Chapter 40: Sister’s After-Dinner Entertainment

Sylvia silently squeezed the small cake in her hand.

The pleasant appetite from earlier had vanished without a trace.

All she wanted now was to quickly end this bizarre picnic.

Then return to her soft, comfortable bed.

And bury herself in it.

“The air here is really nice.”

Avira took a deep breath.

A look of enjoyment spread across her face.

Sylvia glanced at the surrounding purple mist.

Then at her sister.

Sister, you call this nice air?

Does your home smell like vengeful spirits?

She silently complained in her mind.

But didn’t dare say it aloud.

Avira poked at the grilled meat on her plate with a fork out of boredom.

Suddenly, she stopped.

A strange smile bloomed at the corner of her lips.

“Oh?”

Her voice was soft.

“There’s a little mouse sneaking a peek.”

Sylvia’s heart skipped a beat.

Not good.

Here it comes again.

She had a strong premonition of misfortune.

Every time her sister showed that expression, it meant someone was about to have a bad time.

Ophelia held her teacup, without even lifting her eyelids.

Clearly, she tacitly approved of Avira’s upcoming action.

Sylvia watched in despair as Avira stood up.

Her blood-red eyes blazing with the frenzy of having found a new toy.

“Sis, don’t be in such a hurry to leave.”

Avira licked her lips.

“I’ve found you some fun.”

Before she finished speaking, Avira’s figure blurred where she stood.

Then vanished into thin air.

***

A kilometer away, Buck, the Mercenary Group leader, was carefully holding a priceless

Soul-Etched Crystal.

He stared intently through the crystal, fixated on an incredible scene in the distance.

The Royal Family of the Eternal Night Empire were actually having a picnic here, in these cursed ruins.

“Boss, my heart’s pounding like crazy.”

His Vice-Captain whispered in a low voice.

“That’s the Blood Queen and the Blood Clan Princess.”

“Aren’t we courting death by getting this close?”

“What’s there to fear!”

Buck spat disdainfully.

His eyes full of greed.

“Look at that little one.”

“That’s the ‘Sacred Vessel’ mentioned in the intel.”

“As long as we can record a clear image of her, sell it to the Cathedral, we won’t have to worry for the rest of our lives!”

He licked his chapped lips, adjusting the angle of the crystal.

“We only need a moment. Record it and run!”

Now’s the time!

Just as he was about to activate the crystal, a playful female voice sounded beside him.

“What fun are you having?”

Buck’s body instantly bristled with goosebumps.

He snapped his head around.

A face breathtakingly beautiful—and dangerously captivating—was right in front of him.

It was the Blood Clan Princess, Avira!

When did she get here?!

“Enemy attack!”

Buck shouted.

But it was already too late.

Avira only raised a slender, pale finger.

And lightly traced it through the space where they stood.

No energy burst, no sound.

Buck felt his body grow light.

He looked down; his pupils shrank abruptly.

His horse was still nervously pawing at the ground.

But he, along with all his elite subordinates, were eerily suspended midair.

They still held the posture of riding horses.

Legs apart, bodies leaning forward.

But beneath them was empty space.

An invisible blade had neatly sliced the space between them and their mounts.

Avira turned to them, placing a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

Her voice was quiet, yet it clearly echoed inside everyone’s minds.

“Don’t disturb my sister’s meal.”

Sylvia bowed her head, trying to will the cake in front of her into her mouth.

Suddenly, she felt the light around her dim.

She looked up and saw Avira grinning and sitting back down as if nothing had happened.

“Sis, look over there.”

Avira nodded toward the distance.

Sylvia followed her gaze.

Then stiffened completely.

In the distant sky, a group of humans wearing mercenary uniforms flailed their limbs awkwardly.

No, not flailing—their movements were absurdly uncoordinated.

Their faces were filled with terror and despair, yet their bodies danced gleefully in midair.

“How’s that for entertainment?”

Avira said proudly.

“I made sure they danced cheerfully.”

Sylvia’s face flushed instantly.

Her toes wriggled awkwardly inside her soft boots, carving out an elaborate Nightfall City.

Entertainment?

This was a public execution!

The most humiliating kind of social death!

She could imagine the mercenaries’ mental collapse—being forced to perform ridiculous dances in front of the Blood Clan Royal Family.

If word got out, they’d never survive in the mercenary world again.

“Sis—”

Sylvia’s voice trembled.

She couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

She grabbed Avira’s sleeve, lowering her head.

“I’m full.”

“Let’s go, okay?”

Avira’s smile stiffened.

She pouted, a bit disappointed.

“Oh? Already bored?”

“How dull.”

She had hoped her sister would enjoy this novel show.

But since she said she’d had enough, then so be it.

Avira casually snapped her fingers.

In the distance, the invisible force binding the mercenaries vanished instantly.

“Ahhhhhh—”

Accompanied by a series of screams, a dozen people tumbled from midair with a crash.

They fell in a heap.

Fortunately, the height wasn’t great.

They were only dazed and bruised, with no serious injuries.

Buck scrambled to his feet.

Too dust-covered to brush off.

He glanced at the skeletal palace slowly rising in the distance.

His eyes filled with endless terror.

He grabbed the reins tightly and swung himself onto his horse.

“Run! Run!”

He roared with all his might,

his voice cracking.

The mercenaries scrambled and crawled, fleeing desperately in the opposite direction of the skeletal palace.

Inside the skeletal palace, Sylvia dashed back to her room.

Dove under the covers, and muffled her head with a pillow.

That scene would not leave her mind.

Too embarrassing!

Absolutely mortifying!

She felt her social anxiety had reached a terminal stage, hopeless.

Outside came Avira’s cheerful humming.

Sylvia buried her head even deeper.

***

Meanwhile, Buck, still fleeing for his life, was wrestling with a storm raging inside his mind.

What had just happened?

That power to casually slice space, toy with them like playthings…

It couldn’t have been the Blood Clan Princess Avira.

Intel said whenever Avira struck, it would be a bloody massacre.

Her mindscape was the Bloodthirsty Thorn Labyrinth, a pure Law of Slaughter.

That silent, almost teasing distortion of the law just now—Queen Ophelia?

Impossible.

If the queen wanted to kill them, they wouldn’t have had a chance to react.

Then… only one possibility remained.

Buck trembled violently.

Not from fear, but from a maddening, scalp-tingling suspicion.

It was that little princess!

The legendary frail, helpless “Sacred Vessel”!

The intel from the Cathedral and the Mage Council was all wrong!

Dead wrong!

She wasn’t some protected relic at all!

She was a terrifying being capable of freely twisting space itself!

Avira and Ophelia hadn’t lifted a finger just now. They were merely watching from the sidelines!

It was the little princess who thought they were ruining her picnic mood.

So she casually lifted them into the air for a little dance!

This intel…

Its value was ten thousand times greater than capturing her image!

A greedy fire rekindled in Buck’s eyes.

He was going to strike it rich!