Chapter 143: Chapter 143 - The Capital(Part 11)

Point-of-View: Aries Velenet

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"Your majesty, it is me, Commander Aries Velenet. It is safe to come out now, there are no more enemies left in the vicinity of the castle," I called out through the door of the safe room.

After those two who had killed the Knights standing guard outside this door got away from me and I decided against pursuing them, I called for more back up to the castle.

Mainly to clean up all the corpses, as well as to sweep the area for any more enemies that might be lurking about, just in case. Though, I doubt they’ll find anyone. Everyone involved in this attack are more than likely to be long gone by now.

I got down on one knee and bowed as the door to the safe room began to slide open, the Royals stepping out as it did, led by the King.

"There was quite a commotion out here a while ago...where are all the other Knights who were here guarding us?" He inquired with a frown. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Unfortunately, they were all killed, your majesty. I have a lot to report regarding this incident, and I regret to say that it is almost entirely negative," I replied grimly.

Actually, it is in fact entirely negative, but I thought I’d soften the blow at least a little bit.

"Very well, escort us to the throne room, you may make your report there," He remarked, after a brief pause.

"As you command, your majesty."

I then led the way to the throne room, feeling a bit awkward about having the entire Royal family walking behind me. As we passed by a few of the Knights I’d called as back up, they joined the escort, as King Bronne requested that they do so.

As we got to the throne room, the King walked across the massive space towards his throne, while the Queen, four Princes and three Princesses made their way towards their own seats set on either side of the throne, as the King assumed his place and say on the throne.

"Go ahead, Commander...give me all the details regarding this assault on my castle. I trust that you were able to successfully deploy our Demon puppet Lucifer, yes?" He prompted me with a raised eyebrow.

"I shall start from the beginning...I arrived at the castle to see several corpses of our Knights, the guards outside the castle. I then headed into the castle and straight for the entrance to the dungeon...however, as I got there, only one guard was still alive. He-..."

"What? Are you saying that the enemy made their way down to the dungeon!?" Snapped Prince Drakkar with a dark look in his eyes.

Why does the King tolerate him speaking out of turn so much? None of the others have spoken up at all, and from the look of it, nor do they intend to. I’m really worried for the future of our nation with him being the Crown Prince...

"Yes, I am afraid so. And...I was informed that the intruder killed the other guards and spared the survivor in exchange for guiding him to Prince Rhyle’s cell. By the time I arrived down there...the intruder was long gone, along with the Prince," I informed them after a hesitant pause.

"Father, we should put the report on hold for a moment, we must bring this cowardly, treacherous Knight before us and have him explain himself!" Snapped Prince Drakkar furiously.

"Not until after the report. Continue, Commander," Responded the King, giving his son a dismissive look.

"As you wish, your majesty. After that, I went down to the sixth level and took control of the Demon Lucifer...at first, she certainly did seem like she was perfectly under the control of the Magic Items placed on her, the control panel in my possession showed no signs of any malfunctions or issues either.

However, after I commanded her to hunt down the Monster girl and the other intruders, by the time I caught up with her outside of the castle...she was resisting the control, which was showing clear signs of instability. We will have to adjust and recalibrate the control devices, and report this to our allies in the other Dark Continent nations.

The Monster girl and her partner, who is likely the one who took Prince Rhyle, had already fled by then, and with no idea as to which direction they had retreated in, I determined that attempting to chase after them would be futile...instead, I decided to make my way to the safe room and inform you of what had happened.

However, as I got there, I came across two more intruders, I suspect they are the ones who have been killing Nobles for the last five years. By the time I arrived, they had already killed all of the guards posted outside of the safe room door, and had likely attempted to break through the door but failed.

I engaged in battle with them, however, they managed to get away...one of them possessed the Switch and Invisibility Field Skills, if I am not mistaken, and searching for them blindly would have been futile. I apologize for my incompetence," I concluded my report as I bowed my head down.

I felt my heart starting to pound louder and louder as a grim silence ensued with the end of my report, starting to feel nervous...this had been nothing but bad news.

A few dozen of our high ranking Knights were dead, and not one of the assailants responsible had been killed or captured, all of them had gotten away.

"This is all...quite unfortunate and highly disappointing, I must say. However, it would be unfair to blame you...with so many of our high ranked Knights killed so easily, it would be unreasonable to expect you to do by your lonesome what they could not do as a group, regardless of how powerful you are.

Regarding the Demon’s control devices, I suppose it is to be expected...we have no properly tested it before today, it is only natural that it would not work perfectly on the very first try.

Additionally, we will need to implement tighter security...a variety of barriers will have to be put into place, both around the castle and around the entire city itself. It is unacceptable that so many were able to infiltrate the capital so easily," Frowned King Bronne.

Oh...that was a much more lenient response than I’d been dreading and preparing myself for.

"I agree, your majesty. I shall do everything I can to ensure that this never happens again," I remarked firmly.

"We must also ensure that any details of these incidents do not leak...if the Light Continent nations were to get a hold of this information, they may aim to invade Obsidian while we are vulnerable. We have lost far too many of our top ranked Knights, our forces have been significantly weakened...we cannot afford to be drawn into a war right now, it could mean the end of our nation," He replied with a grimace.

"More pressingly, we must deal with the matter of the Knight who complied with one of the intruders in the dungeon," Chimed in Prince Drakkar, before turning to the King, "I trust that you have no objections, father?"

How is that a more pressing matter than the potential destruction of the entire nation? Like I said before, I’m seriously concerned about the future of Obsidian with him being our Crown Prince, next in line for the throne.

"Oh, very well," The King relented with a sigh, giving me a glance.

I nodded in response and then headed towards the dungeon, making my way to the entrance and heading down the stairs with a lot on my mind. This happened because an innocent family was torn apart...the boy with the whip and the young man with the two toned hair, their lives were ruined because of the actions taken by the Knights.

I remember the incident where an entire village was cut down, I believe it was called Juana Village, if I’m not mistaken...they must have been the surviving victims of that incident. I searched through the archive of reports, but I never found any information regarding that incident.

The previous Knight Commander, Jasper Duralles, avoided answering when I brought it up to him. The destruction we faced today...we brought it on ourselves. Resentment towards Nobles is widespread among Commoners...perhaps it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

As I then reached the bottom of the staircase, I spotted the Knight, seated against the wall, a blank look on his face as he stared up at the ceiling. He shifted his gaze towards me as he heard my footsteps, his expression remaining the same.

"You have been summoned by the King. Please come with me," I instructed him.

"Okay...," He muttered with a nod, standing up.

He looks like he’s resigned himself to his fate...he knows that he won’t get off lightly for what he did. And yet...I can’t say that he did the wrong thing...

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