Chapter 27: She Descended from the Sky, Furious and Hideous

The day of the coronation had finally arrived.

Chained and surrounded by the Imperial Guard, Elia was sent toward the Gate of the Ancestors.

In the end, she had failed to break the seal.

In the end… she had failed to see Lu Mo one last time.

Actually, when the last shred of her hope had been shattered, she had considered taking her own life within the palace.

Perhaps her end was already set in stone.

But at the very least, she could still choose how she died.

She could have spitefully ruined the plans of the First Imperial Family and thrown the coronation day into complete chaos.

But just then, a voice rang out from beyond the seal.

“Suicide? That wouldn’t be right, my dear little Elia. The royal script says you are to die during the ceremony, not now.”

Elia did not respond.

However, Faxon’s next words made her body tremble.

“If you behave yourself, I might even be able to plead for mercy at Shadow Moon Hall. For instance, I could ask them to spare Xue Yue’s life. Or perhaps, when they perform the Dark Baptism on her, I could ask them to let her keep some of her memories.”

At the mention of the name “Xue Yue,” Elia suddenly went still.

She abandoned her thoughts of seeking death.

One by one, the guards passed through the seal and placed her in shackles to lead her to the final execution ground.

“I hope you keep your word,” Elia said, casting one last look at Faxon.

The middle-aged man smiled. “As long as little Elia is willing to cooperate, I will keep my word. I swear it on the reputation of the First Imperial Family.”

Elia had no choice but to believe Faxon.

What she didn’t know was that Lu Mo had already undergone the Dark Baptism once, and her body was now etched with several Detachment Arts.

“Xue Yue… it looks like she’s finally gone insane, hasn’t she?”

“She actually volunteered to have multiple Detachment Arrays etched into her. Even the most extreme masochists wouldn’t dare play like that!”

“As time passes, even a single Detachment Array is enough to torture a person to death. Never mind having several of them stacked together.”

The Sequencers discussed this quietly as they glanced at Lu Mo in the prison.

The young girl sat there motionlessly, looking as if she were truly dead.

If it weren’t for the arrays still flickering, indicating that Lu Mo was still alive, they would have assumed she had died at lightning speed long ago.

“It’s about time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. The Hall Master and the Elders just left. Only a small group of us were left behind.”

“Must be nice… I wanted to see the coronation ceremony too. I wanted to see the true power of Frostspeech…”

They chatted idly.

Lu Mo heard everything.

She remained seated, circulating the *Shadow Moon Secret Manual* to further restore her strength.

‘It hurts so much…’

‘I knew I shouldn’t have acted so tough. I should have let the elders of the Punishment Hall plant fewer Detachment Arrays.’

‘But if I didn’t plant this many, everything I’ve achieved in this Simulated Reincarnation would go to waste.’

‘Forget it.’

‘I’ll just have to suffer a bit.’

‘Only by doing this can Elia and I maximize our chances of winning.’

Lu Mo opened her system panel.

Task Two and Task Three were only a tiny bit away from completion.

As for Task One, it had already been completed that morning.

Today was Elia’s birthday.

Ever since the Night of Blood and Fire, she was the only one who still remembered Elia’s birthday.

Everything was prepared.

All that remained… was the moment to strike.

***

Imperial City, Forbidden Zone.

Statues stood on both sides of the road, clad in magnificent armor and clutching various weapons. Even from a distance, one could feel an invisible pressure radiating from them.

The statues stretched all the way forward.

At the end of the road stood an ancient and massive hall.

Its doors were tightly shut.

The Gate of the Ancestors.

Since the death of the late emperor, no one had been able to open those doors.

There were several smaller halls before the gate, but compared to the Gate of the Ancestors, they were practically insignificant.

Elia was imprisoned in the foremost hall.

She was bound by chains to a Pillar of Frostspeech.

Beneath her feet, an incredibly complex and ancient array had already taken shape.

“Back then, it was this same array that refined the blood of the members of the Seventh Imperial Family,” an old man spoke.

His status within the First Imperial Family was not low, and he had participated in the plan to exterminate the Seventh Imperial Family years ago.

He looked at Elia with a half-smile and continued, “And today, it is your turn.”

Elia remained silent.

At this moment, she felt hatred and resentment.

But right now, she thought more about whether Faxon would keep his word and whether Lu Mo’s fate would improve.

“The time is almost here. Prince Fuersi is about to step onto the Ancestral Path.”

Seeing that Elia was unresponsive, the old man looked up again, gazing toward the other end of the road.

Outside the Forbidden Zone.

Countless guards stood watch.

Members of various major factions sat on high platforms, looking toward the Gate of the Ancestors.

Some marveled at the Frostspeech Imperial Family’s preparations, while others brought up interesting events from 5 years ago.

“Speaking of which, 5 years ago, Faxon invited a small number of experts to witness the coronation of a new emperor.”

“He tried to step through the Gate of the Ancestors himself back then, but after pushing at it for ages, the gate didn’t react at all. The whole thing just fizzled out.”

“But the Frostspeech Empire is still the Frostspeech Empire. Even with the late emperor gone, its strength is still terrifying. That’s why that incident never leaked to the outside world.”

“Only among experts can we privately joke about it.”

“However, Faxon has put so much effort into the arrangements this time, even inviting so many factions to gather. He must be full of confidence, right?”

“Who knows?”

Many experts chatted and laughed.

Then, at a certain moment, an ancient bell tolled.

“The coronation ceremony begins.”

An old voice drifted from the distance.

At that moment, the experts stopped their idle chatter and turned their collective gaze downward.

They saw a youth dressed in magnificent robes, holding a token, walking slowly from the start of the path toward the Gate of the Ancestors.

The youth’s name was Fuersi.

He was First Prince Faxon’s most pampered son.

Despite his young age, he had already displayed a high level of mastery in the Arts of Frostspeech.

Under the Frostspeech Empire’s propaganda over the last few years, Fuersi was undoubtedly the young genius most likely to inherit the late emperor’s throne.

“Begin,” the old man inside the hall beneath the Gate of the Ancestors said coldly.

At the same time, a woman slit Elia’s wrist.

Elia’s blood spilled into the array.

As the array slowly began to rotate—

The great array, the Pillar of Frostspeech, and even the entire hall began to tremble uncontrollably!

The Gate of the Ancestors actually moved at that moment, releasing a sliver of icy aura!

The frost surged, making even the many experts present feel a chill in their hearts.

The quality of this frost intent was incredibly high!

“The Gate of the Ancestors… it vibrated?”

“Does this mean the Frostspeech Imperial Family can actually—”

Some were surprised, some were stunned, and others felt a sense of dissatisfaction.

But right now, they could only watch as Fuersi walked step by step toward the Gate of the Ancestors.

“That’s it… that’s right… The prophecy was correct! Pure royal blood resides within the members of the Seventh Imperial Family!”

“Now, we just wait for Prince Fuersi to arrive. Once the array opens, the bloodline conversion and awakening will be complete!”

Inside the hall, several people looked at Elia, making no attempt to hide the greed in their eyes.

Elia slowly closed her eyes.

She felt the light fading away.

Her world was sinking into darkness once more.

Meanwhile.

In the death row cells.

“Ah… AHHHHH!”

A Sequencer fell to the ground, screaming.

He had just stepped out to relax for a moment, but when he returned to the cells, the sight of blood everywhere and the corpses of his companions sent him into a state of extreme terror.

The attacker had been incredibly ruthless, using throat-slitting and heart-gouging techniques. Every kill had been a single, lethal strike.

Looking at the cage, Lu Mo was nowhere to be found. The confiscated weapons and spatial rings had all been taken as well.

‘Someone… broke her out?’

But who in the Imperial City would dare?

The Ice Orchid Institute?

Their reach didn’t extend this far.

Besides, breaking someone out of prison would mean making enemies of a top-tier empire and a top-tier organization.

The Sequencer looked at the broken cage again, feeling increasingly dazed.

‘No…’

‘These marks… they clearly show the cage was broken from the inside!’

“Should be fine to head back once the ceremony is over, right?” At the coronation ceremony, an elder from Shadow Moon Hall spoke with a hint of worry.

“Of course it’s fine. For all we know, Xue Yue is currently rolling around on the floor of the death cell in extreme pain,” a female elder said, laughing behind her hand.

“It’s only for the duration of one ceremony. Nothing will happen,” the Hall Master’s words calmed the elder’s heart.

“Understood,” the elder nodded.

Yet for some reason, he felt a strange sense of dread.

*Rumble—*

Frostspeech power continued to flow outward. At this moment, the temperature of the entire Forbidden Zone was plummeting.

Snowflakes began to drift outside the Gate of the Ancestors.

Winter thunder actually roared across the sky.

*Rumble—*

The thunder sounded again.

“WHO ARE YOU!”

“HALT… AHHHHHH!”

The screams of the guards below were mixed into the sound of thunder.

Several experts felt confused and looked down, only for their eyes to narrow—

They saw that the guards standing at the ready, clad in frost-white armor, had completely lost their footing!

More blood erupted amidst the white frost!

Between the blood and the pure white, a streak of blood-colored darkness was particularly eye-catching.

She radiated an intense aura of darkness and carried a supreme killing intent as she stepped into the Forbidden Zone!

“Who is she!”

“Darkness… blood-red… could it be—”

The elder’s dread had finally been realized.

“Stop her!”

The woman shouted, about to leap from the high platform to strike Lu Mo down.

But Lu Mo’s reaction was faster than hers—

She looked up at that moment, and then…

Her gaze fell upon Fuersi, who was walking in the middle of the path!

She moved, violently throwing the sword in her hand upward!

The longsword, woven with darkness and blood, was impossibly fast. Before the woman could even land, it had already lunged toward Fuersi!

On the Ancestral Path, the youth turned his head and froze.

Under the lock of Lu Mo’s killing intent… he couldn’t even move!

“What is she doing?”

“Is she insane?!!”

Exclamations erupted from the high platform.

Faxon stared fixedly at Lu Mo, his eyes filled with endless gloom.

At that moment, the blood-black sword finally slammed toward Fuersi’s chest.

However, a second before the blood sword could pierce him, the necklace on his chest suddenly erupted with light.

His figure turned into a phantom on the spot, and his true body reappeared several meters away.

The blood-black sword ultimately only pierced through the air.

A cold smirk appeared on the corner of Faxon’s mouth.

“I’m saved…” Fuersi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Thanks to this life-saving treasure, otherwise—

Before the relieved smile could even fade from his face, dark power erupted from the blood-black sword once more!

A spatial array etched onto the blade of the sword was activated!

Simultaneously, the space in front of Lu Mo and Fuersi shattered.

In the next instant—

The young girl appeared right above the Ancestral Path!

“Instant Space Break… it’s a secret technique from the Manual!”

“Damn it… another secret technique from the *Shadow Moon Secret Manual*!”

Furthermore, it was a technique far more difficult to master than Blood Moon or Dark Annihilation!

The Hall Master was stunned, momentarily losing her ability to speak.

Amidst the shock and silence of the crowd, Lu Mo finally gripped her sword.

Once again, she lunged to kill Fuersi!

As she descended, the darkness she brought with her blotted out the sky, stripping away all the light in front of Fuersi.

What flowed in those eyes was a killing intent so absolute it made Fuersi tremble instinctively.

It was as if, in this moment, the girl was the true ruler.

She descended from the sky… furious and hideous!