Chapter 862: Enemies on Every Side

*Whoosh!*

A razor-sharp, chillingly cold flash of claws swept through the air, and the violent force it unleashed blew away the surrounding wind and snow, leaving not a single snowflake behind.

An attacker clad in armor and wielding a weapon only saw a blur before his eyes, causing the fierce expression on his face to instantly freeze into one of horror.

*Splurt!*

Blood sprayed everywhere as a severed head flew high into the air. After hanging there for a brief moment, it dropped into the snow, staining the white ground crimson.

*Thud!*

The fierce-looking attacker’s headless corpse crashed heavily onto the snow. Before long, it too stained the snow red.

After twitching a few times, it completely lost all signs of life.

At the same time, the claw light gradually faded, revealing Lilith’s alluring figure standing amidst the swirling snowstorm.

A closer look revealed that numerous bodies already lay scattered around the female demon. Every single corpse had died a gruesome death, making it obvious they had been completely slaughtered without the slightest chance to fight back.

"How many times has this happened already?"

Nearby, Leo rested one of his twin swords on his shoulder. Several bodies also surrounded him, and he spoke with obvious annoyance.

"No idea. I stopped counting after the twentieth time."

The one who answered Leo was Ivy, who normally stayed inside the carriage to avoid freezing in the cold.

The female magician, whose combat strength rivaled that of a Sword Saint, also wore an expression of utter boredom. Several lightning-charged magic arrows floated around her while a shimmering barrier enveloped her body.

*BOOM!*

As one of the lightning arrows shot forward, it struck an attacker who was trying to flee. Accompanied by a thunderous explosion, the unfortunate man screamed as he was blasted into the air.

At the moment, the only ones absent were Lizbeth and Euryale.

Lizbeth was still inside the carriage, protecting Chloria and the deeply sleeping Euryale.

As for Riezel...

"Control Amnesia."

After conducting a brutal memory search, Riezel tossed aside the attacker in his hand several seconds later. As always, the man’s mind had been completely destroyed, leaving him an idiot.

That attacker had been the leader of this ambush.

As usual, Riezel had dealt only with the leader personally and used magic to uncover their background.

Yet because of that, everyone now looked at one another in bewilderment.

"Who sent them this time?"

Ivy asked cautiously.

"Gloria."

Riezel casually dropped the name, leaving everyone speechless.

Like Lukais, Gloria was one of the small nations in the northern part of the continent. Although it wasn’t as close to Theresis as Lukais was, the distance between them wasn’t great.

Among the many small kingdoms, Gloria’s strength was also considered fairly impressive. While it couldn’t compare to Lukais, the gap between them wasn’t very large.

Gloria was likewise a member of the northern alliance of small nations and, just like Lukais, had long coveted Theresis.

However, that wasn’t what everyone cared about.

"Lukais, Gloria, plus Lionheart from last time and Azure before that... that’s already four kingdoms that’ve sent attackers after us, right?"

Ivy looked utterly incredulous.

"And then there are all the major noble families inside Theresis itself. Starting with the Varnard family at the very beginning, more than a dozen noble families have already sent people after us."

"We’ve only been traveling for three days, but we’ve already gotten attacked at least thirty times."

"And those attackers came from pretty much every major force out there—even from this country itself... What the heck is even going on?"

Needless to say, that was exactly what left everyone stunned.

After three days of travel, with the speed of the two lesser frost dragons, they had long since left Beryl Territory behind and ventured deep into the heart of Theresis.

They were now not far from Theresis’s royal capital, Urvashi, and at their current pace, they would arrive no later than tomorrow evening.

Yet despite spending only three days on the road, even as Riezel’s group drew closer and closer to Urvashi, the attacks against them never stopped.

All those small kingdoms had resorted to every possible method to send attackers after them, including but not limited to smuggling troops across the border and activating spies already hidden within Theresis.

It was obvious just how seriously those small kingdoms took this mission.

However, that still wasn’t the most surprising part.

What truly shocked everyone was that numerous forces within Theresis had also dispatched attackers one after another. Most of those forces were immensely powerful noble families within Theresis, and the weakest among them were count families, while even duke families had sent people.

What was going on?

Had they become everyone’s enemy?

Whether it was foreign nations or Chloria’s own country, they all kept relentlessly sending people after her.

It was simply unbelievable.

’Just who exactly is Chloria Michette?’

That question inevitably arose in everyone’s mind.

It wasn’t just them.

Even Riezel found the current situation deeply puzzling.

"Logically speaking, even if Chloria’s got an extraordinary status and a ton of influence over Theresis, the only ones who should be after her are the alliance of small nations that’s been eyeing this country the whole time."

"Instead, even Theresis’s own nobles keep sending people after her one after another. What’s more, those nobles aren’t even from the same faction. Some of them are straight-up enemies."

"Factions with completely different interests all wanna kill Chloria, which doesn’t make any sense."

"If Theresis wanted Chloria dead too, then what was Leffy Beryl even doing?"

Leffy represented the Beryl family, and she clearly knew about Chloria’s special circumstances.

If Theresis truly wanted Chloria dead, shouldn’t the Beryl family have killed her long ago?

Why would they protect her instead?

Leffy had even entrusted Riezel with escorting Chloria to the royal capital, Urvashi. More than that, she had specifically wanted him to bring her to the queen’s palace. She had also claimed that doing so would allow Chloria to help him meet the queen and gain access to the royal family’s library.

Because of that, Riezel had assumed Chloria was either a member of the royal family or someone whose status was no less significant.

In other words, Theresis should have been her ally.

But what was happening now?

Could that woman have been playing him for a fool?

Riezel found himself growing increasingly confused.

"Didn’t you search their memories? Didn’t you find out why they attacked us?"

Leo turned to Riezel and asked with a frown.

"Nope..." Riezel shook his head. "They just took the job from whoever was backing them. As for why they were told to attack us, who Chloria really is, or why she had to be targeted, they didn’t know a thing."

Needless to say, that was why Riezel was so perplexed.

He had interrogated so many people, yet still hadn’t uncovered the truth.

"Hm, that woman’s definitely hiding something..." Ivy said with complete certainty. "I’d bet she’s carrying a huge secret."

Hearing that, a cold gleam flashed through Lilith’s eyes.

"Shall I eliminate her, Master?"

Lilith asked quietly.

"What are you thinking?" Riezel rolled his eyes. "You’re gonna kill someone who’s been traveling with us for three days just because of that? Are you a demon?"

’...I am a demon, Master.’

Lilith felt genuinely offended.

"Why don’t we just leave her on the side of the road and quit worrying about her?

Leo offered a terrible suggestion.

"Oh?" Ivy glanced at him. "Weren’t you the one sneaking looks at her body this whole time? You looked like you were practically drooling. You really okay with doing that?"

"When was I drooling?!" Leo immediately exploded. "I wasn’t drooling! I was just looking!"

Hearing that, the other three fell silent.

"Anyway, we already knew from the start that she’s hiding secrets..." Riezel quickly got himself back together. "I knew she had secrets and that there was something suspicious about her identity, and I still decided to bring her along because I’m not scared. No matter who she really is, we’re just gonna keep moving forward."

Riezel’s words only caused Ivy’s brows to knit even tighter.

"Are you sure that’s really okay?"

Ivy asked skeptically.

"Honestly, the attacks themselves don’t really matter, but looking at how things are right now, that woman has enemies all over the place. Most of the nobles sending assassins after us are based in the royal capital, Urvashi."

"And we’re taking her straight into their territory. You sure nothing’s gonna happen?"

"No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like the kind of situation where we’re gonna get a warm welcome, meet the queen, and get access to the royal family’s library."

Ivy’s concerns were perfectly reasonable.

Given the current circumstances, none of them could imagine arriving in Urvashi and still receiving a warm welcome or having everything proceed according to plan, which was why Leo had suggested abandoning Chloria by the roadside.

It wasn’t because he was afraid, but because continuing to protect her seemed completely unrewarding and would likely amount to doing pointless work.

Of course, if it were only pointless work, that would have been one thing. The real concern was that there might be an unseen whirlpool lurking beneath the surface, ready to drag them all in.

Clearly, there had to be something they didn’t know.

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t simple.

All of them could vaguely sense the unmistakable scent of a conspiracy.

If someone had deliberately engineered this situation, were they being used?

If an even greater conspiracy lay behind everything, were they destined to be caught up in it sooner or later?

Including Lilith, everyone found themselves thinking along those lines.

Just then, Riezel suddenly clapped his hands.

*Pa!*

"Enough. Stop overthinking things."

Riezel spoke calmly.

"No matter what’s really going on here, we don’t have nearly enough info to figure it out."

"Besides, we’re almost at Urvashi. Whatever’s waiting for us there, we’ll find out soon enough."

"As for our objective, if we can’t pull it off the normal way... then we’ll just have to do it the hard way."

Hearing that, everyone raised an eyebrow before nodding in agreement.

He was right.

Rather than wasting time speculating, it would be better to wait until they reached Urvashi. By then, the answers would reveal themselves.

And even if there really was some elaborate conspiracy, so what?

Just look at who was in this group.

Leo, a Sword Saint of the Hidden Land.

Ivy, a magician whose combat power rivaled that of a Sword Saint.

Lilith, a Sword Saint capable of using magic, making her even stronger than the previous two.

Lizbeth, a hero descendant with an awakened bloodline. Even in her normal state, her combat power rivaled that of a Sword Saint, and once she drew Moslow, she was practically unstoppable.

Euryale, whose true combat power remained unknown, yet she could effortlessly defeat a Sword Saint.

And on top of all that, there was Riezel, the greatest monster this world had ever produced.

Without exaggeration, when it came solely to top-tier combat power, they had absolutely nothing to fear from Theresis, the northern hegemon renowned throughout the continent.

How many Sword Saints did Theresis have?

Seven.

Meanwhile, their side had six combatants at that level, and every one of them was stronger than an ordinary Sword Saint. Even if all of Theresis’s Sword Saints came at once, they still had the strength to face them head-on.

With combat power like that, what conspiracy couldn’t they crush by force?

As for the extraordinary methods Riezel had mentioned, everyone understood exactly what he meant.

Either they would reveal their full strength, overwhelm the queen’s palace outright, and solve everything through force, or they could do as Ivy and Leo had done before and infiltrate the royal palace directly.

With Divine Arcana in hand, even if the queen’s palace was protected by a Strategic-Class Magic Barrier and layered with countless magical traps and defensive mechanisms, Riezel could render them all useless.

At that point, entering the royal family’s library would simply be a matter of locking onto its location and using teleportation magic.

"Let’s go."

Seeing that everyone understood, Riezel gave the order.

"We’re gonna keep the journey going."

===

The wilderness at night was undoubtedly extremely dangerous.

Not only did the snowstorm rage without end, but monsters also wandered across the snowy plains from time to time. Combined with the harsh environment and freezing temperatures of the continent’s northern polar region, camping out in the wilderness under such conditions was practically suicide.

Because of that, no one in Theresis ever spent the night outdoors. Even travelers in a hurry would stop at one of the rest towns established by the queendom, wait until morning, and then continue their journey.

Unfortunately, that piece of northern common sense clearly didn’t apply to Riezel’s group.

’...I’ve already seen it several times, but it still feels unbelievable.’

Chloria pulled back the curtain and gazed outside with a complicated expression.

At the moment, she was inside a luxurious room located within a towering fortress-like structure.

Amid the vast, snow-covered land and relentless blizzard, a pitch-black tower stood firmly rooted in the earth, remaining completely unmoved by the raging storm.

Even now, Chloria still found it difficult to believe that such a magnificent structure had been created entirely through magic.

’Create Fortress...’

Without realizing it, she recalled the voice she had heard back then.

It had been on the first night after they had set out.

When Chloria, along with Leo, Ivy, and the others, had assumed that Riezel would stay in a small town by the roadside, the man had simply placed one hand on the snowy ground and summoned this towering fortress out of thin air.

Even now, the stunned expressions on everyone’s faces at that moment remained vivid in Chloria’s memory.

’As expected... that man is incredible...’

Chloria had known that from the very beginning.

Regardless, it had nothing to do with her anymore.

Before long, after getting dressed properly, she quietly slipped out of her room.

Yes.

She was preparing to run away.

===

[A bonus Chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]

[Support and get early access to upcoming Chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]