He extended his hand toward Rudolf’s skull while activating his skill.

"Consciousness Modification."

Then a screen appeared in front of Mark.

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[Impossible to perform the requested action]

[The selected target is a familiar linked to the soul of another user]

[Consciousness modification cannot overwrite existing soul bonds]

"...What?"

Mark stared at the screen in front of him in complete shock. For several seconds he didn’t speak or move. He simply remained there, hand still extended toward Rudolf’s skull and eyes fixed on the screen, while his mind went blank.

"My lord?" said Alice with concern, noticing how Mark had become completely motionless. "What’s wrong?"

Mark lowered his hand slowly and closed the screen in front of him.

"Apparently my skill doesn’t work on this dude..." confessed Mark in a low voice.

"Huh?" said Rose, raising an eyebrow and turning to look at Mark. "Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you sure, Master?" asked Ely, looking the skeleton up and down. "I seriously doubt that guy doesn’t count as an undead... so why didn’t it work?"

"Because..."

Mark stopped midway through his sentence as he tried to organize his thoughts, and when he was about to speak again, a female voice echoed throughout the hall. It came from the same hole in the ceiling that Rudolf had descended through.

"I truly can’t believe you were careless enough to end up like this, Rudolf."

The voice was soft and clear, with a tone that mixed disappointment and something akin to affection. And besides, it was accompanied by the sound of enormous wings beating through the air.

"I considered intervening earlier but..." continued the voice in a tone of gentle reproof. "I concluded it was better for you to learn what happens when you disobey our mistress’s orders."

Mark and the others quickly looked up at the ceiling, only to be blinded instantly by a white glow that flooded the entire council hall at once. The light was so intense it seemed to burn even through closed eyelids.

"Agh!" grunted Mark, bringing an arm to his face to block the light.

"My eyes!" screamed Aria, covering her face with both hands.

"What the hell—?!" said Ely, squinting hard and turning away from the ceiling.

"What is this...?" murmured Alice, covering her face with her gauntlets.

Rose turned her back to the light and Yuki closed her eyes while covering her face with the hood of her outfit.

But that intense glow had not only affected them. Emilia and her subordinates were also blinded by the light, covering their eyes while cursing under their breath.

And while everyone was blinded, the mysterious voice spoke again.

"I hope you’ve learned your lesson, Rudolf," she said in a light tone.

"...Of course," murmured the skeleton in an embarrassed voice. "And I’m sorry for causing so much trouble that you had to come here to help me."

"Save your excuses for when we’re in front of our mistress."

"Understood..."

Mark tried to open his eyes through the light but it was impossible. All he could make out were two blurry silhouettes moving upward through the hole in the ceiling, moving away rapidly.

The sound of wings grew increasingly distant until it finally disappeared completely.

Then the light went out as quickly as it had appeared.

Mark opened his eyes, blinking several times as his vision adjusted back to the hall’s lighting. White spots and small bright dots were still floating in front of him, so it took several seconds before he could see clearly.

And when he finally regained his vision, he was met with the unpleasant surprise that the skeleton had disappeared.

Rose’s chains of darkness, which had previously kept Rudolf immobilized, now lay scattered on the ground. And Ely’s sword remained embedded in the wall, although this time it only pierced stone.

"Shit..." muttered Mark, letting out a heavy sigh. "He escaped."

"What just happened?" asked Ely, blinking rapidly as she walked toward the wall to retrieve her sword. "I couldn’t see anything."

Ely grabbed her sword and pulled it from the wall with a jerk, looking at the blade with a frown upon noticing it didn’t have a drop of blood or any residue from the skeleton.

"Neither could I," responded Alice, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. "Did anyone see anything?"

"No," said Yuki.

"I only saw white!" added Aria, still rubbing her eyes.

"Damn it..." cursed Rose, gritting her teeth with frustration. "I hate those cursed distraction spells."

"Do you know what happened?" asked Alice.

"But of course I do. That spell was ’White Eclipse’," responded the vampire, crossing her arms. "And it’s a damned annoying party trick."

While they talked, Mark remained completely absorbed in his thoughts, going over and over the words that appeared on the screen in front of him.

[The selected target is a familiar linked to the soul of another user]

’Another user...’ he thought as his subordinates’ voices mixed around him. ’I just hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means...’

"Master?"

Mark snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Ely’s voice. She stood in front of him with her sword already sheathed and an expression of concern.

"Could you see anything?" she asked. "You were closer to the ceiling than us."

"Not much..." he responded, shaking his head. "But whatever the case may be, what’s important is that none of us were hurt."

"You’re right, Master."

Then Mark turned toward where Emilia and her subordinates were.

"Are you all okay?"

The four elves stood near the destroyed entrance, their eyes red and irritated from the light and expressions mixing confusion with relief at being alive.

The armored elf blinked several times before responding.

"Besides my eyes burning," he said, rubbing his eyelids with his fingers, "we’re fine."

"Same here," said the druid with his eyes closed and tears streaming.

"I’m also doing well..." responded Emilia, rubbing her eyes.

The bow elf simply nodded with one hand while wiping tears from her right eye.

Mark nodded upon seeing that everyone was fine before speaking aloud.

"Despite what just happened, we must continue with the plan," he said in a firm tone. "The council members are dead, the guards have been neutralized, and the palace is under our control."

Mark looked at Emilia.

"The only thing left is for the people of the kingdom to know what has happened," he said, not taking his eyes off the queen. "And for that I need you to go give a statement to your people, Emilia."

"I will, but... I’m not sure how people will take all this," confessed the queen with concern.

"Don’t worry about that," said Mark with confidence. "We’ll tell you what to say."

"Okay..."