“That’s not all. The princess said that Lord Rehir is the one who tried to kill her!”
Rehir’s eyes widened in shock.
“Moreover, an order has been issued to the Royal Knights to arrest both of you.”
“That’s nonsense! There’s no way!”
“It’s true! The demonic beasts just came and told me!”
Kun had the power to control demonic beasts, so whatever they told him had to be the truth.
“Damn it! Does that even make sense?”
Rehir, furious, stomped his foot. If, as Kun said, the princess woke up and identified him as the culprit, it was over. The entire imperial palace, no, the entire empire would turn against him.
“I must meet the emperor. Lead the way!”
The only silver lining was that there was still a way to prevent the worst outcome.
‘I must use the emperor as a shield!’
The emperor was still addicted to drugs, so for his own survival, he would have no choice but to side with Rehir.
‘After that, I can frame all of this on Leticia, that wench!’
He would claim that the evil dragon’s power clouded the princess’s vision, preventing her from recognizing her true enemy.
“Rehir! Did you really kill the princess? Is that true?”
As he was about to leave the room, Josephina grabbed him urgently. Her complexion was even paler than when she had been suffering from the curse’s backlash earlier.
“Rehir, tell your mother. There’s no way you did that!”
It seemed like an unfitting statement, but Rehir was quite precious to Josephina. This was because the ‘Shadow’ that consumed Rehir had manipulated her in such a way.
It had corrupted Josephina, making her abuse her daughter Leticia for her entire life. She never recognized the daughter she should have truly loved, instead pouring all her affection into a mere shell of a son.
Unaware of this, Josephina refused to believe that her beloved son could commit such an atrocity.
“Sweetheart, tell me. I’m right, aren’t I? You didn’t do it, right? It’s all Leticia, that wicked woman’s scheme, right? Yes… Ah!”
“Get away!”
Josephina couldn’t finish her sentence. Rehir, annoyed, pushed her away and gave orders to Kun.
“I will secure the emperor first. Kun, bring Josephina! She must not be killed yet. She still has her uses!”
“Understood.”
“Re, Rehir? What did you just say to me? You said you would kill me?”
Leaving the shocked Josephina behind, Rehir exited the room. Given the situation, there was no need to respect Josephina anymore. Her only use now was to take the blade aimed at him.
‘If things go wrong, I’ll just say it was Josephina who killed the princess, not me.’
Since it had come to this, he decided that when Josephina took the blame for the regicide and died, he would offer her soul to causality. As he pondered how to kill Josephina in the most gruesome manner to satisfy causality, someone blocked his path.
“Where are you rushing off to, Sir Rehir?”
Rehir stopped abruptly. The clanging of armor quickly surrounded him.
“Your Majesty.”
Barely managing to compose his expression, Rehir forced a smile.
“Why are you here?”
The emperor, who should have been lying helpless after collapsing at the banquet, stood before him perfectly fine. Forcing down the swelling anxiety, Rehir spoke.
“I heard you collapsed due to an accident at the banquet, but you seem to have recovered quickly. That’s a relief. How is your health?”
The emperor remained silent, simply staring at Rehir. Rehir’s discomfort grew.
‘Why are the emperor’s eyes like that?’
The emperor’s gaze was unfamiliar. It did not resemble the eyes of the emperor, who had been steeped in drugs lately.
‘It’s as if he woke up from the drugs…’
At the thought that naturally came to mind, Rehir flinched. He looked at the emperor as if he couldn’t believe it. Surprisingly, the once clouded eyes now sparkled with life. Rehir’s emerald eyes shook violently.
‘Could he really have overcome the addiction? So quickly? How?’
It made no sense. The drugs he had used were obtained through deals with causality, just like his other evil deeds. Such a powerful drug couldn’t be overcome by a mere human!
“Why have you come to see me at this late hour? Did you need more of the drug?”
“I don’t need it. I no longer intend to be swayed by such vile substances.”
Although he asked just in case, the emperor was indeed sober.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. You must be wondering how I suddenly regained my senses. I too am curious. I don’t know how your wicked scheme was broken either.”
The emperor chuckled and whispered.
“But one thing is certain. You, no, you wretch, tried to use me to commit heinous acts.”
Rehir’s face twisted in anger. The emperor didn’t know the reason for his recovery, but Rehir did. The powerful vitality that could be felt even from a few steps away was very familiar.
‘Damn it! It’s the power of healing!’
The very power he had tried so hard to obtain but had lost right before his eyes!
‘Leticia, Leticia, you damned woman! When did you approach the emperor?’
Rehir gritted his teeth.
‘We only met briefly at the banquet! Did she heal the emperor in that short time? Is that it?’
Rehir trembled with rage as it surged to his head.
“Rehir, whatever you were planning, give it up. It’s over for you. The Royal Knights will never let go of the enemy who tried to kill their sovereign.”
The emperor even knew that Rehir had already tried to kill the princess. There was only one path left.
“Kun! We’ll break through head-on! Summon the nearest demonic beasts immediately. We will escape the palace!”
“Understood!”
Kun, carrying Josephina on his back, formed a seal with his hands.
At the same time,
Clang, clang! The Royal Knights drew their swords. Dozens of swords simultaneously aimed at Rehir.
“Don’t try anything foolish! We, the Royal Knights, will never let go of the enemy who attempted to assassinate the princess!”
“Give up your foolish dreams. You cannot defeat me!”
Rehir twisted his lips into a contemptuous smile. Soon, rumble, boom! Dark clouds quickly filled the sky above the palace. White lightning flashed. The ground cracked open in various places, and something began to rise. The glass windows of the corridor shattered, and black figures rushed in.
“It’s a demonic beast attack!”
“Royal Knights! Protect His Majesty at once!”
Small demonic beasts, as tiny as sparrows, and massive tree-root beasts swarmed, covering the entire imperial palace with all manner of grotesque creatures born from lowly darkness.
“Damn it! Captain! There are too many of them!”
The commander shouted in frustration, looking out the window, which had turned pitch black due to the bat-like demonic beasts.
“This will never end at this rate! Kun is controlling the beasts! We need to take him down!”
With those words, the commander charged towards Kun. At the same time, Rehir waved his hand.
“How dare you!”
“Argh!”
The commander was flung to the side. Simultaneously, a colossal earthen pillar, far thicker than the tree-root beasts, surged up.
[Did you call for me, master?]
The knights gasped as they stared into the eerie, glowing purple eyes at the center of the pillar.
“That’s the Earth Spirit!”
Calisto. The very Earth Spirit the imperial prince had once wielded to destroy the shrine.
“Heh, you fools do have sharp eyes. Yes, it’s the power of the earth that I stole while that fool suffered the agony of the pact!”
What Rehir summoned was not the real Earth Spirit but a fake created by offering sacrifices to causality. He had once used this spirit to help Josephina escape. Though a fake, its power was no different from the real one.
“With my spirit, I will bury all of you alive. Offering your souls will surely satisfy causality!”
Woooong!
The Earth Spirit moved along the walls. With ominous vibrations, cracks appeared throughout the building. In some places, the ceiling collapsed, and debris fell.
“Ugh!”
“Your Majesty!”
Eventually, debris from the collapsing ceiling struck the emperor. Bleeding from his forehead and staggering, the emperor was supported by his guard.
“His Majesty is injured! Clear a path! We must get out of here immediately. Hurry!”
“Haha! Did you forget I told you to wake up from your dream? This is your grave. No one will escape!”
With a mad laugh, Rehir drew forth even more power. The earth’s power he had stolen from Calisto was rapidly depleting. Still, Rehir did not stop. He could always gather more power. After all, humans were plentiful. Just as he was confidently thinking this, there was a resounding crash, bang!
“Ugh!”
A thunderous noise, as if the world were splitting apart, and a shock that struck the soul followed in quick succession.
“Ugh, what, what is this.”
Rehir, staggering, barely managed to steady himself. There was a warm sensation in his ear. Reflexively wiping his earlobe, Rehir’s eyes widened. Blood. Blood was trickling from one ear. Boom, boom!
“Master!”
With Kun’s scream, Rehir looked up in disbelief. A cold wind tousled his blonde hair. He stopped breathing at the sight of the night sky, clearly visible as if the ceiling had vanished. More precisely, something enormous had bitten off the ceiling. And that wasn’t all.
“Screeeeech!”
The fake spirits that had enveloped the palace moments ago crumbled into dirt with their death cries. This was due to a massive entity that resembled but dwarfed the fake spirits.
“The real Earth Spirit has appeared!”
Rehir silently screamed. The Earth Spirit, which had decapitated the fake, slowly rose. Staring into its jet-black eyes, Rehir gritted his teeth.
“Kun! Hurry up! Quickly!”
“Y-yes, understood!”
Kun hurriedly summoned the demonic beasts. The sound of thousands of wings flapping filled the air. The dark blue sky quickly darkened again as the gathered beasts swarmed.
“Where do you think you’re going, you bats!”
The spirit, surrounded by hundreds, thousands of demonic beasts, roared furiously. Tree branches sprouted from the spirit’s body, piercing the demonic beasts in an instant. Rehir gritted his teeth. As expected, low-level beasts couldn’t match the spirit.
‘But they can buy us some time!’
All he needed now was a brief moment to plan for the next move.
“Kun, hand over Josephina!”
Rehir took the limp Josephina and commanded Kun.
“You cover our retreat! Make sure no one follows me; you must hold out here until the end! Bring the higher-level beasts with me! They need to protect me!”
“Are you saying you will take all the higher-level beasts, Lord Rehir?”
“Yes!”
“Then what should I use…?”
Kun, pale-faced, asked. With the Earth Spirit present, giving up strong beasts meant certain death. Rehir’s expression turned grim.
“Kun, you owe your wing powers to me, and now you dare question my orders? If your master is in danger, the wings should naturally be sacrificed!”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
Suffering from the pain of the pact, Kun bowed his head. He then formed seals with difficulty.
“Everyone, protect the master! Now!”
With dozens, hundreds of beasts in tow, Rehir quickly moved. The appearance of the Earth Spirit meant Calisto was nearby. He needed to escape swiftly while Kun held off Calisto’s spirit.
“Ah, finally found you.”
Though time was of the essence, Rehir was once again blocked soon after leaving the palace. He widened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected adversary.
“Princess Dana?”
The princess was smiling awkwardly, not even glancing at Rehir. A one-eyed bat beast fluttered excitedly beside her.
“Haha, yes, thank you. Thanks to you, I found that man quickly. What? How’s your eye? Of course, it’s not hideous…it’s beautiful, ahaha, ahahaha.”
Rehir, watching the princess converse with the beast in a daze, snapped to attention as if struck by lightning. He hurriedly turned his head, but it was too late.
Everything had disappeared. All the beasts that had been following him were gone.
“I sent them away.”
And then came the princess’s haughty declaration.
“The real thing is here now; there’s no need for them to follow a fake’s orders anymore, right?”
