“However, since even our reinforcements have already been anticipated, it seems the intruder came prepared as well.”

Donna pondered briefly.

Though she still did not believe that intruder truly had any possibility of reaching this bedchamber, for the Holy Lord’s sake, she had to make the safest arrangements.

Donna’s gaze fell on the old man beneath her.

Now that he had gained a chance to breathe, he was gasping heavily, yet his face was still filled with intoxicated fascination.

Fortunately, this old thing was not entirely useless.

“Your Majesty, please deploy them.”

Having made her decision, Donna leaned close to Saint Peron V’s ear and said gently.

“Them?”

“Yes. An enemy is trying to kill you now. Please deploy them, and have that intruder completely dealt with.”

“Kill me?”

Saint Peron V’s eyes suddenly widened, his expression savage.

“Who? Who can kill me? I am Saint Peron V, the great sovereign who will lead this nation toward a bright future!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You are a great sovereign.”

Donna gently wrapped her arms around Saint Peron V, while the corner of her mouth traced an almost imperceptible mocking smile.

“So please, show the majesty of a king. Bring out that final trump card you’ve been keeping hidden... and crush this tiny little bug... completely to death.”

“I see...”

Saint Peron V nodded, agreeing very much with the words of his beloved Olive.

A bug, of course, had to be crushed.

“Then... let them take action.”

...

...

After crossing the middle court, the lush royal gardens receded, and what appeared before Muen’s eyes were red walls and tiled roofs steeped in an artistic air.

Muen had to admit that Saint Blancfazesiya truly was the capital of art, because even someone like him, who had no artistic sense whatsoever beyond the tiny bit of music appreciation he had learned from Liya, could feel the heavy depth revealed between every brick and tile.

But Muen had absolutely no intention of admiring it.

Because...

He was sick of looking at it. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

His view opened up before him. Muen raised his head and could already see the king’s bedchamber not far away through the night.

The bedchamber was right there, like a beauty reclining behind thin gauze, crooking her finger to tempt him forward, her fair jade feet teasing him endlessly, more alluring than any work of art.

But before that...

“I still have to deal with some troublesome people first...” Muen sighed.

The night was deep.

After all, this was the Kingdom’s palace. Everywhere was brightly lit.

Not to mention, there was already an extremely conspicuous “spotlight” constantly casting very handsome light and shadow over Muen at all times.

But suddenly, Muen felt his surroundings dim slightly.

As if an enormous shadow had suddenly covered him like dark clouds.

With a rustle, wind blew past, stirring large swaths of robe hems.

It was not dark clouds.

Muen did not look up, yet he already knew that atop those red walls and tiled roofs, in each of those hidden shadowed corners, a large number of figures had already taken position, ready to attack him at any moment.

Those figures wore uniform standard robes. On their chests were the Kingdom’s royal emblems shimmering with radiance, their cuffs were decorated with gold thread, and in their hands were staffs embedded with expensive magic stones.

The Kingdom’s Royal Mage Corps.

An existence enough to make one’s heart stop on the spot.

Like the Empire, aside from the royal guards and royal knight corps, this was another elite organization protecting the royal family.

But unlike the royal guards, who had now completely turned into mindless monsters, these people had complicated expressions, but without exception, the light of reason flickered in their eyes.

They had not been controlled by the Witch of Repentance with Ancient Magic, and the reason was simple. Magic relied on the brain to calculate and activate. Even if she controlled their bodies, if she did not control their consciousness and they were unwilling to cast magic, they would only be a group of useless trash whose combat power was slightly stronger than a goose’s.

Conversely, if they were willing to obey and willing to use magic against the intruder, then there was no need to control them specially at all.

Therefore, what Muen had to face now was...

An entire elite corps.

A whole damn Royal Mage Corps of turncoats who had joined the Salvation Society!

“Every time, you people are the most troublesome. Have some shame...”

Muen likewise did not hesitate for long, because if mages—especially a large group of mages—seized the initiative, it would undoubtedly be fatal on a battlefield.

So from the start, he activated time dilation at full speed. His figure flashed, and he appeared in front of one of the Kingdom’s royal mages.

“You should know what your country, your city... even your people have become, right? Even so, you’re still going to stand in my way?”

As he spoke, the pure white blade had already thrust out, piercing through a mage’s throat.

His chant stopped abruptly, but after several gurgling sounds, he actually coughed blood while forcing out a voice.

“Of course... this is for... loyalty to His Majesty.”

“Loyalty? I’ve heard that word so many times my ears have calluses, but is that really what you feel? Do you really think that old thing... is still worth your loyalty?”

Another slash.

But this time, it was blocked.

A dazzling stream of light bloomed in the night. The hem of Muen’s clothes was burned through, and his skin turned charred black.

“It is necessary.”

A mage who looked extremely rigid stood in front of Muen and said seriously,

“The first principle of the Royal Mage Corps is loyalty. We will always be loyal to His Majesty.”

“Is that so? Then what about your commander?”

Lightning and flame attacked together. Muen paused his offensive and withdrew to dodge, his smile mocking.

“By common sense, your commander should have been loyal too... As a Truth-Rank Grand Sorcerer, if he were with you, I would already be dead by now. But where is he? Where is that ‘loyal’ commander of yours?”

“...”

The rigid mage’s expression twitched faintly.

Where was the commander?

Of course he was already dead.

He had died right in front of them.

As the truly loyal commander, how could he possibly allow the king he served to be controlled by the Salvation Society?

Likewise, how could the Salvation Society allow an unstable factor to remain at its side?

So the commander died.

And after the commander died, it became their turn to be “loyal.”

Still loyal to that king, but on another level entirely.

The rigid mage closed his eyes, wanting to forget the disappointed expression the commander had shown in the final moment before his death.

Then the image successfully collapsed.

But what shattered that image was not willpower.

It was Muen’s blade.

“...”

The rigid mage moved his lips and said something.

Muen did not hear it clearly, and continued forward.

“Shut up, Muen Campbell!”

Suddenly, another mage roared furiously.

“Aren’t you the one who turned this place into this?”

“...”

Muen’s expression did not change in the slightest as he quietly looked toward him.

“It was you. I saw it with my own eyes.”

That mage’s eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Muen.

“You killed Archbishop Ision, and that’s what caused everything to become like this. I saw it all! You’re the sinner! You’re the root of everything!”

Even more terrifying magic poured toward him, this time carrying rage.

“Yes... you’re right.”

Muen nodded.

Black flames flowed, and his figure dodged, but quite a lot of magic still successfully struck him, leaving hideous wounds behind.

Muen continued forward, still calm.

“I am a sinner.”

“What?”

That mage froze, not having expected Muen to admit it so frankly.

“I really am a sinner, in your eyes, and in everyone’s eyes.”

This was the third stage of the Salvation Society’s plan, a third stage premised on the success of the second.

So in the eyes of the people here, Muen was the murderer who had killed Archbishop Ision.

A sinner.

However...

“Even if I am a sinner...”

Muen’s eyes suddenly turned deep. Endless black flames flowed and swallowed several people around him.

“You cowards are absolutely not the ones who get to judge me!”

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Thunderous sounds tore through the night sky. Someone had actually ignored terrain restrictions and the safety of their companions, directly aiming a magic cannon at Muen.

But Muen seemed to have expected this long ago. His figure flashed and vanished from where he stood.

“The only person in this world who can judge a yellow-haired villain is the main character. What the hell do you people think you are?”

“Besides, can’t you see? Right now, I’m the goddamn main character too!”

The tremor of thunder spread instantly, once again interrupting several people’s spellcasting. The short blade turned into a perfect crescent, adding a sacred beauty to the night.

“No... no!”

Before death arrived, someone cried out in terror.

“I... I only wanted to live!”

“I know.”

Muen stepped down on him and showed him the pocket watch in his hand.

“But it has already been an hour and thirty minutes since I made my move. Do you know what that means?”

“Wh... what?”

“It means that right now, at this very moment, many people who don’t want to die... are dying!”

Crack.

His head was crushed under Muen’s foot.

Then black flames flowed and devoured him.

“Disgusting.”

Muen wiped the blood from under his nose and continued forward.

It was not over yet.

His vision blurred for an instant. Just now, even though he had successfully dodged the magic cannon’s sneak attack according to his calculations, the aftershock had still injured him, consuming even more of his mental strength.

It was still far from over.

His vision cleared again. Because of Muen’s advance, the mages before him all subconsciously retreated in fear.

“No retreating!”

But an authoritative shout came over, along with several chaotic auras rapidly approaching.

Those people instantly seemed to have had a pillar injected into them, and once again straightened their chests and raised their heads.

“M-Muen Campbell, you... you should surrender. Our Majesty is merciful and benevolent. If you surrender, he will surely forgive your sins,” someone said, mustering his courage.

“Heh heh...”

But Muen merely laughed mockingly twice.

Merciful?

Benevolent?

Do you believe those words yourself?

“...”

Seeing Muen laugh, that person rubbed his nose. Clearly, he did not believe them either.

“Forget it. Why ask these meaningless questions when I already know the answer? Am I just an idiot too?”

Muen laughed at himself and murmured under his breath.

They gave him no time to recover.

A massive amount of magical radiance lit up again. Muen raised his eyes and took everything before him into his view.

One hundred and three at the Secret Rite rank.

Seventy-two at the Sublimation rank.

Seventeen at the Radiant rank.

And a large number of Salvation Society reinforcements behind them... visually estimated at more than a hundred people, all powerful elites.

No royal guards coming as support from the western district.

Mm.

Very good.

Everything was within expectations.

Then...

“Continue!”

His fine blond hair was illuminated by the radiance of magic, and the pure white blades bloomed with sharp light.

The main character beneath the spotlight swung his blades again and killed his way into that surging, boundless tsunami.

...

...

Saint Peron V fainted once more.

Donna dressed herself and came outside the bedchamber.

She stood at the top of the stairs and looked down.

It was very clean.

No corpses.

No blood.

No severed limbs flying everywhere.

Aside from those enormous craters and the collapsed buildings everywhere around them, this place was so clean it seemed to have just been washed by rain. There was not even dust.

Only on the stairs, not far from her—

A blond man in tattered clothes was limping upward, climbing these steps that seemed, for him, extremely long.

His steps swayed. His body was weak, as though another gust of wind would blow him over.

But it did not. In fact, the more he walked, the steadier he became. By the time he arrived before Donna, he could already hold his head high and stand tall, revealing a handsome face that even Donna, who hated humanity itself, could not bring herself to hate.

“Hello.”

Muen wiped the blood from his face. In the instant the hazy dawn light shone over him, he smiled and said,

“First meeting. May I ask the lady’s name?”