Chapter 50

Raul was hastily confined to a side room attached to the courtroom. It was a place he could easily break out of if he wanted to, but knowing his own condition, he accepted it.

He simply buried his face between his legs and said nothing. He didn’t utter a word, just stared into the darkness.

“That bastard planted a bomb there…!”

Camilla exploded in anger, but the hot-tempered Emperor, surprisingly, remained calm and began to assess the situation coldly.

Then, with a face colder than ever, he questioned his subordinate.

“…Where did that woman go?”

“Which woman are you referring to, Your Majesty?”

“The woman who impersonated the victim.”

“All the others are waiting in the side room, but… she fled immediately after the trial ended. Since there were no specific orders, we let her…”

“Pursue her. Empress, Camilla. Prepare for pursuit as quickly as possible.”

Though the Empress was always the one to prepare strategies, it was the Emperor who gave the commands. Thus, he made a quicker decision than ever and ordered the pursuit.

They set out with the private soldiers of Duke Argos and the Imperial Guard in tow.

Everyone had felt something off about that woman, so they didn’t hesitate.

The Emperor and Empress mounted their steeds and gave chase, while Camilla took to the skies with her javelins.

After some time, the pursuit party spotted a carriage entering a mountain path beyond the capital and charged toward it.

“Stop!”

The moment she saw the carriage, the Empress drew her sword and with a single slash, severed the carriage’s wheels.

The destroyed carriage fell apart, and a pink-haired woman emerged from the wreckage, clicking her tongue.

“Stupid monkeys, faster than they are smart…”

She revealed her true form with a tremendous gust of wind.

Her revealing, prostitute-like attire, four pairs of wings, goat horns on her head, black sclera, and an aura of killing intent that no ordinary demon could possess.

It was clear she held a high position among the succubi.

“Getting caught this quickly wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I suggest you surrender. If you surrender now, I promise not to kill you. Depending on your attitude, of course.”

“Begging for death while putting on an act. Not that I plan to be caught.”

Despite the Imperial soldiers pointing their weapons at her, she showed no sign of panic.

With a snap of her fingers, the six horses pulling the carriage began to twist grotesquely.

They soon transformed into massive, half-human, half-beast chimeras and began to threaten the pursuers.

“These are the chimeras we’ve worked so hard to create. They should buy us some time.”

Seeing the monstrous chimeras, some soldiers began to step back.

“Chimeras…? Those huge things…?”

One brave soldier threw a spear at the chimera, but there was no way for the blade to penetrate their tough bodies.

“As expected, the newly conscripted ones are useless.”

Paradoxically, the one who stepped forward was the Emperor himself, who should have been protected.

“Step back. By imperial command.”

“B-but Your Majesty…! It’s dangerous…!”

“I despise repeating myself. And dangerous… that’s an annoying word. Step back before I get annoyed.”

With a glance from the Empress, everyone, including her, quickly fled.

“Today is truly a shitty day.”

Smoke began to rise from the ground where the Emperor stood.

“I’ve seen too much garbage today.”

He wanted Raul to be honest, but he didn’t want him to lose his sanity.

Because of this, Raul’s honor was buried today. The Emperor decided to release his desire to burn everything to ashes.

The heat he began to emit didn’t reach the soldiers a few steps behind him, but it did reach the chimeras and the succubus.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”

“Ugh…! What is this heat…!?”

“I’m just a very angry person.”

With each step the Emperor took, the heat intensified.

Everyone held their breath in the scorching air, but there was no way to block the heat burning their skin.

“That damn drunkard improved our bodies like this. Well, we’re all like that.”

No matter what he said, they couldn’t respond. The hot air searing their lungs made it hard for them to even maintain their sanity.

“How about doing something with that proud body of yours?”

The Emperor drew a flaming sword and cut off the chimeras’ legs.

The blood evaporated before it hit the ground, and the severed parts turned to charcoal.

“Do something.”

Unable to bear the searing pain, a chimera raised its right hand to stab its own heart.

Though it didn’t understand the concept of suicide, it instinctively tried to end its own life due to the unbearable pain.

But before its right hand could reach its chest, it turned to charcoal.

“Not that.”

He heated, cut, and heated them again, as if cooking them.

“Do something.”

He repeated cutting their bodies with his greatsword and heating them, enjoying their silent screams.

Seeing this, the succubus panicked and tried to flee.

‘Crazy bastard…! What kind of lunatic is this!?’

Using all her strength, the succubus flew up, taking advantage of the Emperor torturing the other chimeras.

“Haah… haa… finally escaped.”

“Hoh. Escaped from the heat dome, huh.”

The Emperor remained calm even as the succubus tried to flee.

“You can run… but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Goodbye, stupid monkeys!”

But before the succubus could move even a few centimeters, a blue lightning bolt struck her.

The lightning burned her four wings to ashes and severed her legs with a sharp spear.

“Ahhhh!!!”

“I told you I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Camilla grabbed the succubus by the neck and began to choke her.

“Because of you… because of you, Raul…”

“That’s enough, Camilla. No matter how angry you are, gathering information comes first. If we torture her slowly, she’ll spill her secrets. And above all…”

The Emperor cauterized the succubus’ severed legs to stop the bleeding.

“Choking her to death is too merciful.”

Camilla agreed and stopped choking her.

“Right. Hey, you. You’d better prepare yourself. We’re pretty good at torture. Cloak removal, red needle insertion, rubber waist, ankle spinning… which one do you want to try first?”

Though they were called heroes, they were essentially monsters skilled in murder and torture.

“Choose. We’ll torture you kindly.”

“P-please, just spare my life…”

“If you value your life, why not talk now? Then we might show some mercy.”

The succubus, realizing everything was lost, tried to reveal the secrets.

“Actually, we…!”

But at that moment, an arrow from nowhere pierced her heart.

The long arrow seemed as if it had been embedded in her heart from the beginning.

“Huh…?”

Even the Empress, Emperor, and Camilla couldn’t catch the arrow. With their monstrous hearing, they should have heard it coming.

Yet, the arrow flew silently and pierced the succubus’ heart.

“Damn ghost bastard…”

The succubus cursed, seemingly guessing the culprit.

“So… you’re still alive.”

The Empress, Emperor, and Camilla also seemed to guess the culprit.

The succubus collapsed with a look of betrayal and began to curse everything.

“That crazy bastard… to come up with such an incomplete plan…! Did you plan this from the start…!?”

The Emperor looked at the dying succubus with an unreadable expression.

“…You’ve been abandoned.”

“Don’t give me that pitiful look… You’ve been had too…!”

“What…?”

Only then did everyone realize. The boy the woman had been holding was gone. No, he was never there to begin with.

“Damn it!”

“Turn the horses around, quickly!”

Camilla’s brother was a very busy man.

With a natural talent for personnel, supplies, finances, and taxes, the responsibilities he shouldered were naturally heavy.

Taking over his father’s duties in the military, he was one of the pillars of the Empire, handling countless tasks.

Along with the Empress, he had barely rebuilt the Empire that had nearly collapsed due to the pleasure-seeking former Emperor.

While heroes like Raul had saved the Empire from destruction, he had saved it from self-destruction.

Moreover, he had used his personal wealth to aid in the recovery of disaster-stricken areas and restore public order, dedicating himself to healing the Empire’s scars.

“…My head hurts.”

Thus, even today, while attending the trial, he had no time to rest. Sitting alone in the side room, working, he stopped his pen the moment he felt an unusual presence.

Though he had no talent for martial arts, he wasn’t so dull as to not sense energy.

“…Oh no.”

Though not as skilled as his master, he had some ability to foresee events and roughly guessed what was about to happen.

“Will you come in? Though given the circumstances, I can’t offer you hospitality.”

The boy the succubus had been holding appeared at the door.

The boy, his hands covered in blood, smiled brightly, no different from any other child.

“Nice to meet you… I suppose. You and I.”

The boy’s appearance began to change, like a mirage fading.

Lustrous black hair reaching his waist, elegant silk robes fit for the wealthy of the eastern continent, pointed ears, a face resembling a wolf, and three ominous swords at his waist.

All pointed to the characteristics of ‘him.’

The one known as the ‘Sword of Calamity,’ feared by all in war.

“Demon King Beled. A humble swordsman. It’s a pleasure to meet you like this.”

He drew his sword and pointed it at Camilla’s brother.

“And a shame to part like this.”

“Was this your plan from the start?”

“Yes. And it’s checkmate.”

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