Rumble...

The sky was filled with thick dark clouds, occasionally lit up by pale and dazzling lightning, accompanied by the distant rumbling of thunder.

Gusteberd rarely witnessed such thick clouds accumulating in the sky, making it appear as dark as night even in the afternoon. The city gates, which were already restricted due to the tense atmosphere of the civil war, had been closed early, completely blocking the roads in and out.

At this moment, in the main tower of the palace, Brad pushed open the enormous French windows on the top floor and looked down at the palace buildings below. His gaze went beyond the high walls, along Glory Square and Triumph Street, extending as far as his eyes could see.

Taking a deep breath of the moisture-laden air before the rain, Brad relaxed slightly, then turned and sat down at the desk facing the French windows.

Technically, the ventilation in the room was already quite good. Even without opening the French windows, one would not feel stifled. But Brad couldn't help but feel a sense of oppression, which only eased slightly when his field of vision widened.

This room was originally just a vacant room, and there was a separate study in the palace specifically for the king to handle official affairs- Brad used to work there before.

However, as time went on, Brad would often subconsciously recall the scene of his father working in the position he now occupied before the coup, and would even find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time. In the end, he chose to move to another place.

"It really isn't easy."

Prince Brad murmured to himself, no longer in the mood to look at the official document on the desk. Instead, he decided to completely relax, leaning back against the chair back and picking up the already cooled tea cup for a sip.

Although he had experience governing his own territory, it couldn't compare to the prosperous metropolis like the capital. It was already difficult to sustain the daily consumption of the residents inside the city while facing the blockade of external supplies.

Fortunately, he had made agreements with several overseas trade associations before the coup, and Milanía's navy was not very large, making it difficult to blockade the coastline. This allowed Gusteberd to obtain supplies through maritime transportation routes.

However, even so, the quantity of supplies was not enough to meet all the demands, forcing him to implement rationing. Fortunately, he managed to survive the most difficult winter.

But as spring approached, the situation did not appear to improve much, especially after receiving news that Angel from the Church failed to resolve the situation with his own sister. Brad became anxious all at once.

After all, without a high-ranking expert like Holy Rank, his side would be at a disadvantage if Tiran were to directly challenge and behead him. All his efforts would be in vain if his safety was constantly threatened.

The thought of his safety being constantly at risk made Brad feel a sense of anxiety, despite his efforts to suppress it. That feeling of the sword of Damocles hanging over his head was truly unpleasant.

Furthermore...

"What exactly is the purpose of this thing?"

Brad raised his left hand to eye level, and the red cord threaded through the jade pendant dangled and swayed in the wind. In the past few years, Brad had traveled around and had some knowledge of these Eastern accessories. Even with his unremarkable eye, he could tell at a glance that this was a valuable jade pendant, something that could probably fetch a hefty price at an auction.

But as valuable as it was, why did his father specifically send this jade pendant to Gusteberd? He had never heard of any old friends or anything of the sort.

"It can't possibly be a bribe for me, right?" Brad propped his chin on his hand and pondered for a while. Or perhaps...

"Take it and sell it to buy something delicious. Don't let yourself starve, love you daddy mwah mwah (づ￣ 3￣)づ"

- Don't!

The prince suddenly lay his head on the table, and I cannot believe I thought of such a scene.

At this moment, a faint glimmer flashed on the jade pendant, but Brad rubbed his eyes subconsciously and found that nothing had changed.

Wait.

Brad suddenly stood up from his chair, holding his favorite spear in his right hand, but feeling a trembling in his back.

What is this? A dangerous feeling?

Brad hung the jade pendant back on his waist and nervously surveyed the surroundings. The study, the scenery outside the window, all remained the same, but there was an inexplicable sense of disharmony.

"Ah, found it, it's here."

Brad suddenly felt a distortion in his sensory world, which quickly returned to normal. However, in front of the French windows, there stood a woman in a black dress, with black hair and dark eyes, seemingly surrounded by an invisible force.

Almost at the same time as the woman appeared, a cloud of black smoke suddenly emerged in the study. The undead mage, who had already transformed into the incarnation of death, positioned his huge scythe, nearly three meters in length, to guard Brad, under the hood, two clusters of ghostly blue flames flickering.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

Vigilantly watching the black-clad woman in front of him, without looking back, the undead mage asked.

By this time, two figures had already leapt onto the balcony outside the French windows. One was wearing silver armor and wielding a classically styled cross-cut sword. The other had long hair rarely seen in Western men, dressed in a loose navy blue samurai robe, and holding a partially broken curved long sword.

The undead mage, the sword saint Sino, and the grand knight Hussein, three high-level experts at level nine, instantly formed a siege against the black-clad woman. However, including Brad, no one showed a relaxed expression.

"Did you come after all?" Hussein's expression became solemn as he positioned his sword horizontally in front of him. Brad had already voiced his concerns and made preparations to allow all the experts around him to arrive in the shortest time possible. However, after all, their camp did not have a Holy Rank.

And the enemies who had the courage to come knocking on their door, would not even believe it themselves if they said they didn't have Holy Rank.

"Who are you?"

As tensions rose, Brad raised his hand to stop the three from acting, took a step forward, and stared directly at the black-clad woman, asking. He had always thought it would be Tiran who would come, but he didn't expect it to be someone he had never seen before. It would be better not to act recklessly until he confirmed the other party's intentions.

"You're... Brad, right?" The black-clad woman lightly placed her hands behind her back, looked at Brad with a sweet smile, and said, "Hmm, for sure, you and your old man look quite alike."

Brad was confused, from her tone, did she know him? And she mentioned his father...

"I am a friend of Granzon, and I came specially to get something." The woman extended her hand, showing the jade pendant in her hand, "Thanks for keeping it for me."

"When?" Brad was surprised, reaching out to touch the belt where the jade pendant had been hanging but found it empty.

"A woman's little secret. By the way, Granzon didn't mention me to you, huh? And..." The woman seemed a bit disappointed as she shook her head, then turned to look at the two people behind her, "It's not very friendly to immediately draw swords and guns, huh?"

Brad hesitated for a moment. Was she not here for decapitation? It sounds like she is really just an old friend of his father coming to collect something.

"... Sorry, but my father never mentioned you," Brad said, slightly relaxing as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his right hand.

"He's really such an unfeeling man," the woman, flicking her hair, sighed softly with a hint of melancholy in her expression, although her eyes didn't seem sad at all and instead carried a mischievous look...

Wait, is there some kind of misunderstanding? Prince Brad instinctively pricked up his ears. To be fair, although his father had aged and become worn out over the years due to state affairs, he was still a rare handsome man—apparently, there were even fan groups in the capital...

If we were to talk about the romantic debts his father surely had in his youth, Brad himself wouldn't believe it.

Hmm... On second thought, could I use this as leverage and tell Mom about it to make Dad concede?

Perhaps because Brad also inherited the Elysian royal family's unconventional way of thinking, his thoughts drifted off again.

"But don't you dare follow in your father's footsteps,"

the woman carefully put the jade pendant away in her embrace and raised a finger, speaking earnestly, "Hmm... after waiting for him for so many years and still having to work for him, why am I, a Star Observer, so exhausted?"

"Work?"

Brad was momentarily confused by this word, but then he felt his body tighten, as if an invisible force enveloped him entirely. The immense pressure from the outside world made him instinctively open his mouth, but he couldn't make a sound, feeling as if his chest and abdomen were about to burst.

"Yeah, work. Just helping to capture a mischievous child and bring him home. I just realized it might be you, little Brad," the woman took a step forward and said with a teasing smile.

"Your Highness!"

Realizing something was wrong, the nearest Necromancer acted decisively. The scythe formed by the incarnation of death's black aura cleaved between Brad and the woman, while he had already manifested two shorter scythe blades and leapt forward directly.

Behind him, on the balcony outside the French windows, both Yunosuke and Hussein exchanged a glance before taking action. Yunosuke's shining silver holy Chi, paired with his grandiose sword skills, blocked off all routes around the woman, while the concealed shadow-like blades lurked beneath the sword's movements.

Yunosuke's martial arts did not belong to the western mainland's Chi system. It focused more on refining the skills themselves, and although it lacked the same versatility and agility as Chi, it reached new heights in sharpness and the ability to bring death with a single strike. At this moment, the holy knight proficient in frontal combat became his best cover, and the knife Black Hawk, poised but not attacking, seemed like an omnipresent deadly stream that would seize any opportunity to take one's life.

Three level-nine experts simultaneously took action, and even if their opponent was also a top-notch expert, it would be difficult to escape death.

"Well, three... in accordance with our custom, would this be considered the Grandmaster realm? Is there still one far away? Indeed, it's not easy. But after all, humans are just humans. The so-called transcendence into sainthood is not just empty talk. You understand this, don't you?"

At such a close range, the combined attack of the three was instantaneous, but the time around them seemed to slow down for an extended period. The woman in black could even calmly finish her sentence, then casually took seven steps forward, easily traversing their attack range and arriving in front of Brad.

Brad felt a strange and subtle sensation enveloping his senses, and when everything returned to normal, the Sword Saint and holy knight had already fallen unconscious to the ground.

The frontal Necromancer, on the other hand, had an even worse fate. His scythe shattered, his metal shoulder pad and gloves twisted into a tangle as if they were twisted pretzels. The death's incarnation, which had had an imposing villainous appearance, was directly obliterated by a single strike, rolling all the way out and crashing into the balcony railing.