'This is all because we spoiled her too much… it's all our fault…' Empress Lindy sighed inwardly, looking at the state her daughter was in.
Because of the excruciating pain, Lindsey lost consciousness shortly after Mireya broke her limbs one after another. She couldn't endure the torment, having never suffered such agony before.
'Daughter… don't blame me for not saving you… I have a feeling that Mireya and everyone who came with her are not as simple as they appear,' Empress Lindy muttered with a sorrowful look, sobbing in silence.
Meanwhile, Emperor Raghar was so stunned by the kick that he forgot to rise from the floor, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
Mireya casually walked toward him, her heels clicking against the floor with each step. Every gaze followed her, curiosity and dread building over what she would do next.
"Raghar, I no longer hold the respect I once had for you. In my eyes, you're nothing but filth!" Mireya declared coldly, her hatred for him only deepening.
With steady steps, she continued, "Not only did you dare to plot against my kingdom with that wretched project of yours, but you also captured my people and sold them as slaves. In my eyes, this is an unforgivable crime!"
Emperor Raghar's expression stiffened as Mireya circled him, laying bare his darkest secrets in front of everyone.
'Damn it! This bitch is exposing everything in front of them! It's too late now… there's no saving me! Everyone knows the truth!' Emperor Raghar screamed inwardly, panic twisting inside him.
Humiliation washed over him before the crowd. Never had he imagined that his hidden dealings would one day be dragged into the light, forcing him to face such disgrace.
"Raghar, I'll give you two choices now," Mireya said firmly. "First, admit your crimes, release my people immediately, and cut off one of your arms as an apology."
"And the second choice, die by my hand. A man like you, consumed by greed and lust for power, deserves nothing less than death!" Mireya's voice thundered through the Grand Hall.
The entire Grand Hall fell into a heavy silence upon hearing the two choices Mireya gave Emperor Raghar—inside his own domain.
Emperor Raghar, ruler of the mighty Golden Lion Empire, now found himself cornered. A Queen from the Elven Kingdom had dared to humiliate him with such ultimatums—an affront far too great for an emperor to endure.
Mireya looked at Emperor Raghar with a cold grin and asked, "So — which choice will you make? Decide quickly; I don't have time to entertain you."
"Hmph! Do you think I make choices here? I'm the emperor of this empire. I kneel to no one!" Emperor Raghar scoffed as he rose from the floor, an arrogant smile twisting his face, pretending fearlessness before Mireya.
"And I didn't build this empire with kindness… I raised it on the bones of the countless dead!" he roared furiously, hatred flashing in his eyes.
He stepped closer to Mireya and stared her down. "You have no idea what I'll do to you for harming my daughter — crippling her before everyone. You will pay for this!"
"Guard! Get in here and break this woman's legs!" Emperor Raghar bellowed, and within moments nearly a hundred soldiers poured into the Grand Hall.
The soldiers immediately encircled Mireya and her party, weapons leveled in every direction.
Yuan and his wives showed no sign of fear; if anything, they looked surprised that Emperor Raghar had called for reinforcements.
But these soldiers were nothing to Mireya — she could kill them all with a push of her aura. She didn't need to lift a finger to wipe out a handful of mortal men.
"Kill every one of them! Leave none alive! They must die for harming my daughter!" Emperor Raghar roared, rage hardening his features as he glared at Mireya with murderous intent.
The soldiers shifted into attack positions; they recognized Mireya and remembered how easily she had suppressed the ancestor of the Dragon Blood Tribe.
Each man swallowed as Mireya's gaze swept the ranks, a chill running down their spines as though death had looked them in the face.
She turned back to Emperor Raghar with an almost amused, playful tone. "You're going to rely on these ants? Unbelievable… to think you'd be such an idiot."
Her smile vanished; she had wasted enough time on words and mockery.
'It's time to finish this and return home quickly. Once I teach this bastard a proper lesson, I'll rescue my people and take them back to my kingdom,' Mireya thought, letting out a long, controlled sigh as she regarded the soldiers surrounding her.
She focused her mind, took a deep breath, and unleashed her Qi Manifestation on the soldiers around her. In an instant, every man was lifted from the ground.
Emperor Raghar and everyone who watched stared in utter disbelief. It was as if a ghost had appeared in the Grand Hall and plucked the soldiers from the floor.
"W-What the hell is happening?! Why are they being lifted into the air?" Empress Lindy muttered, eyes wide with shock.
Before anyone could form a single coherent word, Mireya crushed them in the blink of an eye.
All the soldiers dropped at once, their bodies collapsing like puppets with severed strings. Blood splashed across the marble; the floor was stained red.
Except for Yuan and his wives, everyone in the Grand Hall watched with mouths agape, disbelief freezing their faces.
Horror rippled through the crowd; many trembled and could not meet Mireya's gaze, overwhelmed by fear.
Some servants wet themselves. Others retched. Even Empress Lindy, pale and trembling, gagged at the sight.
Meanwhile, Emperor Raghar stared at Mireya, his legs beginning to tremble as his face drained of color.
He realized, with a cold, sinking clarity, that he could not defeat the woman before him—even with the entire Golden Lion army at his command.
Now he understood the scale of his mistake: he had made an enemy he could not afford to offend. What had he gained from his greed? Nothing but ruin.
'W-What did she do?! How could she kill so many at once?!' Emperor Raghar screamed inwardly, numb and desperate.
A few minutes later, as his panic began to settle into paralysis, Mireya's voice rang out through the Grand Hall.
"Since you completely disregarded the first choice I gave you, does that mean you pick the second choice? Is that it?"
Mireya looked at Emperor Raghar with a cold grin, as if regarding someone already at death's door. There was no pity in her eyes—only a long, unyielding hatred.
"D-Don't come closer… don't come closer!" Emperor Raghar stumbled backward, legs shaking wildly with fear.
To him, Mireya was the devil made flesh, and he knew she would not spare him now that she had uncovered his deeds.
Mireya ignored his pleas. She drew her sword from her spatial ring, and the instant the blade appeared in her hand, Raghar's panic deepened.
He tried to flee to save his life—then a crushing pressure swept through the Grand Hall, pinning him hard against the marble.
Even in his despair he felt the cold floor under his cheek and the invisible weight forcing his body down, every breath a labor.
Her heels clicked closer. Raghar's expression froze when the tip of her sword kissed his throat, a razor's cold that stole the last of his bravado.
"Ready to die?" Mireya asked with an almost amused chuckle as she pressed the blade to his neck. "You've destroyed families and tribes for your ambition—your greed for power."
"And your greed and ambition are why you're about to die, Raghar…" Mireya whispered, then in a swift motion swung her sword, decapitating Emperor Raghar in the blink of an eye.
"AAAHHHHHH!!!" Empress Lindy screamed, clutching her ears as she witnessed her husband's death.
Her scream echoed through the entire palace, alerting everyone that something terrible had occurred.
Mireya ignored Empress Lindy and approached Yuan and the others. "Let's go. This place will be crowded soon. I want to rescue my people—they've suffered enough."
"Alright," Yuan nodded with a smile. "I don't want to waste time on fools either. Let's save your people as quickly as possible."
"What about her? Aren't you going to do the same for her?" Vrasha asked, standing beside Yuan, curiosity evident on her face.
"No," Mireya replied, shaking her head. "She's innocent. I know her well—she doesn't have the heart to harm anyone."
Soon, Yuan and his wives left the palace without saying a single word to the Imperial Family of the Golden Lion Empire.
The Grand Hall rang with Empress Lindy's anguished cries; the loss of her husband and the pitiful state of her daughter overwhelmed her, leaving her unable to contain her grief.
Shortly afterward, Yuan and his wives arrived at the location where the elves had been held captive, destined for the slave market.
Without wasting a single second, they began rescuing Mireya's people.
The area was eerily silent, with guards patrolling the streets, and an illusion magic had been set up on one of the streets to conceal the existence of the black market within the city.
"This is the entrance to the underground market. Let's go," Yuan said to his wives, before heading toward the wall, which was nothing more than an illusion.