Lira's eyes flashed.
Making full use of her ability, she evaded the vines that came after her from the magic array above.
The vines were nothing like those soft-textured plants. They were unbelievably sharp, and each time they missed, they pierced the floor, riddling it with holes.
'This is Chairman Malia's magic,' she thought, recalling the information she read about every council member of the Conclave. 'She's only a Grand Master, but she can actually summon her magic to a location far from her. Not to mention, her summoned vines are very sharp.'
Frankly, the use of magic attacks was supposed to be prohibited within the room's premises. It was how Kyran designed the room's array formation. However, in the oft chance that an enemy could bypass his array, he granted access to a selected few council members to use their magic inside. The array formation also included a formula that amplified the council member's magic.
For this reason, Malia's magic was at least three times stronger. As for how she was able to summon her magic when she was clearly not present in the room, the reason was simple. The room they were having a meeting was directly above the room.
Due to the urgency of the situation, it would have been strange if Malia still chose to rush downstairs before attacking.
'Tsk!' Lira could not help but click her tongue in exasperation as she pushed herself to the limit to evade not only the vines but also Aki.
'If only I had a weapon I could use!' She thought, feeling somewhat annoyed at the fact that she could not use the weapons of the guards she took out.
She did not expect that the Conclave was so cautious about their members losing their weapons to an enemy that they included a magic signature validation on them. Basically, if the magic signature of the person holding the weapon were not the same as the one recorded on the validation array, the weapon would become useless.
With this in mind, she scanned her eyes inside the room for a makeshift weapon she could use. In the end, she caught sight of the bed's frame that had already been destroyed by the vines.
'There!' Lira found a broken steel frame about two feet long. Its tip was a bit jagged, but that was unimportant. What mattered was she could use it as a temporary weapon.
Lira rolled on the floor toward the steel frame and grabbed it. Then using an armament enhancement technique, she enhanced the steel frame's toughness.
The Armament Enhancement Technique was a technique every Royal Knight could use. It enhanced a weapon's sharpness and sturdiness, ensuring their weapons could last for a long period during battle.
Lira could use this technique because it did not require any magic energy. It was similar to the Body Tempering Technique of the Regis Clan, which did not require magic energy and solely depended on the dragon's blood coursing through their veins.
The moment Lira had a 'weapon' in hand, she immediately went after the magic array above. She decided to eliminate the vines first to have more room to maneuver.
Lira's eyes flashed as soon as she found the weakest point of the magic array. Gripping the steel frame with one hand, she jumped and slashed at the seven points on the magic array.
Crackle!
The magic array crackled as the steel frame hit its seven key points. After that, cracks appeared from the inner circle, spreading outward at an alarming speed.
Shatter!
In three seconds, the magic array shattered, and the vines dissipated along with it.
Aki's eyes flashed and focused its sight on Lira's 'weapon.'
It was impossible for a normal person to destroy a magic array because they did not possess magic energy. Lira's magic energy had been sealed, yet she cut through an active magic array. This could only mean that she employed another technique that did not require magic energy.
Near the stairs leading to the second level, because Lira destroyed her magic array, Malia abruptly stopped and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Chairman Malia!" The few leaders who went with her to the second level were alarmed.
Malia's complexion instantly paled, but she lifted her head and looked toward the direction where Lira and Aki were currently engaged in a melee.
"I'm fine! Go and capture that woman!"
"Yes."
Back in the room, after the magic array was destroyed, Lira could finally face Aki properly. She parried every attack the latter launched while directing their position and forcing them to move closer to the window.
Right now, Lira only had one thought in mind: to escape.
It was unfortunate she could not confirm the identity of the woman, who had the same name as the Crown Princess's birth name, who also happened to sound like her.
Nevertheless, Lira had an inkling she was on to something, and thus, she decided to escape from there first. Of course, she did not plan to tell the Crown Princess about her encounter directly but to send the information using her regular communication device.
She could have sent it already if Aki was not keeping both of her hands and feet busy.
Aki's eyes flashed as it looked at the 'weapon' in Lira's hand. It detected a strange fluctuation on the 'weapon' but failed to determine what caused it.
"Unknown technique employed by the target. Object in the target's hand will be categorized as an unknown object of destruction. Priority will shift to destroying the unknown object."
Aki's programming deemed that the steel frame in Lira's hand could pose a greater threat and prioritized destroying it first. Of course, if Cyneah were still in the room, Aki would prioritize her safety above anything else. But since Stella had taken her to a safer location, Aki moved according to what its program deemed fit for the current situation.
Frankly, the judgment of Aki's programming was half correct.
It was true that Lira had used a different technique while attacking. The Armament Enhancement Technique was still active. But Lira also used another technique called Continuum Steel.
Using this technique, any steel in her hands could cut through anything and everything as long as the object she cut did not exceed the maximum defensive parameter the Continuum Steel technique could cut.
Aki raised its hand and summoned five magic arrays that appeared in every direction surrounding Lira.
Lira narrowed her eyes upon seeing the magic arrays. She tightened her grip on the steel frame and attacked and went after the array closer to the window.
Before the boulders emerged from the magic array, Lira had already destroyed the magic array to her left.
Ignoring everything else, Lira covered her head protectively before jumping toward the window.
CRASH!
The window shattered from Lira's momentum.
It was at that moment that the people with Malia arrived. Seeing Lira had already jumped out of the window, a few of them went after her while the others went to go down the stairs.
People below were taken aback by the sound of the window shattering. They looked up just in time to witness Lira jump out of the window straight to the ground below.
"Oi!"
"Watch out!"
Some of them shouted because the place where Lira would land was asphalt. Even if she used an item or magic to break her fall, the distance between the second and ground levels was not that far. She would not have enough time to summon magic, much less prepare her item.
BAM!
Lira landed on the ground without so much of a groan escaping from her. This shocked the people on the ground.
But their shock was short-lived after they saw another figure jump down the window. At the same time, that figure shouted, "Don't let her escape!"
Only then did the people on the ground realize something was amiss from what had just happened. It did not take long for them to understand that the first one that came out of the window was an intruder.
All at once, those who could move went after Lira.
Aki, who had also landed safely on the ground, had summoned several magic arrays after Lira. Boulders emerged from the magic arrays, but they all missed her by one to two centimeters.
The others roused their magic and attacked her, sending fireballs or molded weapons.
Alas, none of the mages that responded to Aki's call possessed controlling-type magic to restrain her movements.
Actually, Aki's 'boulder' attack would have been enough if Lira had not been moving too fast.
Apart from this, Aki's magic programming did not include controlling spells. If it did, it would have already captured Lira.
*
Outside, Osric and the others scouting the Tower of Conclave's premises did not know what was happening inside.
Only after Osric received Lira's update did he learn the current situation.
But none of those mattered to him because his attention was drawn to the good news in her update.
It said: Found a young woman- named Cyneah- sounded like the Princess.
Osric's eyes glinted malevolently as he looked at the entrance of the Tower of Conclave.
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