"——Is it possible that she intended to, as a warrior, seize the Strange Fire? She altered and adjusted the Magic Guild’s secret techniques to obtain the Strange Fire as a Crimson Knight?"
Andrew stared at Catherine in front of the throne.
Her surroundings had sohow beco blurry without notice.
A semi-transparent fla, hovering between visible and invisible, quietly appeared around Catherine, exuding an "extrely sharp" aura.
The fla gradually condensed into a vague figure, a woman.
From Andrew’s vantage point, he could clearly sense that the fla’s aura was sharp and dangerous.
Yet the woman’s image from the fla gave off a sense of infinite tenderness.
A strong feeling of closeness surged from the deepest part of Andrew’s heart.
"——So it really is the ’Formless Blade Fire’!" Andrew’s heart trembled, "One of the Eight Strange Fires, the Formless Blade Fire!"
At the sa ti, Barbara exclaid from the side, "Big sister!!"
The Formless Blade Fire erged from Catherine and condensed into the imnsely gentle vague figure, which was the likeness of the deceased eldest lady of the Warm Fire Comrce Association in her lifeti!
Catherine smiled slightly, raised her hand and grasped, shattering the image of the Comrce Association’s eldest lady, transforming back into vast Formless Blade Fire gathering in her palm, no longer the image or smile of the eldest lady, instead forming a semi-transparent, indistinct long spear.
A Strange Fire Battle Spear that in theory, the Crimson Knight shouldn’t possess at all...
"..." Barbara bit her teeth hard, remaining silent.
Catherine’s gesture was equivalent to admitting her guilt for murdering her own elder sister and Havier’s parents.
Upon confirming this fact, Barbara felt waves of blackness before her eyes, and if Andrew hadn’t kept sending gentle Water Power through "Water and Fire United," she might have fainted already.
Yet tears couldn’t help but gush out uncontrollably, and Barbara felt as if her heart was about to be torn apart: "My favorite eldest sister turned out to be killed by my equally beloved second sister! Eldest sister didn’t die accidentally but was murdered by second sister!!"
"Sorry, Barbara." Yi Lian’s voice ca through, "Sorry for hiding this from you for so many years. And truly sorry for letting you face such a fact without any ntal preparation."
Barbara stiffly turned her head, looking at her mother.
Yi Lian’s eyes now held no resentnt or dislike towards Barbara like they did over the years, only affection and guilt: "Your father and I had no choice. Back then, when we discovered that your sister and brother-in-law’s deaths were not accidental but caused by Catherine secretly tampering with your brother-in-law’s magic scroll, leading to the ’accident,’ our hearts were about to break, just like yours now.
But we couldn’t act impulsively, because we found that behind Catherine were the three Earth Fire Scholars of the Magic Guild, and your father had not yet fully mastered the ’Warm Fire Order.’ Later, we discovered Catherine had actually killed the king and turned him into a corpse puppet, and we couldn’t take action, so we pretended not to know anything."
Barbara asked hoarsely, "So the bad relationship between you and father was all an act? The complaints you’ve had towards all these years were fake?"
The Comrce Association’s eldest lady was murdered while helping Barbara detour to Qi Lan City to buy pastries, which Barbara always believed to be the reason for her mother’s constant resentnt.
But Yi Lian shook her head: "How could I bla you?"
If Barbara had heard this yesterday, she would have been overjoyed.
But at this mont, she instead wished she had never heard her mother say this, wishing her mother would continue resenting her.
Now Barbara really wished she could exchange her mother’s lifelong hatred for her second sister—the second sister before the throne, both familiar and estranged.
"These years, your mother’s grief is real, but the resentnt and hatred towards you are entirely fake." Beiru, the Guild Master, spoke this ti, "After your elder sister was hard, Catherine seized her Formless Blade Fire, and Barbara, you are also an owner of the Eight Strange Fires."
Yi Lian interjected: "We were worried Catherine would strike you after killing your sister. By pretending to treat you badly, we could protect you. The worse I treated you, the safer you were."
Andrew had been holding Barbara’s hand, listening quietly beside her, and upon hearing this, he was slightly stunned: "Why is this? Does Yi Lian’s words an that if she treats Barbara badly enough, Catherine wouldn’t harm Barbara? What’s the reasoning here?"
Barbara also asked, "Why am I safer if treated badly?"
"Because..." Beiru, the guild master, hesitated and shook his head, "Well, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you lived safely and healthily and even brought back the Water God’s heir to the Comrce Association." Looking at Andrew as he spoke.
At this point, Andrew finally fully understood: "Beiru and his wife had known my identity for so ti. At least Beiru had known for a long while. When I worked on various collaborations in Warm Fire City, the Guild Master granted unrestricted access because he already knew my identity."
Beiru looked over: "Regarding the ’Dragon Awakening Potion,’ I acted rashly, very sorry."
Andrew replied with a slight bow, "You are too kind, Guild Master."
Beiru continued, "Thank you very much, Andrew. Honestly, I didn’t expect the Royal Court negotiations to end this way. I’m really grateful to you."
Andrew shook his head: "You’re too generous, Guild Master."
But Beiru spoke seriously and slowly, "Winning two out of three rounds, with the negotiations ending in this way, is already the best outco. Now, as long as we capture Catherine, the Royal Court will truly beco our Comrce Association’s main stage instead of just a false ally."
Royal Court negotiations, Royal Court negotiations.
Andrew had been working hard these days to achieve "negotiations."
Beiru’s plan was to seize Catherine during negotiations, and henceforth completely acquire the "Royal Court."
"... Ah, so that’s how it is."
Catherine laughed as Beiru and his wife explained the whole situation to Andrew and Barbara, while Catherine also listened intently.
She spoke again, "Father, you remain as formidable as ever. Mother fooled even into thinking her hatred of my sister was genuine, truly unexpected. My parents indeed! But still..."
Catherine twirled the spear, casually creating a spear flourish, "Are you so sure you can capture ?"
The Crimson Knight was already a symbol of speed in the world, and paired with the "Formless Blade Fire," it was a perfect match.
Catherine’s strength was less than the three Earth Fire Scholars, but if she intended to flee, capturing her would be challenging.
Havier stepped forward, gritting his teeth, "Shouldn’t I be asking you this—do you think you can escape today?"
Beiru and senior mbers of the Comrce Association arrived, and it’s fair to say that from the mont they arrived, Catherine was surrounded. When Beiru unexpectedly killed the king—a powerful corpse puppet controlled by Catherine—she was completely isolated.
Even the Frost Guards who initially followed Catherine now mostly looked at her with hatred.
The Frost Guards were split into two factions, one loyal to the king, the other to Catherine.
Fundantally, they were all loyal to the Royal Court.
But from the mont Catherine admitted she had killed the king herself, in the Frost Guards’ eyes, Catherine ceased to be the queen, becoming the enemy of the Royal Court.
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