Boom!
It felt like my bones were shaking from the strong impact.
I quickly got up from my seat and looked up, my eyes widening as I saw that the floor I was on had been dug in.
That's definitely an auror mark.
It is a special technique that only Sword Masters can use.
There was no room for doubt, as I clearly remembered the auror attacks Rudnine had unleashed on the warlocks at Iels Castle.
'If you're a sword master, then Adrian?'
“How dare you?”
But contrary to my expectations, it was not Adrian's voice, but a deep male voice that rang out.
“To enter the Emperor’s quarters without permission? How terribly rude.”
The man slowly revealing himself, holding a long sword, was the master of this place, Emperor John Ser Verbent.
“I will personally bring down the divine punishment.”
Emperor John raised his sword with a chillingly emotionless expression and aimed it squarely at me.
The sharp, shining tip of the sword was dazzling.
I had guessed that the Emperor had been brainwashed by Empress Giselle for a long time with black magic, and I was right.
Now his blue eyes were as hazy as a foggy sea, devoid of any light.
Emperor John is not in his right mind.
And he uses auras? Emperor John was a skilled swordsman, but he never reached the level of a sword master.
Then you're saying it was created by force using black magic?
I clenched my teeth.
"On purpose? To make us fight like human weapons? Have you ever seen such crazy warlocks!"
I felt sorry for him and cried out to him in a hurry.
“Your Majesty, come to your senses!”
“Shut up.”
But Emperor John rushed towards me with bloodshot eyes flashing.
Damn, I'm completely turned around.
Pfft, quaaaaak!
Emperor John, who swung his sword repeatedly with a loud roar, was not only fast but also very strong.
I was struggling to avoid the sword he was slamming down, and sweat was forming on my forehead.
It would be easy if I just ran outside by myself, but that wasn't possible with Barden here unconscious.
The Emperor swung his sword recklessly, as if he were about to destroy all the furniture.
“Where are you running away like a rat!”
I rolled my body to avoid the flying debris and called out to Barden in a hurry.
“Brother! Come to your senses!”
“Hmm...”
Barden seemed to flutter his thin eyelids, but soon there was no movement again.
Well, he was already weak, and since he was tied up for so long, it would be difficult to expect him to wake up.
Having completely given up on Barden's physical strength, I had no choice but to use magic, albeit a bit early.
I had to stop Emperor John's movements before he could raise his magical power.
“Velvet! Tie the Emperor’s feet!”
"Yes, Yvonne."
Velvet replied in an emotionless tone, then quickly stepped forward and sprayed a stream of purple water at Emperor John.
He stood frozen in place and looked down at his bound legs.
'Attack magic. Knocks them out in one hit!'
As I was trying to calculate the magic formula, Emperor John looked up at me and smiled crookedly.
'What? Why are you laughing?'
The mocking smile was so unsettling.
“You’re doing something cute.”
Emperor John raised his sword arm high, trying to strike down the water restraints.
I was startled to see a red aura flickering from the tip of his sword.
“Velvet, take off the restraints quickly!”
"Yes, ugh!"
But Velvet groaned, already affected by the aura cast by the Emperor.
It was painful to see the little fox in pain.
We just met...! How can you hurt her like this?
I quickly picked up the staggering Velvet and checked her condition.
“Velvet.”
"It hurts a little. Please calm down, it's okay."
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This isn’t why I brought you here.”
"What are you talking about? I'm a familiar who decided to follow Yvonne, so this much is natural."
Seeing Velvet speak calmly while squinting her eyes in pain made me feel even sadder.
Of course, no familiar should be hurt.
I bit my lip, shook my head, and gently placed Velvet on the unconscious Barden's lap.
“You're resting.”
"Yes?"
"Look carefully. You decided to follow me because I'm stronger than you. Just look at how strong I am."
I ignored Velvet, who was trying to say something back, and spun around.
Emperor John, completely free from the restraints, was slowly surrounding me, sword in hand.
“Stop fooling around. I’m very tired.”
“I, too, will stop joking, Your Majesty.”
I ran towards him, expressionless, and watched the movements of the sword.
The sword that Emperor John swung at me was fast, but it was nothing compared to the speed of Rudnine.
As Pembe said, no sword master in the world can match Rudnine.
I dodged the sword straight away, jumped behind Emperor John, and struck him hard in the left calf.
“Ugh.”
He was not wearing any armor, and he staggered and groaned in pain.
My feet were cold, and my whole leg was tingling.
Without a moment to breathe, I rushed towards Emperor John, quickly infusing my magical power into the attack magic formula I had calculated.
There is no room for saving magic power.
I can't die here!
I quickly brought down the lightning spell, which had the shortest casting speed and highest damage among the attack spells I had learned, over Emperor John's head.
Lightning flashed so bright it hurt the eyes, twisting and shaking Emperor John's body.
“Ugh!”
He was glaring at me and struggling to escape my attacks, and it didn't look like he would go down easily.
“Huh.”
I took a deep breath and prepared to use gravity-enhancing magic again, drawing up my magical power again.
I felt dizzy, and the ceiling was spinning.
To be able to use magic in such a short period of time, in seconds? Do you think I'm a real great wizard?
My breath was pounding, but I couldn't stop because I had encountered an unexpectedly large enemy.
“Please rest, Your Majesty.”
I muttered and completed the magic, unfolding it over Emperor John and pressing him down without mercy.
Kookungkookkook.
With the sound of his heavy body hitting the floor, Emperor John finally lost consciousness.
Wow, my vision was blurry too, and I felt like I wanted to faint.
“Haa, haa.”
I took a deep breath, my chest rising and falling, and walked unsteadily toward the emperor lying on the floor.
He was breathing lightly and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.
As I looked at Emperor John lying in the Emperor's quarters, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation.
I'm really crazy, even beating up the Emperor.
But then I felt something moving behind me, and then I heard a hoarse voice.
“What? Yvonne? Really... you’re here?”
I turned my head, and my eyes met Barden's.
“Brother!”
When did you come to your senses?
Barden, who had barely managed to raise his head and was staring blankly at me, slowly closed and opened his eyes, then smiled weakly.
“You really came... Are you crazy? Where do you think you are?”
This is, really.
I came to save you, and now you're saying things like that!
I was about to scream in disbelief, but then I realized what Barden was really thinking and shut my mouth tightly.
'Fool.'
What good does it do to speak nicely, you idiot brother?
I opened my eyes to Barden, my heart pounding.
“Then I really came here for real or fake?! I came all this way and now you’re greeting me like this?”
Barden looked at me with a gloomy look and muttered in a rough voice.
“...Honestly, I didn’t think you’d come. It’s too dangerous here.”
The dark shadows under his eyes deepened. I was distraught, wondering what had happened to him.
Instead of comforting Barden, I grumbled.
“Really? Then I shouldn’t have come.”
"If it were me, I wouldn't have come because I was scared. No, I couldn't have come—because I'm weak. You see? Warlocks are scary and formidable."
Barden's gloomy face was filled with despair, as if he were about to die.
It seemed as if they expected us to lose.
I deliberately gave a cold, snorting laugh to Barden.
“That’s right. My brother must have died on his way here.”
"...Hey."
"But as you can see, I'm not hurt at all. I'm much stronger than you, aren't I?"
“Well done, well done.”
"Do you get it now? Seriously. This isn't the time to be idle, depressed, and digging up land. Seriously, time is of the essence! First, let me untie the rope."
To be honest, I was dizzy from the aftereffects of using advanced magic in succession earlier, but I couldn't show it because Barden was already anxious.
I pretended to be calm and endured it, then walked away, freeing Barden from his tight grip on the chair and cutting off the magic control device around his neck.
"Are you okay?"
“It’s a little bit strange.”
Barden frowned and stroked his wrist, breathing weakly.
I looked around for some drinking water and gave it to Barden, who drank it like it was the elixir of life and emptied it in one go.
Since when has he been tied up in this place?
His darkly bruised wrists and dry, chapped lips were also pitiful. There must be many more wounds that can't be seen.
I was so upset that I slapped Barden on the back.
"So, why! You got kidnapped without being careful! Why did you learn magic all this time, huh?! You're someone with a lot of combat experience, huh?!"
“Ouch... I’m hurt..."
“Don’t joke around! This time, I hit you with more force!”
“But it still hurts.”
Barden muttered while rubbing my back, then grinned like an idiot.
“Thank you for coming.”
“What is it?”
“...But, what is this fox that has been sitting on my lap all this time?”
Ah.
When Barden met the eyes of the fox who was looking at him coldly, he unconsciously stroked Velvet's back and asked in a dazed tone.
“You used to raise hamsters and take them with you. Now you’re raising foxes too?”
I thought about it for a moment, but since things had already come to this, I decided not to hide it any longer and spoke comfortably.
“She’s a familiar.”
“What...? A familiar?”
“Isn’t it cute?”
I looked at Barden and chuckled.
But the expression on Barden's face as he looked back and forth between me and Velvet was unusual.
'It's strange?'
As I expected, I thought Barden would either freak out and throw Velvet or laugh and tell me not to lie.
The moment I was about to ask Barden, who was looking at me as if he was seriously agonizing over something, why I was doing that.
Kukukukukung.
A loud, eerie explosion was heard in the distance.
Barden and I, who were facing each other, opened our eyes wide at the same time.
Judging from the direction of the sound, it is clearly towards the main gate of the palace where the battle is taking place.
“This is a big deal.”
Now is not the time to be leisurely chatting with Barden like this!
“Brother. I have something important to do right now.”
"Hey."
"So, Brother, would you like to escape on your own? I'll give you a rough idea of how to escape the palace. So, go down to the main palace..."
Barden, who was looking at me as I frantically explained the escape route, carefully placed Velvet on the floor and touched my shoulder.
"Yvonne Argenthoz. Calm down."
“That’s because I don’t have time for that!”
“It’s okay. I know exactly what you’re looking for.”
"Yes?"
Barden frowned and stood up, unsteadily, using his legs to brace himself.
“Right now, are you looking for the altar of all the ‘Entrance to Liberation’?”
“...Huh? How would you know that, brother?”
I was so surprised that my mouth opened wide.
Since Barden was kidnapped and imprisoned the entire time, he probably doesn't know about the existence of the Liberation Gate.
Barden shrugged and tapped my temple.
“The woman who captured me kept whispering in my head about what she had done to my head.”
“...If it’s a woman, no way!”
Barden looked at me with a complicated expression.
"Princess Cordelia Mare kidnapped you for this very purpose. To connect me with her."
“The purpose of continuing...”
His voice trembled.
Barden glanced down at Velvet, who was standing next to me, then raised his head again with a dark expression.
“Really. You really intend to become a warlock.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a second loud explosion rang out from outside.
The noise was so close that it made my eardrums ache, and I clenched my fists.
It felt like my bones were shaking from the strong impact.
I quickly got up from my seat and looked up, my eyes widening as I saw that the floor I was on had been dug in.
That's definitely an auror mark.
It is a special technique that only Sword Masters can use.
There was no room for doubt, as I clearly remembered the auror attacks Rudnine had unleashed on the warlocks at Iels Castle.
'If you're a sword master, then Adrian?'
“How dare you?”
But contrary to my expectations, it was not Adrian's voice, but a deep male voice that rang out.
“To enter the Emperor’s quarters without permission? How terribly rude.”
The man slowly revealing himself, holding a long sword, was the master of this place, Emperor John Ser Verbent.
“I will personally bring down the divine punishment.”
Emperor John raised his sword with a chillingly emotionless expression and aimed it squarely at me.
The sharp, shining tip of the sword was dazzling.
I had guessed that the Emperor had been brainwashed by Empress Giselle for a long time with black magic, and I was right.
Now his blue eyes were as hazy as a foggy sea, devoid of any light.
Emperor John is not in his right mind.
And he uses auras? Emperor John was a skilled swordsman, but he never reached the level of a sword master.
Then you're saying it was created by force using black magic?
I clenched my teeth.
"On purpose? To make us fight like human weapons? Have you ever seen such crazy warlocks!"
I felt sorry for him and cried out to him in a hurry.
“Your Majesty, come to your senses!”
“Shut up.”
But Emperor John rushed towards me with bloodshot eyes flashing.
Damn, I'm completely turned around.
Pfft, quaaaaak!
Emperor John, who swung his sword repeatedly with a loud roar, was not only fast but also very strong.
I was struggling to avoid the sword he was slamming down, and sweat was forming on my forehead.
It would be easy if I just ran outside by myself, but that wasn't possible with Barden here unconscious.
The Emperor swung his sword recklessly, as if he were about to destroy all the furniture.
“Where are you running away like a rat!”
I rolled my body to avoid the flying debris and called out to Barden in a hurry.
“Brother! Come to your senses!”
“Hmm...”
Barden seemed to flutter his thin eyelids, but soon there was no movement again.
Well, he was already weak, and since he was tied up for so long, it would be difficult to expect him to wake up.
Having completely given up on Barden's physical strength, I had no choice but to use magic, albeit a bit early.
I had to stop Emperor John's movements before he could raise his magical power.
“Velvet! Tie the Emperor’s feet!”
"Yes, Yvonne."
Velvet replied in an emotionless tone, then quickly stepped forward and sprayed a stream of purple water at Emperor John.
He stood frozen in place and looked down at his bound legs.
'Attack magic. Knocks them out in one hit!'
As I was trying to calculate the magic formula, Emperor John looked up at me and smiled crookedly.
'What? Why are you laughing?'
The mocking smile was so unsettling.
“You’re doing something cute.”
Emperor John raised his sword arm high, trying to strike down the water restraints.
I was startled to see a red aura flickering from the tip of his sword.
“Velvet, take off the restraints quickly!”
"Yes, ugh!"
But Velvet groaned, already affected by the aura cast by the Emperor.
It was painful to see the little fox in pain.
We just met...! How can you hurt her like this?
I quickly picked up the staggering Velvet and checked her condition.
“Velvet.”
"It hurts a little. Please calm down, it's okay."
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This isn’t why I brought you here.”
"What are you talking about? I'm a familiar who decided to follow Yvonne, so this much is natural."
Seeing Velvet speak calmly while squinting her eyes in pain made me feel even sadder.
Of course, no familiar should be hurt.
I bit my lip, shook my head, and gently placed Velvet on the unconscious Barden's lap.
“You're resting.”
"Yes?"
"Look carefully. You decided to follow me because I'm stronger than you. Just look at how strong I am."
I ignored Velvet, who was trying to say something back, and spun around.
Emperor John, completely free from the restraints, was slowly surrounding me, sword in hand.
“Stop fooling around. I’m very tired.”
“I, too, will stop joking, Your Majesty.”
I ran towards him, expressionless, and watched the movements of the sword.
The sword that Emperor John swung at me was fast, but it was nothing compared to the speed of Rudnine.
As Pembe said, no sword master in the world can match Rudnine.
I dodged the sword straight away, jumped behind Emperor John, and struck him hard in the left calf.
“Ugh.”
He was not wearing any armor, and he staggered and groaned in pain.
My feet were cold, and my whole leg was tingling.
Without a moment to breathe, I rushed towards Emperor John, quickly infusing my magical power into the attack magic formula I had calculated.
There is no room for saving magic power.
I can't die here!
I quickly brought down the lightning spell, which had the shortest casting speed and highest damage among the attack spells I had learned, over Emperor John's head.
Lightning flashed so bright it hurt the eyes, twisting and shaking Emperor John's body.
“Ugh!”
He was glaring at me and struggling to escape my attacks, and it didn't look like he would go down easily.
“Huh.”
I took a deep breath and prepared to use gravity-enhancing magic again, drawing up my magical power again.
I felt dizzy, and the ceiling was spinning.
To be able to use magic in such a short period of time, in seconds? Do you think I'm a real great wizard?
My breath was pounding, but I couldn't stop because I had encountered an unexpectedly large enemy.
“Please rest, Your Majesty.”
I muttered and completed the magic, unfolding it over Emperor John and pressing him down without mercy.
Kookungkookkook.
With the sound of his heavy body hitting the floor, Emperor John finally lost consciousness.
Wow, my vision was blurry too, and I felt like I wanted to faint.
“Haa, haa.”
I took a deep breath, my chest rising and falling, and walked unsteadily toward the emperor lying on the floor.
He was breathing lightly and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.
As I looked at Emperor John lying in the Emperor's quarters, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation.
I'm really crazy, even beating up the Emperor.
But then I felt something moving behind me, and then I heard a hoarse voice.
“What? Yvonne? Really... you’re here?”
I turned my head, and my eyes met Barden's.
“Brother!”
When did you come to your senses?
Barden, who had barely managed to raise his head and was staring blankly at me, slowly closed and opened his eyes, then smiled weakly.
“You really came... Are you crazy? Where do you think you are?”
This is, really.
I came to save you, and now you're saying things like that!
I was about to scream in disbelief, but then I realized what Barden was really thinking and shut my mouth tightly.
'Fool.'
What good does it do to speak nicely, you idiot brother?
I opened my eyes to Barden, my heart pounding.
“Then I really came here for real or fake?! I came all this way and now you’re greeting me like this?”
Barden looked at me with a gloomy look and muttered in a rough voice.
“...Honestly, I didn’t think you’d come. It’s too dangerous here.”
The dark shadows under his eyes deepened. I was distraught, wondering what had happened to him.
Instead of comforting Barden, I grumbled.
“Really? Then I shouldn’t have come.”
"If it were me, I wouldn't have come because I was scared. No, I couldn't have come—because I'm weak. You see? Warlocks are scary and formidable."
Barden's gloomy face was filled with despair, as if he were about to die.
It seemed as if they expected us to lose.
I deliberately gave a cold, snorting laugh to Barden.
“That’s right. My brother must have died on his way here.”
"...Hey."
"But as you can see, I'm not hurt at all. I'm much stronger than you, aren't I?"
“Well done, well done.”
"Do you get it now? Seriously. This isn't the time to be idle, depressed, and digging up land. Seriously, time is of the essence! First, let me untie the rope."
To be honest, I was dizzy from the aftereffects of using advanced magic in succession earlier, but I couldn't show it because Barden was already anxious.
I pretended to be calm and endured it, then walked away, freeing Barden from his tight grip on the chair and cutting off the magic control device around his neck.
"Are you okay?"
“It’s a little bit strange.”
Barden frowned and stroked his wrist, breathing weakly.
I looked around for some drinking water and gave it to Barden, who drank it like it was the elixir of life and emptied it in one go.
Since when has he been tied up in this place?
His darkly bruised wrists and dry, chapped lips were also pitiful. There must be many more wounds that can't be seen.
I was so upset that I slapped Barden on the back.
"So, why! You got kidnapped without being careful! Why did you learn magic all this time, huh?! You're someone with a lot of combat experience, huh?!"
“Ouch... I’m hurt..."
“Don’t joke around! This time, I hit you with more force!”
“But it still hurts.”
Barden muttered while rubbing my back, then grinned like an idiot.
“Thank you for coming.”
“What is it?”
“...But, what is this fox that has been sitting on my lap all this time?”
Ah.
When Barden met the eyes of the fox who was looking at him coldly, he unconsciously stroked Velvet's back and asked in a dazed tone.
“You used to raise hamsters and take them with you. Now you’re raising foxes too?”
I thought about it for a moment, but since things had already come to this, I decided not to hide it any longer and spoke comfortably.
“She’s a familiar.”
“What...? A familiar?”
“Isn’t it cute?”
I looked at Barden and chuckled.
But the expression on Barden's face as he looked back and forth between me and Velvet was unusual.
'It's strange?'
As I expected, I thought Barden would either freak out and throw Velvet or laugh and tell me not to lie.
The moment I was about to ask Barden, who was looking at me as if he was seriously agonizing over something, why I was doing that.
Kukukukukung.
A loud, eerie explosion was heard in the distance.
Barden and I, who were facing each other, opened our eyes wide at the same time.
Judging from the direction of the sound, it is clearly towards the main gate of the palace where the battle is taking place.
“This is a big deal.”
Now is not the time to be leisurely chatting with Barden like this!
“Brother. I have something important to do right now.”
"Hey."
"So, Brother, would you like to escape on your own? I'll give you a rough idea of how to escape the palace. So, go down to the main palace..."
Barden, who was looking at me as I frantically explained the escape route, carefully placed Velvet on the floor and touched my shoulder.
"Yvonne Argenthoz. Calm down."
“That’s because I don’t have time for that!”
“It’s okay. I know exactly what you’re looking for.”
"Yes?"
Barden frowned and stood up, unsteadily, using his legs to brace himself.
“Right now, are you looking for the altar of all the ‘Entrance to Liberation’?”
“...Huh? How would you know that, brother?”
I was so surprised that my mouth opened wide.
Since Barden was kidnapped and imprisoned the entire time, he probably doesn't know about the existence of the Liberation Gate.
Barden shrugged and tapped my temple.
“The woman who captured me kept whispering in my head about what she had done to my head.”
“...If it’s a woman, no way!”
Barden looked at me with a complicated expression.
"Princess Cordelia Mare kidnapped you for this very purpose. To connect me with her."
“The purpose of continuing...”
His voice trembled.
Barden glanced down at Velvet, who was standing next to me, then raised his head again with a dark expression.
“Really. You really intend to become a warlock.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a second loud explosion rang out from outside.
The noise was so close that it made my eardrums ache, and I clenched my fists.
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