Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate
Chapter 96: Power Plays

Chapter 96: Power Plays

King Valentin rushed outside, where he was greeted with a chaotic melee of clashing knights.

Some wore the Royal Guards’ uniform, while others bore the crests of noble houses, signifying the masters they served.

"Hand Fangless over to us, and you shall be left alive," demanded a knight adorned with a noble house’s crest.

A Royal Guard with a significantly big build roared, swinging his sword with ferocity. "She is His Majesty’s captive now, and this is the royal palace! How dare you overstep your authority without the King’s permission?"

The noble house’s knight pushed back with all his strength. "Do you not value your life?"

The clash of swords rang through the air. The Royal Guard smirked. "That’s rich coming from you. A mere private soldier challenging a Royal Guard? You must have a death wish."

Elder Alfred followed closely behind. His eyes lit up at the sight of the crests. They belonged to noble houses allied with the elders he had gathered the other day.

He hadn’t planned to have the knights barge in and seize Fangless so soon, assuming King Valentin would yield to his demands. Clearly, the other elders were impatient to cleanse the world of her.

"Your Majesty!" The Royal Guards and loyal knights attempted to bow to their ultimate leader, though not all managed in the heat of battle.

King Valentin’s presence should have distracted the Royal Guards. However, it was the private soldiers who were caught off guard at the sight of Elder Alfred. They hadn’t expected him to be there with the king.

The private knights hesitated. Uncertainty filled their movements, causing them to lose control of the battle. Seizing the opportunity, the Royal Guards pushed back and succeeded in driving their opponents back.

Furious at the setback of his allies, Elder Alfred decided to take matters into his own hands. He raised his hands, unleashing a powerful force that sent the Royal Guards flying several feet down the corridor.

With the opening Alfred created, the private knights surged forward, rushing into the palace grounds. But King Valentin leaped before them, blocking their path.

With a fierce glare, he threw the knights with a sweeping motion, as if a dragon exhaled a powerful breath on helpless kids.

However, the true threat to the king wasn’t the knights; it was Elder Alfred, who had the audacity to act against the Royal Guards in his presence.

The Royal Guards were an extension of the monarch, and challenging them was the same as challenging the crown itself.

Had Elder Alfred not intervened, the matter might have been resolved peacefully.

King Valentin would have likely punished the nobles responsible for the private knights by banning them from the capital for a certain period of time.

But the king could not let Elder Alfred’s blatant act of mutiny slide. He raised his hand, concentrating his power on the elder, who instinctively put on a protective shield around himself.

"Your Excellency," King Valentin said, his voice deceptively calm, but his eyes betrayed deep offense, "I have remained silent out of respect for your age. However, you have overstepped your bounds by intervening where you have no authority."

The elder met the king’s deadly glare with a calm, defiant demeanor. He had enough of being the king’s subordinate.

Elder Alfred was fully convinced that the king had failed to prioritize his people, disregarding the elder’s wise counsel.

The king’s hand crackled with restrained power as he continued through gritted teeth, "This is a matter of court security, and your interference is a blatant insult to the crown. Explain why you’ve allied yourself with the nobles in this betrayal!"

Still, Elder Alfred cared about the royal palace building. If he lashed out his full power against the king, this building would no doubt disappear into ashes in seconds. He tried to be diplomatic in his approach in order to protect the history of the Kingdom of Eira.

"Your Majesty, I was merely defending my allies. I see them as my own children. They were under attack by your Royal Guards, and I could not stand by while they faced such aggression."

Children...? These are noble houses with their own agendas.

King Valentin’s face flushed with anger, though he responded with a mocking laugh as if he couldn’t believe his ears. "You have no right to involve yourself in their disputes, especially when they oppose me."

The tension in the air thickened, and Elder Alfred wondered whether it was the right moment to command the knights stationed at the palace gate to intervene.

Before he could make a decision, King Valentin’s voice cut through the silence. "Did you send them to eliminate Riona because she’s the Blood Moon child? I haven’t given you permission for such an action."

Realizing that the king was already aware of his intentions, Elder Alfred found no benefit in maintaining a facade. He put down the protective shield and defended himself with an offensive stance.

Golden energy crackled around him, shooting out in a lightning-like arc toward King Valentin’s aura.

The two great powers collided, each striking with a force that shook the surroundings.

Despite their fierce exchange, they both carefully moderated their strength to prevent causing catastrophic damage to the palace and endangering those within.

"Have you ever intended to give permission, anyway?" Elder Alfred asked, though he already knew the answer.

King Valentin’s response was brief. "No."

With the pretense abandoned, both men faced each other with unfiltered hostility. The king decided to drop his own facade out of respect for his opponent.

"You don’t understand what you’re dealing with, kid," Elder Alfred growled, intensifying his power. "She’s a liability—a ticking time bomb."

The elder deliberately called him kid as opposed to the official title or his name to show authority. But King Valentin was not an easy opponent.

Even while he was facing an elder, he remained unyielding and composed. "Your Excellency, you’re clinging to outdated notions. This world has changed, and power should no longer be seen solely as a threat."

To King Valentin, Elder Alfred’s fear of the Blood Moon child seemed less about the fate of the world and more about the potential disruption to his own standing.

The king suspected that Elder Alfred’s real concern was the rise of such formidable power, which threatened to push him further down the hierarchy.

As King Valentin and Elder Alfred engaged in their fierce battle, a private knight stealthily slipped into Riona’s chamber. The king noticed the intrusion and reacted swiftly, hurling the knight against the nearest wall with a powerful throw.

This disruption created a ripple effect, as other knights seized the opportunity to infiltrate the room.

The knights were mere flies to King Valentin. However, defending both his front and flank against Elder Alfred’s relentless attacks made him struggle. In the chaos, he failed to prevent several knights from slipping into Riona’s chamber.

Happy with this development, Elder Alfred shouted with a mix of pride and urgency, "Kill her!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.