Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Severing Dawn and Dusk, as the name suggests, cuts off day and night in an instant. This may be an exaggeration, but the visual impact of Shining's move is definitely worthy of such praise. This is the ultimate skill that earned Shining the title of "Sword Saint," a perfect fusion of light-type Originium Arts and superb swordsmanship!

As if drawn by a force, the surrounding light began to surge wildly toward the withered branch sword in Shining's hand. The light beneath the scabbard grew ever brighter, yet remained contained within the blade. Outside the scabbard, it was as if night had fallen. Within a distance of nearly one meter around Shining, no light could be seen. If it weren't for the faint light emanating from the scabbard illuminating Shining's holy face, Shining would likely have vanished within Mosti!

"Anything that's alive, even immortals and gods, I can kill them all!"

It was clearly a rather arrogant declaration, but even Mostima himself felt that it might be stating a fact.

"This is a huge problem."

She muttered something to herself, then stopped charging the Key of Time and focused all her energy on the Lock of Desolation.

He was standing on the left, so he definitely couldn't win against the wave. He could only try to use the Lock of Time to freeze time and escape!

Damn it, we still haven't found Prince Wayne's location!

Just as Mostima's usually indifferent heart was filled with anxiety because of Wayne, the chanting Shining finally opened its eyes.

A flash of light, and the sword is drawn!

Chapter Thirteen Wayne: What are you doing here?

"Damn it, is this a person?"

Mostima, carrying her tattered long dress, slipped into an empty room in the palace. Before she could even catch her breath, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door again.

"Snapped!"

The door was kicked open with pinpoint accuracy, and Shining, wielding a withered longsword and dressed in a servant's uniform, emerged unscathed, a stark contrast to the disheveled Mostima. Her gaze locked precisely on Mostima as she raised her sword, her gaze sweeping across the room. She then quickly and decisively attacked, her eyes fixed on Mostima's raised sword.

Suddenly, an orange-red magic circle appeared out of thin air beneath Shining's feet. The energy shooting up shot towards Shining's limbs at an absolutely unavoidable speed, forming semi-transparent chains upon contact, and Shining's originally fierce slashes suddenly stopped.

It wasn't a stop, but a freeze. The Lock of Time had the ability to pause the enemy's perception of time. At this moment, Shining's attack, in terms of both power and momentum, was frozen at the moment she swung her sword. As long as the Lock of Time was released, the power of her attack would not be weakened in the slightest. But at this moment, she could only freeze in place and could not move, and was not even aware that she "could not move".

This is the unique charm of Time-based Originium Arts!

In Shining's eyes, Mostima's ability should have been to cast a spell and greatly increase her movement speed, to the point that even she couldn't keep up. But in reality, Mostima only managed to run to the door in those short five seconds and then headed deeper into the palace.

You might ask, why didn't Mostima retaliate?

The answer is simple: because it's impossible.

The Lock of Time is a control spell and does not have offensive capabilities. Mostima's usual fighting style is to use the nine-second time stop provided by the Lock of Time to charge up the Key of Time and then launch a wide-range spell attack.

This move used to be incredibly effective, as the delay effect of the Key of Time could be used in conjunction with the Lock of Time to unleash a barrage of spells that left the enemy with no chance to retaliate. But today, she's run into trouble!

The female Sarkaz in front of me is probably made of ancient alloy from the underground of Rembiton. Not only has the effect of the Lock of Time on her been reduced from nine seconds to five seconds, but the delaying effect of the Key of Time has also been greatly reduced along with its power, making Mostima's attacks feel like scraping.

Mostima's energy wasn't limitless either. After trying a few cupping treatments and being fully restored by Shining's healing spell, Mostima gave up on the idea of ​​using magic to wear Shining down—she might be drained of energy first than to wear Shining down.

However, when Mostima tried to execute a classic time-stopping dagger-throwing maneuver, she discovered that the faintly visible barrier of light surrounding Shining, while unable to defend against her magical attacks, was more than capable of blocking a few thrown knives. The Lock of Time's effect was to immobilize the enemy's current state; since Shining had the barrier active, Mostima couldn't dispel it as long as Shining wasn't exhausted. Physical attacks were also ineffective!

We can't beat them, we simply can't beat them, how could there be such a monster?

The image of that strike that severed dawn and dusk flashed through his mind—a strike that almost disregarded the constraints of the Lock of Time, a strike that couldn't be controlled for even a second, arriving before him in an instant. Mostima couldn't help but shudder. If it weren't for the sturdiness of the two staffs in his hands, he might have been turned into a monster.

Today is a disaster. My escape route has been cut off by Shining, and I can only flee towards the depths of the palace. I don't even know if I can escape this inescapable trap alive...

Even though he had risked his life, he still couldn't save Prince Wayne, and Mostima felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

Even she herself didn't realize that in just a few dozen minutes today, her indifferent heart had stirred up many emotions long forgotten in the depths of her memory—anxiety, worry, indignation, shock, and the bitterness of this moment. And all of this was because of a man she once regarded as an ordinary mission target, but who was now a "friend."

"boom!"

A loud slashing sound came from a room not far behind. The power of the Lock of Time had been greatly depleted, and this time it only imprisoned the target for a little over four seconds... But there was no time to think about it!

The sound of a sword cutting through the air came from behind. Mostima gritted his teeth, turned around, and held the Black Key horizontally in front of the sword.

"Ding!"

A crisp, almost ear-piercing metallic clang rang out, and Shining was jolted back a step in surprise, clutching her trembling wrist as she looked at the black key in Mostima's hand, which hadn't even left a mark.

"What kind of staff is that? An ordinary Originium staff can't withstand a single blow from [Withered Leaf]."

"It's none of your business."

Mostima gritted his teeth and used all his strength to activate the Lock of Time for the second time in a short period of time.

The same orange-red magic circle appeared out of nowhere, and the same chains bound people at an imperceptible speed; Shining was once again brought to a standstill.

Mostima gritted his teeth, turned around, and rushed quickly toward the room at the end of the palace corridor.

"Snapped!"

Pushing open the door, she was greeted by neatly arranged bookshelves and wall-mounted glass lamps that emitted just the right amount of light. Rows of chairs were set with ink and pens that had been prepared in advance. The invigorating incense, along with her rapid breathing, was inhaled by Mostima, which involuntarily brought a sense of tranquility to her tense mind.

Is this the study?

The Royal Library of Victoria, separate from the National Library of Londinium, is a vast repository of treasures and secrets. It is generally accessible only to members of the Aslan royal family, but those who have been granted special permission to enter have invariably become leaders in their respective fields, making it a sacred place in the hearts of all scholars.

But Mostima had no time to sit down and read quietly. She glanced at the library, quickly walked around the rows of bookshelves, and came to the small room with the sign "Study Room".

We have no choice but to hide here. If we are discovered here as well, then we will truly have no way out.

When the time comes... we'll fight to the death! We absolutely cannot let anything about Prince Wayne and Laterano leak out!

With a determination to die for his cause, Mostima pushed open the wooden door in front of him.

Inside the door, Wayne, who was peacefully doing his homework, looked up in confusion.

"Your Highness?"

"Mostima?"

The two looked into each other's eyes and simultaneously asked the same question:

What are you doing here?

Chapter Fourteen: A Cripple

"Your Highness Wayne!"

Mostima couldn't help but shout out, "What I've been searching for has come to me without any effort! I've actually found Prince Wayne here!"

That makes sense. Although His Highness Wayne is controlled by the Queen, out of respect for the royal family, he is unlikely to be imprisoned in a place like a dungeon where ordinary people are held. The most likely scenario is that he is under house arrest! And the most likely place of house arrest is either his bedroom or a quiet place where he is difficult to contact with the outside world.

Mostima recalled the three large characters "Study Room" on the signboard he had glimpsed before entering the room, and the location of this royal library within the palace; in an instant, everything became clear in his mind.

His Highness Wayne is under house arrest here.

Mostima couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. She hadn't expected that being chased so frantically through the palace by that Sarkaz Valkyrie would lead her into this normally undiscoverable library. Now that she had found Prince Wayne, as long as she could find a way to safely rescue him from the palace and send him to Laterano, even if she didn't leave this palace today, it would all be worth it.

Mostima's emotional shout sent shivers down his spine. Wayne clicked his tongue and looked Mostima up and down, her clothes tattered and battered. The Mostima of this moment was completely different from the one Wayne had seen in room 666 of the Saint's Hotel. Her blue and white modified priest's robe was covered with large, neat cuts, and there were charred marks left by burning cotton at the cuts. Underneath the small sections of her torn shirt, her fair skin and bright red wounds were visible. Her serene, elegant, and composed demeanor had vanished. Combined with the dust on her face, she looked like a refugee who had just escaped from a fire.

"What happened to you? Did the hotel catch fire?"

"Wayne asked curiously," Mostima said, turning around and pressing his ear against the door. He listened for a moment, and after confirming that the hurried footsteps hadn't returned, he breathed a sigh of relief and explained:

"I'm being chased!"

Wayne was slightly taken aback, his expression immediately turning serious. He thought to himself, "Who dares to hunt down my God of Wealth?" and slammed his fist on the table, demanding, "Who did this?"

“A Sarkaz woman, dressed as a waitress, carrying a strange sword, with white horns!”

Upon hearing this description, Wayne understood: Oh, the Shining.

That's all right, well done.

The Sarkaz and Sarkaz are sworn enemies, demons and angels, so it's not surprising they fight whenever they meet. But Wayne was a little curious: how could Mostima be beaten so badly by Shining? He remembered that Mostima had a Stand ability that could temporarily stop time... no, Originium Arts, right? How did Shining do that?

But his emotional intelligence was still intact; he wisely refrained from asking a question that would undoubtedly make someone incredibly embarrassed. Zhi Shi pursed his lips, his face twitching slightly as he suppressed his curiosity.

Mostima, seeing this, also showed a helpless expression. Judging from Prince Wayne's expression just now, he clearly knew that Sarkaz Valkyrie, but obviously, he couldn't do anything about her either.

A prince, dignified as he was, was powerless against a Sarkaz woman in the palace. Mostima was now absolutely certain of her suspicions—a mysterious change had occurred in the Lontinim court without her knowledge, Prince Wayne had been placed under house arrest, and the shadow hanging over Lontinim now must be from Kazdel.

On one hand, there was the frustration of failing to detect the changes in time; on the other hand, there was the inability to protect his friend Wayne. Mostima let out a rare long sigh. Fortunately, it wasn't too late. As long as they could get Prince Wayne out of here, with this powerful advocate, Laterano could easily thwart Kazdel's plot again.

"By the way, how did you get here?"

Wayne picked up the coffee cup on his desk. The slightly cold coffee emitted a refreshing bitterness. Wayne frowned, then poured in some hot milk pudding and asked as he drank.

Mostima blinked, her gaze fixed on the coffee cup. Wayne raised an eyebrow, downed his coffee in one gulp, wiped the cup, poured Mostima a glass of hoof milk, and handed it to her.

"Fengti milk is sweet."

"I heard that the Lateran people like sweets," Wayne added.

Mostima took the cup, nodded gratefully to Wayne, drank the milk in one gulp, wiped the milky white traces from the corner of her mouth, and a satisfied look appeared on her face, which was slightly pink from the steam.

The strain of unleashing Originium Arts would have drained an ordinary person dry, and even with Mostima's extraordinary strength, she was now somewhat exhausted. After finishing this cup of hot, rich milk tea, she felt an inexplicable sense of happiness.

"He's alive!"

Savoring the lingering sweetness on his lips and teeth, the fallen angel thought to himself.

She looked at Wayne gratefully and explained:

"Today is our usual day to receive the [monastery aid], but I waited for you at the inn for a long time and you didn't come. According to our agreement, I was worried that something might have happened to you, so I came to the palace to find you."

"And then you ran into Shining?"

Wayne continued, and Mostima nodded, firmly memorizing the name of that terrible Sarkaz woman. She resolved that if she could escape, she would report this human weapon to His Holiness the Pope. She then continued:

"Yes, that's right, and then I fought her."

"You fought a match? Where?"

"Don't worry, I dismissed the guards. There were no witnesses."

Mostima said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I lost. That Sarkaz woman was practically made of steel. My spells had very little effect on her. In the end, I had no choice but to run away."

"And then you ended up here? This is the core area of ​​the palace, and you didn't encounter any guards along the way?"

Wayne had already decided to fire all the guards on duty today, and the leader would be arrested and held accountable. This dereliction of duty had turned the palace guards into a sieve. How could a living person run so far and wander around the palace without anyone noticing?

Mostima shook his head:

"I have encountered guards before, but dealing with them is quite simple for me; I just need to pause their time. The main problem is that Shining."

"She kept chasing me. She chased me and I ran away. She chased me and I ran away. I hid here and there all the way until I finally stumbled into you."

Mostima looked at Wayne, her eyes filled with hope: