Chapter 312
Perhaps sensing Evan’s murderous intent, Mekel gritted his teeth.
“You bastard…!! How dare you!!”
Ruuuuummmble!!
The air itself trembled.
He was about to unleash a spatial technique.
Sword Wind Chaos (劍風亂麻).
A spiritual technique that combined aura blades to create a storm of sword energy.
A rapid spatial technique.
Speed that transcended the laws of reality.
But that wasn’t all.
Sword Chain Collapse Formation (劍鎖崩陣).
A spiritual spatial technique that formed a sword barrier to crush the opponent.
The crowd watching gasped in awe at the sight of him deploying two spiritual spatial techniques simultaneously.
Then Evan moved his sword.
‘The “Piercing Strike” spatial technique Christian showed me recently.’
Piercing Strike was a spatial technique that pierced through the core of an opponent’s attack.
Truly, a ridiculous technique worthy of Christian.
‘I can’t manifest that exact spatial technique, but I can imitate it.’
Sharp Sword (銳劍).
Evan’s spatial technique that ignored any defense by transcending the laws.
He stared at the spiritual spatial techniques flying toward him.
Not at the visible phenomena, but through to their essence, their core.
Because Mekel had deployed two spatial techniques at once, there was a gap.
‘Now!’
Fshhhhhh!
“Gahk!”
Evan’s spatial technique sliced through the cores of the incoming spiritual spatial techniques, and Mekel spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Lord Soga!!”
“D-Danger!”
The retainers shouted, but it was too late.
Evan surged forward.
Mekel’s face pale as death, he swung his sword wildly.
Screech.
Mekel’s sword-wielding hand was severed and flew off.
“!!”
Thud!
But Evan didn’t stop there—he struck Mekel’s core precisely.
Mekel coughed up blood and was sent flying backward, collapsing.
His core was completely destroyed, leaving him a cripple.
“…….”
Silence fell over the hall.
Everyone was too shocked to speak.
But only for a moment.
“Lord Soga!!”
“That bastard, Evan!! How dare he harm Lord Soga!!”
The retainers of the swordsmanship clan drew their swords.
But Evan didn’t even flinch.
“He’s a criminal who dared to block the hero’s path. It’s only right to execute him. You should kneel before the hero and pay your respects.”
“You bastard, Evan!! Are you insane?!”
The retainers charged, but—fshhh!—an aura blade blocked their way.
It was Christian.
“That’s enough. Lay down your weapons immediately, or I will consider you enemies of the hero and punish you accordingly.”
“Don’t spout nonsense!!”
The swordsmanship clan was not one to obey the hero’s words so easily.
They launched fierce attacks.
‘Good. This is the perfect chance to purge the swordsmanship clan.’
The retainers charging now, including the fallen Mekel, were pests within the clan.
Drunk on greed, they had wielded the clan’s power recklessly, causing massive damage to the alliance.
Because of them, despite the clan’s overwhelming strength, they had only been a burden during the era of ruin, holding the alliance back.
‘Above all, Evan must take control of the swordsmanship clan. I have to wipe them all out while I have the chance.’
If Evan took over the clan, they would become a useful asset for him.
As he prepared to move, Evan spoke nonsense again.
“Thank you.”
“…Huh?”
“You’re trying to deal with them to repay my grudge, aren’t you?”
“…No, that’s not it.”
It seemed he had misread Evan’s intentions through his flawed clairvoyance, thinking he wanted to make Evan the clan head and use him.
‘…How badly broken is that clairvoyance? Its accuracy is almost zero.’
Evan shook his head and firmly pointed his sword.
“Revenge is over now. I have other goals.”
“…What goals?”
“You’ll see if you watch me.”
He lunged forward.
He wasn’t alone.
Kraak!
Earth claws burst from the ground, grabbing the retainers’ ankles.
“I’ll help too, sister.”
Yurian smiled brightly, then spirit-formed and vanished.
Though Yurian’s level was a bit lower at six stars, her spirit magic was infinitely versatile.
Her surprise interference created openings among the retainers, and neither Chris nor Evan missed the chance.
The fight ended quickly.
The retainers were strong, but their opponents were stronger.
Chris and Evan were both at the highest seven-star level.
With Yurian’s spirit magic added, the outcome was one-sided.
‘…But Evan’s a bit rough with his hands. Is it okay for the original hero to be like this?’
Chris had subdued them by simply neutralizing their cores, but everyone Evan faced either lost their lives or were left maimed.
“They’re all obstacles in your path anyway. Better to root them out completely.”
“…Agreed.”
Chris looked at the White Tiger Corps officers.
They were at best five stars, with the strongest at six, so they hadn’t joined the fight and stood frozen.
“Clear the way.”
“!!”
Chris’s voice was stern.
“In the name of the hero, we will investigate whether the Third Prince worships demons.”
News of the hero’s move spread swiftly to the palace.
“…The hero is going to investigate the Third Prince?”
The Second Prince asked gravely.
“Yes. It seems the hero has sensed some demonic presence in the Third Prince.”
“Of course! I always suspected that cunning Third Prince was in league with demons.”
The nobles supporting the Second Prince buzzed excitedly.
If the Third Prince was exposed as a demon worshiper and disgraced, the throne would unquestionably pass to the Second Prince.
But the Second Prince’s reaction was strange.
“…Everyone, stand down.”
“Your Highness?”
“I said stand down!”
Everyone looked puzzled but cautiously withdrew.
“Damn it!”
There was a reason for the Second Prince’s intense reaction.
‘Even if they investigate the Third Prince, no evidence will be found. I’m the one who made a deal with the Four Kings’ Palace.’
An astonishing revelation.
The most likely heir to the throne, the Second Prince, was the one colluding with the Four Kings’ Palace!
Even the nobles who supported him didn’t know.
If it were revealed, he’d be burned at the stake.
‘Before the hero targets me, I must receive the succession rights from the Crown Prince and ascend the throne.’
He had already pulled strings with the help of the Four Kings’ Palace.
The head of the Cursed Magic family, the Wraith, had cursed the Crown Prince, breaking his will and bending him to their control.
The problem was time.
He was anxious, fearing the hero might catch him at any moment.
‘I can’t just wait around.’
The Second Prince’s eyes gleamed coldly.
He drew his sword and stood.
“Where are you going?”
“To see the Crown Prince.”
“What? But the Crown Prince is currently bedridden.”
Because of the curse.
It disguised itself as illness, weakening the body and exploiting the mind’s vulnerabilities to force submission.
In other words, the Crown Prince was physically and mentally devastated.
If pressed further, he would relinquish his claim to the throne.
“The throne is mine.”
A chilling light flashed in the Second Prince’s eyes.
The Third Prince, Lauren, remained calm even after hearing Chris’s declaration at the banquet.
‘I’m innocent.’
Of course, behind the scenes, he had committed all sorts of corruption, misdeeds, and tyranny as a prince, but he swore he had never allied with demons.
‘This is actually a blessing for me.’
He suspected the Second Prince was the one colluding with the Four Kings’ Palace.
Though he had no proof, he was certain.
‘Thanks to that hero bastard, the throne will come back to me. Heh heh. So the bear does the trick, but I get the fun, huh?’
So when he heard the hero was causing a scene at his private palace, he wasn’t worried.
But then.
A nightmare unfolded before his eyes.
“You will explain these items.”
The hero laid several objects on the table.
All were items used in demon worship, found in the Third Prince’s private palace.
“I-I don’t know anything about this! Why would these be here?!”
The Third Prince protested, genuinely aggrieved, but no one believed him.
“This ‘Ashen Ivory’ is a sacrificial offering used to request a death from demons. The time it was used coincides with the death of your rival, Count Lavacle. Are you saying you don’t know anything?”
“T-That’s… just a coincidence!”
“Even though we have documents proving you ordered Count Lavacle’s assassination, you deny it?”
It was true the Third Prince had arranged the count’s murder.
‘But I never ordered demons to do it! I just hired the Assassin’s Guild!’
There was more.
“This is a sacrificial offering used to call upon demons to cause natural disasters. It coincides with the flood that struck the Barion territory, which opposed your faction.”
“N-No! I never did that!”
He was truly innocent of that.
He might have cursed the flood himself, but he never prayed to demons!
The problem was the hero had secured letters he sent to his faction nobles containing such requests.
The hero pressed him relentlessly.
“At that time, there was a large-scale disappearance nearby. Did you use those people as human sacrifices?”
“H-Human sacrifices?! Absolutely not!”
“Despite the overwhelming evidence, you continue to deny it. Your guilt only deepens. Of course, even with the crimes revealed so far, you won’t escape the stake.”
“No! No, it’s not true!!”
His face was full of genuine anguish.
He was innocent, so his pain was understandable.
But how could the evidence fit so perfectly?
‘Because I framed him.’
Chris smiled quietly to himself.
In his previous life, he had been the last emperor of the Karn Empire.
Laurent, the former emperor and third prince, was fully aware of every corruption and wrongdoing he had committed since his days as a prince—information only the emperor was allowed to access.
Using that knowledge, he had cleverly fabricated and planted false evidence of demon worship.
He had hidden signs of demon worship all over the secondary palace, relying on Yurian’s skill with elemental magic and covert operations.
“I—I’m not! This is… nonsense…”
The third prince took a step back, his face drained of color.
He instinctively knew there was no way to avoid being burned at the stake.
Then, suddenly, anger flared, and he raised his voice.
“I swear, I’m innocent! You—you! If you’re truly a hero, shouldn’t you seek the real truth?! Someone’s clearly framing me…!”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“Exactly! This has to be the work of my second brother’s conspiracy…! Huh? What did you say?”
“I said I believe this is a setup.”
The third prince blinked in surprise.
Chris examined the evidence laid out before him.
“First of all, the demon worship signs were placed way too blatantly around the palace. It’s like they wanted me to find them.”
“…”
Ruina, who had followed along, shot Chris a look that clearly said, This is all your doing—what kind of scheme is this?
Everything’s part of the plan.
Yes, trapping the third prince like this was intentional.
And offering him a lifeline again was all calculated.
Chris met the third prince’s gaze with a solemn expression, following through with the plan.
“Above all, my hero’s intuition tells me Your Highness is not someone who would worship demons.”
“…”
The third prince looked dazed for a moment.
Then, as if moved, tears welled up in his eyes.
Usually, after being beaten down, a helping hand would inspire such emotion.
“Y-Yeah! I really am innocent! Thank you for believing me. You truly are a genuine hero.”