Right at that mont, a squad of riders hurried toward their location. However, their running footsteps gradually slowed to a halt. It was the Holy Knight squad rushing over to provide backup.
Seeing Nemus and Daros locked in a tense standoff, a profound sense of dread washed over these Holy Knights. They felt a chill run down their spines, realizing they had been dragged into yet another power struggle.
Daros's eye twitched slightly as he watched the belated Holy Knights arrive.
This matter involved too many complications; he couldn't simply show up here with a full entourage beforehand.
Therefore, he had to wait until the incident occurred before notifying these "neutral" parties to act as witnesses.
However, he never expected that Das would manage to seek life in death, finding a sliver of survival in a desperate situation. Nor did he anticipate that Nemus would arrive so quickly to finalize the narrative.
"It was this rchant, Das, who attacked first. I rely struck back in self-defense," Daros declared quickly, forcing himself to calm down. He abandoned any extravagant hopes of dragging Nemus down with him and instead focused on preserving himself.
"Do you have proof?" Nemus asked, cutting straight to the core of the issue.
"Das has already thrown his cargo into the rift. I suspect he is destroying evidence of his cris, and I request a search of that crevice."
"Suspicion does not constitute evidence," Nemus stated plainly.
Although virtually everyone present knew exactly what had happened, lacking tangible proof ant there was simply no evidence.
In this clash, Das's decisive actions had allowed Nemus to win the round.
The Dartnerly family's ticulously planned ambush was neutralized just like that.
Furthermore, if they failed to find any evidence of Das's smuggling after the fact, Daros wouldn't necessarily lose his position as a Holy Knight—he was an Iron Rank, after all.
However, his authority and status within the Church would plumt drastically.
After all, he had no proof, but Nemus certainly did.
Beside Nemus, Purr stood in complete silence, while Krew naturally used his spells to record everything in his attendant's ledger.
The records kept by such an attendant priest were combined with the imprinted aura of the Grid, granting them high authenticity. They were fully admissible as evidence.
Coupled with Nemus's profound authority as a Great Knight, his verbal testimony carried imnse weight.
With these two factors combined, it would be almost impossible for Daros to overturn the case.
Daros shifted his gaze slightly, spotting his knight's sword that had been sent flying into the distance.
The notch caused earlier by Das's water pillar impact had been completely smoothed over when Nemus pinched it between his fingers, erasing all traces of Das's spell aura in the process.
Because of this single detail, using the excuse that Das had attacked him first was no longer viable.
His chain of evidence was essentially destroyed.
The only remaining avenue that could possibly turn the situation around was that one specific point.
'But... if I can think of it, wouldn't Nels think of it too?' Daros offered no further excuses, opting instead to enter the confinent room to await the subsequent investigation and interrogation.
Not long after, he heard a commotion stirring outside.
As an Iron-Rank Holy Knight, he still maintained ways to communicate with the outside world. He soon received the news: the remaining mbers of Das's caravan had "committed suicide."
The mont he heard this, Daros closed his eyes and fell silent.
His final chance to turn the tables had been completely blocked.
'Can the family really win?' Daros had never fully supported fighting against Nemus.
In truth, he held a rather pessimistic view regarding this entire endeavor.
But since Nemus refused to return to the family, and the patriarch was dead set on using him to refine the Golden Elixir, Daros had no choice but to follow the family's orders.
'Looking at it now, I still underestimated Nels far too much.' Daros simply couldn't figure out how Nemus managed to arrive at exactly the right ti.
It was as if everything had played out entirely under Nemus's watchful eye.
'Furthermore, the family—myself included—has been entirely too arrogant.' Daros ntally reviewed the events and realized the reasons for his failure. On one hand, he had severely underestimated the rchant, Das. On the other hand, although the Dartnerly family viewed this as the perfect opening to drag Nemus down, they were ultimately too worried about protecting their own hides.
The family had utilized nurous hidden pieces throughout this entire affair. This included the buyers of the whale products who pressured Das's group to expedite their delivery, the Scavengers, the mole among Das's subordinates, and so on.
Yet, among the actual family mbers, Daros was the only one who had taken direct action.
His identity was suitable, his strength was sufficient, and he frequently handled the family's dirty work. These were all valid reasons.
The true reason, however, was that the others were terrified of getting involved and being subjected to an investigation. They feared leaving traces that would forever tarnish their pristine reputations.
Even though this was a critical matter concerning the very future of the Dartnerly family, the majority believed that keeping their hands clean and maintaining their dignity was far more important.
He had been a part of that arrogant collective previously, but now that he had cald down, he recognized the deep-seated complacency and hubris plaguing the family from within.
As a result, his outlook on the family's war against Nemus grew increasingly bleak.
Soon, new information trickled in: the "suicides" of those n were likely orchestrated by the Construct Protocol.
Following this, the logical chain of events beca perfectly clear.
Das, as a rchant, had sohow offended the Construct Protocol. Therefore, the organization made their move to hijack his cargo while he was making a delivery during the stormy weather.
As for what role Daros played in all of this, that would depend entirely on the upcoming interrogation and the political struggle that followed.
That evening, Nemus t with Daros in the interrogation room just outside the confinent cell.
"I believe you're well aware that you have lost," Nemus said. Beside him, Krew hadn't opened his attendant's ledger, indicating that this conversation was strictly off the record.
"The Dartnerly family will erge victorious," Daros replied. Even though he knew in his heart they would likely fail, he could never admit defeat for the sake of his family's honor.
"If I were in your shoes, I would either stand down, concede defeat, and let both sides live in peace," Nemus began.
"Or, the exact mont I confird our enmity, I would have rallied the vast majority of the family's combat forces to launch a devastating surprise attack against ."
"Then, I would completely abandon the Dartnerly family and devote everything to refining the Golden Elixir, gambling it all on the chance to break through to the Golden Rank."
"You are all far too indecisive and sluggish. You will never accomplish anything like this," Nemus stated earnestly.
From the very beginning, Nemus had never truly considered the Dartnerly family a worthy adversary.
While the family controlled a great deal of power and boasted a profound foundation, they were crippled by too many internal constraints.
With so many conflicting agendas and desires within their ranks, an incompetent patriarch would find it impossible to mobilize the family's full strength.
Bound hand and foot as they were, securing a victory against them wouldn't be particularly difficult for him.
Daros fell into a heavy silence upon hearing Nemus's words.
He had thought himself fully awakened, broken free from the family's lazy, arrogant mindset. But listening to Nemus, he realized his way of thinking was still far too concerned with dignity.
"Let's make a deal, Daros," Nemus finally proposed.
Hearing this, Daros couldn't help but lift his head to look at Nemus.
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