Chapter 674: Chapter 315 (Late, refresh after 4 AM or watch in the morning)
Weaving through the corridors and columns of the palace, beyond the garden courtyard, under the moonlight, the sight was all palace guards at each position, unconscious on the ground without exception.
The further he ventured towards the main palace cluster, the more alarmed Leon became. If the Athiasians possessed such astonishing tactics that they could incapacitate the entire palace military in one night, why bother to risk disguising identities and smuggling arms into the city for a grandiose assassination plot?
Strangely enough, along the way, there was no other conscious person besides himself; the patrolling Royal Knights and Palace Guards were without exception snoring away. Why was he the only one still awake?
Was it because he was a spellcaster? But even the more powerful and magically adept Kovis fell for it?
Yet, even with his mind full of questions, the urgent situation before him didn’t allow him the luxury of stopping to ponder slowly.
At least, upon reaching the core area of the palace, all he saw were the unconscious, with no sight of intruders or the dead. This led Leon to speculate that there couldn’t be many enemies, not nearly as numerous as the thousand-strong uprising of not long ago.
He found himself praying that the garrison outside the inner city could quickly detect the anomaly within the palace.
But Leon also knew, before dawn came, it was a vain hope.
Finally, he arrived at the passage leading to the main and rear palace areas as he remembered, not pausing for a moment, hesitated only briefly, then continued rushing towards the royal inner court where Princess Ines might reside.
In terms of the personal value of his rescue target, the safety of King Lydwen III was undoubtedly more significant.
But for Leon, ensuring the life of his friend and companion was always his utmost priority.
Recalling how shortly before he had confidently promised to protect her fully, he grew even more anxious, hoping that any enemies that might exist had the royal male members, more valuable, as their primary target, rather than the non-inheriting Princess Ines.
Rushing into the dark inner palace, cautiously stepping over the guards and maids laying on the ground, Leon began searching one high-class palace room after another.
It wasn’t until he reached a deep internal corridor that he spotted an extravagantly luxurious room door.
The tightly closed gate was unexpectedly sturdy; Leon used his shoulder’s strength but only managed a ‘boom,’ slightly vibrating the door panel.
He then reached for the door lock, channeling magic power into the lock core, but it seemed to trigger some security device. As the mage’s magic power was trying to unlock it, he only heard a ‘dong’ from the inner bolt automatically locking.
With no choice, Leon raised his hand, a burst of arcs crackling and sparking, summoned Garner, activating the molten flame sword demon blade at the wand’s tip, and inserted the flame blade into the joint of the door frame and hinges to melt and cut through.
Burning through the entire door, he dispersed the magic to save energy, and instantly kicked out forcefully—
The room’s grand door was kicked down completely.
Leon dashed into this high-standard royal bedchamber, his gaze instantly locking onto the figure on the canopied bed.
Rushing to the bed, he swiftly pulled off the quilt.
Yet, in the dim light, the figure made Leon momentarily pause.
The person in the bed was Agatha, the princess guard, in her nightwear, deeply asleep.
Seeing that it was neither Ines nor another royal lady, Leon was taken aback.
Did Lady Agatha enjoy such a privilege? To have such a luxurious room in the inner court?
Before he could think further, he abruptly heard a slight creak of a cabinet door behind him, followed by a light footstep, an icy presence targeting the back of his neck suddenly attacked!
Leon swiftly pivoted aside, dodging, instantly grabbing the slender arm that thrust a magic patterned light sword.
In the dark, the small figure captured by the right arm turned the wrist to align the sword horizontally, releasing the hilt with the right hand, gripping the sword with the left, and the shimmering cold blade pointed again at Leon’s face.
The technique was agile, decisions clever and calm, the sword path perilous…but alas, the untrained physical strength was insufficient to bring out a tenth of the swordsmanship’s power.
Yet Leon also recognized instantly the identity of the ambusher attempting a backstab.
Twisting his head to evade the sharp blade close at hand, with no time to speak, fearing he might hurt the young girl with too large a movement, Leon immediately released her right arm, ducked and scooped, his right arm holding the magic gun wrapping around Ines’ waist to lift her, maneuvering to restrain the girl’s left wrist from behind.
Feeling the girl in his arms tense up, struggling fiercely at once, Leon hastily spoke up urgently:
“Don’t be afraid, it’s me! Your Highness, I’m Leon!”
Hearing the familiar voice, Ines, chilled all over, paused her actions, almost holding her breath.
“L… Leon?” The girl’s quickened breath lightly called, her voice still fraught with tension, containing a slight tremor.
In that solid and broad embrace, lifting her eyes to look back, Ines’s bright eyes stared dazed at that face.
Once through the dimness, confirming it was indeed her familiar appearance, Ines’s tense and fair face relaxed as if granted amnesty.
“Sorry, I thought it was an intruding assassin, did I hurt you?”
The girl softly apologized with a tone of relief, but immediately, feeling the warmth of the body just separated by sleep’s veil and his shirt, her cheeks grew slightly warm in the dim room.
Seeing Princess Ines appearing safe and sound, a great weight lifted from Leon’s mind: “Glad you didn’t encounter danger, something major happened, everyone nearby fell into a slumber, likely some Athiasian remnants sneaked into the palace causing trouble!”