"So, do me a small favor and just use your connections, great artists?"
The girl's voice echoed through the small world within the giant tree for a long time. The people seated around the long log table remained silent; for these great artists who had weathered a century of storms, the current scene was not enough to make them lose their composure.
However, the youth at the far end of the table, no matter how hard he tried to stay calm, was betrayed by his hurried breathing and slightly trembling shoulders, revealing his inner tension.
Anyone could sense the terrifying power contained within that small card, enough to annihilate everything inside this giant tree and level the entire mountain peak.
At this moment, Lancelot's nerves were stretched like a tight string, his eyes fixed on the composed blonde girl at the other end of the table.
A holy glow emanated from him. If she made a move, he would immediately activate his abilities as a paladin, using the holy light to shield everyone and absorb as much of the card's power as possible, risking his life to buy a chance of survival for the teachers in the room who carried such important missions.
"Lancelot, don't be nervous."
Hearing the girl call him by name, Lancelot hesitated for a moment.
"Your uncle entrusted me to look after you. You may leave this room," Xu Xiaoyou said with an expressionless shrug.
"Uncle Charles?"
Lancelot quickly regained his focus and stood up, refocusing his attention on the girl. A lionheart shield condensed in Lancelot's hand, and the phantom of a lion roared behind him. The golden mane scattered and transformed into a cross-shield emblem. The determination to protect others burned in his azure eyes, and fearless courage forged the armor upon his body!
He took a step forward, and countless illusions of soldiers appeared behind him, with flags waving, drums beating, and horses neighing.
"No, I will not back down. I will not stand by and watch you trample upon the will of my teachers and the hopes of the people!"
The mimicry lionheart shield in Lancelot's hand transformed in an instant into a giant shield rampart, with alloy guard shields extending and locking into place on both sides.
"On the honor of the Withered-Flower family, I challenge you to a duel. Do you dare accept?"
Xu Xiaoyou massaged her temples. Should she just say he was at that hot-blooded age of chuunibyou?
In the next instant, the Hundred-Bone Whip sliced through the void, piercing through Lancelot's defenses in a flash and coiling directly around the youth's neck. With a tug of the blonde girl's hand, Lancelot fell pathetically onto one knee on the table, and his holy glow was extinguished.
"How... can this be?" Lancelot looked on in disbelief, unable to imagine that his prideful protection ability as a grade 3 paladin could not stop this eerie whip at all.
Sharp bone spurs grew from the Hundred-Bone Whip, tightly strangling Lancelot's neck. If he made another move, these sharp spurs would instantly tear his throat.
The crowd watched this scene in silence. Vantel and Da Finney even covered their faces, shaking their heads with helpless sighs.
"I have absolutely no interest in your 'cause.' Look at it from another perspective—if I were associated with Belvedere's faction, wouldn't this be the perfect time to wipe you all out?"
Hearing this, those present exchanged glances with one another as time quietly slipped away.
"State your requirements," Vantel said in a heavy voice, knowing the situation had fallen completely under the blonde girl's control.
After a brief consideration, Xu Xiaoyou spoke. "I need to stir up some public opinion. The bigger the storm, the better."
"Then you should go to Belvedere. The Morning Star Press, the King's Times, the Queen Street Daily, the Olympus Post—almost all mainstream media are under the control of the Starry Gallery," someone joked half-heartedly.
"The president of the Conch Bank, the Fixer Association ambassador, the urban legend security consultant, the chairman of the Life Daybreak Foundation, the director of the Life Daybreak Education Committee... almost everyone you can think of who makes up the upper echelons of power in the Star of Art is a member of the CAR—the Council on Art Relations."
"Belvedere indirectly controls all media through these people, manipulating the direction of public opinion and keeping all possible changes in check. Furthermore, he directly commands the tuner's office, the only force of violence in the Star of Art."
Xu Xiaoyou was not surprised by this. In fact, it was within her expectations. For the Star of Art to develop in such a pathological way for nearly a century, people's thoughts and concepts had to be firmly controlled by Belvedere through the media.
"Coincidentally," a girl in the crowd spoke up with a smile, "some of us are also members of the CAR. For example, me."
"I won't disturb the rest of you anymore. If you are willing to trust me, then come with me. I am the only one here who can help you."
The girl wore a black and white gown with floral patterns printed on the fitted pleats. Beneath the slightly raised hem were a pair of healthy, straight legs. She lightly lifted her skirt, her white lining extending from wide black sleeves to reveal slender, pale wrists. Her dark eyes were deep and serene, possessing a mysterious attraction.
Xu Xiaoyou's attention, however, was entirely on the symbol on the shoulder of that gown—the Diamond Q mark was incredibly striking.
In playing cards, the diamond shape symbolizes wealth, and the Queen of Diamonds is the queen of wealth.
Stepping beside Xu Xiaoyou, the girl placed a hand on her shoulder and winked at the people present.
The tense atmosphere in the air dissipated. To show her sincerity, Xu Xiaoyou also retracted 【Vulcan's Path】 into her card slot and unwound the Hundred-Bone Whip from Lancelot's neck. Seeing this, the others gradually lowered their guard.
Vantel watched as the girl walked away with her arm around Xu Xiaoyou's shoulder. Finally, he shook his head and looked at Da Finney, who was trying to shrink his small frame under the table out of guilt, clearly having not expected Xu Xiaoyou to pull such a stunt.
"Da Finney, I think your head has gone senile, actually dreaming of inviting such a lunatic to become a member of our Tree of Eternal Life."
Hearing the reprimand, the little old man's expression turned uncharacteristically serious as he emerged from under the table. "Don't you feel that we have been cautious for too long within this rigid, established framework?"
"Everything happens according to known constants; the trends are predictable, yet nothing about the ending can be changed. It has been this way for a hundred years."
"And the result is that our strength grows smaller while Belvedere's power grows stronger. Worrying about this and that will only lead to a slow death. Is that the ending you want to see, Vantel?"
Vantel fell silent as the little old man's words echoed in his ears.
"Nothing expressed within a rigid logical framework can possess any artistic quality. Art requires absurd variables, just like those ridiculous and tragic absurd stories in operas."
"What we need now is exactly a variable—someone to charge into the Star of Art and recklessly tear open the garden Belvedere built for the people, which is in truth a cage."
"You mean... convince her to become a member of the Tree of Eternal Life?" Vantel asked after long deliberation.
"No, just leave it like this. Let her fly freely. Under the gaze of the gods, only the carefree birds can fly into the eternal garden and pluck the fruit from the tree."
Rate on N.U.
