Chapter 81: Disturbance In The Imperial Capital

In a military post situated in the middle walls of the imperial capital, a woman in a blue gambeson is at her desk in her own office. Beside her is an armor stand, where her set of armor sits still until she gets outside.

The woman appears to be in her late twenties, young yet mature. She has deep dark blue hair on top of her head that is tied in a ponytail, and her sharp yet calm gazes are as red as wine.

Her name is Alicia Kianne van Colkrave, and she is one of the captains of the empire's knights. As her full name consists of four particles, she is actually a part of the empire's nobility, a daughter of a viscount, to be specific.

Traditionally, all over the continent, daughters of nobility are nurtured to be married off to another noble and use them as political bargaining chips to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between families. While most of the aristocratic daughters just yield to their families, a few of them decide to fight against it.

Since the empire has undergone several reforms in the past decades, primarily due to the rise of the Manndier family, the empire is still in the middle of improvement.

To solve the problems with corruption, rebelling nobles, and other threats, the empire's demand for talented personnel skyrocketed. Not only did they give more recognition to commonplace talents, the empire even decided to recruit capable nobles at their disposal.

Many young nobles who were not inheriting a title seized this opportunity to escape the pressure of nobility, including the aristocratic daughters. As years went by, children of nobility began to harness their talents since childhood. It was almost mandatory for each family to give their children serious upbringings.

Alicia is one of them. Since she was a child, she has been wielding her sword. After years of rigorous training, her swordsmanship could even match that of a knight captain. She was quickly promoted from rank to rank until she reached the position she is sitting in.

The number of Roheazul spies trying to get into the city is still rising, the woman says inwardly.

This noon, she is reading through the papers laid on the table. There is a quarter-inch-thick stack of paper she has to read, and she is halfway through to finish this day's work.

More people are reported to be missing in the dungeon again. Just how slippery is this syndicate? This is getting alarming.

Creak.

As she is reading the reports, the door suddenly swings open. No one is allowed to casually enter a captain's room without prior notice like a knock on the door. She knows one person who acts like that, and she does not seem to be fine with it.

"It's you, vice captain." Alicia greets the intruder with a dry smile. "I prefer it if you at least knock on the door before coming in."

"No need to be formal, especially when we are alone, Alicia. I prefer it if you call me by my name, Luke."

The man in armor who just barges in Alicia's office is a man named Luke. He is a young man who is the same age as Alicia, tall, blonde, and charismatic. His handsome face is gleaming with a smile that would melt a young girl's heart.

"So, can you tell me what is your reason why you are here?"

"Well, I noticed lately that you have been too absorbed in your work. I have been thinking if you could take a little break. For that reason, let me treat you to dinner someday. I heard that there is a new restaurant just a few blocks from here."

"I really appreciate your offer, but I have to decline. There are many problems that we, the imperial knights, have to resolve."

Every now and then, Luke has been pushing himself to Alicia. However, despite how much he wants to impress Alicia, she does not seem to be interested in him. She is aware that he has some feelings for her, but for some reason, there is something about him that she cannot put her finger on.

Even though she is superior to him in rank, Alicia cannot simply push him away or tell him to stop. The reason is that, like herself, Luke is a member of nobility.

His full name is Luke Renner van Griffith, and he is the second son of a count in the empire, a rank higher than her family. For Alicia, their status in nobility matters more than their military ranks, especially when they are one position apart.

In terms of strength, Alicia is superior to him when it comes to swordsmanship, magic, leadership, and so on. Luke is always second to her, but she still definitely recognizes his strength.

"Well, that's too bad." Luke feels down for a second until he suddenly flashes a smile. "Anyway, my father is coming to the capital soon. It's unfortunate, but you'll see me less in the next few days."

"That's saddening, I guess?"

I hope I don't have to deal with you. Alicia keeps those words in her mind.

"But your father is coming here?"

"Yes. Since he is coming here, I want to introduce you to him. After all, I want him to know the person I admired the most."

Now this is a problem.

Alicia does not know what Luke is planning, but she feels it would not be good for her. What if he was going to suggest a proposal between them? She is already shaking just from thinking about it. She needs to think of something to avoid it.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Of course! I already made some preparations. All things left—?!"

BOOM!

Suddenly, his words are interrupted by a loud explosion nearby. Even when the sun is at its peak, the bright flash of the explosion can still be seen from the windows.

"What the hell was that?!" Alicia yells as they run together to the windows to check. "Where did that come from?!"

Upon looking through the windows, they see a large mushroom-shaped smoke not so far away. They recognized that the explosion detonated within the middle walls.

"It appears to be in a commercial area near the dungeon entrance!" Luke responds.

"I have to go there immediately!"

Alicia quickly equips her armor before she storms out of the room. Before she could exit the post, Luke suddenly grabs her arm.

"I'll go with you!"

"No! Gather the knights and tell them to respond to the source of the explosion and evacuate the civilians to safety!"

"...I understand, captain!"

Once Luke lets go of her arm, the two knights run off toward their own destination.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

The explosion was actually the result of the combined powers of powerful magic spells that were unleashed at the same exact time. The combined force created a devastating explosion comparable to a small nuclear bomb.

It caused so much damage to that part of the area. Multiple buildings are destroyed, especially the two buildings where the massive explosion detonated.

There are multiple people lying on the ground, full of blood. Most of them, especially near the blast site, suffered serious burns and injuries. Unfortunately, a few do not manage to sustain the damages.

The once busy street is now filled with agonizing shouts and despairing cries. The area around the explosion is in ruins, and the city might take a long time to recover.

At the epicenter of the explosion, a single man stands among the rumbles. The young man is seemingly unscathed despite being the target of the attack.

Amidst the smokes and dust, the young man glances around and sees the destruction around him. Enraged, Azrael's striking amber eyes are glaring sharply at the large man in the middle of the street.

"I expected you to survive the attack, but I did not expect you to be unscathed."

"Have you ever thought about minding your surroundings? You are causing unnecessary damages. You don't even care about your men."

"It doesn't matter to me. We are done with this city, anyway."

"What are you going to do now? Most of your goons are either dead or knocked unconscious."

"Fine, I'll do it myself. Hmph!"

Zoom.

"!!"

Suddenly, Mors's figure instantly grows bigger in his eyes. He is dashing at Azrael at an astonishing speed, but Azrael quickly adapts to his speed, and now he can clearly see him about to throw his fist. Azrael then raises his sword in front of his face to block the man's high-speed punch.

Boom!

A shockwave is generated upon the collision of the blade and the gauntlet. Immediately after that, Mors swings his other arm to land a left hook at Azrael's face from the side. Azrael quickly responds by casually catching the fist with his own hand.

"What?!"

Mors is genuinely confused by Azrael's strength. But he has no time to be amazed, as he has a mission to fulfill. In order to increase his chance of winning, Mors has resorted to using his hidden power.