Reincarnated as the favorite of an obsessive goddess: gave me a system-Chapter 31: The fight.

The cold dawn air at the palace of Athelgard always had a metallic taste, reminiscent of ancient stone and well-kept secrets. For Kai, however, it smelled like the calm before the storm. He hadn’t slept much. He dressed in silence, glancing at the empty bed, until a couple of soft knocks at his door announced Allice’s arrival.

"Everything is ready," she said without preamble.

Kai nodded. They moved through the side corridors, avoiding the servants who were already preparing for the evening’s banquet. They reached a small inner courtyard, a winter garden sheltered by high glass walls. Lyla was already there, standing by a fountain.

"There isn’t much time," Allice said, looking around. "The three adventurers I mentioned last night agreed to help me."

"Do they know what they’re up against?" Kai asked.

"I omitted the details about you and Lyla being part of the operation, of course," Allice replied with a half smile. "But they know there is a Zenit plot to assassinate the King and destabilize Athelgard. Those three have their own reasons to hate Zenit. They said yes immediately, and I’ve already told them what they need to do."

"Good. Lyla and I will do a sweep of the palace," Kai continued. "We need to make sure they don’t change plans before the banquet. We don’t want any last minute surprises." Allice nodded and departed with a firm stride, disappearing down the hallway.

Kai turned to Lyla. She was looking at him with a mixture of pride and concern.

"Your old self would be proud of your planning skills, sweetheart," she said softly in her typical tone. "Though he usually preferred to just walk in and hit things until they broke."

Kai let out a dry laugh. "My old self had power that worried the gods. My current self only has a system with stats and a very charming goddess protecting me. I have to use what I’ve got. And I’m not complaining," he replied, taking her arm. "Let’s go keep watch."

Lyla smiled and pressed herself as close to Kai as possible. They walked together, their footsteps echoing on the marble. The palace was an imposing structure designed to impress, but Kai only saw escape routes, blind spots, and ambush zones. As they climbed to a balcony overlooking the great banquet hall, Lyla sighed.

"Are you still worried about the message?" she asked.

Kai clenched his fists, hiding them in his sleeves. "Thorne and Mira. Yes. I know the message we sent through Allice’s emergency channel will take days to reach the village. And even if it arrives in time..."

"They won’t be able to get here before everything erupts," Lyla finished for him. "The journey, as you said, takes several days, even for the fastest horse."

"I don’t expect them to reach us here," Kai said, looking through the tall windows toward the silhouette of the imposing forest on the horizon. "I know it’s impossible. But I hope the message at least puts them on high alert. I asked them to mobilize the village guards and watch not just our perimeter, but the nearby hunting grounds. If Zenit is making a move here, it’s very possible they have backup forces moving through the forest to attack Athelgard if they succeed, or to evacuate if something goes wrong. Thorne is a good strategist, and Mira... Mira could track a flea in a blizzard. If anyone is out there, they’ll see them."

"You did what you could, Kai," Lyla said, placing a hand over his. Her touch was warm and comforting. "Now we have to focus on the here and now."

"I know." Kai took a deep breath. "The future of Athelgard, of hundreds of villages, of our own, of thousands of lives, is decided tonight. If King Gabell falls, Athelgard will plunge into civil war, and Zenit will crush us under the pretext of restoring order."

The inspection continued for a few more hours. Kai identified several suspicious servants, movements too coordinated for simple kitchen staff, eyes scanning guard posts instead of the silverware. He mentally marked their positions.

Finally, they met with King Gabell in his private study. The monarch seemed to have aged ten years in the last few hours. His face was pale and his hands trembled slightly, but his eyes held a spark of determination.

"Your Majesty," Kai said, offering a deep bow. "Everything is ready. Zenit’s men are in position, and so are ours."

"Are you sure about this, Kai?" the king asked hoarsely. "One word from you and I’ll cancel the banquet. We can arrest them now."

"No, Your Majesty," Kai said firmly. "If we arrest them now, Zenit will deny everything and send a second group of assassins, ones we won’t know. We have to eliminate them all tonight. They need to see that Athelgard is not an easy target. Tonight, Zenit will bleed at their own game."

Gabell sighed, nodding heavily. "You’re right. It’s a risky plan, but it’s the only one that guarantees us a lasting peace."

Night fell, and the great banquet hall burst into life, light, and music. The nobles of Athelgard, dressed in their finest attire, laughed and conversed, oblivious to the fact that they were dancing on the edge of a precipice. Wine flowed, the courses of food were endless, and the orchestra played cheerful melodies.

Kai and Lyla were on the second floor balcony, a position of honor the king had assigned them, but one that strategically gave them a panoramic view of the entire room. Kai wore his silk clothes, but underneath, his body was tense. King Gabell sat on his throne on the main dais, conversing with a duke Kai knew was innocent. A few meters from the throne, the captain of the guard who was one of the traitors, stood with his hand on the hilt of his sword. His eyes were fixed on the king.

The tension in the air was so thick Kai felt he could cut it with his daggers. His senses were sharpened to the limit; he could hear Lyla’s heartbeat beside him. The scent of perfume and food mingled with the acrid smell of mana that the assassins were subtly beginning to gather.

Lyla moved. "It’s time," she whispered.

She stepped to the railing and, with a casual movement as if adjusting a piece of jewelry, she glanced at Allice, who was below near the king’s dais. Allice nodded almost imperceptibly and began moving into a position behind the traitorous captain.

"I’m going down to join Allice," Lyla whispered, her voice audible only to Kai. "As soon as you launch your first attack, she and I will deal with the captain and the nearby assassins. You handle those in the hall. Remember, precision. Try not to kill the innocents. If there’s chaos, the assassins will be able to hide."

"Understood," Kai said.

Lyla descended the side staircase, her robes fluttering. Kai watched her blend into the crowd below, approaching Allice. Allice gave her a quick look, and Lyla nodded, giving her the final update.

"The three adventurers are in position outside the palace," Allice whispered to Lyla. "They’ve ensured all exits are blocked and that no one can enter or leave. They’re watching the outer perimeter to protect civilians and ensure no one escapes."

"Good," Lyla replied, her eyes hardening. "Kai is ready. As soon as he attacks, this will become a war zone. I’ll take the captain, you handle the other four servants closest to us. Don’t let them get near the king."

Allice nodded, her right hand resting on the hilt of her two-handed sword. She was only three meters from the captain. One of the servants, one of the assassins, approached the king. The captain drew his sword, and the servant with the wine goblet pulled a hidden dagger from beneath his tray. Both lunged at King Gabell at the same time.

That was the moment.

Kai jumped. He didn’t use the stairs. He propelled himself from the balcony railing, flying through the air directly toward the servant about to stab the king. He didn’t understand how he could move like that, but his body seemed to remember old techniques.

He fell like a falling star. The servant didn’t even have time to react. Kai’s dagger pierced the man’s neck with lethal precision, instantly severing his spinal cord. The servant slumped to the floor, dead before the wine goblet could hit the marble. The nearby nobles stared and fell into a total panic.

The captain froze, his sword inches from King Gabell’s throat, his eyes wide with shock at what had just happened. Allice gave him no time to recover. She lunged, also with her weapons. He tried to block, but the force of Allice’s attack was devastating. Her blade broke the captain’s dagger and pierced his chest, pinning him against the throne and killing him.

"Traitor!" Allice roared.

Kai blurred through the room. Every one of his attacks was lethal and precise. Allice and Lyla handled those near the dais, ensuring King Gabell remained protected. Allice fought with great rage, the fury of someone who loves the people of her homeland.

Lyla didn’t fight with physical strength, but with control. She used her wind magic to deflect attacks and protect the innocent nobles. The battle was intense, a mortal dance that lasted only a few minutes but felt like hours.

Kai had to be incredibly precise. At one point, an assassin tried to use a duchess as a human shield. Kai hesitated for a split second, but with Lyla’s help propelling him upward, he threw one of his daggers. It struck the assassin directly in the head, killing him instantly.

Finally, the last of the twelve assassins fell in the center of the hall. Silence returned to the salon, a heavy, tense silence. The orchestra had stopped playing, and the nobles were frozen, staring at the carnage with wide eyes.

"We did it," Lyla whispered.

"Yes," Kai replied. "Athelgard is safe for now."

But while Kai and Allice began to manage the situation with King Gabell who was trembling on his throne, and Lyla calmed the nobles, none of them noticed a crucial detail. Far from the great hall, a man in a servant’s uniform was running. An urgent trip to the bathroom minutes before it all began had saved him, upon exiting, he had seen Kai killing his companions. He realized immediately that the mission was a total failure.

He used a service path he had known for months. He knew the main gates were guarded. But this path led to a sewer that emptied into the river beneath the palace.

"Damn them..." he growled. "How could they have known? Who were those three?"

He emerged from the sewer about a hundred meters from the palace walls. The cold night air hit him. He was on the riverbank. In the distance, he saw the silhouettes of three adventurers keeping watch.

"Containment perimeter... clever," the fugitive whispered.

He slipped into the freezing river water, using a small log to stay afloat and hide his head. He let the current carry him downstream, passing unnoticed by the three adventurers, who were focused on the roads, not the river.

Downstream, outside the city perimeter, he climbed out of the water, shivering. He ran toward the great forest, the forest that Thorne and Mira didn’t yet know they had to watch. He stopped at the forest’s edge, looking back at the lights of the Athelgard palace. His gaze was filled with pure, icy hatred.

"They haven’t won," he said, his voice a whisper lost in the wind. "When I get home... when I reach my people... Zenit will know exactly what they are up against."

He stepped inside, his silhouette disappearing into the darkness of the night.