Chapter 71: Swallowed

Viseliane helped Grin pick off the most threatening city defense equipment.

She also used magic to help him stall the offensive, and those few arrows that struck precisely at the critical breakthrough points were the masterstroke of the battle.

Grin’s condition was not as bad as it appeared on the surface. Although his shirt was shredded, his wounds were merely superficial.

The Symbol of the One Who Bathed in Dragon Blood granted him extremely high physical resistance.

Combining the power of realistic weapons with individual strength, an opponent would need to be close to a Transcendent level to even break his defense.

The blood and wounds currently on his body were mostly due to various spells he had not been able to block in time; after all, his magic resistance was low. Viseliane picking off the ballistae on the city walls had essentially saved his life.

With just three swords and two steps, Grin broke out of the previously flawless encirclement and arrived at the side of Dolores and Viseliane.

Dolores looked up, taking in his current appearance.

He looked just like the strongmen from Western myths she remembered seeing in her textbooks as a child, with a nearly bare upper body.

However, the runic bloodstains on his body, the burning flames, and that greatsword shattered Dolores’s old impressions.

If this were the past, the Grin before her would have been the image Dolores yearned for.

But now…

Dolores bit her lip and said to Grin, “Explain what happened to me later. We need to leave first and wait for the others to arrive.”

Dolores truly felt the convenience brought by her status as a Princess at this moment.

Right now, anyone who disobeyed her orders was an enemy.

The screening method she had just used could continue to be employed when they encountered others.

‘This feels good, truly.’

Viseliane raised an ice wall to block the advance of the pursuers, while the remaining guards who had not been deluded followed Dolores and the others in their retreat.

In fact, Dolores’s thoughts aligned with Grin’s.

In the Royal Palace, they never considered fighting a head-on battle. After all, Dolores had the support of the Kingdom behind her; her people were here.

Although Grin had displayed immense courage and will in the continuous fighting, fundamentally, he had only fought because he had no way to run when he was first discovered. That was different.

With the help of Viseliane’s magic, the ordinary guards certainly could not catch them. Furthermore, Dolores spotted the silhouettes of the Royal Knights approaching.

“Princess, be careful. When I ignited the explosives, I saw other Class-holders heading toward the core of the Royal Palace. They didn’t participate in the hunt for me,” Grin spoke first, causing Dolores, who was being carried along by Viseliane, to instinctively ask why.

Grin provided her with some answers based on his own conjectures.

“I suspect they are preparing some dangerous plan in the Royal Palace that requires a large amount of explosives. Even though I detonated them, they didn’t chase after me in a fit of rage, even though I was the culprit right in front of them.”

“That means their plan can still proceed, and it has a higher priority than me… Those two Class-holders were at least near the Transcendent level. If they had joined the fight, I wouldn’t have survived so easily.”

“This also indicates… the time remaining for their plan is very limited.”

Dolores nodded, agreeing with Grin’s words; otherwise, it would not explain why they only let common soldiers deal with him.

From the looks of it, they had infiltrated the interior of the Royal Palace for quite some time, even taking the opportunity to seize a portion of the city defense weapons.

Among the dozens of figures from the Royal Knights approaching them, the one at the very front was a figure familiar to Dolores: Vice Captain Hagel.

“The people behind me are all traitors!”

Dolores pointed her small hand at the pursuers behind them. One sentence was all it took for Hagel to understand her meaning.

“Leave it to me!” Hagel blocked the path behind Dolores. With his strength, there was no need to worry about what followed.

Dozens of other knights from the Royal Knights were with him. Although they did not know what conditions had been used to bribe the traitors, an equal number of guards were like paper when facing the Royal Knights.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Dolores’s mind. Under the previous circumstances, why hadn’t she tried to kill Grin?

It had been such a perfect opportunity…

“Princess, we should hurry and find those two Class-holders. We can notify the others along the way.”

Grin paused mid-sentence to Dolores and turned to look at Viseliane. “Viseliane, do you have any way to track them?”

Viseliane nodded and replied, “I have a few methods. They should be useful.”

Grin pointed out the three seal locations he knew from his past life, stating that their goal was most likely the seals.

Grin was prepared to be questioned by Dolores, but she only nodded to him. She didn’t ask how he knew the locations of the seals because she clearly understood that any answer she got at a time like this would just be a fabrication.

As they ran in the opposite direction, they encountered many people who had come over after hearing the commotion. Dolores handled them with brief communications, directing them to find Hagel.

Regarding the Royal Brewery, based on what Grin had said on the way, Hagel should be able to handle it quickly with his abilities.

If there were only two Class-holders below the Transcendent level, then given the combined strength of Viseliane and Grin, there would be no danger even if they brought Dolores along.

Dolores had already equipped several items that functioned automatically without requiring magical expertise; they were enough for self-defense.

Most importantly, they did not encounter any top-tier combatants like Hagel on the way. Ordinary soldiers would only slow them down if they followed.

The first location, the palace where Dolores rested, showed no movement.

The second location, near the King’s Study, was also quiet.

However, Dolores saw a maid serving the King who greeted her. After a brief inquiry, she discovered that Felts IV was undergoing a new round of recuperation and could not be disturbed for the time being.

That left only the East City Gate of the Royal Palace. Yet, it seemed peaceful here. The guarding soldiers were concerned about what was happening on the other side, but none had left.

‘Could it be… their goal isn’t the seals?’ Grin frowned.

Something felt wrong.

In his past life, two of the seals within the Royal Palace had been completely destroyed. Only the one in the King’s Study had remained because its array had only been damaged during the Dragon Calamity.

The previous Grin had not been suspicious, but now he felt that these events in his past life were likely the work of these traitors.

The explosions he had heard within the Royal Palace during this period in his past life were probably not caused by the Dragon.

The fact that the Dragon could precisely destroy the seals in the area outside the Royal Palace was suspicious enough, especially when combined with what Doroth had mentioned regarding the Past Kingdom and the Opportunity to Become a God as their hypothesized goals.

It shouldn’t be this quiet here.

Grin prepared to approach the seal location alone, but Viseliane’s ears twitched. Before she could speak, the ground beneath Grin’s feet shattered instantly.

Because he had seen those explosives at the start, Grin’s intuition told him the enemy would use a massive amount of explosives to destroy the seals directly. But he had forgotten that if they were prepared, certain large-scale ritual spells were far more suitable for such a task.

Physical, bulky, and difficult-to-transport explosives were actually the inferior choice.

A massive roar erupted beneath Grin’s feet. Magic power became chaotic in an instant, followed by a surging explosion.

The light swallowed Grin.