Chapter 131
Chapter 131: This Couple Is Completely Unreasonable
Gwen stood firm amid the wind and snow, facing the Northern Frontier Knights.
The silver armor on her body shimmered brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
The Knights stared at the Valkyrie they held in the highest regard—who now had her sword drawn against them—and stood frozen in place, dumbstruck.
The Delin Family Crest on her silver armor looked so utterly ironic at this moment.
"G... Gwen..."
"Gwen, what is the meaning of this!?"
The Knights' faces flushed red, the veins in their necks bulging.
Almost like a roar, they demanded to know why Gwen had turned on them.
"That's Viktor! He's the enemy of the Delin Family!"
"I know."
Gwen's silver hair danced continuously through the air, yet to the Knights' eyes, it looked unmistakably like writhing silver serpents.
The Knights shouted at Gwen in a frenzy, yet not a single one dared step forward to the front of the formation.
They didn't dare—they didn't dare wager their own lives.
Every Knight present understood this perfectly.
That Gwen, with the strength of the 3rd Tier, had become the Grand Knight Commander of the Empire's Royal Knight Company.
Her power was not to be underestimated.
And most critically, there was that existence every single one of them feared beyond measure.
Viktor Clavena.
A 4th-Tier Mage—yet even Angus Delin, the Delin Family Head, had been unable to defeat him.
For the majority of the Knights, they possessed neither the qualification nor the capability to back themselves up in a standoff against these 2 people.
All they could do was huddle within the ranks of the crowd, screaming inwardly.
But there is always an exception.
A powerfully built Knight slowly raised his shield, gripped his sword, and walked to the front to stand before Gwen.
"Gwen."
"Since none of them dare, allow me to ask."
The Knight who had stepped forward had a resolute light flickering in his eyes, his mountain-like frame radiating an overwhelming aura of unyielding resilience.
It was a terrifying presence, one that could be palpably felt—blazing with intense heat.
Among the Knights, someone recognized him: the one now standing before them all was one of Angus's most prized disciples within the Delin Family.
His body trembled continuously, as though suppressing a raging fury, his eyes wide open.
In the land of the Northern Frontier, powerful Knights were far from rare.
Angus's far-reaching teachings had always cultivated no small number of formidable Knights.
Yet he—was only formidable, nothing more.
Gwen remained utterly unmoved, her presence like a thousand-year block of permafrost, clashing against the Knight's aura.
The Knight frowned slightly, feeling nothing but the crushing pressure of her power surging up through his body.
Yet he did not falter. He stepped forward again.
But almost at the exact same moment he took that step—
In an instant, a faint crimson aura surfaced in the sky, and black sparks trailing embers trembled continuously across the snowfield.
Behind Viktor, an enormous flame dragon slowly appeared.
The dragon opened its massive jaws, seemingly enraged.
The next second, flames surged and roiled from within the dragon's throat.
A beam of devastatingly intense fire burst forth from the dragon's maw.
The scorching force of those towering flames drove the Knight back several meters, forcing him to stop just at the front of the Knights' formation.
Between him and Gwen, a violently blazing wall of fire separated the 2 of them.
Beads of sweat formed on the powerfully built Knight's forehead—it was unclear whether from fear or from the overwhelming heat the flames radiated.
In that moment, an absurd thought rose in the hearts of every single Knight present.
Reasoning with force...
Gwen looked at them with cold indifference.
"It seems, then, that no one objects."
She drove her sword hard into the ground enveloped in flame, and solemnly issued her command before the assembled Knights:
"I hereby declare,"
"The wanted notice for 4th-Tier Mage of the Empire, Viktor Clavena—is rescinded, effective immediately!"
Every word she spoke came out with perfect clarity, reaching the ears of every single Knight.
Hearing Gwen's declaration, over a thousand Knights fell silent.
Within Gwen's unequivocal tone, they heard both threat and iron-hard resolve.
Every single person felt as though some force were controlling them.
They had no choice but to obey Gwen's command.
In the daze of the howling wind and snow, they felt it.
The Gwen they had known and recognized—seemed to have changed.
One by one, they slowly lowered their weapons, moved their shields to their backs, and sheathed their blades.
But...
"Gwen, the wanted notice—cannot be rescinded."
Accompanied by a raspy voice, every gaze turned to look behind.
The moment they saw him, the Knights all parted to form a path.
It was a white figure seated in a wheelchair.
Or rather—being pushed through.
His body was wrapped entirely in white bandages, with only his eyes and mouth left exposed.
The wheelchair slowly came to a stop before the Knight formation. Jaxiu looked at Gwen ahead of him and slowly exhaled.
Angus had lost consciousness. Now, he was the highest authority of the Delin Family.
"Once it is rescinded, the true culprit will be left to walk free."
Hearing Jaxiu's words, Gwen's gaze turned ice-cold in an instant.
"On what basis do you call Viktor the culprit?"
All the Knights' eyes turned to Jaxiu, as though searching him for some shred of hope.
Jaxiu let out a sigh—even that simple act seemed to cost him immense effort.
"Father—is already dead."
As those words fell, the wind and snow instantly consumed the sky. A surging white obliterated even the deep blue of the heavens entirely.
Plunging everything into violent, howling madness—and singular, desolate silence.
***
At this moment, Kavra was in the western part of the Northern Frontier.
She stared at the massive castle estate before her, both fists clenched tightly.
This was already the 4th estate she had visited these past few days.
With the situation having developed this far, she had no choice but to seek out this Grand Knight of the western Northern Frontier.
The Delin Family did not hold absolute dominion over the Northern Frontier.
They had established a clearly delineated territorial arrangement across the Northern Frontier.
Under the protection of the Knight families, the land had been divided into many portions.
Aside from the landed gentry who held a share of the territory, all remaining lands had been distributed to the outstanding Knights under Angus.
The Knight's family members recognized Kavra and proactively invited her inside the Knight's estate, asking her to wait in the Meeting Room first.
Soon, a Knight draped in a heavy white fur cloak sat down across from Kavra.
"Knight Commander Mark."
The moment she saw the visitor, Kavra immediately stood and bowed deeply.
"Why, if it isn't Kavra!"
"Come, sit, sit—no need for formalities."
"What brings Kavra here to see me today?"
The Knight named Mark wore a smile on his face, as though he were seeing an old friend, clearly delighted.
He personally brewed a cup of tea and set it on the rosewood tea table in front of Kavra.
However, Kavra did not pick it up. She simply said calmly:
"Mark, I won't waste time with pleasantries."
"The reason I'm here—you should already know."
Hearing Kavra's directness, a hint of difficulty appeared on Mark's face.
The person before him was the eldest daughter of the Delin Family.
By all reasoning, with both Angus and Jaxiu incapacitated, Kavra speaking was the same as the Family Head coming forward in person.
But Kavra herself was not a Knight, and her authority within the Delin Family was insufficient.
On top of that, Jaxiu had already issued a wanted notice once before.
Now that the difficult matter had been pushed into his own hands, Mark felt some hesitation.
"I know, Kavra—you've already visited many estates, and word reached us here long ago."
"But whether Viktor's wanted notice is dropped or not isn't something we can decide on our own."
This matter had already been forwarded all the way to the Royal Capital.
The nobles and ministers in the Royal Capital had made their stance abundantly clear—this was a family affair between the Clavena and Delin families.
"In other words, the Royal Capital is tacitly permitting this situation—for now."
Mark poured himself a cup of tea and downed it in one gulp.
He blinked his eyes and let out a slow breath of warm air.
This matter—he truly could not act rashly.
Unless the Grandmaster himself personally woke and rescinded the wanted notice, the Knights would not be convinced.
"Besides, Kavra, we only want to bring Viktor back. No one is going to do anything to him."
If Viktor were truly guilty, then it should be the Emperor who passes judgment—not the Delin Family.
The wanted notice, therefore, served purely as a warning.
Hearing Mark's deflection, Kavra gave a cold laugh.
"Every single one of you estate lords uses the same rhetoric."
"Yet which of you actually dares to act and apprehend Viktor."
That was the honest truth.
Although Viktor's wanted notice was blowing everywhere across the entire Northern Frontier.
Not a single Knight Commander had the nerve to mobilize troops to apprehend him.
It was only the common folk of the Northern Frontier—upon seeing the wanted notice—who seethed with righteous fury.
His reputation right now was, to put it mildly, not good.
Kavra heard it every day—the coarse profanity falling from the mouths of those honest northern folk.
Even at night, when children cried, the words their mothers repeated most often were:
'Cry any more and Viktor will come take you away.'
Remarkably effective—the children stopped crying immediately.
In the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of people across the Northern Frontier, even if Viktor was a 4th-Tier Mage, he naturally couldn't compare to the revered Grand Knight Angus they so praised.
"Kavra, this matter truly isn't mine to decide."
"Is it that you can't decide—or that you won't?"
Kavra pressed on with her questioning, the light in her eyes growing colder and more sharp.
Mark lowered his head guiltily, his gaze sliding to the side of the room, avoiding Kavra's eyes.
Just then, a Knight suddenly burst into the Meeting Room.
"Knight Commander! Something's happened!"
"News has come from the Extreme Northern Ice Plains!"
Hearing that news had arrived, both Mark and Kavra shot to their feet at nearly the same instant, the same single word bursting from their mouths:
"Speak!"
The Knight flinched the moment he caught sight of Kavra, his voice growing somewhat unsteady:
"The Savage Beasts have been completely wiped out! It was the Pallid Mage Society—and also..."
"And also what!? Hurry up and say it!"
The Knight jolted at Mark's shout, his entire body shaking:
"And... a Demon's help."
"What?"
A Demon helping humans—under the Pallid Mage Society's vigorous proclamation, the Knights of the Northern Frontier had essentially all caught wind of this.
Mark was stunned. Kavra was stunned too.
A Demon... had helped humans?
Kavra's body began to tremble.
She couldn't believe it.
As a Demon Hunter, Kavra had encountered many Demons.
She had never seen—nor ever heard—of a Demon that would actively help humans.
Let alone the fact that she had received no advance assignment. Why would a Demon appear in the Northern Frontier?
A flood of questions flashed through her mind.
Suddenly, a silhouette flashed through Kavra's thoughts.
Viktor!
She immediately rose to her feet and moved toward the exit.
A Demon should not have appeared here—she needed to find Viktor and get a clear answer.
The Knight paid no mind to Kavra as she departed in a hurry, but raised his voice by several degrees.
"There's also... the Delin main household. A call for reinforcements has come in."
"They—have found Viktor."
At those words, the Knight paused.
Kavra spun sharply around, staring at him with cold eyes.
"Keep talking!"
The Knight lowered his head and continued his report at the top of his voice:
"Viktor came back together with Gwen. Gwen intends to rescind Viktor's wanted notice."
"But in the end—Young Master Jaxiu stepped forward."
Mark's brow furrowed deeply, and even Kavra froze in place.
Jaxiu? Wasn't he gravely injured and bedridden?
For reasons no one could quite identify, in that moment, everyone seemed to catch the acrid scent of crisis in the air.
Mark urgently demanded:
"What's happening now—what exactly is going on!?"
"Young Master Jaxiu stopped the rescindment of Viktor's wanted notice."
"But..."
Mark suddenly seized him by the collar and roared:
"Get to the damn point!"
The Knight seemed to go completely limp, his legs losing all support, dangling entirely from Mark's grip.
"Grand Knight Angus is dead!"
"He died—at Viktor's hands!"