Inside the study of Duke Olivias’s mansion, the air was so stifling it seemed to have solidified.
The heavy velvet curtains were drawn tightly closed, completely shutting out the already gloomy daylight from outside.
No lamps were lit in the room. In the dim light, only the few pieces of charcoal in the fireplace, about to burn out, occasionally let out a faint crackling sound, spitting out a few dark red sparks.
Christ Olivia was sitting behind the broad desk.
This eldest son, who was usually always gentle and refined, always dressed with care, now looked as though he had aged ten years.
His robe was somewhat wrinkled, clearly unchanged for several days.
That head of golden hair, always immaculately groomed, now looked somewhat disheveled, with a few strands hanging over his forehead, obscuring his bloodshot eyes.
And across the desk, Helos and Julius stood side by side.
“No.”
Christ’s voice carried a trace of exhaustion. “Absolutely not.”
He raised his head, staring fixedly at his younger sister, his fingers pressing hard against his throbbing temples.
“Helos, you have no idea what the situation is like there right now. This is not a place for students like you to go poking around. Go back to the Academy immediately, and do not come out for the next few days.”
“But brother, you know something is wrong there too, don’t you?”
Helos was not intimidated by her brother’s severity. She stepped forward, both hands braced on the edge of the desk, her pale purple eyes flickering with stubborn light.
“The Slums are completely locked down. Even the mages from the tower of truth and the Royal Guard, and even the Church’s Demon Hunters have been mobilized.”
“If it were just an ordinary plague or riot, there would be no need for this level of security! So there must be Chaos Believers causing trouble there!”
Christ shot to his feet, the motion so violent it knocked over the inkwell beside him.
He had no attention to spare for it. Black ink streamed across the desk, dripping onto the expensive carpet.
“If you know they are Chaos Believers, then you should be even less inclined to go!”
Christ’s emotions were somewhat out of control. He panted heavily, his chest heaving violently. “Those madmen have no reason to speak of! They are a pack of monsters who would sacrifice anything to please the Evil God!”
“Father entrusted you to my care, not for you to go throw your life away! You said it yourself, even the mage corps has intervened. That place is a battlefield now! What can you possibly do by running in there? Become a snack for those monsters?”
Helos bit her lip, about to retort, when a broad hand gently rested on her shoulder.
Julius stepped past Helos and walked up to the desk.
Even facing the eldest son of the ducal household on the edge of fury, this young saint knight remained calm.
“Mr. Christ, please calm down.”
Julius’s voice was not loud, but it eased the tension in the air somewhat.
Christ turned his head, glaring furiously at Julius. “Calm? How do you expect me to be calm? You are her Guard. Your duty is to protect her safety, not to accompany her in her foolishness!”
“I am ordering you right now, take her back to the Rose Pavilion immediately and stay by her side without leaving for even a moment!”
Christ was choking with anger, seemingly not having expected this knight boy, who usually seemed so dull and honest, to actually dare defy his orders.
Julius calmly shook his head.
“I must respectfully decline.”
“You—!”
“I know it is dangerous there, and I know it is now filled with filth and evil.”
As Julius spoke, he slowly raised his right hand.
With his movement, the air in the study suddenly trembled.
A sacred and pure aura burst forth abruptly, as if a blazing sun had been lit in the darkness.
“Zheng—”
Accompanied by a clear, resonant ring of a sword, a longsword inscribed with intricate golden runes appeared out of thin air in Julius’s hand.
Faint golden radiance coiled around the blade. That radiance was not dazzling, yet it carried a silent, overwhelming pressure.
Before this power, the originally cold and stifling atmosphere in the study was instantly dispelled.
Christ’s eyes widened. In that instant, he felt that even the mana flow within his body had become sluggish due to the emergence of this power.
As a High Mage of the tower of truth, he knew all too well what this meant.
“This is…”
Christ’s voice trembled slightly, his gaze fixed desperately on that sword.
“The Holy Sword Daybreak, my partner.”
Julius held the longsword, the tip angled toward the ground.
At this moment, the aura around him had undergone a earth-shaking change.
No longer was he a green young squire, but a judgment-bringer about to step onto the battlefield.
He raised his head, and in those black eyes seemed to burn golden flames as he looked directly at Christ.
“I am the chosen one.”
These short five words echoed through the study, heavy as a thousand pounds.
He had told Helos of his identity as the chosen one before, but had not informed anyone else. His identity was extremely special. Of course, some people might have already known his identity, after all, he was very special.
But clearly, Christ had still been kept in the dark.
Christ collapsed into his chair, the expression on his face shifting from shock to blankness, and finally to a complex bitter smile.
“The chosen one… so that’s how it is.”
He murmured to himself, as if digesting this astonishing fact. “No wonder Father made an exception to let you become Helos’s Personal Bodyguard.”
In this world, “chosen one” was not merely a title.
It was one watched by the gods, a born warrior, and the natural nemesis of darkness and evil.
Every time a chosen one appeared, it meant the Goddess had issued some kind of Oracle, requiring her warrior to carry it out.
“Since I am the chosen one, then cleansing the Chaos Believers is my inescapable duty and obligation.”
Julius withdrew his aura, and the Holy Sword in his hand dispersed into motes of golden light in the air.
He returned to that respectful demeanor, bowing slightly to Christ.
“And precisely because it is dangerous there, I must go even more. Only by completely eradicating the source can Miss Helos, and indeed the entire Imperial Capital, truly be safe.”
The study fell into a dead silence.
Christ leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, fingers tapping unconsciously on the desk.
Helos said nothing, only quietly watching her brother. She knew this was not only a decision that could not be easily made, but also a struggle between reason and emotion for an elder brother.
***
After a long while, Christ let out a long sigh.
That sound was full of helplessness, and also contained a certain compromise.
He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Helos and Julius several times, and finally shook his head with a bitter smile.
“You’ve grown up… every one of you, becoming so opinionated, not even listening to your elder brother anymore.”
“Brother…”
Helos called softly.
“Enough, stop pretending to be obedient.”
Christ waved his hand, pulled open the drawer on the left side of the desk secured with a magic lock, and took out two black metal cards.
The surface of the cards flowed with a faint dark red glow, stamped with the emblem of the tower of truth.
“This is the highest-level special pass of the tower of truth.”
Christ tossed the cards onto the desk, pushing them toward the two.
“Take this. You can enter any restricted area except the core zone of the Imperial Palace, including the current Slums. The Guards there will not dare stop you when they see this.”
Helos’s eyes lit up, and she quickly reached out to pick up the pass. The card was cold and heavy in her hand, clearly forged from some rare metal.
Christ warned with a stern expression, “Don’t celebrate too soon. Giving you this does not mean I approve of you going on this adventure. Since Julius is the chosen one, I will not say more, but before you act, you must agree to one condition.”
“Speak.”
Julius said gravely.
“If you encounter a situation beyond your control, retreat immediately.”
Christ stared fixedly into Julius’s eyes. “Even if the mission fails, even if the enemy escapes, you must prioritize Helos’s safety above all. If she loses even a single hair, I swear, even if you are the chosen one, I will tear your bones apart.”
“I swear on the honor of a saint knight.”
Julius placed his right fist over his left chest and struck it heavily. “As long as I still draw breath, I will never let Miss Helos come to any harm.”
“You had better.”
Christ waved his hand wearily. “Go now, before I change my mind. Get out.”
Helos looked at her brother’s haggard face, and a warm feeling surged in her heart.
She walked around the desk and gently hugged Christ.
“Thank you, brother. We will be careful.”
With that, she did not linger. She pulled Julius along and turned to leave the study.
Watching the backs of the two as they departed, Christ curled up in that broad chair, his gaze becoming deep and complex.
“The chosen one…”
He murmured softly. “Fate really does love to joke around.”
After leaving the duke’s mansion, the two did not head straight for the Slums in a grand manner.
Helos knew very well that even with the pass, appearing in such a place with the face of a duke’s daughter was itself a huge problem.
So, passing through a bustling commercial street, Helos pulled Julius into an inconspicuous armor shop.
By the time the two emerged, their appearance had changed drastically.
Julius had removed his conspicuous knight’s light armor and changed into a set of leather armor and a coarse cloth Cloak commonly worn by Mercenaries.
He looked like a down-and-out wandering swordsman.
He wrapped his sidearm sword in rags and carried it on his back.
Helos was even more thorough. Her striking silver hair was completely hidden under a grayish hood, and she wore a loose linen robe, with some dust smeared on her face to cover her originally fair and delicate skin.
“These clothes are really uncomfortable.”
Helos tugged at her collar, complaining with some distaste. “This fabric is so rough it feels like sandpaper scraping my skin!”
“Bear with it.”
Julius pulled her hood down a bit more, covering those lively eyes. “If someone recognizes you as the duke’s daughter, we will be surrounded before we even enter the restricted zone.”
The two hired an ordinary carriage and headed toward the Slums.
The closer they got to their destination, the more desolate the surroundings became.
The originally smooth stone-paved road turned into bumpy dirt paths, and the buildings on both sides of the street became dilapidated.
The nauseating stench of rot in the air grew thicker, detectable even through the carriage curtains.
Finally, the carriage stopped before a barricade.
“Friends, you cannot go any further ahead.”
The driver pointed ahead with some fear. “The restricted zone is just ahead. The Guards are stationed there, not letting anyone through.”
Helos and Julius paid the fare and jumped down from the carriage.
What met their eyes was a magic barrier several meters high.
The pale blue barrier was like a giant bowl, inverted over the entire Slums, sealing everything inside. Complex runes flowed across its surface, emitting a mana wave that made one’s heart tremble.
And on the outer perimeter of the barrier, a full company of heavy infantry was stationed. They wore black armor, held long spears and tower shields, blocking the only entrance like a wall of steel.
Behind them, several court mages in mage robes could be seen maintaining the Barrier’s operation.
The atmosphere here was tense to the extreme.
Occasionally, a few Commoners who wanted to get close and ask for news were all driven away fiercely by the soldiers.
“Halt!”
When Helos and Julius approached the warning line, two soldiers immediately crossed their long spears, blocking their path.
“Military restricted zone ahead! No one is allowed near! If you don’t want to die, get lost now!”
The soldier’s voice was rough and cold, his eyes under the helmet full of vigilance.
Julius said nothing, nor was he intimidated by the other’s aggressive posture.
He simply calmly took out that black metal card from his breast and held it up before the two soldiers.
The faint dark red glow flowed across the card’s surface, and the emblem of an eagle holding a staff in its beak was particularly striking in the sunlight.
The moment the originally aggressive soldiers saw this card, it was as if someone had gripped their throats, and the harsh words at their lips died instantly.
Their pupils contracted sharply, and expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces.
As members of the Imperial Guard, they certainly recognized this emblem.
It was the token representing the highest authority of the tower of truth. Seeing the card was like seeing the tower master themselves.
“This…”
The lead soldier swallowed hard, his attitude doing a complete one-eighty.
“Apologies, you two! We did not know that esteemed ones from the tower of truth had arrived!”
With a series of urgent commands, the two crossed spears were quickly withdrawn.
“Open the gate! Open it quickly!”
The originally tightly sealed infantry formation immediately parted to both sides, revealing a passage.
Not only that, even the several mages in the distance maintaining the Barrier noticed the commotion here.
Although they did not come over to salute, their staffs waved slightly, and a gap large enough for two people to pass through slowly opened in that indestructible magic barrier.
Julius put away the pass and turned to glance at Helos behind him.
“Let’s go.”
Helos took a deep breath and pulled the edge of her hood lower.
Under the awed and curious gazes of the surrounding soldiers, the two stepped forward and passed through the gap in the barrier shimmering with blue light.
The moment they stepped inside the barrier, a bone-chilling cold rushed at them.
The light here was much dimmer than outside, as if even the sunlight had been filtered of its warmth by this Barrier.
An indescribable, eerie aura filled the air. It was terrifyingly quiet, like walking into a giant tomb.
The gap in the barrier behind them quickly sealed shut after they entered.
Helos glanced back at the blue barrier that had become whole again, and the unease in her heart grew stronger.
“Looks like we really have fallen into a pile of trouble.”
She muttered softly, her hand unconsciously clutching Julius’s sleeve.
Julius grasped her wrist in return, the warmth of his palm passing through the rough fabric, inexplicably putting Helos somewhat at ease.
He gazed ahead at the dark street leading deep into the Slums, and responded calmly:
“Don’t be afraid. I am here.”
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