CHAPTER 279: CHAPTER 269: RALLYING

"Immediate negotiations?" Barbara pushed the door open, stepping into the snow, tilting her ear slightly, carefully listening to the drumbeats.

The snow and wind of the Royal Court wavered and became restless in the continuous drumbeats. This drumbeat not only shattered the peace of the Royal Court, it also broke the surface-level calm in the entire Flame Realm after the war of the two fires. Negotiations are a major affair; to initiate them ahead of schedule based on royal decree alone is already an act of great dominance!

Barbara, clad in a red, tight-fitting outfit with long legs and a shapely derrière, stood tall and upright among the snow and drumbeats, her exquisitely beautiful face utterly still, her whole being like a warm flame unmoved by the wind and snow.

After listening for a moment, Barbara instead laughed and turned to look at Andrew, her beautiful light red eyes sparkling: "It seems your plan really worked! It truly provoked the other side, they’ve become anxious!"

In Barbara’s view, unless stirred by the sudden return of Yorkshire, there was absolutely no reason for such a sudden request to commence negotiations ahead of schedule!

Negotiations starting early is undoubtedly unexpected on our side, but it doesn’t necessarily benefit the other side either!

There is only one explanation: Andrew’s plan, which at first seemed insane, even unreasonable, worked. The sudden return of Yorkshire must have startled the Magic Guild’s Dragon Taming Madame and the king!

"Hmm." Andrew nodded, feeling somewhat exhilarated, but soon shook his head, saying gravely, "Even if my plan played a role, but...these drumbeats are the king’s doing, right? It’s unexpected that the king would emerge so quickly...we must not be careless."

"Indeed, we cannot be careless!" Principal Charlie, Susan, Havier, and even the injured Sabye arrived at this time.

Seeing Sabye, whose injuries were still not fully healed, insisting on participating in the negotiations, Andrew was slightly surprised, altering his view of this once-challenging, burly guy markedly.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the truly shocked ones were actually Sabye and others!

After quickly gathering, everyone looked at Andrew with undisguisable wonder in their eyes: "So, Andrew, your plan wasn’t seen through, and it really worked?" Inside, they couldn’t hide their astonishment, yet soon they were involuntarily tense: "The king...has emerged!"

Principal Charlie’s face was immensely grave. The higher tier one achieves, the more one understands the terror a War God Level figure presents.

He looked at Susan: "Where is the Second Miss?"

"The Second Miss has just taken that special Snickers Andrew prepared, but I’m afraid it won’t take effect so quickly," Susan swiftly replied.

Susan was the only one still doubtful of Andrew’s plan, glancing at Andrew, "Did your plan foresee the king emerging so quickly and that the Second Miss’s recovery speed wasn’t as fast?"

Beside Havier, anxious, exclaimed: "The king has emerged, yet my second aunt is still injured. How are we supposed to engage in negotiations ahead of schedule like this?!"

Andrew remained silent, looking at Principal Charlie.

Principal Charlie thought for a moment, then said: "I’ll contact the Guild Leader to see if Peter can put some pressure on the Magic Guild over the Crimson Battle Lance, to delay it a little more. At least, let the negotiation competition proceed according to the original schedule..."

Andrew nodded silently in his heart; this indeed seemed the best approach.

However, just then, a voice came through: "There’s no need for that."

Everyone saw Catherine walking through the snow veil, approaching.

At that moment, everyone, including Andrew, stared at Catherine with immense surprise.

For on Catherine’s face and body, there were no longer any signs of injury or weak aura; instead, she was more radiant than ever!

Barbara exclaimed in shock: "Sister, you—"

Catherine smiled faintly, first looking at the stupefied Susan, earnestly saying: "Thank you for your guidance. In mastering ’Crimson Footprints’, you truly are the foremost, it helped me greatly."

The injury Catherine had suffered was inflicted by the "Crimson Knight", which is to say, she injured herself due to her excessive speed and insufficient control power.

Susan had meticulously explained some details about ’Crimson Footprints’ to Catherine, teaching her how to use Crimson Footprints for deceleration, for a Crimson Knight, learning to decelerate was equivalent to mastering self-protection.

At this moment, Catherine sincerely thanked Susan, but Susan’s face still bore the astonishment, because she knew: "What I taught the Second Miss was merely to prevent her from injuring herself by going too fast in the future, but it had no healing effect on her existing injuries.

The Second Miss is currently in excellent condition, which should be because—" Susan had already arrived at an internal answer.

As expected, Catherine then turned to look at Andrew, giving him a deep glance, saying: "The Snickers is remarkable."

Yes, the Snickers.

The reason Catherine could now exhibit such a luminous, injury-free image, was precisely the special Snickers Andrew had specially prepared for Catherine before going to release Yorkshire.

When crafting that Snickers, Andrew had even taken into account the ’Formless Blade Fire’ within Catherine’s body.

The "Counterattack Technique" didn’t just teach Andrew how to combat, it also made his healing techniques more targeted.

That special Snickers can indeed be considered a counterattack against Catherine’s injuries.

"So, Sister, your injuries have—" Barbara stared at Catherine, excitedly asking. Principal Charlie also focused intently.

They saw Catherine smile and nod, still appearing somewhat incredulous herself: "Yes, healed."

"Great!!" Barbara cheered and hugged Catherine tightly.

Susan glanced at Andrew, moved her lips but ultimately said nothing, only uttering a silent "sorry" in her heart. In Susan’s original concept, if Andrew could improve Catherine’s condition, it would have been commendable enough, hence her earlier words questioning Andrew’s plan, given the king had emerged yet the Second Miss was unprepared. Never did Susan expect Andrew to completely heal Catherine’s injuries!

"Great...great!" Havier, slightly delayed, also cheered like Barbara.

Then he even opened his arms, moving to hug Andrew!

Andrew swiftly dodged.

Seeing Catherine’s injuries healed, Andrew was secretly relieved inside; like others priorly, he had indeed been anxious.

Without claiming credit, he simply said: "You’re welcome." Andrew then looked at Catherine, asking, "So, are we—"?

"Naturally, we accept the challenge and attend the negotiation trial," Catherine responded with a gentle smile, a calm voice filled with immense confidence, seemingly more so than shortly outside the Royal Court.

Watching Catherine like this, a thought suddenly flashed through Andrew’s mind: "Could it be not just recovered from injuries, but also from the ordeal, she truly advanced to the War God level like the king? If so, that...that would indeed be fantastic!"

Before he could inquire further, he only heard the drumbeat suddenly cease.