When A Mage Revolts

Meanwhile.

On the streets of Worchester, a figure enveloped in Holy Light was in flight, making a beeline for the wharf.

"Freeze! Surrender!"

A few mages were in tight pursuit not far behind that figure, led by none other than Joanna. Clusters of flames burst forth from the fiery wings on her back, like bullets from a machine-gun, aimed at the escaping figure of Holy Light.

However, the figure was travelling at a speed faster than that of the mages; he flashed to the sides rapidly and dodged all of Joanna’s attacks.

"Hmph... Do you really think I’d be afraid of you?" The figure in Holy Light turned his head and scornfully glanced at those few mages. However, taking another look at the unconscious little girl in his arms, he did not stop to retaliate. Instead, he increased the speed of his slight, continuing to fly in the direction of the wharf like a shooting star.

Thus, the distance between the mages and him slowly increased.

Seeing that, Joanna clenched her fists tightly, resentful.

"Damn it..."

In the blink of an eye, the pursuit had reached the wharf of Worchester. The wharf was connected to the endless ocean, where lines of soldiers were still busy inspecting the ships that were coming and going, yet to know what had happened. The gigantic Runic Defense Technique covered the border of the coastline. A mage was standing guard there, in charge of opening the way for personnel and ships that had passed inspection to come in and out.

When the figure enveloped in Holy Light rushed towards them, most of them were somewhat stunned. The guardian mage stood up from his seat, shouting harshly, "Who are you? Freeze!"

The mysterious figure did not answer. Instead, it went crashing towards the Runic Defense Technique in a straight line.

Seeing that, the guardian mage subconsciously casted his Flying Spell, ready to carry out his duty and stop this uninvited guest. Seeing this scene from a distance, Joanna hurriedly yelled, "Retreat quickly! You can’t stop him! That man’s the Pope!"

The clear, crisp voice rang into every ear; everyone was shocked.

The guardian mages immediately stopped in mid-action.

The figure in the Holy Light, which was Grant, had already dashed to the front of the barrier at that moment. He stretched out his hand as he flew in a straight line, suddenly scattering crosses over a large area. The crosses landed on the barrier and exploded violently, like a fat piece of meat being tossed into a boiling hot cauldron of oil. They emitted sizzling noises; subsequently, a forceful ripple of oscillation spread through that small area of the barrier.

Immediately after that, a small opening was blasted through the barrier. Grant darted out through the opening and disappeared into the vast ocean.

Joanna and the others chased after him, but they still finally stopped next to the Runic Defense Technique. They went through the opening that had already disappeared by then, and looked to the wide, empty ocean. After a long search, they shook their heads, revealing dissatisfied and unhappy expressions.

They had let him escape...

Silence fell upon the entire wharf. The soldiers looked at each other. All of a sudden, they were quite at a loss. The passersby who had been preparing to enter or leave were even more dazed; staring in the direction in which Grant had disappeared, they vaguely felt as though they had seen something by accident that they should not have seen.

"What? Her Highness the Princess has been taken away by him?"

It was right then that Benjamin’s voice suddenly rang out from above. Joanna and the others hurriedly lifted their heads; upon seeing that it was him, all of them revealed guilty expressions.

"He... Sorry, Director, we weren’t able to hold him down, and weren’t able to protect the Princess properly as well." They lowered their heads as Joanna said in a dejected tone.

Hearing that, Benjamin looked towards the wharf. Some traces of Elemental Change were still lingering in the air. However, tracking them further onwards, those traces had been completely scattered by the boundless amounts of water elements. He could not find them in the slightest bit.

He was also unable to track down the direction in which Grant had escaped.

Because of that, he withdrew his gaze and sighed. Turning his head, he spoke to those few mages. "Enough, you definitely can’t stop him if he wishes to strike. You can’t be blamed for this."

"But..."

"Don’t think too much about it, go back. I’ll think of a way to solve the issue about Her Highness the Princess," said Benjamin, patting Joanna’s shoulder. Although those few mages still felt disgruntled, they could only nod after listening to him, and left the wharf with Benjamin.

The wharf was back to its normal, peaceful state. However, as before, the people on the wharf had still not calmed down. The soldiers took a deep breath and did their best to restore peace by continuing the access and exit inspections, as the people who were coming and going engaged ceaselessly in whispered discussions. One could guess that, within barely a few days, news about the sight just now would spread throughout the entire country, into every interested ear.

If the Black Nightmare Army was not prepared to seal up the news.

In fact, Benjamin had immediately rejected Morris’ suggestion to ’seal up the news’ after he had returned to the city hall.

"But... if this news gets out, it’d definitely be bad for us," Morris continued to advise, however. "The people will doubt the power of the Black Nightmare Army, and doubt the protection of the Runic Defense Technique. All of these would be a huge blow to our improving prestige."

"We’re not the Church. If the news traveled out, would we be able to seal it up just because we wanted to?" Benjamin waved his hand, saying, "Don’t worry. I have other plans."

Saying thus, he turned around and entered his specially reserved office, leaving Morris in the great hall with a look of bewilderment on his face.

After five minutes, the sister and brother pair who were proficient in psychic abilities had been summoned to him.

"Mage sir, I’ve just heard that Her Highness the Princess has just been kidnapped by a member of the Church?" The young lady asked the moment she entered. The strange thing was that both the siblings’ faces were very calm and collected. There was some surprise, perhaps, but no signs of panic could be seen.

Benjamin hardened his face and nodded.

"Then... is it time for us to take action?" The young lad asked again.

Benjamin did not say anything. He still nodded.

Thus, the two siblings nodded with unspoken understanding. Without saying another word, they turned around and left the office.

That night, rumors abound in the Kingdom of Helius. Most of them were about the King’s funeral that had been held in the morning. However, the ’little episode’ that had happened in the evening by the wharf had also spread out quietly like a ripple on the surface of a lake, becoming a topic that people discussed in secret endlessly. The Princess had just appeared at the funeral in the morning, but in the evening of that same day... she had been kidnapped by the Pope? When they had first heard of it, practically no one wished to believe in such a dramatic plot. However, the vivid details of the story still forced them to give it some serious thought.

Everyone really wanted to know, where on earth was Her Highness the Princess now? Had she really been abducted by the Church?

Under ordinary circumstances, such rumors would have need a long period of time before they could be verified; for example, the cause of the King’s death had only been truly revealed to the world today after so long. However, rather surprisingly, the rumors this time were confirmed especially early.

The next morning, some people had seen a maidservant crying bitterly in front of the doors to the palace in Havenwright, as well as the Princess, hanging at the door. Dead.

According to the maidservant, the Princess had kept on crying after she had been rescued and brought back. She had been dispirited and downcast, unwilling to take in any food; there had been an endless mumbling of words such as "father king" from her mouth. She had taken care of the Princess deep into the night, and had coaxed her into sleep with much difficulty, before leaning against the wall and dozing off for a while herself. Subsequently, after she had woken up, the Princess on the bed had gone missing.

No one knew how the Princess had gone past the security guards and run to the doors of the palace; no one knew, as well, how this little girl, who had only been a few years old, had the idea of suicide. However... that was how the incident had happened.

The maidservant’s heart wrenching wails rang throughout the entire Inner City like the calls of a crow. The soldiers were mobilized in shock and haste, having awakened from their slumber in a startling manner. Through the early drizzle of the morning, the citizens of the entire Imperial Capital witnessed the following sight. The Princess hanging at the great doors of the palace like a pendulum; under the unkempt, but still beautiful, golden hair, was her stretched out tongue.