Urgent news reached the Ducal Family of Leston. Caron had tried his hardest to stop Seria, but she'd still contacted them directly.
And in response, the head of the Ducal Family of Leston moved personally. He was one of the core knights of the Golden Generation alongside Caron Leston, and also one of the busiest nobles in the entire empire.
"What in the world happened?" the family head demanded. "Caron, I told you to keep an eye on the kid."
"I already said you didn't have to come," Caron replied.
"Hey, you should be grateful that I picked up that call. If this news had reached Leon's ears, all of us would've been hanging from the gallows," the family head said.
"Well, then how about we just become rebels?" Caron joked.
"You lunatic," the family head muttered.
Leo Leston, the head of the Ducal Family of Leston, had arrived on the scene. It took thirty seconds to travel from Azureocean Castle to the Imperial Garden, and only one minute from the palace to the incident site.
In other words, he'd joined them in barely one and a half minutes.
With him now part of Caron's group, they immediately headed toward the place where Guillotine's traces could be felt.
Seria's expression was tense, but Caron and Leo looked entirely calm. The two simply muttered to each other.
"We absolutely cannot let Leon find out," Caron said.
"Same goes for Uncle Dales. He's about to join the Senate—can you imagine the nagging we'd get?" Leo added.
It was bizarre how neither of them worried about Halo at all.
Seria exhaled deeply and said, "You two really should be concerned about His Highness. He's only seven years old."
Leo widened his eyes and replied, "How is he just seven? Normal seven-year-olds don't beat wild beasts to death with their bare hands. Was it a tiger?"
"He took down five tigers," Caron corrected.
"Not to mention he awakened Azure Mana even though he's not part of the Leston bloodline. Awakening is supposed to happen at ten..." Leo continued.
"He could probably beat a 7-star knight," Caron added.
Halo Karien had been absurd from birth.
He was a royal descended from demonic blood—essentially the same as the Ducal Family of Leston in that regard. And he had been bathed in the Dew of the World Tree the moment he was born. Moreover, he'd regularly consumed it afterward, along with anything else beneficial for mana that he could get his hands on.
The result was the monster known as Halo Karien.
"No joke, he's probably three or four times stronger than I was at seven," Caron said.
Seria's face went pale, then asked, "...Is it really that bad?"
"Yes, it'd be hard for him to surpass Caron, but he'll definitely overtake me before adulthood. Halo's a monster beyond explanation. Seriously, how is that even possible? Was he reincarnated or something?" Leo said.
Leo still had no idea Caron was Cain reincarnated. If he was that oblivious, there was no way he could guess Halo's true identity.
Caron smoothly redirected the topic and remarked, "Maybe it's just destiny in his name?"
"No, honestly, even our grandfather wasn't—well, at this point, what more is there to say? He's already surpassed every growth record," Leo replied.
In short, even if Halo were thrown onto a battlefield alone, he would return after destroying everything by himself. Unless they were elite knights, kidnappers wouldn't stand a chance.
"And he even brought Guillotine with him," Caron added.
"What? He really took Guillotine?" Leo asked.
"Guillotine was fully charged with mana too. You'd need a whole squadron of 7-Star knights to handle Halo in that state," Caron answered.
Guillotine was, for all practical purposes, a demonic sword. It was even easy to wield. And it already knew Halo Karien was the reincarnation of Halo Leston.
The only thing Halo lacked was total mana quantity. But even that was relative—he certainly had far more mana than a seven-year-old should ever have possessed.
Boom!
"It sounds like we're almost there," Caron said.
Before they knew it, they'd reached the slums on the outskirts of the capital. Even with the empire flourishing, the slums had never disappeared. Though compared to before, various welfare programs had improved conditions somewhat.
Booooom!
And right in the middle of those slums, explosive roars kept thundering without pause. That was the sound of Azure Mana exploding outward again and again.
Without a doubt, it was Halo's handiwork.
This brat... Does he even try to hide his power? Caron thought.
The kidnappers had truly chosen the worst possible target.
But at that moment, Seria raised a sharp point. "Caron. Normally, if there was an overwhelming power difference, the battle would look clean, wouldn't it?"
"Well, usually," Caron admitted.
"For His Highness to be releasing mana so wildly..." Seria trailed off.
"It probably means that these aren't ordinary kidnappers. The equipment they used was already unusual, right? Average kidnappers can't afford tools like that," Caron finished Seria's sentence.
The kidnappers were professionals. And considering they'ad used artifacts engraved with high-level magic, this was no ordinary organization. Naturally, they would also have capable fighters among them.
Caron reached into his pouch of dimensional space and casually pulled out a sword. It was a sacred blade from the Holy Kingdom, a masterpiece their royal craftsmen had forged specifically for him.
"If Halo's already had his fun, we should probably head in," Caron said. "I'm curious as to what kind of idiots could pull this off."
Leo sighed heavily and drew his own sword, Rigor; Seria pulled out her gauntlets and slipped them over her hands.
"You're using those instead of your war-mace these days?" Caron asked.
"This feels better in the hand," Seria replied.
"Well, everyone's got preferences," Caron said.
Prepared at last, the three sprinted toward the place where the mana was raging.
***
Cromwell, the leader of the kidnappers, could only blink at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
"...Ah." Only that dry sound escaped his lips.
The situation was simply too unbelievable. There were bodies strewn everywhere. And yet, no one had attacked them from outside. The one who'd created this horrific scene stood right in front of him.
"What... What in the world...?" Cromwell managed to say.
He wondered who that small child was, and wondered if it was a devil pretending to be a human.
In this room clogged with corpses and blood, only a boy who looked barely seven stood in silence.
This wasn't a dream. The metallic sting of blood filling Cromwell's nose, the icy killing intent scraping along his skin—everything screamed that this was painfully real.
He wondered where things had gone wrong. They had just assumed this child was the young heir of some noble family. The plan was simple: Gather information, extort some money, and send him back unharmed.
Unlike commoners, nobles' children had to be handled with far more caution, especially those from prestigious families. If they ever killed a noble child, knights would hunt them to the ends of the earth.
"H-How... How did this..." Cromwell stuttered.
He had only intended to ask the boy which family he came from. Scare him a little, take the money, and escape quickly. But they'd never even been given that chance.
The monster trapped inside the iron cage had somehow acquired a sword and sliced the bars apart. Then, without hesitation, he'd slaughtered every one of Cromwell's comrades inside the hideout. Nearly twenty trained men were eliminated in barely five seconds.
"Honestly, this came at the perfect time. Thanks," the boy—no, the young demon—said, smiling as if he was grateful. "I was going crazy, stuck in the Imperial Palace all day. And then you lot came along and kidnapped me? What a coincidence. I'm grateful to you to the point of insanity."
His words were surreal. His tone was even worse.
Cromwell replayed those words in his mind. ...The Imperial Palace?
Now that he looked closely, the young boy had black hair, blue eyes, and an immature frame.
There was only one person in the Imperial Family with blue eyes. It was Halo Karien. He was a prince, and the child was clearly destined to be named Crown Prince.
Cromwell had once glimpsed him from afar during an imperial procession. So he wondered why in the world the prince had been wandering without guards and gotten kidnapped, and what this monstrous power he displayed was.
It was beyond comprehension.
Cromwell wished desperately that it was a dream, but such wishes had no place here.
"Trafficking children... Whose brilliant idea was that? Fresh, sure—so fresh you can smell it," Halo spat.
Whoosh!
There had never been rumors of the prince wielding this kind of power. Plus, two of the men he killed here were 5-Star fighters.
Cromwell wondered if he could survive this. Then he swallowed hard and fidgeted with the watch on his wrist.
I already sent the emergency signal, he thought.
The watch had a hidden alert function. One press connected him to their organization's higher-ups. There were powerful figures, including mages, backing this entire business. Surely they would do something.
They won't want their involvement exposed either...
He needed to stall for time. Which was why Cromwell made his choice.
Thud .
Cromwell dropped to his knees, begging pathetically for his life. "Y-Your Highness! We—We never intended to kidnap you, not truly!"
"It sounds like you mean you would have kidnapped me if I weren't a prince," Halo said flatly.
"That's, uh—" Cromwell began, but was cut off.
"You probably know exactly why I only left you alive," Halo interrupted.
Halo Karien was seven years old.
Cromwell wondered why a seven-year-old boy was radiating killing intent like this. The dark blue sword in his hand exuded a terror so overwhelming it felt as if it would sever Cromwell's head the moment Halo wished it.
"From now on, answer everything I ask without hiding anything," Halo demanded.
Step.
The prince began walking toward him.
Cromwell nodded frantically and said, "Ask anything. Anything at all. What I know—I'll tell you—"
"You pressed the button, didn't you?" Halo asked.
"...P-Pardon?" Cromwell stuttered.
"The button on your watch. When you press it, the people backing you come to rescue you, right?" Halo pointed out.
Cold dread rippled through Cromwell.
No one had talked about the prince having this kind of power. Even after seeing it, the fact that Halo had kept Cromwell alive could only mean one thing. It probably meant that he intended to capture the reinforcements in one sweep as well.
Cromwell wasn't foolish enough to miss what the prince was implying. He wondered what he could do to be able to survive.
The answer had long been obvious.
"I-I don't know the highest bosses," Cromwell answered quickly. "I only know that this business—"
"Business?" Halo interrupted, narrowing his eyes.
"W-We call it a business. We kidnap children and either extort money or force their parents to... to do certain work for us. When a child is held hostage, most parents obey without question..." Cromwell explained.
"So what you're saying is that you're involved not only in kidnapping, but in other crimes as well?" Halo asked.
"Y-Yes. That's right. We also have an armed division—former mercenaries and ex-soldiers..." Cromwell continued.
"So it's essentially a criminal organization. Understood," Halo said. His blue eyes lit with a cold gleam.
As expected, these weren't simple kidnappers. This was something far larger.
A group with this level of manpower and funding had to be entangled with politics. Even if the city guards were stretched thin, operating openly in the capital required political backing.
This was an era where people said that politics had shifted from status to money. And unfortunately, there were countless men who would do anything for money.
It was what the empire called a corporate-style crime syndicate.
I heard that they copied Caligo's model, Halo thought.
Caligo, once an underground group in Thebe, had risen to legitimate status thanks to the emperor and the Ducal Family of Leston. It had become the role model all criminal organizations now aspired to imitate. To gather money, win over politicians, and step into the legal world.
Revelio was too busy to deal with this, but from Halo's perspective, it was a crisis waiting to explode.
So he intended to uproot them now.
The method was simple. Halo only needed to make an example of the group Cromwell belonged to. After all, punishment worked better than mercy.
"Hmm... They should be arriving soon," Halo murmured with a calm glance toward the door.
And at that moment...
Kwaaang!
The door exploded into fragments, and three figures stepped inside.
"Halo, you know you're not supposed to wander around without permission. If Leon hears about this, we're all dead," Caron Leston said as he entered with a grin, waving casually at the boy.
"Uncle," Halo said.
"No matter how bored you were, who lets themselves get kidnapped on purpose?" Caron asked.
Cromwell sucked in a sharp breath as he saw the newcomers.
It was Caron Leston, the continent's greatest hero. And behind him stood Leo Leston, head of the Ducal Family of Leston, along with the empire's Grand Saintess.
Caron's reputation was famous. It was so famous that in Cromwell's line of work it had turned into a legend.
"Never touch the Mad Dog of the Ducal Family of Leston."
If one did, their entire bloodline would be turned to ashes. And the legendary Mad Dog was smiling at him—smiling like a predator.
Time passed in suffocating silence.
Flaaash!
A blinding flash filled the hideout, and soldiers materialized from the burst of light.
"Cromwell, we received your distress signal—" a mage began, but couldn't finish their sentence.
The mage was part of the group. But the moment they locked eyes with Caron's party, they froze in terror.
Caron lifted a hand and cheerfully waved at them, saying, "Welcome. First time in hell, right?"
"Uncle, I call dibs on half," Halo said.
"Now, now," Caron replied, clicking his tongue. "Kids don't talk back to their elders."
"What are you saying, you ancient fossil?" Halo shot back.
"...I'm not old enough to be called a fossil," Caron protested.
"If you're older than me, you're a fossil. Just accept it. Why do you keep arguing? It's annoying," Halo said.
"I swear His Majesty and Her Majesty must have raised you like a wild beast. You've got no manners," Caron said.
"Mm. But I'm your nephew. You helped raise me too," Halo snapped.
"Unbelievable. Your mental age really is seven," Caron said.
"Yours is too, Uncle," Halo added.
The two mad dogs stood side by side, smiling radiantly at the prey that had walked willingly into their den.