Chapter 87
Chapter 87
The sight of the city spread out below from the ridgeline was nothing short of pandemonium.
Fires raged all throughout the city, and pitch-black smoke rose endlessly.
People screamed as they scattered in all directions, while armed forces swung their blades and slaughtered one another.
This was absolutely not a scale that could be called terrorism.
It would be more accurate to say that the Anti-Imperial Faction had outright risen in rebellion.
‘Was the throne their objective.’
Grinding my teeth at the fact that I had been completely deceived, I reflected on my mistake.
I had been trapped by the preconceived notion that a man of the stature of Sword Marshal General Isaac would have no reason to lie to me, and I had too easily accepted his words and judged the situation based on them.
“This way, the losses will be enormous.”
Still, my doubts remained.
Even if the rebellion succeeded, those at its center would be figures from the Anti-Imperial Faction.
It was obvious that the existing royal forces and the citizens would not look kindly upon them.
No matter how much weight the name of the Sword Marshal General carried, it would be difficult to suppress all backlash.
I urged my horse forward toward the castle in order to enter the capital.
Perhaps because the rebellion had erupted from within, security around the castle was extremely tight.
Several times the usual number of soldiers stood guard atop the walls with sharp spears in hand, and the castle gate—which should have been wide open—was firmly shut, denying all entry.
“I am from the Ribera Empire—.”
“Who you are is irrelevant! This kingdom is currently under a declared state of war! If you approach any further, we will attack!”
A commander who appeared to be the captain of the gate guards declared this to me with a solemn face, allowing no exceptions.
Seeing the soldiers peering over the walls, it looked as though they would loose arrows or hurl stones at a moment’s notice if the order were given.
As such, I said nothing more, turned my horse around, and retreated.
‘Breaking through head-on wouldn’t be difficult, but.’
Doing so would only invite further chaos.
If it were misunderstood that the Anti-Imperial Faction’s supporting forces had breached the gate, it would have a major negative impact on this situation.
‘Will this work.’
Climbing back up to the ridgeline, I dismounted from the horse I had ridden in on and gave its rump a pat.
It let out a single snort before disappearing into the forest, and I took a light deep breath and whispered quietly.
“[O existence erased from the world, I earnestly beseech you, following your footprints, allow me to chase after you, Invisible].”
As I recited the incantation—no less than four verses long—the mana within my body began to drain away rapidly.
It soon enveloped my body, blending me into the surrounding scenery as my original colors were erased.
“Did it work.”
I smiled at that.
According to what was displayed in the status window, I had reached the level of a Fourth Class Master in magic.
However, the Invisible spell was originally something that could only be used from the Fifth Class onward.
I had wondered if reaching the realm of Sword Mastery might have some effect on my magical aptitude as well, and it seemed that was indeed the answer.
My form vanished in an instant, as if I had thrown on a transparent cloak.
However, sounds and presence remained as they were—it seemed to erase only my visible appearance, quite literally.
‘That’s not a problem.’
I dashed forward just like that and once again stood before the castle.
The soldiers on guard naturally failed to notice me.
Still, perhaps distracted by the commotion unfolding inside the city, they kept glancing about with uneasy expressions, fidgeting with their hands.
Sssssh-.
I climbed straight up the castle wall and leapt between them.
I had never imagined that the assassin’s movements I learned from Alice would be used in this way, but the fact that no one noticed me suggested it was more effective than expected.
“……?”
When a knight clad in gleaming armor stopped in front of me and tilted his head slightly, cold sweat ran down my back.
Soon enough, though, he seemed to conclude it was just his imagination and went on his way.
I passed safely through the entrance and stepped into the city.
“Do not fall back! The kingdom’s army will move soon!”
The outskirts of the city were so deserted you couldn’t find even a rat, but moving just a little further inside revealed fierce fighting underway.
Those who appeared to be soldiers of the Kingdom of Demedrio were desperately holding the alleys leading toward the center, fighting on despite being at a disadvantage.
However, the Anti-Imperial Faction had greater numbers, and among them were individuals of skill not easily seen.
“They’re truly insane bastards.”
It made no sense for terrorists to possess forces stronger than a regular army.
That meant they were receiving help from foreign powers.
When I had spoken with Isaac at the Academy, he had said that the Anti-Imperial Faction was widely spread across the continent.
That meant those here now must have received their support.
‘But there’s no way they helped out of pure goodwill.’
In fact, among those collapsed on the streets were not only soldiers but many civilians as well.
Normally, when a rebellion broke out, the standard was to avoid harming anyone other than hostile forces, but these bastards showed no sign of restraint.
“…….”
This flow of events had not existed in the original work either.
This, too, must have been triggered by me—an irregular.
Isaac pretended to try to win me over while joining hands with Darius to set his sights on the Kingdom of Demedrio.
If they succeeded in usurping the throne, it would greatly help Darius compete with his older brother Carius for the imperial seat.
My grip tightened around the hilt of my sword.
Stepping forward slowly, I headed toward the center of the battlefield where the kingdom’s soldiers and the Anti-Imperial Faction were clashing.
“What’s this, a pretty boy who looks like a kept man?”
One Anti-Imperial soldier with a massive, hulking frame looked down at me with a vile grin.
Judging by the thick stench of blood he carried, he seemed like nothing more than a man who reveled in slaughter.
The others around him burst into raucous laughter upon seeing me standing there.
The kingdom’s soldiers were unable to leave their positions to maintain the front line, and with pitiful expressions they shouted for me to hurry and run this way.
“Disgusting.”
Trash who sought to satisfy their own greed by exploiting chaos.
Excalibur was far too noble a thing to use to take the heads of such filth.
So I sheathed it at my waist and picked up a chipped sword lying forlornly beside a corpse sprawled on the ground.
“Trying to resist, are you? If you surrender quietly, this big brother here might give you something ni—?”
Slash.
With a light swing of the blade, it severed the giant’s neck with absurd ease.
Without even realizing he had met his death, his head and neck separated, and his body collapsed onto the ground.
“W-what.”
After that, it was one-sided slaughter.
I extinguished the lives of every last one of the Anti-Imperial bastards, leaving not a single survivor.
When I turned my body in the center of the battlefield, thick with the stench of blood, I saw the kingdom’s soldiers flinch.
“Do your utmost to rescue the civilians. The uprising of the Anti-Imperial Faction will soon come to an end.”
“Th-then, who are you?”
When I calmly told them so, the man who looked like the commander asked in a trembling voice.
At that, I flicked my sword slightly and spoke.
“Knowing will get you hurt.”
When it was revealed that Isaac’s goal was the throne, I erased my impatience and slightly postponed my return to the Academy.
Since he was aiming for the king, the bastard wouldn’t be able to easily lay a hand on the people there.
Especially while holding hands with Darius, he wouldn’t make the blunder of provoking an imperial figure.
I went around the city as is, focusing on killing members of the Anti-Imperial Faction that I encountered.
At times, I clashed and stood off with the kingdom’s army, but perhaps rumors quickly spread, because most of them showed signs of wanting to cooperate with and request help from me.
And then, when I alone stepped into the final district, where I felt an ominous presence, I was reunited with familiar faces.
“Hey, Your Highness Leios. Long time no see, yeah?”
The clowns I had met on the street before grinned widely as they looked at me.
However, it didn’t seem like they had come specifically targeting me.
Seeing that each of them was carrying luggage, it looked like I had coincidentally run into them just as they were about to leave the capital.
“So you knew everything from the start.”
“Tricking one kid who thinks he’s smart is nothing.”
“So, how does it feel to have fallen for it completely?”
They snickered and mocked me as if I wasn’t even worth considering.
In response, I smiled and answered.
“It feels absolutely filthy.”
I quickly swept my surroundings with my eyes.
Back then, there had been two clowns, but at some point it had increased to five.
All of them exuded momentum at least at the level of Sword Expert (Intermediate), which explained why they could remain so relaxed with me in front of them.
“So then, how about it, that proposal from last time?”
“You won’t become emperor anyway. You’ll either die or be driven out—one of the two.”
“Why not join hands with us? We’re far more than what you think……”
They clung to me, telling me to join hands with them.
But I thinly curled the corner of my lips and cut them off.
“I have no intention of joining hands with vermin who have given up being human. You filthy Majin bastards.”
“…….”
At my words, the surrounding air sank.
At the same time, their eyes turned pitch-black as they shot looks sharp enough to pierce me.
“Who… are you?”
A completely different attitude and atmosphere from just moments ago.
At that, I shrugged and replied.
“You know as much as that I’m the Empire’s Third Imperial Prince, Leios von Ribera, don’t you? You didn’t seriously think you were the only ones I fooled, did you? Truly, you’re nothing but fools.”
This time, when I let out a mocking laugh, their faces hardened.
And that was only natural—until now, the Majin had thoroughly concealed their identities and operated only beneath the surface.
Then suddenly, in a place like this, their exact nature had been pinpointed by me out of nowhere.
It was only reasonable for them to be flustered.
“…I don’t recall ever doing anything that would leave such a trail.”
“Of course not. I figured it out myself. And naturally, I’m the only one who knows this fact.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“As you know, given my situation, I don’t have many on my side.”
“…You really have a pretty way of saying that all you have to do is kill us.”
The five Majin revealed their true colors.
They had been just about to leave the capital, but since I knew their identities, they must have decided that tolerating a bit of commotion was acceptable.
Shing.
I planted the chipped sword I had been holding into the ground and drew Excalibur from my waist.
Seeing that, they laughed in unison and spoke toward me.
“We know you’re hiding your strength. But with that level of skill, you can’t take all of us on.”
At those words, I too quietly returned a smile.
Certainly, in the past, at best I would have managed to kill two or three of those five before perishing together with them.
But now, it was different.
Pababababat-!
Five sharp streams of killing intent surged in.
At that, without any particular difficulty, I swung the Excalibur I was holding.
Slash.
A single slash was etched into the air.
Yet the Majin who had attacked me looked down at their own bodies as if they couldn’t believe it.
With strength alone at the level of Sword Master, I could easily crush them.
And on top of that, the holy sword Excalibur in my grasp was the worst possible antithesis to those who worshiped evil.
Though Majin boasted vitality close to immortality, when cut by this sword, sacred flames blossomed from the wound and burned them away, until in the end not even a trace of their form remained.
Four of the Majin had their lives severed in an instant, disappearing into the void without leaving even dust behind.
I stepped on the stomach of the last one, who was barely clinging to life while gasping for breath, and aimed the tip of my sword at his neck.
“Even if you kill us here, we’ll just be revived again in that person’s embrace anyway.”
The Majin, whose entire body was being burned away by sacred flames, hurled curses at me, as if something about it was amusing.
When Majin died, their souls, according to their contracts, returned to the demon race they were bound to.
Then, after obtaining new bodies, they were revived as underlings—such was the system.
But I shook my head and told him.
“No, you won’t come back.”
“…What?”
“This is a holy sword. You’ve heard of it, right? Excalibur.”
A divine sword of salvation that annihilated evil and slew wickedness.
All things belonging to them, including the demon race and those bound to it, were completely erased from this world when their lives were severed by Excalibur.
“…….”
Seeing the aura dwelling in Excalibur, his eyes wavered as he realized my words were not a lie, and fear settled over his face.
At that, the Majin desperately shouted and begged me.
“Information! I’ll give you information! About us—things no one else knows……!”
Thud.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I cut off his neck.
As he was dying, he looked at me with eyes that couldn’t comprehend it.
“Wh- why…!”
“I don’t need it.”
When I shrugged as if to say I already knew everything, his eyes widened.
Then, without even a chance to spit out another word, he turned to ash and scattered into the void.
“Wait just a little. I’ll send the others after you, one by one.”
Ah, since all five went together already, I suppose they won’t be lonely?