Chapter 535: Proud

Was she jealous of one of the prettiest princesses in the entire South-Central Region?

Of course she was!

Why did this pampered little girl get everything good in life while all she ever got was...

Snorting, Lani Jess, if that was even her real name, quickly composed herself as she deduced what Christina was trying to do.

*Pah!*

"Trying to goad me into killing you so you can protect your dignity? Heh, nice try," Lani sneered before tracing the dagger along Christina’s face.

Even though there was a sharp sting on her cheek from where she was just slapped, and she could feel her skin being pierced and blood being drawn from the wound, Christina didn’t flinch, she didn’t even make a sound, all she did was smirk even wider, as if taunting her opponent.

Seeing this kind of stubborn, defiant reaction, Lani Jess began feeling frustrated again. Constantly having to keep up her ’innocent’ act all these years had been incredibly vexing to her, which had in turn led her to becoming crueler and more sadistic anytime she found an opportunity to ’vent’.

What she hated most, however, was when her ’toys’ refused to play her little games.

Lani hadn’t expected a ’young spoiled princess’ who knew nothing of the true horrors of the world to be this resilient. She thought Christina would break down and beg for mercy the moment her purity was threatened and had very much been looking forward to seeing the princess’ pretty face twist in anguish and despair as she was thoroughly defiled.

Instead, all Lani got was something akin to a mocking sneer.

Not only was it surprising, it was a little bit unnerving.

Still, confident that she was in control of the situation, Lani figured she just hadn’t pushed Christina far enough yet, so she removed the dagger from her pretty face and instead brought it to the young girl’s chest, cutting into her leather undershirt before ripping it open, stripping her armour and exposing the flawless skin underneath.

Just before she could remove the strange looking underwear Christina was wearing, however, Lani suddenly spun around and delivered a kick to Landon, who had been trying to sneak up on her, knocking him to the ground as she laughed manically, "Just sit there and enjoy the show, my precious little prince! It’s not often you get to see such high-quality goods!"

It should have been a moment of despondency for Christina, as the last thin strand of hope that she would be rescued had just been cut off, but instead of breaking down and sobbing, the young girl actually began laughing, "Heh... haha... Hahahaa!"

Growing ever more angered with her prey’s lack of fear, Lani turned a cold glare to Christina and demanded, "What’s so funny?"

Grinning smugly, Christina answered her question with one of her own, "Aren’t you curious how I knew you were the traitor?"

"Hmph, obviously that little girl noticed something last night while we were ’cooking’ her village," Lani snorted, before a twisted smile filled her face, "But don’t worry, she’ll be joining you on the journey to the next life soon enough!"

"Hahahaha! You really are a dumb slut, aren’t you? You still haven’t figured it out?" Christina laughed harder, not even stopping when Lani drove her fist into her stomach.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the far end of the hallway, grabbing everyone’s attention.

When Lani looked over, she spotted one of her comrades, a fellow Complete Mid-Rank Initiate who specialized in archery.

He was the one leading the team that was supposed to finish off these two royals, so Lani was pretty annoyed with him for having not only failed at his task, but also showing up so late.

She was about to curse him out, but then stopped abruptly when he actually puked a huge amount of blood and collapsed to the floor.

"Wha..." Lani Jess didn’t get another word out before something flashed across her eyes.

For the second time in less than 2 minutes, she found herself flying through the air, this time even faster than before.

When she hit the same wall she had struck earlier, however, instead of falling down again, she just stayed suspended mid-air, her feet hanging loosely beneath her.

Looking over, Lani saw a pitch-black spear pierced through her right shoulder, pinning her in place.

She then felt a gust of wind hit her face and with great difficulty lifted her head to see a beautiful woman with fiery-red hair and golden eyes staring at her indifferently, as if she was nothing more than an annoying insect she could casually squash.

Celestina Balfour! Lani naturally recognized this woman, but what she couldn’t understand was how she was here.

Suddenly, she recalled Christina’s laughing, mocking face and everything snapped into place.

She had thought her side was the one setting a trap, but it turns out they were the ones being lured into a pit!

Spirit Tools to communicate with others over large distances were extremely expensive and quite rare in the South-Central Region, but they did exist. In fact, Lani had such a tool on her as well, one she had used to organize tonight’s ambush!

If she could have one, though, why hadn’t she considered that Christina might also have a way to contact her Master?

Damn it, I underestimated that little bitch, Lani cursed to herself as she quickly reached her left hand for a dagger on her hip in a final desperate gambit.

"Oh no you don’t," Celestina moved faster, yanking out her spear while delivering a heavy punch to the two-faced woman’s gut.

This wasn’t just a physical blow; Celestina also sent a torrent of her own Spirit Qi into Lani’s body, wreaking havoc on her meridians and Core. She didn’t completely cripple her, as there was risk such a shock would kill her outright, but she did do enough damage to prevent her from being able to circulate her Internal Qi for at least a day.

With this, Lani wouldn’t be able to move, gather her strength, or destroy her own Core to kill herself. The fact that this would also cause the woman who had just tried to kill her Third Disciple agonizing and long-lasting pain was just a bonus.

"Bind her tightly, but make sure she survives," Celestina ordered calmly.

""Yes, General!""

As a pair of Spirit Initiates from the Raging River Legion got to work, Celestina walked over to her Third Disciple, who was collapsed on the floor, and asked casually, "Does it hurt?"

Panting heavily, bleeding from multiple external wounds, and with more than a few cracked and broken bones, all Christina could do was grin wryly and nod.

"Good, that means your still alive," Celestina declared, "What you did tonight was incredibly stupid, and if you ever pull such a reckless stunt again, you’re getting 10 years of toilet cleaning duty as punishment!"

Seeing her young Disciple wince at the thought of scrubbing shit for a decade, Celestina snorted angrily before her expression softened and she knelt down, gently brushed the young girl’s head, and smiled, "That said, you did well. I’m proud of you, Christina."