Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2757: Breaking Into Inner Court

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Zhongguo (China), Liaodong Province, Shuntian Prefecture, Shenyang City

Coryn looked down at Ming, who was still kneeling before her with his head bowed and sword raised in quiet submission.

Her gaze was indifferent, calm to the point of nonchalance, as if the betrayal and bloodshed that had just unfolded in the corridor meant little to her. For a brief moment, she studied the old captain, measuring him without a word.

Then she turned away.

Her eyes settled on the entrance to the Imperial Palace’s inner court. The towering doors stood ahead in solemn silence, the air around them heavy with the weight of the place. Coryn drew in a slow, steady breath, letting the tension in her chest settle.

Without looking back at Ming, she stepped forward, remarking to him, ”I don’t care as long as you don’t get in my way.”

Ming rose from his knee and smoothly sheathed his jian, the blade sliding back into its scabbard with a quiet metallic whisper. From that moment on, he placed himself at her side as her familiar. It was a choice he made without hesitation.

He lifted his eyes toward Coryn’s back.

She was already walking toward the towering doors of the Imperial Palace’s inner court, her posture steady despite the blood still staining her clothes. The massive doors loomed ahead like the final barrier between her and the voice.

Ming watched as she slowed slightly, clearly preparing to blow the doors apart. So, he respectfully suggested, ”Are you certain you do not wish to catch your breath first?” After all, behind those doors stand the remaining Imperial Guard captains, the Shadow Guards, the imperial descendants... and the Emperor himself.”

Coryn stepped up to the towering doors and gently placed her hand against the cold metal surface, replying, ”No need.”

The next instant, the hinges holding the massive doors detonated. The metal screamed as the fittings tore apart, and the enormous doors collapsed forward with a thunderous crash, slamming into the floor and sending a thick cloud of dust rolling through the entrance.

Coryn did not wait for the dust to settle. She stepped over the fallen doors and walked inside at an unhurried pace, her bloodstained figure cutting through the drifting haze. Behind her, Ming followed silently.

As Coryn stepped out of the drifting dust, the scene inside the inner court revealed itself.

A formation of embroidered guards had already moved to block the entrance and apprehend the intruder. Their armor gleamed beneath the high lantern light, embroidered cloaks hanging from their shoulders as they stood shoulder to shoulder with disciplined precision, forming a living wall before her.

Behind them, the remaining Imperial Guard captains and the shadow guards stood at their respective posts, their presence heavy and unmoving like pillars of iron.

The hall itself was vast. Rows of carved chairs lined both sides of the chamber, facing one another across the polished stone floor. Seated upon them were the imperial descendants, their robes rich with color and rank, watching the intruder with a mixture of curiosity, anger, and disbelief.

At the far end of the hall, opposite the entrance, stood the Emperor’s throne, raised upon a stepped platform. The Emperor himself sat upon it in silent authority, his gaze fixed upon the bloodstained girl who had just walked into his court.

And at the very center of the hall stood a stone altar. Resting upon it was a saber forged from flesh and bone, its grotesque structure unmistakable, it was the Dragon Dicing Saber.

Ignoring everything else in the hall, the twins’ gaze locked onto the grotesque saber resting on the stone altar.

The voice they had been hearing all this time had vanished. In its place rose something far stranger, an unbearable urge clawing its way up from the depths of their chest. It pulsed through them like a silent scream, echoing with every heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Each beat pushed the feeling deeper into their bones.

Before them lay the last remains of their mother, displayed at the center of a grandiose hall like some grotesque trophy. And around it sat the very people responsible for her death, gathered calmly as if this were nothing more than a ceremony.

The sight ignited something primal inside her.

A fury of ten thousand burning suns erupted from the depths of her being, raw and uncontrollable, rising like a storm that had waited far too long to break. The irony was that, with her Chivalry, she truly could unleash the fury of ten thousand burning suns upon them.

The power to reduce the entire hall to ash rested quietly within her grasp, waiting only for a single thought to set it free. Yet she did not move. She simply stood there, staring at the grotesque saber that held the last remains of her mother, while that terrible power simmered behind her eyes like a star on the verge of collapse.

Every gaze in the hall settled on Coryn and Captain Ming standing just behind her unapologetically.

Some of the sharper minds among the imperial descendants had already guessed what Ming’s presence meant. Others refused to believe it, their expressions stiff with disbelief at the thought that an Imperial Guard captain had betrayed the Emperor.

Murmurs rippled faintly through the rows of seated imperial descendants, the noble relatives who had gathered here with a foolish dream in their hearts. Each of them had hoped that their progeny might one day wield the power once possessed by the strongest martial artist the empire had ever known, Coryn... the Emperor’s Thirteenth Concubine.

Meanwhile, Ming’s attention never left Coryn. His eyes rested on her back as he stood a step behind, calm and composed. He was already prepared to move the moment she acted, ready to complement her actions without hesitation.

”Stop right there! Identify yourself!” The Imperial Deputy Guard Captain stepped forward and barked the order at Coryn, his voice loud with authority. There was a clear edge of arrogance in his tone as he tried to perform before the Emperor, eager to prove himself in the presence of the royalty.