At noon the next day, the Supreme Guardian arrived on schedule. Coming with her were not only the representatives of the Builders, but also the top power-holders of the Landau family, along with three hundred elite guards they had carefully trained.
"Patriarch, what do you mean by this?" Gepard's face showed displeasure. He had already expected that the old fellows would try every way to block Emiya's family from entering the city, but he hadn't thought they would use such a foolish method.
"The forbidden zone of the Guards does not allow idle people to enter. Please wait patiently outside." At Gepard's command, the Guards immediately closed in.
"When the elders are speaking, juniors have no qualification to interrupt!" The Landau patriarch stroked his snowy-white beard that hung to his chest and glanced faintly at the Silvermane Guards.
Instantly, they turned their guns, surrounding Gepard.
"You… why have even you betrayed?" Seeing nearly three-fifths of the Guards' elites standing behind the Landau family, Gepard's face was full of disbelief.
That members of the Landau family within the Guards would betray him was to be expected, but why would his own trusted comrades, who had lived and died alongside him, also do this?
At this moment, only a few veteran soldiers still stood behind Gepard. The rest were mostly new recruits who had only recently joined.
This meant the Landau family had already reached the point of covering the sky with one hand within the Silvermane Guards.
"Lord Gepard, please don't look at us like that. Our families…"
"No need to say more. With everyone's strong support today, the Landau family and the Builders will certainly prepare generous gifts in thanks!"
Jason Landau waved his hand, silencing the Silvermane Guards who wanted to speak more. Then he led the mighty army, moving calmly toward the meeting place.
———
By the campfire, Acheron roasted marshmallows out of boredom. Vera didn't want to get involved in troublesome matters today and had gone out early with Zoe to handle things.
Emiya, meanwhile, was yawning nonstop. Last night, he had forced himself to stay awake with his eyes open, not daring to move and wake the girls.
He had endured constant torment of body and mind. What was originally a fragrant, enticing scene had, in the end, turned into a nightmare-like memory.
"Emiya, the first skewer is for you to eat!" Acheron shoved a marshmallow, smoking black, right into Emiya's face.
"Sigh, I told you long ago I should roast them for you, but you insisted on doing it yourself!" Emiya helplessly pouted, then directly pulled all the marshmallows off with his hand, squished them into a ball, and stuffed them in his stomach.
"Hiss, you actually ate it! What does it taste like?" Acheron gasped, shocked. She had only meant to tease Emiya casually.
"Mm, how to put it…" Emiya deliberately smacked his lips, looking like he hadn't had enough. "Delicious, truly delicious, beyond anything we could ever hope to match in a lifetime."
"Haha, then I'll roast you another skewer!"
"Forget it, forget it. There's only one skewer left, I'll do it!" Emiya didn't dare keep showing off.
He quickly snatched the marshmallow from Acheron's hand, tore one off to wash away the strange taste in his mouth with sweetness, and then carefully roasted it himself.
Clop! Clop! Clop!
The neat sound of footsteps came quickly nearer. Most of the soldiers stood grim-faced behind the Landau family, while the rest spread out around them, forming a net to surround Emiya and Acheron.
"How bold! Seeing the Supreme Guardian has arrived, you still don't come forward to greet her. Truly, wild monkeys are wild monkeys!" The Landau family matriarch stepped forward, harshly scolding Emiya and Acheron.
"Shut up. If my marshmallow burns again, I'll kill you all!" Acheron squeezed the words out from between her teeth. Boundless killing intent spread out, and even the endlessly falling goose-feather snow paused for a moment.
"You... you... you…" The matriarch trembled with rage.
All her life she had enjoyed power and respect, when had she ever been so humiliated? She immediately tried to order the Guards to rush up and hack Acheron to death.
"Enough, stand down!" Seeing that the clown's role was almost done, Supreme Guardian Cocolia walked unhurriedly to Emiya and Acheron, wearing a gentle smile.
"You two, how much longer will it take?"
"Almost done, don't rush me. This is delicate work!" Emiya didn't even turn his head, his eyes fixed on the fire and the marshmallow's heat. These marshmallows were the masterpiece of Master Wu Dalang, and he couldn't let them be wasted.
Hearing this, Cocolia softly laughed. She found that this man's focused look was actually quite charming, so much better than those drunken good-for-nothings in the city.
On the other side, the Landau patriarch and the Builders exchanged intense glances for a while. In the end, they gave up on a reckless attack. From the intel Gepard and Bronya had brought back, these two's combat strength was not to be underestimated.
Taking them down wouldn't be hard, but since they stood so close, if the pair lashed out desperately and injured them, it wouldn't be worth the cost.
It was better to wait a bit longer, until the outside soldiers brought back the two little girls. Then everything would be foolproof.
Before long, the marshmallow was roasted. Once Acheron had eaten it all in small bites, Emiya finally stood up and looked at the high officials glaring at him like tigers.
By the looks of it, the most powerful figures of Belobog were all here. Maybe he should just cut them all down with one strike and save himself the trouble later?
The killing intent Emiya unconsciously released grew even more aggressive. Even though the officials were a hundred meters away, they still felt their hair stand on end. If not for the pride they had long held up, they would probably already have hidden behind the 300 elite guards.
"You all…"
"What are you going to do, stop him!" Emiya had only said two words when the three officials standing in front, directly facing him, instinctively screamed in panic.
"Fools, what kind of behavior is this!" The Landau patriarch knocked the three down with one swing of his staff.
His subordinates quickly dragged them away like dead pigs. "Mr. Emiya, the juniors may not have slept well last night. Please don't take it to heart."
"Oh, I don't mind at all." Emiya no longer paid attention to the officials but turned to look at Cocolia, standing quietly to the side.
"Supreme Guardian, may I ask, gathering so many here today, is it just to intimidate me?"
"I don't know!" Cocolia spread her hands, looking completely uninvolved. "Those are their people, I can't control them. Anyway, I only brought Bronya with me."
"Supreme Guardian!" Seeing Cocolia's shameless attitude, the Landau patriarch's hair nearly stood up from rage.
"What are you doing, putting on a play?" Emiya rubbed his drowsy eyes. Because he wasn't well-rested, his temper wasn't very good either. "Get to the point quickly, I'm in a hurry to go back and sleep."
"Mr. Emiya, I am one of the Builders. My name is Adrian." Seeing the Landau family almost finish embarrassing themselves, the Builders were left with no choice but to speak up.
"All the warriors have heard of the unmatched strength of Mr. Emiya's family, so they wanted to come see for themselves. I wonder if that's convenient for you."
"Oh, you should've said so earlier. I'm very convenient, my Acheron is also very convenient!"
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