God of Tricksters

"NO!"

The shout echoed on the battlefield, thinking that Theo would die in this swing.

"Stop!"

However, a shadow suddenly appeared next to Theo and ordered with a strict tone. In that instant, the sword stopped. No matter how hard Alexej used his strength, he couldn't move that sword at all.

"This is…" Alexej widened his eyes in shock and finally saw the figure next to Theo. "You are… the Empress!"

That statement shocked many people as they finally found an old woman who had been reigning the throne as an Empress.

Her skills were similar to the princess, but it was clear who was stronger between them, considering one was called the Empress while the other was known as a princess.

Now that she had arrived, no one would be able to harm Theo anymore.

Alexej gritted his teeth and covered his entire body with a screen, allowing him to remove himself from the Empress' Order before jumping back to regain some distance.

Felix took that chance to strike him, which was blocked by Alexej's sword. But Felix used all his strength to knock him away, making sure he didn't come closer to Theo anymore.

"How…" Alexej gritted his teeth. "You're supposed to be on the back, protecting the pope!"

As he said, the Empress had one job in this war. The reason why she hadn't made her appearance this whole time was because she had to protect the pope.

Leonardo believed that the Griffith Family would bring anyone to harm the pope.

When healing people, the pope often left himself defenseless, and the Griffith Family's ferocity forced Leonardo to ask the Empress to fulfill the position of a bodyguard.

Although the pope was also a King whose defensive strength was equal to the Great Guardian, he was more useful if he stayed back because it allowed him to heal the injured soldiers.

If not for the pope healing them, there would have already been at least tens of thousands of casualties.

Had the pope entered the frontline, it surely relieved some pressure on everyone's shoulders, but their casualties would reach at least tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.

When that happened, they couldn't repel the enemy and call it a victory anymore. Hence, Leonardo believed that the Griffith Family would target the pope first, which forced him to ask the Empress to stay with him.

Yet, the situation was different than anyone expected a moment ago.

While healing the people, the pope and the Empress actually listened to Theo's words as well. They had personal Skylink connected to the battlefield to know whether they could continue healing the people or inform others that they were attacked. So, the news about Theo making his appearance surprised them.

Although the pope wasn't that close to Theo, he never hated Theo or anything. In fact, he actually admired Theo. That was the reason why he even sent his student before the apocalypse in the first place.

So, hearing Theo's distress call was a kind of wake up call for him.

"This is…" The pope could feel the worry in the Empress' heart and ask, "Do you wish to help that kid?"

"I'm protecting you right now." The Empress shook her head.

"There's no need to hesitate. It seems that the Griffith Family has sent forth all their fighters."

"But…"

"I might be able to save tens of thousands of people here, but if the frontline is crushed, there will be tens of millions of deaths. We won't be the one affected but all the people that live in the union." The pope shook his head, gently persuading the Empress.

The Empress clenched her fists. On the one hand, she felt indebted to Theo because the latter had helped her gain some stability after reaching this new place. On the other hand, she couldn't really leave her post on her own whim.

"Please go. My death has been destined, so there's no need for you to hesitate. If I die here, it means that I'm fated to die. Meanwhile, you're holding the key that he needs right now…"

The Empress bit her lips. There was a conflict in her heart, but looking at the pope's gentle smile, the Empress knew that she had to go.

"I'll come back as soon as possible." The Empress nodded before rushing to the frontline.

And that was how she managed to protect Theo. She took a deep breath, feeling relieved because she could reach this place in time.

The Empress looked around and said, "I'll be protecting him."

Marzio was stunned for a moment but eventually nodded his head. He still had some trouble with the Empress leaving her position, but she certainly saved Theo.

With this, Felix could focus on Alexej. Even if the latter could slip past him, he wouldn't be able to do anything with the Empress standing next to Theo.

Felix gritted his teeth, feeling powerless. He had failed to protect Theo earlier when Alexej was about to kill him.

In Theo's perspective, Theo wanted Felix to be his blade, so he didn't mind if Felix could protect him or not because he wasn't Theo's shield.

But for Felix, who was Theo's right-hand man, this failure was the biggest shame in his life.

Felix took a deep breath. Instead of letting his anger swallow him, he tried to be as calm as possible.

These were the basics he had learned when working as an assassin.

'I have failed him. Can I even still call myself his bodyguard? No, I need strength, an even more powerful strength than I currently have.' Felix bit his lips while recalling the five stages of the Order.

'The First Stage is assimilation, the second stage is the Magic Power's influence, and if I want to stop this guy in front of me, I have to utilize the third stage…'

'Now that I think about it, he used his light to overwhelm my light. My light is all forms of light, whether it's sunlight or artificial light. But how can that light be overwhelmed by his?' Felix suddenly raised his sword as the light began coming out of his swords, dancing like they were alive. "That's right. My light is all forms of light, so why do I restrict that form this whole time?"