RMGCFW — Chapter 127 - Meeting an Old Acquaintance Again

"...The life signs of the entire kingdom's most elite troops have completely disappeared?"

The king found the reality in front of him somewhat hard to accept.

Yet as the chief of the elven mages, Damir's words could not be mistaken.

Which meant that during that brief exchange just now, the Hero had already noticed something was off, and wiped out a military force capable of destroying a lesser kingdom.

Having practiced the Secret Control Art, the old king was not entirely ignorant about class-holders.

But someone capable of doing this was no mere Hero. This was a humanoid natural disaster.

It wasn't as though individuals who had broken past all limits and reached Level 100 had never appeared in human history. Yet even those beings could never have effortlessly crushed the most elite troops of the world's strongest kingdom.

Let alone in the span of mere seconds.

The only possibility was that the Hero had noticed something amiss and immediately activated some form of self-damaging magic to wipe out the kingdom's elites.

The old king convinced himself of this.

High-tier magic with immense destructive power but an equally outrageous price, the royal library had records of such things.

"Damir, summon every court mage and court guard to the grand hall," the old king said, his voice low and steady. "That man cannot be in good shape right now. Seize this opportunity and destroy him."

Damir bowed slightly. "Understood, Your Majesty."

Having grown up at the old king's side since childhood, Damir's thoughts ran exactly the same way.

There was no one in this world who could wipe out the kingdom's elites in a single instant and walk away unscathed.

The opponent had certainly cast a forbidden art, one that carried a monstrous price.

"Lord Spirits, I beseech you," Damir said quietly toward the empty air, voice filled with reverence.

Born with a natural gift for communing with nature spirits, Damir needed only faith and daily offerings; at a critical moment like this, that bond could be called upon to channel power far beyond ordinary magic.

And so it was. Bolstered by the spirits' power, every court mage and court guard across the kingdom heard His Majesty's command with perfect clarity.

That included the Dragon Legion, the kingdom's strongest field force, which came surging toward the grand hall in waves the moment the order reached them.

The spectacle drew confused looks from the citizens and nobles who had still been celebrating. They tilted their heads back, gazing up at the sky.

Then the cheering started. They assumed it was the king's own arrangement, a grand procession to make this millennium celebration even more magnificent.

...

BOOM!

The palace shook, and kept shaking.

"Hurry! Hurry! The intruder is right ahead!"

"Captain! We'll leave the intruder to you!"

"This is our chance to earn merit! We might even get noble status out of this!"

Spurred on by her soldiers, the blue-haired girl reached out with trembling hands and picked up the Frozen Divine Sword.

"Ah-haha... what kind of intruder has the nerve to come to the kingdom looking for death? The guards up ahead have probably already dealt with them. No need for us to go — let's just head home..."

"Captain! What are you saying?! This is our shot to prove we're not just freeloading! Don't throw away a chance like this!"

"Ah... I suppose that's true..." Mabel felt the floor heave beneath her feet. Under the expectant stares of her squad, she raised the Frozen Divine Sword with an expression that was two steps from tears and took another tiny step forward.

As for why she was serving as a court guard in the kingdom, that was a long story.

The short version: she had run out of money, and someone had suggested she try her luck at the royal capital and join the guard.

For a thousand years, no one had been bold enough to challenge the royal family. This high-paying job was, in every sense, the perfect lie-flat career.

No hard labor. No real danger.

And once she let it slip that she was a descendant of the Ice Clan, she was handed a squad captain position on the spot.

On normal days she didn't even have to show up for duty. She could stay home, take it easy, and enjoy life.

A thousand years of peaceful, cushy days, so why did everything go catastrophically wrong the moment I showed up?!

Mabel was on the verge of a breakdown.

No matter how she looked at it, whatever was happening ahead was absolutely terrifying.

But she had just recently taken in several female noble underlings who idolized her. Running away in front of them was simply not an option.

"Captain? Are you... scared?"

"Well, even the kingdom's most elite troops were wiped out by that thing. Even if the Captain is a descendant of the Ice Clan..."

"Wh — who said that!" Mabel's fighting spirit surged up. She hoisted the Frozen Divine Sword high and bellowed, puffing herself up, "I am a descendant of the Ice Clan! Even Xiaoyan is no match for me!"

"Captain!"

Under her underlings' worshipful gazes, Mabel took one more step forward. The tremors ahead were getting closer, and she regretted it instantly.

"..."

Not that she had ever actually seen Xiaoyan in her entire life.

And honestly, whatever was making this commotion, it was in a completely different league from Xiaoyan, wasn't it?!

"Captain? Why have you only moved two steps this whole time?"

"Don't tell me even you think you can't beat the intruder?"

"Nonsense!" Mabel pulled her foot back and turned to face the doubting underling. "The intruder managed to defeat the kingdom's elite troops, so yes, they might be difficult to handle.

"But... I never said I would lose."

"As expected of Lady Mabel! The legendary Ice Clan!"

The flattery did its work. Mabel's expression settled somewhat.

She hadn't even figured out how to stall for time when a voice drifted over from nearby.

"Yo, isn't that Mabel? What are you doing here?"

"Huh... Lord Banxia?"

The blue-haired girl glanced sideways at the young man who had appeared beside her at some point without her noticing.

"Who is he... do you know him, Captain?" her underlings murmured, puzzled.

He was clean and unruffled — suspiciously so, given the chaos. Was he trying to use the intruder attack as cover to steal something?

The thought crossed several minds at once, and they turned wary eyes on him.

"Oh, relax. He's a friend of mine." Mabel waved it off.

The commotion ahead had gone quiet. It looked like the guards had already dealt with the intruder.

She exhaled quietly, relieved.

She still had no idea why Banxia was here, but she straightened up and said with audible pride:

"Mr. Banxia, I'm a captain in the kingdom's court guard now, you know. Fifteen gold coins a month, and I don't have to do a single thing!"

"Is that so..."

Something in the Hero's expression shifted. Mabel couldn't quite name it, but she felt it.

"Anyway, Mr. Banxia, why are you inside the royal palace? If someone spots you it'll get ugly. While no one else is around, let me walk you out."

"I didn't want to come here either. But His Majesty invited me personally, not exactly something I could refuse."

Mabel and her underlings were still processing that when a guard came sprinting around the corner, blade drawn, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Trouble! The intruder has already made it this far!"

"Damn it! Where are the other guards?! Are they all dead?!"

"Intruder, this ends here!"

"Slash."

A massive pressure of displaced air swept past, just grazing the edge of the hallway.

Mabel turned her head, every limb trembling.

Everything in its path had been cut clean in two. The guard who had just been shouting was gone without a trace.

"Mabel. If you've made up your mind to be my enemy, then I suppose I'll have to go all out."

"Eeeehhh?!"

Mabel felt an uncomfortable dampness spreading below. She burst into tears on the spot and threw her arms around the young man's leg.

"Lord Hero! I don't know anything, I swear...!"

...

➤ Next: Hurry and Summon the Ultimate Weapon!