Utter Chaos
“Is it worth exerting so much effort to protect a powerless old man?”
Nydus no longer cared who stood before him. He lashed out without restraint, heedless of whether it was the king or the prince. Seeing his state, Duke Dabons spoke with a sorrowful expression.
“How far you have fallen. You were once a loyal subject who embodied both civil and martial virtue.”
Nydus had not always displayed such ambition. His family had long been renowned as steadfast loyalists, whether aligned with the orthodox or noble factions. Yet from the moment Nydus Melbourne became head of the house, he began to stir unrest in the political arena, as though seeking independence from the Sog Kingdom—or perhaps supremacy within his own clan.
It was Nydus who had first proposed dividing the nobility into orthodox and noble factions. At the time, the king’s health had been sound, and the idea of assigning distinct roles to each group had seemed reasonable. The noble faction would handle national defense, while the orthodox faction managed administrative affairs, allowing the kingdom to function smoothly. However, as the factions grew and their ideologies diverged, cracks began to form. Nobles who refused to join either side gradually declined, and the situation spiraled beyond control.
“Darius! William! You are blinded by ambition and trying to kill your own family!”
Hernandez shouted, not merely to assert his claim as the eldest son, but to make his brothers see right from wrong. Yet neither prince paid him any heed. They had already been swayed, thoroughly manipulated by Nydus’s influence. In politics, it was no difficult feat for a master orator to brainwash young princes with talk of the kingdom’s precarious state and the need for change.
Backed by the noble faction’s power, the princes felt invincible. They raised their swords against the brother they once loved and the father they revered as the heavens themselves.
Clang! Clang!
Hernandez and Duke Dabons desperately parried the blades of the two princes, who struck with relentless ferocity at King Sog. Both Darius and William had received basic sword training; as royalty, they had studied at Philadel Academy alongside the duke’s own disciples.
“How could it come to this!”
Duke Dabons had trained countless students at the academy, but none had received more careful guidance than the three princes. He could not simply stand by and watch the future of the royal family fall apart. That duty had always been his as a noble and as a member of the orthodox faction—to uphold the authority of the crown. Yet now…
“You trample your master’s face beneath your boots!”
The duke’s heart ached. Everything felt forced, as though the world itself had been twisted into this nightmare.
“This path leads only to ruin. I beg you, turn back while you still can!”
His plea fell on deaf ears. The princes had already steeled themselves; failure meant death. Darius’s next words made that resolve clear.
“If one is born with the makings of a king, what else is there? It is a seat meant only to be watched from afar.”
Hernandez was stunned by the words coming from his younger brother’s mouth.
“Are you saying it is wrong to uphold tradition in a kingdom with a long history?”
William’s face twisted at the remark.
“A powerful nation is forged by the strong! Our great Sog Kingdom is destined to become the mightiest on the continent. I will merely serve as a stepping stone toward that ideal!”
It was the delusion of someone who could no longer distinguish reality from fantasy. Whatever Nydus had whispered to them, listening further would yield nothing good.
Hernandez clenched his teeth.
“Brothers… This is the last time I will call you that. If you raise your swords against the king—or against me, the rightful heir—again, I will regard you as traitors who defy the will of the Sog Kingdom and cut you down.”
These were the brothers he had grown up with. Had he not witnessed their true intentions here, there might still have been a way to turn back. But after hearing their words, Hernandez made his decision. From this moment on, they could no longer be family. They were rebels who endangered the kingdom—assassins who sought to murder both the king and the future king. Did such men deserve to be treated as human?
Swish!
Even so, the two princes raised their blades once more. Seeing that his words had changed nothing, Hernandez steadied his resolve. Turning to Duke Dabons, he spoke.
“Duke Dabons, I know this will be difficult, but will you lend your strength in dealing with these two?”
He understood how painful it was to strike down one’s own students, for he too had trained under the duke. Yet there were times when it had to be done. The duke nodded silently, gripping his sword so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
Taking the nod as agreement, Hernandez addressed the nobles still locked in combat.
“I command Count Mercury and Marquis Pierce as well—they are no longer nobles of the Sog Kingdom. Treat them as criminals who attempted to assassinate the king and dispose of them accordingly!”
Unable to reply amid the chaos, the two nobles simply nodded.
“Those who forsake the bonds of blood shall learn the price firsthand! I will personally tear their limbs apart and hang them in the streets!”
With those harsh words, Hernandez spurred the nobles to greater fury against the traitors.
Reina and Natalie clasped each other’s hands tightly, relying on a magical lantern as they made their way toward the royal castle. Soldiers blocked their path, but Natalie’s quick thinking and agility allowed them to slip through the gaps. By sheer luck, they reached the castle walls—only to face a new problem. Every guard had been enthralled, leaving no one to lower the drawbridge across the moat.
The castle’s defenses were formidable, designed to repel intruders. Without soldiers to operate the mechanism, crossing seemed impossible.
“What do we do?”
They had come so far, yet drowning in the moat was not an option. Returning to join Paul would mean abandoning Baleon to his fate.
“Is there another gate?”
Natalie, who had never visited the castle before, asked if there might be another way in.
“Another gate… another gate…”
Then an idea flashed through Reina’s mind.
“The underground prison connected to the sewers.”
As the capital, Dabons possessed an extensive waterway system that extended all the way to the castle. At its deepest point lay the underground prison, a key facility accessible from within the castle itself. Normally, it was heavily guarded, and even nobles could not enter freely. But with no soldiers left to man the gates…
“There’s a good chance it’s empty.”
“If you know where it is, let’s go right now! This is an emergency.”
Natalie tugged at Reina’s hand, ready to move, but Reina remained still. There was a problem.
“The prisoners may have been released.”
Dabons was the capital; its prison housed the most dangerous criminals. With the guards gone, an escape was entirely possible. Charging in blindly could mean running straight into them. Even in an emergency, courage was required.
At that moment, Natalie gave a reassuring signal, as if to say she would be fine no matter what.
“Haa…”
Reina shifted the magical lantern to her other hand and took a deep breath.
“All right. Let’s go.”
If even Natalie, who had only lived with them briefly as a child, was willing to risk everything for Baleon, how could she, his daughter, hesitate? Steeling her resolve, Reina led the way toward the sewers.
***
“Ugh!”
The sewers were exactly what one would expect—a foul conduit carrying all of Dabons’s waste toward the purification facilities. Though side passages existed for maintenance, the sight and stench of filth flowing past were unbearable. Reina, being relatively dull to smells, managed, but Natalie, a beastkin, struggled terribly. She fought back waves of nausea as the acrid odor assaulted her senses.
The sewers sprawled across the entire capital, vast and labyrinthine. Worse still, every passage looked identical, making navigation treacherous. Reina had to rely on her magic, scattering traces of mana like breadcrumbs to create a makeshift compass. She marked the correct path and checked the residual mana whenever they strayed. The mana would dissipate within five minutes, so they had to find the underground prison quickly—or risk becoming lost forever.
Fortunately, the entrance they had used was not far from the castle, and the closer they drew to the prison, the easier it became to navigate.
“From here on, we’re in the prison. We don’t know when the criminals might appear.”
Reina advanced with a tense expression, every sense on high alert.
“All the cell doors are open, Reina.”
Natalie stared in disbelief at the iron bars that should have been locked tight.
“They’ve either already escaped or are still searching for a way out.”
There were only two exits: the sewer tunnel they had entered through and the main gate leading into the castle. Since they had encountered no prisoners so far, the criminals had likely already fled.
“They probably headed for the castle.”
Reina moved forward one cautious step at a time. As they neared the exit leading into the castle, they stumbled upon the very last thing they wanted to see.
“These guys are nothing special.”
“Maybe they’ve gotten dumber since last time?”
“I’ll only follow Lord Kawit.”
The deep voices of several men echoed through the prison like a cavern. Judging by the footsteps, there were dozens of them. Reina and Natalie clamped their hands over their mouths and pressed themselves against the wall, hiding in the shadows.
One man, clearly the leader, spoke with a satisfied chuckle.
“Kekeke, I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s worked out in our favor. We’ll follow the sewers and slip out of Dabons.”
True to their nature, the criminals had no intention of repenting or quietly remaining in their cells. Given the chance, escape was only natural.
Hidden behind a single door, Natalie and Reina prayed the group would pass them by. But the sound of dozens of footsteps grew louder, drawing steadily closer.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The criminals marched forward with triumphant strides. Reina and Natalie held their breath, concealed within an empty cell. Without light, they might go unnoticed—if they were lucky.
But luck was not on their side.
“Looks like we’ve got some rats hiding in here.”
Kawit’s eyes glowed red as he peered into the cell.
“A human woman and a beastkin. They look like they’d fetch a decent price. Take them!”
At his command, the criminals who had lagged behind approached with vicious grins, reaching for the two girls.
“Kyaaao!”
Thud!
Natalie drove her dagger into one man’s throat. Without hesitation, Reina cast a spell.
“Water Bullet!”
The projectile struck the face of the nearest criminal. Yet the others charged forward, eyes blazing, unfazed by their fallen comrade.
“Stay still!”
They cared nothing for the dead. Struggling only drained their strength faster. Trapped inside the cell, Natalie could not use her speed and agility to full effect, and Reina could not risk area spells. Watching from outside, Kawit muttered softly.
“Feisty little things.”
A magic circle formed over one of his eyes, and both Reina and Natalie instantly fell into a deep sleep.
“Useless fools. Can’t even catch two girls. We can’t waste any more time. Grab them and move.”
Reina and Natalie were bound with coarse sacks and ropes, then dragged away like discarded cargo.