Lord O'Reilly who continued to remain outside the room could see the person holding on to the door sill, but Isolde and Alec could not...

Lord O'Reilly had become silent as he turned to the owner of this hand with reverent eyes and lightly bowed in respect.

And finally, this person pulled himself forwards and entered the room.

He had bright blue eyes and well-managed blonde hair, strangely similar to Isolde's... At first glance, he seemed to be kind, but there was a sort of hidden ferocity in his eyes highlighted by the deep scar over his right eye. He was dressed in a light pair of black shirts and pants. And on his hip, was a sword with a golden hilt sheathed within a scabbard of red and gold.

This was Prince Tristram, the War Lord!

His eyes passed calmly over the ruins of the room and the two dead bodies, finally falling on Alec and Isolde, lingering on her for just a while longer...

Immediately, Alec bowed down politely. Noticing Isolde who was dumbstruck, he pushed her down to bow as well and spoke out, "Greetings, your majesty, the prince."

Prince Tristram nodded in regard and spoke calmly, "But I believe that I should be the one providing you greetings first. After all, you are the legendary Azure Archer!"

Alec flinched slightly but remained silent as Prince Tristram continued to speak, "You mysteriously appeared in the last war and single-handedly saved Count Anguish and his battalion, and based on your impressive mastery of Archery and the Element of Water, you were named the 'Azure Archer'...

However, despite the fact that your attacks neared the Sovereign Tier and could easily decimate hundreds of troops, at the end of the war you were 'supposedly injured', and your cultivation collapsed down to Soul Transformation.

As such, you were labeled as a Fallen Sovereign and only the Count offered you the post of his Butler in return for saving his life.

If it wasn't for that, you could've easily become the Major General of the Kingdom Army or even an Arch-Knight of the Divine Church...

But, considering these two dead fellows, it doesn't seem that you are as weak as you made yourself out to be... Am I right, Azure Archer?"

Isolde listened to his words in surprise, occasionally turning to stare at her Grandpa Alec with pride in her eyes. She had always been interested in his past but he had always refused to talk. In the end, she had only learned that he had served as a soldier.

Never could she have imagined that her grandpa had been a War Hero who had saved her father's life!

Alec remained impassive as he replied, "Some people did indeed call me that. And the prince's words ring true. I wasn't completely honest. After all, only the fool-hardy would reveal everything."

Prince Tristram laughed in reply but pointed at Alec with a hint of malice surfacing in his eyes, "Well, honestly... I couldn't care less whether you are the Azure Archer or an actual Azure Sovereign! You're just a washed-up relic of the past! I'm simply here for a girl to enjoy myself and could care less about some random deaths. But considering the fact that you served the kingdom in the last war... I'll let you off if you walk away."

But his statement caused Lord O'Reilly who had been silent and obedient this entire time, to shout out in disagreement, "No! My prince, this old bag didn't pay any respect to my-- your orders before. He has also slaughtered two of my-- your strongest soldiers! Even if he was a war hero from a forgotten era, he is not worthy of your pardon! So please behead that old corpse!" and bowed respectfully.

Prince Tristram frowned in displeasure and suddenly roared as he turned around. He grabbed Lord O'Reilly from his shirt cuffs, single-handedly lifted him up despite his heavyweight, and slapped his podgy face roughly with his free hand.

He shouted with blistering rage, "O'Reilly do you dare order me to do something? Even to take back my royal decree?"

Lord O'Reilly hurriedly lowered his head in fear and compliance with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and sputtered, "Please forgive this humble subject, my prince. I spoke out of turn."

Prince Tristram simply grunted in reply and dropped him, letting him fall onto the floor in a painful heap.

Lightly clapping his fingers as if to clear them of dust and dirt, the prince turned back to Isolde who was shivering with frightened eyes, and Alec who remained deadly calm.

Prince Tristram smiled grimly and continued to speak, "Now... where were we? Oh, yes. I suggest you walk away, 'Azure Archer'. Even in your current state, I'd have to break a sweat to take care of you. I'd rather avoid it if possible. After all, I came here for recreation, not a fight..."

Isolde spoke out her voice shivering, "Grandpa Alec, it's fine. You've done enough for me already. In the end, I was very lucky to have you by my side."

But seeing him remain unmoving in front of her, she pleaded with tears in her eyes, "Grandpa, you must leave! You promised me that you would leave without putting yourself at risk! You promised me! Please don't do this..."

Prince Tristram crossed his hands over his chest smugly and grinned happily at the terrified girl who had already given in to his demands.

At the same time, the overweight Lord O'Reilly got himself up from the floor with great difficulty. Despite the humiliation, he couldn't help but smile at the suffering of the two who had caused him that trouble.

Alec turned to Isolde and spoke with a light smile, "Young Lady, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, as I must break my word. Allow this old butler one last chance to be selfish..."

And under the helpless pleas of Isolde, he walked in front of the prince and spoke grimly, "But I must refuse the Prince's generous offer. I can only hope the prince won't punish the young lady for this old butler's offense."

The prince scowled as dangerous rage danced within his eyes. He shouted furiously, "Curse all of you fuckers who get in my way! Do you dare to disobey this prince? Do you think I'm a pushover? But don't worry, I'll punish her very well..." with lecherous eyes on Isolde, and instantly unsheathed his sword.

Strange symbols etched on the blade of his golden sword began to glow with a bloody light as he shouted an incantation, "Curtana, the Divine Sword, slaughter my enemies!"

Alec quickly retaliated by materializing his azure blue bow and moving into an attacking position.

Whoosh!

Instantly, the prince disappeared and reappeared in front of Alec, leaving only a glowing red streak from his sword as evidence to the fact that he had moved.

He effortlessly slashed the sword covered in [Awakened Sword Intent], targeting Alec's neck, but Alec calmly lifted his bow and pushed forwards.

Clang!

An explosion of qi and light greatly surpassing the previous one spread throughout the room, wrecking it even further!

Both of them lightly jumped back, completely unhurt.

Alec calmly looked on as Prince Tristram sneered while saying, "You are indeed the Azure Archer! Even with my Soul Destruction cultivation, and even with this divine blessed sword, I can only fight with you to a draw...

But, I know that you can't continue to fight in such a state for too long. Why do you think I sent in O'Reilly and those two weak soul-destruction goons in first?

It was to weaken you, of course!"

Hearing his confident words, Isolde hurriedly grabbed onto Alec's coat and shouted out once more, "Grandpa please stop! If it hurts you, please stop..." with tears falling down her cheeks.

Alec simply smiled at her and lightly brushed her hand off his coat.

He turned back to the prince and smiled calmly saying, "Will the prince keep on bragging, or will he fight?"

The prince was infuriated by Alec's words, his sword and body began to emanate a bloody golden aura, "Fuck you old codger! Die if you're so impatient."

He proceeded to whisper with a prideful smirk, "[Warlord's Armor]!"

Instantly, a whirlpool divine aether manifested around him and the bloody golden aura solidified to form a set of metallic blood-red armor that covered him from head to toe, seemingly impenetrable and releasing a powerful murderous aura...

Isolde felt terror; in part due to this murderous aura, but also because she knew...

This was Prince Tristram's personal divine blessing and it was much much stronger than her's. It was a personal divine blessing from one of the most venerated gods of the Divine Church, Ares, the God of War!

The prince proceeded to trace the blade of his sword with his free hand and shouted as he slashed forward with strength and power much greater than before, "First Commandment: the Divine Sword of Justice!"

The sword left a bloody gold streak as it arrived in front of Alec. Even so, Alec calmly lifted his bow to block the attack.

Clang! Pu!

This time Alec was thrown back on to a wall with a slight trickle of blood from a corner of his mouth. His azure bow had even slightly cracked under the force of the attack.

Seeing his success, Prince Tristram laughed through the metallic blood helmet covering his face and shouted, "Old codger, did you really think that I would take pity and fight you just with my cultivation? That was the power of a divine blessing and a divine sword!"

Seeing Grandpa Alec injured, Isolde rushed forwards despite her fears, in order to help him up. But in doing so, she had to pass by the armored Prince Tristram...

As such, suddenly seeing her arrive close, Prince Tristram's eyes glowed with a blood-red and he clawed at her targeting her clothing.

His armored hand easily ripped off the top part of her dress, just enough to be indecent... But considering the immense gap in cultivation and his activated divine blessing, despite the non-lethal nature of the attack, Isolde was thrown back by the residual force.

Thud!

Her head hit a wall and she slid down to the floor unconscious.

Seeing Isolde being thrown away like a rag doll, Alec felt immense rage. He hurriedly forced himself to stand up, and growled out while manifesting a shimmering pitch-black arrow, "I didn't use it before, but now, I don't care if you were made to be heartless by some childhood accident! If I kill you, at the very least she'll be safe from you!"

There was a strange chaotic nature manifested around that arrow, it almost seemed to suck away the remaining light in the room.

Alec loaded it into the slightly cracked bow with practiced ease and held it horizontally just like before; as if his hand was the crutch of a crossbow. He stared at the prince with raging fury and pulled back the arrow.

This time the Prince wasn't as brazen as before, as he fearfully muttered, "How is that arrow so powerful-- a sovereign?"

Still, he raised his sword in defense while shouting out, "Old Codger, it's just a girl! Do you dare to fight the entire kingdom for her?"

Alec smirked with raging eyes, "Pfft. If the entire kingdom were to make a move, the Heaven Palace will naturally put up a fight against your Divine Church. Not to mention the uprising from all the people, she has helped."

And yet he smiled, revealing teeth reddened by blood and whispered, "Even if it wasn't so... What kingdom? I'll fight the entire world for her!" and let go of the arrow.

Twang!

The bowstring sounded out as the arrow was released.

Boom!

Under the pale orange light of the setting sun, the arrow streaked forwards causing all space around it to crack apart as the entire room was destroyed. The walls exploded into smithereens and the entire mansion shook under this explosion, barely holding off from collapsing.

However, strangely enough, none of the damage from the unstable chaos reached where Isolde had fallen.

Meanwhile, Lord O'Reilly had fallen on to his knees in fear of the terrifying aura.

The Prince grimaced as he realized that he wouldn't be able to block nor dodge this attack. It was simply too fast!

As the walls collapsed and space cracked, he readied his armor and sword as best he could.

But suddenly... CRACK!

The azure bow in Alec's hands snapped cleanly into two as he coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell onto his knees. The arrow which had been strong enough to shatter space disappeared off into streaks of qi as he collapsed down.

Seeing the sudden turn of events, Prince Tristram started to laugh through his bloody helmet, "Old codger, even the heavens, are on my side! In the end, I suppose you hit your limit! Thank the gods, I sent those goons in first."

He proceeded to sheath his sword and calmly walked over to the kneeling Alec... and promptly kicked him in the face.

Pa-dah!

Alec was thrown towards the edge of the wall-less floor as he coughed up more blood.

Prince Tristram continued to punch and kick him with the steely edges of his [Warlord Armor], while laughing like a child with a new toy, shouting and cursing occasionally.

By the time he stopped, Alec had completely lost consciousness under the pain.

Tristram looked down at the bloodied Alec who was on the verge of death with a satisfied grin and licked off some stray blood that had gotten on to this face.

He began to laugh gleefully as he left Alec and walked over to the still fainted Isolde.

He shouted out in satisfaction, "Old Codger, I'll destroy this girl you were willing to give the world for! But it'll be a shame to waste her beauty. As such, I'll give her lots and lots of tender care in your place. And as a small kindness, I'll let you witness it all before I send you off to the underworld," while starting at Isolde in her ripped dress and licking his lips.

He grabbed her with one hand, intending to throw her onto the nearby bed, but just when he did, Isolde stirred in her sleep. The fact that she suddenly woke up, surprised him, causing him to pause for a moment...

Isolde opened her eyes and looked up at the calm face of Prince Tristram.

However, under the effect of crashing onto the wall, she was still delirious. And seeing a once-familiar face, she smiled and whispered, "Tristram? You're back! But... was your hair always blonde like that?"

She proceeded to giggle absent-mindedly, "Forget it. More importantly, did you bring me any Sunburst cherries?"

Those words were like crashing thunder to Prince Tristram. His eyes were filled with unspoken emotion, and shone with tears... but almost immediately, his eyes grew empty, and were replaced with rage.

Blinded by this rage, he punched his armored fist down at the half-awoken Isolde.

Thrum!

But even before his fist could begin to move, the simple necklace around Isolde's necklace began to shimmer under the setting sunlight. This shimmering light expanded into a golden dome that easily defended her against Prince Tristram's fist.

Pah~

His punch was as useful as a fart against the defense of the peak law tier necklace fashioned by an actual god of the Divine Church, Hephaestus, himself!

As Prince Tristram watched in speechless surprise, Isolde slowly regained her senses.

Looking up, she felt intense fear at the sight of the enraged Prince, but felt safe enough within the warm golden light of the dome. Even so, she couldn't help but grasp the necklace, that had protected her just now, for reassurance.

As Tristram stared at the golden defensive dome with helpless rage, he began to wonder whether he should torture Alec to force Isolde to come out...

Fortunately, a rather divine regal voice rang out from her necklace surprising them all!

"Fellow Daoist This Handsome and Scholarly Self, I hope you can make good use of this defense and forgive me for not using the supplied materials for your weapon--"

But, this voice suddenly paused, seemingly in deep thought...

Almost instantly the same voice roared with a raging intensity reminding witnesses of the legendary divine wrath, "A FOLLOWER OF ARES? YOU DARE APPEAR BEFORE ME AFTER YOUR LORD HAD FUN USING MY WIFE? I DON'T CARE IF THIS NECKLACE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A DEFENSIVE ARTIFACT... I'LL FUCK YOU TO DEATH!"

Thrum!

A huge mass of divine aether, easily a few dozen times that which Prince Tristram had used for his divine blessing, appeared.

It instantly formed into a ridiculously humongous golden mallet that wouldn't have fit within the room had it not been for the missing walls.

With a quick swerve to gather momentum, the divine golden mallet smashed towards the speechless Prince.

KABOOM! CRACK! PU!

The air exploded as the ridiculously humongous mallet crashed down on the powerless prince!

Despite his immense strength, the Prince was utterly helpless against the power of a peak law tier artifact being used by the enraged shard of a god's will!

His bones cracked and he coughed up spurts of blood as he was thrown out of the room, towards the corridor, and past the equally speechless Lord O'Reilly.

Isolde was equally speechless as well, 'Was this supposed to be the power of a random artifact gifted to her by that Zhen Shi? How was it so powerful?' She couldn't help but wonder whether this was all a dream...

But as her eyes swept over the ruins of the room, and noticed the wounded and bloodied Alec her mind immediately returned back to reality.

With the memories and the feelings of the previous situation, the helplessness she had felt before the necklace had activated, crashing down onto her, Isolde instinctively rushed towards Grandpa Alec with a fearful cry.

Fortunately, the golden dome from the necklace followed after her, slightly dimmer than before, but still protecting her.

Despite her fear due to recent events, within the safety of the golden dome, Isolde was relaxed enough to activate her healing magic. Her hands began to glow with a bright white light as she started to heal Alec.

Isolde stuttered while weeping, "Pl--Please, Grandpa don't leave me alone! You can't-- You promised me!"

Pu! Pu!

Back in the corridor, Prince Tristram coughed up several mouthfuls of blood as he struggled to even stand up.

Despite the extensive injuries, his divine blessed sword and [War Lord Armor] had been barely strong enough to protect his life.

Lord O'Reilly hurried forward to help him up and let the Prince hold onto his shoulder for support. Even the overweight lord was greatly shaken by the power of the humongous mallet and had all lecherous thoughts thrown into the sea out of sheer fear.

His only intention was to keep the prince safe in order to maintain his job and his life, and get out of here as fast as possible...

But, the Prince paused and turned back to Isolde's room. His eyes revealed a mix of emotions, rage, regret, sorrow, annoyance, confusion...

In the end, they grew blank with rage once more as he shouted out in anger, his voice very weak, "You-- You-- I'll be back! By then, your defensive artifact won't be active!" and proceeded to hobble away with Lord O'Reilly's support...

Isolde felt a hint of fear at his threat, but for the moment, she had more important matters to attend to.

She was still desperately trying to heal Alec. She might be able to heal him into a stable state but would definitely run out of qi before that...

But even if it was so, how could she give up without even trying?

Isolde began to curse her own helplessness as memories of her brother's injuries danced around her mind as if to taunt her.

She was truly helpless. She couldn't leave in search of help as she feared that Alec would be unable to hold on without her continuous healing. Neither was there anyone left in the mansion...

Thrum!

To her delight, the golden dome surrounding her, began to direct a portion of her energy towards her, slowly but surely replenishing her qi energy reserves.

Isolde couldn't help but feel a twinge of gratitude towards Zhen Shi for gifting her this necklace, but in the end, she didn't have time to remain distracted.

Resolutely wiping off her tears, she turned her full attention back to healing Alec.

The bright white light from her hands intensified as Isolde concentrated intensely on the healing process.

The dreary orange light of the sun illuminated Isolde's determined figure, along with the two terrifying corpses. Whether she liked it or not, those two still corpses would be accompanying her thought the long night that awaited her...