C578
Dante did not declare himself regent the next day.
It was because there were matters he had to attend to before making such a declaration.
In the central region of the empire, inside an underground mansion.
A man walked aimlessly through the hall.
His pale and tired face and shaky shoulders revealed his anxiety.
It was Tion Hairan, Ron Hairan's second son and former Flagbearer of Hairan.
He was the first to betray Hairan and join the Emperor's betrayal.
He took refuge in this underground mansion even before the end of the Sword Emperor Castle War, with about fifty imperial Knights following him.
'Damn it, why did this happen...!'There were many reasons why he betrayed Hairan.
Despite being Flagbearer, he never once pleased Ron, and he was always overshadowed by his nephew, Dante.
Tion believed that all this discrimination was due to the difference in talent.
Although he was well aware of Dante's efforts to overcome the extreme frailty with which he was born, Tion preferred to ignore it.
It was easier to think it was a difference in talent.
He harbored resentment towards the clan, and Ron, who seemed like he would hold his position for the next twenty years, suddenly collapsed due to illness.
The Emperor then made a sweet proposal to Tion.
There's a thing called 'White Stone,' so if you give false testimony about it to the people, I will make you the patriarch when Ron Hairan dies.
At that time, the Emperor had said he was genuinely interested in Tion's potential.
So Tion accepted the Emperor's offer without thinking for a minute.
Not even dreaming that the clan had been silently waiting for Tion to return to the right path even after sensing signs of his betrayal and disloyalty.
"I thought we would never lose, as the imperial army would be backed by Zipple if we were pushed..."
"But the Black Sea King? Why the hell does he show up now?"
Bang~
The table shattered as Tion's fist crashed into it, sending fragments flying.
The knights, who had been watching him cautiously, shuddered and involuntarily cleared their throats.
"Uh, Tion-nim... Has there been any contact from His Majesty?"
A knight asked cautiously.
"Do you really think there would be? And you, fool. His Majesty is already done. Our chance of survival now depends on the imperial family, not His Majesty."
"Still, His Majesty doesn't seem to have been defeated yet. From what I've gathered about the situation outside, there are rumors that Dante Hairan will soon declare himself regent..."
"Haha, the clan is not enough for him, so now he wants to swallow the empire? My nephew's world has come. If only my father were alive, this wouldn't have happened, damn it!"
Tion shouted defiantly.
"Tion-nim, the imperial family has already ignored our calls three times. Anyway, what if you try to contact His Majesty somehow?"
"How many times do I have to say that His Majesty is finished! What's wrong with you?"
"The reason His Majesty hasn't been captured yet might be because of the protection of the imperial family. Perhaps the imperial family hasn't given up on His Majesty yet. There might still be a card that His Majesty has to change the situation. So it's worth trying to talk to him."
"If you mutter about finding His Majesty once again, I'll break your neck..."
Tion, who had been talking until then, fell silent and met the knight's eyes.
Suddenly, an ominous intuition seized his mind.
Among the knights following him, there was no one who would argue with him like this.
"You... Who are you? Why do you keep talking about finding His Majesty? Did you receive any orders from the imperial family?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Take off your helmet."
"Tion-nim?"
"I said take off your helmet! Your obsession with His Majesty is suspicious. Look here! Surround him. I doubt he'll speak willingly, so be prepared!"
Other knights approached cautiously, sensing the tension.
The knight continued with the helmet on, then sighed and said:
"It's true, it doesn't fit my character."
The knight reached into the air.
Then he grabbed something invisible and pulled it, and the three knights approaching were sliced like a fish.
Slash-!
What he threw was an invisible weapon in the form of a thread.
The blood that spurted out like a fountain instantly reddened Tion's face, and as he blinked, he realized that the knight had disappeared from his sight.
"Hey, what is this...!"
The knight was standing behind Tion, holding a dagger to his throat.
He had taken off the helmet, but what covered his face was a milky white mask.
A week ago, Bizen, the best Assassin of the Nameless, had infiltrated Tion's underground mansion.
During that week, Bizen had more than ten thousand opportunities to kill Tion.
Still, he acted for two reasons.
Firstly, there was a possibility that the whereabouts of Emperor Amir Vermont could be traced through Tion if he still had any direct communication with the Emperor.
Secondly, there was a request from his client.
-Watch him for a few days. If he shows any sign of remorse, please capture him and bring him. As a clan member, I will give him time to repent.
That didn't mean forgiving Tion.
It was just being considerate so he could die with some regret.
Tion had just completely lost that opportunity.
"S-Nameless...!"
"It seems like reaching Amir Vermont is really impossible. I've been patient in the hope that our princess would have fewer troubles."
"Now, w-wait, as long as I can contact the Emperor, will he forgive me? In that case, let me contact the Emperor right now..."
"Unfortunately, the carriage has already left. Besides, it would take a bit of time to find him, and he'll die anyway, now that the best Nameless Assassin is on him."
Suk!
The dagger smoothly and quickly pierced Tion's throat.
Tion Hairan met his end just like that.
The rest of the knights seemed to be trying to flee in terror, not even thinking about fighting against Bizen.
However, when Bizen pulled another invisible thread in the air, they were helplessly cut into pieces.
"Uh, ah!"
"Forgive me, forgive me!"
Before 10 seconds had passed, every remaining knight had breathed their last.
Bizen completed his mission without a single drop of blood on his body.
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The same thing that happened to Tion was happening in the main houses, estates, and secret hideouts of the clans that were on the Emperor's side during the first battle of the Sword Emperor Castle War.
"Come on, acting patriarch! It seems Dante Hairan has already started the purge. Knights from the clan in the main house are being killed...!"
Harlow's shelter.
They attacked Hairan by deploying knights, including Scott Harlow, from the Central Order of Knights in the imperial army.
Those killing the Harlows were also Nameless Assassins.
They were tasked with killing all the top knights of Harlow, except for a few.
"Kakaka... So we've come to this. Well, having lost everything, I might as well become the avenging demon."
The Cenderer clan's home.
They also attacked Hairan with Gloria Cenderer from the Order of the White Lance Knights.
In this way, the Lilitha clan, the Lillista Magical Corps, the Panga clan, and other clans that sided with the Imperial Army were paying a price close to extinction.
Nameless Assassins ended their lives without hesitation.
"The world is truly unpredictable. Dante Hairan... I heard rumors that he became a demon in the war, but I didn't expect him to act so quickly."
The second in command of the Hensirk clan said resignedly.
In front of him stood another superior Nameless Assassin, "Ahn."
"You're wrong."
Ahn said with a dry voice as he looked at the second in command of Hensirk.
"The one who asked us to kill you is not Dante Hairan."
"What?"
"I'm just saying. I don't need to tell you this in the first place, but I'm afraid you'll be resentful toward a straight person for no reason after you die."
Ahn's sword beheaded the second in command of Hensirk.
The corpses of the dead magicians lined up behind him, but not a single drop of blood remained on his milky white clothes.
Dante had no intention of killing them immediately.
Just as he pretended to give Tion time to repent and die, he also wanted to give them a chance to contribute to the restoration of the Empire before dying.
It was the imperial family, not Dante, who requested the annihilation of the clans that were on the Emperor's side.
They were trying to create a justification to minimize the impact by cutting off the tail.
Those disgusting mystics valued their own well-being more than the stability of an empire tainted by Chaos.
The imperial family sincerely believed that they needed to be strong for the Empire to return.
They still believed they had the power to achieve it.
Nameless is a neutral assassination sword.
Anyone from any faction could borrow the Nameless Sword, as long as they were qualified and paid a sufficient price.
If the umbrella called "Ron Hairan" had continued to exist in the empire, Nameless would never have accepted the imperial family's request.
The fact that Nameless accepted the imperial family's request was solely because Ron no longer existed.
The Nameless did not accept all the requests assigned by the Imperial Family this time.
They did not accept the assassination request of a single clan from those that were part of the imperial army.
Nameless rejected the imperial family's request to assassinate the remaining leaders of "Ferrell."
It was not exactly a refusal but because the requests "overlapped."
Nameless received the request to protect the Ferrell clan from assassination for the time being before the imperial family's request.
-Kevin Ferrell was trash, but Johncena Ferrell-nim ended up siding with the Imperial Army in favor of the people. Even though that choice was ultimately wrong... As a Knight, as a Warrior. I want to honor Johncena-nim's life. Please protect them from assassination for the time being.
That's how Ferrell was able to preserve his life at the hands of the Nameless Assassins.
And fortunately, those who remained in the Ferrell clan mostly had the same kind of thinking as Johncena Ferrell.
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It has been more than four days since the best Nameless Assassins found Emperor Amir Vermont's hiding place.
Amir Vermont was hiding in an unknown forest in the south of Vermont, and there were no guards or escorts left by his side.
"Hello?"
Yona Runcandel.
Seeing her smile and speak, the Emperor could feel it.
In the end, death had also come for him.