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Chapter 100: The Siege of the Phoenix

“Master! Are you okay?”

A fragrant breeze swept in as a golden Little Dragon Daughter crashed into Vilyric’s arms with enough force to take out a legendary strongman. Her agile tail coiled around the waist of the Black-haired Girl, twisting pitifully as if expressing her owner’s worry and affection.

“……”

It was clear she was genuinely concerned.

Vilyric had intended to lecture this silly pet for carelessly using dragon breath in a chaotic situation, but upon seeing Xiao Guang like this, the words of reproach simply wouldn’t come out.

In the end, Vilyric only gently patted the head of the Little Dragon Daughter, who was a bit taller than her.

“It’s fine, don’t you know your master’s skills? How could this bunch of puny soldiers possibly harm me? What exactly happened outside?”

“Um… um…”

Buried in the Priestess’s not-so-soft chest, the Giant Dragon Daughter mumbled an explanation.

“I’m not really sure. It felt like a ton of black-armored human soldiers suddenly rushed out of the house, and their actions were a bit strange, almost like they were moving in an organized mass towards certain locations. Then all of a sudden, fighting broke out.”

“I see…”

Vilyric frowned.

Something was amiss.

The black-armored soldiers of the Kingdom should be the city guards of the City of Courage. Although they number in the tens of thousands, Liliya had mentioned before that their strength was constrained by multiple factions, making it impossible for them to fight together cohesively.

Just using part of the city guards wouldn’t cause such a city-wide chaos, especially not in areas abundant with strong fighters… so there must be other forces involved.

And also… the military coup just happened to occur in the dead of night, right around the time she was exploring the vampire mansion. What a remarkable coincidence!

The sense of having hands manipulating a chessboard only intensified.

Vilyric floated in the night sky, casting her gaze upon the heavily attacked central district.

To be fair, the curfew had played some role; at least those black-armored troops of the city guards weren’t actively targeting the innocent civilians hiding at home. Most conflicts were happening between military forces, or between knight orders and adventurers.

The palaces housing the princes and princesses had also sustained varying degrees of damage, with Liliya’s Phoenix Palace being the hardest hit. The flashes of magic and abilities burst forth, visible even from such a distance to Vilyric.

It seemed the residence of the Third Prince Patrick remained unscathed.

Did this guy orchestrate it?

No, that was too obvious—he might as well have written “I am the Culprit” on his face…

While the orchestrator of a military coup is usually left with little option for concealment, something still felt off.

Is it a case of using someone else’s blade? Or perhaps…

In the palaces of several princes and princesses, the Second Prince Ban’s Mingde Palace was even ablaze.

But that guy should be locked up in the dungeons. What’s the point of burning an empty palace?

“……”

“Xiao Guang, let’s go.”

Saying this, Vilyric pinched the face of her little pet clinging to her, gently pushed her away, and turned away from the royal palace, rapidly flying towards another area where fierce battles raged on.

“Ah? Oh! By the way, aren’t you going to rescue Liliya, Master?”

The Little Dragon Daughter quickly caught up from behind, wearing a look as if she hadn’t had enough fun, spreading her platinum-colored dragon wings to maintain a relatively stationary position alongside the Priestess.

“Hmm, it’s not necessary.”

Vilyric didn’t take the time to slowly explain to her pet, as she sped through the air.

Time was indeed quite pressing.

If that sudden suspicion just now was correct…

As for Liliya, the Priestess didn’t believe she would simply be defeated. It would be plenty timely to check on that after confirming her suspicions.

“Let’s head to the dungeons.”

…

Phoenix Palace.

“Your Highness! Urgent intelligence! The southern barracks, the palace, the dungeons, the Adventurers’ Guild, and various locations in the central district have all been attacked simultaneously. Many high-ranking nobles, including Duke Angus, have also been hit by unidentified assailants, and fierce battles are erupting everywhere!”

The shadow guard Emily, still gripping a short blade, rushed in from afar, reporting to the princess standing near the bedroom door, sword in hand, with numerous strong fighters gathered around.

“Do we know who it is yet?”

Liliya nodded, her expression neutral, neither happy nor sad, showing no apparent surprise, as if she had long expected this situation.

“It’s several city guard regiments controlled by the Third Prince Patrick. However, there seem to be many unidentified experts mixed in, likely illegal forces that took advantage of the chaos to infiltrate or recruit from both inside and outside the kingdom.”

“Mm.”

Casting a glance at the panting Emily, the princess turned her head, sensing that many strong fighters were rushing in from deeper within the Phoenix Palace.

Among them were legendary fighters like Hua, Edwina, and Nickles, the core combat powers. The princess knew they probably sensed something was off in their dreams and had scrambled to mobilize.

It was indeed already past one in the dead of night; aside from her, who was still busy with state affairs, most others had likely long fallen asleep.

At this moment, Liliya was still wearing the outfit she had on during the day’s grand ceremony.

However, this was also why the princess could immediately react to the warning signs sent from the knight orders outside and preemptively coordinate a response.

The Third Prince was absolutely not the mastermind.

Liliya knew Patrick controlled about a third of the city guards, but after the supplies cleverly burned by Plakaka, the Third Prince shouldn’t have had the capability to quickly assemble a new and powerful army.

Relying solely on a third of the city guards, attempting a coup was nothing short of a joke; they wouldn’t even get past the Imperial Guards.

“What about the other city guards? Why haven’t they started moving yet?”

Liliya herself commanded about a third of the city guards, and notably the most elite portion. Normally, under circumstances like these, they should have been the first to react.

“Your Highness, General Barlow from the southern district has sent word. It seems someone poisoned the army’s water supply. Currently, the entire city guard, except for the rebels, has practically been immobilized. General Barlow is gathering medics to address the situation, but it seems it will take some time before they can mobilize.”

“Is that the game you’re playing…? Fine.”

The princess waved her hand, signaling Emily to step back for the moment.

At that time, several of the strongest fighters also arrived where Liliya was.

“Are you alright, Liliya!”

In the lead was the Fiery Blossom, dressed in the 【Rose’s Veil】, holding a short bow, followed closely by Miss Edwina, clad in shiny new holy knight armor, brandishing a holy sword in one hand and a crucifix shield in the other, along with the swift-flowing man who was perpetually armed with only a long sword and dressed in simple clothes.

Plakaka should have arrived too, but in the rush, Liliya hadn’t had time to equip the magic item that sensed Plakaka’s location, so she couldn’t pinpoint where the little rat was right now.

“Yeah, most of the enemies are still outside, held back by the knight order. The few that have rushed in have already been dispatched. I’ve been prepared for this situation.”

Pointing to the various bodies in differing attire at her feet, Liliya calmly wiped the blood off her long sword and temporarily sheathed it.

These were all enemies she or her shadow guards had personally slain, who intended to sneak in for a beheading but got discovered early thanks to Liliya’s winds and magic.

In terms of experiences with assassination, the princess had plenty. Except for one particularly unreasonable priest, typical legendary threats would have a tough time making a successful hit.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s go. The royal capital is in chaos; this is probably… a premeditated rebellion.”