Astreia hugged her closest friend tightly, feeling the familiar and warm embrace.
The nerves that had been taut for days finally relaxed for a moment.
“Shanna! What are you doing here?”
She patted her friend’s back vigorously, her voice brimming with the excitement of a long-awaited reunion.
The visitor was none other than the eldest daughter of the Klein Family, one of the four great families of Valoran, equally “curvaceous” in figure, and Astreia’s confidante.
She was also the future Doomsday Witch who would single-handedly bring down a kingdom—Laxana Klein.
Yet, as the two women embraced warmly, exchanging heartfelt words, Wendy stood aside with his gaze growing slightly cold.
He noticed that while Laxana held Astreia, her lively violet eyes did not focus on the princess herself but instead locked onto him over Astreia’s shoulder.
That look was like someone inspecting their own possession, wondering if it had been sullied by another.
Especially when Laxana’s gaze swept across the disheveled bed behind Astreia, a chilling glint flashed in her eyes.
Tsk.
The foot-digger has arrived.
Soon enough, I’ll straighten out that twisted XP of yours…
Wendy snorted coldly in his heart but wore an innocent, gentle smile on his face.
At that moment, Laxana released her friend after their reunion and gracefully stepped forward to stand before Wendy.
Her complexion was flawless like jade, her brows delicately arched, and her bright eyes full of warmth.
Beneath her pointed mage’s hat, her radiant golden hair shimmered in the sunlight, fluttering lightly in the breeze with an otherworldly grace.
Her chest was as ample as Astreia’s, and a pair of long, slender legs were sheathed in pristine, over-the-knee white boots.
The boldly tailored blue-purple mage’s skirt she wore perfectly outlined her proud curves.
“This must be the legendary Cavalier Prince, Prince Wendy Black Highness, who invented gunpowder and cement, and with brilliant strategy, helped Astreia decisively defeat the Orc Legion at the Sunset Fortress Line?”
Laxana’s face bloomed with a sweet smile, her tone as gentle as a girl-next-door.
“I am Laxana Klein, Astreia’s best friend.”
She elegantly performed a mage’s salute, then linked arms with Astreia, smoothly pulling the princess half a step away from Wendy without leaving a trace.
“Prince Wendy, our Astreia is straightforward, sometimes like a blockhead who doesn’t know how to take care of others.”
The words “our Astreia” were enunciated distinctly, each syllable like planting her own flag in Wendy’s territory.
“You must have had a hard time these past few days.”
Wendy’s eyes narrowed slightly, the smile in his peach blossom eyes deepening.
The conflict… had begun.
But instead of retreating, he stepped forward, naturally taking Astreia’s armored hand in his own.
“No trouble at all.”
Meeting Laxana’s suddenly icy gaze, Wendy smiled and replied,
“Taking care of my fiancée is only right.”
“Don’t you agree, Astreia?”
“Eh?!”
The princess, still lost in the joy of reunion, was completely caught off guard by the sudden “battlefield” and blushed deeply.
Invisible sparks of tension crackled fiercely in the air.
At that moment, the rapid sound of footsteps shattered the undercurrent of tension.
“Your Highness! Why are you still here?”
The one-eyed veteran General Sera hurried over, nodding briefly at Laxana before anxiously addressing Astreia, “The Church and Mage Association have been waiting impatiently!”
Everyone’s expressions turned serious, and they quickly made their way toward the meeting hall on the first floor.
Walking through the dim corridor, Laxana’s smile vanished instantly.
She leaned close to Astreia and lowered her voice to speak quickly:
“Listen, Astreia, this matter is complicated. Both the Mage Association and the Church are coming after you.”
“After me?”
Astreia was puzzled.
“Yes.”
Laxana nodded, her violet eyes darkening with seriousness.
“About ten days ago, both the Mage Association and the Church detected an enormous surge of dark magic from the direction of Sunset Fortress, which alarmed my mother and the old monsters in the Cardinal Court.”
At this, both the princess and the prince’s hearts skipped a beat.
No need to ask—this was the very night Astreia had first undergone Witchification.
“At first, they thought it was some evil ritual by Orc shamans. But then your news of crushing the Orc Legion came, and the problem started…”
Laxana rubbed her brow, clearly troubled.
“Completely annihilating a hundred thousand Orcs—that achievement was too extreme, especially combined with that dark magic. The Church fanatics immediately pointed the blame at you.”
“They suspect you have already fallen into witchdom or are simply disguised as a powerful demon. So this time, they sent people to perform a magic identification on you.”
Astreia tensed instantly, instinctively gripping the hilt of her sword at her waist.
Wendy, however, silently squeezed her hand, using the warmth of his palm to reassure her.
“You don’t need to worry too much about the Mage Association.”
Laxana soothed,
“The team leader this time is my mother, Layana Klein. She’s the dean of the Central Academy Magic Branch. Even if they detect dark magic inside you, she can handle it. After all, there are mages who study shadow and necromancy, and as long as you haven’t lost your mind completely or harmed the continent, the Association usually turns a blind eye.”
“But the critical issue is the Church…”
Laxana’s expression darkened completely.
“They sent three ‘Purge Knights.’ These people are infamous mad dogs who only obey orders blindly.”
“Purge Knights?”
Wendy’s face darkened.
More than mad dogs, they were KPI maniacs!
The Purge Knights were the Church’s most notorious anti-demon special forces.
All members were orphans raised from childhood and completely brainwashed to obey doctrine and commands without question.
They mastered various Divine Arts of Sealing and were so formidable in close combat they could tear demons apart with their bare hands.
In the game world, “Purge Knight” was a hidden class almost no regular player would choose.
Because advancement in that class was entirely tied to the “quantity and quality of execution targets.”
Each time they “purified” a certain number of demonized targets, they gained Divine Grace, leveled up, and unlocked stronger Divine Arts.
Their specialty was “Fishing Law Enforcement”—deliberately provoking neutral or even kind NPCs with words, schemes, or framing to trigger anger, loss of control, or corruption.
Once the target was tainted by darkness, they would transform into righteous executioners, “execute on the spot,” then return to claim rewards and promotions with a clear conscience.
They were essentially the otherworldly masters of “set-up scams.”
Wendy even suspected the strange female priest who had used lies to provoke Astreia earlier was one of them…
As they neared the carved wooden doors of the meeting hall, a sharp, haughty voice rang out, sounding as if the speaker was born superior to others.
“…I’ve never seen such a filthy place in my life!”
“The air reeks of poverty and wet dog—absolutely disgusting!”