Chapter 168 Boom, boom, boom!

Andy now finds Nicole to be an absolute treasure trove!

Over the past few days, as he occasionally sought her guidance on problems, he actually managed to catch a faint glimpse of that old feeling he had when studying under teacher Martin. Many arcane knowledge points came to Nicole as naturally as breathing; she was not only thoroughly familiar with apprentice-tier and bronze-tier lore, but could also discuss silver-tier and gold-tier mysteries with complete fluency and insight.

Now that Andy had received his subsidy and resolved the issue of his spiritual power's growth, he had originally intended to resume attending classes to learn arcane knowledge. Because relying solely on the magic mirror for information made many concepts difficult to truly comprehend, paying to consult academy tutors for explanations was quite necessary. However, he now discovered that Nicole's accumulation of knowledge actually surpassed that of the academy instructors. This caused Andy to inwardly marvel that she was indeed an elite cultivated by a major family—she completely left the scum of his newly recruited club trailing five streets behind!

Consequently, he would consult Nicole on anything and everything, regardless of whether there was an actual issue. Moreover, he had a strange illusion: the more questions he asked her, the happier Nicole seemed to be. Although this left Andy utterly baffled, he was more than happy to go along with it.

There was one thing, however, that Andy found rather strange, and that was Catherine’s reaction. Logically speaking, now that Andy and Nicole were getting along quite closely, Catherine ought to be unhappy or at least suspicious of their relationship. Yet, why was Catherine still reacting with complete indifference, going off every single day to study arcane array knowledge, only returning at mealtimes to savor the cat food meticulously prepared by Nicole?

Andy felt this was somewhat abnormal. Could it really be that Catherine only regarded him as a brother? Andy shook his head and banished the thought from his mind; he refused to believe that siblings would joke around with something like the Maze of Bewilderment.

Completely bewildered and unable to figure it out, Andy had no idea that Catherine had already assigned a ghost to each of them to monitor them twenty-four hours a day. Furthermore, in between her studies of arcane arrays, Catherine would constantly consult the senior sisters of her "Filthy Enchantress Society" on topics like how to deal with mistresses and scumbags.

While Andy remained baffled by Catherine’s attitude, little did he know that someone else was even more perplexed than he was.

That person was Nicole. After spending a period of time together, she discovered that the relationship between "Emperor Bill" and Princess Catherine was utterly bizarre. It was intimate to a fault!

Whatever happened to being as close as brother and sister?! They were practically turning into lovers!

This involuntarily reminded Nicole of certain third-rate romance novels she had read in her previous life, the ones detailing "secret palace histories."

This realization drove Nicole to the brink of a nervous breakdown. She wondered why trying to latch onto a powerful patron had to be so difficult. If Andy and Catherine really crossed the line and sparked a romance now, what on earth would happen to Empress Jella in the future?

Just thinking about the terrifying nature of the future Empress Jella, and then looking at the current Princess Catherine—who didn't seem like someone to be trifled with either—Nicole could hardly imagine what kind of scene would ensue if they came into conflict. Besides, if your inner palace became a tangled ball of yarn, how on earth could you conquer the world and establish the Arcane Empire?

Therefore, a profound sense of mission spontaneously arose within Nicole's heart. She absolutely could not allow "Emperor Bill" and Princess Catherine to develop romantic feelings for each other. She had to preserve his purity and await the arrival of Empress Jella. It was said that the subsequent relationship between Emperor Bill and Empress Jella was exceptionally wonderful. Presumably, this romance would blossom when the present Andy, plunged into depression after receiving news of his friend Bill’s death, was sought out and comforted by Empress Jella.

During the time Catherine and Andy spent together, whenever Nicole saw the slightest sprout of intimacy between them, she would immediately step in to crack jokes and diffuse the tension. For the sake of their future hegemony and grand enterprise, she was now fully prepared to play the fool without any hesitation.

She even shamelessly moved into the villa where Andy was currently living, under the fine-sounding pretext of taking care of Catherine’s daily life. Seeing that Nicole had helped him out so much, and knowing that Catherine had the means to keep her in check, Andy agreed to let her move in.

As for Catherine, she had long since regarded Nicole as her third pet—well, and the most useful one at that, with the only regret being that she wasn't very obedient and still needed some training!

From then on, Nicole felt as though she were living in deep waters and scorching fires. She constantly encouraged herself with visions of a wonderful life in the new Arcane Empire while continuing her roles as a joke-cracking clown, a live-in nanny, a lecturing tutor, and a club-managing secretary.

Amidst a lifestyle as busy as a dog's, she wished more than anything that she possessed Princess Catherine's Circle Curse technique, so that she could use it to curse Bill, who was soldiering on the front lines.

As long as the Silver Wing Fortress fell under a curse and Bill was cursed to death, then the present Andy would be deeply moved, transform into Bill William, diligently practice alchemy, usher in Empress Jella, and henceforth initiate the invincible Bill mode, rising to prominence amidst the astral realms!

Just as Nicole was wishing she could curse the Silver Wing Fortress and Bill, an unexpected turn of events occurred at the Silver Wing Fortress, and this development was urgently transmitted back to the capital using a costly, expedited communication arcane array.

When the front-line urgent report arrived, the Queen was currently handling state affairs. After using a special method to decrypt the encoded contents of the report, she furrowed her brows slightly, but then, as if thinking of something, her brow smoothed out once more...

The urgent report stated that Bertram, the vice president of the Azure Phoenix Society, had broken through to the Gold-tier and was now leading a massive army to the very gates of the Silver Wing Fortress!

Bertram was currently filled with supreme confidence and satisfaction. He had broken through to the Gold-tier while still under a hundred years of age, leaving him with over nine hundred years of long life ahead of him. Within these nine hundred years, he could cultivate at his leisure, and advancing even further was not entirely out of the question.

Moreover, his breakthrough was of monumental significance to the Principality of Sien; the balance of power had been completely shattered. Judging by his current strength as a Gold Knight, Vaughn absolute lacked the ability to stop him. While the two sides had previously been evenly matched, Sien now held a massive advantage in top-tier combat power. Consequently, this time there was a strong likelihood that they could press their advantage in one go and crack open the hard nut that was the Silver Wing Fortress.

Furthermore, the Grand Duke of Sien had already reached a consensus with the headmaster of the Greymane Academy. This time, Rothman would definitely not participate in the defense of the Silver Wing Fortress. Rothman seemed intent on using the hands of the Principality of Sien to exert pressure on the Elan royal family in order to achieve certain personal goals. But whatever his intentions might be, as long as it benefited the Principality of Sien, that was all that mattered.

When Bertram had marshaled his troops and was preparing to storm the city, a personal guard suddenly whispered into his ear, "General, the young miss has returned!"

Bertram was overjoyed upon hearing this; Monica had actually returned. He had sent word to Monica when he was preparing to make his breakthrough to the Gold Wizard, but he hadn't expected his advancement to go so smoothly. Traveling from Plondra this quickly under normal speeds shouldn't have allowed her to arrive here in time, which meant his precious daughter must have traveled day and night to rush back!

Thinking of this, Bertram felt deeply gratified, feeling that his pampering of her had not been in vain. He initially wanted to go and see his daughter right away, but seeing the soldiers who were already fully prepared, he changed his mind.

He figured that once he called the enemy out for battle, he would make a swift, decisive move. Using the flight sorcery he had mastered upon reaching the Gold-tier, he would fly straight at Vaughn, and with a rapid succession of "pew-pew-pew" ultimate bursts, he would cleanly and neatly finish him off. After that, he could return in peace, accompany his daughter to drink wine and watch the battle, and leave the disheartened enemy troops—now stripped of their commander—to be dealt with by his subordinates.

Thus, he instructed his men to warm a pot of wine, notified his daughter to wait for him a moment, and led his grand army straight toward the Silver Wing Fortress!

He saw him. He saw Vaughn—the very person watching the battle from the city wall! Without even exchanging a greeting, Bertram let out a "whoosh" and soared into the sky.

He flew straight toward a spot not far from Vaughn, and while charging up his ultimate spell, he pointed at him and shouted, "Vaughn, prepare to meet your doom!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Dazzling flames erupted from several hidden defensive installations along the city wall!