Chapter 210-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
"Muqing, do you know where Ye Zheng went?"
The moment she saw Bai Muqing, Shu Wan pushed aside the Knight protecting her and anxiously grabbed one of Bai Muqing's hands.
Bai Muqing stiffly patted her shoulder in reassurance. "She's inside, but she'll be fine."
They were at the base of the Imperial Palace's walls. The surrounding monsters had already been cleared. The Emperor had assembled every Knight and guard he could mobilize and was preparing to counterattack into the palace interior. Only by finding and destroying the core could the Demonic Domain enveloping the palace be dispelled.
At the same time, powerful ability users were continuously entering through the gates, answering the Emperor's call.
Bai Muqing wasn't worried about this Demonic Domain. Even if it was S-rank, it was no major problem given the resources the Royal Family could deploy.
She swept her gaze across the area and spotted quite a few renowned ability users, including the nobles who had just fled in panic. Among them were no shortage of high-level ability users—they simply had almost no experience fighting Demonic Domains.
They were clearly dissatisfied with their earlier disgraceful performance. Now that they were out of danger and the forces had assembled, their courage and confidence had surged back. They followed behind the Knights, rolling up their sleeves, vowing to annihilate those skeletons.
Bai Muqing offered a few awkward words of comfort to Shu Wan, then turned to leave the safe zone.
When Ye Zheng had been confronting Sykes in the banquet hall, Bai Muqing had wanted to stay and help. But Ye Zheng had given her a subtle look, so Bai Muqing had first escorted the evacuees to safety, clearing the monsters along the castle's main corridor as she went.
The farther she got, the less she could sense what was happening inside the banquet hall. Seeing that Ye Zheng still hadn't emerged, her worry was no less than Shu Wan's.
Because she knew that the enemy Ye Zheng faced was not the Demonic Domain's monsters—it was Sykes, hailed as the Empire's strongest.
"Hey, wait! Muqing, where are you going?"
Bai Mulin turned around just in time to see Bai Muqing's solitary figure silently walking away from the group, heading deeper in.
His sister was strong, sure, but her habit of always going off alone was a real headache for the family. Their squad was about to move out—staying together was the safest option.
"Muqing! Wait for me— urgh!"
Bai Mulin was about to chase after her when one of his squad members urgently grabbed him and turned his head in another direction.
Bai Muqing, who had been walking forward, also suddenly stopped. After a moment, she slowly turned to face the direction of the gates.
Her cool brow furrowed even lower, as if weighed down by heavy frost.
Beneath the imposingly tall walls, two oak doors and two portcullises opened in succession. A tall man clad in armor strode across the drawbridge over the moat and stepped fearlessly into the Demonic Domain–shrouded Imperial Palace.
The people near the gates parted of their own accord, forming a corridor. The man walked through the crowd with composure.
"Mulin."
He glanced at the red-clad Knight nearby, then turned. "Muqing."
"Both looking spirited. As expected of my children."
The man laughed heartily. The people around him immediately joined in with flattering praise.
Bai Muqing listened to that booming laugh from a distance, but her mood didn't lighten in the slightest.
Her father, Bai Yi, had actually come.
Beyond their ducal title, the Bai family had inherited honorary titles such as "Grand Marshal" and "General" for generations. They also possessed more territory than any family outside the Royal Family and the Sei Curia. All of this glory had been earned five hundred years ago by the Bai ancestors for their outstanding achievements in battling the demon dragon.
That glory had sheltered the Bai family for generations, and the descendants had not squandered their forebears' efforts. Her father, Bai Yi, possessed dual S-rank abilities. Before Sykes was born, he had been the Empire's undisputed strongest ability user.
Bai Yi turned to chat with those around him. Bai Muqing silently turned to leave.
"Muqing, where are you going?"
"Muqing?"
"That child... don't pretend you can't hear me. My [Divine Domain] can see you from eight hundred meters away."
Only then did Bai Muqing stop, somewhat glumly turning around to "look" at Bai Yi from afar. "I'm going to find my friend."
"The Ye Zheng girl? She doesn't need you to worry about her."
Hearing her father's reassurance only made Bai Muqing's expression darken further. He had only just arrived, yet he already knew about Ye Zheng's situation.
Bai Muqing was about to speak again when Bai Yi pointed at Bai Mulin's squad. "If you want to go in, join your brother's squad. I need to find His Majesty first. You two be careful."
At this, Bai Muqing breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her father seemed easygoing, but once he decided to forcibly stop her, she would have a very hard time resisting.
Bai Muqing pressed her lips together and trudged glumly toward Bai Mulin's squad. It was just bringing her brother's team along—at most it would slow her down a little.
But just then, a sudden, piercing scream froze everyone in their tracks.
"Look!"
Bai Mulin followed his squad member's pointing finger and immediately went slack-jawed, eyes wide. Many around him wore expressions even more horrified than his.
In the distance, the towering, sprawling castle was collapsing like a row of fragile wooden dominoes, one section after another. A sky-blotting cloud of dust swallowed the crimson sunset. An earth-shattering roar exploded in everyone's ears. Some people were so startled they fell to the ground, only then realizing that the ground itself was shaking.
"Get away from the walls!"
Someone shouted a warning, but the well-intentioned cry only intensified the chaos. The crowd that had just been organized scattered in panic once more.
They tried to flee from the walls, running toward the open ground inside the palace. But when the billowing dust cleared somewhat and they saw the black colossus standing in the distance, they froze where they stood.
"It's the d-demon dragon!"
"The world-ending demon dragon has appeared!"
An old count cried out in a trembling voice, shattering the last shred of hope for the vast majority.
Was the doomsday prophecy about to come true today? But this was the upper district! The safest place in the Empire!
The moment the "demon dragon" appeared, even the Royal Knights who had been working hard to maintain order became flustered, clutching their heads and shouting "Impossible!"
The crowd instantly scattered like headless flies, desperately searching for an escape. Some collapsed on the spot, wailing. Others frantically attacked the Demonic Domain's barrier. Clergy members chanted passages from Divine Revelation amid the chaos, only to be knocked to the ground by someone fleeing blindly. Moments later, their white robes were covered in footprints.
Just as order was about to collapse entirely, a wall of fire taller than a person suddenly encircled the crowd. The blazing flames kept everyone from daring to take another step outward.
"All of you, stay inside and be quiet!"
"The palace walls will not collapse. This is the safest place. Until His Majesty gives the order, no one is to act rashly!"
Bai Yi roared. He was the highest-ranking and most powerful person here. Under his forceful command, the crowd finally quieted somewhat and obediently retreated.
Among the retreating crowd, one person stood still against the flow, unmoving.
The wall of fire illuminated half of Bai Muqing's face.
"They need reinforcements over there, Father. Let me out."
"I've already sent someone to request orders from His Majesty. I'll be leading a sortie very soon."
"I'm not a duke. I'm not a general. I don't need His Majesty's approval—let me out, Father."
"Bai Muqing! Do you think this is still one of your little games at the Royal Knight Order? Don't be willful at a time like this!"
Hearing her father's disappointed rebuke, Bai Muqing turned her head away completely. She faced the towering wall of roaring flame. Beads of sweat formed on the tip of her nose, making her look somewhat disheveled. Yet her usually pale, bloodless face was, in this moment, remarkably vivid.
This was her father's ability—suppressing the thousands of people present. Before such domineering, overwhelming flames, every fire-type ability user she had faced in the tournament seemed like a child's magic trick.
But she was no child playing with tricks.
Behind her, her brother Bai Mulin's voice carried a note of pleading. "Just listen to Father this time. What's out there is... it's not something we can handle."
"I'm going out not because I'm being willful."
"It's because I'm strong."
Before the cool words had fully faded, the people near the fire wall felt, for an instant, as though they couldn't breathe—as if all the air had been sucked away. The suffocating sensation left them unable to even scream.
When they could finally breathe again, a strange chill washed over them. They turned to look—the towering, impassable wall of fire had vanished, leaving only a large ring of scorched earth on the ground.
In the dead silence, Bai Muqing stepped over the charred ground and walked away without looking back.
"Bai Muqing, you stop right there!"
A ferocious blaze instantly surged toward the young woman's back, its unstoppable momentum suddenly interrupted by a tree that toppled across its path.
"Muqing, I'll go with you."
Bai Muqing turned her head slightly and paused.
Shu Wan stepped forward with a gentle smile. Behind her, two Knights exchanged a glance but said nothing. They followed her as well.
Among the crowd, members of the Ye Family spotted the familiar figure. Though they had fallen on hard times thanks to Ye Fanjing and Ye Zheng, they now "kindly" jumped out. "Lady Shu, even if Her Holiness the Pope is missing and her fate uncertain, you mustn't be so reckless as to throw your life away!"
"If Her Holiness should unfortunately perish, you could still—"
The man stepped forward and added a few more inflammatory remarks. Halfway through, he suddenly yelped as something seemed to trip him.
He crashed to the ground and was dragged at an incredible speed until he lay at Shu Wan's feet.
But Shu Wan didn't spare the man on the ground a single glance. She called out toward Bai Muqing, her gentle voice carrying a hint of entreaty.
"Muqing, take me with you. I won't be a burden."
"I'm not weak either."
Bai Muqing stood not far away, half-turning her face. She nodded. Shu Wan pressed a hand to her chest and broke into a smile, then jogged to her side.
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