East Chester County, outside the Secret Mausoleum.
Pea vines appeared out of thin air and clustered together.
A figure emerged from among the vines.
She was a rather young-looking woman.
She wore a girlish yellow tiered dress, but on her head was an old-fashioned black bonnet.
Her chestnut hair fell naturally down her back. Her eyebrows were long and straight, and her azure eyes seemed to hold an entire sea.
This was Bernadette, Queen Mystic.
The moment she appeared, she extended her right hand and swiftly traced a symbol.
Drops of crimson blood, like tiny gems, followed her fingertips and solidified in midair.
As the symbol was completed, it expanded into an illusory, translucent door.
Through the door, a gigantic black mausoleum was faintly visible.
Bernadette immediately stepped through the door and emerged in a dark, secluded place.
Many unusual underground mosses grew here.
They covered the cliff walls, giving off a faint glow.
Together with the lights on the stone pillars lining the winding path, they illuminated the Secret Mausoleum shrouded in thin mist.
Before Bernadette could act, specks of somewhat somber light gathered in midair and condensed into a human figure.
The figure had a squarish face, black hair, blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and a thick beard. His expression was solemn.
His appearance was familiar to many people of Loen, for it was printed on the front of the ten-pound note. Of course, those who had never possessed a ten-pound note in their lives could still see his statues or portraits in places such as Memorial Day Square.
He was Loen's founder, protector, and first king, William Augustus I.
It was Him!
Through a ritual, He had descended here directly from Backlund!
Queen Mystic seemed to have anticipated encountering a powerful enemy. Her expression remained unchanged