Chapter 334 Chapter 128 Discussion
The restraints on Ophi’s dragon body were completely destroyed by Marquis Mays himself. Most of the shattered fragments that fell to the ground were collected by the Marquis’s order, intended for study by craftsmen upon their return.
Verafia also had Igitt collect a small piece of the alchemical chain that had completely bound a dragon.
Although Ophi’s injuries from struggling a few times looked quite miserable, as the Blackflame Dragon King, her bloodline’s vitality was much stronger than that of many royal dragons. After several high-level priests purified the curse within her and administered several greater healing divine arts, Ophi’s injuries quickly healed; at least, there were no obvious external signs of major problems.
After confirming that the little princess of the Setting Sun Forest was unharmed and didn’t seem too angry, Marquis Mays was relieved. While chatting with Douglas, he, along with Igitt and several young ladies, returned to Lorinc.
Given Ophi’s kidnapping and her encounter with Douglas, Verafia lost any interest in pestering Igitt to accompany her shopping. Upon their return to the castle, the sky had long since approached twilight and descended into night.
Lorinc’s “Black Knight” Castle, as the seat of Marquis Mays’s ducal court, was not accustomed to holding grand feasts. Lanterns and candles illuminated the night amidst the clamor.
Although Douglas’s ennoblement was only as a Count, his position as a Provincial Governor, personally appointed by the King, directly overseeing all of Andelfield, gave him a practical status no lower than Marquis Mays. In fact, in terms of the King’s trust, he might even have surpassed the Marquis.
Therefore, Marquis Mays maintained sufficient respect for Douglas’s visit, at least on the surface. And due to Eggesti’s invitation, many influential lords had already visited Lorinc. The banquet they were to attend naturally involved exchanges of interests and strategic maneuvering.
—Of course, none of this had anything to do with Igitt. He was naturally uninterested in this banquet entangled with political games.
In Igitt’s room, Verafia kicked off her small boots. With her two slender, jade-like feet together, she sat on the large bed. Her golden hair, like fine silk, flowed down from her slender and beautiful shoulders, with the delicate tips touching the pure white bedsheet.
“Igitt, do you think these people are from the Church of the Dead Word?”
The girl pulled at the hem of her soft silk dress with a small hand. A hint of fair skin was revealed from her slender, jade-like, beautifully shaped legs. She then propped her cheeks with her hands, her dazzling golden eyes gazing at the black-haired youth who had just spoken.
“Yes. I asked. Regardless of their disguises or how they released their attack by sacrificing life force in the end, they were very similar to those recorded in the Church of the Dead Word,” Igitt nodded at the girl and continued, “Unless other forces impersonated them to frame the Church of the Dead Word. But I can’t think of anyone who would do such a thing, especially at the cost of three Crystal Rank lives.”
Crystal Rank was already above extraordinary and sufficient to be granted a title. Such combat power would not be squandered casually by any force on the continent.
“If that’s the case, then the people from the Church of the Dead Word used cake to deceive Ophi, kidnapped her, and even prepared alchemical chains to restrain Ophi’s power… Hmm, the toxins that pervaded those chains were clearly extraordinary, even including the forbidden curse ‘Corrosive Blood’. Such actions could not be a sudden whim. They captured Ophi, could it be that they have some conspiracy?”
The slender, calm girl’s voice, which sounded very tender, came from Flarn’s young lips.
After returning to the castle, with Verafia’s help, Igitt had also used his talent to appraise the alchemical chains that had previously imprisoned Ophi. However, apart from their material and effects, he did not obtain much information, as it was clear that the providers had already erased any traces and karma beforehand.
However, this also indicated that behind these three individuals, who appeared to be members of the Church of the Dead Word, there must be a more powerful mastermind.
Thinking of this, the silver-haired blood race girl’s bright red blood pupils drifted towards the ice dragon girl sitting on the other side of the bed. Her slender and beautiful transparent dragon tail swayed, seemingly idle, as she tilted her little head and played with her hair with a slender hand.
To this seemingly innocent and naive ice dragon little princess, the abuse she suffered in the afternoon seemed to have been completely forgotten by evening. She was not at all like the vengeful dragons described in books.
“Ah woo. Is Flarn talking about their purpose…”
Ophi, realizing she was being mentioned, quickly raised her delicate little face, looking quite thoughtful. “Hmm, I only remember that they wanted to kill me… and they said they wanted to use my blood to open some Gate of Life Realm.”
“Gate of Life Realm?”
Igitt thought for a moment and realized he hadn’t heard of this before, so he looked at Verafia. The golden-haired girl shook her head vigorously, indicating she didn’t know either.
“Even Madam doesn’t know? Hmm… but, ‘Gate of Life Realm’, just from the name, it’s definitely not an ordinary thing.”
Igitt propped his forehead with his palm, his sapphire eyes flickering. “I think this must be related to the conspiracy that Bishop Patel mentioned the Church of the Dead Word has been building recently. As for the identities of these people… it’s a shame we couldn’t keep any of them alive, and even their bodies were voluntarily sacrificed.”
“Hey, are you blaming this young lady! And, it was all because you called out to me at that time, which gave that hateful mage the chance to burn himself and almost kill that idiot too! Hmm, it’s all your fault!”
Seeing the girl’s unusually wronged expression, Igitt couldn’t help but touch his nose with his palm, thinking he didn’t dare to admonish this young lady. Moreover, recalling it afterward, his sudden call to the girl was indeed impulsive, so he obediently lowered his head to self-reflect:
“Madam is right, it was indeed my mistake. Fortunately, he didn’t hurt Little Fei any further.”
“Hmph, good that you know! Also, you, this guy, didn’t have any self-awareness and stood in front of Ophi. With your small physique, what could you do? Fortunately, you weren’t hit, otherwise, even I couldn’t save you…”
Verafia felt she still hadn’t vented her anger, but she suddenly noticed Igitt looking at her strangely and quickly lifted her little face, saying angrily, “Hey, why are you looking at me like that! This young lady isn’t worried about you, it’s just that if this attendant of yours dies, there’ll be no one to take me out to play!”
After saying that, Verafia glared with her large eyes at the ice dragon girl who was covering her mouth and trying not to laugh.
Igitt showed a slight smile, looking at the girl’s cute, upturned little face.
“Madam Vera, I will take your words to heart. What I was thinking at the time was that I wanted to find out some clues from him… However, Madam, when you swung your sword, a ray of brilliant holy radiance suddenly illuminated that mage. What do you think?”
