assistirfilmes Chapter 176: Coming of Age Ceremony (2)
Chapter 176: Coming of Age Ceremony (2)
Chapter 176: Coming of Age Ceremony (2)
However, it was practically impossible for the princess to find Carlyn among the huge crowd.
Moreover, Carlyn was hiding behind the long line of people.
He was moving forward, hidden in the shadows, following the princess who was slowly advancing amidst the cheers of the people.
Emmet cautiously approached the princess, who had murmured softly and quickly turned her head.
“Your Highness, is there something wrong?”
The princess, with a slightly dazed face, shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you perhaps sense something ominous?”
“It’s nothing. I just thought I saw a familiar face.”
In the conversation while looking straight ahead, Emmet narrowed his brows imperceptibly. A familiar face?
The first person that came to mind was Carl Schurtafen.
Emmet was one of the people who felt the greatest sense of betrayal towards Carlyn. The princess had not yet told Emmet about Carlyn.
“Strengthen the security a bit more.”
He ordered the surrounding knights. If Carl Schurtafen was here, it meant the parade was in an extremely dangerous situation.
The trained knights subtly adjusted their positions and heightened their vigilance.
The people shouting the princess’s name were too focused on looking at her face to notice this change.
But not the devil worshippers. With their keen observation, they could immediately detect the change.
“What? The formation changed slightly?”
“Did they notice?”
“No way.”
“The guys below might have leaked some killing intent.”
“That can’t be. It was the princess who turned her head first, not Emmet.”
“True.”
The same was true for Carlyn. He could immediately tell that she had sensed the Winds and tried to find him.
After all, it was he who had put the Winds’ protective barrier around her.
‘It seems okay.’
It was a choice made after much deliberation. He couldn’t guess how the princess would react.
The reason he moved the Winds despite the possibility of causing a commotion during the parade was because of the gravity of the situation.
In fact, he had many worries. Carlyn intended to make the princess the emperor and face the devil worshippers with her at the center.
Even if the princess learned the truth, there was no guarantee that she would maintain a cooperative relationship with him.
Carlyn, too, couldn’t imagine how he would react if he were in the princess’s position.
However, the princess who felt the Winds did not show anger or fear. Rather, it was close to joy. Of course, he couldn’t be certain.
‘I might be seeing what I want to see.’
People see the world as they wish. Although he tried to maintain an objective perspective since becoming a spy, it wasn’t always possible.
Carlyn pushed away his complicated thoughts. Such worries could wait. Right now, stopping the incident was the priority.
“Waaah-!”
Another big cheer erupted from the back of the procession. It was because the second prince, following at a distance from Erendil, had appeared.
Traditionally, in the coming of age ceremony parade, the siblings follow to protect the imperial child who has come of age.
In the case of the first prince, the emperor took that role, while for the second and third princes, the first prince took on the role of protector.
This time, the second prince was assigned. The second prince waved his hand with a seemingly friendly face.
Between the princess and the second prince, in the middle of the procession, was Sword Master Rudehrn. It was a measure to protect both of them.
Therefore, Carlyn’s Winds did not linger in between them.
‘Could it be...’
For a moment, a thought flashed through Carlyn’s mind. It was about the bomb set aside in the street vendor’s cart.
Could it be targeting the second prince?
The Sword Master wouldn’t be the target. There was a crowd between the parade route and the street vendors.
The amount set aside was insufficient to harm the Sword Master through that crowd. The Sword Master is superhuman. He would react the moment the bomb explodes.
Unless it was on the scale of the bomb placed in the fruit shop, he clearly wouldn’t sustain major injuries.
However, he couldn’t be certain easily. It might just be meant to keep the Sword Master in check.
Carlyn rather hoped it was targeting the second prince.
‘I’m planning to deal with them all anyway.’
He had no intention of leaving them alive and allowing rebel forces to form. Unlike the third prince who had no support, the other princes were different.
If left alive, they could split the empire with the support of the devil worshippers. Although the possibility was low, seeds of division needed to be eliminated.
The people’s cheers grew louder.
There was no reason for the sound to diminish as there were people waiting for the princess on every path she advanced, and the second prince was following behind.
Carlyn was detached from this festive atmosphere. He moved quickly through the crowd, his mind racing.
It was a moment of extreme concentration due to the tension.
‘I hope it goes as planned.’
He intended to let the bombs explode.
If he had wanted to stop them, there were plenty of opportunities. A week ago, yesterday, or this morning.
But he didn’t stop them. If he acted first, it would be difficult to gauge how the devil worshippers would move.
It’s not easy to deal with suddenly changed plans in places he doesn’t know about.
On the other hand, there was a way to stop the bombs. Even if the amount was more than during the previous victory parade, he was confident.
Moreover, he also considered that if another terror attack targeting the princess occurred, it would help her approval ratings.
‘Following the triumphal ceremony, a second terror attack. People will think the devil worshippers are attacking because they fear the princess who showed her abilities in the war.’
Anyway, the moment of decisive battle was approaching. 100 meters, the remaining distance to the fruit shop.
Of course, since it was a parade moving at an almost crawling pace, there was more time than expected.
13 meters, 11 meters, 8 meters...
Carlyn detected the devil worshippers starting to ignite the bombs.
The bombs hidden in the fruits and those separately grouped together. Anyway, once one explodes, they all explode together.
Although there was a large crowd between the shop and the princess, it was enough to destroy all of that.
“Now!”
With Carlyn’s shout, wind and sand moved together. It was sand that had been moved little by little into the surrounding alleys for several days.
Since the start of the parade, it had moved under people’s feet amidst their cheers. People just thought dust was rising because of the large crowd.
Carlyn’s Winds came first. He pushed away the people crowded in front of the shop with the winds.
“Hey! Don’t push!”
Small screams spread. A man who turned his head angrily was bewildered to find no one behind him.
The knights at the front and the princess were equally surprised by the sudden commotion.
The devil worshippers in the shop were also perplexed, but they had already lit the fuse. The plan was in motion.
Just before the gathered bombs exploded, the devil worshippers started throwing fruits towards the princess.
Carlyn didn’t miss this. The fruits slicing through the air showed strange movements, making U-turns and returning to the shop.
And over the created space, a huge and thick sand barrier shot up. The explosion was simultaneous.
Baaaaang-!
The ground shook. A tremendous explosion beat against the sand barrier, breaking through the Winds’ shield.
“Your Highness!”
Emmet threw himself towards the princess. Crash! The shattered sand barrier burst and overflowed in all directions.
Multiple layers of Winds blocked the outside. They withstood the flying debris and the pressure of the explosion. Of course, the princess still had the Winds’ protective barrier.
Except for the parade route, everything was devastating. The 4-story building where the fruit shop was located shattered and shot upwards with the explosion.
The three buildings next to it were collapsing, and the buildings behind also burst open.
“Aaaagh!”
“H-help me!”
Even though the direct explosion was blocked, the commotion was enormous. Since there had been a terror attack during the triumphal ceremony before, people fell into panic and fled in all directions.
The devil worshippers waiting nearby were equally surprised.
What’s going on? Why is it intact? Should we proceed with the plan as is? Someone blocked it!
But they moved according to orders. They were people who came knowing they would die here today, no matter how things turned out.
‘Oh no.’
Although Carlyn had anticipated this, there were more people hiding in the crowd than expected. They were ones he hadn’t been able to guard against.
Two of the knights guarding the princess’s surroundings were also devil worshippers.
After the bomb exploded, if they were alive, they were to finish it for sure. That was the order they received.
They advanced towards the princess who had rolled on the ground with Emmet. Carlyn quickly kicked off the ground.
A wave of fatigue hit him from using all his strength to block the explosion, but now was the time to move.
He stopped the two knights with his Winds. Under the sunlight, a crescent moon blooms amidst the dust and smoke filled with the aftermath of the explosion.
“Kuk!”
He cut down both with one slash. Emmet, who was late in drawing his sword while rolling on the ground, was shocked.
The princess was looking at Carlyn with slightly dazed eyes.
“Your Highness!”
Emmet hurriedly stood up and blocked Carlyn, but Carlyn and the princess paid no attention to him.
The princess, quickly regaining her composure even in this chaos, showed an elegant smile that didn’t match the situation.
The eyes of the princess and Carlyn met. No words were necessary between them. The princess had already guessed the truth of that day.
Through the princess’s eyes, Carlyn could see that fact, and that her anger towards him was not great.
“You came.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You’re a little late.”
Carlyn didn’t know how to respond. He was a bit flustered by the reaction, which was different from what he had worried about.
“...I apologize.”
At that moment, Rudehrn appeared, cutting through the chaos filled with dust and smoke. He paused upon seeing Carlyn, his sword drawn.
“Schurtafen.”
But there was no hostility. He didn’t attack. He too, always by the emperor’s side, had guessed the inside story of the incident.
He had already sensed the sand barrier and Winds that rose just before the explosion.
An uncomfortable silence flowed for a moment.
Even at this moment, debris was raining down from the sky. Carlyn tried his best to blow them towards the collapsed buildings.
Bang-!
That silence was shattered by the sound of a bomb from behind. Sharp screams spread from the back of the procession.
“...”
Rudehrn, who had been looking at Carlyn for a moment, bit his lip and turned his body around. He had confirmed the princess’s safety, after all.
The Sword Master ran at full speed towards the prince.
However, it wasn’t over yet.
Those who appeared a beat late and were hiding in alleys or still waiting for an opportunity in the crowd were approaching.
“Sir.”
Carlyn called out to Emmet, who was pointing his sword at him, and turned his back first.
Moonlight points towards the approaching devil worshippers, unlike Emmet’s sword.
“The enemies are still coming.”
Author's Thoughts
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