Chapter 99 : Back Home
The air was heavy with tension.
Arthur lay unconscious on the ground, unmoving.
Aiden stood nearby, sword in hand, while Evangeline watched the knights with a lazy, amused smile.
Suddenly—
The captain of the knights stepped forward.
His hand went to the hilt of his sword as he closed the distance toward Evangeline.
"Your Highness, what are you talking about?" he demanded, voice strained. "We are your loyal servants."
Evangeline tilted her head slightly, still smiling.
In the next instant—
The captain drew his sword and swung it straight at Evangeline’s neck without a hint of hesitation.
Even with death rushing toward her—
Evangeline did not flinch.
She kept smiling.
As if she already knew how this would end.
The captain, an A-Rank knight hardened by war, gritted his teeth.
’Why the hell is this bitch smiling...?’ he thought, panic flickering beneath his focus. ’There’s no way she can dodge this at this distance—’
The blade reached her.
A few inches away from her throat—
SCHLK.
The captain’s sword froze mid-swing.
His eyes widened.
His head slid away from his neck and dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
His body followed immediately after, collapsing lifelessly.
Aiden stood behind him, sword extended.
He calmly shook the blood off his blade with a sharp flick.
Evangeline threw her head back and laughed loudly.
She stepped forward, her boots splashing in the growing pool of blood as she walked toward the remaining knights.
"What did you guys think?" she asked, voice lilting with amusement. "That I wouldn’t know who you’re actually loyal to?"
She stopped in front of them.
Her violet eyes turned sharp.
"But just tell me one thing," she said, her smile thinning. "Was it my brother’s... or my even dearer sister?"
"The biggest thorn in my way."
The knights began to tremble.
Their grips on their swords turned slick with sweat.
Suddenly—
They all dropped to their knees at once.
"It was Prince Edmond!" one of them shouted, desperation cracking his voice.
"Your Highness," another added quickly, "he ordered us to kill you while you were busy fighting the vampire queen—along with Lord Aiden."
"Please spare our lives," a third pleaded. "We aren’t at fault. We were just following orders!"
Evangeline looked down at them.
Her smile returned.
But it was colder now.
"Too bad," she said casually. "All of your deaths have now become a necessity for me."
In that same heartbeat.
The kneeling knights drew their swords.
Even at the brink of death, their training held.
They surged forward in a desperate rush, attacking Evangeline and Aiden together.
Aiden moved.
What followed was less a battle.
And more a slaughter.
His sword flashed through the air, each movement precise and economical.
A step to the side and his blade slipped under a knight’s guard, severing his throat in one smooth motion.
He pivoted, twisting his wrist; the same stroke continued into the next target, cutting through armor as if it were paper.
A knight tried to attack from behind.
Aiden shifted his weight, letting the sword pass inches from his shoulder, then drove his elbow into the attacker’s jaw, stunning him just long enough to decapitate him with a backhand slash.
Another came from the left with a heavy overhead strike.
Aiden didn’t block.
He angled his sword, guiding the blow away, then slid forward in the opening, running his blade through the man’s chest and pulling it out in a spray of blood.
His footwork was flawless.
Every step placed him exactly where he needed to be.
Every swing killed.
No wasted movements.
No hesitation.
Just cold, refined efficiency.
Screams echoed in the Null Realm, one after another, as the knights fell.
Some tried to retreat.
Aiden was already there, cutting them down before they could turn their backs.
By the time it ended—
Bodies lay scattered everywhere.
Blood soaked the ground.
Only Evangeline and Aiden remained standing.
Evangeline’s eyes gleamed with happiness.
She clapped her hands together lightly.
"That’s my first knight for you," she said. "No one can match him."
Aiden wiped the blood from his sword with a practiced motion.
"Was I faster than you?" he asked, a hint of boyish curiosity slipping through his composed tone.
Evangeline walked casually toward him.
"Who knows," she replied. "I can’t say."
"You’re teasing me again," Aiden said with a faint sigh.
Evangeline laughed out loud.
"Alright," she said, stretching her arms above her head. "Now that we’ve succeeded in our mission to kill the vampire queen of the Crimson Clan—let’s go back."
She reached into her spatial storage ring and pulled out a small, silver artifact shaped like a jagged crystal.
Without ceremony, she dropped it onto the ground.
The artifact cracked.
A wave of magic surged outward.
A translucent dome formed over the distant territory where the Crimson Clan vampires had once lived, sealing it under a shimmering barrier.
Evangeline watched it for a moment, then nodded.
"Now our work is done," she said. "Pick up that guy."
She jerked her chin toward Arthur’s unconscious body.
Aiden stared at Arthur and then at her.
"Do I have to do it?" he asked.
Evangeline raised an eyebrow.
"So you want this beautiful princess to do labour work?" she replied.
Aiden’s mouth twitched.
"Now I’m regretting killing those soldiers," he muttered.
He bent down and grabbed Arthur by the collar.
With a casual motion, he hoisted him up like a sack of potatoes and slung him over his shoulder.
"The nearest portal to our world is two kilometers to the southeast from here," Aiden said.
Evangeline was already walking in that direction, her steps light, almost bouncy. She was brimming with excitement.
"I really want to see the look on Mother’s face when she finds out I actually did it," she said, eyes shining.
"Technically," Aiden replied from behind, "it was this guy."
Evangeline waved a hand dismissively.
"Tomato, tomaato," she said. "Now he’s my slave. So his success is his master’s success."
Aiden murmured something under his breath.
Evangeline glanced back.
"Did you say something?" she asked.
"Nothing," Aiden replied.
They continued walking across the barren land, the Null Realm’s dark sky hanging over them like a heavy curtain.
In the distance, faint glimmers of mana marked the stabilised zone where a portal had been set up.
It was one of the fixed gatepoints established by the Hunters Association—safe routes for hunters to return to their own worlds after expeditions into the Null Realm.
Step by step, Evangeline and Aiden made their way toward it.
Toward their home world.