While Helena was in deep thoughts, Duchess Margery also turned around and ran out of the banquet hall, causing the nobles to sigh in relief.
But before she left, she looked back at the Crown Prince and spoke.
"Bring the situation under control, Huggin. Do what a king should do next."
Meanwhile, the crown Prince Huggin nodded subconsciously, turned his gaze towards the hundreds of nobles, and ordered.
"Lady Roysia! Let escort the nobles out of the Palace safely."
Upon hearing those words, not only Roysia but even the Royal Family members and the nobles got stunned inside.
"N-No, Your Highness! What if one of them might is the main reason for this assassination?" Roysia couldn't help but intervene.
"Take back your words, Lady Roysia! You are accusing the honorable nobles without any proper evidence. It's unacceptable." A voice raged among the crowd.
"Yes. Moreover, who gave you the authority to even accuse a noble?"
"Unlike your incompetent soldiers, we are brave warriors of this kingdom and earned this title by shedding blood and sweat!" Voice of disagreement and shouts raged inside the hall.
Even Baron Wido and other nobles raised their voices and started going into brawls with the Royal Knights, who tried to stop them from leaving.
At that moment, Baron Auguinare also woke up from the stupor, turned his gaze towards Helena, and asked.
"Where is that young lad, Helena?"
"I think he went on his own, my lord. What should we do now?" Helena asked in a nervous tone and glanced around.
"What is there to think about? We are the protectors of this kingdom, and we are going after 'His Majesty Lucius' to find out more about the real situation. From the way his majesty ran out of the hall, he must have found some clue. Let's follow after him." Baron Auguinare said with a firm tone and started walking towards the banquet hall's exit.
"What if Abium comes here and search for us?" She didn't like helping the royal family and thought of an excuse.
"Oh! Then, tell Camilla to stay here with her." Baron Auguinare said as he pointed his finger at Lady Roysia and added.
"She will take care of your sister."
Although Helena was a little hesitant about his suggestion, she soon nodded her head and agreed.
Then, she looked at Camilla and spoke.
"Don't get caught by these nobles. Although no one would dare to do in this situation, you should be more careful."
Meanwhile, Camilla flapped her tiny wings, flew up in the air, and nodded.
"You don't have to worry about my safety, sister. I will be fine."
Saying so, she turned around and flew towards where Roysia was standing.
Meanwhile, Helena and Baron Auguinare entered the long corridor and started running toward the other side of the Palace.
Within a minute, they reached the palace garden and shifted their gaze toward the Chapel built on their left side.
Helena also noticed a strange metallic gate on the opposite side wall and furrowed.
At that moment, the former King Lucius attacked madly with his long sword and seemed to be trying to break it using the sword aura.
At that moment, Margery also arrived beside Lucius and asked in a hurry.
"Father, What happened?!"
"Somebody entered inside the Royal Treasury. And, I don't know how they did that!" Former King Lucius said in a grim tone.
On the other hand, Margery showed a disbelief look on her face and asked.
"How is that possible? Isn't our guardian spirit allow only you and my brother to enter inside?" In truth, she also knew very little about the Royal Treasury, even though she was the head of the Intelligence Department.
"That's what I am also wondering." A frown appeared on the former King's forehead.
At that moment, Margery thought of something and asked while furrowing.
"What happened to the Royal Mages? Aren't they supposed to protect the Palace? Don't tell me they all betrayed!" Margery asked but suddenly stopped.
She had a bad feeling about this.
"I am also waiting for their reply, but no response came back. It seems all Royal Mages betrayed the kingdom like the other one." He paused for a moment, glanced back at Margery, and spoke.
"Get back. I am going to try something."
Meanwhile, Margery nodded and soon turned her gaze towards Helena and Baron Auguinare.
No, her gaze soon landed on their left side.
A total of twenty elite guards entered the Royal Garden at that moment and ran in her direction.
"Oh? Are they Duchess's elite squad? I heard a lot about them during the past ten years." A strange smile appeared on Baron Auguinare's face.
"Come on, lass. We should join them." Baron Auguinare took a step forward without even waiting for a second and started running after them.
"Ugh! I should've stayed back." Helena muttered bitterly and hurriedly chased after Baron.
As they arrived closer to Margery, she also noticed Baron Auguinare among the group and soon smiled.
"It seems there are still a few trusted nobles present in this kingdom." Saying so, she raised her right hand and signaled them to stop their advance.
"Ready your weapons. When the enemy comes out, attack with everything you got, got it?"
"Yes, Your Highnesses." All elite warriors replied in unison.
Then, Margery took a few steps away from the metallic gate and took a crossbow from her spatial ring.
But unlike the normal crossbows, it appeared to be inscribed in strange characters and emitted some mysterious power.
'A magic artifact? Is she going to join the battle?' Helena quietly stood among the group of people and soon frowned as she sniffed the air.
'Hm? I smell blood.' Before she could look around, a bright light suddenly came from behind, followed by a loud explosion.
"What was that?" She muttered in shock and tried to look up at the dark sky.
But suddenly, her expression froze.
At that moment, she saw four headless bodies hanging from the top of the wall and remained motionless.
The enemy appeared to have decapitated the mages and even mutilated their bodies. Their limbs were broken in weird angles, their clothes were ripped off, and some parts of their bodies were eaten by something!
From her experience, she could tell that it was not a human who killed those guys but something else.
"Look over there!" She shouted and pointed her finger at the opposite wall.
Meanwhile, Margery, former King Lucius, and others followed her finger and soon widened their eyes.
"Royal Mages! The enemy killed them?" Margery's voice appeared anxious. She knew the Royal Mages were First-tier beings and could even battle against a Second-Tier Mage for some time.
But what appeared in front of her eyes shocked her deeply.
After a short silence, the former King took a deep breath and imbued mana into his long sword before covering the sword edges with a reddish aura.
Then, he dashed towards the metallic gate and slashed at it with all his might.
A large cut appeared on the gate.
But before others could rejoice, some mysterious force appeared out of nowhere and repaired the damaged door.
"Auto regeneration, huh?" Lucius muttered with a sigh and continued to attack the metallic gate.
But after a minute, he finally gave up on breaking the metallic gate and backed away in disappointment.
"It seems we have no choice but to wait for the enemy." He added before sheathing his sword.
...
Meanwhile, Abium quietly stood behind the ornamental tree trunk and silently watched his action.
"A sturdy metallic gate, huh."
Muttering, he looked up at the dark sky and soon shook his head
'It seems Mages won't arrive here on time!' If Helena weren't standing among the group of elite knights, he would've turned around and walked away from the Palace quietly.
But now, he had no choice but to join the battle.
'Well, it can't be helped.' He quietly turned his gaze towards Lily and asked.
"Have you seen what that demon looked like?"
"It's just a cobra snake, Mister. But it managed to expand in size and even used some teleportation spell to disappear from the terrace." She suddenly stopped talking, thought of something, and added with a sigh.
"Also, I feel something is off about this whole mission. Why would a demon want to invade a rural kingdom's treasury? There must be something precious hidden in there, right?" Her eyes glinted in curiosity.
"Definitely. And, I feel that this treasure should be far more valuable than some high-tier artifacts." Abium also agreed to her words and spoke.
"So, what's your goal now? Do you plan on stealing it?" Lily asked jokingly.
On the other hand, a smile appeared on Abium's face.
"You are indeed a sharp one, Lily. Yes, the reason I brought you here is mainly for that purpose." He said calmly.
You are crazy!" Lily couldn't help but mutter in shock.
Meanwhile, Abium quietly squatted down, activated the spiritual scan ability, and sent a minute amount of waves in all directions.
Within a second, his spirit power moved towards the surroundings and scanned the whole area.
But as soon as his spirit power touched the metallic gate, some invisible force appeared out of nowhere and blocked the spirit wave from passing through!
'A barrier, huh?' He nodded in understanding and soon shifted his gaze towards the elite guards.
'Most of them are fourth and fifth-tier warriors. Among the whole group, Helena is the weakest. I don't know where she got the confidence to stand in the front.'