Chapter 310: Attack!

The steady, rhythmic clatter of iron-rimmed carriage wheels against the cracked, frozen highway echoed through the armored interior of the transport.

Outside, a full escort company of high-tier battle-mages and armored cavalry rode in tight formation, their enchanted standards fluttering beneath the bruised, bleeding crimson sky.

Inside, the carriage was spacious, lined with dark velvet upholstery and reinforced with thick layers of sound-dampening and kinetic-dispersal runes.

Cassandra sat directly opposite me on the cushioned bench.

Her tailored commander’s coat was neatly draped over the armrest, revealing the sleek, form-fitting lines of her dark combat tunic.

Her long, silver hair cascaded loosely over her shoulders, framing a face of cold, porcelain perfection.

Her stormy grey eyes remained closed, her breathing shallow and rhythmic. She was actively extending her senses around the convoy, scanning the jagged cliffs for demonic ambushes.

I leaned my head back against the cushioned leather wall, crossing my arms over my chest and letting my eyelids drop.

There was plenty to mentally unpack, the mysterious watcher from the canyon ridge, the state of the capital’s fortified wards, and whatever twisted, reality-bending glitch was making the women around me act with unhinged, suffocating possessiveness.

I had barely begun to organize my thoughts when a soft, light pressure gently settled against the top of my right thigh.

I cracked one eye open and looked down.

A pair of pale, slender, bare feet were resting squarely across my lap.

Her delicate toes lightly flexed against the dark fabric of my trousers, the skin smooth and completely free of the calluses one would expect from a frontline combatant, thanks to her high-tier mana circulation.

I lifted my head, my eyes narrowing into thin, unimpressed slits as I looked across the small cabin.

“What’s th—”

“I have been managing frontline troop deployments and weaving continuous sector-wide detection wards for seventy-two hours without sleep,” Cassandra interrupted smoothly, not even bothering to open her eyes.

Her tone was flat, authoritative, and utterly devoid of shame.

“My arches are aching.”

My mouth twitched in sheer disbelief. I stared at her resting feet, then back at her serene, aristocratic face.

“And that explains why your bare feet are on my lap how, exactly?” I asked dryly. “There’s an entire empty cushioned bench on your side. Stretch them out over there.”

Cassandra finally opened her eyes. The cold, stormy grey orbits locked directly onto mine, gleaming with that familiar, dark, and possessive intensity that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

She tilted her head slightly to the side, a tiny, chilling smirk curving the corner of her lips.

“Aren’t you my devoted younger brother?” Cassandra asked, her voice dropping into a low, velvety purr that brooked no resistance. “Can’t you show a little filial piety and massage them for me?”

I scoffed, leaning forward just enough to glare at her.

“Why the hell would I do that? It’s not like you’d ever return the favor if I were the one exhausted.”

Cassandra didn’t flinch. Her gaze didn’t waver for even a fraction of a second.

Instead, her smirk deepened, her toes lightly brushing against the inside of my knee.

“Try me,” Cassandra whispered, her icy voice carrying a suffocating, dead-serious weight.

“Massage my feet now, Jin, and whenever you’re tired… I’ll gladly take care of every single inch of you myself.”

The words died in my throat as my brain completely short-circuited.

Before I could even muster a retort to her unhinged, deadpan proposition, the carriage lurched violently.

SCREEECH!

The iron-rimmed wheels locked up, skidding sideways across the frozen road.

The armored transport groaned under the sudden deceleration, tossing loose supply satchels across the cabin.

Outside, the panicked whinnying of warhorses was instantly swallowed by deafening, guttural roars and the unmistakable clash of steel against bone.

Cassandra’s expression flattened from dark intimacy into pure, razor-sharp malice.

She withdrew her feet in a single, fluid motion, sliding into her combat boots and fastening her leather buckles in half a second.

“Tch,” Cassandra clicked her tongue, snatching her heavy commander’s coat from the bench.

“Right when the conversation was getting interesting.”

“Saved by the demons,” I muttered, already grabbing Oathstorm from my side.

She threw the reinforced carriage door open, the locking mechanism shattering under a subtle burst of her spatial mana.

We leaped out onto the highway.

The ambush was already in full swing. The narrow canyon pass was choked with black sulfur smoke and flying sparks.

A pack of four dozen bone-plated scavengers, flanked by three lesser demon captains clad in jagged bronze armor, had collapsed a rockslide across the road, cutting off the front of our convoy.

Cassandra’s escort mages and cavalry were holding a disciplined circular formation, but the sheer momentum of the demonic vanguard was threatening to buckle their front line.

“Hold the perimeter!” Cassandra’s voice rang out like a ringing bell, cutting through the chaos.

She stepped into the center of the road, raising her left hand.

“Clear the flanks!” I yelled, unsheathing Oathstorm.

Dark lightning roared along the steel with a deafening crack. I blurred forward, moving with the terrifying speed.

The first demon captain, a broad, eight-foot abomination wielding a serrated scythe, swung at my chest.

Through Code Intuition, his clumsy, telegraphed swing was an open invitation. I ducked beneath the blade, stepped inside his guard, and drove the tip of Oathstorm straight through his throat.

A point-blank burst of dark lightning detonated inside his neck, blowing his head off his shoulders in a shower of black sludge and shattered bronze.

Beside me, Cassandra fought with cold, effortless elegance, crushing clusters of beasts into bloody paste with her ice, while I tore through the remaining monsters like a black tempest.

Between her overwhelming area-of-effect spells and my lethal, single-target executions, the ambush crumbled in less than three minutes.

The last surviving demon captain, his armor cracked and bleeding corrupt dark blood, dragged himself out from beneath an overturned supply cart.

Desperation and madness burned in his crimson eyes.

Seeing my back turned as I flicked blood off Oathstorm, the creature gathered every ounce of his remaining corrupt mana into a jagged bone spear, leaping off the cart with a bloodcurdling shriek aimed straight for my spine.

“Jin, watch out—” Cassandra began, turning her palm to weave a shield.

But she never had to finish the spell.

SHIIIING!

A blinding, brilliant lance of pure, solid light tore through the smoke from the high eastern ridge.

It moved at the speed of a falling star, screaming through the cold air with a high-pitched, crystalline hum.

KABOOM!

The lance impaled the demon captain square in the chest mid-air, pinning him violently to the frozen highway.

The pure light energy detonated on impact, instantly vaporizing his corrupt flesh into a shower of harmless, glittering golden embers.

The road fell dead silent, save for the crackle of fading light magic.

My breath hitched and eyes went wide.

I knew that mana signature. I would recognize that blinding, radiant warmth anywhere in this corrupted, bleeding world.

Slowly, my heart thumping against my ribs, I turned toward the high rocky ridge overlooking the road.

Standing atop the crest, her long hair catching the crimson wind, was a slender figure in light battle robes.

A slender white staff rested in her hands, its tip still humming with radiant golden light.

Emma.