The eldest son Kaisen’s words hung thick in the air, a stubborn silence refusing to budge.
“Advance.”
A single word slipped from Yuma’s lips.
Kaisen took another step forward.
BAM! CRASH!
The soldiers felt the panic wash over them. They found themselves involuntarily stepping back. It was that gaze from the eldest son still clinging to his boyhood that held a deep resolve.
The lead fell to Kaisen, the eldest son.
The knights, gazing at their captain Hyman, began to retreat as well.
In the end, aside from five out of fifty, the rest of the troops parted ways uneasily.
“Hyman Captain.”
Kaisen stood before Captain Hyman, who emanated a chilling aura from the sword grasped in his right hand.
“My lord.”
Hyman’s fiery gaze seemed to pierce Kaisen.
“My knight Agel has died.”
Kaisen had learned swordsmanship from Hyman. So there were instances when he would even use formal language when they were alone. At the mention of Agel’s name, Hyman’s brow furrowed deeply.
“You know Agel didn’t have the temperament to steal a senior knight’s wife.”
Hyman couldn’t deny that. Agel, who had once been part of the Count’s First Knight Brigade, was certainly not the type. The reason for his execution was something he couldn’t easily understand.
“First, I just want to see father, talk it out, and clear my doubts.”
Hyman found it impossible to argue with that. For a brief moment, he realized he had been overwhelmed by his own apprentice. And he was convinced.
Hyman twisted his foot to the right. The eldest son Kaisen, with his golden hair flowing, marched toward the castle gate.
It was a bloodless entry.
In front of the castle’s main gate, the knights blocking the way looked at Captain Hyman with confused faces.
“H-Hyman?”
With a stern face, Hyman opened his mouth.
“Open the gate.”
Then he glanced behind him.
There stood Kaisen.
The knights at the castle gate, realizing the long-lost heir had returned, swiftly made way. The enormous gate swung open.
Yuma turned to Hestia and Cloney beside him.
“If the atmosphere takes a turn for the worse, be ready to make a run for it.”
Hestia and Cloney nodded vigorously.
*
“Count your Excellency bids you to enter.”
The knight bowed his head to Kaisen.
Kaisen looked back at Yuma standing behind him.
“I’ll go in together, Kaisen.”
Yuma said, gazing at Hyman.
“Something suspicious has happened with the Count. From this moment, I will consider this matter an official duty as the Princess’s representative.”
“…The only one granted an audience by Count Rubelt is Prince Kaisen.”
Hyman’s hand moved toward his waist. More specifically, towards the sword at his hip.
Once again, a chill pervaded the space.
Clank—!
As the blade of the sword briefly caught the world’s gaze, a deep voice came from within.
-“It doesn’t matter. Let anyone in.”
Given Count Rubelt’s current situation, it was a perplexingly generous statement.
Hyman’s slightly drawn sword returned to its sheath.
A multitude of footsteps stirred.
Hestia looked at Cloney with her bright green eyes.
“Official duty…! How wonderful! Duke Yuma is the Empire’s problem-solver under the orders of the First Princess! Something like that?”
In response to Hestia’s remark, Cloney slowly shook her head.
“I’m not sure either. Well, we just have to trust it’s something Yuma does.”
Yuma listened to their conversation with a blank expression.
Official duty.
Honestly, there’s no such thing.
He was merely speaking lines that came to mind, leaning on the authority of First Princess Brigitte.
Creak, creak, creak…
The door opened.
Count Rubelt sat in a chair that looked much like a throne, just as he had the last time.
Rubelt’s mouth opened again.
“Welcome, my son.”
His voice was solemn. Even though he received a greeting from his father, Kaisen’s face was tense with anxiety.
Moments before he was imprisoned in the Yuto forest, he had to once again feel that alienation when faced with his father.
‘No matter how I look at it…’
That was not the father he had known for 19 years.
The eldest son, Kaisen, suppressed the headache brewing in his mind and slowly spoke.
“Who are you?”
Kaisen continued.
“My father is not someone who would stand by while a creature that devours people exists in this land.”
At the denial of his own existence by his son, Count Rubelt merely twisted his lips.
“And he certainly is not someone who would falsely accuse a knight who revealed that to him, leading to a wrongful execution.”
Swish—!
Kaisen drew the sword at his waist.
Tremble…
His body had been imprisoned for a solid three months. His weakened arms shook under the weight of the heavy blade.
“A father who would imprison an innocent son is even less of a father.”
Count Rubelt suddenly burst into laughter.
“…Hehe.”
Loudly.
“Hahaha!!”
It was literally roars of laughter.
“What a scared little pup. Trembling and still saying what he wants to say, huh?”
In Count Rubelt’s wrinkled eyes, a bright red light was clearly emerging.
From a middle-aged voice, Count Rubelt’s words twisted into a rough, bizarre tone.
“I thought it wouldn’t be bad to use this body of Count Rubelt to take over the king here. Since it’s not a very noticeable place, living moderately while holding power seemed quite fun. It would be quite a delightful pastime.”
The ones who felt the most bewildered by the count’s transformation were neither Kaisen nor Duke Yuma.
“…Your Excellency?”
Even when the Count behaved strangely, the one who trusted him till the end and held a sword by his side was Hyman, the captain of the knights.
Count Rubelt stomped his right foot firmly on the ground.
Immediately, a red light enveloped the entire space. A magic circle.
That magic circle started to emit light.
The red light swallowed the space itself.
“I can’t play anymore. That’s a pity, but I am satisfied. My purpose is now achieved.”
A crimson aura suddenly burst forth from Count Rubelt’s body.
“Try to struggle a bit.”
Count Rubelt’s body slumped in the chair.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!
Suddenly, like an earthquake, the ground shook with countless footsteps echoing.
“What, what’s that?”
Hestia scanned the surroundings with wide eyes.
They were gathering. The troops within the Count’s residence. Like zombies, utterly disordered.
In their eyes, vibrant red light flickered.
Duke Yuma easily interpreted the situation.
‘Have they fallen under mental stagnation magic.’
It was a key characteristic of the black dragon. It used mental-type magic. If one was exposed to the black dragon’s magic for a very long time, they would become its servant.
They would move according to the will of the black dragon. Once they acted following its will, their brains would gradually burn out and die. Those exposed to the dominance magic circle for too long couldn’t withstand it unless they had considerable strength and willpower.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!!
Hyman stared at his subordinates who had gathered like zombies at the door.
“…I can’t believe this.”
Among the troops that spent most of their time in this Count’s place, only Hyman, the captain, and Rowelk, the vice-captain, were maintaining their sanity.
Clang!
Clang!
The knights and soldiers of the Count’s territory raised their weapons.
The sound of cold weapons endlessly echoed in their ears.
The sound of metal clang echoed endlessly in their ears.
The command etched in their minds was very simple and clear.
Kill everyone in this room.
That was all.
Duke Yuma placed a hand on the trembling right shoulder of Kaisen in front of him.
“Are you ready to inherit the title? The next count.”
“…Huh? What do you mean, Duke Yuma?”
“Don’t worry. Even if the Count’s territory becomes a mess for a while, I will personally ask Her Highness the Princess for help.”
Yuma could see it. Just how much of a mess this Count Rubelt’s territory would become; this was the groundwork laid for the next count.
I’m on your side. Right now, we have no choice but to turn the Count’s territory into a mess.
Yuma gripped the [Black Dragon Bernac’s Teeth] in reverse.
“Don’t be scared. The next Count Rubelt.”
Creeeeek…
The sound of archers drawing their bows could be heard all around.
The archers, with bright red eyes shining intensely, pulled back their bows silently.
Swish—
Among those zombie archers, there were dozens of knight-class strongmen capable of infusing their arrows with a chilling aura.
Over forty arrows poured down like a torrential rain from the main gate.
“Hiiieek!”
Hestia screamed and raised her sword. If she stood still, she would turn into a pin cushion!
At that moment, Yuma stepped forward.
<Bullet Time>
Kki─────gi…gi─gik-…
Time began to flow slowly.
Limited to the existence of Yuma alone.
The forty arrows slowly loomed in the air.
He grasped the arrival speed of each arrow at a glance.
In an instant, he calculated what to deflect first, establishing a priority.
Clang!
He deflected thirty arrows within thirty seconds of Bullet Time.
At the moment Bullet Time ended, it seemed he parried all the remaining arrows flying in simultaneously.
<Absolute Counter>
—All arrows reverse their course.
Shwaaaack!! Shushushushushushush!
The arrows pierced through the throats of the archers.
Puhbuhk!!
Pierced right through the middle of their heads.
Puhwak!
Stuck in their hearts.
The bodies of the forty knights surrounding Yuma’s group all fell backward at once.
Kuwuung──!
“This battle is your title inheritance ceremony. Kaisen Fel Rubelt.”
