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"Okay, but are you familiar with each other? I remember you didn't seem to have met many times."
Alexia had already rolled her eyes in her heart. She and Kreya were very familiar with each other. They spent a year together at Shangguan Wen's place, and they were in the Alliance of Oaths in a duo queue at the hot springs.
"We've met before, and we hit it off right away. Sister, do you agree~~?"
"Okay, I agree, but if there's any danger, leave. Also, be careful within the Knights. They may not be completely trustworthy, so be careful."
After discovering that there was an undercover agent within her own Knights, she secretly bought sound shells from the Siyue Chamber of Commerce and placed them in some key yet inconspicuous locations. She actually discovered an undercover agent planted there by the Diabolos Cult. In order not to alert the enemy, she did not eliminate the undercover agent immediately. Alice was not sure whether there was an undercover agent among her currently trusted confidants.
"Well, sister, I understand."
After leaving her sister's knights, Alexia took out her magic phone, which was a communication device for members of Shadow Garden, capable of long-distance communication across countries.
The one who put on the Bluetooth headset started to contact Kreya.
"Kreya, I've already tricked them over. Let's gather at the designated location. I'll be in the know and you'll be in the dark. This is our first mission, so don't mess it up."
Kreya on the other end of the magic phone snorted twice. She was currently ranked 668th in [Shadow Garden], behind Alexia. She was very dissatisfied. But she was a newcomer who had just joined. If she jumped up and objected, it would only weaken Shangguan Wen's prestige.
"Don't worry, Alexia. I won't hold you back. Although I'm ranked below you, my ability to carry out missions is no less than yours."
There was a hint of confidence and playfulness in Kreya's voice, which came clearly into Alexia's ears through the Bluetooth headset of the magic phone.
"Haha, of course I believe you, our Hot Spring Duo Alliance is invincible!"
Alexia responded with a smile, and her mind couldn't help but emerge the happy time they spent together at Shangguan Wen's hot springs for 1.5 hours. That experience not only deepened their friendship, but also allowed them to grow a lot with each other's support.
"Okay, let's get down to business. Our plan this time is to trap the killers impersonating Shadow Garden. They could be human or magical puppets. The other members of Shadow Garden will cooperate with us in the dark."
"But we thought that we should avoid having to do anything with them, since it was Sid who brought us in after all."
"Cid's men? The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Why did I foolishly choose to seal my memories back then? If I had chosen to accept, wouldn't I have been Codename 1 of Shadow Garden?"
Alexia, who was on the other side of the magic phone, was speechless. After a while, she said:
"Ah, it's a pity that I missed it, but it's better than being kept in the dark with good intentions."
"Yes, I know Sid didn't hide it from me on purpose, but as his fiancée and his sister, there's nothing I can do."
"Alexia, tell me, am I incompetent?"
Alexia comforted her somewhat lost comrade and said:
"Don't think so. If you think so, Sid wouldn't have trained you and me in vain. He sincerely hopes that we will become stronger and be able to help him."
Alexia didn't say anything more, even if it was a tiny word.
Chapter 77 The clue is interrupted
Alexia was walking in the alleys of the busy streets of the royal capital. The killer pretending to be from Shadow Garden was assassinating innocent victims here, and deliberately shouting loudly that he was from Shadow Garden.
Although there are knights patrolling at night, my sister doesn't know how many layers of these knights are real and how many layers are fake, and she doesn't know either.
She was mentally prepared to kill the Knights.
Following Shangguan Wen's instructions, she released three familiars, which flew into the air, dived into the ground, and turned into pendants to follow her.
The flying familiar and Claire confirmed each other's position. Claire also used the ability of shadow stealth, which was not as good as the predecessors, but in the streets and alleys where light and darkness alternated, as long as the opponent was not a master, it was enough.
Alexia's actions did not last long, and soon a cloaked man followed behind her. The other two cloaked men spread out, surrounding her from both sides, while also confirming whether the second princess in front of them was enforcing the law by fishing.
Naturally, the whereabouts of the cloaked man could not be hidden from the familiar she released.
"There are only four targets within a kilometer, one of which is human. The remaining ones are magic puppets. Claire, can you find the person who is remotely controlling the puppets?"
Claire, who was also observing with the help of her familiar, said: "Unfortunately, we haven't found the puppeteer who is operating the puppet. It's probably an automaton. We can only ask the real person who is the target."
"Then get to work!"
Alexia turned around and swung her sword with a gesture far beyond her previous sword-drawing skills, directly cutting off the cloaked man's cloak. The cloaked man's true appearance was revealed. He was a humanoid puppet, shouting
"I am from Shadow Garden"
The movements of his hands did not look like those of a puppet. He brandished a sharp sword and attacked Alexia from a tricky angle. Then, the two puppets that were originally on the left and right also stepped into the battlefield and surrounded Alexia in a triangle formation in the alley.
Facing this sudden attack, Alexia's eyes showed no sign of panic. She had already anticipated the other party's actions, and therefore calculated every step with extreme precision.
With a flash of sword light, she lightly turned sideways, avoiding the fatal blow of the simulated doll. At the same time, the sword in her hand counterattacked at an incredible angle, leaving a clear sword mark on the doll's chest. Although the doll seemed to be fine, she still persisted in attacking.
"Claire, go find the puppeteer."
Alexia calmly commanded, quickly adjusting her own tactics. Her sword, imbued with Armament Haki, prepared to slash through the debris. Claire responded immediately, using her Shadow Stealth ability to stealthily approach the other puppeteer she had discovered.
Alexia's figure shuttled between the three enemies like a ghost, and each sword swing accurately hit the puppet's head and arm.
Claire was also approaching her target, and a figure wearing a black robe and a mask, with her face hidden in the shadow of a hood, gradually became clear.
He obviously had not expected Alexia to help him, and that the helper would be so sharp and quick, and now he was scrambling to leave. But it was too late.
Claire swung her sword and cut off the puppeteer's legs. She pointed the bloody sword at the puppeteer's throat and demanded:
"Tell me, are you from the Diabolos Cult? Who are your accomplices? And where are they?"
Alexia followed closely behind, jumping from the ground floor to here in a few leaps, looking at the prisoner in front of her with unfriendly eyes.
Seeing that he had no chance of escape, the puppeteer's eyes were filled with fear, but more of it was terror. He only shouted:
"I am from Shadow Garden, and I am here to kill you, the murderer..."
Before she could finish her words, Claire decisively cut off the puppeteer's head and shattered it with thunder magic.
"He wants to inform his accomplices. We will hide aside and observe and will come over soon."
"Um"
After a while, people from the Knights came to the top floor and checked whether the dead puppeteer was alive or dead. They did not find any useful clues. Then they saw the Knights took out a bottle of potion and sprinkled it on the dead puppeteer. Under the effect of the potion, the puppeteer's body melted in the blink of an eye, leaving only a pile of white foam.
The Knights checked the surroundings again, and after confirming that there was no one there, they evacuated immediately.
On the rooftop of a building a few hundred meters away from the Knights, Kreia removed her magical disguise and asked Alexia:
"do you know it?"
Alexia broke through the defense and said:
"It's Viscount Wharton and his men. They've discovered some rats from the Diabolos Cult. Damn it! Could it be that the entire Knights Order is made up of members of the Diabolos Cult, and my sister is just a puppet?"
Claire frowned, staring at the backs of the knights leaving in the distance, feeling anxious and doubtful.
So he said with unquestionable firmness in his tone:
"Although this possibility is small, it cannot be completely ruled out. If that is the case, the situation will be more difficult than we imagined."
Alexia clenched her fists, anger and unwillingness flashing in her eyes.
"We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must find out the truth as soon as possible. If the entire Knights are completely infiltrated and controlled, then the entire kingdom will be infiltrated as well."
Claire pointed with her jade finger and said:
"Then does Viscount Wharton want to follow us?"
Alexia rolled her eyes at Claire and said:
"Follow, but I can't guarantee whether the other party will go to his own cult base or return to the Knights' base. I need to know."
Keeping a distance of several hundred meters, Alexia and Claire followed closely behind. Somehow, Viscount Wharton and his men suddenly ran and separated into the alley.
Alexia was very anxious and said:
"Oops, we're exposed, give chase!"
Claire grabbed Alexia and said:
"Don't chase, we'll be exposed too. Continuing to chase will only lead to us falling into a trap. Retreat."
Alexia cursed unwillingly and chose to retreat. Continuing to pursue would only lead to them falling into an ambush trap set by the Diabolos Cult. Shangguan Wen taught them to judge the situation and advance and retreat accordingly.
The two women had to forge their evidence to the person with ulterior motives and then separated.
When Alexia returned to the princess's residence to meet with her sister Alice, she first told her that Viscount Wo960ton was an undercover agent of the Diabolos Cult, and then she received bad news from her sister.
Viscount Wharton, who was found to be a traitor, died.
Alexia's pupils shrank suddenly when she heard this. It looks beautiful!
The speed of killing and silencing was so fast.
She looked at Alice in disbelief and said:
"Sister, are you saying that Viscount Wharton is dead?"
Alice nodded slightly, her expression solemn:
"Yes, I just received the news. He and his men were found dead in a remote alley, stabbed in the throat. Preliminary assessment suggests they died after you lost track of him."
Alexia frowned, her thoughts racing:
"How is this possible? We clearly didn't get close, let alone attack. Could it be that someone else from the Diabolos Cult took action first? Or is there some other force involved?"
Alexia doesn't believe that other members of Shadow Garden would do this. She won't kill them until she has obtained information through torture.
Alice sighed, stood up, and paced back and forth in the room.
"The current situation is unclear, but this incident has clearly attracted the attention of all parties in the capital. The death of Viscount Wharton has shaken the Knights. Too many nobles have died recently, and the replacements are barely keeping up."
"Tsk tsk, some of them are nobles of the kingdom, but who knows what their identities are behind the scenes?"
Alice sighed. She was originally a warrior who loved fighting and killing, but now she had to play the Game of Thrones. It was too much of a strain on her brain.
Chapter 78 Teaching Senior Sister
In an abandoned village outside the royal capital.
A man in a Knights uniform, wearing a six-eyed mask, listened to his subordinate's response:
"Sir, Wharton has been silenced, the puppeteer is dead, and the people we framed for Shadow Garden need to be reassigned."
The six-eyed masked man said unconcernedly:
"Don't worry, as long as we get the ancient relics of the academy, those insects hiding in the darkness in the [Shadow Garden] won't be able to survive for more than a few days."
The ancient relic - Eye of Greed, when activated, can suppress the magic power of the enemy target to the lowest level within the target range, while friendly personnel will not be affected at all.
This is a rare artifact.
Soon, another subordinate came running over, knelt on one knee and said:
"Sir, the master from the academy has sent word that Shirley Barnett's research on the Eye of Desire is nearing completion. He has ordered us to prepare for battle. Impersonating Shadow Garden is suspended for the next few days."
The masked man with six eyes frowned slightly upon hearing this, then relaxed his brows. A sly glint flashed in his eyes. He turned to his kneeling subordinate, his tone filled with unquestionable authority:
"Notify everyone to cease all actions targeting Shadow Garden and focus on monitoring the campus. Especially Shirley Barnett's movements; I need to know her every move. Also, increase vigilance to ensure we can seize the Eye of Greed as soon as possible."
The subordinates quickly retreated after receiving the order, while the six-eyed masked man stood where he was, his eyes piercing through the dilapidated scene of the abandoned village and looking straight at the teaching building deep in the academy.
The Order of Diabolos is extremely eager to pursue ancient relics. They dream of unifying the world, especially the leader, the Knights of the Round Table, who wish to become the second Diabolos.
----split line----
During the time when Shirley Barnett was researching the Eye of Greed, the academy was also holding an internal swordsman competition. With the registration of two good friends, Shangguan Wen also participated in it, which was completely inconsistent with his being a passerby in the academy.
When his name appeared on the electronic screen, Alexia and Claire came over at the same time, both hoping that he would perform well in the swordsman competition on campus.
Shangguan Wen rolled his eyes when he heard this. What good was there in this academy? It was just a complete bullying.
What he can do is suppress his strength, appear to be on equal terms with an opponent, and then admit defeat in a battle with a powerful opponent.
The game started soon. Both Kreia and Alexia were in a crushing position against their current opponents in the academy. If they were not worried about appearing too strong and attracting too much attention, they could even activate their armed color domineering and kill people here.
The emcee in the stadium shouted loudly through a loud speaker:
"Next up is the princess from the Kingdom of Oriana. Rose Oriana, the student council president of Midgard Magic Swordsman Academy."
"And her opponent is Sid Cagelo"
Both sides stepped forward, each drew their sword and pointed it at the other. As the referee announced the start of the match, the swords of both sides collided.
The two swords intertwined in the air to form gorgeous patterns, and each collision stirred up circles of energy ripples visible to the naked eye, making the attack varied and unpredictable.
"As expected of Claire's younger brother and the second princess' rumored boyfriend, he's quite capable, even on equal terms with the president."
"It seems that Princess Alice is blessed to be able to bring her and her brother into the Knights."
But Rose, the person involved, didn't see it that way. It wasn't the so-called 50-50 split on the surface, but Shangguan Wen in front of her was letting her win too much. He was simply teaching her swordsmanship and deliberately suppressing her strength.