Chapter 155
22. Love Freely
“Lina, duck your head!”
At Ante’s voice, Angelina dropped to the ground, and spears made of fire flew in a row above her head.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The spears that collided with the red tidal wave in succession created holes in it with the Sun’s power contained in the magic.
Nevertheless, Blake stood to block the fiercely approaching tidal wave.
Since all the priests and Holy Knights had been blown away, there was no one to interfere with him.
As he took a deep breath, a fierce haze rose from Artoas.
‘No matter what anyone says, he’s the male lead.’
Angelina let out a small laugh.
The sword energy created by his wide swing cut through the wind and flew, splitting the tidal wave in two.
The tidal wave, having lost its power, began to crack from the hole made by Ante…
CRACK!
By the time the tidal wave was about to cover Angelina, it had been completely broken and had no power left.
And Angelina didn’t miss that moment to destroy the magic circles of the red robes drawn throughout the space.
COUGH!
The damage went straight to the Empress.
“You damn things!”
The Empress, coughing up blood, shouted with her eyes narrowed sharply.
“If only I had that heart… If only I had that heart!”
In her hand, as she vented her anger with veins bulging on her neck, was a golden sacred orb.
“Damn it, Angelina!”
“I know!”
Angelina and Blake also knew that Grandonia was inside it.
They hurriedly shot the Sun’s power, but the Empress was faster.
The sacred orb opened in half, and she crushed the rose that came out of it with her hand.
Suppressing the resisting force with the Witch’s power, she swallowed Grandonia, which was raging like a whirlwind.
“I will… surely make at least you, the Saint…”
It was then that the Witch’s power temporarily went berserk.
“Kuheck-!”
The Empress, who had been absorbing the power, suddenly began coughing up blood.
Grandonia’s power, which had gone down her throat, tore through her internal organs.
It began to scatter outward, slashing through her.
“No, no!”
The Empress tightly wrapped herself in red energy to prevent the power from escaping.
But it was useless.
“Kuk!”
She coughed up blood again, and Grandonia’s power, which had pierced through her chest, became a cutting wind that enveloped the Witch.
“What’s happening…?”
Angelina had thought it was over when the Empress swallowed Grandonia.
But suddenly it burst in reverse?
Did that mean she could never have obtained Zeplictus and Artoas even if she had coveted them?
The answer came from Ante’s lips.
“Among us, Grandonia hated the Witch the most. It was foolish to think she could use his power.”
Grandonia, who had lost everything by being deceived by the Witch.
The beginning of everything that ended in destruction was his own foolishness.
But it was Grandonia who died vowing thousands, millions of times that he would never be deceived by the Witch again, never be used again, and would protect everyone.
“If she had absorbed the power of Zeplictus or Artoas first, she might have been able to deceive him, but…”
“Kyaaak!”
The Witch, the Empress trapped in the cutting wind, could do nothing but scream and struggle.
BANG!
“My lady! Blake!”
“Miss!”
The Crown Prince burst through the door with knights.
Laura and Haley, of course, and even Catherine, who seemed to have regained consciousness, were with them.
And the cutting wind that had been frantically tearing at the Empress shot up into the sky.
After raging in the air for a while as if it had lost its way, it flew toward Aiden who had just entered.
“Gasp, Your Highness is in danger…!”
Angelina thought that since it was mixed with the Empress’s blood, it might mistake him for a descendant of the Witch and attack him.
So she hurriedly extended the Sun’s power toward that place.
But before that white light could reach him, the cutting wind turned blue and burrowed into Aiden’s body.
“What, what is this?”
A whirlwind rose above Aiden’s hand.
But it was a wind of a different nature than the one that had attacked the Empress.
When the Sun’s power reached him, the whirlwind shot up violently enough to pierce the ceiling.
“Whoa!”
The startled Aiden flailed around and inadvertently calmed the wind.
A soft blue light emanated from his body.
“Is this… Grandonia?”
Having received all of Grandonia’s remaining memories along with absorbing his power, Aiden touched his body with a dazed expression.
“No, this isn’t the time. My lady! Are you alright?”
Aiden, who had been flailing for a moment, rushed urgently to Angelina.
But his steps gradually slowed as he approached.
“This… what on earth…”
The collapsed Emperor and the bloodied Empress.
Priests and Holy Knights in red attire scattered everywhere.
“…Hmph, this seems like it will be a long conversation.”
Aiden, who knew what those red outfits meant, was able to quickly grasp the situation and gave orders to the knights who had followed him.
“Arrest the Empress, and safely escort His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Gasp!”
“B-but, Your Highness!”
“It’s an order!”
The imperial knights were naturally confused, having expected to arrest Blake and Angelina, but receiving a completely different order.
However, with Aiden’s sharp command, they all reluctantly moved.
The Empress, who had not yet lost consciousness, menacingly rippled with dark energy.
“Aiden, my proud son.”
She smiled toward Aiden.
That smile was somewhat eerie, causing the approaching knights to stop abruptly.
“Are you finally betraying your mother?”
“Mother, you betrayed first. Aren’t you the mother of the Empire? How could you harbor such shameless thoughts against the Empire’s people?”
“Before being the mother of the Empire, I am Aiden’s mother, that’s why.”
“Don’t use me as an excuse.”
“This mother only wanted to pass on good things to Aiden. If this mother could become the Saint… if only that were possible, that power would have eventually become my son’s power, how…”
“No.”
Though the Empress spoke honeyed words, Aiden cut her off mercilessly.
“I’ve long known that Mother is not someone who would share power and authority.”
Don’t talk nonsense.
“….”
The Empress was silent.
After a while, the red energy rippled again and grew in volume, but it was quickly blocked by Angelina.
The hesitant knights also erased their hesitation after seeing the red energy, and after that, the Empress remained silent until she was detained and dragged away.
***
The Empire was turned upside down.
Monsters appeared and caused a riot at the Emperor’s Birthday Ball, causing the Emperor to collapse and even the sacred orb to break.
Although the Crown Prince managed to resolve the situation with the help of Marquis Flaubert and Duke Kadenhart, what happened afterward was truly a spectacle.
The awakened Emperor announced that everything had been the Empress’s doing and charged her with treason.
And with some forces from the Order!
The Imperial Palace quickly ordered an “inspection” of the Order, and the Crown Prince raided the Grand Temple to implement this before the Order could even refute.
The High Priest, of course, and related individuals were arrested one after another like sausages.
The shock didn’t end there.
The Saint had appeared.
People feared that divine punishment was being delivered because the Emperor had offended the Sun God.
Believers who had denounced the Order’s tyranny worried that their actions might have caused something even worse.
But all those concerns were overshadowed by the appearance of the Saint.
On the night of the ball, after the Crown Prince arrested the Empress, Angelina purified the area to break the magic that covered the Crown Prince’s palace.
Late at night, it was as bright as if the sun had risen only over the Crown Prince’s palace, and that light was so massive and splendid that not only the Imperial Palace but all the nobles fleeing from the chaos could see it.
No, was it only the nobles who saw it?
Even those at the opposite end of the capital looked out their windows, saying it was bright outside while they were sleeping, so there was no need to explain its scale.
Angelina, who had used such great power for the first time, collapsed afterward…
In any case, people rejoiced, saying that a powerful Saint who could make the sun rise even at night had appeared.
Although there was no official announcement or proclamation ceremony for the Saint, people believed the Emperor’s words that a new Saint had descended just by witnessing that miracle.
Moreover, they supported the Crown Prince who was “cleaning up” the Order.
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