The Purpose
When Vlad first publicly declared himself a direct descendant of the royal family, the son of the king, the Royal Palace showed no reaction whatsoever. He had expected them to deny it outright or accuse him of falsely claiming to be a prince, but they remained silent. In that moment, Prince Vlad became certain. His father and everyone in the Royal Palace had believed him dead. They had made no preparations whatsoever for his return. They had clearly been caught off guard, stunned into inaction by the situation.
At first, he thought the waves of people pouring out from the Royal Capital were coming to welcome them. That was his initial impression, at least.
“Hahaha! Ahahaha!!”
But there was no welcoming crowd, no cheers or commotion. Only a cold, heavy, and oppressive noise filled the air. So many people emerged that the ground itself seemed to tremble faintly. First came the royal banners, embroidered in brilliant gold and purple—far more magnificent than the hastily made ones on his side. It was as if they were declaring to Prince Vlad, “You are not one of the royal family.”
Behind them appeared the Royal Guard knights in full plate mail, gleaming under the light. They were the kingdom’s most elite force, the king’s sharpest sword. Their emergence from the palace could mean only one thing: the king was present, and he intended to personally execute someone.
Finally, the Royal Capital’s army began to form ranks in front of them—an enormous force, highly trained and nothing like the private soldiers of the nobles. Even if his side had veterans who had fought monsters and demonic beasts, they would stand no chance.
“As expected, Father! In the end, you’re just another human after all!”
Even from a distance, he could feel the killing intent. The cold hostility and thick wariness directed at him were unmistakable. It was meant solely for him. He remembered how weak his father had been. The man had been unable to kill his own son—the traitor who had tried to violate his daughter and ruined the kingdom’s heir. As a father and as a king, he had only managed to exile him with the order to die. Vlad still wasn’t sure if his father had truly believed that was enough. But one thing was certain: the world had not unfolded the way his father wanted.
“Prince Vlad.”
The Demon God Worshippers who had been hiding among the crowd slowly revealed themselves. Some had disguised themselves as ordinary citizens, others as mercenaries. There were even nobles who had already fallen completely under their influence. All of them had intended to use the prince to gain entry into the Royal Capital, even if the king refused to welcome him. They had believed that with so many people in the world applauding and cheering for the prince, the king would never be able to strike him down. After all, the will of the people was the will of heaven.
Yet somehow, that supposedly weak king—the same man who had lacked the courage to kill his own son—had stepped forward without hesitation, as if he cared nothing for the backlash from the citizens.
“It seems your father has changed his mind.”
“Indeed. I never expected someone so weak to act like this.”
“He must have judged you a threat to the throne. Perhaps he feels greater anger at the possibility of you challenging his position than at the attempt to violate his daughter or ruin his heir.”
The Demon God Worshippers gathered around Prince Vlad each offered their thoughts. Even though their plan had gone disastrously wrong from the very beginning, and even though the kingdom’s finest knights and soldiers now stood arrayed against them, none of them showed the slightest tension or concern.
Entering the Royal Capital to carry out their scheme was no easy task. They would have to face the Royal Guard knights and their elite troops. That was why the Demon God Worshippers had selected only the truly insane for this mission. Their goal was not merely to sow chaos within the capital. It was to remind the world that nowhere was safe, and ultimately, to erase the Royal Capital from the map entirely. By doing so, they would drive even more people to beg for the Demon God’s mercy.
These madmen were prepared to sacrifice their own lives to summon demonic beasts. Originally, they had planned to use the citizens of the Royal Capital as offerings as well, but if the offerings turned out to be knights and soldiers instead, that was no problem at all.
“The plan?”
“Nothing changes. We proceed as intended.”
“All for death, for the quiet rest, and for the world of ashes.”
Prince Vlad smiled and murmured the prayer along with them. Some might say that if the world ended, he would never get what he wanted. But what Prince Vlad desired was not to spend his life clinging to his sister. He only wanted to pluck that brilliant, beautiful flower once. To defile it with a single strike so that it could never shine again. That single act was enough for him, which was why he had willingly allied himself with the Demon God Worshippers. Even among those madmen, he stood out as truly deranged.
“Halt!”
As the prince’s group drew closer, a knight rode forward to block their path. He was not a Royal Guard knight but one belonging to the Royal Capital’s defense forces.
“Where is Prince Vlad?”
“Here.”
At the call, Prince Vlad stepped forward. The knight stared at him for a moment before giving a slight nod of his head. Prince Vlad’s eyes narrowed sharply, his brows twitching upward in fury. No matter how exiled he had been, he was still a prince. The man before him was nothing more than an ordinary knight who would never have dared speak to him in the past. Yet this man remained mounted and offered nothing more than a casual nod. Even for Prince Vlad, this was enough to ignite his rage.
“…How insolent.”
“I am merely delivering the king’s command. His Majesty stated that the one receiving this order is not a prince, but merely an outsider. Therefore, I have shown the appropriate courtesy. Do not argue further!”
Prince Vlad felt killing intent surge within him. Was it because he had not received the treatment befitting a prince? No. It was the blatant humiliation in front of so many people that enraged him. He wanted nothing more than to gouge out the bastard’s eyes, tear open his mouth, cut out his tongue, and stuff the eyes into the gaping maw. He wanted to laugh madly as the man died in agony.
But he had not come here to fight. He needed to get past these soldiers and into the Royal Capital. There, he would seize his flower and slowly pluck it. To do that, he had to bow his head and endure for now.
He had come this far by thoroughly exploiting public sentiment. The Demon God Worshippers had set the stage, and he had played his part. The citizens had cheered for him as if he were some young hero—not one chosen by the world, but an ordinary human. The story of a prince who had quietly remained in the Royal Capital stepping forward was simply too good to ignore.
— Prince Vlad. We will give you the woman. In return, give us the Royal Capital.
— Is that possible? It won’t be easy.
— You only need to get inside. Nothing else matters. Once you’re in, all we need is to take the countless citizens within.
That was all the Demon God Worshippers who had helped him wanted. They needed him to get them into the Royal Capital. In exchange, they would make him into a hero whose name would never be forgotten. They would craft the image of a great and noble prince. With the citizens behind him, he could seize what he desired, and the Royal Capital and its people—whom he cared nothing for—could be handed over to them.
Prince Vlad had agreed without a moment’s hesitation. He had no interest in being a prince, an heir, or the next king. There was only one thing he wanted, and if he could reach it, nothing else mattered.
“…What did His Majesty say to this outsider?”
Prince Vlad asked, forcing down his anger. The knight stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“Those who followed you must wait here. Only you may approach.”
He was not to be treated as a prince, and his followers were to be left behind entirely. Even an idiot would understand what that meant. Either prove your loyalty by casting everything aside, crawling forward, and submitting—or reveal your true intentions and do as you please. The king was offering him a choice between the two.
“…”
Prince Vlad bit his lip. According to his agreement with them, he was supposed to bring them all into the Royal Capital. That was why they had supported him in every way. They had gone to great lengths to avoid suspicion—disguising their identities, hunting monsters and demonic beasts alongside him, sometimes feigning doubt in him and other times dispelling it. They had done everything imaginable to get inside.
And now he was being told to leave them all behind and come alone.
In that moment, Prince Vlad sensed something was wrong. He had thought it was just a brief annoyance, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
‘After all, there’s nothing particularly impressive on this side. We’ve disguised ourselves. There are a few knights, nobles, and soldiers, but most are ordinary citizens. They’re not even armed. Even if the king was wary of our numbers, if he cared about the eyes of the entire kingdom and didn’t want to be called a coward, he would have let us through. Yet he’s going out of his way to separate me from them?’
Prince Vlad’s mind raced. Was his father truly just afraid of their numbers and demanding he come alone? He was a king, after all—someone who had no choice but to be conscious of others’ gazes. And he had even brought out the Royal Guard knights and the Royal Capital’s soldiers. No matter how weak his father was, he was not a fool. He must be fully aware that this action would damage his dignity and authority as king.
“I have delivered the message. Decide for yourself.”
The knight turned and rode away. Prince Vlad watched him go in silence, then became certain.
“…It seems,” he said slowly, turning his head back, his voice low and heavy, “that things have gone quite awry.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Whatever the case, we can no longer enter the Royal Capital quietly as planned.”
At his words, the eyes of those around him turned chilling. An eerie aura emanated from them, enough to make anyone watching feel their skin crawl. After a brief silence, they looked at one another and nodded.
“It seems we must prepare.”
“Yes, we must.”
“I will inform our great brethren.”
The madmen hiding beside the mad prince began to move.