Ivan passed through the city gates, moving slowly while his army of adventurers followed.
The mages and wizards were at the front of the group, ready to make magic barriers to protect the group from any traps.
But nothing was happening as Ivan expected, making him confused. He could see a large army of mercenaries half a mile away.
The mercenaries were waiting for them, forming a semi-circle as if they were prepared for battle in the open field without tricks.
"Be prepared for anything, because the mercenaries never fight fair," Ivan warned his group once again and went towards the mercenaries.Ivan's group continued walking towards the mercenaries at a pace not too fast, allowing the other adventurers to pass through the gate and position themselves on the sides of the main group, creating a semi-circle formation just like the mercenaries were.
When they were about five hundred meters from the group of mercenaries, some people started walking towards Ivan's group, and he motioned for the adventurers to stop while he kept walking with Olivia and his most trusted comrades.
The sun was rising and illuminating the entire field. Soon Ivan realized that Black Hand was in the group that was coming towards them, but someone else was leading them.
Leo, who was next to Ivan, couldn't help but exclaim her name while he had a strange glow in his eyes. "Red Lady..."
Ivan knew of Leo's obsession with Red Lady. "Keep calm. When this is done, she will be all yours."
Olivia could only roll her eyes, thinking what the end of all the men who covets Lucien's women would be.
The groups stopped walking when they reached ten meters from each other."So we are together again... It brings back memories." Ivan spoke as he kept a contemptuous look at the mercenaries.
Black Hand was confident in Red Lady's plan. Still, he couldn't help but be tense without knowing what she was doing now.
Scarlett looked seriously at Ivan. "Yes, it is precisely for what we have done that we are here now."
Ivan was confused. "What do you mean?"
Scarlett looked quickly at Olivia before focusing on Ivan again. "Everything we do in life has consequences, good or bad. What we did has consequences that you can't even imagine."
Ivan thought Scarlett was planning something and trying to confuse him.
Olivia noticed Ivan's confusion and started to explain. "She's talking about what we did to Cassidy. Now it's time to suffer the consequences. Well… Me and Scarlett are already paying for it."
Ivan was much more confused, just as was Black Hand and everyone else who was listening to them.
Behind the army of adventurers, people were beginning to emerge from the buildings near the west gate, just as people from all parts of the city who came with Lord Larousse's soldiers, all to see the great battle between the Guild and the mercenaries.
"Cassidy? She was a weak Queen! Taking the leadership of the city would only have positive consequences if we didn't need the help of the mercenaries." Ivan spoke while wondering if Olivia was hiding something from him.
Scarlett couldn't help feeling a chill when she heard Ivan calling Cassidy weak. "You say she was weak, yet we had to come together and use dirty tricks to bring her down."
Ivan frowned. "Why are you talking about it now? If I remember correctly, it was you who planned the coercions of her allies, corrupted her most loyal soldier, and even chose the poison he would use to hurt her."
His words were like thorns in Scarlett's heart. He was right, she coerced Cassidy's ex-husband to flee with part of her soldiers, and she used the obsession that Cassidy's guard leader had for her to deceive him with the promise that he could have her in the end. She even prepared the deadliest poison of the Manticore-clan so that Cassidy could not fight.
Not only did she regret it a lot, but she was also redeeming herself with Cassidy, day after day, and suffering the consequences of her actions, seeing how Lucien treats Cassidy as his Queen while she still has to conquer her place in his heart.
Scarlett looked around at everyone who was listening to her, mercenaries, adventurers, and even other people standing at a distance as they were talking very loudly.
Then she looked at Ivan. "You're right. I did all that shit. Not just me but us. And why did we do it? Not because Cassidy was weak, but because we are so ambitious."
"We did not bring her down for everyone's sake, but for our desire for power. And then what? We are not doing good for the people, but seeking benefits for ourselves and our groups."
While the mercenaries and adventurers were confused by Scarlett's speech, the common people who heard her could only agree. As the Guild and mercenary groups grew, the simple people of smaller kingdoms and villages along Portgreen's territory suffered from problems they did not have when Cassidy governed.
Ivan was increasingly confused about Scarlett's goal there. "So what? Are you sorry and want to act like a good girl now? Let me give you some bad newst. he past can't be changed."
Scarlett smiled. "I'm actually more ambitious than ever. But my ambition takes me down a different path now. I gained a second chance, and I'm very grateful that I did. Now I'm publicly apologizing... to show everyone how wrong I was"
Before Ivan could say anything, Scarlett spoke very loudly towards the forest. "Are you listening to this, Cassidy? I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. I hope we can get along from now on."
Inside the forest, Cassidy was watching everything as Lucien hugged her from behind. "She didn't have to do this..."
Lucien kissed her neck affectionately. "She's trying to apologize to you as the best she can. You should give her some credit."
"Mm. I know that. And I'm also trying my best to forgive them." Cassidy replied as she made soft moans because of Lucien's kisses.
While everyone was surprised by Scarlett's strange apology to a supposed dead person, Ivan was confused and angry.
"What the fuck are you doing, Red Lady? Is this some kind of bizarre game?"
Surprisingly, it was not Scarlett who responded, but Olivia, also in a very loud tone so that as many people as possible could hear her.
"She's right. Everything we did was because of our ambitions... I'm sorry, Cassidy. I can't erase the past, but from now on, I will do my best to deserve your forgiveness."
Ivan laughed forcefully. "There is no such thing as right or wrong. We live in a world governed by power. The strongest people win and lead while the weak lose and follow the leadership of the strong ones."
Scarlett shook her head. "Unfortunately for you, this is true."
Then Olivia spoke. "Cassidy was stronger than us at that time. We only succeeded because we used dirty tricks. But now she is certainly a lot more powerful than before."
"And now we're on her side." Scarlett continued.
Everyone didn't know if they were more confused because of Red Lady and Olivia were apologizing to the dead Queen, or that they agreed with each other as good friends.
Black Hand couldn't help but think out loud. "But isn't she dead?"
Olivia pointed to the forest while answering Black Hand. "Ask her yourself."
Everyone immediately looked to the forest and saw a big white tiger coming out of the woods. There was a woman on top of the tiger and someone else with her.
The tiger walked towards the area between the mercenaries and adventurers, where their leaders were talking.
Then, behind the great tiger, some people in black armor began to appear, following them. It didn't seem like a huge group as it had approximately six hundred people.
"She doesn't look dead," Scarlett commented.
Black Hand and Ivan were shocked. They didn't want to believe it, but the closer the big tiger was to them, the more clearly they could recognize the woman as Cassidy.
Ivan wasn't really concerned about Cassidy as she only seemed to have a small group of soldiers while he was more powerful than ever and also has a large army with him.
But he couldn't help but be deeply disappointed with Olivia. There was no doubt that she betrayed him.
"Olivia... Why? We were a team... Why did you do this?"
Olivia sighed. "You shouldn't have come back, Ivan. We all made a big mistake by attacking Cassidy, and now we're going to pay for it... but in different ways."
Ivan looked at her with a sad expression. "Do you really think she can do something to me? What happened to you? Have you gone crazy?"
She looked at Lucien behind Cassidy. "I'm sorry that things ended up like this. I got a second chance, but you... Your head is going to roll, Ivan, and nobody can prevent it."
Ivan couldn't understand what was going on. He has all the possible advantages to deal with mercenaries who are in greater numbers than the adventurers. Still, Olivia was saying that Cassidy, despite being with a small group of soldiers and being the enemy of both him and Black Hand, was a threat to his life.
He concluded that there was something wrong with Olivia. "You are sick… or someone has deceived you. I am going to deal with Cassidy and the mercenaries, then I'll help you."
Ivan moved his hand toward Olivia's shoulder. "You made a mistake, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to teach you not to betray me anymore."
Olivia dodged Ivan's touch as she jumped back in one quick move. "Don't touch me! I belong to only one man, and he's right there."
"WHERE?! WHO?!" Ivan was very calm until he heard that Olivia belongs to another man. Then he became furious, and the fact that Cassidy was still alive no longer seemed important compared to finding the man, so that he could kill immediately.
While Ivan questioned Olivia, Black Hand looked closely at the big white tiger, or rather, tigress.
He had been looking for several weeks for a man with a white tigress as an animal companion, so he couldn't help wondering if this could be an incredible coincidence, or…
Then he looked at Scarlett. "Is it him? The rumors said Olivia went after him, so you went after her... No way..."
Scarlett laughed. "Oh, you're not that stupid."
Black Hand didn't know what was going on, but he understood that Scarlett has a plan with Olivia, Cassidy, and the man he hates so much.
He also understood that most mercenaries are loyal to her and not to him, so the situation is bad for him no matter what.
Black Hand didn't think twice about taking a dagger from his storage ring and try a surprise attack on Scarlett.
But again, her incredible speed surprised him. Scarlett dodged his attack and kicked him in the belly, throwing him several meters back.
She looked at him with a disgusted look. "The only reason I'm not going to kill you with my own hands is because you have a debt to pay to my husband for trying to do something to his wife."
Leo, who was paying close attention to all of Scarlett's movements, couldn't help being furious, just like Ivan, from hearing her say she has a husband.
"WHO IS HE?!" Leo jumped towards Scarlett at a speed almost as fast as hers, since he is SS-rank.
But a hand-shaped stone pillar came out of the ground and trapped him in the air. Also, his body started to freeze.
Rose couldn't help commenting. "If we leave every man who covets any of our hubby's wives, to be personally deal with by him, then he would have to fight almost everyone."
Angela laughed. "This is his fault for seducing every woman he meets."
Then everyone heard a charming and deep voice echoing through the area. "Don't let me be the center of attention. The real star of this show is my Queen, Cassidy."
