Chapter145: Viki!?
“Lord Tarlasya—”
Suddenly, a knight burst in from the main hall, weaving quickly through the crowd. He rushed over to the pope knight, looking pretty anxious as he lowered his voice to say, “Sir, there are intruders outside the fortress, and they’re fighting someone in a black robe. They’ve already killed three…”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried through the quiet hall to the second floor, where I could hear every word clearly.
Oh…
The Sword Demon has been discovered.
I hid behind the railing, sitting cross-legged as I eavesdropped, taking a good look at the troop deployments throughout the hall.
At the entrance, there were six people…
About twenty in the center, not counting the City Guards on either side. If things went down, I could take out all the knights in less than a second—there wouldn’t be anyone left to escape…
“Three killed?”
While observing, I heard Tarlasya, the pope knight, fall into contemplation upon hearing this. “Were they rebels? How many did they send?”
After a moment, he waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind, it’s not important. I’ll leave it to the Choir of Saints to handle it quickly… Do they really need to come report such trivial matters to me?”
“N-no, sir…”
The knight, flustered, bowed deeply and lowered his voice even further, “What I meant was, the three sacrificed were all members of the Choir… They’re barely holding on, and it seems the opponent is just one person.”
One person?
They haven’t realized I’m here.
After the knight spoke, Tarlasya, who had been about to turn and ignore it, abruptly paused.
“You mean to say…”
He turned back quickly. “One person broke in here and killed three members of the Choir?”
“Yes, yes… at least three…”
“Who is it? What’s their identity.”
“Well, um, it seems to be a woman…”
“A woman?”
The man’s voice was incredibly calm. After an initial flicker of surprise, he didn’t seem too concerned upon learning it was just one woman. He simply said, “To be able to take on eight execution members from the Choir and decisively k*ll three… Is there such a woman among the rebels? What kind of Power of Order is she using, frost? Fire?”
“Neither… It’s lightning…”
“…Lightning, huh?”
Tarlasya seemed to lose interest in asking further.
“Got it, you can leave now.”
“S-sir…”
The knight wanted to say more but was cut off. “Go find out the identity and intentions of the opponent. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
“Yes…”
Not long after the knight left, Tarlasya looked at the door blocking his way and stepped forward.
“Sorry, you can’t go in yet.”
Standing by the door, the Sword of Kanli blocked him with an outstretched hand.
“Do you two think you can stop me?”
The man placed a hand on his sword, his tone dripping with a hint of threat. “You heard what I just said; I’m pressed for time and don’t want to waste it with a turtle. Either you go inside and bring her out, or I’m going in myself.”
“Haha.”
The Kanli Sword man chuckled lightly, showing no sign of fear. “We won’t know if we can stop you unless we try.”
Both sides stood their ground, but after a moment, neither seemed inclined to make a move.
I was growing a bit impatient.
What’s Viki doing…?
Is she coming out or not? If she does, I’m going to take action!
Once I burst out, the first person I’ll hit will be her—just in front of that pope knight and everyone else, while I look for a chance to talk!
This is the best plan I have right now. I don’t want to give her any trouble, and I definitely don’t want a disaster to befall all of Ethanbel, so at least I need to put on this show.
She’ll surely recognize me at first glance and immediately guess my intentions. We’ll have a sky battle to draw attention, which actually makes it easier for us to talk.
Once I know where Mother is, I’ll just knock her away…
I’ve wanted to try this for a while.
With that thought, I quietly straightened up.
“Lord Tarlasya, would you like to give it a try?”
Clang—
A clang echoed as the Sword of Kanli already drew his weapon, and seeing this, the knights pulled their swords too, while the City Guards set their pikes in front of them, encircling the knights with a whoosh.
“Put down your weapons—”
“I’ll see who dares to make a move!”
“Lord Tarlasya, you’ve repeatedly spoken disrespectfully to Her Majesty the Queen! Do you really think the warriors of Ethanbel have no temper!?”
The hall immediately descended into chaos, the atmosphere taut with tension as everyone felt on edge—except for Tarlasya, who stood unmoving amidst the crowd, completely ignoring the blade aimed at him. He didn’t even bother touching the sword at his waist.
It was as if he were waiting.
Then, I heard a lazy voice drift in from the side room.
“Wow, it’s so noisy…”
The moment that voice rang out, like a sweet songbird, it silenced the entire hall. The two Kanli Sword warriors immediately sheathed their weapons, and the door creaked open to reveal a woman with golden locks, dressed in a flowing white gown, strolling into everyone’s view.
At that moment, for reasons I couldn’t explain, I felt like my heart had taken a punch.
She really came out…
“You woke me up from my nap.”
The woman casually ran her fingers through her hair as she approached Tarlasya. Her long skirt swayed in the wind, revealing a nearly perfect silhouette.
Standing before the man, she tilted her head back to look at his face without any pretense. Just by standing there, the entire hall’s lights seemed to dim, and the previously tense atmosphere deflated like a popped balloon. The knight soldiers unconsciously dropped their weapons, all eyes fixated on her in a bit of a daze.
…Now’s my chance! Move!
I leaped up, jumping onto the railing. With everyone’s attention on the woman, I gathered a bit of Frost Power and prepared to take a Moon Step—
But at that very moment, I heard her speak again: “Ugh, so annoying, my skirt got a little wrinkled while I slept… I mean, you guys, is it really okay to disturb a woman’s sleep late at night? So annoying.”
She yawned and covered her mouth with her hand.
That lazy look, the kind of voice that could make you melt, left everyone, including me, completely stunned.
?
Viki???
Who the heck are you!!
I nearly lost my balance and nearly stepped off the railing.
“There’s a mouse…”
Suddenly, the pope knight exploded into flames, charging straight for me.
Whoosh—
The intense heat rushed towards me instantly. My mind was still dazed, thinking that woman really looked like Viki. Even her voice sounded familiar, but Viki couldn’t possibly look like that! Her face was partially obscured by tousled golden hair, and I couldn’t see clearly, just feeling like it had been two years since I last saw her. Did she get traumatized or go crazy? Just like in a drama, had her personality changed or even lost her memory? Thoughts rushed through my mind, causing a mental short circuit, then the impact hit me, and I was sent flying backward.
