Chapter 37: Storm in Sterling’s Study

The sound of the main study door hinges shifting open sounded so slow, as if stretching every second of tension gripping that narrow room. At the threshold, Lord Sterling's body silhouette began to appear, standing tall with a dense aura of power and a cold gaze refracting from behind the corridor lamp. The middle-aged man did not come alone; behind him, two elite mercenary knights in jet-black armor stepped in with hands poised on sword hilts, ready to slash anyone daring to step foot inside the Sterling faction's secret nest.

My heart beat fast, yet outwardly I maintained a cold villainess expression without the slightest flinch. The parchment scroll containing the northern border emergency decree was still gripped tightly in my right hand.

"There is an alien smell inside my room," Lord Sterling's voice echoed heavily, coldly, and full of suspicion as he stepped further into the study room scented with expensive tobacco. His eyes swept every corner of the room, pausing briefly at the large wall painting where the iron safe stood open twenty centimeters wide. The man's face turned dark in an instant. "Intruders!" he shouted furiously.

Before Lord Sterling could give a follow-up attack command, Prince Leonhardt moved faster than a lightning strike. The gold-light-plated sword in the prince's hand swung freely, splitting the air and releasing an offensive mana wave crashing directly toward the marble floor in front of the entrance.

Bummmm!

The massive golden energy explosion created a small crater and a thick dust cloud, cutting off the entry path for the mercenary knights standing behind Lord Sterling. Prince Leonhardt did not intend to injure the senior noble directly—since doing so would trigger an open political crisis before the court—but rather locked their movement space so we had a gap to escape.

"Catch them! Do not let those court rats out alive with that decree document!" shouted Lord Sterling with a shrill voice full of anger, his face turning beet red holding extraordinary rage upon seeing his main secret document missing from the safe.

The two elite mercenary knights instantly lunged through the thick dust, drawing long swords wrapped in darkness mana emitting a bloodthirsty aura. The atmosphere inside the tidy study room instantly turned into a brutal close-quarters battle arena. Archive books scattered, the mahogany desk split in two from sword slash impacts, and wood fragments flew filling the air.

Raven stepped forward with agile movements like a black shadow. The twin daggers in his hands spun fast, parrying the blind attacks of one mercenary knight while launching a counter-attack in the form of targeted thrusts to the enemy's vital points. "Quickly get out of here, Alicia! The Prince and I will hold them back!" shouted Raven amidst the clanging metal clashing loudly.

"I do not have the habit of leaving comrades behind in the enemy nest, Raven!" I retorted sharply.

I concentrated all remaining pure ice mana inside my body, raising my palm toward the marble floor beneath the enemy mercenary knights' feet. In one second, room temperature plummeted drastically to absolute zero point. Sharp thick ice layers like thousands of knives suddenly jutted from the floor, trapping the first mercenary knight's feet and freezing his lower body instantly.

The knight screamed muffledly as the cold ice damaged his armor and skin tissue, paralyzing his movement completely in a flash. Seeing his comrade fall, the second mercenary knight shifted his attack brutally toward me, swinging a large black-mana-wrapped broadsword right toward my neck.

Before that slash could touch my skin, a flash of pure golden light shot fast, parrying the enemy sword with a deafening hard clang. Prince Leonhardt stood right in front of me, staring at the mercenary knight with ice-cold eyes.

"Your opponent is me, traitor," Leonhardt hissed coldly, then with a full-force push using his sword, he threw the mercenary knight crashing into the bookshelf wall until he passed out instantly.

Across the room, Lord Sterling trembled not out of fear, but due to overwhelming hatred seeing all his plans destroyed by a group of youths before him. He reached into his robe pocket, intending to pull an emergency summoning crystal stone to bring the entire Sterling faction troop to the west wing.

Yet, before the old man's fingers could touch the crystal stone, Raven had darted silently and placed the tip of a sharp dagger right at Lord Sterling's neck.

"One more movement, and your neck will separate from your head before your backup can knock on the door, Lord Sterling," Raven threatened with a deadpan flat voice.

Lord Sterling froze, cold sweat pouring down his temples. He stared at us one by one with heavy breathing. "You... you think you can escape after stealing important imperial documents? The shadow faction will never let you live."

I stepped closer, lifting the decree parchment scroll in my right hand with the most lethal villainess smirk. "Shadow faction or any faction, let that be our concern later. What is clear is that tonight your dirty game has ended, Lord Sterling."

Without wasting a single second, Prince Leonhardt gave the signal. Raven paralyzed Lord Sterling with a dagger hilt strike to his nape until he passed out instantly on the carpet. The three of us immediately turned around, jumping out through the study's shattered large window, melting into the academy's dark night carrying evidence of crimes that would shake the entire imperial foundation the next day.

Hello, readers.

This novel will be discontinued because the author is no longer continuing the story. This will be the final chapter.

Thank you for reading this novel