"Lord Magnus."

Edris spun toward the pink-haired archmage, who immediately nodded in response as a vigorous layer of mana surrounded his body.

At the sudden attack, a rush of terror flooded the banquet hall. Some nobles scampered under the tables while others rushed to the exit, only to be killed off by the assassins.

Without further ado, Edris slid forth and extended his palm. In a matter of seconds, a stream of purple poured from the center of his palm; it coursed through the tables and crawled up past the broken windows, enclosing the room in a dimmed environment.

He had sealed off the entire space to prevent both the enemies and the magic arrows from entering.

This also meant the original guests wouldn't be able to exit, but that was the least of Edris’s worries.

"The Tempest…" Hidden under a round table, one of the nobles poked his head, awestruck by the sight of the infamous shield.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" Edris asked the man beside him while sustaining the shield.

"...Yes." Dolan nodded before taking in the messy situation.

After affirming that the Crown Prince was alive, Edris turned to look at the young beast tamer.

"Celio, I need your help." At his curt words, the latter immediately understood his intentions.

"Leave it to me!" With a sweeping motion, Celio tensed his body, and a golden light emerged from his chest, solidifying into a long sword.

The brilliant light threw the assassins into a temporary daze, but that short moment of delay was enough for him to knock several of them out on the spot. Along with Celio, the five other Awakeneds in the banquet hall were fighting against the dozens of people in black.

Amidst the battles, Edris's grey eyes landed on the crevasses extending all over the ground, glowing even more apparent with the darkened hall.

Standing in the centre of the spell circle was none other than Magnus Vyris. His eyes sealed shut as he appeared to be chanting something. Waves of mana bellowed from below, pushing strands of his hair into the air.

After a few seconds, the archmage's eyes flew open with a crimson glow, and he immediately looked toward Edris and Dolan.

"The teleportation circle is ready!"

"And the limit?" Edris asked as he pinned everyone's location with a sweeping glance.

Teleportation was considered highly advanced magic. With its significant demand for mana, the spell had a substantial toll on the user's body and was extremely difficult to sustain.

"Five people at once. There's a one-minute downtime between each round." Magnus's voice sounded strained, and a single droplet of sweat trickled from his jawline. "I can maintain this for five rounds."

There are over a hundred guests at the banquet.

Edris inhaled sharply, eyeing the gaze of others that automatically steered towards him. He had somehow taken on the commanding role in light of the sudden intrusion, and now everyone was waiting on his plans.

How inconvenient.

Logically speaking, the most acceptable course of action would be first to teleport the royal family.

Magnus Vyris's teleportation circle had a limitation of twenty-five people maximum, which left over seventy people stuck in the banquet hall. This meant that the only way to minimise casualty would be to kill the intruders as soon as possible.

Once the Zacriyas teleport, we'll have to take whoever is in sight and get rid of the intruders before they can injure the other guests.

It wasn't that Edris prioritised the Zacriyas because they were royalty. No, his choice arose from a much more practical standpoint.

Everything stemmed from the fact that someone had disguised as the Queen and succeeded.

Not to mention, Treo Zacriya was ill as well. The royal family weren't people just anyone could get close to, yet one time after the next, they've fallen prey to misfortunes.

With these thoughts in mind, Edris glanced toward the elevated stage of the banquet hall.

Following this pattern…

Either the King or the Crown Prince was next.

Whoever was behind this, their target was the royal family.

To avoid giving new openings to the culprits behind the assassination, the best course of action would be to get the royal family out of here as soon as possible—for the sake of themselves and everyone else in the banquet hall.

Before Edris could speak, one of the assassins catapulted into the air, breaking past the tables as he aimed an attack toward the archmage. The burst of mana brushed past Edris and Dolan, towards Magnus Vyris.

All of Magnus's focus was on maintaining the teleportation circle, so he could only watch as the assassin inched closer by the second.

When they were less than two meters apart, the assassin suddenly swerved to the left as he was slammed sideways by a crimson force.

The one who cast the attack was none other than the spiky-haired Faren Ablemore.

He was the youngest member of the Mage Brigade and the eldest son of the Ablemore family. Despite being an Awakened, he had sat with the nobles in the northeastern family, hence why Edris didn't noticed him earlier.

"Lord Faren!" Magnus blinked in surprise as the young mage rushed before him, knocking the assassin out cold. He quickly nodded in greeting before turning to Edris.

"Sir Edris, please leave the defence to me," Faren said as he rose his staff into the air, surrounding himself with a faint orange glow.

Edris nodded, then swept his gaze towards the elevated platform.

The King and Queen of Zacriya were cornered at the edge of the platform, looking anxious as they were surrounded by several knights who rushed to protection.

They don't appear to be injured.

After assessing their conditions, Edris turned to the Crown Prince, who was blasting mana towards the ends of the room to hinder the assassins' movements.

As the founder of Zacriya's Royal Mage Brigade, Dolan Zacriya was naturally an Awakened himself.

"Your Highness," Edris said. "Lord Magnus has finished the preparations for teleportation. I advise you to escape along with His and Her Majesty."

"The King and Queen will leave at once. I will stay here," Dolan said firmly. "As the Crown Prince, I cannot afford to bail and leave others in danger."

How fitting for the Crown Prince.

Edris couldn't understand Dolan Zacriya's persistence, but accepted his words without contending.

Just as he was about to have Celio gather the King and Queen, Edris suddenly had another thought.

"Ace, would you like to test your limits? I know you've regained some more of your mana. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to warn me telepathically." Amidst the chaos, it was easy for Edris to speak normally without being noticed by others.

He hadn't overlooked Ace's warning inside his head at the start of the assassination.

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After hearing no response from under his cloak, Edris clicked his tongue. He continued talking, his calm voice fading in with the chaos. "Since you've obtained a physical form and regained some of your mana, although it's temporary, wouldn't it be a perfect chance to test your abilities?"

There hadn't been many chances for Ace to act with his physical state, since he would end up becoming too conspicuous and attract unnecessary attention.

However, that was under normal circumstances.

The chaotic situation unfolding before them—it was a given opportunity for him to test his skills. If he was lucky, he might even unlock some of his previous memories.

At his prompting, a hint of pink stuck out from the edge of his cloak. Ace, with his round, obsidian eyes, stared at him coldly.

— You're just trying to use me to get rid of the enemies.

Edris only smiled in response.

— …You're not scared. Just annoyed.

"Correct." Edris's smile grew wider.

Although the situation was bothersome, there was no reason to be afraid.

He had visited the machina, Alan Grennor, before coming to the banquet and bought plenty of defence potions to strengthen his body. Even if the intruders ended up with the upper hand, he was fully capable of escaping without scratch.

Edris hadn't prepared the enhancements specifically for the banquet, but to take precautions against his inability to perceive temperature. With this physical limitation, he wasn't planning to go around the capital without improving his conditions.

After all, it would be problematic if he died without himself knowing.

Edris didn't bother conversing further with Ace and drew his attention back to the current situation.

The Crown Prince was halfway across the banquet hall, on his way to bring the King and Queen to the teleportation circle.

Simultaneously, Celio skillfully led the other Awakeneds in combat against the assassins while Faren Ablemore and Magnus Vyris collaborated in sustaining the teleportation circle.

As for himself, Edris was situated by the corner of the banquet hall, outstretching his palm to maintain the Tempest.

During this process, he didn't have to watch his back thanks to Ace who, acting as though he wasn't going to help, threw the attackers out the window one after another with forces of mana.

Silently taking in Ace's movements, Edris subconsciously shivered at his precise yet cruel approach to getting rid of the enemies.

Was he an assassin before he lost his memories?

Edris thought it was a fitting occupation, considering Ace's personality.

At the same time, he noticed his own deteriorating state. Although he felt no signs of heat, his dress shirt was already drenched in sweat.

Three minutes.

This was the maximum time left he had for maintaining the shield.

Edris observed his surroundings.

Over two-thirds of the assassins were wiped out, with Celio leading most of the fights.

While waiting for the Crown Prince to arrive with the King and Queen, Magnus, with the help of Faren Ablemore, had successfully teleported several of the nobles in the proximity to save time.

Seeing the situation coming to a close, Edris discreetly lowered the shield little by little, without the assassins noticing.

Suddenly, Ace's deep voice echoed in his head as a question.

— You said this was a chance for me to test my abilities.

"It is. Why?"

Despite his words from earlier, the incident was coming to a close, with most of the enemies already wiped out.

He pushed the puzzlement behind his mind as Ace spoke again.

— Your body is quite strengthened.

Edris nodded hesitantly, not knowing what he was getting at. "I invested good money on improving my physical conditions, after all."

— I figured out some new things about myself.

"Good for you…?"

— Would you like to test your limits too?

A ray of sunshine escaped through the Tempest, which had thinned considerably at Edris's command. The blade of light entered the room like a semi-transparent veil.

"What?"

An ominous feeling instantly arose at Ace's words, but it was interrupted by a yell that cut through the banquet hall.

"Master, the Queen!" Celio's urgent voice hit him at once, snapping Edris out of his conversation as he immediately cast his gaze toward the center platform.

Inches away from the teleportation circle, the Queen stood in absolute stillness. Her ruby-like eyes filled black, inundating her iris and pupils.

Her hands, adorned with gemstones and rings on each finger, rose above her head as they clenched the King's neck tightly in their grip. Despite being half the size of the King, she somehow managed to lift him, letting his feet dangle inches from the ground.

On the ground beside her were Faren Ablemore and several other Awakeneds, who had succumbed after depleting their mana.

Dolan Zacriya, having been slammed against the wall, could only stare at his mother, who was strangling his father with her bare hands.

Like the Crown Prince, the remaining nobles in the banquet hall shared the same horrified expressions.

For a second, the room was silent. Even Dolan, who was closest to the Queen, hesitated to suppress who was supposed to be his mother.

The Queen is an Awakened? No, that's not right. She's a normal person, but somehow managed to bring out her mana forcibly after being possessed?

Quickly reaching a preliminary conclusion, Edris dispersed the remaining layer of the Tempest, restoring the room in its brilliant daylight. With the remnants of his energy, he planned to direct all of it towards nullifying the Queen's condition.

Before he could recast the Tempest, however, Edris's vision suddenly blurred.

The next thing he knew, the scene before him distorted, and the ground below him submerged in a blinding light, enveloping his entire body. Hit with an abrupt vertigo, Edris stumbled a few steps back, but by the time his eyes readjusted, he found himself confronted with a whole different scene.

Edris stood right in front of the Queen, in place of the original King.

All of this happened in less than a second.

"What—"

All traces of nausea was replaced with pure shock as Edris instinctively backed up. Despite himself teleporting across the room, his cloak was left far behind in his original position.

From the corner of his eye, he took in the stupefaction everyone's face. Forget about their dumbfounded looks, Edris himself was baffled at his sudden teleportation.

He knew who was responsible for this.

I'm going to fight that pink piece of shit.

Ace had teleported him right in place of the King. Standing right across from him was the possessed Queen of Zacriya, who, having lost her grip on the King's neck, had retracted her hands to prepare her next move.

In a short second, a black liquid wrapped around her entire right hand as the Queen plunged forth, aiming to pierce through everything in her way.

However, the only thing in her way happened to be Edris's teleported body.

With a sharp inhale, Edris watched as her fingers drilled past his clothes, sinking into his abdomen. He took a step back, then two. The Queen retracted her hands.

Drip.

Drip. Drip.

The entire hall silenced as they watched a trail of crimson trickle from the traveller's body, creating a pool of blood on the floor.

"Sir Edris!"

"M-Master!'

Dolan and Celio's urgent voices pulled Edris out of his trance as he examined his current state. Contrary to the reactions of those around him, Edris was thinking of something else.

It actually doesn't hurt that much?

Although he was impaled in the stomach, the wound felt less painful than he had expected. Sure, he could feel the Queen's hand squished against his organs, and sure, there was a daunting amount of outpouring blood.

But other than that, it was endurable.

The injury wasn't as deep as it could have been. Was it due to the absorption of defence enhancers?

The effects are even better than I imagined.

Edris was about to straighten his back when he noticed the reactions of his surroundings.

At that moment, he dawned with another idea.

To the others, he had just saved the King from being murdered by his Queen at their son's social banquet—wasn't that kind of a big deal?

What would they do if their saviour happened to be severely injured?

He dropped his gaze to his bleeding stomach. Although the teleportation had been against his will and the inflicted wound wasn't that serious, the continuous flow of blood was real, and it appeared as a sight nothing short from abhorrent.

The moment he confronted the Queen's attack, Edris had concentrated the Tempest towards her body, neutralising whatever had possessed her from within. With her mana channel now purified, the Queen dropped limp into the Crown Prince's arms.

After reaffirming that the King and the Queen were both alive and that the remaining assassins had been apprehended, Edris deliberately let out an exhale as he slid onto the cold, hard floor.

"Master!" Celio immediately rushed forth to catch Edris's falling body, only to flinch at the temperature of his skin.

Laying limp with half-closed eyes, Edris even made sure to cough out some blood for optimal effects.

Under the concerned looks of the nobles and Awakeneds, he weakly lifted his hand and gazed towards the far end of the room.

To others, the traveller appeared to be reaching for something beyond the windows, but to Edris, his action was directed towards the ball of pink that hid under his cloak.

I'll remember this—was what the gesture meant.

Letting out an inward scoff at Ace's stoic expression, Edris let his hand drop weakly onto the ground.

In the silent banquet hall, the traveller closed his eyes.