However, someone was even faster than her.
The moment she made a move, Fido had already unsheathed the double-edged broadsword from his back, pressing its edge against the neck of Guard Captain Laya, who was just about to strike. The sharp blade easily sliced through her tender skin, a few beads of blood staining the pitch-black metal.
At the same time, the other Imperial Guards on the scene moved swiftly, completely subduing the human delegation in the blink of an eye.
This all happened in a flash. Having barely processed what was happening, Vina saw that everyone had been restrained. Her gaze snapped back to the terrifying dragon head in front of her. Summoning the last of her courage, the pampered Saintess stared straight at the black dragon and spoke in a voice no louder than a mosquito's buzz:
“You cannot kill me. Behind me is the Holy Kingdom, and I am the envoy of the Eastern Kingdoms. If you lay a hand on me, do you wish to make enemies of the Eastern Kingdoms?”
“What a coincidence.” Irene chuckled as if she had just heard a hilarious joke. She peeled back her lips to reveal a maw of razor-sharp fangs, flashing a smile exclusive to evil dragons. “The last person who said that to me already had their neck snapped. They are as dead as dead can be.”
She lowered her head, her voice dripping with amusement.
“Tell you what, why don't you guess? Would those old geezers sitting on the thrones of the Eastern Kingdoms really tear up our treaty and wage war against me just for your sake?”
“No... No... No... You...”
Vina hesitated. The next moment, as if finally waking up to reality, her eyes widened to their limits.
She felt it—the tangible, suffocating killing intent.
She wasn't just trying to scare her. This evil dragon truly intended to kill her!
Dropping all pretense, Vina's expression turned fierce. Her storage ring flashed, and a scroll materialized in her hand!
Without a doubt, this was a Legendary Rank magic scroll!
This was the source of her confidence.
However, in the very next instant, an incredibly majestic Dragon Fear washed over Vina, causing her movements to stiffen. Immediately after, an invisible Mage Hand bound her completely.
She could not budge a single inch.
With a soft clatter, the scroll inscribed with Legendary magic dropped to the ground.
Irene's reaction was simply too fast. Having learned her lesson once before, this was practically an instinctive response.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Right after, the massive draconic head loomed before her, sharp teeth gleaming with a cold light, poised to crush Vina in a single bite!
Staring at the rapidly approaching fangs, despair finally flooded Vina's eyes.
At this moment, she suddenly recalled the Pope's words of advice before her departure.
“Control your temper. The outside world is not the Holy See.”
Seeing the colossal draconic maw already closing around her, needing only a gentle bite to end her life,
the Saintess was so paralyzed by fear that she couldn't summon even a shred of resistance. She could only look up blankly, her once-pretty face twisting in terror as two streams of tears traced down her distorted cheeks.
But just as Irene was about to bite this not-so-clever Saintess in half, she seemed to think of something.
Furrowing her brow, Irene pondered for a brief moment. Then, with a look of utter disgust, she lifted her head, retracted her neck, and shrank her body in a flash of magical light, returning to her human form.
A brand-new black robe materialized on her body at the same time.
Feeling the pressure suddenly lift, Vina felt like a flower stripped of all its nutrients. Withered and limp, she slumped onto the ground.
Yet she had not given up. While keeping her eyes glued to Irene, her hand instinctively reached for the magic scroll.
But Irene, who had already suffered at the hands of magic scrolls once before, was constantly on guard.
Before Vina's hand could even touch the scroll, it was swept into the air by an invisible Mage Hand.
Fido, who was standing guard nearby, reached out and caught it.
Irene then leaned down and cupped Vina's chin, applying a bit of pressure. In an incredibly playful tone, she said:
“Don't waste your energy struggling. I... have changed my mind.”
Vina's watery eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
“I can let you go,” Irene said, studying the rather pretty face before her while baring two sharp little canine teeth. “But in exchange, I want books that record necromantic magic.”
Irene tilted her head, adopting a thoughtful expression.
“As for the quantity... let's make it equal to the combined weight of your entire delegation. One life for an equal weight in books. A very fair trade, wouldn't you say?”
“Hehehe...”
“After all, I'm not some kind of devil.”
This was an absolute extortion. Normally, necromancers, being of the evil alignment, were extremely rare. Most of them only inherited sporadic bits of knowledge before calling themselves necromancers.
For Irene to demand an amount of books equivalent to the weight of an entire delegation was a staggering sum.
But since the target of her extortion was the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, it was actually quite reasonable.
Recently, to guard against a human counteroffensive, Irene had crammed a lot of information about the Eastern Kingdoms. She had also gained some understanding of the Holy Kingdom, a unique nation founded on religion.
The entire Holy Kingdom was ruled by the Church, and temples dedicated to the God of Light were scattered all across the Eastern Continent. They certainly spent plenty of time performing unscrupulous deeds like purging cultists, mincing necromancers into mincemeat, and then cremating them.
Such books on the dark arts might very well have been confiscated and preserved during their purges.
Faced with such an outrageous demand, Vina's first instinct was to refuse.
Handing over such wicked books to an evil dragon was, in the eyes of the Saintess, no different from actively spreading necromancy. In her mind, this was no different from the heretics who blasphemed the gods.
For a fanatic believer, this was far more agonizing than being killed outright.
“What is this evil dragon thinking? Is she trying to humiliate me this way?” Vina couldn't help but think. Deep down, she was vehemently opposed to trading her life for such filthy things.
If this had been the past, she would have chosen suicide without a moment's hesitation.
As a member of the clergy, death was the thing she feared least.
To her, death meant returning to the Lord's embrace, returning to the Lord's divine kingdom.
But things were different now.
Long ago, His Holiness the Pope had left the Eastern Continent once. After his return, he had been muttering constantly, claiming that the gods no longer existed and that no one could return to the Lord's divine kingdom.
Although the Pope never spoke of it again, Vina had kept those words locked in her heart.
She did not dare to gamble.
If she lost that gamble and could not return to the Lord's divine kingdom, what awaited her would be true, absolute death.
Thus, torn between defending the Lord's dignity and her own life, Vina's expression shifted from shock to anger, then to despair, and finally to blank numbness.
She showed an expression of immense struggle!
Only when Irene's face began to show signs of impatience did Vina finally break into a manic smile, as if something vital had just died inside her!
Two clear streams of tears spilled from her watery eyes.
Her fragile, helpless appearance was truly pitiful.
“I understand.”
As if letting go of a heavy burden, Vina gave a highly distorted smile and said calmly, “I will do as you say.”
She then reached up to pry Irene's hand away, but she couldn't match her strength at all. She could only say helplessly, “Can you let go of me now?”
“Hehe, what a sensible little thing.”
Irene released her grip and, with a look of slight distaste, cast a Cleaning Spell on her own hand.
With her restraints suddenly gone, Vina's body went limp, and she nearly collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, her reflexes were quick enough that she managed to prop herself up with her hands in time.
Under Irene's watchful gaze, the once-arrogant Saintess hung her head, shakily pushed herself up from the ground, and prepared to leave.
“Wait.”
Irene suddenly spoke again.
Vina felt a chill run down her spine. Shuddering in fear, she shakily turned her head, only to hear Irene say with great amusement:
“When we do business, we must act with integrity. As a dragon, I am rather suspicious. How about this: swear a solemn oath upon your great God of Light before you go.”
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