At that moment, Khazar's expression twisted into something hideous, no longer that of a trembling servant before his mistress, but a mask of venomous hate and desperation.
His pale face contorted, veins bulging around his temples as if his very flesh was at war with itself, and his fingers twitched once.
The next moment, without warning, a crimson dagger manifested in his hand, its blade pulsing with a baleful, corrupted aura that made the air itself recoil.
Abyssal Qi curdled around it like blood turning to smoke, and without missing a heartbeat, Khazar lunged.
The dagger sliced through the air in a blur of red, aimed straight for the Dread Duchess's skull, her veil fluttering faintly as her head remained turned, fully exposed!
But just as the dagger's tip was about to graze a single strand of her silken hair…
'Thud!'
It suddenly stopped in its tracks, frozen midair.
