Chapter 377: The Forgotten Covenant (2)
Sir Alon said nothing.
But he didn’t move either.
And that alone was enough to make Vendrick raise his blade again.
"Still as greedy as ever... even in your twilight years."
"I’m sorry... but this is the kind of world we live in, Vendrick."
Sir Alon took a step forward, unleashing his overwhelming aura right in Vendrick’s face. At the same time, both Oliver Khan and Carmen prepared for battle—the situation was clearly spiraling downward.
"Come at me then, you damned old man."
Both Vendrick and Sir Alon...
Prepared to fight .. a battle that would most certainly end in disaster.
But before either could make a move, a massive barrier formed between them, preventing any further advance.
"That’s enough, Vendrick."
All eyes turned to the small wooden house as its door slowly creaked open, revealing a woman who appeared to be in her fifties. She had pink hair tied back with a golden clip, and wore a robe-like garment wrapped around her body.
With a wave of her long staff—which doubled as her walking stick—she stopped them both in their tracks.
"We have no right to complain, Vendrick... not in front of him—a man who fought longer than either of us, and gave up far more, until the world came to call him the Iron Emperor."
"Millicent..."
Vendrick and Millicent exchanged a single glance. Just one look was enough to make the Sword Saint sheath his blade and step back toward his wife.
Millicent then opened her door to the first guests she had welcomed in many years.
"Come in. I’ve been expecting you."
After the tense confrontation, things took a strange turn as everyone entered the small wooden home...
Gathering around a table set in front of an old fireplace.
Millicent offered a cup of hot coffee to Ada Starlight, having noticed how much the girl was suffering from the biting cold.
"Here, sweetheart. This place isn’t suited for a girl your age..."
Taken aback by the woman’s kindness, Ada accepted the cup with gratitude.
"Th-thank you, ma’am..."
"There’s no need for thanks."
Millicent chuckled lightly, while Sir Alon grumbled in annoyance.
"Is that the kind of hospitality that leads you to serve only one guest—ignoring your Emperor?"
The only one who had received a hot drink was Ada. A curious move from Millicent, who now sat directly across from Sir Alon, while Vendrick stood by her side.
"An old man like you has no right to complain when the youth ...those who’ll carry the torch next are being cared for."
Sir Alon didn’t say a word in response. He already understood the real reason she had offered the drink to Ada alone.
Unlike the others—all ranked SS- or above—Ada’s body wasn’t suited to endure this frozen land of nightmares. That’s why Millicent had infused the drink with a bit of hidden magic.
"So? What happened to this Empire of yours that drove you all the way back here, Sir Alon? Did your son die?"
Millicent didn’t know much about Maekar... but she knew he was a warrior not easily defeated.
The very fact that Sir Alon stood here before her meant something significant had happened.
He quickly explained the situation, giving both Millicent and Vendrick a full understanding of the Empire’s current crisis.
Oliver Khan helped fill in the gaps along the way, offering additional details to make it easier for the elder couple to catch up.
"So, in short... the Empire’s strongest generation was kidnapped, your son lost the battle and went missing along with most of the imperial forces?"
Sir Alon nodded, his eyes turning to Vendrick.
"Your student—the girl who wields the same claymore you once carried—is among the missing as well."
Hearing that his student, the bearer of his former sword, had vanished, made Vendrick frown instinctively. Millicent also nodded solemnly.
"So, what you’re saying... is that you want our help in saving them all."
Sir Alon gave a single nod.
"That’s right... Millicent, I trust that retrieving a few lost children from another continent won’t be too difficult for someone who was once called the Crimson Witch. Besides, we already know their exact location."
He motioned to Ada Starlight, who activated her tracker device, displaying a 3D map.
A glowing red dot appeared over the continent of Ultras, revealing the exact location of Frey Starlight—who hadn’t moved from his spot.
"All you need to do is bring them back here with your magic."
As soon as he said that... Millicent let out a deep sigh and shook her head.
"You’re misunderstanding something, Sir Alon. Magic doesn’t work that way."
"We mages don’t teleport people randomly as you seem to think. To use teleportation magic, we must first send a significant amount of our own aura to the destination we wish to connect to."
Listening carefully, Sir Alon interrupted.
"Is sending your power to the continent of Ultras really that difficult?"
Millicent shook her head.
"No. For someone of my level, that would be easy. The problem lies with the enemy."
The moment she mentioned ’enemy,’ everyone instinctively focused on her words.
"Mages always spread their personal domain over any battlefield they enter—to assert control. And that’s the issue here."
"The Ultras have a very powerful witch who’s already spread her domain across most of the entire continent... I don’t know how she managed it, but she’s definitely stronger than me."
Teleportation to the continent of Ultras had become impossible—because of Beatrice.
Her presence alone would nullify any attempt made by the Empire’s mages, which explained why figures like Luc Valerion had failed in the past when trying to cross into Ultras.
Upon hearing this revelation, confusion appeared on the faces of everyone present—including Sir Alon, who sighed in frustration.
"Should I go myself, then?"
Vendrick was the one to respond.
"You’d be repeating your son’s mistake if you did."
Millicent nodded in agreement.
"You may be the strongest warrior the Empire has, Sir Alon... but charging recklessly into enemy territory will only accelerate their plans."
She clasped her hands, eyes distant as if recalling memories from long ago, before speaking again—this time with visible resolve.
"Though the Witch of Ultras is strong... I possess a spell that might just be able to breach her defenses."
The moment those words left her lips, hope returned to Ada and the others. Sir Alon raised an eyebrow, recognizing the magic she referred to.
"Stellar Magic?"
Millicent nodded.
"Yes. That ancient and mysterious spell we discovered so long ago... with it, I should be able to pierce through her domain."
"But as far as I know... that spell takes weeks to cast, and we don’t have that kind of time."
Stellar Magic wasn’t something born of mankind.
Even Millicent, a renowned archmage, needed days just to invoke a fragment of it...
Time they simply didn’t have—especially with Frey and the others facing death at any moment.
Millicent remained silent for a while, then looked toward Vendrick. After he nodded in return, she turned back to Sir Alon.
"I already prepared the stellar spell long ago... specifically for this day."
Those words stunned even Sir Alon, who could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"How...?"
"I told you already... I was waiting for you."
Looking each of them in the eye, Millicent shared a chilling truth that left the room reeling.
"The reason Vendrick and I were so grim wasn’t because of the dark news you brought us... but because it matched exactly what that man told us."
"You mean... you knew about this?"
Millicent nodded solemnly.
"Two years ago... a strange man came to this place, cloaked entirely in black. The only thing visible beneath his hood were his glowing blue eyes."
"Vendrick and I fought him with everything we had... but he overwhelmed us easily with powers we still don’t understand to this day."
"And when the battle ended... he showed us a vision of a strange future—a future where the Empire’s elite are kidnapped, where it loses the war against Ultras... and where the Iron Emperor returns, accompanied by unfamiliar faces, to seek our help."
Each word she spoke only deepened the silence in the room.
Ada was the only one who immediately recognized the figure Millicent had described.
"That means...!"
"Yes. Sir Alon... that being showed us the future, which is why we’ve been preparing for this moment ever since. A day we never thought would truly arrive—but one we couldn’t ignore."
With those final words, the Crimson Witch made something terrifyingly clear to everyone present.
"There’s a hidden game being played around us, Sir Alon. Powerful, unseen forces are toying with us like pieces on a chessboard .. manipulating the future as if it already belongs to them."
And with dark expressions sinking into every face, the truth became undeniable.
"We’re not alone."