Chapter 191: An Interruption
As they came to the palace, the King's herald led them to the throne room and announced their arrival.
While the group marveled at the grandness and splendor of the hall, Gerald used his Magic Eyes to look around. He felt discomfort from the moment they entered the palace, and it was not without a reason.
The walls were reinforced with all kinds of runes invisible to the naked eye, and dangerous-looking soldiers stood guard on the edges. They wore a mixture of red hard leather and black metal armor, giving them a feeling of ruthlessness and aggression.
They were known as the Shadow Guard and were the King's guard, tasked with protecting him and his family from any harm, even at the cost of their own lives. Updated from novelbIn.(c)om
But all of that was not what made him feel suffocated, no, the reason he felt so was because some of these soldiers had no Mana signature!
It wasn't even that Mana flowed through them freely as if they weren't there, instead, there was literally nothing there! It was like a void!
The King was currently busy talking with a few of his people, but when he saw Arthur and the rest come in, he waved those people to the side to welcome his new guests.
"Ah, Arthur, you are back! And you must be Gerald, correct? Welcome, welcome!" The King came close to greet them.
Arthur quickly composed himself and made a serious expression. "Your Majesty!" he bowed while greeting.
Gerald also leaned forward a bit while saying hello. He did not like the way he felt in the presence of the King though.
The man was also devoid of any Mana, at least that's how Gerald saw it. But that was impossible!
How could the most powerful man in the Kingdom not have any Mana? A more likely explanation was that he could somehow cloak his Mana signature, and that's what made it terrifying!
Even powerful beasts that Gerald came across weren't able to do that. That's what made him feel so safe, he always knew when they prepared to attack.
But these people, the King, and some of his guards could attack him suddenly and without any warning. They were dangerous!
While Gerald examined the people around him, King Robart III also scrutinized him. It was just that he was already at the Nascent Soul Realm, and he could 'see' much more.
"Hmm, interesting" the King murmured. 'This fella is quite interesting He has so much Mana for being just a normal human But I can't quite see his Soul, I wonder why,' he mused.
"Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" the King said, "I asked mister Arthur over there to bring you here because I'm interested in the Stamina Potions your master can make"
Gerald flew across the room and smashed into the Rune-reinforced wall with full force. Luckily he was on high alert the entire time and managed to cast the Iron Body on himself, but that punch still broke his skin and he started bleeding from his mouth.
He coughed out some blood and saliva while trying to recover from the dizziness he experienced from the impact.
"Razor! What are you doing?!" the King shouted after seeing one of his generals suddenly attack his guest.
"Father wait, stop!" Tabbris came running into the throne room after his father, but alas, he was too slow to stop him.
After losing the duel he and his sister went to meet their father, who was surprised to see him covered in cuts and bruises.
Aster quickly started talking about Gerald and how it was him who attacked her. Tabbris didn't even have time to explain when Razor already flew into a rage after hearing the culprit was in the palace. He lost his rationality and barged into the throne room unannounced and attacked without thinking.
Clack!
Gerald's silver hand produced a sound of a mechanism clicking open and this palm moved out of the way, revealing the opening of a barrel. His sight was still blurry, but he didn't need to see to know who attacked him.
"I don't care anymore, someone is dying today!" Mana inside him suddenly erupted like a volcano and surged towards his cannon. He lifted his hand and Razor could clearly see the iron ball inside it. He suddenly felt threatened!
"Stop!" As the King shouted, everyone in the throne room fell on the floor holding their head in pain, including his guards and consultants.
Gerald also held his head in pain and immediately lost control over his own Mana. He collapsed to the ground.
The pressure the King exerted only lasted a few seconds, and even the man responsible for it had to take a few deep breaths and sit down to compose himself.
He used a crude Soul attack, but because he barely just entered the Nascent Soul stage, he couldn't control it well and it also exhausted him quickly.
By now everyone already regained their footing and could stand back up, but nobody thought about fighting anymore.
It was all so sudden many didn't get what was happening, including the girls who stood by the door stupefied.
"Razor!" the King shouted sternly, "Explain yourself!"
Feeling his King's anger, Razor shuddered, but the anger in his eyes did not subside, "Your Highness, forgive me for rudely interrupting, but this man is the one that attacked my daughter and almost made her cultivation go haywire! I beg Your Highness to let me settle this!"