CH 367

Deep into the night.

After a brief walk, Duke Grantz sat quietly in his study.

With the lights turned off in his study, he was lost in thought within the darkness.

He was recalling the conversation he had not long ago, when Owen de Gatmora had paid him a personal visit.

Owen would only come in person for urgent matters, and Duke Grantz agreed that this was one of those times.

Negotiations with the remnants of the demon world.

"They stipulated that instead of you attending the meeting personally, all members of the council must be present. They are well aware of the exact number of council members, so if anyone is absent, there is a high possibility that the negotiations will fail."

"Could it be a trap?"

"However, they have also stated that they will permit any number of escorts."

"Confidence, perhaps?"

"It seems so. They've slaughtered the elite holy knights, including Riverrier Lanze, so they probably believe they can fend off any surprise attack."

He was reminiscing about the meeting with Owen de Gatmora a few days earlier.

"I must say it again, shaking hands with the demons is madness."

"I do think the same, but the majority of the command's opinions have already been unified."

"We don't know what they're thinking, or what their ulterior motives are. We know too little about them to join hands simply because they possess power."

"I deeply agree with your opinion, Your Grace. We can't decide everything on the spot, and the Demon King will not act hastily either. After all, attacking us would be the worst of the worst for them."

There had been ongoing discussions about joining forces with the remnants of the demon world and the next Demon King.

However, due to the difficulty of gathering all the council members in one place, opinions were collected through written correspondence or by people actually going back and forth to relay messages.

The organization was thrown into chaos when they heard that the remnants of the demon world had seized control of the trade guild master.

They couldn't even tell where the demons had sniffed them out from.

However, Owen told them that when the demons first contacted him, they had already identified some of the council members' identities and now knew everyone's.

"We have no choice, Your Grace."

"..."

Joining hands with the demons is the worst of the worst.

Even if the revolution succeeds, it will be suspected of insincerity from the start. Such a revolution cannot be sustained.

However, the demons have already gathered all the information about them.

If they don't join hands, the demons can easily eliminate them all by merely informing the empire about the revolutionary forces.

It's almost as if they should be grateful for the demons' mercy.

At least they're taking action to work together, rather than trying to eliminate the demons without laying a hand on them.

Die at the hands of the empire or ally with a dangerous enemy.

One had to choose between the two.

But at the moment when the demons reached out their hands,

Duke Grantz had already sensed that the revolution had failed.

If the uprising failed, then it was a failure, and if they joined hands with the enemies of humanity and succeeded, there would be no guarantee for the future, so it was still a failure.

There seemed to be no way to avoid failure.

'Is there nothing... I can do?'

According to Owen, a significant number of the organization's leaders welcomed the situation with open arms.

Was this really a situation to be happy about, as their power was increasing?

Duke Grantz was feeling a terrible sense of unease.

Had the revolution failed?

No, was it even possible to succeed in the first place?

Internal factions were divided and argued, conflicts arose between those from the Orbis class and the non-Orbis class members of the organization, and political infighting was rampant within. They had become accustomed to such strife.

A revolutionary organization that had never actually carried out a revolution.

A very old one.

Without a revolution, they merely stifled their breath, rotting from within while growing in size. Could they really have carried out a revolution?

"..."

Duke Grantz left his office and walked down the hallway. No matter how long he pondered, the conclusion had already been reached.

Even without his consent, the organization had made its decision.

Being part of the organization meant that there were times when he had to follow, even if the organization acted against his will.

This was just one of those times.

“What does any of that matter?”

A sharp voice pierced the ear of the Duke, who was walking down the hallway lost in complex thoughts.

He thought she had returned to the temple, but it seemed his daughter had come back.

“I've told you countless times not to mingle with those lowlifes. Now it's not enough to bring a few of them here, you've invited them to have a drinking party? If word of this gets out…”

“And what will you do if it does?”

Hearing the quarrel between mother and daughter, the Duke sighed as if this were a familiar occurrence.

If it weren't for her extreme difficulty in sleeping anywhere but at home, she wouldn't have set foot in the house. The Duke's daughter disliked home, but she found it incredibly difficult to sleep anywhere else.

“You may not care now, but all of this will leave scars on you, don't you understand? Must you experience it firsthand to regret it? Leave the temple immediately and return home! Whether you receive lessons from a nun or call a private tutor, I will take care of everything.”

“Hah. If living like you, after taking lessons from a nun, means having a life like that, then I don't want it even if it's given to me.”

“Wh, what did you just say?”

“If I have to live like you, I'd rather live among commoners like this. At least I don't want to live a life where I step on people like you do.”

The Duke stood in the hallway, unable to intervene or turn away from the conversation, listening to the exchange from afar.

Thanks to the strict confidentiality of the servants, this conversation would not leak outside, but those who needed to know already knew.

They all knew that the Grantz Duchy was a mess.

“Will you run away and marry a commoner, like your father did?”

"You really think that's what I want? To run away and marry a commoner? I'm trying to escape from you, Mother."

The cold voice of the young duchess was met with an even colder response from her mother.

"What... did you say?"

"Father never got what he wanted, and you, Mother, got everything you wanted but still couldn't be happy. So why are you forcing me to live like you?"

"How... how can you say that to your mother?"

From a young age, the daughter had never been one to listen to her mother. But the duchess was no weakling either; among the people the duke knew, she was one of the fiercest.

As the daughter grew older, the conflict between mother and daughter intensified, never weakening.

Knowing that her mother disapproved, the daughter would still bring her friends to the mansion. She knew her mother wouldn't openly criticize her in front of commoners for the sake of appearances.

"Stop treating my friends like that, being so openly discriminatory. If you keep it up, I'll make sure you end up with no child at all, as if I never existed. Be careful."

"You... you! Liana! Don't go in there!"

"Bang!"

Upon slamming the door to her mother's room, Liana's face turned beet red. She encountered the duke in the corridor, who had been listening to their conversation.

"..."

"..."

The daughter didn't scold him for eavesdropping. Instead, she stared at him intently, her eyes twisted with anger.

"My child. Your father is..."

"On my side?"

As the daughter interrupted his words, the duke was left speechless.

"I'm on your side."

It was a phrase he often said.

"Like mother wants me to live the life she lived, father wants me to live the life he couldn't."

Bound by his social status, he couldn't have what he wanted most.

The duke had always encouraged her to live a life where she could pursue her own desires.

But in the end, it was still coercion, even if the meaning of their words was different. Both mother and father were forcing a certain life upon her, and that was no different.

Upon hearing Liana's words, the duke couldn't help but close his mouth in shame.

"I'm sick of both mother and father treating me as the only reason their failed marriage has to continue."

Liana brushed past the duke, her steps quick and determined.

Instead of returning to her room, she left the mansion to head back to the temple. The duke watched her with a bitter smile.

The only reason for their failed marriage to continue: their daughter.

At some point, she had begun to view herself as the miserable outcome of their union.

Did it hurt her to think that way?

Did she realize her life held no more meaning than that?

From time to time, the daughter drank alone and fell asleep.

Countless times, the duke had seen the tear stains left on her sleeping face.

He watched as she strode across the garden, leaving the mansion behind.

The winter night sky was overcast.

------

Two days later.

In the small country of Levaina in the southern part of the empire.

Nighttime.

Duke Grantz moved for a meeting with the next Demon King, who had caused a stir throughout the continent.

It was rare for the leaders of the republican revolutionary organization to gather in one place directly.

This was because it was already somewhat suspicious for those who occupied various sectors of society to gather in one place without a particular reason.

Thus, the general assembly, where all the leaders gather, would not be convened unless there was an extremely important issue.

This was the first time it had been held since the closure of the Orbis Class after the last incident.

The assembly's meeting place was not the imperial capital but one of the merchant guild branches located in the southern part of the continent. It was disguised as a gathering of southern trade business investors of the merchant guild.

Though the Demon King offered to prepare as many escorts as necessary, it couldn't be done.

Duke Grantz only moved with trustworthy knights from his ducal house and family mages. Although they were few in number, Duke Grantz believed that even with this small group, they could escape if the demon remnants had a change of heart, even if they could not directly confront them.

In the southern part of the empire, one of the merchant guild branches was located on the outskirts of the capital of the Kingdom of Levaina, Rajeurn.

They chose a quiet place rather than an overly glamorous location near the city center, as it could attract attention. Naturally, the merchant guild master was the one who had selected the location.

Upon arriving at the meeting room, Duke Grantz saw numerous people who had already arrived.

These were individuals who each held a place in various sectors of society, regardless of their background, including nobles, high-ranking officials, writers, and scholars.

The Demon King had not yet arrived.

While the assembly wasn't held often, they could at least exchange polite greetings under normal circumstances. However, this time it was different.

Now they were preparing for a meeting with the Demon King, who had turned the entire continent upside down.

Whether they agreed or not, everyone's faces showed a mix of anxiety, anticipation, fear, and skepticism, which is why no one dared to speak casually.

The guards could not enter this far.

However, it was clear that everyone had prepared a teleport scroll for emergency escape.

After all seventeen leaders had gathered on time,

Duke Grantz felt slightly puzzled.

The merchant guild master.

Owen de Gatmora was not in his seat.

He was not one of the leaders, but he was responsible for the finances of the revolutionary forces and was a high-ranking officer. Also, since he had directly contacted the Demon King's servant, he should have been present as a liaison.

Soon, the cause of his unease revealed itself.

-Grrrooowwlll!

A sound that should not be heard in the human world began to echo.

"What is... going on?"

One by one, people got up and looked out the window.

-Flash!

-Flash!

As light scattered in the vacant lot, one by one, something began to appear.

Light scattered across the empty lot, and one by one, something began to appear.

Ogres.

Orcs.

Goblins.

Numerous demons, including imps, emerged simultaneously.

Countless demons with reddish glints in their eyes were arriving through spatial teleportation, wrapped in light.

"The demons are here!"

"Could it be that they-"

They had claimed they wanted a negotiation, but was their true intention to attack?

Demons arriving through teleportation began to swarm towards the Merchant Guild branch, the site of the negotiation.

This was an area on the outskirts of the city. They couldn't rely on the help of the guards, and even if the guards arrived as quickly as possible for an attack of this scale, the battle would have already ended by the time they got there.

"Let's run!"

Upon someone's outcry, everyone seemed to have been waiting for the cue, and they all pulled out their teleport scrolls.

They had prepared various methods of escape for emergencies. And this was true for Duke Grantz as well.

Fwsh!

However, the teleport scroll that should have emitted light and transported them somewhere else showed no response.

"Spacial teleportation... blocked?"

Someone muttered in a daze.

The teleport scroll wasn't activating.

But a barrier that blocks spatial teleportation isn't something that can be set up quickly.

Yet, the barrier was clearly present now.

"It's alright. The escorts we've brought should be more than enough to hold off this level of attack. If we can break through and escape the range of the spatial teleportation barrier, we'll be able to move freely."

Although not numerous, the escorts they had brought were the elite of the elite.

Bang! Crash!

Knights and mages, who had rushed out in response to the sudden attack, began to counter the demons with red-tinted eyes.

While the number of demons was indeed large, stopping them shouldn't be too difficult.

The demons had miscalculated. They couldn't possibly wipe out the leaders of the revolutionary forces with just this.

But Duke Grantz felt uneasy.

The spatial magic barrier.

The red-tinted eyes of the demons.

Without any focus.

Rooooar!

Thud! Boom!

They were merely swinging their weapons wildly without any proper grip.

'Mind control...?'

He couldn't shake the thought that the demons had been subjected to some sort of magical intervention.

Of course, the escorts they had brought were not amateurs who would simply stand there and be hit by the wildly swung weapons.

The attacking demons were being slaughtered without even inflicting a scratch.

"What do they take us for?"

Seeing the demons getting overwhelmingly slaughtered after their surprise attack, the leaders spoke with dumbfounded voices.

They weren't all fools.

Although they were fortunate to be winning.

They all knew that this was far too sloppy for a surprise attack.

And then.

Duke Grantz soon discovered who the real enemy was amidst the onslaught of demons.

People dressed in black were swinging their swords from the shadows.

"A knight...?"

Someone's sword was dyed in a dark blue hue.

Aura Blade.

It was the mark of a Swordmaster.

A group containing a Swordmaster, a powerful asymmetrical force even on their own, began to crush their escort forces.

"Are the demons at that level...?"

"No."

Duke Grantz muttered blankly as he watched the escort forces being cut down in the blink of an eye.

"There's no way they're demons..."

The spatial movement was blocked, and along with the demons, numerous veteran knights slaughtered everyone like fallen leaves.

Duke Grantz could find a familiar face among the black-clad figures.

"Saviolin Turner..."

The leader of Shanafel was there.

------

The escort forces were annihilated in an instant.

The attacking demons collapsed right where they were as soon as the escort forces were wiped out, as if they were empty husks.

Thud, thud.

Everyone could hear the footsteps approaching the conference room.

Unable to escape, the black-clad figures revealed themselves one by one in the conference room.

Despite the carnage, there wasn't a single drop of blood on their clothes, displaying their terrifying skills.

No one could flee.

Everyone in this place knew Saviolin Turner's face.

With a calm expression, the leader of Shanafel surveyed the conference room before taking a seat in one of the empty chairs.

"Do you think the Empire was unaware of your existence?"

That was all she calmly said.

The demons hadn't betrayed them.

The place where the spatial movement barrier was set up.

The person who arranged the meeting location.

The person who convinced everyone to gather here.

"Owen... He lured us here."

Owen de Gatmora.

Everyone belatedly realized that he had been lying from the beginning to the end.

Then what was the purpose of the demons' attack?

Duke Grantz gritted his teeth as he stared at Saviolin Turner.

"Don't tell me, you're trying to disguise this as the work of demons...!"

The leadership is here, but the revolutionary forces themselves are scattered everywhere.

Even if the leadership dies, the will for revolution cannot be killed.

"Yes, from now on your organization will be under the control of the Empire. The master of the Merchant Guild will become the leader of the next revolutionary organization."

Duke Grantz didn't know whose outrageous idea it was to utilize the revolutionary forces.

"Within the organization, you will all be treated as having died after negotiations broke down while discussing cooperation with the demonic forces. Of course, externally, it will be treated as death due to an unfortunate attack."

Saviolin Turner explained this much as if she could at least give that to those who were going to die.

And then, She gestured towards the Shanafel knights, who had become assassins rather than knights today.

"Kill them all. Don't leave any external wounds, as we need to manipulate the corpses and signs."

With that cold declaration, one by one, lives began to be snuffed out.