Chapter 340: 339 Chaos in the Cosmos

In a small path not far from Shane and his companions, at this moment, Lymco, Yuri, and Sona were leading a group of knights toward the direction where Shane and the others were.

“Are you sure it’s this way?”

As they walked, Yuri casually confirmed with Sona.

Due to the current chaotic arrangement of Cosmos’s buildings, with streets piled with the structures, reaching a specific place and locating specific people had become much more difficult than before.

Moreover, since Shane and his companions had yet to find a place to settle, to ascertain their current whereabouts and hurry there, the difficulty sharply escalated.

Fortunately, the First Knight Order had already placed informants at strategic high points throughout Cosmos. They monitored the terrain, building locations, and the whereabouts of every person in the city and reported in real-time for purposes such as transportation and target location.

It wasn’t just the First Knight Order that did this; the Broken Blade Knights from the Empire also did the same. Thus, the current state of Cosmos was such that any slight movement was noticed and reported, making its leaders aware.

Thanks to this, the people of the First Knight Order had not expended much effort in ascertaining Shane and his group’s location.

“About five minutes ago, there were reports of a sighting of a young noble with a maid and a little girl in the vicinity, and nobody responsible for monitoring other areas reported them entering their zone. So, it should be this way; if we keep going forward, we should encounter the target.”

Sona responded with such a report.

“That’s good,” Yuri nodded, then turned to Lymco and said, “You’ll need to control your emotions later, so don’t let them sense your hostility, alright?”

“Don’t worry, uncle,” Lymco replied expressionlessly, “Members of the Guard Knight Order undergo training to control their own hostility to avoid detection by ‘Enemy Detection’ and other Perception Skills. Mastering the control of one’s enmity is a compulsory course for any Guard Knight.”

After all, excessive hostility would easily trigger a reaction from those with Perception Skills like ‘Enemy Detection,’ thereby revealing one’s presence, which is unfavorable for combat and even more so for covert operations.

Thus, not only the Guard Knight Order, but any high-scale, high-level Knight Orders would undertake such training to achieve complete concealment of their enmity towards others.

The First Knight Order also conducted this training; Yuri and Sona were naturally aware of it.

However…

“It’s not easy to keep your hostility hidden even in the face of an enemy,” Sona said with some distress, illustrating just how challenging such a so-called compulsory course was.

Without a doubt, except for the Kingdom’s pride, the Guard Knight Order, it was extremely difficult for others to master this skill.

If it weren’t for the fact that the Guard Knight Order was made up of experts over Level 70, each with very high combat prowess, it would be impossible to achieve a satisfactory training outcome.

Lymco, as a particularly outstanding newcomer in the Guard Knight Order, did, however, possess this special skill.

Otherwise, when Lymco previously faced Shane, he wouldn’t have been able to remain so calm and unquestioned.

Regrettably, Lymco was ultimately a step behind; during his encounters with Shane in the Royal Capital, he occasionally let slip a momentary animosity.

That fleeting hostility might have gone unnoticed by others, but only Shane, who had leveled his ‘Enemy Detection’ Skill to Level 10, could perceive such subtleties keenly. Otherwise, Lymco might have kept Shane fooled for longer.

Certainly, Lymco had not anticipated that Shane’s ‘Enemy Detection’ Skill had already reached Level 10; suppressing his hostility was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Of course, Lymco was unaware of this and had no idea he had already been exposed and blacklisted by Shane.

With this in mind, Lymco said,

“My father said that under no circumstances should I provoke him, so I will endure.”

Lymco’s words satisfied Yuri, who nodded in approval.

“I trust you can do it.”

Yuri patted Lymco’s shoulder, in no way doubting his words.

Yuri knew just how excellent his nephew was.

One could say that Lymco had never let anyone down before. If it weren’t for Shane suddenly emerging, not even Barry would have complained about Lymco’s slow progress in pursuing Luoqi.

For that reason, Lymco wanted to quickly eliminate Shane.

Because that man was his stumbling block, one he could ill afford to ignore.

This was true both publicly and privately.

(Wait…)

Recalling the unparalleled beauty of the Princess, Lymco swore once again.

(I will surely defeat you and win the affection and favor of Princess Luosilusti.)

That was something Lymco was determined to do at all costs.

Even with the backing of the Dragon Demons and the attention of the Moon Demon, the Demon Clan Supreme, Lymco wouldn’t give up.

How could he give up?

Since setting eyes on that Princess, Lymco’s heart had no room for anyone else, and even the centuries-old wishes of his family had to take a back seat to the Princess.

(I must have that Princess!)

Only by obtaining her could Lymco gain everything he wanted, be it the love in his heart or the aspirations of his family, all could be realized then.

For that…

“I must endure now.”

Endure!

Endure!

Endure!

Lymco kept telling himself this in his heart, suggesting it to himself.

In such a state, Lymco slowly wiped away the enmity towards Shane in his heart, deceiving his subconscious to let go of the hatred.

“Good.”

Everything was going smoothly, which made Lymco nod and brought a look of contentment on Yuri’s face.

However…

“Boom!”

In that instant, an astonishing surge of magic power suddenly appeared from ahead.

“——–!?”

Yuri, Sona, and all the knights present changed their expressions abruptly, utterly shocked.

“This magic power…!?”

Lymco was also astounded, involuntarily raising his voice in alarm.

The suddenly emerging magic power was so extraordinary that it shook everyone to their core.

It was not a power that humans could possess; it was terrifyingly strong.

But as this terrifyingly strong magic power emerged, the city began to tremble.

“Careful!”

“On guard!”

Yuri and Sona shouted out, ordering all the knights to draw their weapons.

Lymco, too, drew his weapon, his face showing a wary expression.

However, at this time, the strange phenomenon began to occur.

“Rumble…”

The buildings, already in a state of chaos, suddenly began to slide, move, and change position as if they were part of some mechanism.

“This is…!?”

Lymco, Yuri, and Sona, among others, watched this scene with a tightening in their hearts.

Could it be that the strange occurrences within Duke Sterling’s domain were happening again?

But why was the commotion so great this time?

Previously, when the strange incidents had occurred, they had not caused such a disturbance; they had happened quietly without anyone noticing, quietly came and went, and by the time people realized what had happened, individuals or buildings had been transferred to other places.

Moreover, before it had been only individuals encountering these odd events one at a time, and buildings changing one at a time. Never before had it been like this, with all buildings moving at once, creating a massive shift of numerous buildings.

In such circumstances, the First Knight Order’s painstakingly surveyed terrain underwent dramatic changes, and the small paths also kept changing, utterly different from before.

From within the moving buildings, there was even the sound of people screaming, exclamations, and the noise of panic, signaling to everyone that they too were startled by the sudden turn of events.

“Careful!”

This time, it was Yuri’s voice that rang out.

A building charged towards them at an alarming speed, causing everyone’s faces to change color.

“Evasion!”

At Sona’s command, everyone quickly dashed to the side, evading the oncoming building.

But surrounding buildings continued to crash towards them one after another.

The knights’ expressions changed over and over, some even raising their hands, ready to use magic to blast the buildings away.

“Hold your fire!” Yuri immediately ordered in a low voice: “No one is allowed to attack the buildings!”

These were not uninhabited empty houses.

If the First Knight Order indiscriminately used magic to attack those buildings, it would inevitably harm the civilians inside who were screaming and shouting in panic.

“Evasion! Evasion!”

Sona could only shout out repeatedly, loudly commanding the knights, who dared not unleash magic attacks and could only awkwardly dodge the buildings charging at them.

Lymco was no different.

“What on earth is going on!?”

Lymco kept dodging while he was shocked beyond measure.

This phenomenon had never happened before.

“Could the strange events have escalated?”

Lymco contemplated such a situation in his mind but was helpless, continuing to dodge the buildings that hurled toward him.

The entire First Knight Order was a mess, as if they had mistakenly entered some sort of formation, losing their usual composure.

…

Unfortunately, it wasn’t only the First Knight Order that got caught in this chaotic situation, but also another knight order was attacked by the moving buildings.

That was a knight order in which all members were female, wearing armor clearly not of Kingdom style, marked with the pattern of a broken sword.

“Your Highness!”

“Be careful!”

The female knights of the knight order protected a princess at the center, warily watching the moving buildings around them, surrounded as if they were at a dead end.

“Stand back.”

The princess, protected by the female knights, watched the situation in silence and calmly, and after a while, turned her gaze in one direction, narrowing her eyes, and spoke.

“It seems that someone does not want us to get close. We’ll have to use more forceful methods to break through.”

The princess who said this drew a sword from her waist.

The sword shimmered with golden light, magnificently splendid.

If Shane were here, he would be surprised to find that this sword resembled the Holy Sword by as much as eighty percent.

However, the pulsating light on this sword was not the same sacred glow of the Holy Sword, but a kind of almost-right white radiance.