Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Click.

The glazed tiles at the spire could no longer bear his weight and cracked in two.

Therefore, the cane he used to stabilize his body was also rendered useless.

Old Mainz fell backward, his eyes wide open, under the gaze of a kidnapper and two hostages.

It fell straight down.

Streich's eyes widened in fury at this sight, and he cried out in a parched voice, "Father!!!"

At the same time, her body began to twist and turn, as if this would allow her to break free from the constraints that had bound her for the night.

Grace gave her fiancé a disdainful look as he bounced around like a salted fish.

To be honest, she was shocked when she saw Old Mainz fall, but she calmed down after a moment's thought.

Haha, nobody would believe that.

At the top of the tower representing the power of the Mainz family, the patriarch of the Mainz family fell, and above him was a figure shrouded in a black robe.

Behind the black robes were the two main characters of today's joyous occasion.

If people in the city saw this scene, they would be in an uproar.

Unfortunately, apart from the main characters, no one else could see it.

Old Mainz felt his body falling, and looking up, he saw that the mysterious man in the black robe was completely unmoved by his fall.

Although his expression was obscured by the mask, one could imagine that his face, whose features were unknown, was now filled with mockery.

I lost the bet after all.

Old Mainz closed his eyes.

He was not sent by the Queen.

He disregarded Letania's balance.

He really would watch himself fall to his death.

So, who is he?

As he fell, Old Mainz felt someone grab the back of his neck and stopped falling.

He opened his eyes, and unsurprisingly, it was Reed Lawrence, that brute.

He was leading me back to the top of the tower, his movements far more fluid than I had been before.

Old Mainz glared at him angrily. Couldn't he have just supported him properly? Why did he have to do it this way? He was, after all, the head of the clan!

Before long they reached the top of the tower. Apart from the biting cold wind at high altitude, the most heart-wrenching sound was the wailing of the young master Streich.

"Father... ah... ah?"

Streich's high-pitched wailing abruptly ceased with the arrival of the two patriarchs.

Reid Loren put down the old Mainz he was holding and then looked at his daughter.

Grace shifted away from the dumbfounded Streich with a look of disgust, then said to her father, "I was brought up here by this gentleman."

No need to say more, one sentence is enough.

121 Boring Political Animals

It flew up.

These four words alone were enough to dispel all the unrealistic fantasies in the hearts of the two clan leaders.

The Witch King, whom they once served, could not fly and was eventually shot down from the top of the tower by the Twin Queens, falling to his death.

It flew up...

Regardless of whether it's simply due to the unique nature of Originium Arts, just looking at his relaxed and carefree demeanor at the top of the tower tells you that this person is definitely not someone to mess with.

This is why Reid Loren hesitated to act, forcing Mainz to take a risky approach.

"What is the purpose of your visit today?"

Old Mainz glared fiercely at his good-for-nothing son, then his words lost their previous aggressive tone.

His original plan was to draw the kidnapper's attention to himself, and then have Reed Lawrence attack from behind to force him away from the hostage.

At that time, the two families, no longer hesitant to act against each other, will naturally be able to easily manipulate the kidnappers.

In his judgment, this was someone sent by the Gemini Queen, and his death would definitely not be in the Queen's interest.

Therefore, the kidnapper would definitely not stand idly by and watch himself fall to his death.

Although he advocated for a marriage alliance with the Loren family to counter the pressure from the Twin Queens, it did not mean that he was a thorn in the side of the Queen.

On the contrary, precisely because he was in the faction that advocated fighting against the empress through political struggle and would never resort to force, the empresses would not allow him to die.

There have always been people who are hostile to the Queen, and it is precisely because people like herself have been suppressing them that Letania has been able to maintain its current peace.

Our principle is to fight without breaking apart.

If I were to die on this day, no one would believe it had nothing to do with the Gemini Queen.

Even if it really has nothing to do with them, no one will care about that.

Many demons and monsters will take the opportunity to stir up trouble.

This is something the Empress absolutely does not want to see.

The Empress's power is far from enough to control the entirety of Letania, and there is no need for her to act in this way.

Furthermore, there is another basis for judging that this is the Gemini Queen.

If someone really was kidnapped, and they could pull someone out of a heavily guarded family home, wouldn't such a powerful organization be able to transport the person out of the city or hide them properly? Why would they leave them in such an obvious location?

It's not necessary.

Therefore, the elder Mainz felt that this was just the Empress wanting to give a warning after seeing the marriage between their two families.

In his view, the kidnappers' behavior was so illogical that this was the only explanation.

Faced with this situation, however, the elder Mainz did not want to compromise. He advocated that political struggle was one thing, but simply yielding in terms of force was another.

It's appropriate to show off your fists.

After all, they've already kidnapped the bride and groom so quietly, it wouldn't be appropriate to just swallow our anger and let it go.

The reason for taking such a risk was that on the eve of the wedding, the son, the protagonist, had more guards than he did. If they could kidnap the son but not him, it meant that the person behind the scenes didn't intend to harm him.

If someone really wanted to do something big, killing himself would be a much bigger threat than Straitch.

As it turned out, all these guesses were completely off track.

After all, who could have guessed that the kidnappers had caused such a huge incident just for a small town that was completely beneath their notice?

Although they were at a disadvantage, why would someone who could fight the Twin Queens care about a mere 10,000 people on Wolumonde?

Look at how arrogant he was before and how obsequious he is now. Just a moment ago he was calling me a thief, and now he's calling me "Your Excellency."

Xia Yu looked at his face and couldn't see any sign of embarrassment or annoyance on his face.

Ah, a perfectly competent political animal.

To be honest, Xia Yu was finding it a bit boring.

Talking to this kind of person is a complete waste of your time.

It's more fun to tease the two hostages hanging behind him.

Instead of wasting this time, we should do something more meaningful.

For example, give them a lesson they'll never forget.

He waved his hand and turned to say, "You can ask them for the specifics. I don't want this to happen again in the future."

After saying that, he simply passed over the two of them, took off into the air, and disappeared from everyone's sight.

It's time to get down to business.

……

"So, that's why?"

Inside the secret chamber of the tower, old Mainz clenched his fists, looking at his son who had just been rescued.

"Just because of a small town? Just because of a mere ten thousand or so lowly people?"

I made such a fool of myself today, and although only a handful of people know about it, but...

Old Mainz's face was contorted, and his clenched fists cracked.

He could accept that this was a warning from the Gemini Queens, he could accept that it was a conspiracy by a rival family, and he could even accept that it was internal strife within the family...

But for a group of lowly people... for an insignificant little town...

Streich stared blankly at his father.

Only today did he realize that he had never truly understood this person who, in theory, should have been his closest confidant.

He was so... cowardly...