Mark was fleeing in front, with Hacksaw and Bat chasing behind him.
As for the other ten second-rank Children of Diabolos, they had already vanished.
Perhaps they knew they couldn't catch up and gave up the chase, or maybe they were doing something else.
Mark could only keep running; he had no time to ponder why only two people were pursuing him.
The Order's secret base was in the suburbs, and Mark couldn't reach the city in a short time.
Moreover, his magic power was insufficient; he wouldn't be able to escape far before being caught.
Just as Mark was at a loss, he suddenly tripped because he wasn't watching his step.
He fell into a large patch of bushes.
And there just happened to be a hidden cave here, large enough to accommodate one person.
Mark fell right into it.
Unless one walked within a meter of the cave entrance, this hidden cave would be impossible to discover.
Mark was forced to conceal his aura, hoping the two wouldn't find him.
Bat and Hacksaw looked at the endless expanse of bushes and still searched nearby, but found no trace of Mark.
Because Mark had concealed his aura, the two couldn't sense him even with magic power.
"What do we do? We can't find this guy! This patch of bushes is too big! By the time we set it on fire, he should have already run far away!"
"This kid can only be said to be lucky!" Hacksaw said.
Hacksaw and Bat turned to leave.
Bat glanced at the bushes and took out the flint he carried.
He set the bushes on fire.
The two left.
But Mark didn't know they had left.
The flames quickly reached Mark's location. The hidden cave he was in wasn't very deep, just big enough to conceal his entire body.
Thick smoke drifted into Mark's nose and mouth, and Mark could only try his best to cover his mouth.
The flames were already upon him; he could only bury his head, letting the flames burn his hair.
If he used magic power to protect his hair, it could prevent it from burning.
But he didn't dare to do so, as that might expose him, and he didn't know that the two who were chasing him had already left.
After an unknown amount of time, Mark realized it was already dawn.
His hair was also burned beyond recognition.
Mark endured his injuries and slowly walked towards the Royal Capital.
All his injuries were left by the attacks of the second-rank Diabolos Cult members.
Because the wounds hadn't been treated for a long time, they had worsened, affecting his current strength.
Now, he might not even be a match for a single second-rank diabolos.
Even so, Mark gritted his teeth and headed to the Royal Capital; he wanted to tell the truth to Lady Alice.
On his way back to the Royal Capital, Mark fainted due to severe injuries.
The next night, Mark successfully returned to the Royal Capital, with no further incidents along the way.
His injuries were also gradually healing on their own. Although the wounds had been extremely serious at the time.
But Mark still stubbornly endured it and pulled through.
Powerful Magic Swordsmen all have strong body repair functions.
As a Magic Swordsman, Mark was not weak.
Just as Mark was excitedly about to enter the Crimson Knight Order headquarters.
He was stopped by the gatekeepers.
"Get lost! We don't take in beggars here!"
The guard angrily scolded the ragged Mark.
"I am Mark!"
"Do you think I'm blind! I know Mark; he has long hair and is a strong man whose power is not inferior to Vice-Captain Shishiko Kouren. How could he be in your beggar-like state!"
As Mark was about to act to prove he was Mark.
Alice walked out.
"You are Mark?"
Alice questioned.
"Princess Alice, my master he..."
Mark couldn't help but shed tears; he had finally found Alice.
It had been too difficult all this way.
At this moment, Christina happened to arrive here; she was planning to go to Sino's hut, and her path just happened to pass through here.
She saw Mark, and only recognized him as Mark through her magic power perception.
Alice also recognized Mark through her magic power perception.
Alice's expression suddenly changed as she looked at Mark, becoming enraged.
"You ungrateful traitor!"
Alice drew her sword, intending to kill Mark.
Mark was greatly alarmed and drew his sword to block.
The magic swords clashed, and Mark was directly sent flying by Alice's powerful strength, crashing into a distant house.
"As a member of the Crimson Knight Order, you actually colluded with the Daybreak Knights, and when your master found out, you killed him to silence him! Thankfully, this matter was discovered by over a dozen people! That's how we uncovered you, a spy!"
The ten second-rank diabolos members who hadn't pursued Mark had gone to the Crimson Knight Order to frame Mark.
At the same time, they also bribed their colleagues in the Crimson Knight Order.
Those who were bribed all wanted to know why they were asked to do such a thing.
"We discovered Mark's secret. Because he is a trusted aide of Lady Alice, we need your help. For such a traitor, even if we pay out of our own pockets, we want to expose his treachery to the public. We are paying you to help so that Princess Alice will believe this matter."
The Order members also produced a lot of evidence, and finally brought Shishiko Kouren's corpse.
A total of eighteen people testified that Mark killed Shishiko Kouren.
Eight people gave false testimony.
The most crucial point of this framing was that Mark had the ability to kill Shishiko Kouren.
Moreover, in the Crimson Knight Order, Princess Alice was the strongest on the surface, followed by Shishiko Kouren and Mark.
Princess Alice was unwilling to believe this matter even after learning of it.
Even upon seeing the corpse, she was unwilling to believe it.
The Order members were well-prepared; they took out a recorder purchased from Mitsugoshi Company.
They turned on the playback function.
"Ma...rk..."
Shishiko Kouren's dying voice came from the recorder.
This was recorded by a second-rank Child of diabolos.
He just timed it perfectly.
The original words were "Mark, live on."
He only recorded the two words "Mark."
With such evidence presented to Alice, she could only believe the words of these Diabolos Cult members.
But she did not publicize Mark's betrayal... Just as Alice wanted to kill Mark to avenge Shishiko Kouren.
Christina intervened and blocked Alice's fatal blow.
"You, this fellow, indeed Mark was forced by me!"
Christina's act of saving him further solidified the fact of Mark's betrayal.
Mark looked at Alice, whose eyes were full of murderous intent, and he couldn't understand why Alice considered him the murderer of Shishiko Kouren.
"I didn't kill Master; they did. It was done by those Order members hidden within the Crimson Knight Order. Master and I discovered their secret, and they wanted to silence us!"
"They are among the Crimson Knight Order..."
Mark listed the names of The Order members within the Crimson Knight Order.
Alice scoffed. As the Captain of the Crimson Knight Order, Princess Alice was aware of these people's strength; all of them combined couldn't defeat Shishiko Kouren.
Let alone kill Shishiko Kouren while Mark was also present.
"Are you still trying to quibble now? You damned traitor!"
"I did not betray the Crimson Knight Order! I am not a traitor!"
"Hmph, your master has come to pick you up, yet you're still putting on an act!"
"I don't know her, I have no relation to her," Mark explained anxiously.
But Alice completely disbelieved anything Mark said, just as she wouldn't believe her own younger sister.
Once she believed someone was wrong, she would no longer listen to anything they said.
Christina looked at Mark and also couldn't understand how Mark became a traitor.
As a subordinate of Princess Alexia, if Alice wanted to do something, she wouldn't stand idly by.
Anyway, she would just go against Princess Alice.
"Do you think you can protect him from my hands?"
"Yes!" Christina said confidently.
She had also worked hard to grow during this time, and she didn't think she couldn't defeat Princess Alice.
The former strongest princess of the Midgar Kingdom was a thing of the past.
"Is that so? Then prepare to die!"
Ordinarily, Alice might have been more rational, but now her Vice-Captain, Shishiko Kouren, was dead.
This was a culmination of accumulated resentment that completely erupted at this moment.
She harbored murderous intent and decided to kill Christina.
Although killing a Duke's daughter was a grave sin, she couldn't care less about that now.
Her anger needed an outlet.
It was just bad luck that the other party happened to come and provoke her.
Alice erupted with terrifying red magic power, which gathered on her sword.
She unleashed her strongest sword strike.
"Named Swordsman!"
Christina held her breath and concentrated, swinging her sword upwards as well.
The two swords clashed, and Christina did not retreat a single step.
"Your strength, how can it be so strong!"
Once upon a time, Christina was merely an upper-middle-ranked student at the Magic Swordsman Academy.
In less than a year, her strength had made a qualitative leap.
"You, like Alexia, have submitted to that guy."
"That's an unpleasant way to put it! What do you mean 'submitted'? That's called a wise person adapting to circumstances."
Sino appeared and spoke.
Sino's gaze turned to Alice.
"Did you ever think, before, that it seems something also happened between you and me? And not long ago."
Sino said, looking at Alice.
"What is that person saying? What happened between Lady Alice and him?"
The members of the Crimson Knight Order whispered among themselves.
Alice's anger vanished instantly, replaced by shame.
She was especially afraid now, afraid that Sino would expose her secret.
If that happened, her prestige among the people would be completely gone.
Once such a thing occurred, she might be labeled with the title of an "Indecent" Princess.
If such a thing really happened, she might commit suicide.
"I still need to investigate Mark's matter further. For today, I will spare you!"
Alice said, looking at Christina.
Alice turned and left.
"Did I say you could leave?" Sino said.
Alice stopped in her tracks and moved no more.
"You, a common student from Midgar Academy, dare to speak to Lady Alice in such a way."
A member of the Crimson Knight Order scolded Sino.
The next second, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him and kicked him flying.
That figure was Milia.
As Sino's personal maid, she could not tolerate anyone disrespecting her master.
Christina was behind Milia.
She had also wanted to teach that person a lesson just now, but Milia was a step faster than her.
Christina obediently came to Sino's side and hugged his arm.
Who exactly is this guy?
The Crimson Knight Order members were all wondering this internally.
Alice stood still, cold sweat pouring down her face.
She heard her own heartbeat, beating extremely fast.
"What exactly does this guy want to do? Is he going to execute me right here? No, that's absolutely not allowed! This is the Crimson Knight Order's base; all my subordinates are here. If they saw it..."
Alice didn't dare to continue thinking.
It was like a horror story.
Too terrifying.
Sino moved, walking step by step towards Alice.
With each step Sino took, Alice's heart trembled.
Although she could accept such a thing, she could not accept it in public.
As Sino got closer and closer.
Alice's back was already soaked with sweat.
"Princess Alice, you seem very nervous?"
Sino said, standing next to Alice.
"What exactly does she want to do? Is she really going to do that? No, I'd rather die than let her succeed!"
Alice controlled all the magic power in her body to gather at her feet and left at full speed.
Sino actually didn't intend to do anything; he just found Alice's righteous demeanor a bit annoying.
She was completely being a hypocrite; she had clearly made some agreements with Sino, but she seemed to look down on Christina.
It was simply hypocritical.
Moreover, Alice had also wrongly accused a loyal subordinate.
Although Mark had nothing to do with Sino, from Mark's perspective, he was indeed a bit miserable.
A loyal subordinate was ultimately executed as a traitor.
Alice ran, and the people of the Crimson Knight Order were at a loss.
Sino looked at Mark.
"Now you are free, but do you regret it?"
"I..."
Mark was at a loss now; he didn't understand anything.
"Don't understand? Then I'll tell you! Those who killed your master turned around and framed you as the murderer."
"Do you regret it now?"
"Is regret useful?" Mark muttered to himself.
"No, the path is yours to choose. You wanted to investigate the truth, and I gave you the truth. This is the result of wanting to investigate the truth without having the ability!"
Sino finished speaking and turned to leave.
Christina and Milia also followed him.
Leaving behind the severely injured Mark.
"This is the guy who killed the Vice-Captain! Everyone, we must avenge the Vice-Captain!"
The Order members began to incite the crowd.
"Avenge the Vice-Captain!"
"Avenge him!"
"Ungrateful fellow!"
Over thirty Magic Swordsmen, wielding magic swords, charged towards Mark.
Mark had already been severely injured by Princess Alice's attack just now.
And at this moment, Sino's words echoed in Mark's mind.
"This is the result of wanting to investigate the truth without having the ability."
"I need power, I demand powerful strength!"
At this instant, Mark felt a sudden surge of powerful magic power within his body.
This magic power had no relation to Sino, but it was very similar to diabolos cells.
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