After a lively breakfast, it took Riezel and the others more than an hour to finally finish eating.
However, by the time everyone left the dining room, it had completely lost its original elegant appearance, leaving behind nothing but a chaotic battlefield.
"Grururu..."
As they walked through one of the residence corridors, Luna kept staring at Riezel’s back ahead of her, while strange noises came from her throat as she ground her teeth together. Anyone could tell that she wanted nothing more than to pounce on him and bite a chunk of flesh straight off his body.
If Lizbeth had not been tightly holding onto one of Luna’s arms with a worried expression, Luna would have already rushed forward and savagely attacked Riezel like a vicious dog.
"C’mon, you’re still hung up on that?"
Walking at the front while holding the hand of the sleepy-eyed Euryale, Riezel felt a constant chill running down his back. Unable to help himself, he glanced over his shoulder and threw out the question.
"Don’t talk to me," Luna said viciously, completely ignoring his attempt at conversation. "My mother told me not to talk to shameless beasts. It’ll contaminate me."
"...Your mother is really a hypocrite then." Riezel paused for a second, almost at a loss for words, before replying with obvious irritation. "I mean, the fact that she still gave birth to you while believing that is kinda a miracle."
"Hmph, this world has never lacked miracles," Luna replied coldly. "At the very least, people wish to see miracles. No one wishes to see despicable and shameless atrocities."
"You’re not talking about me, are you?" Riezel asked with a faint smile. "I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that before."
"You truly lack self-awareness, Sir Brynhart..." Luna said mysteriously. "But that’s fine. Even if you don’t have any self-awareness, there are righteous people like me by your side. If you’re unwilling to quietly accept your death, then I advise you to turn yourself in. At least then, you might avoid being sentenced to the gallows."
"I think you’re the one lacking self-awareness," Riezel replied casually. "I didn’t commit any crime. It was totally consensual."
What a statement.
When Luna heard those words, the last of her restraint shattered, and the murderous aura surging within her heart overflowed once more.
"Master..."
Meanwhile, after hearing Riezel’s words, Lizbeth’s beautiful face turned completely red.
No matter how innocent or inexperienced she was, she still knew that her unscrupulous master had thoroughly devoured her last night, officially bringing her days as a maiden to an end.
As a result, the little princess’s emotions were extremely complicated.
Part of her felt lost, part of her felt happy, and the rest was pure embarrassment.
"Your Highness..."
Seeing Lizbeth like that, Luna felt her heart shatter into countless pieces as tears streamed down her face.
"My poor princess. You didn’t even understand anything, yet you were deceived by such a scumbag!"
Luna hugged Lizbeth and cried her eyes out.
"Your Highness, Your Highness! You’re still so young! How could something so unfortunate happen to you?"
Luna’s tearful complaints only made Lizbeth feel even more embarrassed.
"Um... Luna, I’m not that young anymore..."
Lizbeth could only offer such a weak protest.
"...You’re definitely not small anymore."
Walking ahead, Riezel suddenly recalled some wonderful memories from last night because of Lizbeth’s words and quietly muttered to himself.
"Shut up!"
Luna was instantly provoked and looked ready to explode with rage, as though she wanted to throw a cleaver straight at Riezel.
"Don’t!"
Lizbeth hurriedly stopped her.
Just like that, the master and servant immediately began struggling with one another, and before long, the two were causing another commotion.
"What the hell is this..."
Riezel could only chuckle helplessly before he stopped paying attention to Luna, took Euryale’s hand, and walked out of Lizbeth’s palace residence.
In fact, after every meal, they would head outside for a walk to relieve their boredom, a routine that had gradually become one of their regular pastimes during this period.
Today, however, the area outside the residence did not seem peaceful.
Knights were running back and forth everywhere, while the maids and servants moved about with nervous, fearful expressions, creating an atmosphere of unrest.
"What happened?"
"Huh?"
Lizbeth and Luna, who had been fooling around only moments ago, immediately noticed the situation.
"Hey, what’s going on?"
Riezel’s footsteps paused slightly before he casually turned to one of the knights guarding the residence entrance and asked the question.
At those words, the knights exchanged glances.
"Actually..."
One of the knights approached Riezel and moved closer as though he intended to whisper something into his ear, but suddenly—
*Schwing!*
Without any warning, the knight at Riezel’s side suddenly drew his sword, his face twisting with ferocity as he swung the blade directly at Riezel.
Such a sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard, especially since the knight had been standing far too close to Riezel, and the entire scene had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
As a result, by the time the sword was about to strike Riezel, not only Luna but even Lizbeth had failed to react in time.
Of course, in the eyes of two people whose combat abilities were comparable to those of Level 9 adventurers, such an attack was hardly worth mentioning.
*Clang!*
Just as the sword came within less than an inch of Riezel’s throat, a slender, fair hand suddenly shot out from beside him. Like a blurred phantom, it instantly caught up to the sharp blade and forcibly knocked the knight’s sword aside.
*Crack!*
At some point, Riezel’s hand had also moved, grabbing the knight’s arm and twisting it mercilessly before snapping it on the spot.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH—!!!"
In that instant, the knight let out a miserable scream.
"Master!"
"AH!"
Only then did Lizbeth react and cry out in alarm, while Luna let out a scream of her own.
However, the sudden attack was far from over.
*Schwing!*
*Schwing!*
*Schwing!*
Suddenly, the surrounding knights drew their swords in unison and charged straight at Riezel.
Some of them were Sword Masters who had been stationed outside Lizbeth’s residence to keep watch over her confinement. Others were the knights who had been rushing around the area only moments earlier.
Surprisingly, however, they were not the only ones.
Even the maids and servants abruptly turned around, drew concealed weapons from their bodies without warning, and rushed toward Riezel with twisted, fanatical expressions on their faces.
"Shockwave."
Frowning slightly, Riezel quietly chanted a magic spell.
*BOOM!*
In the next moment, an astonishing shockwave erupted from his body.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Every attacker rushing toward Riezel slammed directly into the expanding shockwave and was blasted away.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
At the same time, Euryale transformed into a blur and shot across the battlefield, sending every remaining attacker flying. Even so, several Sword Masters still managed to break through her defenses and reach Riezel.
"Stop!"
Lizbeth finally could not stand by and watch any longer.
Drawing Moslow, she rushed forward and intercepted several Sword Masters.
"Have you all gone crazy?!"
Despite Lizbeth’s shocked shout, the knights acted as though they had heard nothing and continued attacking her.
"Be careful, Your Highness!"
Seeing Lizbeth surrounded by several knights, Luna’s heart immediately leaped into her throat.
As for Riezel, while frowning deeply, he finally noticed something strange.
Looking carefully, he saw that whether they were knights, servants, or maids, the whites of their eyes had all turned pitch black.
One thought immediately came to his mind.
’Mind control?’
As the thought flashed through Riezel’s mind, he immediately cast another magic spell.
"Mass Hold Species."
A massive magic circle spread out beneath his feet, while invisible restraints descended from above and pressed down upon everyone except Riezel himself.
"!!!"
All the knights, servants, and maids with twisted faces and black eyes finally stopped moving as the magic bound them in place, leaving them completely unable to move.
*BANG!*
Seizing the opportunity, Lizbeth and Euryale quickly knocked away the remaining attackers.
Only then did the sudden assault finally come to an end.
"W-What’s going on?"
Lizbeth still looked utterly bewildered.
"Have these people lost their minds?! How dare they openly attack someone like this?!"
Luna was equally shaken.
No one had expected to suffer an attack here, especially not from the royal palace’s own knights.
If it had only been one or two people acting independently, it could have been explained away as personal motives or someone pulling strings behind the scenes, but this was not an attack carried out by only one or two people.
Every knight, servant, and maid in the surrounding area had suddenly acted at the same time without the slightest warning.
"...Let’s go."
Riezel stared deeply at the restrained knights, servants, and maids before finally speaking.
"We’re gonna see King Hendrick."
With that, he took the lead and walked forward.
Lizbeth and the others hurriedly followed him as they left the palace grounds.
However, to their surprise, Riezel’s group encountered several more attacks along the way, and the attackers were all knights, servants, and maids from the royal palace—there were even passing noble officials among them.
As soon as Riezel’s group entered their line of sight, these people would suddenly go mad without warning, their faces twisting grotesquely as they lunged at him.
Honestly, the scene made Riezel feel as though he had entered some post-apocalyptic world where everyone around him had been infected by a zombie virus and transformed into mindless undead.
Fearless of death, they charged at him relentlessly.
Men and women, young and old, strong and weak—it made no difference.
Everyone attacked him.
Among them were expert Sword Masters whose strength rivaled Level 6 adventurers, powerless servants and civil officials, and even court magicians who had lost their magic power within Light of Heaven—not a single one was an exception.
Lizbeth and Luna were both shocked and utterly confused by this phenomenon.
A few minutes later, after enduring attack after attack, the group finally arrived at the throne room.
Outside its massive doors, the knights and officials who had originally been standing guard had already been knocked unconscious by Euryale, while many others had been struck down by the scabbard of Lizbeth’s Moslow.
"Eury, open the door."
Throwing aside the knight he had been holding, Riezel called out to Euryale, who stood closest to the entrance.
Euryale tilted her head before carrying out his order in the most direct way possible.
*BOOM!*
Several streaks of claw-light flashed through the air like icy rays, and the throne room’s massive doors were instantly shredded into countless pieces by razor-sharp claw strikes, exploding apart and collapsing into fragments across the floor.
Riezel led the group into the throne room and arrived at the place where the king normally stayed.
Unexpectedly, however, it was quiet—there were no crazed knights and no noble officials, only a single figure sitting upon the throne, waiting for their arrival.
"Your Majesty!"
Luna cried out instinctively.
"Your Majesty..."
Lizbeth’s expression was complicated, but she still spoke softly.
Even though the person sitting upon the throne was naturally Hendrick, his appearance in everyone’s eyes was strange.
"..."
Even after Riezel’s group had stormed into the throne room in the most violent way possible, Hendrick showed no reaction whatsoever. He simply sat there with his eyes closed like a statue and held neither the Sword of Authority nor wore his crown.
At this moment, the imposing aura he normally carried was also completely absent.
Instead, a deathly stillness surrounded him.
"Y-Your Majesty...?"
Luna called out cautiously once more.
"..."
Unfortunately, Hendrick ignored her completely.
Needless to say, he ignored everyone present and simply remained seated with his eyes closed, radiating an atmosphere of death.
"Your Maj—"
Unable to hold back any longer, Lizbeth was just about to speak when Riezel raised a hand and stopped her.
"...Let’s go."
Riezel spoke calmly, his tone as steady as ever.
"Go?"
Lizbeth froze for a moment, unable to hide her confusion.
"Yeah..." Riezel’s expression remained unchanged as he glanced ahead. "Stop calling for him. He isn’t gonna answer us."
Why?
Simply because...
"He’s already dead."
Riezel’s calm words struck like a bolt of lightning, instantly stunning both Lizbeth and Luna.
"W-What did you... say...?"
Luna’s eyes widened.
"Dead...?"
Lizbeth looked completely lost, as though she could not understand what she had just heard.
Sadly, it was the truth.
"Yeah, his heart’s stopped beating. Most of the blood in his body is gone, and all his vital signs are completely gone too."
Riezel spoke in a flat, emotionless voice, like a forensic examiner conducting an autopsy.
"King Hendrick is dead, no question about it. And he’s been dead for quite a while."
As soon as those words left Riezel’s mouth, another voice suddenly echoed through the throne room.
"You’re right. The current king is dead, and I only learned about it moments ago."
"So, shouldn’t you give me an explanation?"
"Youngster..."
Within the solemn throne room, an overwhelming pressure suddenly swept through the area like a raging storm, causing the already oppressive atmosphere to reach its peak in an instant.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones]
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