Chapter 380 – Shrouded Haze
It was the middle of the night, with light spells illuminating the fortress.
Xavier sat on the bed in the fortress lounge.
"I've never been exposed to this type of music. I've only ever heard music from Farucci's operas in Norland a long time ago."
Xavier chatted with Firebringer via message.
Since arriving at the fortress, her nerves had been on edge. The only time she could relax was when she visited the mage forum and when she chatted with Firebringer.
Every time she communicated with Firebringer, she would learn something new, such as when he sent her another "file" with sound.
She was not that interested in songs or art, but that didn't stop her from listening to this song. Her originally sour mood was swept away by the cheerful melody of the song.
"This song might help you when you're fighting the inquisitors."
"The inquisitors can't threaten us, my friends are not weak."
Xavier replied to Firebringer with confidence.
The Nation of the Holy Church could not compete head-on with the Nation of Frost, and the generals in the fortress were no weaklings.
Once they learned of the heresy tribunal's conspiracy, they would ...
Xavier was thinking about this when her thoughts came to a sudden halt.
She had been checking the sharpness of her sword while communicating with Firebringer.
But just now, Xavier's fingertips had felt something unusual on the blade.
The longsword was not an ordinary object. When Xavier touched it, he could clearly feel the chill overflowing from it.
"There's something on the sword…"
When Xavier's fingertips slid across the blade of the longsword, she noticed that there was a very subtle carving on a part of the blade.
The carving was so subtle that it was imperceptible to the naked eye. It was only noticeable when her fingertips touched it.
The carvings were not magical runes, but words from the Nation of Frost.
"Please give us salvation" ... ?
Xavier read the words out loud one by one, but even then she could not understand the meaning of the line.
She began to run her fingertips across the blade and the hilt of the sword. Soon, she discovered a new line on the other side of the blade.
"A grey haze has fallen over the frost and snow" ...
Xavier murmured the words inscribed on the back of the sword. As she made the connection between the words and her current situation, her heart grew heavier.
The alliance between the Holy Church and the Nation of Frost was not a treaty made a couple of years ago, but dated back some fifty years, not long after Xavier's nominal father had become king.
Xavier did not dare to guess who had engraved the words on the sword. She glanced at the time displayed at the bottom of the magical network interface and saw that it was almost time for the appointment.
Whatever the inquisitors had done in the Nation of Frost, from now on Xavier would put an end to it!
"It's time for me to meet my friends." Xavier wrote another text message and sent it to Firebringer.
"Be safe. I suggest you cover your ears before using the 'weapon' I've given you."
After reading the last reply from Firebringer, Xavier picked up her longsword and walked out of the room with her frost spirit.
The fortress was so silent in the dead of night that even the sounds of frost and snow could not be heard. Xavier walked down a corridor lit with originium crystal lamps. She could not see even a single soldier on patrol.
With her longsword clenched in her hand, she reached the door of the conference hall and pushed it open with one hand.
The eight generals that were seated down had been waiting for a long time.
Xavier took a deep breath and walked straight into the hall, ready to tell everyone about the Heresy Tribunal.
But then the frost spirit gave her a warning. Only then did she realise that there was a strange figure standing in the hall.
A cleric from the Nation of the Holy Church was standing there, looking at Xavier with a smile on his face.
At that moment, Xavier's heart felt as if a poisonous snake was constricting it.
The princess of the Nation of Frost quickly regained her composure and gently rested her hand on her longsword at her waist.
"We didn't think you'd make it to the fortress, but you're in luck," the priest said.
He slowly stepped out of the shadows with his long staff, accompanied by a being who looked exactly like Xavier.
"What do you want?" Xavier's voice was filled with pure cold.
By now, she had gradually realised that what these inquisitors were doing was a hundred or even ten thousand times worse than she had imagined.
It was so despicable that Xavier wanted to draw her sword and cut the man's head off right this moment.
"If you had been His Royal Highness, I would love to explain this to you. But unfortunately, you will become a nameless corpse soon." The cleric still had a smile on his face.
Xavier immediately sensed danger. A cracking voice came from behind her.
The frost spirit that had been lurking beside Xavier burst into an icy glow, creating a wall of ice behind Xavier.
The wall was instantly cut in two by an unknown force, but Xavier had taken advantage of the momentary gap to dodge and draw her sword at the same time.
But before she could recover her stance, Marshal Amter, who was standing on the other side of the hall, swung his fist at Xavier.
Xavier instinctively threw up her arms to ward off the attack, but the force was so great that Xavier's body slammed into the wall of the hall.
Had Marshal Amter been replaced as well? Xavier looked at Marshal Amter, saw his legs were intact, and realised that he was not the real Amter.
The frost spirit surrounding Xavier burst out with a cold enough to freeze anyone's blood. For a moment, the whole hall was covered in a layer of frost. The priest used holy light magic to prop up his transparent wall of light, but it couldn't stop the chill from seeping through.
The eight generals in the hall were covered in a thick layer of frost. Xavier was about to take advantage of the opportunity to kill the cleric when a tentacle suddenly emerged from the ground.
The tentacle bound her left hand, which was holding her sword, and a terrifying voice whispered in her ear.
More and more transparent tentacles rose from the ground, turning into spikes that sought to pierce Xavier's body.
The frost spirit constructed a wall of ice to ward off the tentacles, but as they grew in number, the frost spirit began to appear weaker.
In this desperate situation, Xavier used her free right hand to open the magical network. She opened the file that Firebringer had named 'cheat code'.
