Chapter 1459

The Pallan Empire had no shortage of adversaries. Oddly enough, it wasn't due to any number of atrocities they’d committed.

It was simply because it was centrally located and wielded immense power, essentially a massive buffer zone between Lyndis and Contas. That helped it grow into a mighty nation that could boast overwhelming influence across the entire continent.

On top of that, Pallan was the driving force behind the continental peace through the Continental Alliance, which some nations opposed.

Of course, Pallan wasn't strictly pacifist. Having forged a history of blood over a long period on the Tionis Continent, it searched for a way to maintain its prestige without further bloodshed.

The Continental Alliance was the result of that search. Naturally, Lyndis and Contas, exhausted from years of conflict, had also agreed to their Continental Alliance.

However, just like anything in the world, there were those who vehemently reject that movement. Namely, the small and mid-sized kingdoms that longed for a resurgence, as well as those who couldn't hide their thirst for conquest.

That was why Illyna believed the terrorist attack had to be the work of one of the smaller nations that had long been at odds with Pallan.

However.

“This is...”

The huge barrier surrounding the banquet hall felt totally alien.

“Your Highness, it looks like our mages don't have the skill to break that barrier in a short time...”

There were suspicions of a terrorist attack, but the probability was low. Then, as if to mock those who doubted themselves, the terror struck. The Imperial Palace was in a flurry in their attempt to track down and capture the culprits.

“If they were familiar with the Imperial Palace's layout and managed to avoid the defensive magic circles so precisely, there's no way they could’ve put this together in just a day or two, Knight Commander,” Illyna advised.

“My apologies...”

“You don't need to apologize. It just means the imperial mages were lax with their security. What about my older brother, Sullivan?”

“The ministers have already entered the palace and are observing the situation with His Majesty. It looks like moving in secret will no longer be an option.”

“Those sly old nobles.”

Sullivan probably wanted to keep the secret forces moving, but the sheer number of imperial nobles who flocked to him likely made that strategy impossible.

“Perserque and I will try to break the barrier around the banquet hall. Knight Commander, you will subdue everyone who enters through the path I showed you.”

He gave a nod. “Understood, Your Highness.”

“Run if it gets dangerous. Don't risk your life unnecessarily.”

The Knight Commander burst into a hearty laugh at her command.

In actuality, her command carried no official force. The White Bird Knights only followed her because of her high regard and trustworthiness.

Illyna then asked Perserque, who was already investigating the banquet hall confined by the barrier where Evangeline was, “Can you break it?”

“It's beyond unique,” she responded. “It's intricate. Most importantly, it's too closely linked to this Imperial Palace.”

“Huh?”

“Just from what I can tell by looking at the outside, if we mess with it, the inside could explode, or the connected parts all over the Imperial Palace could be blown away.”

There was no simple problem to speedily tackle.

“What in the world was the Imperial Mage Corps doing while someone was setting up a magic circle like this...” Illyna suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence.

“Illyna?”

“The Imperial Mage Commander... He was definitely a political rival of Sullivan’s.”

“Did something click?”

“I don't know yet. First things first, let’s handle the barrier...”

Perserque manifested her magic again and made contact with the crack. “Gimme thirty minutes. I'll break this damn barrier by then, so just keep the distractions away from me.”

“That's easy enough.”

Just then, three or four arrows flew out of the darkness straight toward Perserque, but Illyna immediately snatched the arrows from the air with her bare hands.

“A revolt? Or an attack from the outside? Oh well. No matter what it is, Evangeline is the most important thing right now.” Illyna let out explosive energy, then it instantly turned cold and stabilized.

In an instant, three shadowy figures rushed her, striking at her vital points with flawless coordination. The attack was clearly meant to kill her.

However, the moment a sword appeared in her hand and a silver light flashed once, the three terrorists who had attacked her were split in two.

Being the only person in the world who could wield the complete Continuum Attacking Blade, her power was far beyond what a mere terrorist could handle.

* * *

When the beautiful candles and mana stone lanterns, lit to set the mood at the banquet, suddenly went out, panic naturally broke out.

Even the folks who were proud and fairly confident in their abilities were clearly flustered. It wasn't simply the blackout. The uncomfortable atmosphere engulfing the entire banquet hall was driving the youngsters into terror.

‘What's going on?’

They were in the Pallan Imperial Palace, of all places. It made no sense logically for such a thing to happen, unless the internal forces of Pallan condoned it.

Then it happened.

Shimmer!!

The extinguished mana stone lanterns all flared back to life at the same time. The sudden fluctuation of light blinded everyone whose eyes had already adjusted to the darkness.

At the same time, those who weren't squinting at the light caught sight of a being that had appeared out of nowhere.

It was none other than a skeleton.

“KYAAAH!”

“A sk... A skeleton!”

But it wasn't just any skeleton. It clearly had glowing eyes and was moving.

The skeleton quietly greeted all of them, “Greetings, everyone.”

Everyone could tell the intruder hadn't come with good intentions. Still fuming after Evangeline had thoroughly humiliated him earlier, Ratius stepped forward to boldly take the lead. “Who the hell are you?!”

“I don't have a name. Well, if you insist on calling me something, just call me Unnamed.”

“Unnamed?”

“Yes,” the skeleton confirmed. “Excuse me, but you all are the children of high-ranking officials from various nations, correct?”

“So?”

“My apologies, but you all need to die.” The skeleton clapped its hands.

At the same time, Ratius charged toward the skeleton before anyone else could react.

Boom!!

The noise was almost like the thunder of a cavalry charge. Yet, despite its imposing appearance, the skeleton went flying pitifully through the air.

Boom!! Boom!!

Ratius followed up by slamming both fists into the fallen skeleton, crushing it to pieces.

“Stop! Ratius! It’s already dust.” Khrones restrained Ratius, who had been relentlessly punching the ground for a while.

“Hmph. What a nobody.”

The skeleton stayed silent. Some of the kids breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. They didn't know what was going on, but Ratius had handled the threat in the room.

“Is it dead?”

“It probably is. There's no magic reaction at all, at least.”

“Then that's a relief. But... why isn't the barrier disappearing?”

Ratius couldn’t help but frown.

Soon, Crama Linden, the genius mage who often hung out with Khrones and Ratius, approached the barrier. “I'll try to break the barrier first.”

“Be careful.”

“Don't worry. There's no barrier magic I can't analyze,” he confidently said with a cold smile.

Leaving him behind, Khrones looked around again, searching for someone. He sought the girl he'd been concerned about since he first arrived.

He wanted the beautiful girl of pure white and black.

He hadn't really exchanged words with her, but he couldn’t stop thinking of her. It was no surprise, because she had even naturally drawn the attention of most of the young ladies present.

Unlike the other young ladies who were only taken with his appearance and aura, she was different. No, she was so aloof that she seemed to not even care about his level.

Normally, he wouldn't have cared. Yet, for some reason, he kept making excuses, failing to realize he was staring at Evangeline.

Soon, the uniquely noticeable girl in white came into his sight. He called out, “Lady Eosha! You're not hurt, are you?”

“No... But, Lady Evangeline, I heard a sound like a shoe heel breaking.”

“It's fine. I have a spare.”

Eosha laughed in resignation at the sight of her smiling while subtly showing off her expensive expansion pouch. “Honestly. I just can't pin you down, Princess Evangeline. More importantly, this barrier...”

“They're probably trying to break it from the outside. Right now, what we need to worry about isn't actually the barrier.”

Eosha’s head tilted in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Evangeline answered, “That thing earlier? It was a doll. Necromancy.”

The moment she said that.

“Ugh?!” Crama Linden, who was trying to interfere with the barrier, was thrown to the ground without even being able to resist. At the same time, several people wearing black robes appeared in the banquet hall.

Then a man among the new arrivals raised a bony arm and declared, “The preparations are complete. I'm sorry, but you all must die.”

At the same time, devil mana surged from his body, and black mist soon spread throughout the banquet hall.

“Wha... What the?!”

Standing amongst the bewildered people, Khrones and Ratius instinctively kicked off the ground and lunged toward the enemies.

“Are you the main body? Then all we have to do is subdue you, right?!”

Boom!!

A heavy explosion echoed through the hall. The attack was reckless, a full-force charge like a wild boar. Yet this time, the outcome was different from the earlier clash with the skeleton.

The hulking figure in robes moved a step faster and drove a punch straight into Ratius's abdomen. “Cough... Ugh.”

Thud!!

Ratius was instantly sent flying. Following after him was Khrones, who exchanged several blows with a sword-wielding robed figure, only to be pushed back defensively without much gain.

The robed figure spun his sword with a sneer and said, “They call you a once-in-a-generation genius, and it seems they weren't exaggerating.”

He then jerked his chin toward the others. “What are you doing? Hurry up and move them!”

Following his words, a massive spell began to shimmer across the entire banquet hall. Before anyone could react, it sent everyone inside to a different location.

Poof!!

Evangeline, who’d instinctively grabbed Eosha, frowned and looked around the space she had been thrown into.

Stone walls and a dark space. She had seen a place like that before.

‘Dungeon...?’

“P-Princess Evangeline!”

“Calm down,” she responded. “This looks like space magic... Or wait, no, it's a bit vague to call this space magic. Either way, we don't know what's here, so be careful.”

Perhaps it was to be sure, but instead of simply massacring them, the intruders scattered everyone far and wide.

Given that even a 7th Circle mage couldn't do something like this, and the flow of power looked different from ordinary magic. It felt like something else entirely. It seemed closer to the abilities possessed by the Special Ones.

“Something seriously bad is going on.”

Evangeline grumbled and tried to take out the comfortable clothes and shoes she kept in her expansion pouch.

The place she’d arrived at looked nothing like the Pallan Imperial Palace.

She didn't know where they got a space like than, though if one asked if it was above ground or underground, it was closer to underground.

“Is this a dungeon?” Eosha, who was in a panic at first, finally regained her composure and cautiously approached her side. “But it definitely feels far removed from the Pallan Imperial Palace.”

“Did the others come here too?”

“They probably did. It’d actually be harder to scatter them randomly.”

Saying that, Evangeline pulled out a pair of light, Earth-style sneakers, tossing her jewel-studded heels into her Pocket Plane.

Her pristine white dress had become dirty due to the dusty dungeon, but she didn't care.

[Clean]

The Dragontongue manifested, and the dust on her dress was pattered off.

“There's not enough time to change clothes.”

“Huh? What are you trying to do...” Eosha, who was muttering, took a sharp breath.

That was because fully armored goblins were marching toward the two of them from the dark depths of the dungeon. Among them were even larger hobs and trolls.

Eosha could hardly believe it. “Full-armor goblins, hobs, and trolls?!”

“We have to go quickly,” Evangeline solemnly told her. “The others won't be able to handle those.”

In the past, she had even fought a dark priest to save people. Her compassion hadn't disappeared.

Evangeline snapped one hand out, and a dark-crimson longsword appeared in her grasp with a flash of light.

“Princess!”

Sling!!

It truly was just an instant. The Aura Blade that flashed from her hand shot out like blade energy, slicing all the approaching monsters in one fell swoop.

“Oh?”

“Let's go,” Evangeline commanded.

“Uh... Y-yes.” Eosha, who answered hesitantly, hurriedly followed Evangeline out.