The queen stood at the entrance, contemplating the scene with her eyes so wide open that they looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

"...Is this real?" she murmured in a low voice, looking at the scene in disbelief.

Mark walked over to stand at her side.

"Oh, but of course it’s real, Your Highness," he said, looking at the same scene with his hands tucked inside his tunic. "I promised you’d have control of your kingdom before dusk, didn’t I?"

Emilia didn’t respond. She continued looking at the council members one by one with an expression of disbelief.

Mark slowly moved behind her and gently placed both hands on Emilia’s shoulders.

"The only thing standing between your freedom and that of your beloved kingdom is right in front of you," said Mark in a low voice near her ear. "So tell me, Your Highness, what do you think you’ll do about it?"

The queen trembled slightly upon hearing Mark’s voice.

"I..." she began to say.

But before she could finish, one of the council members spoke.

It was an old elf with long gray hair and a pointed beard, with eyes blazing with fury above the shadow gag covering his mouth. The gag loosened enough to let him speak when he shook violently against the chains.

"So all of this is your fault, you stupid little bitch!" spat the old elf with venom in his voice, looking directly at Emilia. "We always knew you’d be the one to bring ruin to the kingdom!"

Another council member, an elf with silver hair and a severe expression, also managed to partially free her gag.

"We never believed you’d sink so low as to do this to us! After everything we did for you!" she screamed with contempt. "Bringing humans to the castle! Humans marked with death! Your father must be rolling in his grave!"

A third, a younger elf with a scar crossing his right eye, writhed against the chains as he screamed.

"I order you to release us immediately if you don’t want to end up executed for treason!" he threatened. "The council has the authority to—!"

"Silence, you worthless scum!" ordered Ely from her position at the back of the hall in a voice that made the windows vibrate.

And upon hearing her, the elves obeyed instantly.

Mark deliberately ignored the words of the elves and focused all his attention on the queen. She was looking at the ground with a complicated expression.

"Allow me to ask you once more, Your Highness... What is it you wish to do with them?" repeated Mark, gently squeezing her shoulders.

Emilia didn’t respond. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to form words that wouldn’t come out.

"I... I don’t know if..." she stammered without looking up.

Then another council member spoke.

"Why are you taking so long?! "Hurry up and tell them to release us already!" screamed the old elf from his chair in an annoyed tone. "Or are you not even capable of doing something as simple as that?!"

"It really shows that you’re the daughter of those reckless idiots!" added the silver-haired elf. "Your father destroyed the balance that existed between the castes and your mother was stupid enough to follow him to certain death!"

Those words broke something inside the queen.

"And now you come to finish what they started!" the elf continued. "The apple doesn’t fall far from the—!"

"Insult me all you want..." Emilia cut her off, lifting her gaze suddenly. "You can call me useless, a traitor, or whatever else you please."

The queen’s tone of voice had changed. It no longer trembled or wavered, and as a consequence, the council members looked at her in surprise.

"But if there’s one thing I won’t allow, it’s you speaking ill of my parents," she continued, taking a step forward. "Because it’s thanks to their sacrifice and that of the other heroes that trash like you get to live in peace today."

The silence that fell over the hall was absolute.

Emilia stood in front of the twelve bound elves, looking at each one of them with those green eyes that no longer held a trace of doubt.

And then she turned to look at Mark.

"Please finish them all."

He smiled, pleased to hear her.

"I thought you’d never ask," he admitted, turning to look at the vampire. "Rose, would you do us the honors?"

Rose separated herself from the wall where she was leaning and straightened up with her staff in hand.

"As you command, Master," she responded with a half-smile.

Rose raised a hand toward the council members and closed her fist; as a result, the chains of darkness binding them tightened rapidly.

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

The sounds were brief.

Twelve simultaneous cracks echoed through the enormous hall and died away as quickly as they started.

And then only silence remained.

The three elves who had come with Emilia stood at the entrance with expressions ranging from the armored elf’s barely contained horror to the bow elf’s visible paleness.

"How does it feel to be free again?" asked Mark, looking at the queen.

"...I feel—"

Emilia was about to respond when suddenly strong applause began to echo, followed by a voice coming from the ceiling that made the entire room reverberate.

"But what a shame..." said the unknown voice in a deep and elegant tone that resonated against the walls. "It seems I arrived too late to join the party."

Quickly everyone looked up at the crystal dome above their heads.

It began to crack until it finally exploded. Fragments of glass fell over the hall like a glittering rain as a figure descended through the hole.

The creature that had appeared before them was a skeleton.

Its bones were a brilliant black, and on its surface were carved red pentagrams that pulsed with their own light. From its skull protruded two long, curved horns, and from its back extended a pair of bony wings made of the same black material as the rest of its body.

It landed in the center of the hall, between the chairs of the dead council members, with a gentle thud that made barely any noise despite its size.

Upon seeing it, all of Mark’s subordinates went on alert instantly.

The three elves also raised their weapons, with the armored elf positioning himself in front of Emilia while the other two took positions on each side.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Mark, taking a step forward.