"Why not an actual round?" Click asked as she knew that the shot that went through was not an explosive round and instead, it was a smoke grenade and flashbang combined into one. The smoke however was packed with special materials that made it intensely strong against detection that it would act as an anti radar cover too.
"What do you mean, why not an actual round? You killed Steele in that shot." Jin said and started walking towards the Palace.
"Huh? But I…" Before Click could complete the sentence, Yinn interrupted.
"Sigh, That's right, I did not expect Click to be able to kill the commander of the Royal Guards in one shot, what a lousy leader of guard they have. I was expecting more."
"It's such a pity that the commander could not even last from just one shot, perhaps the Empire needs a better abled body of the Royal Guard, the standard had dropped too much," Tellie added as the Fortress Golems picked up Jin and they walked together towards the Bearling Palace.
Click had no idea what they were talking about when Jin was the one who asked her to shoot a distraction artillery shell at that area. But the fact that Page and even her best buddy Diaz were keeping mum about it meant that she was missing something out.
"They are all pretending that shot killed him and Steele can continue to help people with our assumption that he is dead since that conversation had been recorded and the sudden break in contact was the 'proof' we had finished him off. You get it now?" Lynn said in the System Channel and Click felt like an idiot that she did not understand it until now.
"Took you some time to understand that. I expected more from you, Click," Diaz said and if they were not in their respective Fortress Golems, Click would beat Diaz on her head. It was for a fact that they had to transport Tellie and Lynn on their Golems along with Jin, Click had no choice but to tolerate the insult from her buddy.
Soon, they reached the Bearling City Palace and it was relatively empty with the exception of all the dead corpses on the ground. There were no other combat personnel since most if not all of them had already moved to aid the people of the Bearling City of their own volition. However, as the rest were about to proceed in with guns blazing once more when they got out of their Fortress Golems, they saw a sight that they could not believe.
The Royal's attendants opened the door for them and one of them came to greet Jin and the Grey Bear Squad. "Greetings, Challenger. I am Puzzle. One of the humble attendants to the Royals. It is I who had orchestrated the monster outbreak in Daimon City and to see you alive in the flesh, challenging the Queen is an honour which I do not dare to partake.
"And?" Jin sheathed his sword back and took out his commander pistol instead and aimed it at Puzzle. The rest of the Royal attendants who also had pistols and knives on them, immediately knelt down as Jin placed the gun on Puzzle's head. It was as if they were begging him not to shoot that one person who came to greet him.
Jin knew how to read the atmosphere and released the gun away from his head. But with it still on his hand and the finger not entirely away from the trigger, he waited for Puzzle's answer.
"And, I, Puzzle, the humble servant of the Royal family, had finally understood that I am not worthy of your mercy. But before you take my life away, I will show you where the Queen is."
"Not the King as well?" Jin asked and Puzzle shook his head.
"The King could not take the stress of this particular challenge. Especially when he was asked to ride out and aid the people against the Dragons, he refused. In the end, he took the easy way out. Thinking that the Queen would be able to solve everything." Puzzle said as he looked at the side of the group and they instantly nodded their heads.
They stood up and went to the room that was beside the Palace's entrance and took out a body bag. The attendants opened it and showed that the King had shot himself in the face to end everything. The System had then confirmed his identity and noted that he was no doubt the real King.
"Then the Queen? She expected you all to fight and win against me?"
"No, she had hid herself well within the Palace. After all, your challenge does have a deadline. If by the end of the 24 hours, you did not kill or have the Royals surrender by then, they would win." Puzzle said and Jin looked at Page, asking if she knew anything about this.
"Yes, while it might not be a written rule on the authorisation letter given by the Three Wing Angel, it is usually the case for most duels. I am afraid what he said holds some weight." Page replied.
"So, what you are saying she is hoping you guys will delay me while she hid in the Palace?" Jin asked once more for confirmation.
"Yes." Puzzle nodded his head once more.
"And you are providing this information because?" Jin wanted to know the real intention behind it although he had an inkling what Puzzle would like to get from this exchange of information.
"I will give you this information, especially with regards to where the Queen had hidden and in return, you spare the rest of the Royal Attendants. I am the only one who has been orchestrating the things behind the scenes. None of them were involved in such treachery against the Empire. All of them are not privy to the information that I have compared to the rest."
"So, you are saying that in exchange for information, you want me to spare the rest?" Jin asked and Puzzle nodded his head in silence.
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