Chapter 180: Catch Her And Bring Her To Me!
Chapter 180: Catch Her And Bring Her To Me!
Tessa got up, and made for the exit, this simple action was like a trigger which caused the slightly disoriented Prince Kuril to get up like he was stung.
Prince Kuril paced furiously, his expression twisted in a mixture of pain and humiliation. Tessa's casual demeanor only stoked the flames of his rage. His voice boomed through the chamber, laced with venomous contempt.
"I brought you into my palace," he spat, gesturing wildly. "I summoned the finest healers across the land to mend you. I even called upon a god—a god, damn it!—and paid him 1,000 Kaelrian gold coins. Do you even comprehend the weight of that sacrifice?" His voice cracked under the strain, his fury palpable. "And this is how you repay me? Injuring me, insulting my authority as the Crown Prince?"
He slammed his fist against the ornate armrest of his throne, the sound echoing like a war drum. "If you leave this palace alive, then I am no longer the Crown Prince of Base 137! Guards, catch this bitch for me!"
The roar of his command sent a ripple of fear and urgency through the grand hall. The guards, clad in gleaming cobalt armor marked with the insignia of the Crown, surged forward in disciplined waves, their boots clanging ominously against the marble floor.
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Tessa froze, her mouth twitching in disbelief at the escalating situation. She hadn't even done anything, at least not directly. The thought irked her.
"All this drama over something I didn't even do," she muttered under her breath, glancing down at her protruding belly. The foetus within her stirred subtly, as if to remind her of its culpability. "Troublemaker already... at this age...," she murmured, her voice laced with sarcasm.
Her gaze flicked back to Kuril, whose face was now blotched with rage. She almost felt bad—almost. Then again, how was she supposed to know the Crown Prince would be this weak? 2000 kaelrian Joules? She scoffed internally. That was barely a warm-up for her. The realization left her wondering if all Kaelrians were this feeble or if she had unknowingly outgrown the normal/mortal energy range of the Kaelrians.
The thought gnawed at her. She had come a long way in just six years—unthinkably far by Kaelrian standards. Normal Kaelrians required decades, sometimes centuries, to reach her current energy levels, especially if they were to inherit a legacy or being taught by a Kaelrian god. Yet here she stood, an anomaly wrapped in mystery.
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The sound of clanging armor yanked her from her thoughts. The guards swarmed toward her, a wall of shining steel and disciplined aggression. They moved like a hive of angry bees, buzzing with purpose.
Tessa's brow furrowed as she noticed something unusual. Above each guard's head hovered a faint, translucent panel displaying numbers—energy levels, she realized. She blinked in surprise. Was this some shared Kaelrian ability? Or was it just unique to her?
The numbers flickered and shifted as they moved closer. Most hovered around 500–700 kaelrian Joules, with a few exceptional readings nearing 1,000 Kaelrian Joules. Nothing alarming, but it was enough to make her ponder the gap between her strength and theirs.
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The first guard at the entrance hesitated briefly, his eyes narrowing as he evaluated Tessa. Should he capture her or strike her down? A flicker of indecision crossed his mind until he recalled the prince's chilling words: 'She doesn't leave the palace alive'. That reminder solidified his choice.
Gripping his retractable baton, he extended it with a sharp snap, its polished surface gleaming menacingly in the dim light. His aim was precise, his strike deadly. Tessa moved with a calm that belied her situation. She sidestepped the swing with effortless grace, her body movement was fluid and controlled despite the pronounced swell of her stomach.
Whatever was growing inside her seemed to have stopped siphoning her energy-for now. She suppressed a flicker of curiosity about the strange entity within her, relegating the question to the back of her mind. 'l know when the time comes, she mused, her thoughts cut short as another attack whistled toward her.
The second guard lunged, his blade cutting through the space where she'd stood a heartbeat earlier. Tessa twisted to the side, her hand darting out like a striking serpent to catch his wrist mid-swing. Her grip, firm yet strangely delicate, twisted his arm with a precision that left no room for resistance. He let out a strangled grunt of pain as he crumpled to the floor, his blade clattering uselessly beside him.
She released his wrist with a flick and stepped over his prone form without so much as a glance.
Even if they combined their abilities to fight as a team or faced me one by one, it wouldn't make any difference, Tessa thought coldly. Her sharp blue eyes flicked to the energy level panel above their heads. The numbers were laughably low, on the average, it flickered between 500 and 700 Kaelrian Joules and the highest of them reached 1000 Kaelrian Joules. In stark contrast, her own energy level blazed at a stunning 6000 Kaelrian Jou5. They were hopelessly outmatched.
She exhaled softly, a mixture of irritation and pity swirling in her mind. Why can I see their energy levels, though? she wondered. This wasn't a thing back on Earth. Is this another side effect of whatever's happening to me? She pushed the thought aside, her resolve hardening. No point stressing over it now. The truth will come out when it's ready.
Despite her advantage, Tessa felt a pang of reluctance. These men were not her real enemies—they were pawns, blindly following Prince Kuril's orders. Hurting them felt unnecessary. Not yet, at least. But she knew that if they thought sheer numbers would give them a chance, they were deluding themselves.
She took a step back, her hands resting casually at her sides as the group grew larger, their weapons gleaming under the dim palace lights. "You lot really don't know what you're getting into, do you?" she muttered, her voice almost a whisper yet carrying effortlessly through the tense air.
The guards faltered, a ripple of hesitation breaking their ranks. Something about her calm confidence set their instincts on edge. For a moment, silence stretched between them, taut like a drawn bowstring. Then, Prince Kuril's sharp command shattered it. "Don't just stand there! Catch her and bring her to me... Dead or Alive!"
The shout spurred them into motion, their footsteps thundering against the tiled floor as they charged. Tessa stood her ground, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. She flexed her fingers, the motion causing a subtle hum of energy to crackle around her like static electricity.
"Alright," she said, her voice low and dangerous, her gaze locking on the nearest guard. "Let's see what you've got."
With that, she moved. Her body blurred into action, weaving through the first wave with an almost effortless precision.
A baton swiped for her midsection, and she sidestepped, twisting the weapon from its wielder's grasp before sending him sprawling to the floor. Another guard swung his blade, but she caught it mid-arc, the metal screeching against her palm before she wrenched it away and sent him stumbling back.
She didn't need to unleash her full power yet. These skirmishes were merely a warm-up, and Tessa couldn't help but wonder how long they would persist in their futile attempts. For now, she would observe—and when the time came, she would make sure they understood the folly of standing against her.