Not hesitating for even a moment, Julian unsheathed his saber and tossed it right at the general amidst the corpses.
Victor's eyes widened as he raised his saber to block. However, what he didn't anticipate was Julian speeding up the saber with his telekinesis.
Julian's saber shattered Victor's and pierced straight through his chest. He gasped, then began choking on his own blood. Not long after, he turned tail and tried to run, staggering every few steps.
But before he could get too far, Julian controlled the saber inside Victor's chest and sent it upward, slicing Victor's heart in two and watching as he fell lifeless and slid across the ground.
Just like that, someone who would have normally posed a challenge to Julian, had he not been injured, was killed.
[You have slain a dormant human.]
Using telekinesis again, Julian retrieved his saber, and without getting into further detail, he kicked the princess's bow toward Aliyah and dashed to the palace.
"H-Hey! You bastard, where do you think you're going!?" Aliyah screamed from behind and chased after him. When she finally entered the palace's inner ground, she heard loud whistling.
And when she turned around, she spotted thousands of arrows slamming down onto the area where they had just stood, while also piercing the corpses of the fallen.
Aliyah abruptly turned toward Julian and Diana before speeding up.
Julian ignored Aliyah's insults and frost spells, making his way through the palace, and finally back to the giant room where Diana had first come out.
Kicking the door open, Julian tossed Diana onto the bed and glanced through the window at the far end of the room, making sure there were no enemies outside.
Thankfully, the only sights she could see from her window were the slums, and there was no solid high ground from which the archers could shoot.
Julian closed the curtains with a sigh and turned toward Diana.
"You should stay here for a while, or run away," he suggested. "There are a few thousand troops outside the Saharan Empire, and if my guess is right, they're marching here as we speak."
Diana frowned.
"You're not really my guard, are you?"
"No," Julian replied. "I'm not your guard, nor is my identity important."
"..."
Diana composed herself.
"Then whose side are you on?"
Julian smiled.
"I wonder?"
Deciding to keep her in the dark, he turned back to the curtains while also keeping an eye on her. After all, even with his reassurance, she was confidently reaching behind her pillow and pulling out a dagger.
"Say, mister..." She jumped off the bed, slowly approaching him. "It sounds a little suspicious that on the day I'm betrayed, someone coincidentally replaced my guard. Someone clearly more capable."
Julian smirked, his back still turned.
"For someone who orchestrated the whole betrayal, you sure do like to hide behind that childish act of yours."
"Hmm..." Diana stopped. "Do you want to work for me?"
"I don't," Julian replied, and just then Aliyah stormed inside the room and shot an icebolt straight at him.
Yet right as it was about to hit him, the icebolt froze in midair.
This time around, he didn't even use his telekinesis. It was all Aliyah's doing.
"Who are you?" Aliyah asked coldly. "Ever since we left the room earlier, there was something off about you. You're slightly taller than the other guy, and you survived the Lunar Phase attack."
"Don't bother, I already asked him a few questions," Diana chimed in with a sigh. "He's hell-bent on not answering."
"Tsk." Aliyah dissipated her ice, her expression turning serious. "Diana, right before..."
"I saw," Diana cut her off. "Thousands of arrows were heading for us. This new guard said he saw thousands of troops. If that's the case, I'm afraid the Saharan Empire is going to fall today."
'I still don't get how this place is called an Empire when it's just one city.'
"Why so quiet all of a sudden?" Diana pointed a black dagger at him. "You were so talkative a moment ago."
Julian took a deep breath, deepening his voice.
"You should run away."
Diana cringed at his deep voice, but didn't call him out on it.
"I'm not running anywhere. Instead, I'll talk to my father, and I'll lead our remaining soldiers to victory."
"...Well, since I'm already this far in, I might as well see it through." Aliyah turned to him. "You... I don't know what your goal is, but since you saved Diana, I take it you're on our side?"
Before he could reply, she continued:
"In that case, would it be possible for you to infiltrate their army as you've done to ours? If you can feed us intel, or even kill their leader, you'll contribute greatly to the Saharan Empire."
"...?"
'Thank you for helping us. Oh while you're at it, why don't you go jump headfirst into a volcano? Is she being serious?' Julian thought with a cracking smile.
"Of course, the princess will handsomely reward you. A title perhaps, or maybe a favor," Aliyah added.
Despite their clear intent to manipulate him, Julian was pleasantly amused. When he first met Aliyah, he realized she was a little quirky, but to negotiate in such a position was... bold.
"Do you have any Soul Artifacts?" Julian went straight to the point.
Aliyah and Diana exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in unison.
"We used to have many, but after my father became ill, he sold off most of the Soul Artifacts to neighboring cities to maintain peace," Diana explained. "But... If you help us, then you can take home everything you get from the enemies. All of it."
'So they can't give me anything.' Julian clicked his tongue in disappointment.
In the end, he decided to go with the reason he came here in the first place.
"I'll help your empire only if Aliyah joins me after all this is over. I want her as a companion who could help me get out of Second Heaven."
Aliyah flinched, clenching her fists.
"...Is that it?"
"It is." Julian smiled faintly. "I'm not asking for much. I only need an ally."
A deathly silence spread throughout the room as Aliyah pondered his words. It wasn't a really tough offer, but it was clear she was skeptical of his true intentions.
Diana thought so as well. Still, the two women whispered amongst each other with wary gazes, and after just a few minutes, Aliyah slowly nodded.
"Fine, I agree. But don't expect me to be loyal to you, or trust you blindly. But if I don't like you, I can go back here. That's reasonable, isn't it?"
There were so many ways he could put down her arrogance here and now. Neither she nor this empire was in a position to negotiate terms. If he offered something, then that something was what he wanted.
So, since he wasn't really getting his message across, why not add another term.
"I also want five Soul Artifacts within a year," Julian stated coldly. "Doesn't matter what kind. I don't really care how you get them either."
The two women flinched.
"Didn't you just say those were all your terms? Where's this coming from?" Aliyah scowled.
Diana frowned. "I told you we don't have any Soul Artifacts."
"And I told you I don't care how you go about getting them as long as you give them to me within a year," Julian replied, slowly walking up to the door and stopping.
He glanced at Aliyah, then back at Diana.
"If you don't accept now, then I might ask for ten Soul Artifacts. Maybe even something more."
Hearing that, Diana flinched, realizing the position she was in. If she didn't agree, then he would walk away and they would be invaded. That was just how simple it was.
And so, after a slight pause, she finally caved in.
"V-Very well, we'll be in your care. If you can, could you stall the enemies for as long as possible? I'm going to try contacting my brothers on the outskirts of the empire."
Julian tilted his head in surprise.
"How long do you need me to stall them for?"
Avoiding his gaze, Diana mumbled, "A few days... A week at most."
Right as he was about to call her an idiot, Aliyah chimed in.
"Just do your best, and we'll do our best as well. In the worst case scenario, we'll all be dead in a few days anyway."
Turning around, Aliyah placed her hands on Diana's shoulders, then subtly glanced back at Julian.
"We're going to hit the showers, so please excuse us."
With those words, Aliyah led the reluctant Diana into the bathroom, and after giving Julian one last look, they slammed the door shut.
Julian was once again left alone, but he didn't linger.
After all...
He had an army of several thousand to infiltrate.