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"It has to be either her father being held captive or the one threatening her, but he does not seem to be someone who does the latter," said Arthur with a worried expression. "Julia is in danger."

Arthur could not do a thing before he reached Runera with his army. Another option was to leave his army behind and fly toward Runera, but it might be a trap designed to lure him away from his army.

If the two of them get separated, it weakens their structure. His army might be attacked, or Arthur might be trapped in a space-locked array like in Runera. The world was cruel, and even if he was the master of runes, there might be arrays he could not overcome.

Arthur gritted his teeth as his dilemma grew bigger. If something happened to Julia because of his hesitation, he would not forget himself. He wished she would have left a note or a clue about what happened so he could at least know what to do.

"Julia told me to think about the people following me, even though she said it in the context of stopping this war. Can it be a message to avoid going after her alone?" muttered Arthur, but he could not find an answer. His brain might be filling in the replies it wanted.

Ultimately, he relayed a command to his army to increase their pace. Runera was three days away, but Arthur wanted to get there soon. He hoped that Julia would not get hurt until he got there.

***

As she traveled hundreds of kilometers, Julia could imagine how fast Arthur would notice her absence. It broke her heart to think he might suspect her of being a traitor, although she might be one, given that she kept him in the dark about this.

A few days ago, Julia received a message from her father, Julius Vinera. In that message, he asked her to help him against Arthur and sabotage the runic dome from the inside since Julia had access to it.

It was then that Julia knew her father was held captive and that this message was nothing but a lie designed by Runera to make her switch sides. This came from the knowledge that her father would never resort to something as underhanded as this, even if she were going to war against her hometown.

However, this discovery was not helpful since Julia now realized that her father might be in danger. Thus, she contacted her mentor and the man she could trust, Yuvan Perli.

His response came after a few days, but not as usual. She received two answers, one in the form of a letter telling her that the first was true, and the second was via the underground organization that delivered messages, Pigeon.

Yuvan explained what was happening in Runera in his second letter, which the rest of the world did not know about. He said that everything was being monitored inside the Runic City. After the threat that Runera received from Arthur Silvera, the families split into different factions: those who wanted to negotiate peace with him and those who tried to fight him.

Since this decision would determine the future of Runera, the two factions turned bitter, and each fought for his survival. Her father, Julius, led the peace-seeking faction. However, his reasons, which he shared with the rest of the families, changed how others viewed him.

After he visited Ilios, her father believed that Arthur might be the long-lost true ruler of Runera. His theory was based on how Ai addressed him during their visit, which was a name that none other than Runera knew about.

Seika.

Another reason behind his theory was that during the Runes Apprentices Cup, a member of Mistletoe used mana that reminded them of the ancient prophecies, which Jumana testified for. These two factors combined gave them enough reason to suspect him of being the ruler.

The rest of the families did not like what he said since Arthur was still a suspect in what happened in Runera a few weeks ago. And if he was indeed a member of Mistletoe, then he was an accomplice in the murder of their late family head, Casca Reverse.

Julius still pushed for peace, despite losing his supporters individually. Then, one day, the families decided to declare war, and Julius was imprisoned because of his strong opposition, which led the families to suspect him.

Even though Yuvan did not write it for her, their main reason for suspicion was Julia herself. The fact that she joined Ascent and wanted to invade Runera made her father liable for treason similar to the one she had committed.

Her short trip across the hundreds of kilometers ended, and Julia landed inside the familiar teleportation arrays of Runera. The one who welcomed her was none other than the man she offended, Marcel Solis.

"Welcome, welcome," said Marcel with a slow clap. Then, he turned toward one of the Runic Guards and commanded, "Lock the arrays at once, and let us welcome our returning hero!"

As the guards hurried to lock the array, Marcel looked at Julia with a grin that made her shiver. He seemed to remember the humiliation she put him through when he was inside the Runic Dome.

"Has the cat got your tongue, Julia?" asked Marcel as he strolled forward with a limp, which Julia might have given him. His wretched hand reached out to caress her brunette hair. "Is this a new color? You were truly living the best life as a traitor."

"Do not touch me, or I will cut off your hand," said Julia with eyes that told him how serious she was, making him flinch and retract his hand with a snicker. "Where is my father?"

"You still think that this is Ascent, huh?" asked Marcel before his hand turned into a whip that slammed to her face, sending Julia flying. She was slammed to the walls of the arrays room before falling to the ground.

None of the guards moved to stop Marcel, who limped forward while shaking his hand. Julia tried to rise from the ground, but her head was spinning. The side of her face quickly took a deep purple color from that single slap.

Marcel crouched on the ground and pulled her hair, making her hairpin fall. Julia grimaced as he pulled her head back and looked at her bleeding face.

"Ah, that is a nice color," said Marcel, licking his lips. "I dreamt about this moment ever since you slammed me to those walls, Julia. I am about to do so much more to you," said the panting man as he licked her wound with his tongue.

Julia was disgusted and looked at him with fear. This was not the Marcel she knew, even if he was always a self-centered degenerate. This man seemed unstable and full of hatred.

"Save that look for what is about to come next," said Marcel before he threw her to the ground. Julia slammed face first to the runic array. "Take her!" commanded Marcel, and she heard the Runic Guards approach her.

Then, Julia was cuffed and taken out of the runic array. Many runemasters and residents of Runera stared at her with disgust, as if she was the vilest human on earth. As she walked through the streets of Runera toward the Mother of Mana, the citizens hurled all kinds of insults at her.

"Traitor!"

"Whore!"

"Drop dead!"

Julia did not see the first one to do it, but someone threw garbage at her. Then, all sorts of items were thrown at her, even rocks that made her bleed. Marcel seemed to enjoy himself as he limped with a big grin, enjoying the sight of her humiliation and torture.

By the time she reached the inner city where only runemasters were allowed, Julia bled from every inch of her body. Her clothes were tattered, her skin was covered with blood, and most of it had bruised. She was covered with filth and rotten vegetables, so much so that she wanted to vomit.

"That was just a bonus, Julia," said Marcel from behind her, sniffing in her smell. She was shivering, and her legs were growing weak, and that seemed like the most joyous occasion to him. "You will be treated the same as your father, both as treacherous bastards!"

Julia closed her eyes, and she could hear nothing but his laughter. Everywhere around her body hurt, and she was cold and exposed. Then, her ears picked up a whistle approaching them before Marcel screamed. The sounds of battle echoed around her, and the ground shook.

As she opened her eyes again, Julia felt something wrap around her. Yuvan Perli was standing by her side, with his robes covering her body. He looked at her with saddened eyes, almost apologetic. Julia looked around and found the guards on the ground together with Marcel.

"I\'m so sorry you had to go through that, Julia. However, we need to leave now. More Runic Guards will arrive soon, and even though I know you want to see your father, we cannot save him yet."