The situation had just gotten a lot more complicated because of that woman’s escape.

William needed someone to disable the traps, and now that wasn’t possible anymore. So, what was he supposed to do with Kier?

How was he supposed to move through the palace with Kier following him? That would be impossible.

“Hold on, hold on,” Kier said, waving his hands. “We can find a way to make this work. What exactly do you need from me?”

“I need you to either walk without triggering the traps, or disable them like that woman was doing. Can you do that?”

Kier started sweating. There was no way he could do either of the things William was asking. His mind was already spiraling, thinking about all the bad things that were about to happen to him.

And the worst part? He had no chance at all. If it were just William, maybe—just maybe—he could figure out a way to escape. But now, surrounded by all those powerful magical armors? There was no way he was getting out of there.

“I… I can’t do that,” Kier said, sighing.

Deep down, he had already accepted his fate. William was just about to order one of the armors to attack when he heard a voice from afar.

“Wait!”

He turned around and saw Jhen and Victoria heading toward him. William was confused. Why were they coming here? Wasn’t it way too dangerous with all the traps?

“What the hell are you doing here?” William asked.

“I ended up finding this,” Jhen said, pulling a mirror from one of her pockets.

It was the mirror she had wanted William to find. The mirror that could disable the traps.

That was suspicious. How had Jhen found that mirror if she was in that room with Victoria the whole time? William had already checked the treasury room to look for the mirror and found nothing.

“Where did you find that?” William asked.

“I found it in that room we were in at the beginning. What a coincidence, right? I guess we missed it earlier.”

William didn’t believe what she was saying. He was afraid she might be some kind of creature trying to deceive him.

So, he spoke mentally with his sword Asura and asked her to try to sense whether Jhen was really herself. Asura could sense mana much better than William ever could.

“It’s really her,” Asura said. “But something’s off. Be careful.”

It was Jhen! That caught William off guard. Still, he couldn’t deny how strange the whole situation felt.

Even so, he decided to act normal.

“Perfect. Now we can continue our mission,” he said.

Jhen nodded and started looking around. She seemed to be searching for someone.

“Where’s the woman who was disabling the traps you mentioned?” Jhen asked.

“She escaped through a secret passage. I have no idea how she knew about it, but there’s no way we can go after her now,” William explained.

“Really?” Jhen said.

“Yeah. Why? Were you curious to meet her?”

William was using the situation to try and figure out why Jhen was acting so strangely. But it didn’t work.

“Just curious. A lot of people have tried to disable this palace’s traps and failed, and she actually managed to do it. She must be impressive.”

It was hard to deny that Jhen’s reasoning sounded pretty plausible. William was curious too—who was that woman, really?

He even decided to ask Kier, but not even he knew for sure.

“I looked for adventurers who were willing to raid this palace and found her. When she said she could disable the traps, I thought it was a lie—but I took the risk, and she actually could,” Kier said.

He was telling the truth. He was so scared of dying that he didn’t see any point in lying. As far as he was concerned, he still had a chance of survival if he acted the best way possible—and he didn’t want to waste it.

In the end, they all decided to continue with the mission. Jhen led the way since she knew the layout of the castle, and with the mirror in hand, she was disabling the traps, allowing everyone to walk freely.

William tried to speak with Victoria privately, to get a better sense of what was going on. He whispered, “Did she really find that thing in that room?”

Victoria whispered back, “I think so… But to be honest, I only saw her pulling it out of a box. What if she already had that mirror before we even got there?”

That was exactly what William had been thinking.

She knew too much about a very specific treasure that could disable the traps. And the fact that she even knew about the traps in the first place—that was suspicious on its own.

From the very beginning, Jhen had seemed like someone trustworthy—someone who was just there to help William. But the truth was, they didn’t really know each other.

William met her after he passed through the portal and arrived on the demon island, and the only reason she was helping him was because of his royal bloodline.

In other words, the chances of her having a hidden motive were high. William had never really thought about that before, since she had never acted suspicious—until now.

Even Victoria, who was closer to Jhen because of their training together, was starting to think something wasn’t quite right.

“Let’s keep an eye out in case anything weird happens,” William said, his voice low and drowned out by the sound of the armors’ footsteps around them.

Victoria simply nodded.

They moved quickly through the castle, and with Jhen’s knowledge of the place, it was easy to reach their destination.

Along the way, William held the map he had taken earlier, studying the path they were on. It was impressive how Jhen knew exactly where to go, even with the castle completely dark—and supposedly having worked there many years ago.

Was her memory really that good? Had nothing in the castle changed all these years?

The questions kept piling up in William’s mind, and now Jhen felt a lot more suspicious than usual.

Eventually, they arrived at the supposed room where William would be able to enhance his bloodline.

It was a massive door, at least twenty meters tall. Ornate designs and carvings covered it, giving it an air of luxury. Just by looking at it, you could tell it led to somewhere important.

“We finally made it,” Jhen said. “Let’s go in.”

Before going in, William asked, “What exactly is inside this room? I mean, what’s going to happen to me to improve my bloodline?”

When William asked that, Kier looked at him with a curious expression but said nothing.

“This is where the royal family used to train,” Jhen explained. “The place holds demonic scriptures capable of enhancing your bloodline. There are other things in there that can help too. I don’t know everything for sure—I’ve never been inside, just heard about it.”

Kier decided to speak up as well. “I’ve heard the same stories. That’s why I came here.”

William was torn. Both of them had heard the same thing—that this room could enhance a demon’s bloodline. It made the whole thing sound credible.

Jhen explained how to open the door. Two people with strong bloodlines needed to place their hands on the door and channel their demonic energy.

William and Jhen were the ones to open it. With her there, Kier had become somewhat useless. He simply stood off to the side, watching. Of course, he didn’t try anything that might put his life in danger. The massive armored guards were close enough to kill him instantly if he did.

A loud sound came from the door as if mechanisms inside were shifting to unlock it. Then, slowly, it began to open.

The room beyond was dark, with a faint red glow.

Everyone moved toward the entrance. But just as they were about to step inside, Jhen made her move.

She shoved Victoria and Kier into the room and turned to attack William, slamming a kick into his stomach that sent him flying backward.

The door immediately began to close—fast.

William tried to command the armors to hold it open, but it was no use.

The last thing he saw through the narrowing gap was Jhen’s smile.

She had planned it all.

William had no idea why she did it, but now he was alone. How was he supposed to open the door again, with Kier and Victoria trapped inside along with Jhen?

“She thought of everything—damn it, damn it,” William growled, slamming his fist against the floor in frustration.

Jhen had been acting suspicious, but William still believed she wouldn’t betray him. He was wrong.

William didn’t care that Kier was there with her, but Victoria? She didn’t deserve that.

The chances of them dying inside by the hands of Jhen was high. William had to find another way in.

His mind worked at full speed, and the only person he recalled that was still inside the palace was that girl who fled through the secret passage.

“I need to find her!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep