A few days ago, while listening to several people's conversations, I ca to a conclusion: the fact that the 1st Queen loved the king seems to be true.
Not only the many dukes with sharp eyes but even Karian nodded in agreent. And it also seed clear that the king, as a person, was indeed a good one.
So, what if the king himself persuades the 1st Queen? Wouldn’t she abandon her plans?
At the very least, it should be possible to make her hesitate, and in the worst-case scenario, the king’s soul could be used as leverage.
While listening to Adri’s story, this possibility occurred to , and I forcibly convinced Vishi to participate in this plan.
Afterward, I shared my thoughts with my grandfather and others and began to detail the plan to seize the king’s soul.
As the military strategy says, the greatest victory is winning without fighting, so if the plan succeeds, there could be no better outco!
With this conviction, I called Faybi and Freya once the groundwork for the plan was set and inford them about the infiltration plan.
For reference, the position that Vishi would take was Arthur’s.
We had to prevent anyone from being possessed, so I left the princes in the care of Johann, along with the clergy, to prepare for any potential issues.
Arthur and Rene were visibly dissatisfied, but what could be done? It was better to reduce the variables wherever possible.
After much effort, the day of the infiltration arrived. So far, everything had been going according to plan.
The 1st Queen was blocked by the dukes, and the princes were staying with the clergy led by Johann. We had successfully infiltrated the palace without being detected.
Now, all we had to do was reach the place where the king’s soul was, and the plan would almost be a success.
One unsettling thing, however, was the silence from the incompetent evil god. He usually made a fuss with quests whenever sothing happened, but why was he quiet today?
When I tried to approach Duke Kurten earlier, he had tried to block with a aningless quest, but now he was silent. Could it be that the Evil God’s side was desperately trying to prevent him from interfering? If that’s true, then once this is over, quests will likely flood in.
“Over there. It’s the place where the soul can be sensed.”
Using the royal palace’s secret passages, we reached our target location quickly and opened the door without hesitation.
“Granny, is that the boar king?”
“Wait. I’ll try to communicate with the soul.”
While Adri spoke to the soul, we looked around the room.
I couldn’t feel the presence of the Evil God’s aura. Had the sealed Evil God’s soul been kept sowhere else to avoid contaminating this one? It made sense. They must have kept it in a more secure location.
If anything went wrong, like the king’s resurrection, it would have been an uncontrollable disaster.
“It’s definitely His Majesty.”
“Well then, summon him. We need to find out if the boar king is just a pig or if he's being raised like one.”
“I always think about it, but Lady Alrn is impressively alive so far.”
“Right? Seems like there were many useless adults who enjoyed being beaten.”
The mont Adri touched the dark magic binding the soul, my grandfather reacted with shock.
‘Is it that difficult?’
Grandfather’s words were mostly correct, but not entirely complete.
If we think about it, Adri, who had casually broken the magic and brought the soul into her domain, would be committing an even greater sin.
If living as a recluse is a sin, I suppose there's nothing to say, but that’s unfortunate, not evil!
Adri, who is so protective of her friend, Vishi, is she really the villain?
While I was ntally defending Adri, the soul Adri had been holding changed its form.
"...It seems we have guests."
The king, having regained a human form, looked at us and grunted softly.
Seated among the five dukes, the 1st Queen, without ntioning the king, observed the dukes who were speaking to one another, sensing their intentions.
“They plan to keep here.”
It wasn’t surprising. She had expected this outco since the conference had been called.
By now, separate groups were likely heading toward the place where the king’s soul resided.
Perhaps they had already arrived.
Smiling, the 1st Queen continued to listen to the dukes, but then she sensed her magic was breaking, and she glanced toward Duke Serlan.
Duke Serlan, after briefly nodding, broke the gem on his necklace.
“Duke Serlan, what are you doing?”
“Please understand, Duke Kurten. I’m only following orders.”
“Explain yourself properly.”
As Dukes Kurten and Bedfer pressed Duke Serlan, Duke Patran, who had been observing the room, squinted his eyes and turned his gaze to the 1st Queen.
“They’ve thrown the room into another dinsion. Have you thought of a way to return?”
“No.”
“That’s troubleso. It’ll take hours to find the coordinates again.”
At the words of Duke Patran, a renowned mage from the Mage Empire, the other dukes were visibly confused.
“Why are you all so flustered? Isn’t this what you wanted?”
As the 1st Queen had said, the plan was to separate her from the palace. However, the situation was now complicated.
Now, it seed less like the dukes were holding the 1st Queen hostage and more like the 1st Queen had the dukes in her grip.
“Do you have an ally?”
“I guess you could say that. Soone whom the 1st Queen would trust with her fate.”
“Among those currently aligned with the 1st Queen, is there anyone who can bear the power of the Evil God?”
Duke Burrow, who had been pondering with his arms crossed, asked, and the other dukes furrowed their brows. The talented individuals within the kingdom had already been recruited. No external forces had infiltrated. There was no one the 1st Queen could trust to gamble her life on.
“Yes. There is.”
With a smile that denied the dukes' thoughts, the 1st Queen responded.
“1st Queen, my guess is that by the ti we leave here, everything will be over. Could you share your plans with us?”
“I’ll decline. Duke Patran, I’m not so villain who enjoys talking about my plans.”
“Ah, too bad.”
Duke Patran, forcing a smile, bit his lip slightly, feeling uneasy at the 1st Queen’s composed deanor.
“No, 1st Queen. You... Ah. Damn. Trying to speak formally is killing .”
Just then, Karian broke the silence and stepped forward.
“Hey, crazy woman. What the hell happened while I was gone?”
“It seems like the 1st Queen’s plan to resurrect has been exposed.”
“That’s right, Your Majesty.”
Standing before him wasn’t , but Faybi. Our goal wasn’t to crush the king, but to persuade him.
Faybi, who radiated kindness from the start, was the one to approach him, not , who specialized in provoking the enemy.
“Do you rember ?”
“Of course. The Saint of the Evil God Church. How could I forget your gentleness?”
“It’s truly an honor, Your Majesty. If we hadn’t t like this, I would have been overjoyed.”
“I too. I never imagined your warmth would be so painful.”
As a forr man, I can tell there’s no one who could remain unmoved by Faybi’s compassion!
The look of concern, despite the wrongs he had committed!
Her soft voice, always full of sincerity, comforting others!
Her heart, as vast as the ocean!
With such human warmth, it’s impossible not to be shaken!
“Your Majesty, nothing is ever too late.”
“Is that what you say after defying the rules of the world?”
“If you acknowledge your sin and seek to correct it, surely the Evil God will embrace you with rcy. After all, even soone like , who harbors great sins, was embraced.”
“…Did you know him?”
Surprised by the king’s reaction, Faybi smiled, and at that mont, I sensed movent around us.
Had they co after realizing the seal had been lifted?
It didn’t seem like it was from the guards or knights. It looked like agents from the intelligence departnt.
They hadn’t realized their position yet. Did they think they could defeat us?
“Lucy. What do we do?”
“We take them out.”
“Got it.”
“Understood. We’ll subdue them.”
The first to crash through the window attempted to shout at us, but they were quickly silenced by the shadows that erged from their own figures and were subdued.
The three that dropped down from the ceiling were knocked out by Freya’s prepared swords, sprawled on the floor.
These were just minor enemies. It would have been better if they had caused a scene outside.
Of course, they would have been subdued by the many people waiting outside anyway.
‘I know. This one’s stronger.’
Still, not dangerous.
While the opponent was relatively strong, our standards were set for the continent’s strongest.
As the door slamd open, I blocked a magic attack with my shield and charged toward the opponent, smiling.
I shattered the wire that caught my ankle, dodged the thrusting dagger aid at my vital points, and purified the poison the enemy had been holding before smashing them with my shield.
As the man staggered back to regain his balance, I slamd my mace into his thigh and stomped on his head with my foot.
After a couple more hits, the man stopped moving.
Grabbing his neck, I turned back into the room and dropped him among the unconscious bodies.
When I turned my head, the king’s gaze t mine.
“You’re rciful. You’re sparing them.”
“We’ve co to keep the line, after all.”
“Truly the Saint. I feel a strange sense of unease from the king’s half-hearted nod.”
...Wait a minute. Could it be?
I felt a chill running down my spine as I rushed forward and raised my shield in front of Faybi.
“The control!”
Just as I reached her, Adri’s horrified voice ca from behind , and in front, the walls of the kingdom began rising, trying to attack us.
With a dull thud, Faybi and I were pushed back, and I glared at the king, who clicked his tongue in frustration.
“I had planned for a joint attack, but my subordinates seem more incompetent than expected.”
Wasn’t the king supposed to be an innocent victim!?
Was he also a perpetrator?!
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