Date: Unspecified
Ti: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Western Region, Berg District, Scarlet Berg
"City Lord, have you heard anything from the Western Royal Palace yet?"
The Patriarch of the Bale Family, one of the six prominent families of Scarlet Berg, asked urgently as he looked toward the young-looking demigod standing at the center of the defensive line.
Despite appearing no older than a man in his twenties, the City Lord’s expression was heavy and exhausted. His gaze remained fixed on Saintess Catherine and Demigod Redfall in the distance, not daring to lower his guard for even a mont.
"No," the City Lord replied grimly. "There has been no response from them so far. I already sent my eldest son to personally report the situation and beg for reinforcents. Hopefully... help arrives in ti."
Although his voice remained calm on the surface, anxiety churned beneath it.
The City Lord could only hope the Royal Family would overlook the various illegal dealings Scarlet Berg had been involved in over the years out of consideration for the enormous taxes and tribute the city had faithfully paid to the Western Royal Palace without fail.
Under normal circumstances, those matters could still be negotiated behind closed doors. But if Scarlet Berg fell tonight, none of that would matter anymore.
"Damn it! First they neglect us, forcing us to do whatever we can just to survive while still paying their absurd taxes. And now they want to abandon us for trying to live under their crooked rule..."
"Patriarch Bale!"
Matriarch Ali sharply interrupted him before he could continue his outburst. Her voice rang loudly enough to silence the surrounding discussions almost instantly.
Several nearby demigods imdiately lowered their heads and glanced around nervously, afraid soone else might have heard those dangerous words. Even in a situation like this, openly criticizing the Royal Family could still be considered blasphemy.
Patriarch Bale’s expression darkened, but he eventually swallowed the rest of his anger. His fists remained tightly clenched behind his back, veins bulging faintly along his arms.
Everyone present understood his frustration. The entire southern stretch of the western region had long been left to fend for itself while still being forced to pay enormous taxes and tribute year after year. Yet now, when disaster had truly descended upon the city, the Western Royal Palace remained silent.
Still, understanding his anger and openly agreeing with it were two entirely different matters.
"City Lord, did you try contacting them? Or perhaps they put forward so demands? Maybe we can negotiate sothing... talk our way out of this," Matriarch Ali asked cautiously.
She was fully aware of the reputations of both the Emissary of Light and Redfall. Neither of them were known for rcy or reason. To many, they were little different from tyrants. Worse still were their fanatic followers, zealots willing to go to any lengths just to earn their favor. Entire cities had been destroyed over smaller conflicts than this.
"No," the City Lord replied with a grave expression. "They haven’t made any demands, and every attempt I made to contact them has gone unanswered."
His eyes remained fixed on the distant figures standing outside the city. The calmness of Saintess Catherine and Redfall only made him more uneasy.
The City Lord could not understand their purpose for appearing so far from the western border. If this truly was the beginning of an invasion, then logically they should have started from the border territories first before advancing inward.
Yet instead of attacking border cities, the Emissary of Light had appeared directly outside Scarlet Berg as if she had co here for a specific reason.
And that unknown reason was what frightened him the most.
"Attempt to contact them? You an you didn’t personally go and speak with them?" Matriarch Ali asked in confusion.
When she saw the City Lord nod, a look of realization flashed across her face. In her opinion, all of this might simply be one massive misunderstanding caused by poor communication and paranoia.
"Fine. You all stay inside the city barrier," she said decisively. "I’ll go talk to them myself."
The City Lord silently nodded in agreent, and the heads of the other families did the sa.
Unlike Matriarch Ali, however, none of them believed the Emissary of Light and Redfall had co peacefully. In their eyes, the appearance of those two figures together could only an disaster. The entire city was already in full crisis mode because of them.
And honestly, no one could truly bla them.
The reputations of the Emissary of Light and Redfall preceded them long before their arrival. One ruled through terrifying authority while the other was infamous for bloodshed and ruthless violence. Neither was soone ordinary powers could hope to negotiate with calmly.
The only reason they did not stop Matriarch Ali was because none of them could let go of the hope that maybe everything could be solved with re words.
However, before Matriarch Ali could leave, a dozen figures suddenly appeared beside the City Lord in flashes of light. The sudden surge of soul energy caused the surrounding air to tremble as powerful pressure swept across the city barrier.
The City Lord’s eyes imdiately lit up when he recognized his eldest son among them, along with several demigods dressed in the uniforms of the Western Royal Palace. The reinforcents they had desperately been waiting for had finally arrived.
Relief visibly spread across the faces of the family heads and demigods gathered there. Even the tense atmosphere surrounding the city barrier eased slightly with the appearance of the newcors.
The mont they arrived, Matriarch Ali imdiately bowed respectfully alongside the City Lord, the other family patriarchs, and the gathered demigods.
After all, the demigods accompanying the City Lord’s eldest son were not ordinary demigods. They were an elite squad from the Western Palace Guards, the direct military force of the Royal Palace itself.
Unlike the local demigods of Scarlet Berg, these guards were battle-hardened elites personally nurtured by the Royal Family. Their divinity, grimoires, cards, and combat experience were all on an entirely different level.
Simply standing there silently, the squad radiated a pressure that made even fellow demigods instinctively lower their heads.
"No need to stand on ceremony," the captain of the Western Palace Guards said calmly as he waved his hand dismissively.
Neither he nor the mbers of his squad paid much attention to the greetings. Instead, their sharp eyes remained fixed on the distant figures they had co to deal with: Saintess Catherine and Demigod Redfall.
Unlike the demigods stationed within Scarlet Berg, the palace guards imdiately understood the true nature of the situation.
The local demigods had been too weak to properly resist, or even notice, Sansa’s mory-devouring plague. Their mories had already been subtly distorted without them realizing it. Neither the City Lord nor the local demigods knew that the Emissary of Light and the Saintess Catherine before them were entirely two different people.
But the palace guards were different. Every mber of the squad possessed powerful ntal defenses and specialized protection cards issued directly by the Royal Palace. Their mories remained intact, and because of that, they knew exactly what they were dealing with.
Although Saintess Catherine had replaced the Emissary of Light in people’s mories using a mory-altering plague, she was nowhere near as powerful as the original Emissary of Light. That was also the reason the Royal Palace had sent a squad of Western Palace Guards instead of dispatching a platoon or a company of elite palace guards.
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