Vol 3. Chapter 88: Invasion
With Lady Yumo's departure, only Karina and the members of the Black Rose Family remained inside the enormous Imperial Prison.
Now that Mother was gone, Karina no longer had any reason to continue pretending to be an obedient little girl. The adorable expression on her face gradually faded, and her usual indifferent, emotionless expression returned.
When facing Yumo, Karina was a caring and affectionate daughter.
When Yumo wasn't around, Karina's expression and the atmosphere surrounding her were often enough to make people's hearts tremble.
Seeing Karina return to her usual state, the members of the Black Rose Family couldn't help feeling nervous.
After all,
when they were young and Lady Yumo was too busy to look after them, Lady Karina was usually the one responsible for taking care of them. Everyone present, including Saiboke and Qiu Mingtong, had once been 'educated' by Karina.
Naturally, they had developed a certain psychological shadow toward this former 'strict teacher'......
So much so that several members of the Black Rose Family nervously lowered their heads.
However,
the current 'Flame Prison' naturally had no intention of educating anyone.
"Sigh, Mother left."
While lamenting this, Karina slowly stood up from the ground and glanced from the corner of her eye toward the place beside her where Lady Yumo had previously been sitting.
An entire night had passed,
yet the place where Lady Yumo had sat seemed to still retain traces of her lingering fragrance.
Not being able to continue spending more intimate time with Mother naturally left Karina feeling somewhat regretful.
However, when she thought about how she had already stayed beside Mother for an entire night, almost monopolizing her completely, a satisfied expression appeared on Karina's face.
After all,
back when they lived in the Great Winter Forest, every night she had always spent time with Mother together with her younger sisters and that annoying older brother.
The last time
she had been able to quietly spend time alone with Mother like she had last night......
How long ago had that been?
Back then, neither Limo nor Liyu had even been born yet......
And this time, it wasn't merely something as monotonous as sleeping inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons like before.
Last night, throughout the entire night, she had enjoyed Mother's meticulous care and gentle caresses.
Sure enough, Mother was even nicer after taking human form~
Karina was a child who was very easy to satisfy.
After carefully recalling the happiness of the previous night, Karina cast aside the regret in her heart, and her orange-red eyes became filled with contentment.
Besides, to be honest, as an older sister, she was still rather worried about that new little sister.
Charging recklessly into Skyvault like that was far too dangerous......
Hopefully nothing would happen.
And hopefully she wouldn't disrupt the plan......
After thinking for a moment, Karina, now standing upright, lowered her head somewhat speechlessly and looked at the golden longsword embedded in her chest.
The next moment,
the red-haired woman couldn't help furrowing her brows.
It wasn't because of the pain.
Karina's tolerance for pain was extraordinarily high.
The reason she looked so displeased was the lingering aura on the longsword, the aura belonging to the Child of Destiny, belonging to Xue Tianao......
Power other than Shadow of Silence Power was already inherently unpleasant to Abyss Demons.
And this particular power had come from the Child of Destiny.
It was no wonder Karina frowned and revealed an expression of extreme disgust.
"Hey, Little Sai."
Karina turned her gaze toward the white-haired old butler beside her and raised a hand to point at the longsword embedded in her chest.
"I said, can this sword be pulled out now? It's really uncomfortable......"
Hearing this,
Saiboke froze for a moment before revealing a bitter expression. He helplessly shook his head and spoke in a kindly tone:
"Lady Karina, I can understand how you feel. But......"
When he reached the word 'but,' Saiboke's tone subtly changed, revealing a rare trace of determination.
"It still isn't quite appropriate right now, Lady Karina. Please endure it a little longer. If Lady Yumo suddenly returns, our act will be exposed."
"......Sigh...... That's true."
After carefully thinking about it, Karina nodded noncommittally.
"Then how long do I have to wait?"
"Well......"
Saiboke awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"For now, the 'setting' of this sword is that Xue Tianao can activate it and threaten Lady Karina's life. So...... if you want to pull it out, we should at least wait until the male lead suffers severe injuries and his 'connection' with this divine sword is severed, right? That way, even if Lady Yumo comes back, we'll still have an explanation...... Don't you think......"
"That's true...... But how much longer will that take?"
"How long?"
At those words, Saiboke thoughtfully lowered his head, lifted his sleeve, and stared at the watch around his wrist.
After pondering for a moment, the old butler slowly spoke:
"At present, half of the Royal Knights and Imperial Guards have already been buried in the stomachs of Abyss Demons. Right now, whether Xue Tianao wants to deal with the Abyss Demon horde outside the city or eliminate Yuan'er after she broke into Skyvault, he'll have to go there himself......"
"Is that so?"
After hearing Saiboke's answer, Karina playfully raised a hand and twirled a lock of her crimson hair around her finger.
--
Meanwhile,
inside the Snow Night Imperial Palace's 'Divine Armament Hall,' a man dressed in imperial yellow robes, with dazzling short golden hair, hurriedly rushed into the hall.
While circulating the mana within his body to accelerate his movements, he impatiently spoke with his subordinate through a communication magic stone.
"Do you understand?! Commander Aiqinuo!"
The man couldn't help roaring into the communication magic stone.
"In short, stop that Abyss Demon horde's attack! You absolutely cannot let them break through the defenses! If there's truly no other choice, use the Mana Fission Bombs directly!"
"Fission Bombs? Your Majesty, if we do that, the civilians in the northern district will also......"
"They're nothing but worthless ordinary people. It doesn't matter anymore."
"But......"
"No buts! Do exactly as I say. Also, inform the Third and Fifth Armies and tell them to hurry over as reinforcements! The capital absolutely cannot fall! Right, and the Asumos Church's forces in the south! Notify them immediately!"
......
......
As the golden-haired man removed the cumbersome imperial robe from his body, he continued giving Commander Aiqinuo of the Royal Knights instructions regarding the subsequent arrangements.
And this man
was naturally the chosen one of this world, His Majesty Xue Tianao.
Because a Demon King-Class Abyss Demon had broken into the city, the civilians in Dragon Dance Square had completely lost control, turning the entire place into utter chaos.
Since anything he said was now useless, Xue Tianao had no intention of remaining in the square.
After handing command over to his subordinates, Xue Tianao hurried straight toward the 'Divine Armament Hall,'
the treasury within the Imperial Capital.
His various weapons, equipment, and magic scrolls were all stored here.
Originally, after watching the Abyss Demons crush his army and feeling the civilians' suspicious gazes, Xue Tianao, who regarded this as an unbearable humiliation, had intended to personally take action and destroy the Abyss Demon horde outside the city.
Although he didn't understand why the strength of these Abyss Demons had suddenly increased so dramatically, he knew perfectly well that none of them were his match!
He wanted to annihilate the Abyss Demons outside the city in front of the civilians and countless foreign envoys, washing away his previous humiliation!
As much as possible, he wanted to rebuild his lofty image in the hearts of the people of the Snow Night Empire.
However, after that black light broke into the city, Xue Tianao changed his plan.
Compared with the Abyss Demon horde, that Demon King-Class Abyss Demon who had entered the city with obvious hostility was clearly the greater priority!
She had to be dealt with first!
In Xue Tianao's view,
the fact that this Demon King-Class existence had appeared at exactly this time
meant that the massive Abyss Demon attack outside the city definitely had something to do with her.
Besides, wasn't this newly born Demon King-Class the daughter of the Duke Family?
Had she used her identity as the Duke Family's young lady to cooperate with the Duke Family's former forces in the north?
Had they deliberately caused trouble there, hoping to use an Abyss Demon attack to rescue the Marquis and his wife?
Was that why communications with the north had been severed, allowing the Abyss Demons to advance southward so quickly?
Xue Tianao continuously made guesses in his mind.
But,
no matter what,
as the saying went, to capture the bandits, first capture their leader.
As long as he dealt with this Demon King first, the Abyss Demon horde outside would naturally be resolved as well.
Thinking of this, Xue Tianao ended his communication with his subordinate and accelerated at full speed toward the top floor of the 'Divine Armament Hall.'
As he ran, however, Xue Tianao seemed to suddenly think of something, and his brows couldn't help furrowing.
But,
what if
the Abyss Demon attack wasn't because of the Duke Family's young lady?...... What if it was because of Blood Butterfly?
At this thought, Xue Tianao's expression became solemn.
Although he couldn't sense the characteristic violent hostility of ordinary Abyss Demons from that Demon King young lady, she certainly had reasons to make a move.
He couldn't simply ignore that possibility.
Even if he didn't want to completely tear apart their relationship this soon, it would still be better to have Luokefei control her first......
What if she really was the mastermind behind everything?
......
While considering how he should arrange his manpower, Xue Tianao arrived at the top floor of the 'Divine Armament Hall.'
However,
the instant he stepped onto the top floor, an intense stench of blood rushed directly toward him.
Xue Tianao's expression changed violently, and his thoughts were immediately dragged back to reality......
?!!
This......
'What the hell happened here?!'
At this moment,
blood covered the enormous upper hall.
The dozens of subordinates he had stationed here to guard his 'Divine Might Armor' had all collapsed into pools of blood.
Judging from their lifeless eyes, these subordinates he had painstakingly trained had already lost their lives......
Looking at his brutally murdered subordinates, Xue Tianao, whose mood had already been terrible, felt the volcano within his heart erupt completely.
Extreme rage twisted Xue Tianao's face into an incomparably ferocious expression.
His bloodshot blue eyes stared fixedly ahead,
at the mysterious black-robed figure who stood leisurely beside the pile of corpses, seemingly having waited for him for quite some time.
"You...... Who the hell are you?! How dare you trespass into the Divine Armament Hall!"