Inside a luxurious residence in the noble district of the royal capital, Yeluvia, at a time when the entire district was engulfed in relentless warfare, the chaotic battle within the residence had already come to an end.
Whether it was the manor’s corridors, the grand hall, or the courtyard, blood stained the ground crimson. Corpses lay one after another in pools of blood, surrounded by scattered weapons and shattered armor, silently telling the tale of the brutal slaughter that had taken place here.
Holding the Sword of Authority, Sorren slowly walked through the residence, accompanied by magic dolls and black-eyed knights.
Before long, he stopped in front of a man lying on the ground.
He raised his foot and mercilessly stomped down on the man’s body.
In that instant, the man spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Elder Brother!"
Nearby, a young woman being restrained by black-eyed knights let out a cry of despair.
If Riezel had been here and seen her, he would have immediately recognized her identity.
She was none other than the young lady of the Cordelion family, Jinas’s gifted genius who had become a Tactical-Class Magician before reaching the age of twenty—Serena Cordelion.
Yes, this was the Cordelion residence.
In that case, the man lying before Sorren, being ruthlessly trampled beneath his foot, could only be the Cordelion family’s eldest son—Sergius Cordelion.
Unfortunately, the duke’s son, who had once been praised as possessing kingly qualities that surpassed even those of members of the royal family, now lay like a dead fish, completely at Sorren’s mercy.
"You know, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time..."
Looking down at Sergius from above, Sorren grinned as he spoke in a cheerful mood.
"Ever since the last time you trampled all over my dignity and crushed it beneath your feet, there hasn’t been a single day when I didn’t think about getting it all back."
As he spoke, Sorren gradually increased the pressure of the foot pressing down on Sergius.
"So? Doesn’t it feel awful being treated like garbage and stepped on?"
"Doesn’t it feel like everyone around you is staring at you with nothing but contempt and disgust?"
"Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt back then. You beat me without mercy right in front of everyone. I hated it so much I wanted to kill every single person who saw it."
As though venting years of resentment, Sorren paid no attention to Sergius’s reaction and continued increasing the force beneath his foot.
"And you wanted to compete with me for the throne?"
"Did you ever stop and think if you were even qualified?"
"Even if you had a claim to the throne, your pathetic father already became a duke. Why couldn’t you just stay in your place as a duke’s son? Why’d you have to come after me?"
"Now look what happened. Starting today, the Duke Faction is gone, and the Cordelion family is going to be wiped out."
"It’s all your fault. Yours, your useless father’s. You dared to dream about something you never should’ve wanted. Got that?"
Sorren’s stream of vicious insults caused Serena, who was being restrained nearby, to shout in fury.
"You lunatic! How dare you do something like this! No one will ever forgive you!"
Not only was Serena shouting in anger, but even Sergius, who was on the verge of death beneath Sorren’s foot, raised his head and looked directly at him.
"...Do you really think violence can control everything?"
Sergius remained unexpectedly calm as he posed that question.
In response, the smile on Sorren’s face faded.
"What the hell is this? You want to preach to me again like last time?"
Sorren let out a mocking sneer as he spoke, his voice dripping with unconcealed ridicule.
"Power can absolutely control everything, including authority."
"Whether it’s you or my royal father, you’re both way too hesitant. When you’ve got power, why not use it to rule over everything?"
"It’s because you’re always hesitating, always worrying about this and that, that you’ve ended up like this."
"Now you’re the loser. You don’t get to preach to me anymore. Got it?"
With that, Sorren suddenly lashed out with a powerful kick, showing no intention of holding back.
Sergius was sent flying and crashed heavily into a wall.
Another mouthful of blood escaped his lips, and the vitality within him weakened even further.
As though he had completely lost interest in the defeated man, Sorren turned around and walked toward Serena, who was glaring at him.
"So, how should I deal with you?"
As if relishing her unwillingness and fury, Sorren let out a mocking laugh.
"Don’t think you’ve won, you mad dog..."
Serena replied coldly, showing no fear whatsoever.
"I refuse to believe everyone in this kingdom will allow themselves to be manipulated and controlled by you."
"So what if you seize the throne this way?"
"No one in this kingdom will acknowledge you."
"Even the neighboring countries won’t acknowledge you as a legitimate king either."
"Someone like you will only bring disaster and misfortune upon this kingdom."
"And when that day comes, even if you truly sit on the throne, all you’ll leave behind is everlasting infamy!"
Serena’s indignant words made Sorren burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Infamy? Disaster? Misfortune? So what?!"
"I couldn’t care less about any of that!"
"As long as I’ve got this power, I can dominate everything and get whatever I want!"
"What happens to everyone else has absolutely nothing to do with me!"
As Sorren made that declaration, a chilling wave of power surged from his body.
Seeing that, Serena’s pupils immediately contracted, and for the first time, fear appeared on her face.
Even though she didn’t know what this power was, she knew that Sorren had changed.
He had become even crazier than before, even more violent, and even more unreasonable. At the same time, he had also become stronger, so overwhelmingly strong that it seemed unbelievable.
Sergius was the proof.
He was a swordsman whom even Albert Borley, known as the greatest swordsman below the Sword Saints, praised without reservation. Among Sword Masters, he was unquestionably one of the strongest.
According to Riezel, Sergius was equivalent to a peak Level 6.
And this same Sergius had effortlessly defeated Sorren in the past. Even though Sorren was also a Sword Master, he had never been a match for Sergius.
Yet despite that, today Sorren had easily defeated Sergius in a one-on-one battle.
Combined with that mysterious power capable of controlling others, Serena simply could not understand how such a drastic transformation had occurred.
"Y-You won’t succeed!"
Suppressing the fear welling up in her heart, Serena gathered her courage and shouted.
"Someone will stop you!"
In the end, that was the only thing she could say to reassure herself.
However...
"You definitely won’t live long enough to see it."
Sorren’s gaze upon Serena gradually became colder and more violent.
"Don’t worry. I won’t let either of you die that easily."
"Especially you, Serena. I’ll make very good use of you and have you entertain me to your heart’s content."
"Even though you’re my cousin, who cares? It’s not like I’m going to marry you or have you bear my children."
"If it’s just for fun, your body still has plenty of value."
"Don’t you agree?"
Hearing that, Serena’s entire body trembled before the fear buried deep within her heart finally surged to the surface.
The mere thought of becoming a plaything for this mad dog made her grit her teeth.
"SORREN! YOU BASTARD!!!"
Even Sergius, who had calmly accepted his fate just moments ago, became furious.
"Hmph. Take them away. Torture the man every day. Send the woman to my palace. I’ll enjoy her tonight."
Sorren casually waved his hand.
Several black-eyed knights immediately stepped forward and grabbed the struggling Sergius.
"SORREN!"
"LET ME GO!"
One sibling shouted at Sorren while the other desperately struggled, but it was all futile.
Just as they were about to be taken away, a black-robed figure silently appeared behind Sorren.
"Your plan failed."
A man’s voice rang out from beneath the black-robed figure’s robe, and the single sentence he uttered instantly froze the smile on Sorren’s face and brought everyone present to a complete standstill.
"...What happened?"
Sorren turned toward the black-robed man with a dark expression.
Ignoring his gaze completely, the black-robed man began speaking.
"Riezel Brynhart did end up clashing with Redson Elieman. But not only did he hold his own against Redson’s attempts to suppress him, he even killed the Shadow Sword Saint you sent to ambush him."
"On top of that, the magic dolls failed to hold the princess back. Some unexpectedly powerful fighters showed up by her side."
"And over at the Frenzel residence, that Strategic-Class Magician was also being protected by an unexpectedly powerful individual."
"By now, Redson has most likely figured out that you’re the one behind all of this. He’s already gone to the crown prince and the seventh prince and is personally protecting them."
"As for the Duke Faction, it really has been almost completely wiped out. But you know just as well as I do that, compared to all those earlier failures, that accomplishment means practically nothing."
As the black-robed man casually laid out the situation point by point, Sorren’s expression grew darker and uglier.
"...He actually blocked that old fart? And he even managed to kill the Shadow Sword Saint?"
Whether unwilling to accept it or simply unable to believe it, Sorren gritted his teeth.
"No. I don’t believe it. We even used . No matter how strong he is, it shouldn’t have ended up like this."
Faced with Sorren’s disbelief, the black-robed man merely shrugged.
"Regardless, that’s the truth."
Sounding completely unconcerned, he continued,
"I suggest you start thinking about your next move."
"Otherwise, once both of them recover, you’ll have to deal with those two monsters at the same time."
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Florent Borley is already on his way back."
"If you don’t wanna face three Sword Saints all at once, you’d better think real carefully about what you’re gonna do next."
Because the black-robed man had previously warned him that the special holy relic in his possession could not control people who were too powerful, Sorren had found an excuse while disguised as Hendrick and deliberately sent Florent out of the royal capital.
Now, the man had apparently received news of the chaos in the royal capital and was rushing back.
"Tch..."
Sorren clicked his tongue, the arrogance and pride he had displayed only moments ago disappearing completely from his face.
In contrast, hope appeared in the eyes of Sergius and Serena.
"Old Sword Saint is free?"
A look of joy spread across Sergius’s face.
"Mr. Riezel..."
Serena was equally overjoyed.
Seeing their reactions, the violence in Sorren’s heart surged once more.
"You’re happy, aren’t you?" Sorren said coldly. "But did you forget? I already told you, you won’t live long enough to see that moment."
As he spoke, he drew a curved dagger radiating an ominous aura and slowly walked toward the siblings.
Both Sergius and Serena knew exactly how terrifying that dagger was.
Sorren had already demonstrated its power before them.
It was precisely because of that curved dagger that the Cordelion family had suffered such a devastating defeat.
In the end, the siblings merely watched in silence before closing their eyes.
"Come. Offer me both your body and your soul."
Sorren raised the curved dagger and suddenly thrust it toward Serena, but...
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, the black-robed man, who had been watching the scene like a mere spectator, seemed to notice something, his expression changing dramatically as he shouted a warning.
"!!!"
Sorren’s heart skipped a beat, and without a moment’s hesitation, he abruptly halted his attack and leaped backward.
Unfortunately, by the time he reacted, it was already too late.
At the exact moment Sorren jumped back, a figure appeared beside him as though teleporting.
Spinning around, the figure delivered a powerful kick directly into his body.
"Ugh!"
Sorren let out a muffled groan and was sent flying before crashing to the ground and rolling several times miserably.
All the black-eyed knights guarding Sergius and Serena immediately reacted, drawing their swords in unison.
Yet at the very instant they drew their weapons, two more figures appeared before them.
One smaller figure released astonishing spiritual power, creating a mental shockwave that blasted all of the black-eyed knights away.
At the same time, the larger figure casually moved both hands, releasing several claw-shaped flashes that tore apart the remaining black-eyed knights.
Both of them, one large and one small, advanced as though no one could stand in their way, effortlessly defeating the black-eyed knights and freeing Sergius and Serena.
Immediately afterward, a cold voice echoed throughout the area as a wave of purple energy shot forward and enveloped the magic dolls.
In the next instant, the purple wave swept across a vast area like a giant laser cannon, decomposing everything within its path into nothingness.
With that, the Cordelion residence, whose battle had seemingly come to an end, instantly became a battlefield once more as violent tremors shook the entire residence.