NOVPUB
Chapter 286: Preventing an Escalating Problem
Aldrian opened his eyes, only to see Sylphia looking at him with a curious expression.
"Is everything fine?" she asked.
Aldrian smiled at her and nodded.
"Don’t worry. Everything is fine, just a minor problem that needs my attention."
Sylphia narrowed her eyes. She knew that anything requiring Aldrian’s attention was never a "minor problem." She was already accustomed to Aldrian’s scale of problems. Every time Aldrian took action, it would lead to chaotic situations affecting many people.
She wanted to know what he planned to do but didn’t want to appear like an annoying woman with her nagging and curiosity. She decided to wait for Aldrian to tell his story as he usually did.
"Do you want to take a stroll to the city plaza? That’s one of the places you haven’t visited yet, right?" Aldrian suddenly asked her.
Sylphia tilted her head in wonder but nodded. She would follow Aldrian wherever he decided to go.
The city plaza was located not far from the Flamecrest mansion. It was a gathering spot where many people enjoyed the vast open space, unobstructed by buildings. The only structure in the plaza was a grand, beautiful mountain adorned with a dragon statue at its center.
This plaza also served as the venue where the Flamecrest family made announcements to the public. It was the most effective and fastest way to address the crowd.
When Aldrian and Sylphia arrived, they saw many people engaged in various activities. Despite the crowd, the plaza felt spacious due to its vast size, spanning over 1,000 square meters. After finding a spot to sit, Aldrian gestured for Sylphia to take a seat. He then turned his gaze toward the Flamecrest family’s mansion, visible from where they were, before shifting his attention back to Sylphia.
"Sylphia, can you stay here for a moment? I won’t be gone long; there’s something I need to do. I’ll explain it to you afterward," Aldrian said.
Sylphia smiled and nodded. "Just be careful," she replied.
Aldrian nodded in return before disappearing from the plaza. After he left, Sylphia glanced around and noticed a stall selling cotton candy, which made her eyes light up. She walked over to the stall and bought one for herself to enjoy. She loved sweet treats like this.
Waiting for Aldrian to finish his business while savoring the cotton candy made the moment perfect for her.
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Aldrian appeared on the rooftop of the mansion and extended his senses across the entire building. He eventually detected the presence of the princess in her room, accompanied by her guardian knight at the moment. He knew that her guardian knight, a Middle King-stage cultivator, was one of her most trusted men and privy to her connection with the Lust Devil.
The princess could not evade the watchful eyes surrounding her without the assistance of this loyal knight.
Not wanting to miss the chance to learn more, Aldrian used his technique to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"How is it, Sir Klain? Have you already placed ’those’ in the locations I specified?" Princess Loraine asked her guardian knight.
"Yes, Your Highness. I’ve placed ’those’ in the designated spots. They will activate immediately upon your signal," Sir Klain replied.
"Good. Then all that remains is for me to announce it to the masses," she said with a satisfied tone.
Hearing their conversation, Aldrian frowned. From what he had seen in the princess’s memories, the devils’ plan was to further tarnish the Flamecrest family’s reputation and even attempt to bring about their collapse. However, he hadn’t uncovered any concrete details about how she intended to execute the plan. Now, hearing them speak as if something had already been set in motion, only one conclusion came to his mind.
"The plan must have arrived not long ago. They’re communicating with someone from the devils’ side, even while staying within the Flamecrest mansion."
Hearing that they had placed something inside the mansion, Aldrian extended his senses across the entire property to search for any anomalies or anything out of the ordinary. After half a minute, he finally detected something that didn’t belong in the mansion, something that hadn’t been there the night before. The objects were hidden in inconspicuous parts of the mansion, cleverly placed and small enough to avoid attracting attention.
"Teleportation artifacts! To think they would use devil teleportation artifacts."
Aldrian knew that this would escalate the problem beyond what it should be. From the conversation he had overheard, he had a good idea of what they intended to do. He then focusing his senses on all the teleportation artifacts, and with a flick of his will, all the artifacts vanished from their original locations and reappeared in front of him. There are a dozen of them, each circular in shape and about a meter in diameter.
This was the same type of teleportation artifact that the devils had used to infiltrate many places across the continent. It was one of the forbidden items, prohibited from entering any territory on the continent—except, of course, in the devils’ domain. If the princess had gotten her hands on one, the only way it could have been smuggled into the empire was through a special channels. Fortunately, he knew such channel that most likely involved in this operation, a channel tied to the organization he had neglected for some time—the Golden Swan Commerce.
They were the ones cooperating with the devils to distribute these artifacts throughout the continent. Although the last news he had heard from Arson Vuran, the Thunderous Shadow Pavilion master, indicated that the organization was in the midst of an internal conflict, it seemed that their branch in this city was still actively involved in the devils’ activities.
After gathering all the teleportation artifacts, Aldrian placed them in his storage ring and teleported directly in front of the princess and her guardian knight. The sudden appearance of Aldrian startled them, leaving them unable to react as he grabbed Sir Klain by the head and Princess Loraine by the abdomen. Aldrian sent a jolt of lightning toward Sir Klain, a shock so intense it rattled his very soul, causing him to instantly faint. As for Princess Loraine, Aldrian sent his energy into her dantian, sealing her cultivation. She couldn’t do anything—or rather, she didn’t have time to. Everything happened so quickly that all she could do was realize that her energy could no longer flow through her dantian or meridians.
"Who are—mmph!" She tried to shout, but Aldrian grabbed her mouth and lifted her.
"This place is already under my control. No matter how much you shout, your voice won’t reach outside, and I hope you don’t do anything stupid once I release my hand from your mouth, Your Highness. I have no desire to stain my hands with imperial blood."
"I already know who you are, what you’ve done, and what you’re planning to do here. You’d better give up on that idea, because if you continue down this path, I can’t say what will happen to your lover, Rodwin Romano."
Hearing the true name of the Lust Devil from Aldrian’s mouth, Princess Loraine’s eyes trembled. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t, as Aldrian’s hand was still covering her mouth. Watching her struggle, he finally released his hand, causing her to slump to the floor.
She gasped, feeling the weakness that coursed through her body, but she still stared at Aldrian with trembling eyes.
"What do you mean? What happened to Rodwin?" she asked. She didn’t know who this man was or why he seemed to know about her lover—or anything about her plan. The only thing on her mind was the way he had threatened her with the name of her lover, a name known to very few. Did this young man somehow have a connection with the devils?
Aldrian looked at her with an expressionless face.
"Rodwin is already in a precarious situation. Unfortunately, he messed with the wrong person, and now his life is in my grasp. If you don’t want anything to happen to him, then you better give up your plan for the Flamecrest family today. If you stubbornly continue with it, then say goodbye to your lover."
Princess Loraine’s body trembled at Aldrian’s threat, but then she stopped, forcing a rigid smile.
"You’re lying. There’s no way my dear could be in your hands. He’s someone with many—"
Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened in shock as Aldrian took something out of his storage ring.
"Chain of the Underworld’s Guardian! Does that mean what he said is true?"
What Aldrian had taken out was the Lust Devil’s artifact. The lingering aura and energy unmistakably emanated from the Lust Devil, leaving no doubt in her mind that this artifact is not a fake.
Seeing the princess begin to waver, Aldrian felt fortunate that he had taken the Lust Devil’s artifact after the devil’s death. He hadn’t expected it to be so useful in this moment. As he had anticipated, once he mentioned the Lust Devil and threatened her with it, the princess’s mind immediately clouded with doubt and fear. She started to believe what he had said.
Aldrian was about to continue speaking to the princess when he sensed someone approaching her room, seemingly intending to visit her.
