The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 224

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 224
When Iandros slashed through the air with his blade, the illusion tore apart and reality emerged.
Tiel stared at Iandros’s sword in astonishment, her mouth falling open slightly. Had Iandros been capable of wielding a blade like that?
In truth, what had just happened was not Iandros forcibly rending their illusion asunder through sheer power.
Iandros had created a fissure with his sword and opened the entrance to his own Subspace.
Three distinct places could not exist within a single space. As the real space and Iandros’s Subspace both opened, the relatively weaker illusion naturally dissolved.
With the illusion lifted, countless Beast-kin came into view. Tiel swallowed hard.
They were surrounded on all sides—before, behind, and to either flank—by Beast-kin in staggering numbers.
They were a mixed gathering regardless of age or gender, and all of them had eyes darkened to black. Tiel recognized at once that Orpheo had done something to them.
And yet.
“……This person!”
Tiel gasped as she recognized one of the nearby Beast-kin. It was the young man who had handed her a bread basket when she first arrived in Arcadia.
In other words, all of these were Beast-kin from Arcadia!
“No wonder the town stayed so quiet even with all that commotion.”
Iandros spoke through gritted teeth. Only then did Tiel realize that despite the Temple exploding and the fissure opening, the number of excited and alarmed people had been unnaturally few.
The Beast-kin of Arcadia, who were ordinarily everywhere, had vanished at some point—and yet a portion of them had appeared here.
‘No, not just a portion…….’
From what she could estimate, their numbers accounted for more than half of all the Beast-kin living in Arcadia.
Tiel’s expression grew troubled. Though they all appeared to be under Orpheo’s control, she could not simply attack them.
“Where is Rowen?”
Cassius, too, spoke with evident unease. They scanned through the densely packed Beast-kin, searching for Rowen.
Then.
“Ah, there!”
Tiel spotted a man carrying a beautiful woman with silver hair through the crowd of Beast-kin.
The moment he noticed Tiel had seen him, he turned around with unhurried ease.
“The young lady of Asterian…… or should I address you as Head of Household?”
The man spoke with a relaxed tone. Cassius and Iandros narrowed their eyes, studying him intently.
Tiel clenched her dress hem and called out to him.
“You……!”
“Tiel, do you know this man?”
Iandros asked.
“No, I don’t…….”
Tiel replied.
“Then why did you call out as if you did?”
He asked, bewildered. Tiel scratched her head. Why had she called to him that way? She couldn’t explain it herself.
The man laughed as if finding it amusing, still cradling Rowen in his arms as he regarded them.
Rowen lay limp in his embrace like a corpse, and Cassius realized that the man was controlling all these Beast-kin.
When he shifted his body, every Beast-kin around them tensed in response.
‘He’s using Orpheo’s power to control all these Beast-kin without question.’
If that were the case, confronting or defeating him would prove extraordinarily difficult. He was still deliberating how to resolve this situation.
“Tiel!”
From some distance away came Ludian’s voice. Behind him stood Asterian’s elite knight order.
The Imperial Palace’s knights accompanied them as well—it appeared the Emperor had finally arrived in Arcadia. If the Emperor was here, the other noble houses would arrive shortly.
If numerous houses combined their strength to aid them, subduing all these Beast-kin without harm would be far from impossible.
At that moment, Ludian drew his blade with a sharp ring. Flames erupted from his steel sword. Ludian had wreathed his weapon in fire.
Realizing her second brother was about to attack these Beast-kin for her sake, Tiel quickly raised her hand, her palm open in protest.
“No! Please don’t, brother! Don’t strike them! For now, just wait there!”
“Why? Tiel, they’re trying to harm you right now…….”
Ferdi, who had been standing behind Ludian, stepped forward to continue but suddenly halted.
Ferdi noticed that the Beast-kin surrounding them held no weapons whatsoever in their hands.
If these were that man’s army, it made no sense for them to carry not even a single decent weapon.
After observing the Beast-kin—a mixed group regardless of age or gender—Ferdi let out a dry laugh.
‘I nearly made a grave mistake.’
He spoke while regarding the multitude of Beast-kin. He had been on the verge of considering them all enemies and cutting them down, as if they were threatening his father, his sister, and the Crown Prince of the Empire.
But they were all ordinary Beast-kin.
Ferdi possessed keen perception—seeing that all their eyes had turned uniformly black, he recognized at once that they were being controlled by Orpheo.
“Your Highness, are you unharmed?”
Cedric galloped forward on horseback from behind Ludian and Ferdi, sweat glistening on his brow. His steed too was weary, breathing heavily.
Iandros, gripping his blade, nodded to confirm he was uninjured.
“As you can see, I am fine. So stand down, Cedric. We cannot harm them. They are all citizens of the Craxion Empire.”
Iandros commanded. Cedric, observing the densely packed Beast-kin, bit his lip and reluctantly withdrew.
Though it was the Crown Prince’s order, he was far from satisfied. Not harm them? They were currently posing a threatening stance toward his lord…….
Yet as the Crown Prince’s loyal knight, he could not disobey his command, so Cedric stepped back without further protest.
Ferdi pondered briefly, then spoke to Cedric.
“It would be best to have the troops move and encircle this entire plaza. Including the vast forest behind it. For now, since the order has been given not to harm them, this is our best option.”
Ferdi’s words rang true. Ludian nodded in agreement. Cedric’s expression was reluctant, but he gave his assent. The commander of the Imperial Palace’s knights, who had arrived from the Capital City, stood behind him.
The knight commander, following Ferdi’s instructions, moved the troops to encircle both the plaza and the forest. A far more imposing formation took shape.
Ordinarily, such a strategy would not be employed when a hostage was in danger. The hostage might be harmed.
However, the person beside Tiel and Iandros was Cassius Celestine Asterian—the Marquis of Celestine and once the presumed heir to the Asterian household, rumored to possess power that might one day surpass his own father.
He possessed more than sufficient capability to extract Tiel and Iandros from dire circumstances, and should the situation become truly critical, he had the ability to eliminate every last one of these countless Beast-kin and slip away unscathed.
It was for this reason that Ludian, Ferdi, and Cedric withdrew without further complaint. Only Olivier remained, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
“Tiel! Are you all right? I’ll rescue you right away!”
Olivier spoke to Tiel as though she were still a twelve-year-old child, despite the fact that she had already turned twenty-two. Her voice trembled with profound concern.
Tiel offered a reassuring smile and turned her gaze toward the man holding Rowen.
Despite being surrounded by the Emperor’s troops and Asterian’s knights, he did not so much as blink.
“I apologize for the delayed introduction. I am Je. Having no proper name, that is what everyone calls me.”
“Je?”
Cassius’s eyes widened. His pupils transformed into those of a predator sighting its prey. After ten years of searching, he had finally found him.
The Je they now witnessed was unexpectedly youthful in appearance.
He possessed a slender frame, pale skin, and wore glasses perched upon his nose.
His jet-black hair fell long enough to veil his eyes, yet even so, his dark, sinister gaze remained visible.
Je continued speaking regardless of whether Cassius was enraged.
“Are we meeting for the first time? Ah, it would seem so. Though I regret our meeting in such a place, having come this far, do observe. Witness how his carefully laid plan unfolds. How the Crown Princess’s Subspace…….”
Je released the hand he had been using to hold Rowen.
!!
Tiel’s eyes widened as she stared at Rowen. But Rowen did not fall to the ground.
Rowen’s body floated gently upward. Je smiled wickedly.
“Becomes complete.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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