Demon God's Armor (9)
The news that King Hendrick von Elnot of the Elnot Kingdom had been assassinated spread like wildfire. It delivered a shock to the people rivaling the reports that the Northern Borderline had been breached and that Dragonians leading monster hordes were invading.
The culprit behind this assault on the royal palace was named as Ruan von Elnot. He was the son of Hendrick von Elnot and the crown prince poised to inherit the throne. The masked assailants who attacked the palace had openly praised Ruan, carving messages into the walls declaring that only Ruan could be the true king of the Elnot Kingdom.
The nobles and ministers loyal to Hendrick pointed to these facts, claiming that Ruan's supporters had seized the opportunity when royal troops were dispatched for monster subjugation and launched a vile rebellion.
Ruan's faction responded with utter disbelief. Why on earth would anyone stupid enough to launch a reckless assault on the royal palace advertise their identity so blatantly? Even if they had planned the attack, they wouldn't have shouted their support for Ruan. Moreover, Ruan von Elnot had a solid alibi: he had joined the monster subjugation force with his Grand Bleu Knights at the time.
Ruan's supporters began countering that this was a self-staged drama by Hendrick's faction. In truth, even Hendrick's side knew the incident raised far too many questions to pin on Ruan's group. But what mattered to them wasn't whether Ruan had truly rebelled. What they needed was a political pretext to attack Ruan.
The public, ever sensitive to sensational news, reacted with idiotic simplicity. A calm analysis would reveal scant evidence of Ruan's rebellion—anyone could see it was ripe for fabrication. Yet most people didn't think that way. It wasn't stupidity or barbarism. It was simply that Ruan's rebellion felt like a spark of hope—good news igniting their desires.
People always thought in ways that suited their wishes, in directions favorable to themselves. They had long despised Hendrick as the worst king in history and yearned for Ruan to take the throne, so they swallowed the rumor whole.
For the subjugation force preparing to battle the Dragonians, Hendrick's death was a bolt from the blue. In such chaos, the force couldn't hold; the troops who had left the capital began returning to the royal city.
For the unjustly framed Ruan, it was maddening, but events spiraled out of control. The power-hungry elites who had flattered Hendrick for personal gain feared execution if Ruan ascended and sought to brand him a traitor to install a puppet king.
Ruan's noble allies couldn't stand idly by. They highlighted Ruan's innocence and Hendrick's litany of past atrocities, insisting this was Hendrick's faction's ploy to seize the throne.
With the Northern Borderline crumbling and monster hordes marching on the capital, civil strife erupted within the Elnot Kingdom.
This political turmoil ironically cleared Salvatore Guild from suspicion. Guessing that Salvatore had attacked the palace wasn't hard—they had infiltrated the royal treasury to steal the Grace of the Archangel and taken the Erman ducal corpses buried in the underground prison.
The Grace of the Archangel was an S-rank rare item, so that made sense. But why would Ruan's followers take the corpses of hostages who had died in royal custody? No one voiced this obvious doubt amid the dire political climate. Hendrick's faction needed Ruan painted as a monstrous patricide hungry for the throne; Ruan's needed it framed as Hendrick loyalists' power grab.
Had Hendrick been a competent king, none of this would have happened. But he was the worst in history. Yeong-sik had devised a plan exploiting this very situation.
His scheme was a resounding success. Salvatore Guild members headed toward the fortress city of Talion in an almost suspiciously peaceful atmosphere, wondering if this was really okay.
"...Terrifying."
Bae Han-seong, who had learned of the kingdom's situation through the information guild, let out a hollow laugh. A chill raced up his spine.
The object of his dread was Yeong-sik.
How did he come up with this in such a short time...?
Yeong-sik's plan wasn't flawless—rather, it was amateurish. What sent shivers through Han-seong was Yeong-sik's attitude toward it.
The moment Tiriya resolved to avenge herself on the kingdom, Yeong-sik had casually outlined the plan as if he'd prepared it in advance. Despite the high risk of failure, he spoke with the confidence of someone who had foreseen total victory.
This wasn't just intelligence. It required perfect grasp of human psychology—and the certainty to exploit it.
Like...? Han-seong thought Yeong-sik resembled an emperor of some vast empire, dwarfing Salvatore Guild.
Impossible, of course.
No one would believe the ordinary-looking Korean was once such a figure.
Maybe a major corporation's CEO...?
Han-seong recalled a blockbuster hero movie from Earth. The protagonist, CEO of a massive arms conglomerate, donned a tech-laden mechanical suit to save the world.
What if Yeong-sik hadn't built the suit but implanted machinery into his own body with that tech?
...No way.
Han-seong shook his head with another hollow laugh. It was just a movie.
What is your true identity, Mr. Yeong-sik?
He wanted to ask the man walking beside Tiriya.
"...I've heard there's a high chance of civil war breaking out in the Elnot Kingdom soon," Tiriya said, having received Han-seong's report.
Yeong-sik nodded. "Yes. That's how we set it up."
Tiriya clamped her mouth shut at his unsurprised tone, gazing at him with a complex expression.
"So Salvatore Guild is completely safe now?" Yuna asked, turning her head as she walked ahead.
When they'd decided to kill Hendrick for Tiriya's revenge, she'd braced for endless pursuit by kingdom security, a life-or-death flight. But Yeong-sik's plan had succeeded so perfectly they didn't even need to hide—relief mingled with strange emptiness.
Yeong-sik shook his head. "No. Once this civil war ends and Ruan takes the throne, the target will shift to us."
"...You think Prince Ruan will win?"
"Yes. He will."
Yeong-sik stated it flatly. Yuna swallowed a groan at his conviction, as if he knew the future. She still couldn't get used to it.
"Then we build our strength until then to prepare," Tiriya said calmly.
"Exactly. Joining this monster subjugation serves that purpose too."
It wasn't just to alleviate guilt for attacking the palace amid crisis. The monsters beyond the Northern Borderline offered rich rewards proportional to their strength. For Salvatore, needing vast gold to expand, it was a golden opportunity. Plus, they could snag a black cube from an S-rank boss monster.
Black cubes were useless to anyone but Yeong-sik, but with him as core firepower, Salvatore couldn't ignore their value.
"Hehe. With you here, Mr. Yeong-sik, I feel secure," Tiriya said with a smile, watching him advise on guild direction like a chief of staff.
Yeong-sik had become indispensable to Salvatore Guild.
"Hmph, I'll admit you're capable," Yuna said, glancing at him primly.
"Village ahead."
Hwang-hyeon, scouting from the lead with his Ranger class's keen eyesight, spoke up.
"It's late, so let's rest there tonight and head out tomorrow."
"At this pace, we'll reach Talion tomorrow."
Talion was forming guild alliances to block monsters advancing on Leopold. The guild members, tense from looming battles and the need to amass untouchable power before the civil war ended, wore grim faces.
Tiriya watched them thoughtfully, then beckoned Yuna.
The Salvatore Guild secured lodging and retired to rooms for rest.
The allied Deo Peiser Guild, Laira Guild, and Cheonseong Guild headed separately to Talion to dodge scrutiny. With few members, Salvatore claimed individual rooms for comfort.
"Alright then..."
Entering his room, Yeong-sik opened his inventory and pulled out the Demon God's Armor. The metallic suit's rigid texture traveled through his hand.
"Structure Analysis."
He activated the skill on the Demon God's Armor.
Structure Analysis failed.
Structure Analysis skill level is insufficient.
As expected.
Yeong-sik nodded without disappointment. He'd sensed from the start the Demon God's Armor was no ordinary item. Failure would have been more shocking.
"Might as well try it on."
Failure didn't mean unusable. He placed a hand on the black suit, searching how to don it.
Then, a familiar mechanical tone rang in his ear.