Chapter 959 Wanting To... (3)
Chapter 959 Wanting To... (3)
The hair at the back of their necks of the two mages stood on ends as they sensed the intimidating stares coming from everyone inside the room as they scrutinized the three people behind them.
Although they were not on the receiving end of the council's scrutiny, the pressure coming from them was enough to humble them. They immediately stepped aside to allow the three to enter and take on the full scrutiny of the council.
As they stepped aside, they observed the expressions on the three faces. To their dismay, they saw that none of the three were affected by the council's scrutinizing stares. Not wanting to stay inside any further, the two retreated out of the room and closed the doors.
Anshel was seated on a high-back chair at the head of the long rectangular table. He was already aware of Euan's arrival with Cyneah and Kyran and appeared somewhat relieved at their presence.
Before they arrived, Anshel admitted having a hard time trying to appease the opposition regarding the reformation of the kingdom's law. Even his loyal subjects were barely keeping the status quo. As for the neutral subjects, they remained unmoved by either side. To them, it did not matter who would win the argument. As long as the kingdom could progress in a stable manner, then it did not matter if the kingdom's law remained unchanged or underwent a reformation.
To be honest, Anshel believed his side could win the argument if the neutral side chose to support them. Nonetheless, he knew that the neutral side would no longer be 'neutral' if they did show their support to them.
"Lady Saint," Anshel greeted while remaining seated, albeit wearing a respectful expression. He added, "It has been some time since we last saw each other."
Cyneah smiled and replied, "It has."
Of course, their exchange was nothing but a formality and did not hold any meaning behind them whatsoever. After all, they were the only ones who knew that they had recently met.
"To what do we owe you for this visit?" Anshel did not beat around the bush and asked at once.
"I heard you have trouble convincing all your subjects to pass the reformation of the Kingdom of Cretea's Law," Cyneah, similarly, did not bother with idle chatter and went straight to the point. "I am here to offer my assistance."
Her words made everyone inside, whether they were Anshel's loyal subjects, part of the opposition, or neutral subjects, shift uneasily or defensively in their seats.
A middle-aged man from the opposition side narrowed his eyes at Cyneah and said, "That matter is something for us Nobles to settle ourselves. Do not stick your nose where it does not belong."
Euan snapped a look at the middle-aged man. However, the latter was unfazed. Euan might have been officially called Anshel's aide, but to the middle-aged man, it was only a formal and kinder address to being Anshel's dog.
With a calm and unmoving expression, Cyneah said, "That person just now has a mark from an outsider."
Anshel and the others inside looked at her in confusion.
Their reaction was reasonable. After all, when Cyneah spoke, she used an unfamiliar language. They also had an inkling that she had not said those things to them.
"Looks like the old man's expulsion move did not include inhabitants of the plane that had been marked by outsiders," Kyran responded.
Before any of the council members inside could show any reactions, the middle-aged man's head suddenly fell back and rolled on the floor.
Everyone except Anshel took a sharp intake of breath as they looked at the now-beheaded middle-aged man. There was no blood that spurted out of his exposed neck, and the expression on his severed head was no different from when he was looking at Cyneah in a somewhat disdainful manner.
The sudden turn of events left every subject reeling in fear. They had not even seen any movement coming before the middle-aged man's head was sliced off. Apart from that, the slice was so clean that blood had not even gushed out. Where and how did such a clean attack appear?
"Is there anyone else who believed I should not stick my nose in your business?" Cyneah asked while looking over the opposition's side. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
No one from the opposition made a sound. The same was true for the others.
"There is another one who possessed a mark— a different one. The fourth person to the left behind the first one."
As soon as the people inside heard Cyneah speak that unfamiliar language once more, they were alerted at once.
Unfortunately, being alert did not make any difference, as the fourth person to the left behind the middle-aged man's head met the same fate.
An almost suffocating tension filled the room as everyone was left reeling in fear.
This fear was not only instilled in the hearts of the people of the opposition. Anshel and the rest of his loyal subjects, the neutral ones, as well as Euan, were also overcome with fear.
Euan, in particular, tried to hide his fear. Nevertheless, cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck as he looked at Kyran sideways.
The younger man's face was still covered by his coat's hood, which was why Euan could not clearly see his expression. Even so, he could almost imagine the younger man's indifferent expression.
This was not the first time Euan had witnessed Kyran killing others without even batting an eye. But back then, he had seen the latter visibly making a move. It was very unlike his move just now, where Euan could not even pick up any fluctuations around him before making a move.
Euan obviously knew Kyran was using Void magic when he killed those two Nobles. However, he did not expect the younger man to have done such an open assassination without even others realizing how it happened.
Then again, that was precisely the art of assassination. If others could predict or even see the attack, how could it be considered an assassination?
Another thing that made Euan fear was how Cyneah easily detected the nobles who were marked by other Sovereigns. Moreover, it made him wonder how she and Kyran could work together without any prior discussion as to what they had to do.
Although Cyneah and Kyran might have discussed what they had to do telepathically, Euan was convinced that they would not be able to devise a plan in such a short time.
While Euan was having such thoughts, Kyran was also filled with one, albeit entirely different, and probably would have rendered Euan speechless if he had ever known it.
Kyran was awed by what Soul Magic could do. While Kyran could have detected the mark on those two Nobles, his method was worlds apart from Cyneah's. Apart from that, he would require more time to confirm if they had a mark.
"Is there anyone who has something to say?" Cyneah asked everyone again.
This time, none of them replied.
After scanning the rest of the opposition, Cyneah turned her attention toward the area where Anshel's loyal subjects were seated.
The moment Cyneah's mirror-like eyes fell upon them, Anshel's loyal subjects were feeling the pressure.
They were worried about meeting the same fate as the middle-aged and the seemingly unsuspecting Noble who got killed afterward.
"There is actually one with a mark among the—."
"Curse you, Tainted One!"
The person who shouted this was a young-looking Noble. He then stood up and was about to summon his Divine Armament. But even before he could stand straight, his head had already fallen and rolled down the floor.
A few of Anshel's loyal subjects closed their eyes as they saw the young-looking Noble's head fall to the floor. They anticipated the blood to gush out from its neck, but nothing of the sort happened.
"To think that there is someone among Anshel's loyal subjects who had been marked by a Sovereign."
Cyneah continued to use the Human plane's native tongue as she spoke. She could have spoken those words in Somuli's native tongue to warn the others that she and Kyran were not simply killing the Nobles' pets for fun. However, if she did this, the Sovereigns' spies would definitely find a way for her not to see their mark.
When that happened, they would only be wasting their time because Cyneah was looking through their Soul and not just a visible mark that could be sensed in their bodies.
"Are there more of them?" Kyran asked.
Cyneah nodded as she continued to point them out.
This cycle went on for a while until Kyran killed off at least twenty-one of Anshel's subjects, with more than fifteen of them being part of the neutral side.
Once the killing was done, the opposition was left traumatized.
This was evident when Anshel resumed their discussion after Cyneah assured him that she and her bodyguard were done killing annoying members.
The emergency situation in the Kingdom of Cretea was easily dealt with after removing Anshel's subjects with marks from outsiders. After this, Anshel received Cyneah and Kyran formally and asked them to stay for a few days.
When Anshel offered them two of the best rooms in the inner court, Cyneah declined and simply said, "We don't need two rooms. One is enough."