Chapter 55

Retribution (2)

Inside the lord’s castle of the Aslan Ducal Territory, where the eldest son, Damian Aslan, resided, the surroundings were tightly encircled by heavily fortified guards.

Of course, with the overwhelming size of the duchy, there was never a shortage of able-bodied men, so it was always easy to draw from military resources. All the more so now, when everyone’s nerves were sharpened to a razor’s edge.

“The movements on the other side.” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

By the other side, he meant his younger sister, who was still watching for an opening to cut off his breath.

When he raised such a question during the regular meeting, one of the retainers, who had been glancing around anxiously, quickly stepped forward and handed him a document.

As Damian Aslan swept his cold and merciless eyes down the paper, the retainer who had handed it over stumbled over his words to explain.

“A cowardly response. Very much like Liza.”

Considering Damian’s usual temperament, that was a natural reaction.

A competent commander, an outstanding warrior, and in inverse proportion to that, a terrifying degree of arrogance and dogmatism.

Unfortunately, he was the kind of tyrant whose ability could back up his behavior, making him all the more difficult to deal with.

“So, the plan for the attack?”

At those words, the retainers immediately began exchanging uneasy glances.

A declaration that he would, without the slightest hesitation, turn the family feud into a bloodbath—that much was one thing. But the matter staring them directly in the face was—

“…Young Lord, the Night of the Hunt is upon us. Are you certain? If our forces are divided, this territory itself will be at risk.”

“Even if the beasts come, they won’t make it as far as the inner keep.”

“But the civilians in the outer city—”

The retainer who had been about to speak fell silent at once.

The expression on Damian’s face made his intent all too clear.

—Do I need to care about something like that?

Even if civilians were attacked, not all of them would die.

To Damian, the lives of commoners simply did not carry any value beyond that.

Whether they lived or died, in peaceful times he could just repopulate the land again.

They were people to him no different from livestock—only numbers to be replenished.

But if he did not seize the ducal title now, there would never again be another chance.

“While Liza is cowering, this is the opportunity. We’ll wipe out her foundation in one strike.”

“…As you command.”

“Proceed without leaving a gap.”

And then—

As Damian and his retainers exchanged such words, someone suddenly flung open the office door and burst inside, gasping for breath.

It was a soldier, his entire body covered in dust and soot, as though he had just come straight from the center of a battlefield.

Damian frowned at the sight.

“…What is that state you’re in? What happened?”

“The territory is under attack!”

“…”

Everyone in the room froze, their expressions turning blank at once.

An attack? What attack?

In the very heart of the duchy?

“What in the world do you mean? An attack? Who on earth would dare such a thing?”

“Uh, that is…”

The soldier hesitated for a moment.

His expression made it clear how ridiculous and embarrassing he found the words he was about to say.

“…Two women and one man.”

“…”

“They’re just about to enter the inner keep, Young Lord.”

A dreadful silence swelled and spread thickly through the office.

“…So, you’re telling me.”

Damian blinked blankly, before finally forcing words out of his mouth.

“That the duchy is right now being crushed by only three people, and the inner keep is about to fall?”

“…”

Unfortunately.

The soldier’s silence was as good as a resounding confirmation.

▣

“Stop, stop, stop! Move and you’ll be attaaaAAARGH—!”

The soldier who had been pointing his gun this way collapsed on the spot, struck on the forehead by a rock the size of a fist.

The result of Noel, who had been walking along casually, kicking up something off the roadside and tossing it lightly.

The soldier must have felt safe, being armed with a sword and standing at least a hundred meters away. But for the Empire’s greatest knight, even a simple stone was lethal within that range.

“Raise shields! No matter what, don’t let them into the inner kee—GRAAAAHH!”

The squad leader who had been rallying the men was suddenly hurled into the air along with his soldiers.

Katya, who had summoned divine flame on the spot, had unleashed a violent storm of fire that swept them all away, sending them tumbling and rolling into the distance.

What was absurd was that, even using Holy Flame like that, she had not incinerated her enemies at all—managing instead to push them back without leaving a single casualty.

One could only wonder what level of supernatural control was required to pull off something like that…

“Emergency! Emeeeergeeency—!”

Ding, ding, ding—the bells tolled. Desperate screams and shouts echoed in every direction.

And in the midst of it all, three people were walking along unhurriedly.

■ Omnipotence \[ Stage 1 ]

You can combine two or more supernatural powers to create an effect stronger than either on its own.

▶ Currently discovered combination

〓 Guardian’s Flame (Heart of Pure White ↔ The First Vow)

Mixing supernatural powers together was far more conditional than one might expect.

—This was it.

A unique ability no one else could use, something even the strict Mayer acknowledged as Aiden’s personal power.

So now he was trying to experiment by combining other abilities, but—

‘…It’s not working as well as I hoped.’

Qi and Holy Flame—he had managed to combine those somehow by trial and error. But Mana Arts refused to mix with them at all.

◆ Mana Arts: The Savior’s Vow

※ Unique – only this character possesses this skill!

First Geas: Protect the World.

Second Geas: Protect the Subjects of the Empire – Protect the powerless.

He narrowed his eyes and glared at the window hovering before him.

The first geas was impossible to taint right now. At the very least, none of what was happening here was on a scale that threatened the entire world.

That meant his attention had to be on the second geas.

Of course, there was no way he would actually consider beating up the powerless in order to taint it. He would never cheapen the will of the Warden of the Realm, who had entrusted him with that oath, by doing something so disgraceful.

So he had to find a different way to corrupt it…

“…”

Protect the powerless.

Protect the powerless…

“Hm…”

Aiden stroked his chin and looked toward the inner keep, where the Aslan heir, Damian, would be.

Think about it.

From here, he could make the progression of Act II far easier.

From here, he could thrash that wastrel who didn’t even think of protecting the civilians under his rule.

As a bonus, he could also raise Duke Aslan’s favorability toward him.

And he could even taint the geas of his Mana Arts in the process.

‘…That bastard inside is perfect, isn’t he?’

Yes.

Without a doubt.