The other beauty released a sharp and deadly aura, like a flower with poison. Those who were in the know immediately recognised her as the deadliest assassin in the kingdom and a personal servant of Reinhardt.
The poison in the bodies of the two lying on the ground must have been her work.
"Looks like you already sorted everything here," Brutus spoke, stepping forward.
They were all experienced knights; as such, they didn’t need lengthy explanations as to who went down here. Of course, they could not guess that just moments ago, Reinhardt was with the Queen.
Nevertheless, with the two bodies lying on the ground, they could at least tell that he had caught the miscreants behind the incident that had befallen the capital.
"Isn’t that Earl Malmond?" Marquis Herman questioned, recognising one of the capital aristocrats and a member of the Council.
The knight did not ask anything more; just the sight of him next to the demon was enough for him to know everything. Reinhardt neither agreed nor denied their words, simply stating the facts.
"These two were indeed related to the incident that fell on the capital. However, the true mastermind... they got away."
He was not lying. Objectively speaking, even the Queen, or rather Minerva, was taken advantage of. The real mastermind was the Heavenly King who manipulated the King and everyone behind the scenes to forcefully awaken the fragment within the Queen.
Back in the Seal of Eternal Ice, the High Ranking Demon currently lying beneath his feet practically spilled everything. His acting to show himself getting caught completely off guard managed to lure these two out.
However, the lord of the High Ranking Demon, the Heavenly King, did not appear personally.
Reinhardt sighed like a hunter who failed to catch the wolf that snuck into his barn last night.
"I see..." The commanders were more or less aware of what actually transpired. They knew that the likes of a High Ranking Demon could not awaken the Ultimate Demonic Treasure. However, if it were a Heavenly King, then there was a possibility.
What’s more, given the fact that they managed to awaken the treasure, the demon had to be quite high up in the ladder.
"Is it the Seventh Heavenly King?" Vanessa questioned. As someone who had responded to the call of reinforcement back when the Temple of Light fell, she was present to see the Seventh Heavenly King. If it was the latter who was plotting against their kingdom, things could become quite ugly.
However, Reinhardt shook his head, denying the possibility.
"The Seventh Heavenly King, who was summoned in the Redrat fortress last time suffered considerable damage in the fight against me. Even if he recovered from the damage, he would not do things in such a roundabout way."
From his memories of the Seventh Heavenly King, he knew that the other party was not the type to do things in a sneaky way.
Of course, the other party was a demon and couldn’t be trusted. However, it needs to be said that the Heavenly Kings were all huge masses of ego. Every single one of them possessed immense personalities.
Given what he knew of the Seventh Heavenly King, it went against the ways the other party operated.
"If it’s not Seventh, then could it be the Eighth?" Conrad questioned.
Reinhardt nodded; there was a possibility. Eighth and Ninth Heavenly Kings liked to scheme and enter human societies a lot. It is likely that the master of this High Ranking Demon is one of them.
Eighth has yet to lay its claws on the Kingdom of Solaris, while the Ninth was already involved. The latter was, after all, the one who stole their Supreme Divine Treasure. The likelihood that this was the handiwork of the Ninth was much higher.
"Tsk... I doubt we will be able to extract any information from the demon. But it’s a good thing you captured this person too."
Brutus clicked his tongue and glanced at Earl Malmond with abhorrence. He had all rights to, after all; the man had thrown his lot with the likes of demons.
A while later, the royal guards who had assembled under the command of the Queen took them to the prison. As for the commanders, after they sealed the demonic treasure with their combined powers, they left the palace to maintain order back in the city.
The fact that they could not catch the true mastermind behind the incident left a bitter taste in all of their mouths. The Magic Knight Entrance Exam was postponed, and the Queen announced that the crown would make an announcement later on that day.
.
.
Not far away from the capital, in a shed in the middle of the woods, an old woman suddenly woke up from her slumber.
"Master... Master... can you hear me? Are you alright?"
At first, her eyes were still hazy as if she was still not out of the dream yet. However, once the voice of the Jester reached her, her mind became lucid again.
She swatted away the hand supporting her and clutched her head; traces of fear could be seen flashing within her eyes.
"How fearsome, to think she would be able to put me into sleep just by reversing the spell I cast on the King of Solaris..." The old woman shuddered. The thought of surviving a calamity washed over her.
She was fully aware that if the other party wanted to, she could easily erase her in that dream. Yet she didn’t. Was she warning me not to interfere with her? It was the only logical thought she could arrive at.
"How long was I asleep for?"
"An entire day."
The Jester answered. To think she could be trapped in a dream for an entire day without even realising it was a dream... how fearsome.
The old woman sighed, trying to calm herself.
Given the presence of the Jester and the old woman’s own ominous aura, it was pretty much clear what her identity was.