In this world, anyone who can control magic is called a Saint Cultivator, regardless of their profession, age, or gender.

The way combat strength is ranked is simple, too. It depends on the maximum amount of magic a person can wield: the lower ten ranks, the middle ten ranks, the upper ten ranks, and the ten Saint ranks.

Whether they use magic to strengthen their bodies, cast spells, or do something else entirely, the more magic they can wield, the higher their rank.

For humans, the Tenth Saint Rank is the absolute limit. Few can reach it, and in the entire Holy Radiance Empire, only Queen An Jieli and Bai Ye have attained that level.

So Bai Ye didn’t even need to do much to deal with these guards. Releasing just a little magic was enough to knock them all unconscious.

“H-How is that possible?!”

When they saw the guards collapse as if all the strength had been drained from their bodies, everyone present panicked.

“Y-You said you’re at the Tenth Saint Rank? But there should only be two people at that rank in the Empire! W-Who are you?!”

“That’s right! Who are you, really?! I warn you, I’m a marquis—a marquis! You won’t get away with offending me!”

Bai Ye ignored every word they said. She had no obligation to answer such foolish questions.

She waved her hand as if shooing away flies, and black magic spread through the hall like mist.

As far as Bai Ye was concerned, this much was more than enough to deal with these useless nobles, who couldn’t even use magic.

Sure enough, the nobles who came into contact with the black magic collapsed unconscious one after another. They tried to flee, only to realize that the iron door they’d entered through was the hall’s only exit.

“Get out of the way! All of you, move!”

“You move! Make way for me, the marquis!”

Everyone surged toward the iron door, shoving and trampling one another as they tried to get out ahead of the rest.

But when they reached the door, they saw that black magic had risen up around it, blocking their way.

“I told you, none of you are leaving today!”

The silver-haired girl’s cold voice rang throughout the hall. Her voice was so lovely, yet now it struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy hammer.

“Take a good look around. When you wake up again, you might find yourselves in prison.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

At last, one of the nobles realized he couldn’t escape. He pulled out the fruit knife he’d been carrying and decided to fight back with everything he had!

But resistance was futile. Bai Ye looked at the man charging at her with a knife and waved her hand again.

The black magic in the hall focused on him, wrapping him up tight in the blink of an eye.

No matter how unwilling he was to give in, he couldn’t stand against Bai Ye. He hit the floor with a thud.

Without their guards to protect them, these nobles were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Before long, the only ones still conscious in the hall besides Bai Ye were Li Ke and Yilisi.

Bai Ye had deliberately kept the black magic away from Yilisi to protect her. As for Li Ke, she wasn’t ready to let him pass out just yet. She still had a few questions for him.

“Y-You can use black magic!”

Li Ke was already trembling with fear. He slumped on the floor, unable to get up.

“Y-You monster!”

Bai Ye paused when she heard him. A monster? How long had it been since anyone called her that?

No one had called her that since she started serving An Jieli, had they?

Bai Ye raised her hand and looked at the black magic curling around it. Since these people were bound to end up in prison, she hadn’t bothered to hide its color. Today, everyone had seen her black magic clearly.

Human magic came in all kinds of colors: pure white, dazzling gold, fiery red. Different people wielded magic of different colors.

But that didn’t affect anything. To humans, the color of their magic didn’t matter at all.

There was only one color of magic the people of the Holy Radiance Empire couldn’t tolerate: black.

According to an ancient legend in the Holy Radiance Empire, those with black magic were calamities upon the world, flaws in the laws of nature. They brought terrible misfortune, and everyone who came near them would meet a tragic end!

...It was an incredibly foolish legend, but most people in the Holy Radiance Empire believed it without question. They didn’t hate the color black—in fact, thanks to the influence of the Black Night Knights, black was a very popular color in the Empire.

But black magic? The people of the Empire would never accept it!

In truth, people with black magic were incredibly rare. Even in the Empire’s long history, they could be counted on one hand.

Unfortunately, Bai Ye was one of them.

“If my magic weren’t black, my family wouldn’t have cast me aside...”

Seeing Bai Ye lost in thought, Li Ke’s eyes darted about. He secretly shifted his body, trying to escape.

But Bai Ye casually waved her hand, and the black magic coiled around him like a rope.

“Don’t rush off. I still have questions for you.”