Chapter 107
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Ivan yelled, running behind Izek and taking the opportunity of having separated from the rest of the Paladins to berate his captain.
“I’m going to beat up that big b*stard, why?”
“Is that all you’re thinking about right now? Protecting your wife’s boyfriend? F*ck, I’m not even sure that b*stard will recognize us! And what if the rest heads this way after all? What if your wife does too?”
“I tried to divert them but it’s impossible if no one ever f*cking listens to me!”
Indeed, the reason Izek went against the Knight Commander’s orders was to prevent anyone from coming near the Moon Tower.
The secrets related to Rudbeckia could never be revealed to the public. If, while confronting the Frost Dragon, it did happen to get exposed, then the amount of witnesses had to be strictly limited to the Knights of Longinus and the King’s Guard.
In other words, only the greatest powers in Britannia, the Omertas, the Knights of Longinus, and the Royal Family, could know of Rudbeckia’s ability and connection to the Frost Dragon.
Ivan understood that very well. The only problem was that...
“The commander is going to kill us.”
“If he does that, he’ll have no knights to lead.”
“Your father will too. And His Highness...”
Before Ivan could finish the thought, a flash of lightning exploding right in front of his feet rendered him motionless. The loud bellow of a certain man that followed next had him cowering and regretting all of his decisions.
“Izek van Omerta! Stop right this instant!”
Despite his father’s livid declaration, Izek kept on pushing forward, not once turning his eyes towards the two men in charge whose orders he was blatantly disobeying.
The Knight Commander and the Duke of Omerta shared a look, the same thought running through both of their minds.
“Where do you think you’re going? Sir Ivan! Hurry up and stop him!”
“It’s impossible for me to do that, Commander!”
Lamenting on his sh*tty luck and his presumably ruined career, Ivan sent out a prayer begging for the commander and the duke to understand and chased after his goddamned friend.
As the two Paladins vanished into the distance in half a second, the Duke of Omerta pinched his nose and looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.
The events from earlier flashed before his eyes as a splitting headache had him angrily rubbing his temples. His daughter-in-law covered in blood, his son trying to kill the firstborn of the Pope... He had barely managed to separate the two. He hadn’t even had the time to catch his breath before Cardinal Valentino completely disappeared from under his nose and a damn dragon and its legion of murderous monsters attacked the city.
To make matters worse, his blasted son had gone out of control, breaking protocol and going against direct orders from not only the commander but also the king. Not even the Duke of Omerta knew what to do right now.
The Knight Commander didn’t look any better, his blood pressure about to reach heights it had never reached before.
Then, the man did something unexpected. He sighed and put his hand on the duke’s shoulder. It had him unknowingly exhale his old comrade’s name for the first time in a long while.
“Sir Barons.”
“Your Grace, don’t glare at me like that, and just avert your eyes.”
Even though his manner of speech was rude, the duke understood what his old friend was trying to say and he rolled his aching shoulders, keeping his eyes locked on the alleyway his son had gone into.
The thought of the surroundings gradually becoming more and more darker passed him by.
***
The Moon Tower, Britannia’s pride and joy and known for its long history, was currently being terrorized by the colossal frame of a black-and-blue-scaled dragon.
The ominous sight of the winged creature spreading out its majestic wings against the backdrop of a burning red sky truly was something straight out of Hell. The Frost Dragon was indeed the incarnation of Satan.
Golden eyes aflame with the thirst for blood looked down at the horrified people below, the horror of it all descending down on them like the cold snow the being had called forth fluttering in the wind.
Two Paladins, definitely not surviving the punishment that was awaiting them if they managed to survive this, watched from the foot of the tower.
The dragon, as if it had recognized the two knights, jerked its head to the side and did the same, its tail swishing from side to side and observing them silently.
Perhaps it was because of what he had witnessed earlier, but Ivan found himself comparing the Cardinal Valentino from today to the devil blocking the light of the moon.
For some reason, that crazy lizard felt far more benign than the Holy Pope’s own son.
Instead of being intimidated, anger welled up inside of him. Did this reptile know that the tower it was demolishing with its gigantic claws was considered a national treasure and the apple of Britannia’s eye?
Izek must have been of the same mind. The fire lighting up his eyes was no less bloodthirsty than the golden ones glowing between black scales.
Having had enough of this bizarre staring contest with his wife’s shameless boyfriend she had once run away with in the past, the strongest knight in the North finally opened his mouth.
“Come on down, you a**hole.”
The thunderous shriek of an enraged Frost Dragon rang loud.
***
Andymion was carrying my worn out body on his back, navigating and twisting through the back streets of Elendale and avoiding the busiest parts of the city as they were overrun with gruesome monsters and hysterical crowds of people.
The evening sky had turned a fiery red, the setting sun casting long and foreboding shadows and snowflakes glistened as they fell.
I trembled with fear as another roar reverberated and echoed through the air. Ellenia next to us stopped moving and cowered, her steps faltering.
“Milady, don’t stop! We have to hurry! All the members of Longinus are at the Moon Tower, so we can’t stay here!”
The trek to the heart of the city from Angvan Palace led us to pass through multiple roads and avenues drenched in blood and corpses of not only humans but mostly demons, piles and piles of mana stones rolling around our feet. It appeared to be that the knights and guards had already cleaned up these areas, thank the Lord.
The main residence of the Royal Family of Britannia where the Moon Tower was located lay at the center of the capital. Reaching the town square where all the roads came together, we were met with the sight of Paladins and soldiers moving around in a rush.
When we came to a standstill as the Frost Dragon let out another series of unending shrieks, someone spotted us and came closer.
It was Sir Camu, fury clear on his face.
“My Ladies! What are you doing here? Andymion, have you lost your mind!”
“We have no time to explain, so just get out of the way,” Ellenia snapped at him, still dignified like she always was, and tried to take the lead to get past him.
Of course, Sir Camu couldn’t allow for that to happen.
“Stop, My Lady! It’s too dangerous! Where are you going with—”
“It is an order from Duchess Omerta, so none of you have the right to stop us.”
All three of us stood motionless and dumbstruck at Ellenia’s curt reply. The matter-of-fact way she had said it had my eyes almost popping out of my skull. Sir Camu looked even worse, his jaw almost having dropped to the ground. Andymion muttered something that sounded like a wow but then clamped his mouth shut as he received his superior’s cold glare.
“Duchess...”
With the muscles in his jaw twitching, Sir Camu looked at me on Andymion’s back. His face held an expression I could not describe. His light blue eyes, so similar in color to his vibrant hair, had always been critical and aloof when pointed at me. Now, they were quivering with an emotion I could only recognize as desperation.
“If something were to—”
“We’re heading towards the Moon Tower, so it’s fine, right?”
Sir Camu did not answer. He didn’t even blink as we walked past him, leaving him standing there like that.
“H-Huh? My Lady? Duchess? You... You must go to...!”
A string of outraged curses and cries reached my ears as we moved further along the street, and not long after that, Sir Camu’s angry yell sounded for the very last time.
“Andy, you b*stard! Don’t disobey orders and get to the designated safe area! Ah, f*ck it. He’s going to kill you, you know! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! That f*cker won’t spare you if something happens!”
Should I have been thankful? I watched as Sir Camu hesitated for a while before he raked his hands through his hair and turned around, catching up to his colleagues. I didn’t think that he would have let us pass if it hadn’t been for Ellenia. I hadn’t expected her to be so firm and resolute in helping me. I hadn’t expected her to call me duchess either.
I felt rather anxious because I was pulling her and Andymion into danger like this and had to explain what I had wanted to hide so badly to them and probably everyone else later on.
I couldn’t brood over the consequences too much, because a kobold jumped out and over the balustrade of the stairs we were running on.
Its crazed eyes reminded me of what had happened back at the coliseum, when the ghoul had floated right in front of me, when its vacant orbs had chilled me to the bone. The verdant glow the little kobold was emanating flashed wildly and evoked the image of green flames blazing madly.
Did this have to happen now?!
I was too shocked to move, too caught up in surprise to say anything.
Andymion quickly put me down and tried to block the monster from advancing when Ellenia mouthed a prayer under her breath, made the sign of the cross, stepped forward and held out her arms in front of her.
A brilliant blue beam of light flared from her silk-covered palms and the loud sound of a thunderclap rumbled and pulsated through the skies.
The kobold couldn’t even scream before turning into dust and drifting away with the wind. Only the mana stone from its magical core remained as it fell to the ground, proving that the damn thing had, in fact, been there just a second ago.
It all happened within the blink of an eye.
All three of us stayed quiet for a silent moment.
The Young Lady of Omerta turned around and shot us a glance over her shoulder, wiping the sweat from her brow. The only thing Andymion and I could do was to stare blankly at her.
“Well, My Lady is an Omerta after all...” the young boy said, trailing off and sounding very embarrassed.
“I don’t use it much, really. I don’t have the...”
Her face was as white as a sheet, pallid and pale, and she staggered from side to side before almost falling down the stairs.
I hurriedly grabbed her swaying body. “Ellen!”
“I’m fine, it’s fine. I’m just a little dizzy. I need to pledge to the archbishop if I want to use divinity without suffering from side effects, but I don’t want to do that.”
“Side effects?”
“Just a bit of vertigo, don’t worry about it.”
Should I say that this bloodline of theirs is exceptional or what?
Regardless of how remarkable the Omertas and their divinity was, it couldn’t be properly used unless one was duly trained in it and made an oath to the archbishop. Or get blessed by a priest every single time you used it, but that was out of the question right now.
It wasn’t necessarily set in stone to make a pledge in order to use divinity, but using it without one severely limited a person’s full power.
The aftermath meant that she couldn’t cross that line again. The repercussions would be grave if she did so a second time, and even if she was blessed with the blood of Omerta, her inexperience could lead her body to ruin.
I felt bad for poor Andymion, having to protect not one, but two injured ladies in the middle of a battlefield. We helped Ellenia get back on her unsteady feet and she took deep breaths, still swaying back and forth.
To my astonishment, I saw, from the elevated walkway we were on, my father-in-law running along the lower roads in full armor, skillfully cutting all the monsters in his way in half. I did a double take at the sight, not once expecting this from my retired father at all.
Well, as the Duke of Omerta, he had to have been a master Paladin once upon a time...
Then, the entire earth shook as that b*stard of a dragon roared once again.
***
“S-Save me!”
“Holy Father! Holy Mother!”
“Oh, Saint Agnes! Saint Stephen! Saint Paul!”
Hell had descended onto earth.
In no time, the happy festival celebrating Britannia’s grandest tournament had turned into chaos. The streets that had been filled with droves of citizens and foreigners enjoying the festivities were now flooded with demons of all sizes, the need for slaughter driving them forth.
When the city guards, the priests of the Temple, and all knights situated in Elendale arrived at the scene, the situation in the city had already become indescribable. Too much blood had been shed.
In other words, Pietro had succeeded in carrying out the orders of his beloved master.
Ed./N: In this chapter, Ellenia and Camu suddenly call Ruby duchess, which is something she is not and something they have never once called her before. Since Izek has not yet inherited the title (he’s the heir, but not the Duke of Omerta), Ruby is also not yet the Duchess of Omerta either. It is actually quite disrespectful to call someone by a title if someone else holds it. But, as we know, there is no Duchess Omerta currently (RIP), so calling Ruby that showcases the respect they hold for her now. It cements and consolidates her position in Britannia, which is important to her, because everyone has always believed that she would one day leave and go back home (so they treated her like dirt, those *****). Calling her by that title is akin to Ellenia and Camu saying that she’s there to stay and that they recognize and venerate her as the future Duchess of Omerta (finally).
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