Savior

"No!"

A figure suddenly came between them.

Archibald was shocked once she noticed what it was, and it took all his strength to stop his swords from splitting Aisha's head into two. The blade was just an inch away from her hair.

"Priestess!" Leslie exclaimed in horror.

This woman had just used her body to protect him, one of her enemies! Did she have a death wish?!

Nobody expected this outcome, so for a moment, a deafening silence hung in the air.

Aisha had her hands outspread in front of Leslie while staring back at the Emperor defiantly.

Archibald was furious. He roughly grabbed her by her collar and brought her face closer to him, forcing her to stand up.

"Do you want to die so badly? If so, I don't mind throwing you off the ship and feeding you to the sharks right here and now." He hissed, eyes glaring at her fiercely.

Aisha coughed, and the tip of her feet barely touched the ground, making it hard for her to speak. "Y-Your Majesty, you can't kill him."

"Priestess, it seems you have forgotten your place again after I treated you kindly. Should I remind you once again who you belong to?" Archibald's tone was low, and he glared at her as if he wanted to end her life.

Aisha was scared. She didn't want to get involved, but her body had moved before she could stop it.

She didn't want to see anyone die in front of her again.

"Your Majesty, if you really want to kill him, then you wouldn't have let me wake him up in the first place. You would just kill him on the spot."

Aisha looked at him with an imploring gaze before carefully holding his hand, "These hands have saved a lot of people today; I don't want to see it tainted with blood."

Archibald flinched when he felt her feathery touch on him. It was warm and soft, making him recall the night he almost took her body.

Compared to their intimacy that night, this touch shouldn't mean anything to him. Yet, it completely erased whatever he had in mind. The lingering softness caused something to ripple within him.

Archibald clicked his tongue in annoyance. He hated it the most when things didn't go according to his plan. He had lost count of how many times this woman almost drove him crazy with her unpredictable actions.

Archibald slowly released her and sheathed his swords again. "Consider yourself lucky I still have some use for both of you. I will let your impertinence go this one time."

Aisha was so relieved; her legs gave up on her. Leslie hurriedly approached her to check on her, but she couldn't take his eyes off Archibald's.

Those red eyes seemed like they were suppressing a deep feeling, and the intensity almost sucked her soul away.

In the next moment, there was a sound of rustling waves from their right direction. The sea was so still up until ago. This meant that something was approaching them.

Archibald smirked victoriously.

"Finally. I know our savior will come."

***

"Chief Advisor, we can see their ship now. What should we do?"

Ren squinted his eyes as he looked through the binoculars. It was indeed the same ship ridden by those people from the Empire. He couldn't see anyone on the deck, meaning those people must have already killed each other.

He was worried about the Priestess' safety, but Maya was there with her, so it shouldn't be a problem. As the Holy Shrine guard, she had some kind of resistance towards malevolent spirits and wouldn't get possessed easily.

Besides, the Priestess was there with her, so less likely for them to get possessed. Meanwhile, the people on the ship with him already took precautions against the mist, so they wouldn't be affected. It was a perfect plan to obliterate the Empire's people in one go without dirtying their hands.

Smiling satisfactorily, he gave his order to his subordinate, "Get us closer to the ship. We will retrieve the Priestess and her guard."

"Yes, sir!"

If they were to take the Empire on the sea, they probably wouldn't stand a chance, but this mist would give them an advantage. If it could immobilize a considerable chunk of the soldiers and, most preferably, the most troublesome figure, like the Emperor, it wouldn't be hard to overtake them.

The Land of Oblivion only has a limited amount of human resources. They would be wiped out if they went against the Empire's soldiers.

When the ship finally aligned, they threw some ropes and used them to move to the next ship. But before they could reach the Empire's ship, the rope was cut, making the men on the rope shriek as they fell into the sea.

The Roseau Empire's soldiers stood up and showed themselves with their spears pointed at them.

Ren was a bit surprised, but he gradually regained his calm. "If you give back the Priestess and her guard to us, we will let you go. This sea territory is under our control, and you can't escape without our help."

Ren wasn't perturbed because he already expected some of them would survive. He only had to trick them into returning the Priestess to them, then they could eradicate the rest of them.

These soldiers only moved under their leader's order. Without the Emperor, they would be no different than children waiting to be saved.

"Oh? Is that so? Then, this conversation will be easy."

The amused yet dark voice echoed in the misty area. From behind the soldiers, Archibald emerged with a condescending smirk on his face. "I thanked the people from the Land of Oblivion. You guys even come all the way here to save us."

Ren's expression hardened as he glared at him. It didn't look like he was harmed in the least. But he was probably just faking it.

The enemy's men should have received considerable damage from the mist, so if worse came to worst, they could still steal the Priestess back by force.

"Don't misunderstand. We didn't come here to save you. Where is the Priestess?"

Archibald shrugged. "You don't even know how to take a joke. What a boring man. By Priestess, are you talking about this one?"

Suddenly, Archibald pulled Aisha from behind him before placing his sword on her neck. He had a crazed smile as he enjoyed the shocked expression on the enemy's face.