Chapter 1464.1

Evangeline believed in her family, certain they were looking for her. That was why she knew she didn't need to contact them directly. As long as she revealed her location for even a single moment, they'd come to protect her in no time.

Of course, the rift she smashed had already begun closing back up. That was because the dungeon wasn't a typical underground dungeon. The dungeon made it seem like the space was isolated while its location was where one would expect.

Even so, it was just a spatial isolation, far inferior to a dimensional rift.

Evangeline’s smile endured, despite the closure. She saw a significant rift in the ceiling where she had just unleashed her power.“Do you see that?”

The young man snorted, “Hmph. I don't know what you're doing, but so what? The shattered rift is just closing up again.”

“Wrong. It's already irreversible.”

“What?”

“For now, it'll hold up. But will that thing hold after the coordinates are set? How long will it last? Ten minutes? Five? Or maybe three? The moment you couldn't block my breath attack, you lost. I can guarantee you that.”

The advantage of time had shifted to Evangeline. However, the young man insisted he didn't care. “Ahahahaha! Yes. That's right. It could seem that way. It looks like you called someone to protect you. I'll admit I didn't expect you to punch a hole with your breath to send a signal.”

He stopped laughing and clapping, and the smile slowly faded from his face. “But does that matter in the current situation?”

“Hmm?”

“You still have to protect those people below. Surely you don't think you can protect all of them before your help arrives? And even if they do, nothing will change.”

“Hmm.”

“Furthermore, finding this ruin is utterly impossible. In fact, even my father, who was a great mage, couldn't figure out the space here.”

She didn’t expect him to talk about something personal. “Your father?”

“Yes. I hold him in high regard, though he didn't care for me.”

Fundamentally, the fact that Evangeline had to deal with the young man and four men in black robes while protecting everyone hadn't changed. Despite that, she nodded, as if she had the situation under control.

At the same time, she shot straight toward him and thrust her sword at him.

“How foolish...” Instantly, a translucent barrier formed around him, colliding with her attack. At the exact same moment, the men in black rapidly charged toward the others, including Khrones.

The intent was to cut down the rest while Evangeline was being distracted.

He mocked, “How foolish. Aren't you the one on the defensive now?”

He had a point, but Evangeline absolutely didn’t look back. Instead, she pushed the divine dragon sword Twilight even harder through his defensive barrier.

“You can't stop the war of the continent.”

“As if,” she shot back.

That was when it happened.

Thwack!!!

With a sudden crash, the men in black were flung away by something.

She smiled brightly and drove her sword in even deeper. “I didn't call for backup because of them. I called it because of what you're hiding.”

[Evangeline. Do you just need me to protect these younglings?]

“Yes.”

[That's easy enough.]

Shiverwock appeared as though it’d been waiting all along, casually answering while carrying the unconscious Lady Rune Bertas over one shoulder.

Perhaps caught off guard by its sudden appearance, the young man's expression twisted. He immediately summoned multiple magic circles around him and cast a small incantation.

Crackle!!!!

“That still changes nothing, you low-born mixed-blood whelp.”

“You've been calling me mixed-blood, mixed-blood, mixed-blood, and it's seriously annoying! Who are you to judge my birth parents!”

Clang!!!

The young man unleashed a powerful burst of magic and parried her sword. Even so, Evangeline kept pressing the attack, repeatedly clashing against his magic with her sword.

After several clashes, the young man, judging that she had lost control, sneered in triumph.

Yet, at one point, she suddenly changed the trajectory of her sword. She began to target the throne the young man was sitting on instead of the man himself. Since the defensive magic he deployed was strictly protecting himself, the throne was relatively poorly defended.

That was what Evangeline was aiming for. She figured that the reason he didn't move from the throne was that something was there. If so, destroying the place where he was sitting should solve the problem.

Yet, his expression didn’t waver the slightest bit from her attack.

As if he had been waiting, more magic circles appeared and wrapped around her sword. They powerfully crushed and constricted the Aura Blade and sword itself.

He clearly intended to shatter her sword, engaging in a tug-of-war with her. The young man planned to break her sword and return the energy to her. Nonetheless, Evangeline pushed harder.

It was a mindless charge. However, the reason she did so was rather simple. Recoil, internal injuries, and the Aura Blade dispersing and backfiring only happened if the sword itself was destroyed.

To be frank, a sword made of the divine metal helixium breaking was next to impossible.

Despite the overwhelming pressure that would've shattered an ordinary magic sword even if it were coated in an Aura Blade, she pierced through the resisting magic with Twilight without a single scratch.

“What?!”

At last, she sliced through the air and finally cut the throne.

Whoosh!!!

He made a surprised face, as he hadn't expected the sword to penetrate without breaking under such intense pressure.

“The throne is finally broken. Let’s go ahead and take a look at what you were hiding.”

As Evangeline gave a faintly mocking laugh, killing intent began to pour out from his entire body. “You damned half-breed... Do you even know what you've just done?!”

“Were you expecting me to know without telling me?”

“Shut up, you mixed-blood! The resurrection of my father has been ruined because of you!”

His presence was so overwhelming it was suffocating. At the same time, something shocking happened.

“GRAAAHHH!”

“L-Lord!”

Perhaps because of the black aura flowing from his body, something dark began to be forcibly sucked out of the robed men who were targeting the young nobles.

“Useless fools who couldn't even follow a simple order. I'll take back every bit of power I gave you. Return and become my nourishment once more!”

The men convulsed violently, as if their souls were being pulled out.

“P-Please, have mercy!”

“Aaaargh!!!”

When all the black matter disappeared, all that remained were bones draped in black robes.

“Hmph. Mixed-blood, I will inflict all the suffering in the world upon you. I will never forgive you for obstructing the resurrection of my father! Your end is mine.”

He spoke as if facing an archnemesis, but Evangeline, Shiverwock, and everyone present felt absurdity from his behavior.

[This guy’s nuts.]

“You...”

The young man who absorbed the power of the black robed men immediately released a black mist that spread through the surrounding area. Evangeline kept her eyes fixed on the young man fading into the darkness.

It gave her a creepy feeling that made her shudder. But it wasn't because his power was strong.

“Why... Why is he laughing...?”

He was furious that his father's resurrection had been thwarted, yet he was sinisterly laughing with madness all over his face.

She couldn't understand how that could be the face of someone who was furious. His bizarre behavior didn't end there, either.

As the fog carrying the eerie chill began to thicken, she instinctively began gathering her breath once again.

[Breath of the Stars]

Boom!!!!

A compressed beam of immense mass and intense heat went flying toward the young man.

[Stop it!]

Yet instead of hearing it scorch the man, she heard Shiverwock's urgent cry.

[What are you doing?!]

“What...?”

The mist momentarily cleared a little. The sight revealed was incredibly shocking. She had clearly fired her breath at the young man, yet it went toward the group of young nobles instead.

Shiverwock’s arm was clearly blackened from blocking her attack.

“Hey, Shiverwock? You were behind me, weren’t you?!”

[Get a hold of yourself! This fog seems to throw your senses off.]

Hearing its suggestion, Evangeline instinctively raised her aura, protecting her entire body.

The bizarre magic wasn’t just some simple spell she could underestimate.

“That disgusting bastard...”

Even with her five senses under protection, she seriously doubted if it was possible to entirely resist that state of confusion. She couldn't help but worry that Illyna and Perserque might get caught up in it too once they came to rescue her.

Just as worry clouded her thoughts, something massive suddenly lunged out of the darkness and attacked Evangeline.

[Watch out!]

The blow was surprisingly heavy, yet more than its power, the unusual way it struck bothered her.

Evangeline lacked the experience to fully and skillfully wield her power. Even when she tried to counterattack, the enemy simply slipped away using the strange space.

Clang!!!

[Focus! With your power, you can sense the truth!!]

The enemy had used the mist to throw her senses into disarray before striking the opening it created.

The enemy revealed himself from the darkness. His eyes were similar to a reptile's, vertically slit like Evangeline's. “That monster is quick on the uptake.”

However, unlike the dragons Evangeline knew, he felt extremely twisted.

“Strong power, swift movements, and even that unknown power of yours. Such greatness! But you lack experience.” He seemed to scatter into the mist, then instantly reappeared behind Evangeline, thrusting his hand out. “Well, being unable to fully control your own power is probably another thing.”

“Ugh...” Evangeline staggered, supporting her body with Twilight.

The impact itself wasn't severe. But ever since his last attack, an unknown strain had been weighing on her body. It felt as though the space itself was moving for him.

Prince Khrones urgently shouted, “Princess!”

The young man, who had emerged from the mist, had grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

Although Evangeline was subdued by him, she didn’t resist. That was because the moment of physical contact was both a crisis and an opportunity. She had learned time and time again that losing control and recklessly overusing her power was a foolish mistake.

“If you were just a little smarter, I might’ve been the one to lose.”

“Then just let me hit you once.”

The smile on his face deepened.

“Even though you're a mixed-blood, your mana looks quite tasty,” he said nonchalantly as he raised one hand.

Then, her mana began to flow out of her and seep into his hand. It was a drain, a type of devil magic. Though he wasn’t draining a great deal of it at once, if it continued, it’d eventually prove fatal.

“Ooooh! Such vast mana.” He chuckled faintly, clearly pleased with the mana he was draining from her.

Just as Evangeline figured out his true nature and was about to deliver the finishing blow, she sensed two familiar presences.

“Hey buddy, time's up.” Even though she had prepared to gamble on a counterattack, she deliberately went limp to make herself look as pitiful as possible.

‘She’s giving up?’

Sensing something strange, the young man quickly let go of her and tried to disappear back into the mist. Yet in that brief moment, he saw her violet eyes, and an unknown force seemed to tighten his entire body.

‘What?!’

Caught off guard by the unexpected phenomenon, he forcibly cut off drain and retreated further, even though he was aware of the backlash and side effects of stopping the spell so abruptly.

‘Fear that makes a dragon flinch? There's no way something like that exists.’

Still reeling from what had happened, he looked at Evangeline.

He hadn’t been mistaken. What he had felt from her just then was unequivocally fear. The fact that he felt such a shameful thing from a half-breed of his own kind was unbearably humiliating.

At the same time, something began forcefully tearing the mist apart.

“It's time. You lose.”