"Come, let's continue enjoying this final battle!"

Adrian smiled as he said this to Fernando, guiding me to sit with them on the throne. He even waved at the other man.

Although I was full of questions, being unable to speak freely, I could only watch Mike and Brennan's final pursuit of Mirium through the monitor with them.

Due to the distance, Brennan had just caught up. As he was about to reach Mirium, he unleashed his signature move in time.

"Phoenix!"

The little phoenix appeared with a flap of wings, borrowing the momentum to swiftly charge at Mirium. However, this was nothing special - after such a long chase, even a dullard would eventually notice.

With her back to the incoming phoenix, Mirium only had one free hand holding Cyra, so she couldn't casually turn around to intercept. She had to shift her body to defend with her dragon wings instead.

But just as her wings forcefully swatted the little phoenix aside, Brennan's main body followed right after, clearly targeting Mirium's arm restraining Cyra.

"Come forth, Fire Claws!"

This was another beast Brennan had tamed before. Like fire-infused red claw marks, they instantly appeared, leaving a few not-too-deep gashes on her arm.

"Get out of my way!"

Mirium just frowned slightly before kicking him away with a flying kick. The redhead was completely out of the battlefield now, rapidly falling downwards.

But the battle didn't end there. At this moment, Mike suddenly followed up, charging in. His fists clasped together, he roared loudly and smashed them into Mirium's injured arm. Caught off guard, she was struck squarely, while Cyra struggled violently in her arms.

Finally, with combined efforts, Cyra broke free from Mirium's powerful grip, but couldn't avoid another kick, screaming as she fell in a straight line to the ground.

As for Mike, his situation was more miserable. After landing that hit, he took a blast of furious dragon fire in the face. Fortunately it didn't last long, and his task was complete before he too began falling.

I never expected this assault to achieve such an unexpected result - Cyra was actually rescued! If I could speak, I would probably cheer out loud.

However, Mirium remained unharmed, hovering in mid-air. After all, her injuries weren't that severe - just a few claw marks on her arm, merely skin deep. But this was already Mike and the others' all-out effort.

Although she had momentarily lost her prey, she could just recapture it. Seeing the grounded Cyra unable to get up and run after that kick, Mirium prepared to descend. But then I suddenly heard Fernando's urgent reminder from beside me!

"Watch out!"

Huh? I didn't understand what he meant at first. Weren't all the attacks over? I didn't see him this anxious when Mike's strike earlier!

But a flash of light on the monitor instantly caught my attention. It seemed like a figure was canceling an invisibility state above Mirium's head, gradually revealing itself as it descended from the sky...

It was Alfreed! I didn't know how he got there. Reviewing what just happened, the only explanation was that Mike had secretly brought him along!

He was now rapidly falling, drawing extremely close to the target! In his hand, he gripped a completely azure blue longsword - my previously lost Water Abyss Sword!

When did the Water Abyss Sword end up in his hands? I held my breath. As Mirium had no time to evade the impending strike, just as the Water Abyss Sword was about to pierce through her, Fernando, who had been standing beside Adrian and I, suddenly vanished...

The next second, he directly appeared in the monitor, grabbing Alfreed's sword-wielding right hand at the critical moment before he could strike Mirium. The whole process was lightning fast and decisive, simply unbelievable!

To be able to turn the tables like that?! I was completely dumbfounded. Fernando was too terrifying - able to instantly teleport that far to resolve a crisis? He must be cheating!

"Waaaaaahhhh——"

His strength was immense, showing no restraint at all. Alfreed's right hand instantly exploded with blood, the palm probably crushed. He was then kicked down from mid-air.

"......"

I felt I could barely watch anymore! So much for the last-ditch attempt, the chance to turn it around was completely ruined again. What opportunity was left?

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I glanced at Adrian beside me, but puzzlingly, he didn't seem relieved by this scene despite his ally being saved. Instead, his expression became unusually grave in that instant.

Shouldn't he be happy now?

As I wondered about this, I heard Mirium suddenly berating Fernando inexplicably on the monitor.

"Have you gone stupid? Leaving your post and running over here! What about Adrian's side? Don't forget your spatial shift has usage limits!"

"Of course I know, but you were just..."

Seeming distracted by the Water Abyss Sword's form in his hand, Fernando, who had been intently examining it a second ago, suddenly changed expression upon hearing her words. He immediately looked upwards.

But it was too late...

A dazzling light ball descended from the sky, striking their location at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to track.

"Kaboom——"

A massive explosion erupted. This was the power of Divine Punishment!

The might of Divine Punishment was undoubtedly beyond imagination. Even the massive Ilandra Dominion Empire airship, just being in the vicinity, was nearly blown to the ground - not to mention the effect of a direct hit.

"Why did you..."

I stared at Adrian in astonishment. Only he could use Divine Punishment - it was obvious who had launched this attack.

"Not enough, one is far from enough!"

Instead of answering me, Adrian murmured while fixedly watching the monitor. The crown on his head was flickering with abnormal, colorful glows.

"Not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough..."

Before the first explosion had even fully dissipated, the second Divine Punishment immediately followed, raining down. The monitor was simply showered with bright light points emerging one after another.

Immense, violent explosions continuously thundered without pause. Even seated on the throne, I could clearly feel the considerable shockwave force. An ordinary person would probably have been blown away.

I don't know how long it lasted, but everything gradually came to a stop only after a huge red 0 warning symbol flashed on the bottom of the monitor screen.

"......"

The "Binding Seeds" restraining me had already vanished shortly after the blasts began. I stood up from the throne, shifting my gaze from the monitor to the distant hazy scene, almost not daring to believe it as I asked Adrian:

"Don't tell me all this was part of your plan?"

The smoke from the explosions had yet to fully disperse, so the outcome of this Divine Punishment barrage was still unclear. But at this level of successive bombardment, even reaching the seventh rank might not enable survival, right?

Although the distance was quite far, some debris had already drifted over our heads. Simply stretching out a hand revealed light metallic fragments falling into my palm like dust.

No wonder Nicola had suspected Divine Punishment might be missiles - all the evidence did seem that way. But where exactly was Divine Punishment being launched from? If it was very far away, it shouldn't have responded so quickly.

"Not exactly. I just secretly gave Alfreed the 'Heal' and 'Conceal' arrows along with your Water Abyss Sword, letting them find an opportunity to rescue Cyra first, with a strategic retreat as the worst case. I didn't expect Fernando to lose his cool like that - isn't this just playing into my hands? I was just fortunate enough to get this chance, and achieved two objectives with one move!"

Adrian shook his head before slowly telling me the answer. Those hidden maneuvers avoiding others' notice were only possible thanks to his Battle Qi ability and the situational diversion of Fernando's attention.

So he had been pretending to cooperate with the demons all along, with both sides actually harboring ulterior motives and using each other.

Why are the monsters and the Ilandra Dominion Empire so kind as to come and help Parristol? Undoubtedly, their ultimate goal is Lantine Oasis, this city! As the king, Adrian naturally cannot fail to see through this, but he also needs to use these two forces to break free from the entanglement of the Astralrealm Kingdom, so he can only temporarily compromise on the surface.

Recalling the situation I've seen recently, Mirium and Fernando have been almost inseparable, staying by his side, even taking turns standing guard when facing enemies. In fact, this is not just for the purpose of protecting the king, but more importantly, it is to monitor and prevent Adrian from secretly launching a Divine Punishment attack from behind.

After all, they are not fools either. Although the monsters do not fully trust Adrian, they still have to rely on his ability to control the city in order to achieve their goal. That's why I can see them making all kinds of incomprehensible concessions on many controversial disagreements.

With the crown on his head, the king can issue Divine Punishment attack orders anytime, anywhere within the city, which is simply unpreventable! The most convenient and effective way is naturally to stay with the king all the time.

As long as there is a high-level monster guarding by his side, even if Adrian takes the opportunity to sneak attack other monsters from afar, they can discover it early and stop it in time, or even kill him.

Having just awakened his Battle Qi not long ago, with Adrian's own strength, he is simply no match for any of them. The only thing that could actually threaten these two is Divine Punishment. From the very beginning, Adrian had no hope of eliminating them both at once, but the opponents simultaneously committed serious mistakes at the critical moment.

"I'm sorry......"

I lowered my head in embarrassment and apologized to them in a low voice. Even though Adonis had foreshadowed that Adrian was on our side, I still didn't believe him. I really shouldn't have!

I felt like my head was about to bury into my chest. At the same time, I had some more doubts.

"But now that you and the monsters have completely fallen out, how can you get rid of the kingdom?"

"Don't worry! As long as this city remains, I'm confident I can succeed in restoring the nation......"

Adrian rubbed his head, stood up, and looked at me with a slight weary smile, or perhaps the spiritual consumption of driving the Divine Punishment was much greater than imagined.

However, when I raised my head again, I saw a point of white light flashing out from the billowing smoke in the sky behind him, a huge dragon head charging straight at us with its mouth wide open.

"Quick, get out of the way!"