The Dragon King snorted after reading the contents of the letter that had been handed to him by the Messenger of the Divine Army of Light.
"It looks like your luck has run out, Halfling," the Dragon King said. "For them to not kill you outright can only mean one thing. They also want to kill your Disciple and send both of you to the afterlife."
The Dragon King of Karshvar Draconis had a lukewarm relationship with Gaap. But he cared about Hereswith, which was why he tolerated her disciple.
As for the Halfling?
He didn't give a f*ck.
Since Hereswith was already dead, he didn't have any intention of extending his hand to help the Halfling.
However, just as he was about to burn the letter, his daughter stormed inside the throne room with an anxious look on her face.
Ali and Ari followed behind her, but the two immediately knelt on the floor to pay tribute to their King.
Valerie, on the other hand, had no care for such trivial matters as she immediately crossed the distance to hold her father's hand.
"Father! I need your help!" Valerie shouted. "Sir Lux! Sir Lux's Master needs your help!"
Valerie was still wearing her disguise, so the Royal Guard didn't recognize her right away.
However, since the Dragon King didn't say anything, they finally connected the dots together and realized that the plain-looking girl was none other than their Princess!
"All of you, leave," the Dragon King ordered.
Immediately, everyone in the throne room left with haste, leaving only the anxious-looking Valerie and her father behind.
"Valerie, we cannot interfere with the affairs of mortals," the Dragon King stated. "Karshvar Draconis only moves to protect our people and interests. Did you forget? When the Divine Army targeted that Half-Elf's headquarters, I didn't lift a hand to protect them."
"B-But this is different, Father!" Valerie insisted. "This time, Sir Lux might get in trouble. He will definitely try to save his Master!"
Originally, Valerie was unaware of Gaap's current situation.
She only knew about the specifics when Aur sought her after visiting Lux and told her everything.
The Dragon Prince thought that since Valerie was the Dragon Princess and liked Lux very much, she would be able to convince her Father to help. This was why he didn't hesitate to tell Valerie everything.
As soon as she found out about this news, she immediately returned to the Capital City in order to talk to her father. However, his answer made her feel helpless.
Seeing that her father didn't want to help, Valerie did the only thing she could do and that was to cry!
Her anguished wail reverberated in the throne room, making the Dragon King's heart ache.
At first, he decided to ignore her, but Valerie's crying only intensified.
He had doted on his daughter ever since she was a child and had given her everything she wanted. Seeing her cry like this because of the Half-Elf and Halfling pair annoyed him very much.
At that exact moment, the hidden passage behind the throne room opened and a beautiful woman with long purple hair and eyes walked toward her daughter and held her tightly.
The Queen of the Karshvar Draconis, Saphira, glanced at her husband, making the latter sigh in his heart.
"I can't interfere with the execution because the Divine Army, and I have made a pact of non-aggression and non-interference," the Dragon King stated. "However, if that Half-Elf is really going to rescue his Master and is about to lose his life in the process, I will extend my hand to help him.
"However, I will only help him, and not his Master, Gaap. This is the only compromise that I can make."
Saphira sighed in her heart as she did her best to comfort her daughter. Being a King also meant carrying heaving burdens.
The Dragon King's words were law, and since he had agreed to have a non-aggression and non-interference pact with the Divine Army of Light, he couldn't casually break his word.
Saving Lux's life would already be pushing it, so this was the only compromise that he could make.
————————————
Meanwhile in the Crystal Palace…
"Aunt, is there really nothing we can do?" Aur asked. "I don't want to see Lux suffer."
Lady Augustina sighed before shaking her head.
"Unless Lux uses the Dragon Token in his hands, we can't do anything," Lady Augustina. "But he is indeed very important to us. If his life is in any danger, I will make a move to protect him. This, I swear upon my name and title as the Steward of the Crystal Palace."
This wasn't the first time that Aur tried to convince his Aunt to help Lux. But just like the Dragon King, the Steward of the Crystal Palace had also agreed to a non-aggression and non-interference policy.
Simply put, the Divine Army had covered all bases even before they captured Gaap.
Aur looked very dejected, but there was nothing more that he could do.
He just hoped that Lux wouldn't do anything reckless, but this was just wishful thinking.
How could he possibly not do anything reckless? Since he was going to save his Master, it couldn't even be called recklessness.
It was simply suicide!
Necromancer's Ancestral Grounds…
"Have you heard? Hereswith's Disciple is going to be executed by the Divine Army in a month," a Necromancer said to Kieran, who happened to visit the Necromancer's Ancestral Grounds to talk with Dracul.
(A/N: Kieran is Lorelei's Master. The elf that fought Lux in the Necromancer's Ancestral Lands.)
"Is this a joke?" Kieran asked back. "Do you think I'm in the mood for jokes?"
"It's not a joke, man," the Necromancer shook his head. "This news is already spreading like wildfire. It's only a matter of time before it reaches the upper echelons of Memento Mori."
Kieran frowned after hearing this news.
But, just as he was about to ask another question, a red-headed Half-Elf appeared inside the Ancestral Lands, with a Fox Lady by his side.
Lux gave Kieran a side-long glance before walking past him.
"Hey, boy!" Kieran shouted. "Is it true that your Master has been captured by the Divine Army and is going to be executed?"
"Yes," Lux answered without even turning back to look at his Master's rival.
From the very start, he knew that he couldn't depend on the members of Memento Mori since they didn't recognize Gaap as one of their members.
He had come to the Ancestral Lands in order to seek information about where to hunt powerful monsters in great numbers.
His guild was simply too weak, and with his current forces, he wouldn't be able to fight against hundreds of Saints.
Because of this, he needed to strengthen himself as fast as he could and boost the power of his own summons.
Although this might not be enough to make a difference, this was the only thing that he could think of at the moment.
He still had plenty of trump cards in his possession that he could put to good use. But he also understood that, at the end of the day, he couldn't rely on anyone else aside from himself.
From the very beginning, he had no intention of letting his family or his guild join him in this battle.
If he were going to enter the Lion's Den, he would be entering it by himself.
Lux would make his enemies understand that he wasn't a pushover, and more importantly…
He was never alone.
