Chapter 237. I Will Kill You (4)
If someone is falling in front of you, it’s only natural to catch them.
But if the two people are a woman and a man, it would naturally lead to the woman falling into the man’s arms—
Whoosh.
Anis dodged Aru, who was falling.
She didn’t expect Anis to dodge, so she instinctively regained her balance. At that moment, Anis grabbed Aru’s wrist and twisted it.
Normally, if your wrist is suddenly twisted, you’d be scared and in pain, but Aru was different.
Sssk!
Using the momentum of her wrist being twisted, Aru kicked at Anis.
But even that, Anis seemed to have anticipated, dodging by bending his waist and then swinging his belt.
Swing, thud!
The belt, which had been flexible, straightened into a ‘bow.’ It was a weapon inspired by Vulkanus after seeing Sephira’s Doppelgänger, one of the three divine artifacts—a clothing-type weapon.
Crack!
Aru’s waist bent like a bow after being hit. Regardless of her being a woman, Anis showed no mercy, tripping her and pulling out restraints from his pocket to bind her arms and legs.
Aru, subdued in an instant, changed her strategy.
“Help me! Anis is trying to assault me!”
Having failed in physical assassination, she aimed to inflict psychological pain.
That method was indeed effective. Sephira’s soldiers, who were patrolling nearby, arrived.
“Young Master Anis.”
“Take her away.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“What…?!”
The assassin, disguised as a noble lady, couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
Anis didn’t even explain, but the soldiers seemed to know everything and were about to drag her away.
“How, how did this… Ugh!”
Aru, gagged and blindfolded by the soldiers, was forcibly taken away.
Anis picked up the dagger the assassin had dropped.
“A dagger thinner than a strand of hair.”
He applied a little pressure, and the dagger snapped in half. Small and thin, it was easy to hide but had less durability than a twig.
“Poisoned.”
The tip was peculiarly bluish. Even without testing, it was clear it was coated with a deadly poison.
“They really had no intention of just spying, huh.”
Crack!
Anis crushed the dagger under his foot, his face filled with anger.
While organizing this party, Ultima Merchant and Baiga led the creation of the venue.
Did Sephira just stand by? No way. They poured all their efforts into security and defense, preparing for such incidents.
Sephira filtered out all suspicious individuals from the checkpoint stage. Those with unclear identities or even slightly different appearances were placed under surveillance, each assigned one knight and four soldiers.
If they had just observed quietly, they would’ve only been imprisoned—
“They’re asking for it.”
Now that it was clear they were assassins, not spies, Sephira wouldn’t stay idle.
This was no longer the timid, defensive Sephira. Sephira had changed.
“There will be no mercy.”
Anis moved to a secluded area to lure out other assassins.
* * *
Sephira had no blind spots in security, but there was one place with lax security.
Keter’s mansion. It had fewer guards and more relaxed movement.
“Is this where Keter resides?”
One of the two men in black robes, a man without eyebrows, looked at the mansion with a tense face. But despite his tension, they easily infiltrated Keter’s mansion.
The smaller man smirked.
“Being a bastard, he lives in a separate building with weak security. Sephira must really dislike Keter.”
There were no guards inside, so they didn’t even need to sneak around.
But the men in black didn’t let their guard down. Even with no signs of anyone, they cautiously moved forward.
“It’s eerily quiet.”
Their target was Keter’s bedroom, where they planned to uncover his secrets.
While Keter was engrossed in the party, with all of Sephira’s forces focused on the event, this was the perfect moment.
“Even so, there’s not a single guard…”
They grew even more tense. It felt unreal how easily they reached Keter’s bedroom door.
But turning back out of fear wasn’t professional.
The eyebrowless man in black turned the doorknob. It turned smoothly, not locked.
Sssss.
He opened the door very slowly, ensuring no sound escaped. Behind him, the smaller man held a dagger in reverse grip, ready for any situation.
Tap tap.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“What do you mean? You poked me.”
“What nonsense? When did I?”
Tap tap.
“Are you joking? You just poked my side with your finger.”
“W-what are you talking about? Both my hands are here.”
The smaller man extended his arms forward.
Tap tap.
“Huh?”
The eyebrowless man felt a cold sweat as he was poked again.
“What’s going on…?”
The smaller man turned around, annoyed—
“Huh?”
There stood a young girl. Suddenly, without any sound.
She was incredibly cute, her presence shining even in the pitch-black darkness. If seen in the city, one might’ve offered her candy.
But the smaller man sensed it. The girl before him wasn’t human—she was a monster.
Sssk!
Like a professional, instead of panicking, he aimed for the girl’s neck with his dagger.
Despite her appearance, he showed no mercy, targeting her vitals with calm cruelty—
Crack!
“Crack…?”
The dagger shattered like dry sugarcane upon touching the girl’s neck.
The smaller man muttered, looking at the broken dagger.
“This is an Amantiir dagger…”
Thud.
The white-haired girl, Elije, pointed her finger at the smaller man.
In that moment, a hole pierced his forehead.
Thud thud thud!
The eyebrowless man finally started running. He sprinted down the long corridor he had cautiously walked through.
‘I can’t fight that. I can’t win.’
Realizing defeat, he fled—
“Gasp!”
The eyebrowless man suddenly tripped. On the flat corridor, with nothing to trip over, something grabbed his ankle.
“W-what is this?”
His hand felt something sticky, like mud.
Plop, plop plop.
The same substance dripped from the ceiling.
Reflexively looking up, his whole body trembled.
“Ha, haha…”
Green slime filled his vision, falling from above.
Squelch!
The man in black was crushed by Slime Popo without even a scream. His bones were crushed instantly, killing him without feeling pain.
Gurgle!
As Popo shook its body, what was once a human turned into bone fragments in an instant.
The immense digestive fluid, capable of turning a person into bone fragments, dissolved even the bones into powder and absorbed them.
Gurgle…
Popo, seemingly unsatisfied, returned to the ceiling. The corridor showed no trace of what had happened.
Not just here, but all over Sephira, similar yet identical events were unfolding like mushrooms after rain.
As the party reached its peak, spies and assassins resumed their activities to overthrow Sephira—but Sephira, thoroughly prepared, countered and restrained them all.
The nobles attending the party had no idea what was happening outside the venue.
And that was what Sephira wanted. To show the attendees that nothing was happening. That Sephira could handle such disturbances with ease.
But those targeting Sephira weren’t just assassins.
* * *
“Pleasure to meet you, young man. I’m Arthur El Inghardt. I’m a fellow alumnus of Elder Leganon.”
Keter responded with a bored expression to Arthur’s introduction.
“And?”
“I introduced myself as from the Inghardt family, but I’m not here as a representative. I’m here as a member of the Goshikyeonro Association. I have a proposal for you.”
“The Goshikyeonro Association…”
“Just give me a moment. It’s a condition that won’t harm you.”
“Five minutes only.”
“Thank you. Come this way.”
Arthur led Keter to a secluded tent. It was empty, but two glasses of wine were set on the table.
“As the proposer, I couldn’t come empty-handed. I brought the best wine I have. Please, have a glass.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s a 50-year-old Gettia Egmaneu. A sip is worth more than its volume in gold.”
“That’s irrelevant. Old man, did you poison this?”
“Hahaha, are you doubting me now? Well, I suppose that’s fair.”
Arthur swapped Keter’s glass with his own.
“This should settle it.”
“Your effort is commendable. I’ll drink.”
Keter didn’t wait for Arthur to drink first and downed his glass. Arthur’s expression changed instantly.
“Hehehe, you’ve fallen into my trap, Keter.”
“Yes, I have. Please, tell me your plan.”
“You’re quite confident. You thought there was poison and prepared a countermeasure, didn’t you? But it’s useless. What you drank wasn’t poison—it was a bug. Ever heard of Gu poison?”
“That’s black magic.”
“You know about it? Surprising. Then you must also know that this Gu poison has no antidote. From now on, you must obey my commands. Otherwise, the Gu poison in your heart will burst.”
“Wow, so scary.”
“Denying reality, you’re just like the others. Then I’ll show you. Who your master is.”
Arthur closed his eyes and began chanting. Then he extended his palm toward Keter.
“I’ve awakened the Gu poison. From today, you must take this pill every week, or the grown Gu will slowly eat away your heart. Don’t even dream of removing it. The moment you stimulate the Gu, it will self-destruct.”
“So, what do you plan to do by controlling me, old man?”
“You fool. You still don’t understand the situation, calling me ‘old man.’ First, I’ll teach you to bow whenever you see me.”
Click.
Arthur pointed to the ground with his finger.
“…”
But nothing happened.
“You’re resisting? Let’s see how long you can hold out. Can you keep that smug face even when your heart is pierced?”
Arthur, putting all his strength into his finger, glared at Keter.
Keter yawned once—
Wham!
He punched Arthur in the face.
“Cough!”
Arthur’s wrinkled face momentarily smoothed out, rejuvenated by the force of Keter’s punch.
Arthur tumbled, covered in various items. Keter approached him.
“I’ll ask you three questions. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. First, who sent you?”
“Cough, y-you bastard! You think you can get away with this…”
Crash!
“Gah!”
Arthur, clutching his groin, drooled from his mouth.
“Second, who sent you?”
“W-wait. I can’t breathe…”
Crack!
“Ahhh!”
Keter, stomping on Arthur’s groin with both hands, asked without a moment’s pause.
“Last one. Who sent you?”
* * *
Keter approached the table where the Goshikyeonro Association was chatting.
“Ah, Prince! Long time no see. You remember me, right? I’m Hans, the butler.”
Hans, Sephira’s butler in charge of finances, greeted Keter with familiarity.
Hans, who had a mix of goodwill and fear toward Keter for severing ties with Ultima, now looked relaxed, perhaps due to being drunk.
Hans rambled on without Keter asking.
“This is Count Gerald El Underhill. He was a former royal judge and now serves as an advisor. I owed him a favor in the past, so we were chatting.”
At Hans’s words, Gerald stood up and greeted Keter.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come by. I’m Gerald.”
“Haven’t you had a drink?”
“Huh?”
“The wine I gave you.”
“Ah, this?”
The wine on the table, Kwonhwang’s liquor. Gerald looked awkwardly at it.
“Forgive me. I’m abstaining from alcohol.”
“You should drink it.”
“I heard I must drink to talk with you. But cut me some slack. At my age, drinking such strong liquor would leave me bedridden for a week.”
Gerald spoke amiably.
Keter smiled and replied.
“You won’t be bedridden for a week. Because in Sephira’s prison, there’s no room to lie down.”
“…?!”
The old nobles of the Goshikyeonro Association, who had been watching calmly, widened their eyes. Gerald blinked, wondering if he heard wrong.
“P-Prince, why are you doing this? You must be very drunk, hahaha.”
Hans tried to stop Keter by grabbing his arm, but Keter patted Hans’s shoulder.
“Old man, step aside. Unless you want to die.”