1502 Gears Turn

Isadora could have chased him.

The power differential between them was too great.

A rank 9 and rank 3 wasn't even a competition.

But there were two reasons she didn't.

First and foremost, she was in a state of self-imposed restriction, keeping her strength only at rank 5.

This was to prepare herself for sealing the devil. By compressing the aura and restricting its usage, she was pushing herself to become more efficient in using it.

In principle, it worked similar to running with weights on to build stamina.

She was ready to remove that restriction if this man was really a devil. Since he wasn't, she was reluctant to stop the training session.

To show best results, it had to be carried on for 30 days. This was 23rd day already. She didn't want to waste the efforts she put in until now.

Second and while she didn't give this reason enough importance, a part of Isadora's mind, perhaps the irrational one, told her that despite everything, this man had her good intentions in his mind.

That she'd regret harming him.

It was a very very strong emotion, one that had no reason to be there. And yet, it gripped her so tight that she let him go.

Once he's out of her perception range, the emotions dissipated like vapor and Isadora looked at the sky with a sluggish gaze.

'I…what am I doing?'

*** *** ***

"Princess Isadora, do you understand how your actions would be percieved if revealed to the public?" A stern voice said in a subdued volume, as if he was trying to keep himself from yelling.

Kaaaa! Kacha!

The creaking armrest which eventually cracked under his iron grip was scarier than any yelling would've been.

The ministers in the court hall almost jumped to their feet, their damp clothes still an understatement of the nervousness clutching their hearts.

The king, an old man with long blonde hair, narrowed his eyes at Isadora who didn't even flinch.

'Something is different. She wasn't like this before!'

The ministers noticed it a second later than the king.

'Oh dear highness, do you want our poor lives? Why are you behaving like this with your father now of all times? Forget disrespect, he doesn't even tolerant any defiance.'

"Your Majesty, I apologize." Isadora pursed her lips and looked up at the old man on the throne with a composed posture.

'Phew~' The ministers heaved a sigh of relief.

The king was certainly angry with her leaving the carriage unannounced at such a critical juncture.

But other than this one time, no one on the scene could recall the last time the princess had to be reprimanded like this.

Since she put down her pride and apologized, the king should be able to forgive her and this matter would be bur—

"Since I committed such a big sin, I want to immolate myself in the court and atone for my sins." She said in a steady voice, her eyes glancing at the officials gathered in the court despite her message being directed at the man in front of her.

'Ruined! Oh my fucking god!'

Some ministers started crying already and some held each others' hands, preparing to brave whatever might come.

While the princess said she'd apologize, declaring she'd kill herself before the most important event of the kingdom was anything but an apology.

It's a threat!

'You can't afford to lose me!'

The princess blackmailed the king himself!

Such an audacious decision, no, it was more than just audacious! A straight up suicidal action!

This was the same cold blooded king who slaughtered half of his ministers five times in the reign of two centuries.

Today might very well be the sixth.

The hearts of the ministers, soldiers and public officials in the court throbbed violently.

But they neither tried to escape or unite to rebel against the tyrant.

Sure, there were more than a dozen rank 9s in the hall. A handful of high rank 9s, a few peak rank 9s even.

A normal citizen might think they could kill the king by uniting.

But the men who had their lives at stake knew better.

The king hadn't transcended into the mythical path but his power was in another realm compared to theirs.

A pseudo divine ranker was just too difficult to be killed by a couple of peak rank 9s.

So, they waited.

Holding their hearts from exploding out of the nerve wrecking tension, the ministers hoped the King would kill only a few today.

That's the only way for them to survive.

Who would survive and who would die?

That's up to heaven and the king who ruled this piece of land under the heaven.

But this was the best bet they had. The only bet, in fact.

"Do not make any mistakes in the preparation, Princess Isadora."

The King's words were unbelievable. How could the tyrant forgive the provocation?

"As you instruct, your majesty." Isadora bowed lightly before heading out.

Looking at her receeding silhouttee, the King narrowed his eyes.

He would've usually punished her severely for threatening him but stopped as he realized something strange.

'The powers of order, chaos, life, death, space, time and soul. The traces are very, very small. But I can be sure of it. They're from the same source. What the hell is going on?'

Isadora had met a being or a thing that had all these powers.

It couldn't be an artifact. The best they could any of the kingdoms could pull of was three paths. Trying it with seven paths would only explode the damn thing.

Then was it a person?

That's even more absurd.

Just like the myths of divine ranks, there were also myths of Supreme Gods, who wielded the power of all the paths in their avenue.

And they're only the ones who could wield the power of multiple paths.

'She has chanced upon something precious…the secret that will let me reach the divine ranks. Yes, she is the key.'

The King's eyes shone.