Back then, when Scarlett was in Darwitz and was falsely accused by the officials of the kingdom, she was banished. Before leaving, Scarlett had secretly engraved a summoning circle on Irish. She told her to use it only when she was in a desperate situation, as it would summon her just once.
Although right now, Irish and Chiyoko still hadn't gone all out—Chiyoko had yet to use his cosmic punch, and Irish never went on full offense from the start—Irish already knew that it wouldn't change the outcome at all. Even if they put up a great fight, they would eventually lose to her anyway.
Now that Yelan herself had given them a chance, Irish took full advantage of it to successfully summon Scarlett.
"What is happening?" Scarlett said softly, her voice calm but questioning. But then she saw Yelan and looked back at Chiyoko and the others' miserable state. There was no need for any explanation. Scarlett's expression immediately into a deep frown.
But then, Yelan chuckled, a sound that was both amused and challenging. "Scarlett Nova!" she called out, her voice clear and confident.
"Huh? You know me?" Scarlett was kind of surprised, her mismatched eyes widening slightly.
"At this point, who doesn't know you!" Yelan replied with a smirk.
"She is the seventh demon king," Irish explained, trying to sound like a cool, nonchalant girl in front of Scarlett. "We came here to assess her powers or defeat her if possible. But I guess it didn't go well!" she added with a small, bitter chuckle.
"Seventh demon king? Why her?" Scarlett repeated, her voice low. She immediately sighed.
Avion, the first demon king, had once mentioned that he had a daughter who was the seventh demon king. Even though she was a newly awakened demon king, she was the daughter of Avion. Of course she would be incredibly powerful. How would they have ever had a chance of winning at all?
"To think I would get a chance to fight with you!" Yelan said, her voice filled with excitement. She directly bolted towards Scarlett, moving like a blur.
But the moment she was about to throw a punch, Scarlett simply side-stepped with effortless grace. She caught Yelan's wrist in a firm grip and then, with a swift and fluid motion, swept her leg out, causing Yelan to fall to the ground.
It happened so fast that even Yelan was completely flabbergasted, her mind struggling to process how quickly she had been taken down.
"It's not over!" Yelan shouted in frustration, immediately getting up and launching herself at Scarlett again.
It's not like she was slow. She moved so fast that the others had a hard time even catching her movements. Yet, Scarlett dodged each and every attack with ease, even countering with her own precise strikes. They exchanged multiple blows, the force of their collisions creating ripples and shockwaves that destroyed the palace even more.
Soon, they started fighting in the air. They were like two streaks of light, constantly colliding against each other with incredible speed.
BAM!...
Yelan was directly crashed into the ground, a bitter and angry expression on her face. Scarlett, on the other hand, landed peacefully on her feet.
"I'll use my unique skill from now on," Yelan said, her voice shaking with anger and humiliation.
But then, Scarlett spoke, her voice calm and gentle. "That is enough. Do you have that much free time? Your father once said he misses you. You should meet him if you have some time instead!"
Yelan's cheeks immediately turned a bright shade of red as she looked away, unable to meet Scarlett's gaze. "Because it's embarrassing!" she muttered to herself, her voice barely a whisper.
It's not that she hated her father. Actually, it was the opposite. Back when she was a kid, her father, Avion, looked very cool to her. He would do weird and laughable things just to make her laugh. But as she grew up, those same things started to feel cringe and embarrassing. Yet, Avion never tried to change his old ways of interacting with her. So, Yelan decided she had enough and left Avion to pursue something in life by herself.
Scarlett easily heard what Yelan muttered and couldn't agree more. "Well, he definitely is cringe and a pervert. I can't agree with her more!" Scarlett thought to herself, a small smile forming on her lips.
But before she could say anything, Ingrassia interrupted. "You know her?" she asked, her voice full of curiosity.
Irish also looked at Scarlett, waiting for her response with a deep frown on her face.
"Yes, she is the daughter of the first demon king, Avion," Scarlett said casually. "Although she and I never met, I'm on good terms with him. He once told me about her!"
"First demon king?" everyone gasped in unison, their faces turning pale as they gulped in fear. Avion was said to be the most mysterious demon king because he rarely made any appearance. That's why people feared him even more. No one knew that Avion actually had a daughter. If they had known that beforehand, they never would have tried to attack so recklessly. Attacking Yelan was the same as attacking Avion.
Yelan stood up and exhaled loudly. "Just go away. I'll spare you all. I've got to fix the palace too!" she snorted, her voice clearly irritated.
Scarlett only smiled gently. "Let's go back!"
"Urgh... Someone at least give me some attention. My leg is broken!" Richard interrupted, his voice pained and a little whiny.
Ingrassia shook her head and walked towards him. She gently placed her hands on the injured area, and a warm, healing light flowed from her palms, mending his bone.
Richard stood up and looked at the others. "What a waste. I should've just stayed at the academy in Darwitz instead!" he grumbled.
The moment Scarlett heard the word "Darwitz," she suddenly remembered all the serious stuff going on back there.
"We need to hurry. There's no time!" Scarlett said urgently. She immediately reached out and grabbed their wrists, pulling them together in a tight circle.
"Wha—"
Before anyone could say anything, Scarlett used her teleportation, and the world around them dissolved into a swirl of colors. The sudden teleportation made them so dizzy they felt like vomiting.
"Why the hurry? Is something wrong?" Ingrassia asked after coughing a couple of times to settle her stomach.
"Yes. And we still don't know much!" Scarlett went on, quickly explaining what was going on, or more like, what little she knew about the situation.
Everyone's eyes immediately widened in disbelief as they listened.
"Father..." Ingrassia muttered, her heart clenching with worry for her father.
They didn't waste a single second and immediately rushed to Aoto's apartment, where he was staying. As they pushed open the door, they found Aoto and Li Feng inside, giving each other side-eye, looking annoyed but thankfully safe.
Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief, the tension draining from their bodies.
"Where is Xao?" Scarlett asked while entering the room, her eyes scanning for the missing person.
Li Feng immediately stood up from the bed and, together with Aoto, told her what had happened.
"Aoto, are you alright?" Ingrassia asked, walking over to him with a concerned look on her face.
"Of course!" Aoto gave a thumbs-up, acting as if he hadn't nearly died in the earlier fight.
"Since Xao hasn't said anything until now, then it must mean nothing happened over there. So there's no need to worry!" Scarlett said, trying to motivate Richard, who looked lost in thought.
"Yes, I hope so..." Richard muttered, his usual lively, extroverted expression was clearly gone, replaced by a quiet fear.
Scarlett was just about to discuss the current situation with everyone when, suddenly, Xao contacted her via telepathy. Scarlett's expression immediately changed, becoming both serious and deeply worried. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
"Richard, we need to go!" she said softly, her voice gentle but firm.
"Go? Where and why?" Richard's expression turned even more grim and worried. A knot of fear tightened in his stomach.
Aoto seemed to understand the situation without needing any words. He made eye contact with Scarlett, as if silently asking for her approval to come with them.
Scarlett noticed his gaze and slightly shook her head, confirming his suspicions that this was something they had to do alone.
"You guys stay here. I'll come back soon to discuss things further," she said. Without another word, Scarlett grabbed Richard by the arm and led him out of the room.
"Let's go!" she said. Six beautiful, wings sprouted from her back, and with a single flap, they shot into the air.
Since she had never been to Almeida before, she couldn't just teleport there. But her speed was incredible, enough to reach there in less than an hour. Of course, she could have made it in less than half an hour, but with Richard by her side, she needed to restrict her speed so he could handle the journey.
Soon, they finally reached Almeida. Although Scarlett didn't know where to go, Richard was there to guide her, pointing out the directions. As they reached the main palace, Scarlett saw Xao waiting for them outside the palace gates.
They immediately descended and landed beside her. Xao immediately bowed slightly as a greeting and then said, "We should get inside first." She pointed towards the entrance.
The palace had so many guards around; the security was extremely tight. Before Scarlett could say anything, Richard immediately ran towards the entrance. Scarlett and Xao followed him. The moment the guards saw him, they immediately parted to make a path for him. Richard ran into the grand hall, heading straight for the throne room.
The deeper he went inside, the more people were gathered there. Whether it was other nobles or ministers, they all looked at him with shocked and worried expressions, their faces full of pity.
"Father! Brother!" Richard shouted as he burst into the throne room.
But then his body froze. Even though he had a feeling this was coming, seeing two dead bodies laid out on wooden coffins was a reality his heart wasn't prepared for. Tears immediately flowed down from his eyes as he ran towards them. Seeing their still, unmoving bodies, his heart felt like it might explode from the pain. He immediately fell to his knees beside them and cried helplessly, his loud sobs filling the silent room.
Scarlett and Xao only stood at the back, watching him with indifferent eyes. There was nothing they could do to ease his pain. Although Scarlett knew about resurrection, Richard's father and brother's souls might have already passed through the door of rebirth and reincarnation. It was too late.
Looking at the heartbreaking scene, Scarlett was reminded of her own past. She remembered the day she killed her father, and the day her mother took her own life. The scene in front of her looked so very similar. But the only difference was that Scarlett didn't cry at that time. More like, she couldn't. .
She turned to look at Xao and asked, her voice cold, "How did this happen?"
"I don't know. It was already done by the time I got here," Xao replied, her voice just as serious. "The guards are saying the vice-captain of the Holy Knights came here with one more person!"
"Tch!" Scarlett gritted her teeth, clenching her fist so tightly her knuckles. All of this was seriously pissing her off. Especially the fact that she didn't even know the reason why it was happening. She wanted to go to the Kingdom of Mystveil to directly kill Vladimir and end this fight already, but she knew it was easier said than done. If she went in recklessly, she would be the one ending up dead instead.
"Mass amount of human disappearances, all the royals getting attacked... at this point, they are not even trying to hide it anymore," Scarlett thought, her mind racing. "What is it that they want?"