After the memorial ceremony concluded, Ophelia gave Old Anderson a solemn promise: once the talks between Dark Moon Island and the Church of Order were completed, representatives would be sent to negotiate cooperation with the Allen family.
Old Anderson wept with joy. Karen suspected he wasn't having an overflow of genuine emotion, but had truly broken character and was trying not to laugh.
Because Karen had used Alfred to inform Old Anderson of the general situation and outline the plan, Old Anderson knew the true face of this "legendary romance."
He certainly believed his own ancestor; after all, not long ago, his ancestor had ridden past him on a dog.
Under these circumstances, veteran actor though Old Anderson was, even his cheeks struggled not to twitch. Still, he was skilled at smoothing things over; in Ophelia's eyes, this old family head was genuinely weeping tears of joy over his family receiving protection.
For she could sense that the people of this family were generally very weak—even Rank One and Rank Two members had been dragged out just to keep up appearances. Such a thing was unimaginable on Dark Moon Island.
According to the itinerary, Ophelia was to return to York City.
Old Anderson led his family to see them off. Watching the car drive out through the manor gates, Old Anderson sighed. The family's fortune was visibly turning around with Young Master Karen's arrival.
He didn't think this was merely the protection of ancestral ties, because without Young Master Karen, Allen Manor might have ceased to exist long ago; how could it have lasted until today?
Everything will get better; everything is getting better.
Old Anderson suddenly felt an itch in his hands, subconsciously rubbing the cane in his grip.
His gaze swept around, only to discover that at some point, his second son had already scurried far away to oversee the ceremony's cleanup.
The old man gritted his teeth.
*Damn creature! Even with broken legs in a wheelchair, he can still scurry that fast!*
***
"What was that building near the manor entrance we saw earlier used for?" Ophelia asked.
"I asked the servants," Karen replied. "Back when Miss Purr lived here, she had her family build it as a theater. Miss Purr liked to sit there alone, savoring a solitude of her own."
Karen deliberately blurred the theater's construction date and its true purpose.
Ophelia sighed wistfully. "Just like the palace our ancestor built on the island exclusively for Miss Purr. When our ancestor was alive, he often stayed alone in that palace too. Perhaps during those times, they could feel each other's longing across the distance."
Karen nodded inwardly. *Right, please do continue your imagination.*
Two hours later, Karen produced a large bag filled with individually wrapped foodstuffs: roast meat, roast chicken, smoked bacon, sausages, and various salads.
Without asking Ophelia whether she wanted any, he began opening and laying out the packages one by one.
Fanny took the hint and immediately prepared drinks; these were always kept stocked in the vehicle.
"The journey back is still long, Miss," Karen said matter-of-factly. "Let's have a bite; I'm hungry again."
Karen spoke in a calm, declarative tone, then took the initiative to present a roast chicken before Ophelia.
"All right."
Everyone began to enjoy the food.
Dark Moon Island's family faith system seemed geared toward physical enhancement, which naturally meant an increased appetite. Karen figured this young lady must get hungry very easily.
And so it proved. Though Ophelia ate gracefully and not particularly fast, she never stopped eating.
To save her the awkwardness of eating alone, Karen and Fanny kept her company the whole time.
Karen had even gone out of his way to pack extra, and except for the vegetable salads, it was all meat dishes. Yet every last scrap was devoured.
What an astonishing appetite...
Karen felt all the more guilty about wheeling away her breakfast cart that morning.
Xinla produced a clean handkerchief and offered it to Ophelia. Ophelia folded it in half, dabbed her lips, and instead of handing it back to Xinla, naturally passed it to Karen.
Karen didn't stand on ceremony either. Reaching out, he took it and used the other half to wipe his mouth and hands.
The maid didn't say anything this time; in her heart, she was actually quite grateful for Karen's attentiveness to her young lady's needs that afternoon.
"We'll reach the hotel in under three hours," Karen said with a smile.
"Are you very familiar with this stretch of road, Mr. Karen?" Having eaten her fill, Miss Ophelia caught onto something.
"I happen to have a decent memory."
Just then, a black owl flew toward the front of the car. Driving, Peige rolled down the window. The owl flew inside and perched on her shoulder.
Promptly, the owl dissipated, turning into a wisp of black smoke.
Peige spoke up. "Received a distress signal from another Whip of Order squad. It's at a sanatorium ten kilometers northeast of us."
Karen asked, "We're in the middle of a mission. Aren't there other squads nearby?"
Peige answered, "The one sending the distress signal *is* the rescue squad."
Fanny said, "Wait for the captain's orders."
Before long, Peige said, "Captain's orders: ignore the distress signal, focus on our own mission, and return to York City."
Ophelia spoke up. "I don't think you need to be overly considerate on my account. You may go reinforce your colleagues."
Fanny smiled faintly. "Even without a mission, we probably wouldn't bother rescuing them."
"Oh, so that's how it is. Haha." Ophelia gave a chuckle, seemingly understanding.
Yet after driving on for only a short while, Peige suddenly braked to a halt.
"Anomaly ahead! Captain signals high alert!"
With that, Peige spread her hands and began to chant. A black grid like the one from yesterday enveloped the VIP vehicle.
From beneath the seat, Fanny pulled out a black leather case, popped it open, and began assembling. Soon, a red rifle was fully pieced together. The entire sequence was smooth and fluid, carrying an eerie beauty.
With a sharp clack, a bullet was chambered. Fanny leaned her side against the car door, her eyes fixed on the outside.
Her rifle was visibly high-grade.
Karen hesitated for a moment, then drew the most basic spell revolver he carried with him.
Then, mimicking Fanny, he leaned against the door on his side, watching outside.
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
Outside, all was quiet, yet no order stood down the alert.
"It seems the trouble is rather serious."
Ophelia spread her hand. Panmiel, the warrior woman beside her, unslung the greatsword from her back and passed it into her grasp, then drew two daggers from her sleeves and gripped them tightly.
Xinla drew a gray pistol shimmering with magical fluctuations.
*Mhm,* Karen noted, even the maid's handgun looked more advanced than his little revolver.
Ophelia rested the greatsword across her knees and closed her eyes.
At last, movement came from the perimeter—though it wasn't the sound of fighting or spells.
In Karen's direction, on the slope below the road, two halos of light appeared—likely cast by spells—illuminating several figures supporting one another.
Another owl flew over. Peige opened a gap in the grid to let it close. Through the car window, it locked eyes with Karen.
Peige opened the window, and the owl veered to her side before dissipating once more.
"It's a distress signal," Peige said.
Immediately after, her expression grew stern. "Captain's orders: maintain guard, prepare for battle!"
Karen was faintly puzzled. The figures walking down the slope were clearly another Whip of Order squad. Reason dictated that at this point, if they had failed their mission, our side should go assist them, yet the captain had issued this order.
Still, Karen didn't doubt the captain. On the contrary, he liked Neo's decisiveness. No matter what, prioritizing one's own safety was never wrong.
*Crack!*
A whip cracked through the darkness, likely Neo cracking his leather whip—a warning forbidding them from approaching any closer.
If it turned out afterwards to be nothing more than a squad retreating from a mission, Neo's action would surely draw a formal complaint, but clearly Neo couldn't care less.
"Captain warns, they've appeared on the other side too," Peige said.
Karen was curious. She evidently had a special channel of communication with the captain, but it wasn't a radio; it had to be some kind of sound-transmitting sacred relic.
"I see them," Fanny said.
Karen reflexively glanced toward Fanny's side. Their car was stopped in the middle of the road with hillsides on either flank, but Karen couldn't see any light from the other side. However, he noticed Fanny's eyes had turned gray; she had likely gained superhuman vision.
So there were Whip of Order squads coming down both hillsides now?
Now even Karen was certain that something was deeply amiss. It was as if an ambush had been laid deliberately, waiting for their group to drive right into it.
Peige immediately restarted the engine and shouted, "Captain's orders: break out to the rear!"
Because the rear was the direction they had come from while ahead lay the unknown; breaking out rearward was the obvious choice.
Peige whipped the wheel hard to the left and slammed the gas, swinging the car into a sharp U-turn.
Ophelia sat firmly in the center, completely motionless. The warrior woman beside her and Fanny across from them also pressed against the car walls, unmoving.
Only Karen had to grab for the handhold, and even then his body was lifted slightly off the seat. Opposite him, the maid Xinla tumbled forward, dropping straight to her knees right in front of Karen.
Karen jumped in fright, genuinely worried her pistol might discharge accidentally.
The turn completed, Peige sped ahead at full throttle.
Yet they had barely traveled any distance when Peige slammed on the brakes.
*Buzz! Buzz!*
Suddenly, an enormous earthen wall rose right in front of the vehicle. Had she not braked in time, the entire car would have slammed headlong into it.
"Open the doors, get out!" Fanny yelled at Karen, immediately kicking open the door on her side.
Karen yanked his door open and leapt out, grabbing the maid Xinla on his way. Hauled along by Karen, Xinla tumbled out of the car, and Ophelia's figure appeared outside as well.
Just as everyone cleared the vehicle, a sharp, towering earth spike erupted from beneath, piercing straight through the chassis and hoisting the entire car into the air.
Peige pressed both hands to the ground and began chanting. Instantly, muffled detonations rumbled beneath the earth, followed by jets of blood welling up from the soil.
*Bang!*
*Clack!*
*Bang!*
*Clack!*
*Bang!*
Fanny rapid-fired: shoot, chamber, shoot again.
Through the curtain of darkness, flares of red light burst. Karen knew that only happened when spell bullets struck their targets.
"Captain's orders: keep breaking out!" Peige shouted.
Just then, Karen noticed fierce explosions and violent surges of magical power erupting from their earlier position. Clearly, the captain and the others were already tying down the enemy's main force.
By comparison, what his side faced was likely only a detachment sent to intercept them.
"Retreat first!"
With Fanny leading the way and Peige guarding the rear, Karen, Ophelia, and the others ran between them, fleeing up the slope beside the road.
They ran for about a dozen minutes without stopping, encountering no further attacks along the way.
Reaching a hollow in the hills, Fanny signaled everyone to take cover behind the slope while she scrambled up a nearby tree, vanishing into the foliage to stand watch.
Fleeing blindly without pause was foolish; it would leave them utterly exhausted and incapable of fighting back if they ran into another threat.
Furthermore, Fanny didn't want to stray too far from the captain. She trusted they could resolve the situation, provided they were bought enough time.
Karen lay prone on the ground, warily scanning ahead while gripping his revolver tightly.
He knew full well the gun would be of little use in a fight like this, but right now he needed to hold onto something.
Ophelia sat nearby, the greatsword plunged into the earth before her. She said, "Why do I feel this isn't an assassination aimed at me?"
Earlier, two Whip of Order squads had inexplicably closed in on them. In all likelihood, one was the original mission squad and the other was the reinforcement squad.
Yet something seemed to have gone wrong with both.
Besides, if someone wanted to assassinate her, they shouldn't need to go to such elaborate lengths; this was no longer an assassination attempt, but practically an act of open war against the Church of Order.
She didn't believe she was worth such a price. Even factions with long-standing grudges against Dark Moon Island wouldn't stake so much capital merely to kill her or disrupt these talks.
The situation on the captain's end remained unknown for now. Peige seemed to have lost contact with him too—was it due to distance, or some kind of interference?
Additionally, Karen realized something else: the maid Xinla, who had gotten out of the car with them, had fallen behind at some point. She was nowhere to be seen.
She was likely just a domestic maid responsible for daily chores. In a situation like this, Fanny and the others wouldn't care about her, focusing solely on Ophelia's safety; even Ophelia and the warrior woman had no attention to spare for her.
This wasn't callousness; a non-combatant at this moment was pure deadweight. Besides, curling up in some corner with her head down might actually be safer for her.
Karen felt a twinge of regret—not out of worry for Xinla, but because she really should have traded her pistol to him before getting left behind.
*Bang!*
From up in the tree, Fanny fired to the north—the exact direction Karen had been facing.
Karen pushed up from the ground immediately; he felt Fanny's shot wasn't meant to kill, but to give warning!
Sure enough, a mass of black mist materialized before him, accompanied by a foul stench. Karen knew running was out of the question.
"Order—Guardian Wall!"
"Order—Guardian Wall!"
"Order—Guardian Wall!"
"Order—Guardian Wall!"
"Order—"
Normally, the low-tier spell Guardian Wall would be somewhat useless in such a scenario, but what if layer upon layer of uselessness were stacked together?
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
Successive crashing sounds echoed, but after tearing through layer after layer, whatever it was finally stalled out.
Peige leaped past Karen, threads sprouting from her hands. Plunging straight into the black mist, the threads splayed out before snapping violently tight!
*Splosh!*
Like juice splattering, some massive creature was shredded apart by Peige.
Foul-smelling liquid splattered before Karen. Though blocked by the final Guardian Wall, he still caught a nauseating whiff. Even now, he had no idea what kind of monster had charged at him from inside the black mist.
Just then, black mist surged toward them from two other directions as well.
Panmiel, the warrior woman, sprang forward into one cloud of black mist. An instant later, a blood-curdling screech erupted from within.
Fanny dropped down from the tree at that moment. A bayonet had been fixed to her rifle barrel; the instant she landed, the tip impaled the entity in the mist, followed by a loud *Bang!* Having likely loaded a specialized round, blood and black mist blew apart together.
Karen moved closer to Ophelia instinctively. With his teammates holding the perimeter, his job was naturally to protect the mission target.
At that moment, Karen suddenly sensed the earth beneath his feet softening, as if instantly turning to sand.
"Underground!"
Karen roared, preparing to summon the Sea God's Armor and Dark Moon Blade while grabbing Ophelia's arm to haul her behind him. At a time like this, hiding his cards was the last thing on his mind; if he died, what would any of it matter?
Yet Karen failed to budge Ophelia. Instead, she caught his wrist with a reverse grip and flung him away.
"..." Karen.
Ophelia gripped the greatsword already planted in the ground. Blinding bloody light burst from the blade, bathing Ophelia until her entire form seemed to ripple with a matching glow.
Then, she wrenched the sword from the earth. A giant centipede whose upper half was already mangled was dragged out, and arcs of bloody light slashed from the greatsword, completely mincing the rest of the centipede's body midair.
With the kill finished, she rested the greatsword on her shoulder. The frame of an ordinary girl shouldering such a colossal greatsword created a striking contrast.
Witnessing this, a sudden wave of relief washed over Karen:
*Thank goodness I fed her well.*
Chapter 176