.”
“It’s too late, you’re a burden to me now!” Lena chuckled, like a villain.
“I’m sorry.”
Snow obediently lowered her head.
Although her body ached, she didn’t complain, silently enduring the pain.
Lena seemed angry…
She thought to herself.
But why was she angry?
Snow didn’t understand.
“I have to punish you.” Lena stroked Snow’s burning earlobe, her cold expression unchanging, yet she had opened her heart to Lena, letting Lena tease and play with her.
“Let me think, I’ll punish you by carrying you on my back! Hmm, being dominated and unable to resist, being so close to another woman, hehe, it must be so humiliating!”
Lena crouched down, and Snow obediently climbed onto her back, her legs wrapped around Lena’s waist, her arms around her neck.
This was a strange kind of gentleness.
Snow’s heart pounded, her pain and fatigue vanishing, replaced by a strange sense of contentment and comfort.
“Relax, don’t strangle me.”
Lena joked, walking into the ruins.
This was one of the hiding places Snow had discovered, likely the main target of the empire’s attack.
The hero’s intuition was never wrong.
In a way, Lena knew Snow’s body better than Snow herself.
“It’s time for the rats to experience the fireworks.”
[Domain]
With a stomp of her foot, the area transformed into a playground for the undead.
The corrupted earth birthed undead creatures, a thick black mist obscuring the sky, seeping into the ground, driving out the rats hiding below!
This was a party for the dead.
It was time for the rats to show themselves.
Lena smiled, summoning several giant Abominations, their cleavers like hoes, tilling the earth, tireless and relentless.
Gargoyles patrolled the sky, ghouls guarding every corner of the ruins, leaving no escape for the “rats.”
This was where a Necromancer’s power truly shone.
Lena could delegate all the dirty work to her undead creations, enjoying the show, while Snow watched in awe. “So strong…”
“Heh, want to join my side, be my apprentice?” Lena teased.
“I’ll think about it…”
Snow actually considered it.
Lena panicked. “No, no, I was wrong, I take it back, you continue being the hero, don’t even think about changing professions.”
She had finally gotten the hero, although a bit naive, she was the real deal.
If she changed professions, Lena would be devastated.
“Okay.”
Snow obediently agreed.
She rested her head on Lena’s back, a faint, elegant fragrance easing the heat in her ears.
Her face was always flushed lately, she didn’t know why…
She must be sick, but the illness only flared up when she was near Lena, how strange…
Lena commanded her undead army, while Snow was lost in thought, her head buried in Lena’s neck, inhaling her familiar lavender scent.
A quarter of an hour passed.
The search progressed.
“A living creature, fifty meters below.”
Lena narrowed the search area, quickly pinpointing the location.
Several burrowing creatures emerged from the ground, their bodies like ants, their eyes like spiders, their black eyes possessing night vision, able to navigate the depths of the earth with ease.
“Squeak…”
“Chirp…”
The two burrowers communicated with their front claws, then wrote the coordinates on the ground.
Such a novel method, even Snow was seeing it for the first time.
“Not bad,” Lena tapped one of their heads.
The hard shell made a hollow sound.
Snow paused, then understood the burrower’s anatomy.
A pair of powerful mandibles for tearing prey, strong front limbs for digging, and three pairs of hind limbs for transporting soil.
Snow, like a curious child, observed everything about Lena.
This was the first time she had seen Lena use her professional magic, and it was quite impressive, summoning an army of undead…?
“Don’t overthink it, the tunnel is open, we have to move.”
The third wave of magic bombardment was about to begin, each wave more intense than the last.
The last fire blast, powerful enough to destroy this area, had been nullified by Snow, and this time, it would likely be the last…
“Get ready.”
“Mm.”
Snow hugged Lena’s neck tightly, closing her eyes, clearing her mind.
The world spun.
Her brain felt like it was being shaken, the sound of digging echoing in her ears, like a heavy-duty tractor drilling through the earth.
Snow didn’t open her eyes, she trusted Lena.
The two burrowers broke through the last layer of rock, revealing a hidden chamber.
An ancient ruin, its walls covered in cracks and moss, rubble scattered everywhere.
Eight massive pillars, each requiring five people to encircle, stood in a circle, guarding the chamber.
The pillars were covered in ancient, incomprehensible runes, and a sword was embedded in the top of each one, rusty and covered in dust.
