The Final Moment
—
Ellyad dodged the relaxed and lazy soldiers in the palace, trying to minimize the sound of his footsteps as he carefully observed the movements of the people around him.
The footsteps of maids, soldiers, and others were usually heard openly as they walked, but now there were suddenly faint, light footsteps approaching him, seemingly unaware of Ellyad’s presence. Ellyad tensed his nerves, ready to draw his blade at any moment, while little Thrett nestled obediently in his scarf.
“Here they come.” The footsteps moved towards Ellyad, and the next moment, a dark figure dashed in front of him.
“Ah, Mr. Crow.”
“It’s you!” Crow held his Damascus blade, urgently braking before striking at Ellyad.
Ellyad caught a whiff of a foul smell emanating from Crow, prompting him to throw a questioning glance. Crow quickly offered a brief explanation. After Snowlight was captured, he immediately pursued into the palace, using his secret passage which happened to be the palace’s sewage duct. It turned out that Crow had entered the palace to search for what he needed even before Ellyad, but unfortunately, he still hadn’t found the person he was looking for.
“Do you know where Miss Snowlight is being held? I’ve searched all the dungeons but couldn’t find her.” Sweat beads the size of beans could be seen on Crow’s forehead.
“I’ll help you search,” Ellyadd immediately offered assistance.
Crow nodded in slight relief and gratitude. However, at this moment, Little Thrett popped out of Ellyad’s scarf and said, “I object. I think we should just leave here.”
Crow, seeing the sudden emergence of the unfamiliar creature, felt a sense of familiarity and asked with a suppressed tone of surprise, “Is this the demon?”
“Um, yeah,” Ellyad wasn’t sure how to explain further, but Crow didn’t seem inclined to ask further.
Ellya then turned to Little Thrett and said, “But I’ve already promised Snowlight and Crow that I’ll help them escape.”
Ellyadd’s gaze conveyed stubbornness. Little Thrett stared back for a few seconds, then finally puffed up its chubby cheeks and retreated back into the scarf, muttering softly, “If anything happens to you, I’ll definitely step in.”
“It won’t,” Ellyad promised with a light smile, pulling the scarf up again, completely oblivious to the seriousness of Little Thrett’s words. Despite the Demon King’s current appearance, the seals on his body were lifted. Once he acted, his power wouldn’t be the same as Ellyad had seen before.
After obtaining Little Thrett’s compromise, Ellyad asked Crow, “Since we’ve searched the dungeons, should we start searching upward now?”
Crow pondered for a moment. “I think Miss Snowlight might be held in the highest tower or somewhere even higher. After all, she was brought back as a princess. But the higher the floor, the tighter the security. I can’t handle it alone.”
“Well, that’s not a problem now. Let’s go,” Ellyad’s composed expression acted as a morale booster for Crow as he tightened his grip on the Damascus sword given to him by Snowlight, regaining his determination.
—
From behind, Ellyad swiftly subdued the soldier, silently dragging him to a corner and placing him there. Ellyad took the lead in advancing, swift and decisive, while Crow, who truly needed rescue, didn’t even get a chance to make a move.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Jgbk’r jmalbcr jikjsr mjgglfv j tlca bo tfrlajalbc, j gfreia bo tlr ofjg bo atf ecojwliljg qjijmf jcv tlr jczlfas bnfg cba olcvlcu Vcbkiluta. Siisj mbeiv fwqjatlhf klat Jgbk’r meggfca rfcrf bo mbcoerlbc yfmjerf veglcu atflg rfqjgjalbc ogbw Olaaif Ktgfaa, Siisj\v’r tfjga tjv jirb yffc oliifv klat ofjg jcv tfiqifrrcfrr.
They soon succeeded in breaching the highest level. With only one door standing on the corridor, Crow hurried towards it. But at that moment, a figure from another aerial corridor rushed towards the door, and with a clang, hurled a halberd at the door lock. The sharp blade of the halberd easily broke the lock, and the door burst open slightly from the force of the impact.
Lofisso rushed to retrieve her halberd, her eyes glaring fiercely at the two who had just caught up. In her hand, she still held the shimmering contract.
“I’ve won,” she spat disdainfully at Ellyad, then impatiently pushed open the door and entered the room.
Ellyad understood her meaning, but he had hidden Little Thrett very well, leaving no trace for Lofisso to discover. Therefore, she was unaware of the fact that Little Thrett had already been rescued by Ellyad and even thought she had gotten there first.
“Miss Snowlight!” Crow misunderstood Lofisso’s intentions, thinking she meant harm to Snowlight. He couldn’t help but shout in alarm and hastily chased after her.
“Oh, what’s with all the commotion?” However, a unfamiliar male voice came from inside. Ellyad peeked in to see that it wasn’t Snow Lamp who was locked inside, but a man wearing a mask resembling an animal skull.
Crow immediately grabbed the man and demanded sternly, “Where is she? Where is Miss Snowlight?”
“Uh, well…” Infierno was embarrassed, not knowing how to respond to Crow’s excitement. After he regained his composure, he found himself tied up in a secret room. He transformed back into his male form, thinking that it might be easier to break the iron chains with brute force this way. However, after several attempts proved futile, he was surprised to see Crow and Lofisso burst in, feeling embarrassed at being caught off guard without even having time to get dressed after a bath.
“Do you know where she is? Stop daydreaming and answer me!” Crow continued to shake him by the collar. Infierno suddenly had a moment of clarity. His original goal was simply to bring Crow to the special ‘Sealed Chamber’ within the palace and use Crow’s royal blood to activate the magic circle on the door, opening it, and ultimately witnessing Crow ascend to the throne. Although things had now devolved into chaos, it wasn’t necessarily a failure.
Infierno immediately reached out and took the sword from Crow’s hand, saying, “Let me borrow this.” With the renowned Damascus blade, he effortlessly severed the iron chain tied around his neck with a swift stroke.
“Who gave you the authority to act so recklessly—-”
“Don’t waste time, come with me,” Infierno didn’t say another word after gaining his freedom. He immediately grabbed Crow’s hand and rushed out of the room, shaking off Lofisso and the others present. There was no need for explanations.
Lofisso scanned the entire room but found no sign of a second person. It seemed that the original prisoner had escaped. She cursed under her breath in frustration and followed suit, forcefully pushing aside Ellyad standing by the door. Before leaving, she deliberately left a harsh remark:
“Just you wait. Although I don’t know how you managed to make the breach penalty ineffective, don’t forget…,” Lofisso displayed the crumpled contract in her hand, “…you have sworn before me, kneeling in submission, to dedicate the rest of your humble life to the Gururu family. Even if the penalty for breach is currently ineffective, as long as the contract remains intact, your oath remains permanently binding!”
“Indeed, it’s not over yet,” a familiar voice emanated from Ellyad’s shoulder. Lofisso instantly recognized the owner of the voice, but couldn’t see his figure.
At that moment, a dark and ominous shadow suddenly enveloped her.
As Little Thrett resumed its original form, it appeared before her. Their faces were so close that they could almost feel each other’s breath, with only a cold question separating them:
“Daring to claim in front of me that Ellyad belongs to you, is this a declaration of war against me?”
Instantly, Lofisso felt a strong suffocation. Next moment, she was sent flying, crashing violently into the wall. She couldn’t even let out a cry as she felt an intense pain in her neck!
Her consciousness blurred as she groped towards her throat, only to feel cold metal. By the time she finally realized what happened, her throat was already pierced by her own halberd. She hung suspended on the palace wall, the halberd deeply embedded in the wall, leaving her with no chance to pull it out and fight for survival.
As the sharp blade and the relentless pull of gravity tore through her throat, the opening grew longer and longer, slowly extending down to her jaw. The more she struggled, the quicker death approached.
“Ah…ah…ugh…ah…” Agonizing pain and screams turned into gasps for air, as blood spurted intermittently from the gaping wound in her throat. Lofisso’s face twisted grotesquely, no longer resembling a human. Amidst the blurry vision, all she could see was the cruel black figure, searing into her pupils like branding irons.
Finally, in her last moments, she saw the true face of that familiar figure. It was definitely no ordinary demon—it was the Demon King!
The massacre that had just occurred had happened in the blink of an eye. Before Ellyad could even react, Lofisso had completely lost all signs of life, becoming a corpse with a gruesome appearance. Her body hung suspended high, as if publicly displaying the body of a criminal, devoid of any dignity.
“Thrett!” Ellyad ran directly to Thrett’s side, knowing that any attempt to rescue Lofisso at this point would be meaningless. Although her atrocities were still fresh in his mind, Ellyad couldn’t find any joy in seeing her brutally murdered.
Ellyad grabbed Thrett’s arm, about to reproach him, but Thrett’s cold and ruthless gaze, filled with a sense of killing intent, pushed back his resolve. It was an expression Ellyad had never seen before.
Noticing Ellyad’s hesitance, Thrett immediately looked away and said, “I had placed three spells on you before. They were meant to guard against any mishaps that might occur when you were not with me. Those spells could temporarily help you through tough situations.”
Hearing these words, Ellyad finally understood that the three miracles that had occurred were indeed the work of Thrett.
Thrett continued in a solemn tone, “Originally, I thought those spells were just for my peace of mind. I never thought you would have a chance to activate them… But when I saw you again, those three spells were completely depleted. It shows that during our separation, you were attacked, severely injured, even cursed with magic, and you repeatedly called out my name.” Thrett said this and suddenly hugged Ellyad tightly, Ellyad suddenly noticed that Thrett’s body was trembling slightly.
“You once said that if someone killed me, you would kill that person, regardless of how many people would mourn for them. I feel the same way.” Thrett’s voice was filled with anxiety and vulnerability. Just now, Ellyad could feel the hostility coming from Thrett, but now he realized that Thrett had deliberately acted out of fear to hide his true feelings.
“But thanks to your magic, I didn’t die in the end.” Despite being held tightly by Thrett and struggling to catch his breath, Ellyad raised his hand to comfortingly pat Thrett’s back.
“What if I hadn’t done that in the first place?” Thrett’s question, like that of a stubborn child, pushed back Ellyad’s comfort ungratefully. His assumption carried an extremely negative outcome, leaving Ellyad momentarily speechless. But he was right; if it weren’t for Thrett’s three spells, they would never have seen each other again.
Ellyad couldn’t help but shiver, but everything had passed safely, and he didn’t want to scare himself. Unfortunately, for Thrett, it wasn’t so easy to let go of his concerns.
Thrett’s voice carried an unusual vulnerability as he trembled and spoke, “When we first met, you also said that because the Demon King and demons don’t understand the meaning of ‘precious,’ they can slaughter without care. But I—” He hugged Ellyad tighter, until Ellyad realized something was wrong, but by then, he had no room to struggle!
“What I’ve come to understand is that if I don’t kill others, I can’t protect the ‘most precious you.'”
At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from all directions of the corridor, accompanied by the clanging of weapons. A large group of soldiers poured into the corridor from all entrances. The castle had already been discovered to be invaded, and coupled with the commotion they had caused earlier, it was only a matter of time before soldiers arrived. The appearance of these people didn’t surprise anyone present.
“Invaders spotted!”
“Murder! The eldest daughter of the Gururu family has been killed!”
“First team, defensive stance! Second and third teams, prepare to fire!”
The commander saw the horrifying sight of the corpse on the wall and didn’t need to think twice. With a command, they were ready to attack. The tragic death of the eldest daughter of the prestigious Gururu family in the palace was a grave matter, and merely killing the culprit would not suffice.
“Thrett!” Ellyad started to panic, hastily calling out Thrett’s name. However, Thrett didn’t respond to him at all. Instead, he declared:
“I will destroy this country as the price for hurting you.”
In the instant the words left his lips, behind Thrett erupted a vast expanse of darkness, akin to a blooming ink flower dispersing and painting the surroundings. Within the splendid and incomparable darkness, burned a magnificent and powerful magic. That uniquely beautiful and pure power was enough to make time halt in its tracks, captivating everyone in a momentary trance where even the thought of what it was ceased to exist.
The entire castle began to shake and crumble, the stone walls collapsing, and the hundreds of bridges outside the castle shattered and collapsed straight downward. Countless sections of bridges fragmented, creating booming clouds of smoke, until finally, people snapped out of their trance, unbelievably screaming and fleeing for their lives.
