The scene shifted the mont Yuan and his wives passed through the illusion wall. The streets on the other side bustled with people; many small stalls had opened, displaying all manner of goods.
There were treasures, monster materials, and valuable gemstones used to craft magical items. Ancient antiques, so thousands of years old, lined other stalls.
People bought and sold illegal goods and drugs openly, and no one bothered to hide it. Nurous apothecaries sold dicines—both legitimate and illicit.
The market teed with criminals, much like the Lawless City—a place where outlaws road freely and acted as they pleased.
"To think Emperor Raghar would back sothing like this... he’s funding it in secret, and ordinary citizens don’t even know it exists," Mireya muttered, her tone heavy as she scanned the market with visible disdain.
"I feel like destroying the whole place—it’s disgusting," Sylvia added.
Rats scurried everywhere, and the stench was unbearable. The streets were filthy; people vomited and relieved themselves in the open.
Yuan and his wives cloaked their faces with Qi to block the foul air. They refused to breathe the filth of the black market.
Despite the squalor, business bood. Buyers crowded so stalls, spending thousands of gold coins.
As they pushed forward, ignoring the many eyes on them, they passed pleasure halls where prostitutes lined the entrances to lure custors.
When the won saw Yuan, they grew bolder, baring more skin and making lewd gestures with twisted, seductive grins.
"Those won..." Anna Grace muttered, fury darkening her expression as she glared at the prostitutes.
A chill ran down the prostitutes’ spines; terrified by Anna Grace’s look, they scurried back inside.
"Hmph! A bunch of filthy won dreaming of my darling—keep dreaming!" Anna Grace snorted, drawing close to Yuan and hugging his arm between her breasts.
"I want to burn them alive for even looking at my dear... hmph!" Lily snorted coldly, taking his other arm and hugging it as they walked.
Angela, who witnessed the scene, couldn’t help but chuckle softly at how possessive her daughter and granddaughter were of Yuan; it showed how deeply they cared for him.
A few monts later they reached the place where the elves were kept in cages to be sold at the black market auction as slaves.
The area was filthy, rats roaming freely among the filth. Dozens of slaves from many races were crowded into cells together.
A fat man with a huge mustache and a hat stepped forward to et Yuan, a wide grin splitting his face when he saw them.
"Welco to my shop, Young Master and Young Ladies," the man greeted politely, the confident smirk never leaving his lips. "Tell what kinds of slaves you want. We have them all."
"Of course, each variety has its price. As long as you have the coin, we can offer a wide range—young virgins, or those experienced in the arts of the body."
Yuan said nothing, staring at the cages, and the fat man’s grin widened as he followed his gaze.
"Of course we have a few elves. Thanks to soone influential, we managed to acquire them. They’re the most expensive rchandise in my shop," the man added, his tone all business and a toothy smile fixed on his face.
"Now—shall we negotiate price and number? I have other custors to attend to," he continued, rubbing his hands together.
"Thanks to a ’certain’ soone, business has been booming; we’ve acquired many unique and rare slaves," he explained with the sa greedy grin.
Mireya’s eyes twitched and her lips curled as anger rose; she barely restrained herself.
"And that ’certain’ soone is probably Emperor Raghar, isn’t it?" Mireya’s voice echoed through the dim room.
The fat shopkeeper froze, his smile drained away, eyes widening in terrified disbelief.
"H-How did you learn that? Are you sent by him?" he stamred, voice trembling as Mireya’s presence unseated his confidence.
"No. But we ca for the elves," Mireya replied, a cold grin on her face. "After all, I was the one who killed that bastard for capturing my people."
"And now it’s your turn to die..." Mireya said, her expression hardening as she drew her weapon from her spatial ring.
The fat man fell onto his buttocks when he saw the sword suddenly appear in Mireya’s hand; in that instant he realized the identity of the woman before him.
"N-No, don’t kill—"
Before he could finish, Mireya swung her sword and decapitated him on the spot, not even allowing him a scream for help.
Her primary goal was to rescue her people as quickly as possible; she did not want to attract unnecessary trouble before freeing them.
"Hmph! Pathetic—couldn’t even fight to survive..." Sylvia snorted coldly as she walked past his dead body.
Shortly after, Yuan and his wives freed the slaves locked in cages, moving swiftly until they reached the area where the rchant had kept the elves.
When they arrived, the elves looked toward them with hollow, lifeless eyes; they had lost the will to live.
Their faces registered shock when they saw Mireya and Sylvia; it seed impossible to them, as if they were hallucinating.
"Y-Your Majesty, what are you doing here??" one elf asked with a trembling voice, tears tracking down her cheeks.
"Y-Your Majesty, are you here to rescue us??"
"Please save us, Majesty! We’ve suffered so much here! Please take us ho—we want to see our families!"
One by one, the elves shouted at Mireya with pleading, pitiful looks on their faces; it was clear they had been starving for days.
"Don’t worry. We’re here to rescue you and bring you back to the Elven Kingdom," Mireya reassured them quickly, teeth clenched in sorrow.
Seeing the elves’ condition, Mireya and the others burned with fury at the slave rchant for treating them so cruelly and letting them starve.
"It’s a pity that bastard is dead. If not, I’d have tortured him to death and shown him what hell feels like!" Sylvia muttered, clenching her fists in rage.
Yuan approached the cage and crushed the lock with his bare hand, opening the door so the elves could step free.
Once the elves were out, he removed the slave collars from their necks, setting them all free. The elves, excited and overwheld, thanked Yuan for saving them.
Once the elves were saved, Yuan opened a portal to the Secret Realm and guided the elves inside. After all, bringing them out of this shop would attract far too much attention.
Destroying this place wasn’t an option either, since it would take down a part of the city above if he attacked the black market, considering it was an underground structure.
The slaves Yuan and his wives had freed imdiately left the underground black market. And since the collars on their necks had been removed, no one suspected them of being slaves anymore.
However, given their large numbers, people were indeed surprised to see so many leaving the underground market in such a hurry.
Once all the elves entered the Secret Realm through the portal, Yuan looked at Mireya with a warm smile and gently hugged her from behind.
"Since we’ve finished our business here, shall we head ho now?" he asked, planting a gentle kiss on her neck.
Mireya didn’t utter a word. Instead, she simply nodded, a faint smile gracing her lips.
Shortly after, they left the underground market after collecting all the money the fat rchant had stored in his shop.
They found more than five hundred thousand gold coins in total — an enormous fortune by any standard.
With that much wealth, a person could live in luxury for a hundred years without ever working, and still have plenty left to spend.
Before long, news of Emperor Raghar’s death spread through the Golden Lion Empire like wildfire.
The citizens were shocked by the suddenness of the event; many refused to believe it unless the Imperial Family confird it themselves.
Countless nobles rushed to the Imperial Palace upon hearing the news. It was so unexpected and shocking that most were left completely dumbfounded.
Inside the Imperial Palace, the atmosphere was heavy with grief and tension. People gathered around Emperor Raghar’s decapitated body.
Empress Lindy knelt beside the corpse, weeping bitterly, while her daughter lay unconscious a few ters away.
The Empress was utterly broken by the tragedy that had struck so suddenly, blaming everything on her late husband for spoiling their daughter too much and failing to discipline her properly.
—
After returning to the Elven Kingdom, Yuan imdiately opened the portal to the Secret Realm, allowing all the rescued elves to step out — a total of eleven who had been captured by the Golden Lion Empire to be sold as slaves.
The elves smiled with relief upon breathing the familiar air of their holand, many bursting into tears as they felt freedom again.
"Thank you for saving us, Your Majesty," the elves said, bowing deeply to Mireya in gratitude for rescuing them from the Golden Lion Empire.
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