As the Warlock’s oppressive Mana dissipated, the Opera House fell into an eerie silence.
The Undead fell into a daze. Having lost their command, they stood frozen in place, motionless.
He was… actually finished?
Royas gave a bitter smile.
Bang— He dropped the heavy Sword in his hand.
As the saying goes, a wise man knows when to submit. Since he had already lost any chance of victory, there was naturally no need for Royas to put up a desperate struggle.
It would serve no purpose other than to increase the casualties.
“I surrender,” he said.
Seeing this, Ivena used a dagger to seal the Combat Aura within Royas’s body, stripping him of his ability to move.
Without the warrior’s interference, Ivena quickly killed the remaining Cultists on the field one by one.
Royas could still serve as a witness, but that group of Cultists—whose souls were bound by restrictions that made it impossible to even extract their memories—had no value whatsoever.
“Senior El, we won.”
Vita took off her mask, turned around, and held her right hand high, clutching her sword.
The hood of her black robe had long since been blown back during the battle, and her long, ash-gray hair fell quietly over her shoulders.
She smiled beautifully. El did not know what words to use to describe it, and for a moment, he was stunned where he stood.
Was she a Silver Sparrow Flower blooming in winter? Or perhaps a Glay Spar, highly sought after by the Nobility as a symbol of purity? Flowers were too delicate, and gemstones felt too cold…
For some reason, a single word surfaced in his mind: “Sword.”
El read this within her smile. There was the joy and pride of having just defeated a powerful enemy, the innocence and shyness of a young girl, and more importantly, the softness of wanting to protect something cherished.
A beautiful sword. Even if you knew it was sharp and could cut through all things; even if you knew it would rather break than bend and would never yield.
But you would not fear it, because you had felt the softness of the hilt; because you knew deep down that it would never harm you and would only bring you a sense of security.
While El was lost in thought, Vita had already walked up to him.
She stood on her tiptoes and gently left a kiss on El’s cheek.
*Mwah.*
Hmm? El reacted a second too late, the warm, moist sensation still seemingly lingering on his face.
“Sorry, sorry, Senior El, I was just too excited…”
Before he could speak, Vita waved her hands with a blushing face.
Oh? The Demon grew interested.
This kid’s luck with women is quite something. If this continues, I’ll have some good shows to watch in the future.
“You startled me. In any case, it’s probably better for a girl to be a bit more reserved,” El said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Ho… Are you already starting to lie to yourself? El, you look so cowardly when you’re running away! the Demon thought.
He didn’t intend to poke through that thin veil. At this moment, neither that young girl nor El was truly prepared.
Hehe… Angell wouldn’t admit that he only chose to endure because he wanted to see even greater amusement later. An explosion after it has been brewed for a long time is much more delicious, isn’t it?
“Senior El, I want you to cooperate with me,” she suddenly said loudly.
“What?” El was startled by her behavior; he could no longer keep track of Vita’s thoughts.
Vita said with a serious face, “We had an agreement that I would be your knight, right?”
“That is true…”
“Then let us hold an Oath Ceremony.”
Vita knelt on one knee, tilting up her delicate face to look at him expectantly.
“Huh? Isn’t a knight’s Oath Ceremony conducted by other knights? I remember it involves holding a Sword with both hands, saying the vows before a statue of a former king, and then…”
El recalled the formal process for the dubbing of a knight, feeling completely confused.
“No, no… not like that… Hasn’t Senior El heard of it? A more romantic kind…”
Only then did Vita realize she had made a fool of herself. She didn’t have a real understanding of knights and only remembered such a plot point from Thorns Knight and the Rose Princess.
She wanted to recreate that moment.
Fortunately, El was quick-witted. He immediately realized that what Vita wanted was the ceremony from the storybooks used for knights who wandered the world with a princess.
Rather than a formal dubbing, El felt that this kind of ceremony had a much stronger flirtatious undertone…
“The problem is, I’m not a princess either.”
Even as he said this, El still extended his hand. He couldn’t let a young girl like Vita stay in such an embarrassing position.
“No, ‘princess’ is just a status. The important thing is the knight. In a knight’s eyes, the person she protects is the princess.” Vita took off El’s glove, lowered her head, and kissed the back of his hand.
“There, Senior El.”
Vita stood up, feeling as if her entire body was about to catch fire. This was the first time she had put her fantasies into action.
Her heart felt sweet, as if she had eaten a piece of honeyed candy.
She stole a glance at El. Although the mask hid his expression, his bright red ears had already betrayed him.
So, Senior El is also very shy…
Vita felt much more relaxed. “From now on, Senior El is my princess. Please look after me.”
El felt keenly that after this incident, the bond between him and Vita had become much tighter. He was beginning to grow accustomed to having such a lively girl present in his life.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you, kid, but don’t you think the situation over there looks very bad?” The Demon interrupted El’s thoughts.
Angell’s reminder made El re-examine his surroundings. The Undead began to eerily converge toward the ruins of the stage. An evil aura spread, and a powerful force awakened.
“El Regis!”
The monster, stitched together from countless Wraiths and Walking Dead, roared, unexpectedly emitting the Warlock’s voice.
Vita hurriedly drew her sword and stood in front of El.
Ah… El hadn’t expected the Werewolf to have a “death rattle.”
It was surprisingly logical. After all, in the card game Dream Legend that he played, many similar evil creatures had this kind of effect, not to mention the Werewolf was also a Necromancer.
“Ivena?” he called out softly.
“Dear Younger Master, I am here. And by the way, I am not angry.”
As it turned out, the Elf had been standing behind El for a long time, but El had never noticed.
She’s angry, she’s definitely angry!
Ivena was expressionless, but El read the signal of “I am very difficult to coax” from her.
“What do we do about this guy? He looks like he’s about to attack.” Although El felt a bit guilty, he still asked.
“Hmph! The professional has arrived. It’s a ‘knight,’ oh, isn’t that much stronger than a maid? As expected, a ‘knight’ is better, right…”
Ivena put a particularly heavy emphasis on the word “knight,” as if venting her resentment.
“Ha… haha.” El now truly hoped the Werewolf would attack quickly.
But his hope was destined to be dashed. In the next moment, a fully armed knight, four meters tall and resembling a small mountain, charged toward the giant monster in the stage ruins.
The entire Opera House was occupied by a holy light that made everyone present feel very warm.
“AAAH—” The monster let out a painful roar.
“What power is this… it seems to have a special advantage against evil creatures?” the Demon wondered.
“It’s a Paladin. The Church’s system of Divine Arts is very special. Their power is bestowed by the Goddess, and only devout believers can use Divine Arts. I don’t know much about it either,” El replied.
Gods? Weren’t those things all killed by me already? The Demon was even more confused. However, he didn’t say it out loud, choosing instead to keep the question in his heart.
Soon, the knights of the Royal Knights finally arrived. To their surprise, the battle seemed to have already ended.
El recounted the details of the battle to them.
Leading them was the “Ash Knight,” who was both a titled knight of the Royal Knights and a mentor in the Royal Academy Knight Department. He was a conservative middle-aged man with neat, clean gray hair.
Besides him, every knight who came to support was an elite. Their synchronized movements made El feel a sense of pressure.
“Is that so… On the way here, we captured the Nobility who were trying to escape. Since the evidence is conclusive, it will be convenient for Your Highness the Princess to carry out their liquidation.”
“But—” he suddenly raised his voice, “Mr. Regis, your recklessness could have cost you a tragic price. I will report the matter truthfully to Your Highness the Princess.”
Ah… Even though they won, why did El still feel so exhausted?