Chapter 430

In the lounge.

Bonbietta was still hanging in the air, but the large amount of scorching hot Reiki that Maple had created earlier had all disappeared. Her clothes had almost completely melted away, replaced by a layer of solidified Reiki.

As Bonbietta panted, many cracks appeared on the solidified Reiki. Many parts of the Reiki started to fall off, revealing the red skin underneath.

"Not bad."

"You're quite capable."

Maple walked in from outside and looked at Bonbietta. He revealed a faint smile and said, "As expected of someone who can become a Star Cross Knight in the future."

Bonbietta weakly looked at Maple. She felt scorching hot and stinging pain all over her body, as if countless tiny needles were slowly piercing her skin. It was difficult for her to endure, but she didn't dare to move her body. That was because the more she moved, the more intense the stinging pain would be.

She asked in a small voice, "You're saying that I … can become a Star Cross Knight?"

She didn't know why.

Hearing Maple's praise of her, a strange feeling that couldn't be described with words arose in her heart. Torture and training represented darkness, while praise was like a light that pierced through the darkness.

When one fell into the deepest depths of darkness, even if it was only an insignificant light, even if it was only a light that one normally wouldn't care about, it would still become something that caused one's heart to tremble.

As the eldest daughter of the Bombietta Family, she had heard countless praises in her life. However, none of them could compare to Maple's nonchalant words.

Kaede had once casually pinched a Star Cross Knight to death right in front of her.

That was a terrifying power that couldn't be described with words.

In her heart, becoming a Star Cross Knight was already the highest level of existence. It was the goal that she had always yearned for. However, Maple had easily crushed that dream into powder and shattered it.

No matter how talented she was, no matter how confident she was, she only believed that she could become a Star Cross Knight. She hadn't truly reached that height yet.

It was as if her belief had been shattered.

"Of course you can."

Feng Ye smiled and said, "But now, you can't anymore."

"…"

Bombietta lowered her head slightly.

Even though she heard from Maple that she could no longer become a Star Cross Knight, she didn't have any strong thoughts of resisting. In her heart, becoming a Star Cross Knight was no longer as important as it had been in the past.

* Rip!! *

Maple waved his finger and cut off the rope that suspended Bombietta in the air.

"Ah …"

Bombietta fell to the ground and landed on the wooden floor. She rolled twice on the floor, and the solidified Spirit Particles on her body completely shattered, revealing her bare skin.

Falling from such a height wasn't much for her. However, because she had been burned by the Spirit Particles earlier, when she landed, the prickling and numbing sensation that came from all over her body instantly became ten times more intense. Her entire body was tense and stiff, and she didn't even dare to make a sound.

"Haa … Haa …"

Only after several seconds did she start panting heavily. Her entire body seemed to be instantly drenched in sweat. Even though the ropes binding her hands and feet had already been released, she still stuck to the floor and didn't dare to move. Sparkling saliva flowed down the corner of her mouth.

Another ten seconds passed before she gradually recovered from the feeling of ascending to the clouds, and she slowly propped up her body.

"Go back to your room and recover."

Maple put down his hand and smiled faintly at her.

Hearing Maple's words, Bonbietta stood up with great difficulty. Although her clothes had already been burnt to a crisp, a portion of the rope that was infused with Maple's Spiritual Energy was still binding her body. As she stood up, the coarse rope rubbed against her skin, causing her body to stiffen.

She maintained her half-standing posture and looked at Maple with a pleading gaze.

Feng Ye smiled and shook his head at her.

"You can't untie the rope, and you can't use Spirit Particles to separate the rope either. Just return to your room like this; I think it should be fine for you."

Bonbietta panted a few times and looked at Maple's gaze. In the end, she endured it and stood up, then took a small step forward.

"Ugh … Ah …"

It was only a small step, but her body suddenly tensed up again. She couldn't help but raise her head and breathe heavily.

She barely managed to recover after several seconds. She turned her head to look at Feng Ye with a pleading gaze. However, Feng Ye merely smiled and stood there.

"You can untie the rope or control the Spirit Particles to fly back like this. I won't stop you from doing that, but I would rather see you walk back like this. What do you want to choose?"

"…"

Without a doubt, destroying the rope or controlling the Spirit Particles to fly back to her room would prevent her from suffering the stinging and numbing sensation. Furthermore, Maple didn't seem to want to torture her any further, so this was probably the best choice.

However, after Bonbietta panted slightly, she didn't know why, but she chose to do what Maple wanted to see. She maintained her original state and took another step forward.

"Haa, haa, haa …"

After taking two steps forward, she began to pant violently. Sweat slid down her body, causing the floor under her feet to be soaked with a footprint.

With great difficulty, she walked forward bit by bit, all the way out of the lounge and into the corridor. In the end, she walked all the way back to her bedroom.

The short journey took more than ten minutes and left a trail of wet footprints.

Maple smiled as he watched Bonbietta return to her bedroom. He then turned his head and looked at the center of the Invisible Empire, in the direction of Yinjia City. A faint golden luster appeared in his eyes.

…

Two days later, Yinjia City.

It had been more than forty-eight hours since they lost contact with the Star Cross Knight Aodou.

As the commander of the Star Cross Knights, Yuglan Hastward, who was temporarily in charge of everything in the Invisible Empire before Yhwach regained consciousness, finally received this news.

Since it involved the Star Cross Knight's reputation, Aodou's subordinates originally wanted to hide it for a while longer. However, they had lost contact with Aodou for too long, and they couldn't even contact Aodou through the emblem. Finally, they panicked and didn't dare to continue hiding the news.

"As expected, something happened."

When Yuglan heard the report from Aodou's subordinates, a slight ripple appeared in his eyes. He couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that his premonition was correct.

A Star Cross Knight had silently lost contact with the Invisible Empire. There was no need to think too much about how serious this matter was. This wasn't something a Terminator could do.

Even Askin and the others, who were his personal guards, couldn't completely lose contact with a Star Cross Knight without causing a battle or any commotion.

"Pass down my order."

"Summon the Star Cross Knights."

After Yuglan sighed, he didn't hesitate too much. After glancing at the pitch-black palace behind him, he immediately gave the order.

The possibility of making Aodou disappear without a sound was too low. Either way, it meant that the Invisible Empire was about to face its greatest crisis in 900 years!

A moment later.

All the members of the Star Cross Knights gathered in the plaza in front of King's City.

Including Yuglan, there were a total of 13 people in the Star Cross Knights, including the two personal guards and 10 ordinary Star Cross Knights.

Without waiting for the gathered Star Cross Knights to ask, Yuglan, who had already changed into a Star Cross Knight uniform and was dressed in battle attire, slowly opened his mouth.

"The threat of the Invisible Empire has appeared."

"We've lost contact with Aodou. Perhaps he's already dead."

"This is an unavoidable threat. If we want to protect the Invisible Empire and His Majesty, we can only do so now. Pick up your swords and bows, and prepare … for battle."

Yuglan's words caused the plaza to instantly fall silent.

The dozen or so Star Cross Knights looked at each other, their eyes revealing slight astonishment. Clearly, after recuperating for more than 900 years without any major incidents, this sudden news caused all of them to be unable to react for a moment.

"Hugo …"

Buzby looked at Yuglan, his gaze hesitant as he spoke.

Yuglan glanced at him indifferently, her gaze sweeping past the other Star Cross Knights. Her left hand gently pulled out her sword, and she said, "His Majesty has bestowed you with the Holy Text. Now is the time for you to protect His Majesty. What are you still hesitating for?"

Buzby was stunned for a few seconds. Then, he took a deep breath, his expression turning solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "I understand."

The other Celestial Cross Knights finally realized the current situation.

After everyone's gazes turned solemn, almost everyone revealed the conviction of being a Star Cross Knight. That was to protect the king of the Exterminators, and to fight for the king of the Exterminators!

"Since you all understand the situation, then …"

"Let's go."

Yuglan's gaze swept past everyone, and she stabbed the sword in her hand into the ground, causing a crack to appear. The crack extended all the way to the front of the plaza, and then she strode forward.

The 12 Star Cross Knights behind her split into two lines and followed Yuglan. The group followed the path in front of the plaza, and at the same time, a large number of knights and knight leaders followed after being summoned.

Star Cross Knights —

Including the leader, a total of 404 knights were all moving out at this moment!

They were marching towards the manor in the northern part of the Invisible Empire!