Chapter 215: It must be an illusion!

Alice wasn’t in much better shape. Sweat soaked her hair, her lips were bitten pale, and she no longer had the strength to even speak.

"Alice, take a look at who I’ve got here."

Two greatsword warriors held Adrian up, displaying him in front of her. Phield grinned wickedly.

"My lady, you wouldn’t want your lord to be killed, would you?"

"You!" Alice’s eyes blazed with fury. A sickly flush spread across her beautiful face—she was clearly enraged. "Fight me fairly. I haven’t lost yet."

"Not interested. Surrender immediately, or I’ll hack your lord to pieces right in front of you—and feed him to the dogs."

Adrian’s pupils trembled. He shouted first:

"Don’t! Alice, surrender! I don’t want to die!"

"Exactly." Phield nodded, somewhat surprised. "Your own lord is telling you to surrender—what are you holding on for? As long as you surrender, I’ll spare Adrian’s life."

"Hahaha..."

Seeing her lord’s miserable state, Alice suddenly burst into laughter. Despair and disappointment filled her eyes.

"Has she gone insane?" Phield frowned. "Looks like the shock broke her."

"I think she’s about to go all out."

Rosalia raised her guard. "Too bad I can’t get close to her—otherwise killing her would be easy."

Terrifying flames surged from Alice’s hands. The air around her began to distort from the extreme heat. The rolling fire resembled molten lava—everything it touched continued to burn fiercely.

"Let’s all die together. If we all die, there won’t be any more pain."

Her crimson eyes, once cold and beautiful, now burned with madness. Her body turned into a streak of blazing fire, crashing down like a meteor.

Rosalia swung her sword to meet it.

"Haa... looks like I’ll have to call Ashina back."

Originally, Phield had planned to rely on Ashina to intercept all messengers. But if Alice truly lost control, she might actually kill him.

With a sigh, Phield summoned Ashina through the black crow.

Ashina moved incredibly fast—within a minute, she arrived at Phield’s side.

"My lord, Night Owl has been defeated and retreated. Adrian’s knights have suffered significant losses."

"Haha, thanks to them—otherwise today wouldn’t have gone this smoothly." Phield laughed. "Ashina, help take down Alice. Rosalia can’t handle a highly mobile opponent."

"No problem."

A fierce battle intent gleamed in Ashina’s crimson eyes. Relying on her speed, she appeared instantly beside the constantly moving Alice.

"What? So fast!"

Alice was shocked. She hadn’t expected another Divine Chosen. In just one day, she had been battered by five Divine Chosen in succession. Even with the advantage of her territory and its continuous divine power supply, she couldn’t endure such a relentless assault.

"Another Divine Chosen... good thing I surrendered," Adrian thought with relief.

"Second-Tier Divine Skill — Spear of Frostpierce."

Divine power condensed rapidly in Ashina’s palm. A dazzling, deep-blue energy coalesced into a spear.

Buzz—

The spear tore through the air with a ripping sonic boom. Even though Alice raised her flames to defend immediately, it still struck her head-on.

Energy ripples spread outward, and the violent explosion forced Phield to squint.

When the blast cleared, a fragile figure fell from the sky. Her clothes were in tatters, one barely open eye filled with unwillingness.

"Damn it... I’ll take you all down with me... Flame God Butterfly... disintegration—"

Before she could complete it, Rosalia’s chains shot out, binding her limbs and throat. The crimson vitality chains severed the pathways of her divine power.

"Heh heh heh, my lord, we’ve captured her."

"We have fulfilled your command."

The two Divine Chosen landed together, holding Alice down. Dressed in identical black robes and strange masks, they looked strikingly imposing.

"Why does it feel like we’re the villains?"

Phield scratched his head, tidying his disheveled hair from the battle’s aftermath. "Whatever. Winning is what matters."

"Cough... cough..."

Alice coughed with difficulty, spitting out blood mixed with tiny shards of ice. Ashina’s attack had clearly stripped her of any ability to resist.

"Now then, let’s settle accounts properly, my dear brother."

Dragging both of them into the lord’s palace, Phield dismissed the bystanders. Then he removed his mask and smiled playfully.

"What?"

Adrian froze. His eyes widened in shock before he scrambled backward on hands and feet, finally screaming:

"Impossible! This is impossible! My brother is a worthless coward—he could never defeat me!"

He couldn’t accept it. The weakling he had always looked down upon was now commanding two Divine Chosen and crushing both him and his own Divine Chosen.

Damn it—what kind of blind Divine Chosen would choose his useless brother instead of him?

"What’s so impossible? The Black Crow cavalry that looted Wind Orchid City—that was me too."

Phield shrugged. As if to confirm his words, a corrupted black crow landed on his shoulder.

"You..." Adrian gritted his teeth. "No wonder a useless trash like you could rival me—you made a deal with a demon."

Adrian still refused to believe it was his own failure. In his eyes, Phield had simply sold his soul.

"You’ll suffer for this. That kind of power will eventually consume you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. You don’t even qualify to make a deal with a demon." Phield waved it off, uninterested in arguing.

Alice was equally stunned. The sheer shock made her cough up another mouthful of blood.

"I regret it so much... I regret not killing you the first day I saw you."

Phield shrugged indifferently.

"Don’t give me that tragic look. The moment you tried to assassinate me again and again, you should’ve been prepared to die."

They had even used an innocent little girl as a bait bomb just to kill him.

"Haha, brother... you’re not actually going to kill me, are you?"

Suddenly, Adrian revealed a strange expression.

"How about I tell you something interesting?"

"Not interested."

Phield rejected him outright.

"Haha, then let me show you something." Adrian grinned. "In my study on the first floor—beneath the desk is a basement. There’s something very interesting down there. I’m sure you’ll like it."

"Still not interested."

Phield had already noticed the basement’s location on his mini-map. There were signs of life, but he wasn’t particularly curious.

"My treasury is also there," Adrian added.

"...Tch. Then I guess I have to take a look."