Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Duke
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The capital of the Grand Duchy was so utterly destroyed that no one could tell it had once been the heart of the North. Intact buildings were nowhere to be found within the city proper; only on the outskirts could one spot structures that were somewhat unscathed.
Even amid the rubble of those buildings, corpses of people torn apart beyond recognition littered the ground.
...
It was horrific.
Horrific to the point where it was hard to believe this snowball of devastation had rolled out from just one idiot rebel. Not a single survivor remained.
"...Tch."
Yujin Banus, standing alone unscathed at the center of this ruined capital, slowly approached the fallen form of Lust on the ground.
Lust still occupied the Northern Grand Duke's body. It rolled its eyes up to gaze at Yujin.
"...You're incredibly strong."
"..."
"I really want you."
Yujin sensed that Lust would soon vanish from this place. Its demonic energy was scattering into the air, and its presence was fading bit by bit.
'It's not dying, then. Returning to its main body?'
Unlike Greed, Lust had been quite tricky. Even as it drained his stamina like some kind of succubus, its swordsmanship was clumsy, but its combat sense was sharp.
And to top it off, it had inflicted several wounds on him.
...All while merely borrowing someone else's body, not even its true form.
That made it all the more necessary to kill Lust for good right here. It might come back even more troublesome later.
But...
'...No way to finish it off for sure here...'
...There wasn't.
The final blow had indeed struck beyond the Northern Grand Duke's body, hitting Lust's true self somewhere in the world. But that was the limit.
Swinging his sword now would just be slashing the Northern Grand Duke's already-vacant corpse one more time.
"Tch."
Yujin coldly stared at Lust's reverse cross eyes as they grew fainter.
"That last attack... what was it?"
Just before the Heaven-Destroying Illusion, for a split second, the boundaries of the world had blurred.
As if his mind and body separated, the world crumbling like a dream with indistinct edges.
At this moment, Lust was purely in awe of Yujin.
To think someone would notice that. This was something to boast about—no one among all his previous opponents had sensed that final attack like Yujin.
They had all fallen into sweet illusions filled with desire as their minds and bodies separated.
He even had a record of enslaving a knight on the verge of Sword Master and an archmage's disciple with this method.
Yet...
"Huhu..."
The man before him, Yujin, was different.
Even if it was a temporary possession of another's body, the Northern Grand Duke's form right now was a Sword Master.
Even if that mastery was forcibly elevated and fake, it was still a Sword Master.
And against that Northern Grand Duke—and Lust itself inhabiting the body—he had consistently held the advantage and ultimately won.
'Ahh...♡'
Its womb quivered wildly.
Ah, its true body's womb, of course. The Northern Grand Duke's body was male, after all.
Regrettably(?), Lust lacked the ability to turn a man's body into a woman's.
"I really want you..."
Gazing up like this, that face was perfectly to its taste, too. The decadent features, plus the various small wounds from the recent battle, added a unique wild allure.
...Of course, Yujin couldn't care less whether he fit Lust's tastes.
So what if he did?
Was it going to flirt?
Unfortunately, that wasn't happening.
With proper ladies like Lucia and Irene by his side, why would he embrace some used-up item that looked like it had seen plenty of traffic?
Besides, this thing was responsible for the deaths of countless people in the Grand Duchy.
People in other cities or villages outside the capital might have survived... but just those in the capital numbered tens of thousands dead.
'...This is insane.'
The aftermath would be massive. He'd likely be marked for immediate execution, with the entire Empire gunning for Lust.
Honestly, Yujin wanted to kill it for real, too.
"Tch, just get lost already."
"Huhu. I'm leaving like this this time, but next time, I'll definitely have you—so don't lose to anyone in the meantime?"
"Gross..."
To the bitter end, Lust muttered about wanting to possess him, make him moan beneath it, wear down his sanity until it turned to nothing... then vanished.
"..."
And so, Yujin coldly looked down at the Northern Grand Duke's corpse, now coldly dead with Lust gone.
Grip—
"...I'll kill you for sure."
If the day came when he faced its true body, he would end it without fail.
Two weeks later, no rebels remained in the Empire.
The Imperial forces, sweeping in alongside Yujin early on, had successfully seized all northern territories. Rebels with grave crimes were summarily executed, while those with lesser guilt or needing investigation—nobles all—were summoned to the capital for review by the Imperial High Court.
In the end, only about seven northern nobles survived, centered around Count Heres.
It was as if the entire northern nobility had been wiped out.
Faced with this unprecedented crisis where the balance of power had completely tipped, the remaining nobles couldn't rebel.
No, they couldn't.
Any attack on the Imperial family or defense of the northern nobles here would instantly brand them traitors.
Some had already made similar statements and been branded traitors, executed alongside the rest.
Even the noble faction kept their heads down quietly now. Sticking out would mean losing them.
They could only hope this storm passed quickly.
And...
.
.
.
.
The Empire's founding hero and highest noble, now the dumbest traitor responsible for the worst casualties in history—Calderon Grand Duke—had his corpse desecrated.
It was publicly burned in the capital's central square.
"""""Wooooaaahhh!!"""
"""""Burn him! Burn him! Burn him! Burn him!""""
The capital's citizens, packing the square, cheered as the Northern Grand Duke's body burned on a cross.
Not content with rebelling against the Empire and Imperial family, he had turned his own subjects into demons and driven them to death—a madman.
They were relieved his rebellion had been uncovered early and crushed. If such a brutal man who valued underlings' lives so lightly became Emperor... disaster would surely follow.
So they were glad he was dead.
It was tragic for the tens of thousands of innocent subjects lost in the Grand Duchy, but the living had to go on.
Thanks to this, support for Yujin and the Second Prince—who led the rebel suppression—soared.
The Second Prince was poised for a smooth Crown Prince promotion soon,
and Yujin...
"Marquis. I shall promote you to Duke."
...was at a level where the Emperor readily approved his elevation to Duke.
Yujin was a war hero to begin with. Add to that personally slaying the traitor Calderon Grand Duke, and awe and respect for his prowess had grown immensely.
Thus, Second Prince Russel could push for Yujin's promotion without much resistance. The Emperor, after weighing it carefully, deemed it fine.
"Hehe, congratulations, Yujin."
Lucia congratulated him from the side.
"Thanks, Lucia."
"No need. It's just the reward you earned proving your abilities. Even without this, you would've become a Duke someday for sure."
The Emperor alternated glances between his beaming daughter and Yujin, a smile on his face.
"Calling each other by name already, eh?"
"Hehe. Yes, Your Majesty. Yujin and I just click."
Lucia naturally leaned against Yujin, flashing a genuine smile. His shoulder, for the first time she leaned on it, was more comfortable than expected.
"That's good news."
The Emperor said as much, though he already knew.
Seeing his daughter look so close to Yujin right before his eyes just stirred a bit of bittersweetness.
He'd never thought himself a doting dad like Duke Arkabella. He cherished his daughter, of course, but wasn't overly extreme.
So he'd assumed he could purely bless her if she found love and married.
But seeing her call another man by name with that happy smile...
...
'...Perfect.'
It was great.
If he had to gain a son-in-law anyway, Yujin was ideal.
"Quite the matching pair. You'll need the Duke title even more, Marquis."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
There was no reason to refuse the promotion.
Besides, planning to marry both Lucia and Irene meant he needed the highest rank possible to minimize backlash.
In that sense, becoming a Duke was...
'Perfect.'
The illegitimate child once scorned by all now stood at the Empire's pinnacle.
Was there a more thrilling tale?
'Watch from hell, Marquis Banus.'
Not referring to himself.
The previous Marquis—his biological father, whom he'd killed himself. What face would that man make seeing this?
The bastard he'd dismissed for so long had achieved what no one in family history had: promotion to Duke.
...Surely, a sight worth seeing.
Too bad he was dead and couldn't react now.