Chapter 223: Late

"Li En, didn't sleep well yesterday?"

Someone not only got up very late but even missed morning practice, which is quite rare.

Especially when he sat at the dining table, he was actually listless, as if he hadn't slept at all yesterday.

"Slept too well, too well."

Li En rubbed his head; he felt a bit of a headache.

He truly didn't expect to be forcibly dragged into Lex's memories and force-fed all night, yet when checked in the morning, the Hero Soul Card's progress was still stuck at 49.9%, with everything counted as invalid memory.

Li En was speechless; was this soul and memory overflowing? Yet it still refused to admit it?

Looks like you had a very nice time last night; what happened later to make you shut yourself up like this?

"Uh, another problem has emerged: the Queen's attitude."

The look in one's eyes when wanting to knife someone cannot be hidden; stepping into Lex's perspective, Li En confirmed Lex truly had no interest in the First Princess. To be precise, if listing the three people in the Royal City most wanted to be beaten up, the former Princess, now the Queen, would definitely be among them.

And reality isn't a romance novel; the occurrence rate of lovers turning into enemies is truly too small.

Their compatibility was truly low; without a doubt, what Marianna hated most was Lex, thinking him rude, immoral, playboyish, and disrespectful of knowledge.

Actually, Lex wasn't a magnanimous person either; if not for Rosalind, he would have sooner or later retaliated against that First Princess who looked down on people through her nose.

"Headache... thanks."

Seeing Li En uncomfortable, the apprentice mechanical maid Liana came over to rub Li En's head, though with that hand strength, an ordinary person probably couldn't withstand it.

But Li En knew this was already the result of her recent hard training.

Yesterday, the wall didn't break, the plates didn't break, the bedboard didn't break... she had worked hard enough.

And now, perhaps a "massage" of head-cracking degree was also needed to restore himself.

Last night's dream wasn't complete memory; some parts were blurry, some flashed by, but those key points were quite clear.

"Uh, I feel I'm not pure anymore..."

In various aspects, Lex was quite good at playing, and oddly enough, at this time he was particularly excited, his memory particularly clear, with various methods opening Li En's eyes.

Those memories from battles were rather blurry, as if winning with a casual swing of the sword... well, he truly could win just by casually swinging his sword all the way.

That was a personality and combat mindset completely different from his own.

He tried to collect all his trump cards as much as possible, then adjusted based on actual combat situations; the more cards, the more accumulation, naturally the stronger.

But Lex never cared how many cards he had; as long as he sat at the table...

"He completely never considered the possibility of losing! Where does this unreasonable confidence come from?!"

Always filled with confidence, always rationally and actively seeking victory opportunities, one hundred percent in attack and movement... that was a true perfect combat beast, a monster capturing combat opportunities at two hundred percent.

Over one hundred percent? Every move, every action of his actively created opportunities; he seemed to instinctively step on the opponent's pain points, and if there weren't any, he forcibly created them.

This was a monster that could easily exert ten times the combat power with just one unit of effort.

Just being a swordsman himself, Li En knew how terrifying this talent was; let alone himself, even Lana, whom he previously thought was a sword genius, was completely incomparable to Lex.

"It's like on paper it doesn't seem strong, but once a real duel happens, you can feel uncomfortable in every aspect, as if completely suppressed, with a definite feeling of defeat from the very start of the exchange... is this 'single-mindedness'?"

Li En had only experienced that instant feeling, as if the entire world disappeared, leaving only himself, his sword, and the opponent.

Looking at the Hero Soul Card, his mood grew more complex; this guy was truly strong to the point of exploding. Li En no longer doubted whether he was stronger than other Hero Souls.

That unprecedented combat feeling, even if not powerful enough for the moment, would sooner or later reach the continent's peak as time passed.

Let's state a quite absurd reality: Lex went from an ordinary person to becoming a professional in only three hours; he just picked up a sword, swung it a bit, and became one.

And from a First-Rank Warrior to just becoming a Seventh-Rank Hero took him less than two years, with most of the time spent playing around; the actual time spent diligently cultivating might have been less than three months.

When he practiced swordsmanship, there was only the sword in heaven and earth.

When facing enemies, he could clearly feel even the enemy's breathing, heartbeat, and pulse. How could such a monster end up in such a miserable fate?

"Even mages posed little threat to him... he could always see the opponent's spellcasting in advance and respond specifically. Setting aside character, as a warrior, he was indeed at the very top, plus equipped with the Hero's set, which could significantly increase his power in desperate situations."

Li En had no doubt he would actively create desperate situations in battle to gain a one-hit kill turnaround opportunity.

Li En shook his head; he couldn't imagine a situation where this man was beaten to pieces head-on; even encountering an opponent he couldn't defeat, he would turn and retreat without hesitation.

Completely different from legends, he had not a shred of loyalty to the royal family, not even a bit of respect.

"When will Your Majesty arrive?"

"Probably around noon."

Li En glanced at the Hero Soul Card again: "Is it meaningful to resist being awakened until death? 'Princess' is arriving soon, and another awakening condition is also met."

And the progress bar stuck at the level won't be wasted; as mentioned before, it will "convert" into the Hero Soul's mission completion degree after awakening the Hero Soul Card, meaning directly converting into satisfaction and synchronization rate.

So, not only is the reward calculated in advance, but when Li En is possessed by the Hero Soul, will he also be stronger?

"Are we going later? We should be able to get closer." Miss Shaliman actually didn't really want to go, but some things couldn't be helped.

"Go." Li En had reasons he absolutely must go.

"... To survive, we must go."

Previously it was just speculation, but the "Princess in the Tower" in last night's dream matched up with the "Poetry" encountered just now at the Whisperer Museum.

That basically confirmed it was a trap targeting him; at the same time, it should also be someone who knew about the incident back then, and might even know his identity.

Who is most likely? Li En seemed to not need to say more.

Since being targeted, wanting to survive, one couldn't rely on the opponent's mercy, right? In the dream scene, that existence suspected to be the Owl's avatar looked like a "madwoman" who had completely fallen into the abyss.

"The change is too great... that cute little Rosalind, and that madwoman in the dream."

After breakfast, Li En still went down to practice the sword a bit.

On one hand to pass the time, on the other, he felt today was unlikely to pass peacefully, so he'd warm up first.

Calculating the time, it was about right, so Li En arrived at the city gate to wait. Luck was good; the direction this caravan should enter was the South Gate area, not too far.

From afar, Li En also saw the Princess leading the Knight Order, forming ranks to prepare for the welcome.

The City Lord and the Archmages were also there; the presence of so many strong ones made Li En feel slightly more at ease.

But even until afternoon, there was still no sign of the caravan.

"What's going on?"

"It seems something happened en route? But don't worry, the caravan will arrive a little late."

It appears the caravan was attacked, arriving later than expected—it should have reached last night at midnight, then entered the city with the morning light.

Some people dispersed; others continued waiting. Li En could only blend into the crowd and wait patiently.

Finally, by late afternoon, around three or four o'clock, those who were supposed to come arrived.

The foremost royal carriage slowly entered, the white lion banner fluttering in midair, signaling that Your Majesty had finally arrived.

Facing the crowd of welcomeers, she opened the window and smiled, waving.

"She's thinner—she doesn't seem to be doing well." Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling swept through Li En's heart.

But even at this moment, the Spirit Soul Card still did not meet the activation condition.

That meant the worst possible development—the reality Li En had vaguely sensed yesterday.

"The princess in the activation condition… is indeed Rosalind."

Li En had thought this would inevitably be delayed, but he was willing to wait—was there anyone else willing to wait? The shadow in the darkness had nearly gone mad waiting for this moment!

(End of Chapter)