The next day, inside the Oracle Hall.
Burna, a messenger from the Imperial Senate, arrived in the main hall of the Oracle Hall accompanied by an attendant.
The Tower Master of the Archmage Tower came along with him as well.
However, the Tower Master seemed to be merely an observer.
Upon seeing Isavel, Burna bowed slightly and presented a list branded with a magic seal with both hands.
At the same time, several followers behind him carried several metal boxes engraved with runes, carefully placing them on the polished marble floor.
“Lady Saintess.”
Burna’s voice carried a hint of respect. He looked up, his gaze quickly scanning Isavel’s face.
“Her Majesty the Queen requested us to handle certain matters, and it has been done. Inside these boxes are forty sets of weapons and equipment. They were meticulously crafted by the Empire’s top artisans according to the individual capabilities of the Rose Knights.”
He paused for a moment, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of the list, a perfectly timed look of hesitation appearing on his face.
“With these, it will surely be easier for the Rose Knights to slay the Abyssal Demons, but…”
He trailed off, his brow furrowing slightly as if he were deep in thought.
Isavel took the list, but her gaze did not fall upon it. Instead, she looked at Burna calmly, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
“If you have something to say, speak plainly.”
Long before Burna arrived, Queen Flandre had already explained their intent.
These members of the Imperial Senate wanted to test the capabilities of the Rose Knights.
Burna cleared his throat and straightened his back, his tone becoming more formal.
“The Lady Saintess is also aware that it would be somewhat inappropriate to place all our hopes solely on the Rose Knights. The current situation is dire, and the resources of our Imperial Senate are limited. We must use our resources on the hope that is most likely to succeed.”
“Therefore, we need to test the strength of the Rose Knights to see if they are worthy of the full, unreserved support of the Imperial Senate. If not…”
At this point, he spread his hands, offering a helpless, bitter smile.
“Then we can only place our hopes elsewhere.”
“How do you wish to test them?”
Isavel gently closed the list, her tone remaining steady.
Although Queen Flandre could provide them with a great deal of help, that assistance often came at a price. After all, the Queen had many things to consider.
But the Imperial Senate was different.
As elders of the Empire, the words they spoke were laws that other nobles or subordinates dared not defy. Gaining their support was equivalent to possessing infinite training resources.
To enhance the strength of the Rose Knights, she was not afraid of draining the entire Imperial Senate dry.
Seeing Isavel agree, a fleeting spark of excitement flashed across Burna’s face.
He cleared his throat and said, “I hope you won’t find it laughable, but our Imperial Senate has made many efforts to save the world. Among them, these are the ones we believe have the greatest potential to be our saviors.”
As his voice fell, three youths appeared behind him.
Though they looked like youths, they did not seem to be truly human. Their gazes were hollow, and their clothing possessed an eerily perfect neatness.
Most importantly, if one looked closely, subtle seams could be seen on their faces.
Sensing the power contained within them, Isavel’s eyebrows arched slightly.
Burna paused deliberately to observe Isavel’s reaction.
The smile on his face grew more radiant as he continued, “Though they look like humans, strictly speaking… they are a type of Magic Equipment.”
“Magic Equipment?”
The Tower Master of the Archmage Tower stroked his beard, seemingly failing to understand. Seeing this, Burna continued his explanation.
“The Goddess left many artifacts in this mortal world. We spent countless years and effort collecting these artifacts and extracted the divine power left within them. Ultimately, that power was concentrated into their bodies!”
His words carried the pride of a creator.
“You could say they are a combination of divine powers, or it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call them gods. Most importantly, unlike humans, their power has no upper limit!”
“How strong they can become depends on how many artifacts exist in the world. On the eve of the world’s destruction, I believe those short-sighted fools will hand over the artifacts they’ve been hiding.”
Isavel listened quietly, her expression betraying neither joy nor anger.
She simply asked, “So, how do you intend to test the Rose Knights?”
A flash of shrewdness appeared in Burna’s eyes. He crossed his arms and smiled.
“Currently, the artifacts we’ve collected aren’t too numerous. Their Magic Level is around Level 70. If the Rose Knights want our full support, they must… defeat them.”
“If they cannot even defeat these creations, then I would find it hard to believe they can slay the Abyssal Dragon and save the world.”
Hearing this, a knowing curve formed on Isavel’s lips.
“Rather than testing the Rose Knights, Burna, aren’t you actually more interested in testing their strength?”
The smile on Burna’s face froze for a moment before turning into a dry laugh. He rubbed his nose, not denying it.
“Heh, you saw through me. I just want to know how powerful those who possess divine power are compared to humans who have grown through their own efforts!”
Isavel turned and looked toward the distant training ground outside the window.
There, the figures of the Rose Knights could be faintly seen training.
Recalling something, she shook her head and chuckled, her voice carrying a natural pride.
“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. In my eyes, these fellows possess nothing but raw power.”
Burna stopped smiling, his chin lifting slightly. As a member of the Imperial Senate, his stubbornness and pride were second to none.
“Humph, we’ll only know for sure once we try.”
……
Inside the Oracle Hall’s training ground.
Because there were forty members in the Rose Knights, Isavel had expanded the training ground.
The current arena was constructed from massive blocks of magical obsidian, surrounded by layers upon layers of magic shields and spectator stands.
Burna sat in one of the main seats, his gaze fixed on the three “humans” below, dressed in magnificent silver-white armor but possessing hollow, lightless eyes.
They were the works the Imperial Senate was most proud of in recent years.
Not only that, but the surging, pure magical fluctuations emanating from them had indeed reached the staggering level of Level 70.
This caused the members of the Senate in the stands to whisper among themselves, their faces filled with anticipation.
Isavel also sat in a main seat, but her eyes were only on the Rose Knights.
Compared to the nearly overflowing energy pressure of the artificial “humans,” the members of the Rose Knights had restrained their auras.
Their steps were steady, and only their eyes were as sharp as blades.
Three against forty — the disparity in numbers only served to make Burna more excited.
“The rules are simple: the battle continues until one side all falls or surrenders.”
He announced loudly, a confident smile on his face.
“Begin!”
As the command fell, the three “humans” moved instantly.
Like puppets on strings, their movements were perfectly synchronized.
They simultaneously cast magic, sending three pillars of destructive light containing different attributes roaring toward Teresa and the others like a divine punishment!
Wherever the pillars passed, deep furrows were plowed into the obsidian floor.
Faced with a combined attack capable of instantly vaporizing an Imperial Army squad, Leanna only frowned slightly.
“Too slow,” she whispered. Her figure blurred, and she vanished from her spot.
Behind her, the magic squad led by Iserine waved their magic wands at the same time, firing identical pillars of light toward the incoming attack!
Boom—!
The pillars released by the “humans” collided with the pillars from the magic squad.
For a moment, the light shattered, sending rainstorms, flames, and lightning snakes scattering across the sky.
What caused the pupils of Burna in the stands to shrink was that the light pillar that shattered belonged to the “humans.”
The magic squad’s light pillars continued forward relentlessly, closing in on the three “humans.”
The artificial beings raised magic barriers just in time, blocking the pillars amidst a deafening roar.
Once the dust settled and he saw the “humans” were unharmed, Burna let out a heavy sigh of relief.
He wiped his sweat, feeling strangely more nervous than if he were fighting the battle himself.
However, before he could truly relax, the previously vanished Leanna appeared in front of the three.
She broke through the turbulent energy, instantly appearing before one of the “humans.”
At the moment her reflection appeared in the artificial being’s hollow eyes, she swung her longsword, slashing toward his neck.
Another “human” tried to help, but at that moment, Aixi’s figure, wielding a training hammer, appeared behind him.
Left with no choice, he had to turn and block Aixi’s heavy hammer, abandoning the attempt to save his companion.
Leanna’s enchanted longsword swept across the “human’s” neck.
There was no earth-shattering explosion; the “human” was decapitated as easily as if he were made of paper.
His empty head fell to the ground, the light in his eyes fading instantly as his body collapsed.
At the same time, Teresa had somehow leapt into mid-air. She didn’t even use a magic wand, simply extending a slender finger and pointing at the last “human.”
“Freeze.”
Cold magic descended. The Absolute Zero Breath, capable of freezing even a soul, erupted from her fingertip.
The “human” hurriedly cast a magic barrier, trying to block the breath.
Yet, eerily, not only did he fail to block it, but even the magic barrier he had cast was frozen along with him.
Once his legs were frozen, the assassination squad within the Rose Knights appeared behind him.
Despite possessing a faint trace of divine power, he could not withstand an attack from all sides.
Under the assault of the assassination squad, he was quickly sliced into countless pieces that scattered across the ground.
With that, only one of the three “humans” remained.
The last one intended to fight to the death, but under the crushing weight of numbers and superior strength, he failed to cause even the slightest ripple before his death.
The so-called divine power was as fragile as tofu before the Rose Knights.
From the start until the three “God Vessels” fell, the entire process took less than ten breaths.
The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence.
The smile on Burna’s face froze completely. He stood up abruptly, his hands gripping the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. His eyes were filled with unbelievable horror.
The Senate members in the stands were even more dumbfounded. Some even rubbed their eyes, suspecting they were seeing an illusion.
If they hadn’t witnessed the strength of these creations themselves, these Senate members would have suspected the three “humans” possessed no power at all and were merely trash with empty magic levels.
But they knew better than anyone. Despite having no power to resist the Rose Knights, these three “humans” were invincible among genuine humans of the same magic level.
It was because of this that they believed these beings were the hope to save the world…
Yet now… reality had dealt them a painful blow.
Isavel stood up from her seat. Without even glancing at the three fallen “humans,” she turned her calm gaze toward the despondent Burna.
“I told you, they possess only raw power. They could never be a match for the Rose Knights.”
“After all, power requires a will to command it, a belief to guide it, and the tempering of life-and-death struggle in blood and fire. These… are nothing more than exquisite toys.”
Her words drifted through the training ground, making many members of the Imperial Senate flush with embarrassment.
Then, she raised her hand slightly, signaling the Rose Knights to withdraw.
“Now, can the Senate make a decision? Will you choose to believe in the Rose Knights, or will you continue to place your resources and hope on these flashy, useless toys?”
Facing Isavel’s question, Burna opened his mouth, but his throat was dry, and he couldn’t say a word.
He couldn’t imagine that the ultimate weapon he was so proud of was so vulnerable before the Rose Knights.
Everything felt like a nightmare haunting him.
Would it be too hasty to agree to Isavel’s terms like this?
After all, the Rose Knights had won too quickly and too strangely.
Just what kind of strength did they possess?
Burna silently looked at the fallen “humans.”
A moment later, he turned to Isavel, the shock in his eyes having been smoothed over.
He was, after all, a Demi-God Level powerhouse and possessed his own pride.
He still didn’t feel at ease agreeing to Isavel’s terms just like this.
“The Rose Knights are indeed impressive, but if you want me to truly agree, let them fight a match against me. I want to know exactly how great this ‘hope’ you speak of really is.”