The Empire's First Rose Blooms Like the Night

Charlotte held the Magic Alchemy Staff but didn't move. He was hesitating whether to shoot Lord Leo now when a thought entered his mind: "Machu Picchu has completed its labyrinth transformation."

He smiled slightly and activated Bloody Glory, but deliberately suppressed it to Tier 2. He also left the fortress and was soon left far behind by Lord Leo.

While pretending to run desperately, he kept an eye on the sky and indeed saw several black dots circling above.

Charlotte thought to himself, "Those must be Lord Leo's blood bats. No wonder he runs so fast with those guiding him."

Every time Charlotte was about to lose sight of him, Lord Leo would deliberately stop and wait for him. After running for over two hours, they heard the dense sound of gunfire, like popping beans, in the distance.

Charlotte was quite worried. He didn't have Wells' ability to slash bullets with a sword. Even with Bloody Glory pushed to its limit, it could block bullets but wouldn't last long.

This was a common problem for low-tier Knights. In a one-on-one fight, Battle Qi could block a few, maybe a dozen, bullets without issue, but on a battlefield, with stray bullets flying from all directions, that little bit of Battle Qi wasn't enough.

Charlotte mused inwardly, "If only I could master the Blood Flame Transformation Technique, turning into a ball of blood flame would greatly reduce physical damage."

"Mastering the Agility Technique and Spirit Spider Technique would also work; maybe I could dodge bullets."

Lord Leo leaped onto a cliff, gazed intently for a moment, and said to the "panting" Charlotte who had caught up, "The South Seraph Restorationists have failed."

Charlotte glanced down. The two groups were locked in fierce combat. He was a layman when it came to war and couldn't tell how the battle was going, so he asked, "How can you tell?"

Lord Leo said calmly, "Ferdinand's six personal guards are not on the battlefield."

Charlotte, being from the Duchy of Behemoth, immediately understood. Grand Duke Ferdinand's six personal guards were very famous; it was said they were all mid-tier Transcendents, and together they could even fight a high-tier Transcendent. Since they weren't on the battlefield, they must have retreated while protecting the Grand Duke.

He said, "Since the mission failed, there's no value in us staying. Let's leave."

Lord Leo shook his head, leaped up, and called out, "Keep up!"

Charlotte looked up at the sky and saw the black dots, knowing that Lord Leo must have discovered something. He had no choice but to follow.

Their speed was not slow. Although Charlotte deliberately held back a little, he was still much faster than an ordinary person. Turning around a mountain hollow, they heard shouts. Lord Leo waved a hand, and Charlotte immediately lay down behind a nearby rock, took out the Anti-Space Sniper Rifle from his Alchemy Staff, and loaded bullets into the Spatial Magazine.

The Spatial Magazine of this Anti-Space Sniper Rifle was not small, but when concealed, the Spatial Magazine had to transform into Anti-Space, which would expel the ammunition. Carrying twenty Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets was already the limit for an ordinary person.

Charlotte set up his rifle, pretending to start searching for targets.

Lord Leo nodded slightly, thinking, "Qian Nan is an excellent soldier, but for this war, he must be sacrificed."

"This is for the future of Byron."

"Every citizen of Byron must be prepared to make sacrifices."

In the mountain hollow, over a dozen people were fighting, and six or seven bodies lay on the ground.

The smaller group was desperately trying to protect a little old man in his fifties. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, but his small mustache was still clean and tidy. He was dressed exceptionally lavishly, wore no weapons, and was squatting beside a female corpse with a look of panic, sadly wiping away tears. Even with his subordinates urging him desperately, he refused to leave.

Charlotte had seen Grand Duke Ferdinand during a festival celebration and recognized the little old man as the ruler of the Duchy of Behemoth and the target of the South Seraph Restorationists' assassination. The female corpse on the ground was the Duchess Ferdinand. It was said that they had a poignant and beautiful love story when they were young, and the Grand Duke and Duchess were known throughout the Empire of Fars for their deep affection.

Charlotte muttered, "He won't leave his wife even at a time like this. Grand Duke Ferdinand truly loves her!"

Lord Leo chuckled lightly and said, "The South Seraph Restorationists are still a bit lacking. Qian Nan, you can give them a hand."

"Aim at Ferdinand and send him on his way."

Charlotte took several deep breaths, first familiarizing himself with the firearm in his hand. He had barely touched this thing since getting it, and the next action couldn't go wrong.

After confirming that pulling the trigger would fire, Charlotte suddenly twisted his waist and pointed the Anti-Space Sniper Rifle in his hand at Lord Leo. He knew he only had one chance, so he fired three shots without hesitation.

The Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets cut through the air, emitting a mournful wail, flying an unknown distance.

Charlotte stared blankly at Lord Leo, who had suddenly leaped high into the air for some unknown reason.

Lord Leo's sudden leap meant the three shots Charlotte had expected to hit him perfectly instead shot into the air.

Charlotte gritted his teeth, about to draw Blood Rose and fight desperately, when he saw a streak of "night" sweeping towards Lord Leo.

The person who attacked was his respected senior, Menilman Sumay. The Empire's First Rose was in military uniform, and the rapier in her hand seemed to merge with the night, blooming fiercely in the air.

Lord Leo, being a high-tier Transcendent, was indeed worthy of the title. He sensed the sword strike in advance and, while leaping into the air and engaging Menilman, also unintentionally avoided Charlotte's "sneak attack."

He hadn't expected Charlotte to shoot at him and thought this "loyal Imperial soldier" was helping him block Menilman.

Lord Leo's rapier didn't even have time to transform into a Knight's lance before he clashed head-on with Menilman.

With just one exchange of blows between the two rapiers, Lord Leo let out a long, pained howl. He had been struck in the chest, and Blood Energy continuously leaked from the deep wound. He hastily used the Blood Bat Technique, transforming into hundreds of small bats that clustered together and flew back the way he came. Before leaving, he didn't forget to cast a charm spell using the "Blood Kindred True Word Technique": "Qian Nan! Stop this crazy woman for me."

Charlotte was completely unaffected. After all, he was a man who had stared directly at an Evil God; resisting charm spells was a minor matter. Just as he was about to fire two more shots to hit a couple of the small bats, he heard Menilman's voice echoing softly in his ears, saying, "Your reaction was so fast just now. If you had coordinated with me a little better, that Byron vampire wouldn't have gotten away."

Charlotte looked embarrassed. If he had acted a little earlier or a little later, he indeed would have had a chance to heavily wound Lord Leo.

Menilman's perspective was different from Lord Leo's. That's why Lord Leo would misunderstand that Charlotte was helping him by shooting at Menilman, but Menilman wouldn't.

Menilman sheathed her rapier at her waist and said, "Let's go take a look at Grand Duke Ferdinand!"