Chapter 801: The Same Dagger

Mireya’s attack had been so sudden—so blisteringly fast—that the elders were left staring in stunned silence. Their minds struggled to process what had just happened, unable to comprehend the blur of movement that had sent Elder Sylvester and Elder Tharion crashing into the far wall.

’What... what was that just now? I couldn’t even react in time!’ Elder Davis screamed inwardly, his throat dry as he swallowed hard. The raw, suffocating might of the Queen pressed down on him like an unshakable mountain.

None of them had expected Mireya to fight back. In their eyes, she was just a figurehead—a woman without real power, a ruler who only retained her crown because of their political support.

But in this moment, they realized how disastrously wrong they had been. Mireya wasn’t some powerless figure to be manipulated—she was a predator who had just bared her fangs.

"Mireya! Enough of this madness!" Elder Davis shouted, his voice trembling despite his effort to sound authoritative. "There’s a limit to how far you can frame someone, and you’ve already crossed that limit!" He glared at her, unwilling to believe her accusations about the death of the previous Queen—Valeryan Sylara Moonshade.

Mireya didn’t even spare him a glance. She walked forward, each step heavier than the last, her killing intent pressing against the walls of the throne room.

The air seemed to grow colder with every step she took.

Being ignored only stoked Davis’s fury. His jaw clenched, veins bulging in his temple.

"You—!" he began, his tone rising—

"Crossing the limit?" Mireya suddenly stopped, her gaze snapping toward him with such icy force that the words died in his throat. Her voice rose, sharp enough to cut through the air. "Am I the one crossing the line here?!"

Her eyes burned like twin flames as she took another step toward him. "No... it’s you, all of you, who crossed that line long ago. And unlike you pathetic snakes, I don’t mistake the weapon that murdered my mother. Never."

She moved past Davis without another glance, closing in on Sylvester and Tharion—still pinned against the wall, groaning in pain. Their faces twisted with agony, blood dripping from the corners of their mouths. The impact had left them with shattered ribs, crushed organs, and spines dangerously close to snapping.

Then, without turning, Mireya’s voice cut through the tense air, directed toward the other elders. "Elder Davis. Elder Nymeria. Don’t worry... I’ll deal with you two next. For now, I’ll start with these traitors."

Her words hit like a death sentence.

An overwhelming pressure erupted from her body, far more suffocating than before. It slammed into Elder Davis, Elder Nymeria, and Elder Camilla Rose like an invisible tidal wave, locking their bodies in place and forcing their knees to nearly buckle.

’Why... why did I agree to come here with these idiots?’ Elder Camilla sighed deeply, silently regretting every step that had led her to this moment. ’I’m not even involved in their filthy politics... and now I’m stuck here with them.’

Beside her, Elder Nymeria’s expression tightened. Concern—and a flicker of fear—darkened her features as she clenched her fists.

"Elder Camilla!" Nymeria shouted, her voice edged with desperation. "Stop that girl immediately—if you don’t, she’s going to kill them!"

"Indeed! She’s lost control—both Elder Sylvester and Elder Tharion will be dead if we don’t act now!" Elder Davis added frantically, nodding again and again. His voice wavered, his earlier arrogance replaced by thinly veiled panic.

Elder Camilla’s gaze slid toward the two elders, her eyes narrowing—not with urgency, but with judgment. The subtle disdain in her expression made Elder Davis and Elder Nymeria exchange an uneasy glance.

"Why should I?" Camilla finally said, her voice dripping with mockery. "This isn’t my mess. I have no intention of getting involved. Leave me out of it."

Her tone was final, and her eyes turned away from them as if they were beneath her notice. She had already decided that she wanted no part in this fiasco—and truthfully, she was in enough danger simply being here.

But deep inside, she knew the truth. She had seen the way Mireya reacted when she recognized those daggers, the raw pain and fury in her eyes. There was no mistaking it—Mireya wasn’t lying about who had killed the late Queen Valeryan Sylara Moonshade.

She was sure now. Elder Tharion and Elder Sylvester had been involved in Valeryan’s death. The realization left a cold, bitter taste in her mouth.

’Could it really be true? That the very men who stood beside Queen Valeryan in public were the ones who struck her down? How... how could such treachery even be possible?’ Camilla thought, refusing to meet Davis and Nymeria’s desperate stares.

Mireya’s eyes locked on Sylvester and Tharion, her rage seething like a wildfire.

"Finally..." she breathed, her voice trembling—not from fear, but from years of rage and grief. "Finally, I have the chance to avenge my mother. All this time, I never suspected that my enemies were right here... standing before me, pretending to be loyal."

Her voice sharpened, a vow laced with venom. "Now that I know the truth, I will not rest until I’ve killed you both with my own hands."

Her Qi flared violently, condensing into spectral hands that seized Sylvester and Tharion by their throats and hauled them into the air.

"Aghh!" Sylvester choked but managed a smirk, even with blood trickling from his lips. "We should have killed you along with your mother... letting you live was our one mistake."

Elder Tharion, coughing from the crushing force on his neck, let out a strained, twisted chuckle. "You should have seen her face... the moment we drove our blades into her. The shock... the disbelief... it was delicious." His eyes glimmered with cruel satisfaction despite the pain tearing through him.

"What?!" Elder Davis and Elder Nymeria gasped in unison, their faces drained of color.

The words struck them like a physical blow. They had thought Mireya’s accusations were nothing but emotional outbursts. But now, hearing the confession from the traitors’ own lips, they stood frozen in disbelief.

The truth shattered the illusions they had held for years. The glorious death of Queen Valeryan, the heroic sacrifice they had believed in, was nothing but a bloody betrayal.

Instead of standing beside their ruler when she fought the malevolent dragon, these men had driven a blade into her back.

"H-How could you...?" Camilla’s voice shook—not from fear, but from pure, unfiltered rage. She stepped forward, her glare filled with venom. "How could you betray Queen Valeryan? She was the most powerful and benevolent ruler our people ever had! She bled for this kingdom—she died for this kingdom! And you two... you murdered her. For what?!"

Her voice cracked with disgust. "...Power?"

The throne room fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by the ragged breathing of the two traitors in Mireya’s grasp.

"Mireya, why waste another breath on them? End them. Now. They don’t deserve to draw another."

Yuan’s voice cut through the tense air like a blade, drawing every gaze toward him. His tone was calm, yet carried the weight of a death sentence.

Then he turned to Sylvia, who stood seething with fury, her hand already gripping her sword.

"Sylvia, keep your eyes on those two," Yuan said, his gaze briefly flicking toward Elder Davis and Elder Nymeria. "If they so much as twitch to interfere, kill them where they stand."

Sylvia’s lips curved into a sharp grin. "Don’t worry. They won’t take a single step without my permission." Her eyes turned glacial as they locked onto Davis and Nymeria, daring them to move.

"Hahaha!" Elder Sylvester’s bitter laugh rang out, even as Mireya’s Qi-held grip kept him suspended in the air like a ragdoll. "You think you can kill us just because you’re the queen? You have no idea what we’re capable of."

Mireya’s brows knit in suspicion, watching him carefully—until Elder Tharion shouted, his voice booming.

"Guards! Seize this woman! Apprehend everyone in this room!"

The throne room doors burst open with a deafening clang. Nearly twenty elven soldiers poured inside, clad in gleaming royal armor reserved only for the most elite of the kingdom’s forces.

"Quick! Apprehend the queen and her allies! And kill that human sitting on the Evergreen Throne!" Sylvester roared, his voice dripping venom.

The guards didn’t hesitate—they fanned out, half encircling Mireya, the other half turning their weapons toward Anna Grace, Yuan’s wives, and the others.

Several more soldiers charged toward Yuan, blades raised high. The captain, a tall elf with a scar down his jaw, barked the order.

"Attack together! He’s unarmed—bring him down!"

For a brief moment, Yuan simply watched them approach, his expression utterly calm. Then, a low chuckle escaped him, building into a deep, mocking laugh.

"So this is your confidence?" he said, his voice echoing in the throne room. "Now I see why you fools were so calm... you thought these little toys could save you?"

His laughter stopped abruptly, his gaze turning colder than a winter’s night.

"Do you truly believe... that a handful of goons can kill me?"

The words had barely left his lips when his cultivation erupted like a tidal wave. A crushing pressure swept through the room. The guards charging him were hurled backward mid-strike, their bodies slamming into the stone walls with bone-rattling force.

"AGHHH!!!" their screams filled the air as spiderweb cracks tore through their enchanted armor, their protective magic shattering under the sheer force of Yuan’s Qi.

The impact left the room in stunned silence. Every elder’s eyes were locked on Yuan, disbelief etched into their faces. This wasn’t just strength—it was overwhelming dominance.

"Impossible..." Elder Davis muttered under his breath, his voice trembling.

Yuan leaned back against the throne, completely at ease.

"Sylvia," he said lazily, as though he were asking her to pour him tea, "I’m far too comfortable to get up from here. Kill the traitorous guards. They no longer have a place in this world."

"Hehe~" Sylvia’s lips curved into a sultry smile as she slowly licked them, her gaze locked on the guards like a predator savoring the hunt.

Then—she vanished.

To the elders, it was as if she had dissolved into thin air. One blink, and she was gone.

"Aghhh! NO—!!"

"Please! Spare me—!"

Their pleas were useless. Painful, blood-curdling screams filled the throne room as Sylvia’s figure flashed from one soldier to the next, her blade cutting through armor and flesh like paper.

One guard’s helmet clattered to the floor before his head followed. Another dropped his weapon, clutching at the deep gash across his throat before collapsing.

These were not loyal warriors—most had been bought with coin. And in Mireya’s eyes, that alone sealed their fate. If they could be bought once, they could be bought again.

In mere seconds, the elite royal guard lay scattered across the floor, their blood pooling and mixing beneath the grand hall’s marble tiles.

"All done." Sylvia appeared once more, standing exactly where she had been before, her sword dripping crimson. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Too easy..."

"Well done, Sylvia. Now it’s my turn."

Mireya’s voice was soft—too soft—just before a wave of her Qi Manifestation blasted outward. The guards who had surrounded her were hurled away, weapons flying from their hands before they could even register what had happened.

Her sword was out in an instant, the gleam of its edge catching the light. Then—slash, slash, slash—every guard’s head fell in one merciless sweep. Their bodies collapsed almost in unison, the room filling with the sickening thud of headless corpses hitting the floor.

Mireya sheathed her sword, her movements controlled and deliberate, before retrieving a dagger from her spatial ring. The dagger—wicked and black-edged—was identical to the ones Elder Sylvester and Elder Tharion still clutched.

Her grip tightened. "This... was the dagger that took my mother’s life." Her voice trembled—not from fear, but from unrestrained rage. "And now... the same dagger will take yours."

She dragged both men closer with her Qi, ignoring their groans of pain.

"N-No... don’t! It—it was a mistake, alright?! We didn’t mean—"

"Shut your filthy mouth." Mireya’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper. In one brutal motion, she drove the dagger deep into Sylvester’s chest, twisting until the life left his eyes. "I don’t want your excuses. Not now. Not ever."

The head of the council slumped forward, lifeless, his blood spreading across the polished floor.

Elder Tharion’s eyes went wide with primal terror, his body trembling uncontrollably. He opened his mouth to beg—

—but Mireya didn’t let him. The dagger pierced his heart without hesitation, ending him instantly.

Both bodies lay motionless, their blood mingling on the ground. Mireya’s breathing slowed. Her hand trembled as she let the dagger fall from her grasp, its metallic clang echoing in the heavy silence.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. And then—through the tears—a smile broke across her face.

"Finally..." she whispered, her voice shaking. "Finally... I avenged you, Mother..."