Volume 2, Chapter 38 – Unwilling to Give Up, One Last Gamble

“You, you, you… what did you s-say?! S-succeeded?!”

Inside the Covenant Presidential Palace, President Lakbi was now practically stuttering, tremulously pointing his finger at the officer before him.

In response, the black-haired man in military uniform standing before Lakbi nodded repeatedly with excitement.

“It’s true, Mr. President. The message was personally transmitted by Lord Shawn Ge! Not only did the Covenant Vanguard’s special operation find and bring back the three Ailiya sisters, but they also annihilated Gaia Lobir!”

“Really?”

“Would I dare joke with you about something like this?!”

The man emphasized again with utmost seriousness.

Seeing such a reaction from this officer whom he deeply trusted, and after reviewing the confidential documents in his hand, Lakbi had no choice but to accept this news. The next moment, the elderly president sprang up from his chair.

His hands gripped the edge of the desk tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the pressure.

Lakbi’s face was filled with indescribable excitement, his eyes glimmering with unprecedented brilliance, as if years of burden had finally been lifted in this moment. His breathing became rapid, his chest heaving violently as if the air itself had grown thin.

“I never thought, really, really succeeded… heh, hehe, hahaha!”

After breaking into a hearty laugh, Lakbi couldn’t help but exclaim:

“Well done, truly well done, worthy of being soldiers of our Westivian Covenant! To actually eliminate a Malevolent Deity!”

Speaking thus, Lakbi curiously inquired further:

“How exactly did they manage it?”

“Except for the Terran Malevolence’s location being somewhat unexpected, the overall execution was similar to the previous battle plan. First, the troops engaged as a diversion, then fired thirteen ‘Reshir’ missiles that had been prepared in advance. Finally, when Gaia Lobir was severely weakened by Reshir’s purifying power, Lady Hilgena delivered the fatal blow, shattering the Terran Malevolence’s core.”

“I see, to think it went so smoothly, truly the heavens were with us.”

“Howev—”

“However what?”

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“Lady Hilgena, after shattering the Terran Malevolence’s core, was engulfed by the explosion’s shockwave along with the deity’s remains, and remains missing to this day. Lord Shawn Ge and his team believe that Lady Hilgena’s chances of survival are slim.”

“Caught in the explosion?”

Upon hearing this, a momentary look of regret flashed across Lakbi’s jubilant face.

“What a pity. Nevertheless, I believe Lady Hilgena’s self-sacrificing act will surely go down in history. If the Divine-Graced Maiden were to know that her sacrifice was meaningful, she would certainly find solace in that.”

“That is certain.”

After discussing Hilgena’s fate, Lakbi, who had maintained his excitement for quite some time, gradually calmed down.

Taking a deep breath, the President turned to look at the black-haired man with a serious gaze.

“Speaking of which, what about Ailiya and her sisters? How are they doing?”

“As for the three Ailiya sisters, they were unconscious when rescued. But after preliminary examinations, their bodies showed no problems, no signs of corruption infection.”

“That’s good.”

Lakbi sighed in relief.

“Reke, where are they now?”

“…”

When asked this question, the officer named ‘Reke’ hesitated, seemingly at a loss for how to answer.

To this, Lakbi urged:

“What is it? Just tell me straight.”

“Ailiya and her sisters are at the Lingyuan residence.”

“What?”

Lakbi frowned, the astonishment in his eyes unmistakable.

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“Why are they at the Lingyuan house?”

“I apologize, Mr. President.”

Reke quickly bowed in apology.

“Because the three Ailiya sisters were brought back by Lord Luo Fei. After rescuing his daughter, he went directly back to the Lingyuan residence. Although Lords Shawn Ge and Greemir tried to stop him, they had expended too much energy and couldn’t restrain him. In fact, they were even beaten by Lord Luo Fei… Lord Greemir is still in the emergency room…”

Greemir, who had escaped the battle with Forgiveness unscathed… ended up being sent to intensive care by a comrade.

It was truly speechless.

Though Lord Greemir’s mouth was also…

“I see…”

Raising his hand to his forehead, Lakbi muttered with complex emotions.

“Didn’t he say he wouldn’t participate in this operation? He was supposed to be guarding the Boreal Outpost…”

“Lord Luo Fei said he feared those useless Covenant troops would mess things up, so he came to handle it personally.”

“That guy.”

“Mr. President, should we… should we perhaps…?”

Reke tentatively began.

After all, he knew very well that the original purpose of this plan was to bring the Ailiya sisters back to the capital. And now, those children had been taken away midway by someone from the Lingyuan family…

Faced with this question, Lakbi didn’t immediately respond but instead inquired about another matter:

“By the way, what’s the situation with Lord Moande?”

“Lord Moande, like Lady Hilgena, perished in the battle against the Terran Malevolence.”

“Perished?”

“Yes, witnesses reported that Lord Moande was beaten until only his head remained. And that sole remaining head was also annihilated in the final explosion of Reshir.”

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To this response, Lakbi merely shook his head indifferently.

“No, that fellow couldn’t have died so easily. That body was merely… Anyway, so there’s no news of Lord Moande, correct?”

“Uh, that’s right.”

“I see.”

Raising his hand to pinch his chin, Lakbi lowered his head thoughtfully. After a moment of contemplation, Lakbi made his decision:

“Don’t think about bringing Ailiya and her sisters to the capital yet. Let those children stay with their father for now.”

“Mr. President, are you serious? It was precisely because the Lingyuan family failed to guard them properly that Lady Lianna and her sisters met with tragedy. Why would you now—”

Evidently, Reke was not satisfied with his president’s decision.

In response, Lakbi shed the gentleness from his countenance and coldly swept his gaze over the officer:

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Realizing he had overstepped, Reke quickly shut his mouth and lowered his head.

Seeing this, Lakbi said no more, but slowly cast his gaze out the window, toward the north where the Lingyuan family resided.

Staying there, at least, would be better than staying in this corrupt capital.

Considering the Lingyuan family’s influence in the Westivian Covenant, that fellow Moande… perhaps wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.

Meanwhile, in the basement of a villa on the outskirts of Clavino, the capital.

“…”

Accompanied by the sound of mechanical friction, a long-sealed nutrient pod slowly opened. As the green nutrient fluid flowed out, a completely naked red-haired man emerged.

However, upon leaving the nutrient solution, the man weakly stumbled and fell to the ground.

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After a good while, he finally managed to painfully get up and sit against the wall corner.

“Damn… a newly made body is indeed more rigid.”

The red-haired man, none other than Moande, grumbled discontentedly. As he grumbled, he pressed his chest, breathing heavily.

Although he had previously used a false body to help himself withstand Bai Lianyue’s lethal attack, the destruction of that false body was not without side effects for Moande. After all, to perfectly control that body, Moande had used a secret technique to cut off one-fifth of his soul and attach it to the body.

Now, with the body destroyed, that portion of his soul was also consumed in the explosion.

Losing one-fifth of one’s soul was no small matter.

“Need to rest… recover for a while.”

Moande muttered with some reluctance.

At the same time, Moande’s gaze shifted involuntarily to the projected images on a nearby screen, looking at the intelligence reports transmitted by his subordinates. As the intelligence entered his eyes, Moande clenched his fist with particular displeasure.

“That meddlesome Luo Fei… choosing this moment to interfere.”

It’s worth noting that eliminating the weakened Terran Malevolence and ending his days of hiding wasn’t Moande’s sole purpose; what he wanted… were those three little girls, specifically the Primordium they might possess within their bodies!

Before those people realized this, he wanted to obtain the Primordium and break through to the Divine Graced Realm…

But now, with news of the three young girls’ return to the Covenant spreading, they would surely be aware. At this rate, he would likely not have time to get the three girls from Luo Fei, let alone extract the Primordium.

Well, if that’s the case, might as well go all in…

Having made up his mind, Moande raised his hand and grasped, and a communication device embedded with special black eagle runes on a distant table flew directly into his hand under the pull of his spiritual power.

As the communication device activated, Moande shed the coldness and displeasure from his face, and instead, uncharacteristically displayed a fawning smile.

—”Duan, my dear brother, I have important intelligence to share with you. Did you know? Lianna’s thr

ee daughters have been rescued, and they might have already developed Primordium within them.”