Reborn as a Transcendent-Chapter 673: Dating Battle! (Not)

Yaeger sat down slowly on the bench, her expression serious as she gazed ahead. Even now, she had yet to find a viable solution to end the plague. ‘Even if I stamp out the flames here, the apostles will just light more elsewhere. Some will be obvious, others concealed. There’s no way to put them all out.’

If she could, she would wipe out every last apostle in one fell swoop. The thought of the plague spreading throughout the Empire made her head throb.

“Is something bothering you, Princess?” Angelica sat beside her, speaking gently.

“I’m dealing with a few problems,” Yaeger replied, casting her a glance before briefly outlining the situation. As the saying went, two heads were better than one. Even if Angelica wasn’t the sharpest, a second opinion might still help.

“This really is a problem… You can’t possibly travel across the entire Empire, right?” Angelica said, brows furrowed.

“That’s not realistic. I don’t have the time or energy for that,” Yaeger replied, shaking her head.

“That’s true…” Angelica bit her lip in thought. “The real problem is that the holy water you make doesn’t last long. It’s already difficult to transport it to distant places. But if we can fix that…” She looked at Yaeger. “Then we won’t have a problem.”

“Exactly. That’s the main hurdle. Even at my best, I can only keep the life energy active in the solution for three hours. After that, it fades completely.” Once that energy faded, its purifying ability vanished too. The holy water became nothing more than drinkable water, completely ineffective.

“Why not consult a pharmacist?” Angelica suggested. “They might know a way to extend the effect.”

It hit Yaeger like a bolt of lightning. Her mind went blank for a second before the realization fully registered. Grabbing Angelica’s shoulders, she shouted with sudden excitement, “You snapped me out of it. That’s exactly what I needed to hear! Let’s try that!”

She had been depending too much on her own strength lately, which had narrowed her thinking and locked her into a rigid mindset. “Thank you, Angelica. That was a huge help.”

“I’m just glad I could help, Princess…” Angelica replied, cheeks tinged with pink.

“At least now I have a direction to go in. No more running around like a headless fly,” Yaeger said, pulling her hand back and smiling.

“That’s great to hear.” Angelica smiled, then glanced at the time and froze. “Oh no! I haven’t made dinner yet.”

“Is it that late already? Do you need help?” Yaeger asked.

“No need, Princess. Just sit tight! I’ll handle everything!” Angelica stood and lightly tapped her elbows. “Time to give it my all!”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting.” Yaeger’s soft smile nearly made Angelica faint on the spot.

Once Angelica left the room, Yaeger rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly at the wall. A familiar face quietly surfaced in her thoughts. “Layna’s hometown isn’t far from here… I should pay her a visit tomorrow morning.” She trusted Layna far more than any stranger.

“This outbreak makes it the perfect place to lie low. I’ll just stay here until my sentence ends.” As an Empire-wide fugitive, she was required to stay online for sixteen hours each day for the next seven days. Rather than wandering around and risking exposure, she figured it was wiser to rest here with tea and meat buns.

She was already worn out from today’s events. If she encountered enemies and got forced offline mid-fight, that would be a real disaster.

‘Losing one piece of gear per hour… that’s pure torture.’ There was no way she’d take that kind of risk. Having made her decision for tomorrow, Yaeger felt a wave of relief. Layna might not have the solution, but at least she now had a path forward. So long as she kept moving toward that goal, the way ahead would eventually open up.

After a satisfying dinner, Yaeger settled down in Angelica’s bedroom to rest. At the same time, Angelica was tending to her father, who had finally regained consciousness.

His condition was far more serious. Although Yaeger had used higher-grade treatment out of consideration for Angelica, it would still take him another two days to recover fully. She could have completely healed him with a bit more effort, allowing him to enjoy dinner with everyone else, but she never entertained the idea.

Lying on the bed and staring up at the worn-out ceiling, Yaeger thought to herself, ‘I’m not a saint. Why should I carry this burden on my shoulders?’ She had never seen herself as particularly kind, nor did she consider herself evil.

Back in the real world, inside the Ability Management Department’s apartment, only the lower floor was lit. The upper level remained under complete renovation following the recent assassination attempt.

Just as Xina was preparing to take a bath, her phone rang. She returned to her bed, picked it up from the pillow, and checked the screen. The number was from someone within the Ability Management Department.

She swiped to answer. The voice on the other end was strained with panic.

“Xina, something bad has happened!”

“What is it now?” she asked, her tone even but firm. Xina wasn’t at the top of the hierarchy, but she managed most of the daily affairs in the department. Everyone knew that figures like Mylene and Ronald rarely bothered with administrative work. They were more for show than function.

“Xina, when you hear this—”

“Just say it already,” she cut him off, clearly annoyed. Very few things could rattle her these days, unless they had something to do with Princess.

“Right. The department just received a fax from overseas. It came from the leader of the Small Sword Group.”

Xina’s heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling about this and knew where it was headed.

“The leader issued a formal challenge to the Grandmaster. He wants to fight Princess.”

Xina let out a long breath and muttered in her mind, ‘Just as I thought. Princess barely goes a day without stirring up some chaos.’

“What else does it say?” she asked, masking her concern with a calm voice.

“The duel is scheduled for two days from now, seven in the evening, on Baiding Island in the South China Sea.”

“Is that all?” she asked with a frown.

“Not quite. There’s more.”

“Then out with it.”

“If Princess doesn’t appear on time, the Small Sword Group will send assassins to eliminate anyone connected to her.”

Xina’s face twitched slightly as she let out a slow exhale. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. ‘The leader of the Small Sword Group? You’ve just signed your own death warrant.’ They had crossed a line that should never be touched.

“Keep this matter under wraps for now,” she ordered.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” the voice replied.

“Why not?” Her frown deepened as unease settled in.

“Because the entire message was already uploaded to the Assassin’s Alliance and posted on the dark web.”

Xina narrowed her eyes. The call ended abruptly, and she immediately began dialing Mylene’s number.