Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 252

- Clatter, clatter, clatter!

They say the hour before dawn is darkest, but even in that darkness, one can sense the sun's imminent arrival with each breath of the crisp morning air.

Yet it was still far too early for daily life to begin. Along the deserted central boulevard of the imperial capital, three horses carrying Empress Rozelyn and two royal guards galloped side by side.

The ambush at Raven Valley had been anticipated.

Leaving such an obvious gap was meant to lure the enemy into complacency while creating the perfect opportunity to secretly escort Empress Rozelyn to Gremfort Palace.

Derek's plan unfolded flawlessly—with all attention diverted to Raven Valley, the empress reached the capital's central boulevard leading to Gremfort Palace without encountering a single obstacle.

'Once we reach Gremfort Palace, the first order of business will be interrogating Damon, the mastermind behind all this.'

Thus, the horse bearing the imperial princess accelerated through the dawn air.

- CRASH! BOOM!

Damon clutched his right shoulder as he was sent sprawling.

The empty ministerial conference room was thick with tension. That no soldiers from the outer corridor came rushing in suggested Melberot had taken precautions along the way.

Propped against the wall, the council chairman managed a strained smile.

"Even at retirement age, your martial prowess remains undiminished, Lord Melberot."

"Indeed. Never thought the coward I saw during the Luxstine Civil War would become such a high-caliber mage. But you're still no match for me."

The Central Noble Council's chair had always been occupied by cunning old foxes.

Melberot knew this well—every chairman hid multiple contingency plans behind layers of deception.

This man had concealed his true magical attainment while plotting insidious schemes against the Gertrel imperial family.

Though feigning disadvantage, one could never guess how many moves he still had in reserve. Before Damon could play any more cards, Melberot intended to completely neutralize him.

- CRACK!

Rising from his seat, Melberot gathered magical energy.

Currently, Damon held de facto control over Gremfort Palace, with noble faction members occupying key positions and even influencing the royal guards. This was simply a scenario where a frontier lord had ambushed the palace's true power broker.

As long as he survived to maintain his grip on power, the facts could be manipulated later. Thus, creating enough commotion to draw the royal guards'attention took priority.

The method was simple—cast a large-scale summoning spell.

Just as Damon began gathering mana—

- WHOOSH!

The surroundings transformed before he could react.

"—!"

A booted foot slammed into his stomach before he could speak.

Though he'd been leaning against a wall, only empty space remained behind him. As he collapsed, he noticed water pooling beneath his feet.

"Ghk... huff..."

5th-Grade Transformation Magic:"Battlefield Recreation."

A legendary spell once wielded by the mage Kalimford, representing the pinnacle of transformation magic.

The same spell Melberot had used to bombard Derek with meteors—having fully mastered it from his old friend Kalimford.

This magic dragged opponents into a battlefield of the caster's choosing, permitting no escape. Though the space resembled a vast lake, one couldn't actually drown in it.

- CRACK!

Battlefield restrictions lifted.

Causing chaos in Gremfort Palace's heart would only disadvantage Melberot. Having realized this, he'd naturally prepared countermeasures.

But Damon was also a high-level mage.

Not worrying about collateral damage offered its own advantages.

- CRACK! WHOOSH!

Dozens of massive greatswords erupted from the ground.

Summoning magic ultimately divides into two categories: living beings and inanimate objects.

Instantly summoning bladed weapons to control the battlefield was basic—sometimes conjuring magical arms or relics like transformation mages.

But a critical difference existed from high-level transformation magic. The latter created actual magical tools as permanent objects... whereas summoned weapons would dissipate once affected by opposing mana.

However, their scale and variety far surpassed transformation magic.

The raining greatswords were each the size of small houses.

No need to swing or lift them—gravity alone sent them crashing down to blanket the area.

- BANG!

Yet Melberot deflected them all with a single wave.

No grand spell required—just the 1st-Grade"Shockwave"emitted as effortlessly as breathing shattered Damon's blades into fragments.

- CRACK! WHOOSH!

Sword in hand, Melberot strode toward Damon.

Damon quickly regained his footing, summoning multiple spirits. Lesser spirits merely took elemental forms, but Damon's greater spirits appeared almost humanoid.

Fire, water, ice and lightning raged, devastating the surroundings—yet not a scratch appeared on Melberot.

- CRACK! WHOOSH!

Using only basic defensive spells to repel Damon's magic, Melberot steadily advanced.

Damon gritted his teeth, summoning new spirits, but such elemental magic couldn't breach Melberot's defenses.

Before he could react, another shockwave struck his abdomen.

- THUD! WHOOSH!

Damon collapsed again, retching violently.

"Huff... huff..."

"Strange. I'd assumed you'd reached 6th-Grade attainment."

"...Huff... huff..."

"Why hold back? Did you truly think a few advanced spells could oppose me?"

Sweat pouring, Damon barely lifted his head.

He gazed up at Melberot's solemn face as the man approached steadily. Finally, sweating profusely, Damon managed a smile.

"As expected... of Lord Melberot."

"...You're scheming something."

"Huff... huff..."

"Think I won't kill you here?"

- SLASH!

Melberot's blade pierced Damon's shoulder.

Howling in pain, Damon clutched the wound as blood gushed forth, his consciousness wavering.

"GAAAH!"

- SWISH!

- CRASH!

Melberot yanked the sword free and kicked Damon again.

Damon tumbled across the ground, hands trembling as he struggled to rise.

"Cough... huff... huff..."

"I've seized the initiative now. Stay down or bleed out."

Observing the blood pooling beneath Damon, Melberot remained expressionless.

Damon, barely containing his pain, looked up to see Melberot's conflicted expression.

Sword leveled, the legendary mage spoke.

6th-Grade summoners were said to be capable of calling forth beings from myth, scripture, or legend.

Naturally, summoning such entities consumed staggering amounts of mana—reserved as ultimate techniques.

Most 6th-Grade spells followed this pattern.

Kalpine Village in Luxstaine Territory.

The woman named Rasa who'd embraced the war-traumatized Damon.

In that rural backwater's dilapidated church, a particular memory sometimes surfaced vividly.

-'The Continental Rocheste Orthodox Church's iconography? Didn't realize their faith reached such remote places.'

-'Damon never cared much for religion, so you might not know. Rocheste believers always claim protection from the Six-Winged Angels serving Lord Rocheste.'

Young Damon and naive Rasa gazed up at the altar's sacred painting together. Stained glass light illuminated ancient depictions of the Six-Winged Angels from Rocheste Scripture.

Pointing to a kneeling woman in the painting's corner, Damon remarked:

-'That woman resembles you, Rasa.'

-'My, what an honor, Damon.'

Humming, Rasa smiled beside him.

-'She's Saintess Marilyn, prime disciple of the Six-Winged Angel Rohelm. The braided black hair does look similar.'

-'From scripture? What's her name?'

The girl grinned.

-'Marilyn.'

- WHOOSH!

Having escaped Raven Valley, Derek rode toward Gremfort Palace.

Moving swiftly to catch up with Empress Rozelyn, he found his path blocked by a woman.

Not their first meeting.

"......"

Wind rustled through leaves and the woman's braided hair.

Kochella's magic formula covered her body, her vitality seemingly drained. Flesh visible beneath her tattered robe appeared withered.

"......"

Mounted, Derek studied the woman blocking his path.

Arms spread, her haggard eyes determined—he recognized this person.

The imperial regicide, Marilyn.

In the dawn's chill, this woman stood ready to die stopping Derek.

Though she'd reached the pinnacle of Confusion Magic, Kochella had suppressed most of her abilities.

Yet the summoning remained unbroken, leaving her to wander this world.