Chapter 107

On the servants' trays were severed heads, eyes still wide open in death.

These were fish that swam willingly onto the hook, a warning to the envoys.

"As a native of this land, I have come as invited. But I regret that, given the current situation, I cannot personally attend at this hour when rest is due."

When Verna spoke, her calm voice echoed through the hall.

This goodwill, this courtesy, eased the atmosphere somewhat.

She came at invitation to negotiate. Since the city lord is conducting talks by diplomatic protocol, at least there will be no fighting now.

Verna Tarabal, her beautiful face devoid of any smile, her long white hair glimmering with golden light in the night.

Standing there, she naturally became the focus of every gaze.

She was not only the young city lord; the golden pendant on her chest, shaped like a holy symbol, marked her as a High Priestess.

A noble lady of high status, yet her attire beneath the opened cloak was strikingly revealing.

Beneath the cloak, only a thin, translucent gauze covered her body; her sensitive curves were bound by golden chains—visually, she resembled a bar dancer.

Yet none among the sane and rational would underestimate her because of it.

Her cold, exquisite face and seductive curves, paired with the icy expression beneath her priestly crown, created an eerie sense of holiness.

At this moment, facing her golden-tinged crimson eyes, Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei wore a serious expression.

"Self-sealing? Divine attendant? Divine Maiden?" Beneath those peculiar chains, the magical girl sensed the scent of divine power.

"Yes, my Lord is also my mother." Verna Tarabal, one of the many seeds sown by the Silver Vial Maiden upon the Mortal world, was also this realm's so-called legend.

Her declaration of power had a clear purpose: now, can we speak as equals?

Throughout, her gaze never left Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei.

In this world of the extraordinary, supreme power can ignore mortal authority.

Only a being of sufficient strength could command the serious attention of this mature magical girl.

"Ha, I have always held great respect for Lady Silver Vial." Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei smiled in reply.

It seemed they could now enter formal negotiations.

But at this moment, an incident occurred.

Among the mercenary group, a middle-aged mercenary could not—or would not—control his eyes.

He stared fixedly at the scantily clad Divine Maiden, his gaze locked on her most sensitive areas.

The foreign dark elves paid no heed; in their culture, men were inferior beings, even property of the family—but such an offense—

"Aaaahhhhh!" The mercenary suddenly rolled on the ground in agony.

A malicious curse spread over him; large patches of flesh and muscle were directly eroded by shadows.

"Control your dog." The Divine Maiden's crimson eyes remained seemingly calm, yet her words carried a hint of irritation.

"My apologies. But he's not mine—he's more like a stray dog." Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei refused to take blame, then casually shoved Shaliman forward to shoulder it.

"This is my niece, and the envoy for this mission." Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei was merely a "mediator and proxy," ensuring the envoy delegation could connect with the local city lord.

The female countess of the city blinked in surprise—she was almost taken aback. Dark elves followed a blunt hierarchy of strength; was this girl truly too weak?

Not only in power, but as the chief envoy, she had not spoken a single word.

Verna studied Shaliman for several seconds, then gave a mocking smile.

"Hmph." Then she turned away, continuing to speak to Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei.

"Up in the city, have you run out of people?" Such an insulting remark was spoken outright!

What she said, though rude, was not untrue.

As an envoy, Shaliman was truly unqualified; even as a noble, her demeanor was little more than ornamental.

Yet the Princess had so few trusted nobles in Radiant City; considering her unique abilities, sending her as a diplomatic envoy was understandable, even if reluctantly.

Or perhaps, in the Princess's view, at this critical moment, loyalty mattered more than ability—and Violet Miss Zi Qiangwei's presence could prevent the worst outcome.

But right now, Shaliman wasn't just unqualified—she was embarrassing.

Her condition was terrible, her expression dazed; clearly unfit as an envoy. From the moment she failed to step forward, she had already failed.

The truth was one thing; for Verna to say it so bluntly was outright humiliation.

Shaliman was furious, but dared not retaliate.

This remark was hard to answer: stand firm, and risk ruining the fragile dialogue; yield, and invite further contempt in the coming negotiations.

Sometimes, humiliating the weaker or more desperate envoy to destabilize them and gain negotiation advantage was a recognized tactic.

"Pfft." At this moment, Li En covered his mouth and laughed out loud.

Then he received a death glare from Shaliman.

"Sorry, sorry. Not intentional—I just thought of something funny."

Then he received an even fiercer glare.

But this interruption instantly lightened the tension.

Yet Li En, because of it, now drew attention.

"Huh? In this age, there are still completely free Classical Oath Knights? Your oath is heavy. Extremely heavy. You chose an extraordinarily difficult path." The female city lord's crimson eyes faintly burned with divine flame, yet now held a trace of respect.

Devout priests often respected another devout soul, provided their faiths did not conflict.

A free Classical Knight bound only by oath, with no deity to serve, still held the potential to serve any god—and could ascend swiftly.

A Classical Holy Knight who followed the path of asceticism might not be powerful, but his religious prestige was unquestionable.

"If you wish to serve my Lord, I can make you my granted knight." Verna, thinking of her mother, saw a prize: a neutral deity could certainly recruit a free Oath Knight like Li En.

A devout Classical Oath Knight, with his immense vow-power—perhaps this was a man destined to become legend.

The "gaze" of a deity, a divine child, and a mortal differs; they perceive a person's essence and soul more clearly, especially their "great vow" and "faith."

Before Li En could refuse, Shaliman stepped directly in front of him.

"No need. I thank you on behalf of my fiancé for your offer, but we have already agreed upon our future."

What? When was that scheduled? I didn't know.

Li En scratched the back of his head, somewhat dazed, then was glared at again.

Oh, you mean the future of breaking the engagement? No need to blink; I understand, I understand, I won't misunderstand (Miss Shaliman: You understand nothing.).

"Fiancé?"

At this moment, Verna sized up Miss Shaliman from head to toe, then merely smiled and shook her head, saying nothing.

But this near-silent humiliation was probably even more excessive than a direct rebuke to her face.

Miss Shaliman could no longer hold back; she was just about to speak when Li En grabbed her hand.

Li En smiled and shook his head; as the diplomat and the weaker party, he could not follow the other's lead.

Seeing Li En's smile, Miss Shaliman calmed down. She took a deep breath, and her twin pupils returned to their cool clarity.

"A fortunate little girl; I hope you can bear the price of this fate's gift in the future." Verna, too, was tired of beating around the bush.

"My time is limited. You, what do you want?" She asked directly why the other had come.

"As the special envoy of Her Highness Princess Dai Niya of the Kingdom, I—" This time, Miss Shaliman was not led by the nose.

Her words stopped halfway; she looked left and right, implying that the current location was not suitable for conversation.

With the topic entering the main point, the two went upstairs under the escort of guards.

Li En pondered for a moment; he seemed to have no reason to follow. Seeing Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei go up, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Continue playing cards. Kuku, this time I must win!"

To be honest, playing cards with "oneself" was a subtle feeling; both sides would be quite similar in many ways of thinking.

But not winning a single hand was somewhat depressing. Li En always felt Kuku was cheating, but he had no evidence.

Yet Kuku, who seemed to be cheating constantly, apparently could not defeat Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei either. Did playing cards itself also test the ability of a spellcaster?

And Li En's actions indeed eased the atmosphere.

Although the Countess's attendants still stood silently here, at least they were not staring at the opposite side.

As for that mercenary on the ground who was almost out of breath, apparently no one cared.

The secret talk upstairs did not last long; half an hour later, Verna went downstairs first.

Her cold eyes carried a hint of a smile, as if she had obtained something quite good.

After coming down, she left directly and took those heads with her.

About five minutes later, Miss Shaliman and Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei came down.

The face of the "Temporary Ambassador of Radiant City" looked quite bad; it seemed the talk had not gone well.

"Fortunately, we reached an agreement with her and established a private non-aggression pact." She took a deep breath, showed a smile, and said this.

The crowd in the hall cheered, trying hard to listen seriously.

But in the internal small meeting that immediately followed, she asked in a hurry.

"Is there any way to contact Radiant City directly?" It seemed there was some intelligence that needed to be transmitted back as soon as possible.

This scene undoubtedly gave everyone bad associations, but now Miss Shaliman was too urgent to consider these things.

But everyone else shook their heads in denial. Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei could take people back, but coming back after leaving was unlikely.

Miss Shaliman was obviously very anxious, but there were some things she dared not say.

Li En originally thought this matter had nothing to do with him, but he did not expect Kuku to speak up suddenly at this moment.

"You have it! Li En, you have it."

"I... you mean..."

Li En subconsciously took out the Hero Soul Atlas; the Hero Soul card belonging to Kuku on it was flashing and glowing.

"Hmm. Dream Training Mode! Almost there, almost there." Kuku's time was less than a week; indeed, the final Hero Soul Hall Mode could be activated.

Contacting for intelligence through dreams seemed to actually be possible.

The straight-line distance between this city and Radiant City was indeed not far; could it really cover that far?

【Can activate large-scale search mode. Activate?】 It seemed it really could be done.

(End of this chapter)