Chapter 1579: Truce
“Impressive, as expected of the Hesse Duchy, to have such a strong individual,” the General said, panting lightly, with his saber propped beside him, not even having had time to sheathe it at his waist, indicating his great exhaustion.
“After all, he is a Cleric by the side of an Elector, and even within the Holy Roman Empire, he should be among the top strong individuals. I never imagined, the Saintess would be facing such a powerful opponent?”
Lavias was slightly better off. This was his home ground, and with the blood bank’s support, he still had some energy left. However, he looked at me with a worried expression. Fighting against such a strong individual could lead to a disaster with just one mistake.
“This is not his strength; he has borrowed the power of six other Priests, and there has been a qualitative leap. Now, I am merely a Guardian Deity there, and the main one confronting him is still the Maid,” I sighed.
“The Maid? With our average strength, facing such a powerful enemy is still a bit of a stretch. It would require someone of the Pope’s level at least, right?” Lavias estimated.
“If the Maid doesn’t have any hidden trump cards, she will be in danger. If possible, Saintess, I hope you can cover her retreat. You can request compensation from the Sect afterward,” the General said seriously.
His line of thinking was correct. The Maid was our important companion, and if she had no backup, it would be very difficult for her to survive the old man’s pursuit. However, my Guardian Deity dying would not affect my Main body.
“Of course, that was my initial plan. However, whether I can stall for enough time is another matter,” I said directly. This was how we had discussed it from the start.
“Um, Saintess, I feel a bit embarrassed saying this, but my little daughter…” Lavias said hesitantly. He had already known that his daughter was causing trouble with me on the scene when I was providing a live commentary for them earlier.
Lavias did not blame me for taking Via to Darmstadt without telling him; in fact, he was quite happy about it. When I had mentioned Via’s active performance earlier, he had clapped his hands and applauded, feeling a sense of his daughter growing up.
However, upon encountering the old man’s terrifying strength, he finally began to worry about his daughter’s safety. It seemed he was finally developing a fatherly concern.
“No problem. I’ve already told Via that if anything happens, she should just escape directly, and I’ll find a way to stall. However, everything is still proceeding according to plan, so there’s no need to worry,” I said.
“Then I can rest assured. With you here, Saintess, there’s no doubt we’ll be fine,” Lavias said, relieved. However, his blind trust in me was not advisable.
Meanwhile, inside the Heavy Artifact Tower, the battle was still raging. Via and Lorna were flying at high speed, continuously launching blood spears and soul bullets at the old man.
The old man blocked with the scales in his left hand while continuously shooting golden lightning attacks at Karina with his right. Karina was still trapped by him against the wall, unable to break free, and could only block the golden lightning with her Rune Sword held in front of her chest.
However, she was not completely at a disadvantage and powerless. Her previously severed arm was slowly recovering and would soon be healed. At that time, she would be able to mount some counterattacks.
Just as I was about to go up to help, having already raised my sword, I suddenly stopped and muttered, “Finally, they’re here. You were really hard to lure out.”
I looked up at the old man. His expression changed drastically, either out of suspicion or wondering if he could use this as an opportunity to act on his true intentions. However, he eventually lowered his golden blade, and the electrical threads instantly stopped.
“It seems you were right,” the old man said, and his body suddenly turned into a bolt of lightning, disappearing into the middle of the tower.
“Our plan was successful,” Karina said, as if nothing had happened. She instantly disintegrated into countless flies and disappeared into the shadows, and the three of us quickly slipped into the shadow she had formed.
When we emerged from the shadows again, we were outside a clean, small room where the Princess was lying. Ever since we started fighting the Seven Gods Priest and destroyed the original ward, the Servant had transferred the Princess here.
And before us stood a silver-haired girl in a classical long maid dress, holding a washbasin and preparing to leave, or rather, to escape. Ahead of her, the old man was blocking her path, and two guards with dazed expressions stood by the doorway.
Karina’s figure emerged from the shadows, swarming with flies, and stood directly behind the maid. Karina was actually wearing a maid outfit, identical in style to the one the other girl was wearing.
The girl turned her head and saw that the path behind her was blocked by Karina. She asked in astonishment, “Why? Aren’t you…”
“Aren’t what?” Karina asked with a smile. The girl immediately realized she had said the wrong thing and closed her mouth.
A few flies flew out from various places in the corridor and the room, landing on Karina, me, and Via. We had all set up means to monitor the Princess near her.
Earlier, under our surveillance, this maid had come to the room outside the Princess’s room and, with a few words, had the guards let her in. As she was about to approach the sleeping Princess, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked outside, only to be caught by the old man, who had returned as quickly as lightning.
“Are you wondering why we were just fighting like hell?” Karina asked with a smile. The moment she suddenly turned and left was precisely when the old man abruptly stopped his attack.
“What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean. Who are you people, anyway? I don’t know you!” the silver-haired girl asked in a panic.
“Stop pretending. You know we’re looking for you. I even saw you last time. It’s quite cold to pretend you don’t know me,” I said with a smile.
“Eek! An armored ghost… talking? I’ve never seen you before. I’m just a normal maid,” the silver-haired girl said, looking on the verge of tears.
She was such a good actress. If not for her suspicious behavior, I would have found it hard to believe that this petite girl, about 1.5 meters tall, was the white giant wolf, four to five meters tall, from before.
“A normal maid would hypnotize guards and sneak into the Eldest Miss’s ward?” an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a Mage Robe, appeared in the corridor amidst the glowing of a Magic Circle.
He walked up to the disoriented guards and waved his hand. The two guards immediately snapped back to attention. “Ah!? Master? What happened?”
“You were just hypnotized, but you’re fine now. Leave this place,” the Archmage said.
“Eh? But, our duty…” the two guards said, looking confused.
“I told you, leave this place. This is not something you should see. Don’t try to know too much if you don’t want to die,” the Archmage said with a grim expression.
“Y-yes…” The two guards quickly turned and left. The old man added another command: “Tell everyone else to prohibit entry into this section!”
