Azure Spire Palace
Paul, who had taken Clara's appearance, met with the Queen's personal guards.
"Leader, is there something wrong?"
"Why are you here, captain?"
"Captain, who was the kid who came to the audience hall today?"
The members gathered around Paul.
Despite being far stronger than Paul, they did not detect his disguise.
Paul released the false appearance.
"It's you," the members sighed.
They noticed Paul was not making fun of them like he usually did after they were caught in his pranks.
"Sis—"
He changed his words.
"—The leader has gone into hiding because she killed the kid we saw today. He had the ability to remove her curse, so it had to be done."
Paul spoke with a grave expression,
"The Queen has ordered a purge. It's time for you all to choose a side."
The Queen's personal guards looked at each other.
They understood why a purge was happening.
Their gazes grew determined after hearing the Tyrant Queen's cruel choice.
"We've made our decision long ago."
"That's right. We have nothing to be ashamed of, we aren't rebels. We are the patriots who are protecting our country from a tyrant."
Paul raised their morale.
"The plan is to spread the rumors of the kid's death. It will corner the Queen and make her halt the purge—"
"You call that a plan?"
Suddenly, an old man, the vice leader of the Queen's personal guards, cut off Paul midsentence.
"The Queen will go berserk if she gets cornered. Who knows how many will be slaughtered when that happens?"
"...That's true." Paul agreed. "Do you have a better idea, vice leader?"
"We'll do a purge as the Queen ordered."
"Wha—"
"But instead of the palace people, we will bring out the prisoners and execute them inside the palace.
"While the curse has weakened the Queen, her senses are nothing to scoff at. We will use it against her.
"By killing the prisoners, we can create chaos and the palace will be filled with stench of blood. It will fool the Queen.
"In the meantime, we will evacuate the palace people before she catches on," the vice leader explained.
"That's… That's a very good plan. Why didn't I think of it before?" Paul muttered.
The Queen was at the death's door.
As long as they waited, she would grow weak and would no longer be a threat.
"Because you are still green behind the ears," the vice leader snorted.
The members of the Queen's personal guard cheered for the Vice leader.
They got to work.
Half of them went to the underground prison to bring out the prisoners, while the other half started the evacuation.
The palace people were not given the reason behind the evacuation.
They found it weird that they were using a hidden exit to leave the palace.
However, no one raised a question since it was the order of Queen's personal guards.
The screams echoed in the palace for hours.
While most of the Queen's personal guards were busy with the task, the leader and the vice leader met with the Tyrant Queen in the audience hall.
The hall was deserted save for the Queen on the throne, the vice leader and the leader, who was Paul in Clara's disguise.
"How is the progress?" the Tyrant Queen asked.
"The task is going smoothly thanks to the Queen's grace," Paul said.
He noticed the purple markings appearing on the Tyrant's Queen body.
The curse entered its last stage.
Nonetheless, looking at Queen's demeanor, no one could tell she had one foot in the grave.
The Queen nodded and looked at "Clara".
"Since you are here, I take it ask Clara is still guarding Neo?"
"Indeed, it is as you—"
Paul froze.
A look of horror appeared on his face.
The Queen knew he was Paul in Clara's disguise.
How was that possible?
While Paul was only an Awakened Demigod, his camouflage was perfect.
No one, not even Exalted Demigods, could see through his disguise.
"Why aren't you answering?" the Queen asked.
"A-ah, yes, Sis is g-guarding him. I took her appearance to smoothen the process of purge."
Paul answered despite being shaken.
The Queen tilted her head.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You just lied."
She treated Clara and Paul as her own children.
While she couldn't tell it if Paul guised himself as other, it was easy for her to tell him out when he became Clara.
None of their habits were same.
Similarly, it was easy to notice when Paul lied after being caught red-handed.
She could clearly remember how many times Paul, as a kid, sneaked into the kitchen for late night snacks and lied in the morning when she asked him about it.
A small smile appeared on her face and she hid it quickly.
"Where is Clara and who is guarding Neo right now?" She asked.
Paul was frozen stiff with fear after having his lie revealed.
He couldn't think and couldn't answer.
His heart was beating so loudly he felt it would break his ribs.
If he lied again and got caught…. it would be the end.
Suddenly, the vice leader grabbed his collar and threw him towards the door.
"Run! Tell others we were exposed! I'll hold her back and buy time for you!"
"O-okay."
Paul stood up and tried to rush out of the door.
"What are you two doing?"
The doors suddenly shut close by themselves.
"What do you mean 'you were exposed'?"
Hearing the chilling voice, Paul pulled out his sword and got ready to fight alongside the vice leader.
The vice leader shouted.
"Paul! I told you to run! You can't do anything against—"
He couldn't complete his words.
His body was abruptly crushed into a paste of meat and blood.
It was as if he had been hit by an invisible hammer.
The Tyrant Queen did not even lift her finger.
She just sat there menacingly.
"Paul…." The chilling voice commanded. "Lower your sword."
She was not stupid.
She knew Clara had the ability to cast curse.
But….
They were her children.
She treated them no different from Amelia.
So.
Why?
Why were her children trying to kill her?
An unfathomable amount of pressure descended on the Azure Spire Palace.
Anyone inside it was brought to their knees.
They found themselves unable to move.
They felt like they were being crushed by gallons of water.
Cracks started to appear on the foundation of the palace and the whole place shook.
"Drop your sword, Paul."