The scene froze for a moment.
Facing the Sword Saint Maiden, whose family background was illustrious and who herself was quite renowned, the Imperial Guards hesitated and did not move forward.
The Prince rode forward on his horse, looking down at her from above and pointing accusingly.
“Celes, are you trying to commit treason? I order you to step aside at once!”
The girl’s eyes flickered, but in the end, her resolve only grew firmer, and she gripped the knight’s sword in her hand even tighter.
The Prince, enraged to the point of losing control, his handsome features contorting with fury, shouted, “Everyone, listen to my command! Seize this traitor—”
“Stop!”
A voice suddenly rang out from the outer edge of the army.
Everyone turned to look and saw the golden-haired Saint leading her escort squad, forcefully carving a path through the soldiers from the outside.
Her attire today was unlike any other day.
She wore a pure white dress trimmed with golden threads, the Crown of Light upon her head, and in her hand, the radiant Sun Scepter—all items that were usually enshrined within the Cathedral, the most sacred symbols of the Church of Light.
“I do not agree with today’s trial against Zero. The judgment of Light is—innocence!”
The noonday sun shone down on her, making her seem to glow from head to toe.
Her dress shone, her crown shone, and even her scepter gleamed with golden light.
Otherwise, why would they usually enshrine these things in the Cathedral?
Wearing them was simply too dazzling.
“Saintess Lia, do not forget—the Church is not to interfere in state affairs. That has always been the rule.” The Prince roared at her, “Take your people and leave at once!”
But the escort squad stood motionless.
These loyal warriors would only obey the Saintess’ orders.
“You are right. The Church of Light does not interfere in state affairs. That has always been the rule.”
Lia walked gracefully to the front of the escort squad and faced the crowd.
“However, I am the Saintess.”
The Palace Guards, blades drawn, dared not look at her directly—she was simply too radiant, and staring at her for even a moment made their eyes ache.
“I am the thirteenth Saintess of the Church, Liraleah Light Yalbetrys! According to the Covenant of Light, as the chosen of Light, I hold the ultimate authority to interpret the Oracle!”
The golden-haired Saintess stood tall and proud:
“Now, I shall reinterpret the Oracle—Light unconditionally supports all acts that punish evil!”
The army surrounded the Bonfire Camp.
The commoners were kept outside the perimeter.
They did not know what was happening within and could not see the situation inside, but they could see the golden holy radiance shining through the gaps in the crowd and could hear the Saintess’ powerful, resounding words.
A commotion erupted on the outskirts.
Maken, with his square face, approached the tall horse and spoke in a low voice, “Your Highness, the Saintess is highly respected in the Kingdom. There are too many people outside, and they’re all watching.”
“Damn it, could it be that she—”
Before he could finish, a thunderous explosion suddenly sounded from behind the Camp, smoke rising into the sky and causing chaos to erupt.
The army drew their weapons and stood on high alert.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense, as if a battle could break out at any moment.
Lia’s beautiful face turned a shade paler, and she felt her legs tremble slightly, but she still did not retreat.
“What happened?”
Maken asked someone nearby.
“It was a Magic trap,” the captain of the Palace Guards replied, wiping black soot from his helmet.
“Our men tried to climb over the back wall, but triggered Defensive Magic.”
“Hold your positions. Do not act rashly,” Maken instructed, then turned back to the tall horse that had been startled by the explosion.
“Your Highness, now is not the time to act.”
The horse had nearly thrown the Prince off in fright during the explosion, and now the Prince’s face was ashen, as if he’d just been fished out of an ice cellar.
“Mobilize all the troops in the Royal City. Once the commoners have been separated, seize the Saintess first, then launch an all-out assault!”
***
Next to the Royal Garden, inside the Royal Gardener’s Lodge, Vina’s expression changed.
Wesley, whose two fingers had been pricked, wailed, “I really don’t know! I don’t get involved in the Silent Sanctuary’s internal affairs, I only find promising candidates and send them in. I have no idea what the Return to Zero Project is—I only know that after more than ten years, only one person walks out alive…”
“Let’s go.”
The Little Witch tossed aside the ice spike in her hand.
Ella was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding, but still followed her out.
After leaving the Royal Gardener’s Lodge, Vina immediately explained, “The alert Magic I set up at the Camp has been triggered. Someone tried to break in.”
That explosion outside the rear wall of the Camp just now had been caused by this.
Ella understood at once.
“They’re going after Zero.”
“Mm-hmm, so there’s no helping it—we have to hurry back and help.”
Vina shrugged her small shoulders.
“I’m actually a very loyal friend.”
When a comrade is in deep trouble, one must always rush to help, never mind who caused the trouble in the first place.
Don’t ask.
Ella followed her toward the Garden, suddenly realizing something.
“Those soldiers here, and the ones we saw on the way—they’re the ones being mobilized to attack the Camp.”
“That’s right! We need to hurry.”
Vina jogged a few steps ahead, then noticed she was alone—her teammate hadn’t followed.
Looking back, she saw the busty lady just standing there by the Garden, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong, Ella?”
Ella pulled a few flowers from her pocket—a White Rose, a few wildflowers she couldn’t name, and a sprig of Fairywood.
They’d been in her pocket too long and were wilted now, but she still remembered how Zero had picked them and given them to her, and remembered the Assassin Girl’s happy smile.
The flowers slipped from her hand and fell into the soil of the Royal Garden.
“You go back first and try to stall them. If it really comes to a fight—if we end up battling all the experts and troops in the Royal City—we don’t stand much of a chance.”
That was putting it mildly.
To say “not much” was generous—they didn’t stand a chance at all.
Vina tilted her head.
“What about you?”
“I’m going to fetch something that can turn the tide.”
***
Wesley couldn’t bear to look at his swollen fingers. He wrapped them in gauze with a pained expression and lay back in his chair, groaning.
Still, at least he was alive…
Click—the door opened again. He shivered all over in fright, but when he looked closely, he quietly relaxed.
It was the beautiful, kind, gentle, pink-haired, busty, cute girl.
“It’s you. Is there something else? I’ve told you everything I know.”
He glanced behind her—thank goodness, that little demon wasn’t with her. If it was just her, there shouldn’t be any problem.
“Mr. Wesley, there’s still something I don’t understand.” The pink-haired, busty, cute girl blinked her lovely wine-red eyes. “Why do the High Officials keep so silent about the Silent Sanctuary? Almost no one knows about it, and even those who do never dare to let a single word slip.”
She was really curious about this.
Back when Taidin was still alive, he had berated Zero in court and nearly let it slip twice, but in the end, he’d held his tongue both times.
If even someone that reckless could keep quiet, what exactly was going on?
“Because… because the process of training assassins is too dark. Like the Return to Zero Project—over more than ten years, only one person comes out alive.” Wesley sighed. “It pains me too, but at least I wasn’t involved, so I didn’t get judged along with them.”
He felt his answer was perfectly reasonable, airtight.
Then he saw the pink-haired, busty, cute girl sigh and say:
“Forget it. I won’t pretend anymore.”
“What… Ahhhhhh!!”
An indescribable pain shot through his wrist, and at the same time, an icy deathly silence engulfed his entire body.
Wesley forced his eyes open through the pain, only to see a skeletal Undead clutching his arm, its mouth gnawing on one of his hands.
Or, more accurately, the soul of a hand.
His right hand went completely numb, the skin turning ashen, and a pain that reached the bone throbbed at his wrist, as if something was flowing out from the wound.
Necromancy?!
Wesley was terrified.
He looked up and saw the beautiful, gentle, pink-haired, busty, cute girl smiling at him.
But the liquid flowing in her crimson eyes was not wine—it was blood.
“Mr. Wesley, I can tell you with absolute certainty—I’ve dealt with the Human Kingdom for many years, and I know you people pretty well,” she said.
“Having orphans kill each other, raising assassins like poisonous insects—if that’s the reason no one dares speak of it, I don’t think the Kingdom is that thin-skinned.”
Ella stretched lazily, her stunning figure radiant under the sunlight.
“You can satisfy my curiosity, or you can let them have a feast.”
A hissing laughter sounded by his ear. Wesley didn’t dare look, but he knew—right now, his body must be crawling with those things.
Cold sweat the size of beans trickled down his face.
“After the first reorganization of the Silent Sanctuary, we needed to select talented candidates from among orphans to train into top assassins. But there was a small problem,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Most orphans lacked talent, while most talented children were not orphans.
So, to meet our needs, when selecting candidates… we made a bit of an ‘adjustment’.”