Chapter 438: The First Signs of the Black Hand

Yueliangcheng.

Luosen, although he stayed outside the palace, nevertheless kept watch on the movements inside the palace.

Of course, to avoid alerting the powerful hidden deep in the palace, he used indirect observation.

Using the soul imprint left in the Eternal Baron Oktgin family, he covertly surveyed the situation inside the palace.

He saw that after the hovercraft flow entered the palace, they docked in turn on a towering wall like a honeycomb.

Afterwards, the Baron family got out of the car one after another, following Juliet's guidance, and proceeded all the way into the palace's celebration hall.

Up to this point, everything was still normal.

Luosen, using the Baron family's eyes, observed the celebration hall from three angles.

He saw the hall filled with people, over three thousand, all dressed in fine clothes, elegant in demeanor, upper-class in appearance.

He also deeply felt the hall's splendor and heft.

The vast, pillar‑free hall spanning tens of thousands of square meters, the sourceless colored light drifting in the sky, and the numerous art sculptures full of a sense of time's weight all made Luosen feel genuine awe.

He now knew that this was merely an imperial residence built in a space city, its scale not even one‑ten‑thousandth of the former imperial capital's main palace.

One can imagine how glorious the Eternal Empire was at its peak.

"What a pity~"

Such miraculous glory ultimately could not escape the wear of time.

Soon after, he saw Empress Aigedelin being escorted out of the rear hall by a group of maidens.

There were over fifty maidens, among them Adela and Patenuolusi.

The maidens varied in temperament—gentle, icy, gorgeous, pure—but shared the trait of beauty, a kind of beauty unforgettable at first glance.

Moreover, each maiden possessed at least an 18‑ring strong magical power.

Naturally the strongest was Adela, with 21 rings.

Upon seeing Adela, Luosen thought of contacting her secretly, but the idea vanished after a few seconds.

After returning to the Abyss, Adela remained in the palace.

Before the situation was clarified, she was already untrustworthy.

Soon, the Empress came to the highest seat of the hall.

In the hall, the roughly three thousand pairs of eyes shifted their focus to the Empress, and the hall's murmuring gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

Everyone retained the most basic respect.

Because the other party was not only the Empress but also a 23‑ring Eternal powerhouse.

After scanning the hall, Aigedelin spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my birthday celebration."

"As I said before, I am somewhat happy, but more so I feel heartache."

"All along I have maintained a benevolent and tolerant attitude, hoping to achieve the goal of rebuilding the empire through discussion and mutual compromise, but day after day, year after year, the empire reconstruction plan has made almost no progress."

Saying this, Aigedelin's elegant face gradually showed frost, and her tone grew indifferent.

The people in the hall gradually felt uneasy.

The Oktgin Baron was an extremely perceptive person.

Although he had been controlled by Luosen for over half a month, upon hearing this he immediately turned to find his daughter Patelixia: "Pani~ you and your mother hurry back to the Baron's manor!"

"Father?"

"Listen to me, don't talk back to me—today the situation is not right!"

"You must leave now, monitor the palace's situation from afar; if anything happens, immediately leave Yueliangcheng, go—go—ah~~"

The Baron suddenly sighed and could not speak.

The world is so vast, yet aside from Yueliangcheng he could think of nowhere else to go.

"The mortal realm? That's synonymous with hell—if my daughter goes there, she will surely never escape the fate of being drained of blood and eaten."

At that moment, the Empress's icy voice continued to come from the platform.

"We can't keep dragging this on—change must be made!"

"Perhaps the Eternal nobles present have already begun to mock me in their hearts, thinking Juliet will stop me as before and protect you as before, but I tell you, the situation has changed!"

"I have struggled for over one hundred fifty years, finally succeeding in penetrating Juliet's core depths and regaining control of the core!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall erupted in an uproar.

Luosen felt a stir in his heart: "I somewhat underestimated this Empress; though she is a flower in a greenhouse, she is not lacking the courage to face the cold wind."

At the same time, Luosen was also observing the guests' expressions in the hall.

He saw that the vast majority of faces showed deep shock and panic, but a very few individuals' countenances remained unchanged, like sculptures.

They seemed to have long anticipated that such a thing would happen.

Luosen immediately located those few people in the crowd.

There were only three of them in total.

Although the hall was surging with waves, these three were like reefs in the sea, remaining unmoving.

No, more precisely, one of them was the core, while the other two furtively followed his gaze and acted accordingly.

Luosen immediately began to search for the identity of the central figure.

"Prince Gelion, a 22‑ring peak powerhouse and Empress Aigedelin's paternal uncle." "No, that's wrong—it's not just 22 rings; the 22‑ring appearance seems merely his outward disguise!"

This prince had black hair, eyes like Aigedelin's but much deeper crystal‑blue, a very handsome face with sculptural three‑dimensional features, an extremely tall stature, and an overall demeanor of deep, steady gravity.

His bearing was the complete opposite of the panicking guests around him.

At a glance it seemed 22‑ring magic, but Luosen, through the True God's Eye transcending mortals, faintly sensed a force hidden within him far beyond mortal power.

Even, it also greatly surpassed him, Luosen, and even made him unable to perceive how strong he actually was.

At this moment, Luosen felt a profound, unfathomable sensation that only arises when facing the Abyss of Pain Goddess.

His heart gave a slight jolt: 'Could it be that this guy is the mastermind behind everything?'

Or perhaps he is a true god apostle pushed forward by the mastermind to draw fire?

Uncertain, but one thing is certain: this prince will definitely not remain silent.

Sure enough, amid the buzzing discussion, Prince Grillon spoke.

"I oppose!"

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears in the hall, conveying an indisputable will.

Everyone, including Empress Aigredlin, turned their heads in unison, looking at the Eternal Prince dressed in a pure black luxurious evening gown.

The prince raised his hand and flicked lightly, with an elegant motion pushing the wine glass in his hand aside, then adjusted his collar, stepped forward as if walking up stairs, and walked in midair to a height of several meters, ensuring everyone could clearly see his presence.

He slightly looked down upon the empress on the high platform.

"Aigredlin, my niece, I do not want it this way, but since you have made your words clear, I will no longer be vague."

Having said that, the prince turned his head to survey the crowd, speaking each word clearly:

"I, Grillon Lafrasalin, direct descendant of the Lafrasalin royal family, firmly oppose the plan to rebuild the mortal realm!"

Empress Aigredlin's face showed uncontainable anger: 'Reason, uncle?'

"My reason is simple: I do not want to rebuild the mortal realm, and I will not allow anyone else to do so."

"And I possess the power to stop anyone from doing that."

These words sound arrogant at first, but in fact they sidestepped the empress's topic.

Luosen felt a slight stir in his heart: 'This prince is probably just a true god apostle.'

At this moment, Prince Grillon spread his arms wide and shouted: 'Juliet, I command you to open the high-energy barrier and completely seal this celebration hall!'

The empress flew into a rage: 'Uncle, Juliet will not obey.'

"As you command, Exalted Lord Grillon."

The empress's words were interrupted by Juliet's reply.

With Juliet's words, the entire hall was instantly enveloped by a high-energy magical barrier of extremely high energy and exquisite precision.

At the moment the barrier formed, Luosen's connection with everyone inside the hall was forcibly severed.

In the final instant, he saw Empress Aigredlin's face full of astonishment, and also heard Prince Grillon's triumphant laughter.

Afterward, the entire palace became a completely unknown region, like a black hole devouring everything.

Luosen dared not delay; he immediately activated the Secret Passage technique and teleported away from Yueliangcheng.

The result: the teleportation actually failed!

Laifu immediately sent back feedback:

"Encountered an ultra-high-energy barrier; mana insufficient, difficult to activate the ghostly penetration."

Luosen secretly marveled: 'I carry so much solar essence and have greatly improved the Secret Passage technique, yet my mana is still insufficient—just how strong is this barrier?'

He felt somewhat unable to comprehend, but now was obviously not the time to think about these things.

Luosen unhesitatingly used the true god artifact given by the Abyss of Pain Goddess, the 'Polychromatic Prism,' placing the prism first to weaken the obstacle, then employed the Secret Passage technique.

"Hum~~"

Before his eyes went dark, then brightened; what came into view was no longer the crowds outside Yueliangcheng's palace, but a desolate wasteland.

It was an unnamed ruin at the center of the Poison Mist Forest.

He quickly sensed the power consumption, and was greatly shocked.

"I carried 12 kilograms of solar essence, and a single spell consumes 8 kilograms?"

If he encounters another similar high-energy barrier, he will have no means to break through.

But will the opponent come after him? The likelihood is very high, and the threat is also very great, far surpassing even the divine incarnation of the Abyss of Pain Goddess.

Because the opponent controls Yueliangcheng, they also control the high power of the Abyss of Pain! Luosen dared not linger even a moment; he immediately contacted the Abyss of Pain Goddess: 'Something major has happened, come save me now!'

The Abyss of Pain Goddess startled: 'What situation?'

Although she said that, by the time the last word reached Luosen's soul, her person had already been teleported to his side.

Luosen unhesitatingly condensed a large mass of pure source substance, fully occupying eighty percent of his source substance, and directly handed it over: 'Great one, catch!'

"What are you doing. Oh~~~ So that's how it is!"

The Abyss of Pain Goddess decisively took the source substance, then stepped forward, blocking in front of Luosen, facing the air ahead she said:

"Don't hide, come out."

(End of chapter)