The blade sliced past, and Farah staggered back in a sorry state as the Undead Mage barely managed to draw an Undead Bone Sword to meet Fedmond.

Close combat was absolutely not the Undead Mage’s forte. In just two moves, Farah was forced into desperate straits by Fedmond. That Scimitar, blessed by the Sea God, had once been drenched in the blood of countless evils; now it was about to continue fulfilling its duty.

The Undead Mage hadn’t even had time to properly grasp the uncontrollable Bone Sword when two weapons came slashing in from the side. A Sea God Knight, roaring, drove his Sea God Trident straight at the Undead Mage’s arm, while another Sea God Knight’s Scimitar also swept in. The hiss of the blade slicing through the air in the room stung Farah’s ears. With a strangled screech he let go of the Bone Sword and yanked a Scroll from his body, tearing it open.

"Bone shield wall!"

A massive wall of white bone filled the entire room. The ghastly pale bones finally helped Farah block Fedmond’s assault. The Undead Mage hadn’t even caught his breath when, the very next second, a terrifying Death Wind howled through the chamber. Before that Death Wind, the bone shield wall crumbled like sand and vanished as it weathered away.

Lady of Nuer Elspeth appeared before the Undead Mage. The scythe in her hand traced a half-circle through the air at a subtle angle. The Death Wind surged; Farah’s final attempt to blow himself up was reduced to nothing. He barely managed to use the Bone Sword to fend off Fedmond’s attack once more when a fist as huge as a brown bear’s slammed straight into him.

Under the overwhelming force, Farah felt his vision start to spin. For a moment he thought he’d been knocked flying and, clinging to a shred of hope, the Undead Mage even entertained the idea of escaping alive that way.

But the Undead Mage soon realized that his body was still standing right where it had been.

So that’s how it is. It’s my head that flew.

After smashing the Undead Mage’s head clean off his shoulders, Grand Judge Nuer Theodore Brookner cast a disdainful glance at the Sea God Knights and Holy Grail Knight Fedmond present. Faced with this Chief Justice’s "kill stealing," the Brittania Knights in attendance all glared furiously, yet there was nothing they could do.

Fedmond’s face flushed bright red. This Undead Mage was his prey! The Holy Grail Knight felt he had suffered a grave humiliation, yet he had no right to denounce Theodore’s kill stealing, because this was Boldro, and it was he and his family who had failed to ensure the banquet’s security. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

That’s what Holy Grail Knights are like. They might have emotions, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but when it comes to conflicts between fellow humans, they always prefer to view matters rationally, neutrally, and objectively, willing to put themselves in others’ shoes and try to choose a solution everyone can accept, and to listen fairly to all sides.

Peasants excluded.

"So... is the problem solved?" Theodore ground the Undead Mage’s head under his boot. This Undead Mage hadn’t reached the Holy Sanctuary, wasn’t a Vampire, and with Elspeth having sealed off any space to flee, this time he was truly dead.

"The problem is not solved." Laine, walking in from outside the door, said, "I examined the bodies of the guards. There is absolutely no way an Undead Mage could kill two fully armed guards with just two close-combat strikes. There must be an accomplice among the guests at the banquet!"

During the fight just now, Laine had chosen to watch. First, the enemy really wasn’t strong enough to warrant his concern—Knights were more than enough to handle him; there was no need for him to step in personally every single time. Second, this was Boldro; with the hosts handling their own enemies, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him, a guest, to rush in and steal the spotlight.

"I’ve already ordered the castle gates closed and all the garrison mobilized to search every guest," Fedmond immediately commanded.

"Yes, sir!" The guards scattered in all directions.

"The castle gates are shut. The intruders have nowhere to run."

...

"Damn it, the castle gates are closed."

A young couple jogged along, hoping to seize the chance to dash out of the castle, only to see the great gate slowly closing right in front of them while guards, led by Sea God Knights, were searching the guests everywhere.

"What do we do? Ma... Dominic? How are we supposed to get out?" Fiona was now utterly panicked. The girl from Borelion had never experienced such a grand commotion. Her tough-on-the-outside, weak-on-the-inside demeanor made Mathew Bade sigh helplessly. "Don’t be like that, Fiona. Look at your face—anyone who sees you like this will immediately get suspicious, you know?"

"Then what do you expect me to do!!!" The girl suddenly exploded at Mathew Bade for no reason. She seized him by the collar and shook him hard, her pretty little face twisted up, eyes wide. "It’s you! It’s all your fault! You just had to attend this banquet, and now I’m dragged into it too! You wanted criminal! It’s all because of you, all because of you!"

"Shut up, Fiona, unless you want to bring the guards down on us!" With a single sentence, Mathew Bade made Fiona shut her mouth, her face full of resentment.

Just now, some guards had noticed the two trying to slip away along the corridor and had attempted to question them. However, because Fiona lost her temper and loudly berated the guards for their rudeness, they hadn’t dared make things difficult for this young lady from the Borelion Duchy.

After all, Fiona was a descendant of the first Duke of Borelion, Balduin, of the Balduin family, one of the twelve original Holy Grail Knight Family lines. She enjoyed noble privilege in the Kingdom; without an order from the King or the Lake God Witch, no one dared offend Fiona.