Close Combat Mage

Chapter 297 - Duo Mei’s Decision Part 3

Duo Mei looked at her close sisters, her gaze filled with pain. At the same time, the Fourth Prince shouted, “You girls already heard her earlier, Duo Mei wants to betray me and the Holy Light Empire. In that case, she can no longer blame me for being merciless!”

Duo Mei faced her sisters and expressionlessly stretched out both her hands. With a flash of silver light, the Six-Winged Phoenix Heavenly Blade appeared in her hands. At the same time, she said in distress, “Sisters, I’ve already made my decision to leave. From now on, you are all your own leaders. No matter how you treat me, I won’t blame you!”

After hearing Duo Mei’s infuriating words, the Fourth Prince cried out, “What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and seize her!”

Faced with the Fourth Prince’s commands, the eldest girl amongst the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes leapt out from the group and glared at Duo Mei. “Duo Mei! You’ve really let us down! Do you know how cold your actions make our hearts feel?! Do you know how much you’ve disappointed us?!”

Duo Mei closed her eyes in grief and said, “Everyone, I’m sorry. I just cannot forget Young Master Suo Jia, cannot forget how well he treated us, or our promise with him that day. I’ve already sworn to him; as long as he restored my complexion, I’d swear devotion to him for life!”

Duo Mei suddenly opened her eyes and firmly locked gazes with her sisters. “I’ve already betrayed Young Master Suo Jia once. These past two years, I’ve already endured the torment in my heart. That’s why I’ve already decided that no matter what, I must abide by my oath. I definitely can’t make any more mistakes!”

“Hmph!” In response to Duo Mei’s words, the Fourth Prince coldly snorted, “Duo Mei, don’t try to lure them with sentimental words. The benefits and kindness Suo Jia offered are very tiny. Look at what I’ve given to you all, are these things that Suo Jia could’ve given to you?” action

Duo Mei glared at the Fourth Prince and said in disdain, “That’s right, you can grant us glory, power, status, and gold. But eight years ago, you were indifferent to our pleas. Even if you had the capability, you refused to help us maintain our complexions, and even claimed it was for our sake, for the sake of us being at our strongest. However, you would never understand that complexion is equivalent to a girl’s second life!”

Duo Mei frigidly looked at the Fourth Prince and mourned, “It was Young Master Suo Jia who gave us hope, and it was he who restored our beauty. Thus…we once promised that we’d remain loyal to him for our whole lives. This is something I definitely cannot turn back on!”

Duo Mei said through clenched teeth, “Honestly, Your Majesty, the day you exiled Suo Jia, I hadn’t yet decided what to do. Everything had happened too suddenly for me. Under those circumstances, if Young Master Suo Jia had been willing to command us, I definitely would’ve listened to his, not yours!”

The Fourth Prince was almost insane with fury. He indignantly stretched out his right hand and pointed at Duo Mei with a shaking finger, “Hurry up and seize this audacious and arrogant girl!”

Following the Fourth Prince’s commands, the 35 Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes quickly pulled out their Six-Winged Phoenix Heavenly Blades and surrounded Duo Mei. Their 35 glinting war blades were all pointed at Duo Mei.

The Fourth Prince fiercely spat out, “Duo Mei, I’ll make you pay for your words and actions. Nobody can betray me. If anyone dares to even try, they’re just digging their own grave!”

Angelic Six-Winged Phoenix #2 interjected, “Duo Mei, it’s still not too late to admit your wrongs. As sisters that have known you for a long time, we can still forgive you. Please don’t hurt us like this. Alright?”

Duo Mei’s body shuddered at #2’s words. They had been sisters for so long, yet today they were facing each other with their blades. This was really too cruel to Duo Mei.

Duo Mei slowly but firmly shook her head. “No…I cannot admit my wrongs. No matter what, I am unable to remain loyal to His Majesty, the Fourth Prince. Even if I die here today, I definitely will not change my decision!”

“Tch…” #2 tsked in disdain. “What are you saying! Who said this stuff to you! We’re already at this point, how have you not yet realized where you have erred!”

Duo Mei couldn’t help but freeze. When #2 saw Duo Mei’s puzzled expression, tears quickly welled up in her eyes as she choked, “You silly girl, didn’t Young Master say before? You’re the leaders of us Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes. We must all listen to you. Now…how could you secretly leave all alone, and forget the task that Young Master had entrusted to you?”

“You! You guys!” Duo Mei felt both astonishment and happiness at #2’s words. She looked around and saw that every single one of the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes now sported red eyes.

Seeing everyone’s strange reactions, the Fourth Prince finally realized that something seemed wrong. He nervously swallowed and loudly declared, “What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and capture her! Do all of you plan on rebelling?”

In response to the Fourth Prince’s words, #2 lightly balanced her blade on her shoulder and turned around to say to him, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, this kind of caged-bird life doesn’t suit us. In addition…just as Duo Mei said, we’ve already sworn to Young Master Suo Jia. From today until the day we die, we will only serve Young Master Suo Jia.”

“You! You all want to betray me!” The Fourth Prince repeated.

“Hehe…” #2 laughed awkwardly and pointed at Duo Mei. “I do apologize, Your Majesty. Although we don’t want to betray you, what can we do about Duo Mei? She’s our head. If we don’t follow her, wouldn’t that be true betrayal? I’m sure you know, betraying your companions is even more despicable than betraying the king!”

The Fourth Prince immediately fell silent. Although he really wanted to redeem everything, what else could he say? In a frenzy, the Fourth Prince couldn’t speak a single word.

Duo Mei suddenly cusped her fists and solemnly announced, “Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince, we’ve already helped you gain your throne. Next…it’s about time we look for Young Master Suo Jia.”

Faced with Duo Mei’s farewell, the Fourth Prince finally lost himself in panic and shakingly said, “You’d all better think this through carefully. You don’t want power, status, or glory? Are you really willing to let go of everything to chase after that wretched and undisciplined Suo Jia?”

Duo Mei helplessly shook her head. “Your Majesty, from the beginning, you never understood what we wanted. Money, power, status, or whatever aren’t what we warriors pursue. You will never understand this.”

Duo Mei turned to speak to her sisters, “Alright, Young Master Suo Jia has already entered the Greater Trade Routes, so we can’t fall too behind. No matter what, we must catch up to him and use our lives to protect him!”

Duo Mei turned around to bid the Fourth Prince farewell before her body rose up into the air and she leapt out the window. At the same time, the other Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes turned around and also gestured at the Fourth Prince before following her into the air.

After watching the defiant 36 figures quickly soar upwards, the Fourth Prince violently fell back down into his seat, paralyzed. He knew that the only thing he could do now was pray, pray that Suo Jia would die on the Greater Trade Routes. Otherwise, if Suo Jia successfully returned, the Holy Light Empire might end up having its name changed.

……

While Duo Mei was leading her sisters away from the palace and off to the Greater Trade Routes, Suo Jia’s group of four had already journeyed through the Tagan Desert for over a month and were currently undergoing a life’s test.

The peerless Tagan Desert was both deserted and dry. It was an extremely large sea of sand without any waves. Its deathly stillness was suffocating. At the moment…Suo Jia’s group was sitting within a tent, enjoying the deliciousness of Roger’s exquisite cooking skills. Yet they hadn’t discovered at all that not too far away, a sandworm over a hundred meters long and several dozen meters thick was silently making its way towards their location under the sand.

The sandworm was an earthworm-like magical beast with an extremely long and thick body. It had a single, very flexible mouth that could open extremely wide to a diameter of over 20 meters.

The sandworm had many methods of attack. But typically speaking, it wouldn’t ever show itself. Instead, it would hide underneath the sand and open its large mouth, swallowing both the sand and the people above. From the surface, it simply looked like the work of quicksand. But in reality, it was a sandworm feeding.

Inside the tent, Suo Jia’s group was sitting around a well-made, circular table filled with fragrant dishes. They were currently gulping down the food like ravenous beasts. Xiang Yun quickly reached out his palm to grab at the last bun on the table.

“Hu!” A sound rang out as Xiang Yun’s palm only managed to grasp empty air. Puzzled, he raised his hand only to see that the round table was quickly sinking down into the land. In the blink of an eye, the round table was completely buried underneath the sand, and a whirling sand vortex appeared before them!

“Yah!” Following Nicole’s sharp cry, the four people who had been very close to the table all began to spiral along with the sand, heading towards the gaping hole in the center. Everyone knew that once they fell inside, they’d be doomed. No matter how strong they were, there was absolutely no way they could survive falling into that sandtrap. It could kill them from suffocation alone.

Although Suo Jia was extremely shocked by the sudden appearance of the danger, he didn’t panic. He fiercely stamped down with his feet, activating the Unrivaled Wave Walking, and his entire person burst up into the air. At the same time, Suo Jia swung his right hand, and a long ice stream instantly uncoiled to wrap itself around his three companions.