Quadruple split.

Chapter 2696 Borrowing the Road
"Fortunately, my orders this time were to avoid conflict and prioritize the Queen's interests."

As Yulia stroked the sword stuck in her toe, she chuckled, "Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to prove my loyalty to Her Majesty by taking my own life."

Netanyahu chuckled coldly and said quietly, "That's truly unfortunate."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Prince David, the boarman, carefully and meticulously licked the greasy plate in front of him as he asked, "How many men did you send?"

Netanyahu flicked his tail in the darkness and said noncommittally, "Enough men."

"It's about the same on my end."

Yulia gave a seductive smile and said ambiguously, "It's enough in every sense of the word."

"Still hiding it now? Is it really necessary?"

David frowned, casting a puzzled look at the two men: "Or do you think the people you brought can fool me? Just like you can fool this idiot?"

As he spoke, he picked up the headless corpse next to him with one hand, filled the wooden cup in front of him with the blood flowing from its neck, drank the scarlet, viscous fluid in one gulp, and revealed a chilling smile.

Netanyahu, completely hidden in the darkness, shook his head, slowly drew the long sword from his waist, and said softly, "You're overthinking it, Prince David. I never intended to hide anything from you, it's just—"

In the blink of an eye, the captain of the Black Lizard Hunters slashed out with his sword, shattering the only source of light nearby—the torch located between Julia and David—into countless pieces.

The next instant, darkness descended, and in the brief moment between the torch going out and the darkness spreading, a slender, delicate silhouette seemed to flash by.

"who!"

With a low growl, the long table between David and the silhouette shattered with a deafening roar. The boar-man prince, who was no different from an ordinary human except for his upturned nose, instantly appeared several meters away. His outstretched right hand was now bound by chains that spewed out layers of sharp, blood-red spikes.

At the same time, Netanya's longsword and the four longswords on Yulia's right foot swept out with lightning speed, instantly blocking the silhouette's escape route.

Then--

"Oh dear, they were just passing by and overheard a couple of words, why are you making such a scene?"

The nun, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, dressed in a pure white nun's habit, blinked her eyes sweetly and adorably. She glanced around at the blood-stained thorns, long knives, and sharp swords aimed at her neck, heart, and brow, which were only inches away from her, and said with a grin, "Or is this how you Blood Barbarians always treat your guests?"

"Please forgive my intrusion, nun who has come from afar."

Netanya took a deep breath, then surprisingly sheathed her longsword. Facing the nun before her, who undoubtedly possessed epic strength equal to her own, her face wore a pure and sweet smile, but her eyes held no hint of amusement. Instead, her coldness was chilling. She bowed and greeted her: "I am Netanya Hel, the captain of the first squadron of the [Black Lizard Hunter]. Please forgive my lack of proper greeting."

Almost simultaneously with Netanya, Yulia sheathed her weapons and stood before the nun as if on stilts. She smiled, bowed deeply at her slender waist, and said softly, "Good night, Sister. I am Yulia Erbeak, the strategist of the 'Deathclaw Queen's' personal guard. I sincerely wish you a pleasant night."

As for David, who was the last one with his hands hanging down, he nodded expressionlessly to the other party and said briefly, "...excuse me."

"Good attitude."

Sitting with her legs crossed on the wooden stake where Julia had just been perched, the nun watched as her 'self,' surrounded by three people, slowly disappeared into the distance. She twirled her crucifix between two fingers and chuckled, saying leisurely, "Since you've all been quite sincere, I won't pursue this further."

【? ! 】

Netanyahu and David's pupils suddenly contracted, for no other reason than that neither of them had noticed when the other had left their attack range. In fact, before the nun, who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old, appeared in another place, they hadn't even realized that the person in front of them wasn't a physical entity.

As for Yulia, she was well aware of her own limitations, being only at the half-step epic level. Although she had subconsciously tried to intimidate them, after the other party appeared without any scruples, she had already accepted that she was just a helpless bird egg, completely unable to figure out the other party's strength.

"Let me briefly introduce myself. I am Clara Champagne, an ascetic nun of the Dawn Cult. You can call me Lady Clara, Sister Clara, Lady Champagne, or the flawless mature lady."

Clara glanced at the Black Lizard Hunter Captain and the Boarman Prince, whose expressions were shifting between light and shadow, and a playful smile appeared on her lips. She said calmly, "You don't need to be surprised. As a follower of my Lord, manipulating light to create illusions and visual distortions is not complicated for me. In fact, this level of deception is not even comparable to ordinary illusions. If you two really start fighting, my little tricks will definitely not fool you."

"Well, I'd most likely be dead."

Yulia, who wasn't included among the 'two', shrugged and said nothing.

Nobody would believe that.

Netanyahu gave a forced smile, as if he genuinely believed it.

【…】

David said nothing, but simply turned around, walked to the only intact chair, and plopped down in it.

Because her 'seat' was taken, Yulia, who could only stand in place like she was on stilts, coughed lightly and smiled at the uninvited guest in front of her, saying, "So, Ms. Clara and... our friends from the Holy Church Alliance, have gone to great lengths to come all the way from [Gospel Mountain City] for this?"

“Friends, huh? That makes sense. After all, we don’t have any conflict in terms of stance, so we can definitely be called ‘friends’ right now.”

Clara said this with amusement, then shrugged and spread her hands, saying, "I'm just here to say hello. As for the person you're actually talking to, I'm not the one."

Netanyahu nodded slightly and asked in the gentlest tone he could muster, "So who is it?"

"Open the east gate of your fortress."

Clara yawned, casually pulled a delicate little bottle from her sleeve, downed about 150ml of "Fiery Blaze" in one gulp, let out a burp that could probably be ignited, and said with a flushed face, "They'll come in, of course."

David narrowed his eyes and asked succinctly, "So who are 'they'? How many are there in total?"

"If you'd like, let me think about it..."

Clara pulled out a second bottle of "Blazing Ink," downed it in one gulp, wiped her mouth, and said with a smile, "That's 'everyone,' is there a problem?"

"Yes, Sister, yes."

Yulia gave a wry smile and shook her head slightly, saying, "In any case, we can't let all your friends in under these circumstances. After all, the fortress is only so big, and there aren't enough people... to fit them all in."

"Pfft."

Clara burst out laughing, saying, "Can't fit? What a good excuse. You little brat, I just saw it. Whether it's [Headless Cliff], [Steelmane Tribe Kingdom], or your [Bloodfeather Plateau], they've all sent a lot of people over here."

Yulia blinked her clear eyes and asked, "So?"

"So no matter how we think about it, we can come to the conclusion that if a conflict really breaks out, our survey team will most likely be unable to defeat you barbarian soldiers."

Clara clicked her tongue and wagged her index finger seriously, saying, "Even with epic combat power, we only have myself on our side. The other sister who visited Headless Cliff with Knight Commander Madoran before didn't come here. If a fight really breaks out, this lizardman brat and this little pig can easily team up to kill me."

Upon hearing this, Netanyahu immediately raised his hands, his face full of sincerity, and said, "I wouldn't dare." "You're overthinking it."

David shook his head and said seriously, "Before I came, my father specifically instructed me not to have any conflict with our friends in the Holy Church unless absolutely necessary."

"Oh?"

Clara immediately raised her eyebrows and asked, "I'm curious about what your father meant by 'last resort'."

"..."

However, David did not answer the question; he simply rubbed his upturned nose and silently lowered his head.

"Alright, alright, since we're so unpopular."

Clara sighed and made a peace sign at the three fortress commanders in front of her: "Two, I need to let two people in, is there a problem?"

"no problem."

Yulia nodded without hesitation, then turned to Daphna, her kinsman who was silent and dared not speak, and ordered, "Have someone open the east gate of the fortress. If only two people come, respectfully escort them here. If they have any requests, grant them whatever we can."

"Yes, strategist."

Daphne nodded at first, then hesitated and said, "What if there are more than two people coming..."

Julia smiled slightly: "Then have someone close the door, and then you commit suicide in front of your friends in the Holy Church Alliance as an apology for our offense."

"Yes."

Daphne nodded vigorously, then flapped her wings and flew quickly to the eastern gate of the fortress to relay the order. Although she was no longer the highest-ranking person in charge of [Bloodfeather Plateau] in Eagle Claw Gorge, since Yulia and the others had not yet handed over the responsibilities to the people stationed in the fortress, Daphne still had the authority and command power. Ordering everyone to open the gate was still no problem for her.

"belch."

Clara casually tossed the empty bottle on the ground, then, under the subtle gazes of Netanyahu and David, slowly pulled out a third bottle of "Blazing Fire" from her sleeve and cheerfully asked the two, "We're just killing time anyway, why don't we have a few drinks while they're here?"

The ascetic nuns of the Dawn Cult... don't seem to be suffering that much.

The ruthless, cold-blooded, and mentally sharp Black Lizard Hunting Captain couldn't help but mentally groan, then slowly shook his head and said with a somewhat stiff expression, "Thank you, but no need for now. Let's talk about it another time."

"Hey, it's boring."

Clara pouted, then turned to David: "And you, little piglet, want some?"

"Feel sorry."

The boar prince shook his head, his expression unreadable, and said, "My father told me that when I'm not with my family, I shouldn't drink with people I don't know well."

Clara chuckled dryly, downed the third bottle of "Fiery Burn" in one gulp, and let out a burp with an astonishingly high ethanol content: "You have a good father."

"Ah."

David nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his face for the first time: "Thank you, I think so too."

……

So, for the next ten minutes, the three Blood Barbarians silently watched the ascetic nun sit there drinking strong liquor, until Netani began to unconsciously swallow her saliva, and Yulia was almost gagging from the smell of strong liquor in the air, before Daphne finally arrived with the other two 'guests'.

"Let me introduce myself, hiccup."

Clara tossed the empty fifteenth bottle of [Blazing Inferno] onto the ground, her face still only slightly flushed, and extended her hand to the young man standing beside her. With a dreamy look in her eyes, she introduced him: "This beautiful young lady is Hess Dongya, the temporary commander of our investigation team and the standard-bearer of the Sun Church's Knights of the Holy See; as for this handsome young man, he is our Dawn Church's rising star—Priest Black Van!"

Hess: "...Huh?"

Netanyahu turned to the two men and nodded slightly: "It's a pleasure to meet you both, Standard-Bearer Hess and Pastor Black Van."

"No, no, no!"

Richard Lane, who had almost gone crazy after hearing Clara's introduction, was recommended by Hess as a temporary advisor. He waved his hands frantically and explained with a stiff expression, "I am Richard Lane, a priest of the Dawn Cult and an advisor to Hess's standard-bearer. I am not a priest of the Black Brahma Cult."

"Ok, I know."

Netanya continued to nod, calmly saying, "As far as I know, your sect's Black Brahma priest is still missing. He was just playing along with Sister Clara's joke."

Clara gave Netanyahu a thumbs-up and chuckled drunkenly, "You're pretty savvy, kid!"

"You're overly flattering."

Netanyahu humbly bowed his head and gladly accepted the compliment.

Richard: "..."

"Hello you two."

After David nodded to the two of them, Julia cleared her throat and then gave Hess a bright and cheerful smile: "I wonder what brings you here, Standard Commander Hess? And is there anything we can do to help?"

"It's nothing major, just a quick greeting and a simple exchange of pleasantries with everyone."

"I see. Then how about we grab a late-night snack together later, and you can all try some of our local specialties..."

"Then I would like to ask you all to do us a favor and allow us to pass through our fortress."

"This... borrowing a passage or something, I'm afraid it's not very appropriate."

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Well, mainly because..."

"So, you've decided to break ties with my Holy Church?"

"...?"

Chapter 2687: The End

(End of this chapter)