Chapter 151

***

There was no need to wander around.

The entire Crown Prince’s palace had become a huge prison.

“Your Majesty!”

Angelina and Blake, who had invaded the place filled with red energy everywhere, saw guards collapsed on the floor.

The most noticeable was the Emperor in his splendid attire.

A surprised Angelina rushed over in one breath.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

“My, welcome?”

“…!”

Blake turned his sword at the voice coming from close by.

As expected, the Empress was standing there.

What was unexpected was Ante by her side.

“Brother…?”

He was in terrible condition.

His entire body was bound with red chains, and he was gagged.

People wearing red robes were forcing him to kneel and pushing him down.

Those were the robes from the book in Kuns Village.

Apostates of the Order.

Followers of the Witch.

“How foolish to reveal yourself like this.”

Angelina said with a snort.

“Oh my, me?”

The Empress laughed brightly at Angelina’s words.

“It’s you who came here that are foolish.”

“What confidence do you have after attacking even the Emperor?”

“You say I attacked my beloved husband?”

The Empress crossed her arms and smiled sweetly.

“The only one His Majesty saw before he collapsed was the Tower Master, you know?”

Angelina frowned at the implication that she had already framed everything on Ante.

“…What have you done to my brother?”

She asked, glancing at Ante, who was captured behind the Empress.

He was a mess, like someone who had endured severe torture.

But Angelina’s gaze remained gentle and desperate.

His eyes reproached her, as if asking why she had come.

At the same time, a feeling of despair was palpable.

“When you say it like that, it makes it sound like I did something wrong.”

“Are you claiming you didn’t?”

The Empress maintained her smile and stared straight at Angelina.

After looking at her for a long time with eyes that seemed to peer into her soul, she spoke.

“It’s been a while, Miss Sun.”

At her whisper, memories of the past flashed across Angelina’s vision.

“I hate you. Born with everything, living with everything. If you are God’s child, then I will hate God. Because God is never good, never fair.”

The betrayal of someone who once followed her.

A being created by accumulated anger and resentment.

“Yes, it’s been a while, Witch Sister.”

The Empress’s smile twisted at Angelina’s response.

“Since when? When did you know I was the Sun?”

“Hmm… do you want to know?”

“It must have been a long time ago.”

“I’d like to tell you, but…”

The Empress’s gaze turned toward Ante.

“Would that be okay? If he knew everything… Zeplictus’s heart might crumble.”

Angelina’s eyes narrowed.

‘What my brother was desperately trying to hide from me is related to the Empress being the Witch?’

She had believed her brother would at least prevent dangerous things from happening to her, but he had hidden such important information until now?

As Angelina hesitated to answer, Blake pointed Artoas at the Empress.

“There’s no need to hear this. We simply execute apostates, that’s all.”

His casually thrown words cut off Angelina’s distracting thoughts.

“…Right. That’s right.”

Angelina realized she had almost been played by the Empress’s words and took a deep breath.

“So you were planning to use my brother as a hostage to threaten me?”

“Among other things, yes.”

The Empress didn’t deny it.

She grinned and flicked her fingertips.

Angelina thought she was about to launch an attack.

So she raised her palm to draw on the Sun’s power.

Ready to block whatever attack might come.

But no red energy flew toward them.

Instead…

Clunk.

“…?!”

Blake suddenly gripped his sword with both hands.

“What is this…”

Clunk. Rattle.

Artoas began to tremble in his hands.

Blake tried to control the sword with a panicked face, gripping it tightly with both hands, but the more he tried, the more Artoas struggled.

“Kuk, Angelina, get away from me!”

Blake noticed that the sword was trying to point its blade toward Angelina, and he doubled his strength to keep hold of it.

It felt like his palms were being torn, but he couldn’t let go.

“What have you done?”

Angelina snapped at the Empress.

But the Empress just laughed softly.

“…Is this the power that made my brother like that?”

If it was a power that could control Artoas at will, it could also control Ante, who had Zeplictus’s heart.

“So the seal has been completely broken? I was quite worried about how to break Artoas’s seal, but I’m so grateful for this.”

The Empress, with an exhilarated face, flicked her hand.

At her signal, the Holy Knights surrounding them rushed toward Blake.

They were all apostates in red attire.

“Kugh!”

Blake blocked their attacks with his sword that wouldn’t obey his will.

Chang! Kaang-!

The sound of clashing metal pierced their ears.

“Angelina! Step back!”

Though he was the one being attacked, he was more concerned about Angelina’s safety.

“Witch Sister. I hope this is something you can handle.”

But Angelina appeared unfazed.

Rather, arrows of light hovered above her head, aimed at the Holy Knights approaching.

Those arrows, taut as if about to fly at any moment, were created with the Sun’s power.

“Did you think I would come here without a plan? Let’s stop before it gets messier.”

Angelina provoked the Empress.

But it didn’t work.

Instead, the Empress laughed as if she had expected this.

“My goodness. We’re about to reach the highlight, and you want to stop already?”

“Have you forgotten what the Sun’s power is like?”

“And you, our dear Miss Sun… have you forgotten who won back then?”

Neither of them showed any sign of backing down.

It’s true that the Sun’s power is formidable.

But the final victor in history was the Witch.

Even the records left for later generations were twisted to make it appear to people as if the Saint had turned into a Witch.

The Order that truly worshipped the Sun became followers of the Witch, and those who knew the truth had to live in hiding.

As Angelina frowned, the Empress said with a smile that reached her eyes.

“If you hand over Artoas, I’ll release your brother.”

‘Artoas? Not the sacred objects?’

She had expected her to demand the sacred objects…

As if reading her thoughts, the Empress smiled.

“The sacred objects are of no use to me now.”

As the Empress moved her fingertips, red energy scattered again.

“Thanks to some foolish person who kindly gathered them all and released their power, I was spared that effort. Hoho.”

“….”

So the sacred objects had not only hidden the Sun’s power but had also sealed the Witch’s power.

“Artoas out of control, Grandonia with its feet tied, Zeplictus having lost its power.”

The Empress recited the desperate situation one by one.

“Miss Sun. There will be no victory for you this time either.”

“….”

Angelina did not respond.

She quietly looked at the Empress.

After a moment, she began to dismiss the arrows of light hovering above her head one by one.

“If I hand over Artoas, will you really release my brother?”

An attitude suggesting she might accept the deal.

“Of course.”

“Mmph!”

At this, the Empress smiled welcomingly, and Ante struggled, saying it shouldn’t be done.

Thud!

But he was quickly restrained and his body collapsed forward.

His hair grabbed by the Holy Knights, his face contorted.

Not because of pain, but because of self-loathing.

Was it his oversight that put Angelina in danger?

He was so desperate he wished he could just die right there.

“How can I trust your word?”

“Hmm… trust is indeed difficult to prove.”

The Empress crossed her arms and pointed at Artoas.

“What about this?”

As red energy swirled around her fingertips a few times, Artoas, which had been rampaging wildly, calmed down.

“This is just a necessary procedure for making a deal, so it’s hard to serve as a foundation for trust.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Although the force pressing on Artoas disappeared, Blake didn’t relax his grip on the sword, preparing for any contingency.

He couldn’t approach Angelina rashly either.

“Then how about I tell you one secret that I know?”