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There was blood all over the palace floor.

The knights stepped over the corpses of the court ladies, not caring if they got blood on themselves, and carried the emperor.

“How dare you… Kheke!”

The emperor had been tied up with a rope, and his robe was partly undone.

It was impossible to tell how many cigarettes the emperor had smoked ever since Henry had provided him with them. The emperor\'s mental state had deteriorated more rapidly than anyone else\'s because, unlike the nobles, the emperor had an unlimited supply of the Pink Swamp. Therefore, he could keep smoking them all the time without worrying that he would run out.

Crowell cast the emperor a look of disgust. Today was the last day he would have to look after this sorry excuse of an emperor.

“Ugh, my head…!”

The emperor complained of a headache as he was being dragged out of the palace. He was starting to feel the effects of withdrawal from the Pink Swamp. However, all the knights disregarded his complaints because they no longer had to serve the fallen emperor.

“Cigarettes…” the emperor murmured.

“Be quiet, Silver Jackson.”

“Bring me the cigarettes...”

“I told you to be quiet.”

“I’m telling you to bring me my cigarettes!”

“This guy…!”

The emperor eventually caused a commotion due to his withdrawal symptoms, but since he had never engaged in any form of exercise in his life, the fuss he created had no effect.

Now that he was no longer the almighty emperor, he had no choice but to face severe repercussions for his rude disturbance.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The knights started punching the emperor, and although they weren’t using Aura, their punches were strong enough to keep his mouth shut.

“Argh, aghh…!”

The emperor groaned as he was being punched for the first time, and being unable to endure the pain, he eventually fainted.

“How pathetic.”

Crowell clicked his tongue as he witnessed the beating.

“H-hey! Wait! Is he dead?”

“No, I think he just passed out.”

“The Duke told us to capture him alive, so don’t try and show off your strength because you might accidentally kill him. If that happens, I’ll kill you guys with my own hands.”

“Yes, Sir!”

It was none other than Lupin Sharif, the seventh sword and the leader of the Hound Knights, who jokingly reprimanded the other knights.

After lowering himself to the emperor’s eye level, Lupin grabbed the emperor’s chin with one hand.

“Wow, never in my life did I think I would get the chance to hold the emperor’s face with my bare hands.”

“Lupin, stop it. This isn’t the time to play around.”

“Why don’t you try it too, Elphun? If not now, when else are we going to get the chance to touch his face?”

“Lupin does have a point. If you don’t want to, Elphun, I’m going to touch his face first.”

Elphun, the eighth sword and leader of the Mambo Knights, was trying to stop Lupin. He sighed and shook his head as if he were watching a mischievous child.

Karas Lesher, the ninth sword and the leader of the Crow Knights, had been observing the scene next to them and eventually joined in touching the emperor\'s face.

“Oh wow, his skin is so soft. Probably because he’s the emperor.”

“I know right?”

“That’s enough, both of you.”

Crowell urged Lupin and Karas to stop messing around, and only then did they finally let go of the emperor’s face.

“Take him away.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The knights quickly dragged the emperor out of the palace.

“This was easier than expected. Sir Crowell, is there anything else that needs to be done?”

“Yes, there is.”

“Nice. It would’ve been too disappointing if things just ended like this. What do we need to do?”

“We must find those carrying the emperor’s bloodline and kill them all. Some court ladies must be carrying the emperor’s child, so find all of them and kill them.”

“How can we tell if it’s the emperor’s baby they’re carrying?”

“If you have the slightest suspicion, don’t risk it. Just kill them.”

“Yes, Sir!”

The emperor had been enjoying himself every night with a bunch of court ladies. He generally didn’t have good stamina, but he had the energy of a stallion in the bedroom, as he had received help from the Magical Spire.

Arthus wanted to completely eliminate the imperial bloodline. Therefore, he had ordered that all the court ladies who carried the emperor’s child be executed.

Boom!

Just then, the sound of a loud explosion came from outside.

The imperial palace was essentially the safest place in the world, and this was the first time there was such a commotion ever since the empire had been built.

Crowell frowned.

Everyone in the palace was aware of the current situation, so how could there have been an explosion?

Someone had to be out of their minds.

“Ha, I don’t know who it is, but they must be insane,” said Lupin.

“Sir Crowell, they might be wizards.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Elphun and Crowell’s thoughts aligned.

The wizards from the Magical Spire were the only ones who could make such a fuss at the palace in the current situation. However, the Magical Spire had officially declared neutrality through Arthus, which made this incident even more strange.

“I’ll go check what’s going on,” said Karas.

Karas, the ninth sword, confidently declared that he would investigate the situation outside, and the other three knights nodded in agreement.

Karas unsheathed his sword just in case there was someone to attack him, and then went through the hall and outside the palace.

Outside was a mountain of his fellow knights, all of them dead.

“W-what the hell?”

Karas was in utter shock. He couldn’t help but shudder at the gruesome scene.

One of the knights on the ground called out Karas’ name with every last bit of strength he had left, “S-Sir Karas…!”

“What’s going on?”

“I-It’s them…!”

“Them? Who is them?”

“T-the former Imperial Ten Swords…!”

“What? The former Imperial Ten Swords?”

Flash!

Just then, a large storm of Aura struck Karas like a big flash of light.

* * *

Having failed in recruiting more mercenaries, Von received a new list of names from Henry.

As soon as he checked the first line on the list, Von couldn\'t help but burst into laughter.

Valhald Gerakan was the first name on the list. When Henry had given this list to Von, he had told him that it was very important to find the first person on the list.

‘The original Knight King, huh…’

Valhald Gerakan was the former Knight King, and the first person to reach the position of a Grand Master. He had never been defeated in swordplay since the empire had been built. He was also the man who had killed Henry and then suddenly disappeared.

In addition to Valhald, the list was full of names of people who had served as an Imperial Ten Sword before being replaced.

‘...Is he out of his mind?!’

Von vaguely knew why Henry had asked him to look for them. Instead of believing in uncertain rumors, Henry wanted to find these figures.

Von was bewildered at first, but he eventually agreed with Henry.

‘It’s certainly better to recruit people who we know for a fact are skilled, rather than chase after those whose skills haven’t been confirmed.”

However, the remaining question was - how in the world was he going to find those who had disappeared just like he had?

Von was lost in thought.

As he looked at the list while thinking, he came across the name ‘McDowell Curgs.’

‘McDowell?’

He had been the third sword of the former Imperial Ten Swords, and just like Von, he wasn’t a materialistic man.

‘Right! I forgot about this guy!’

The Imperial Ten Swords were the emperor’s armed forces, made up of the most powerful knights in the empire.

The eligibility to become a member of The Imperial Ten Swords was determined through fair and standard tests, and in fact, based on his skill, Von should’ve also been a part of the Imperial Ten Swords. However, Von had refused to be a part of it, and the reason for that was simple: it would’ve been too troublesome.

Von had only been interested in the ups and downs of Enkelmann, so instead, he had assigned McDowell the position of the third sword.

McDowell was just as skilled of a swordsman as Von, but he also hated troublesome work, just like Von. Nevertheless, McDowell had been forced to accept becoming a part of the Imperial Ten Swords because he had been indebted to Von.

‘He’s probably there.’

After the former Imperial Ten Swords had collapsed, McDowell had immediately left the force and the capital as if he had been waiting for that moment all along.

However, Von knew where McDowell was.

‘He must be in Beaustiel, hanging out with women.’

Beaustiel was known to be a city with beautiful women.

It was obvious that McDowell, who was known to love women and alcohol, had gone to Beaustiel as soon as he had left the Imperial Ten Swords.

Von’s prediction was right. McDowell really was in Beaustiel.

“...Valhald?”

The problem was that Valhald was also there.

* * *

The storm of Aura stopped.

All the knights caught up in the storm had been reduced to ashes. Karas was the only one who had barely survived.

‘This kind of power is for sure from…!’

Karas’ body felt hot as if he had been thrown into a pit of fire, and he was now painfully aware of who had created this scalding storm.

“Hey, the crow came out to greet us.”

The wall surrounding the palace yard had collapsed, and standing past those walls were none other than McDowell, Valhald, and a beautiful young man he had never seen before.

Karas’ eyes widened in astonishment.

“Valhald!”

“Wow, isn’t he being insolent? How dare he recklessly call the name of the original Knight King!”

Valhald was the one who had caused the storm of Aura, but the one who answered was McDowell, the former third sword.

McDowell sarcastically continued, “I’ve always heard that crows run wild when hawks disappear, but I guess it’s really true.”

Karas gritted his teeth and answered, “Why are you bastards here…?!”

“Bastards?”

Just then, McDowell’s voice turned cold at Karas’ impertinent reply.

Karas felt chills down his spine as he felt a murderous aura overwhelm him.

‘Damn it…!’

Karas was also a peak Sword Master, but even so, he felt this bone-chilling sensation because he instinctively knew McDowell was leagues above him. Karas was furious, but he had no choice but to admit it. There was a clear power gap between him and McDowell.

However, Karas had also reached the level of a peak Sword Master and joined the Imperial Ten Swords. Thus, he managed to get up and overcome the murderous aura that had frozen him in place.

“Oh, you’re pretty good for a crow, aren’t you?”

McDowell was enjoying this.

“What’s going on?”

Just then, Karas heard a familiar voice from behind him.

“S-Sir Crowell!”

As Crowell Sima appeared, Karas was finally able to calm down and dismiss his own murderous aura.

“What? It wasn’t wizards?”

Lupin also appeared out of curiosity, and next to him was Elphun, frowning.

“Valhald, why are you here?”

Grasping the situation at once, Crowell questioned Valhald, who was quietly standing in place with a sword in his hand.

McDowell answered on Valhald’s behalf, “Why do you care?”

“I wasn’t asking you, McDowell.”

“You?”

McDowell was seething once again, but Crowell, the leader of the third knight group, was not one to be pushed around.

McDowell composed himself and said, “Oh right, you’re a bit different from that crow.”

“Stop joking around and answer my question. What are the people who disappeared a long time ago suddenly showing up here for?”

“It’s because of you guys, duh.”

“What?”

“I’ve heard that the bastard, Arthus, is coveting the throne.”

“What did you just say?”

To Crowell, Arthus was already his king. Therefore, he felt incredibly angry when McDowell addressed his king as a bastard.

Rumble!

Just then, lightning struck from the sky.

A strange teleportation gate, one that no one had ever seen before, appeared in the place where lightning had struck.

“What now…?”

Arthus’ knights were bewildered.

A familiar face soon emerged from the teleportation gate.

“It seems that I’ve arrived at the right place.”

It was none other than Henry.