Chapter 578: Time to Collect the Debt (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 578: Time to Collect the Debt (1)
Dante did not immediately proclaim his regency the following day. There were matters that had to be settled first.
*
In an underground villa located in the central region of the Empire.
A man paced restlessly across the living room. His pale, haggard face and trembling shoulders betrayed his profound anxiety.
He was Tion Hairan, the second son of Ron Hairan and a former Flagbearer of the family.
He was the first to betray Hairan, joining the Emperor’s campaign to brand his own kin as traitors. Even before the Sword Emperor Holy War had concluded, he had fled to this underground villa, accompanied by the fifty or so imperial knights who followed him.
‘Damn it! How did it come to this…!’
There were many reasons why he had betrayed Hairan. Despite being a Flagbearer, he had never once earned Ron’s approval, and he had lived his entire life overshadowed by his nephew, Dante.
Tion believed it was all discrimination stemming from his lack of talent. He willfully ignored the sheer effort Dante had poured in—Dante, who had been born a fragile weakling, consumed by chaos from birth. It was simply easier for Tion to blame it all on a lack of innate ability.
He had long harbored a deep resentment toward the family. Then, Ron, who had seemed poised to lead for another twenty years, suddenly collapsed from internal injuries. It was then that the Emperor approached Tion with a sweet proposal.
The Emperor spoke of an object called the ‘White Stone.’ He promised that if Tion gave false public testimony about it, he would be made the Patriarch once Hairan was destroyed.
At the time, the Emperor had spoken as if he truly coveted Tion’s potential. Tion, flattered, had accepted the offer without even an hour’s deliberation.
He never dreamed that the family had already sensed his budding betrayal and disloyalty, yet had been silently waiting for him to return to the righteous path.
‘I thought there was no way we could lose, since Zipple was supposed to step in if the Imperial Army faltered. But the King of the Black Sea? Why the hell did something like that show up!’
Crash!
Tion slammed his fist onto the table, shattering it and sending splinters flying. The knights watching him flinched and cleared their throats nervously.
“Um, Sir Tion… has there been any word from His Majesty?” one knight asked cautiously.
“What do you think? And you fool, the Emperor is finished. Our only hope for survival lies with the Imperial Family now, not him.”
“Still, it seems His Majesty hasn't been captured yet. Based on the situation outside, rumors are circulating that Dante Hairan will soon declare himself Regent…”
“Ha! Not content with the family, he wants to swallow the Empire too? It’s my nephew’s world now. If Father were still alive, things might be different, but a brat like him!” Tion shouted, huffing with rage.
“Sir Tion, the Imperial Family has already ignored our attempts to contact them three times. Shouldn't we try to get in touch with His Majesty by any means necessary?”
“How many times must I tell you? The Emperor is finished! Why are even you acting like this?”
“But what if the reason His Majesty hasn't been caught is because he has the Imperial Family’s protection? Perhaps they haven't given up on him yet. He might still hold a card that can turn the situation around. We must speak with him.”
“If you utter one more word about finding the Emperor, I’ll crush your—”
Tion cut himself off, flinching as he locked eyes with the knight.
A sudden, terrible suspicion took hold. None of the knights who followed him would ever dare talk back to him like this.
“You… what are you? Why do you keep looking for the Emperor? Did you receive some order from the Imperial Family? Who are you?”
“Whatever do you mean by that?”
“Take off your helmet.”
“Sir Tion?”
“I said take it off! Your obsession with the Emperor is suspicious. Men! Seize him! He won't confess if I ask nicely!”
The other knights glanced at each other and began to close in on him. The knight in question remained perfectly still, his helmet on, before letting out a quiet sigh.
“Good grief. This really isn't suited to my temperament.”
The knight reached out into the empty air. He grabbed and pulled something invisible. In an instant, the three knights advancing on him were sliced into pieces.
Slice—!
What he had pulled were wire-like hidden weapons. A fountain of blood erupted, staining Tion’s face crimson. Before he could even blink, the knight had vanished from where he stood.
‘W-What is this…!’
The knight was already behind Tion, a dagger pressed against his throat. His helmet was gone, but his face was concealed by a milky-white mask.
Bizen, a top assassin of Nameless. He had infiltrated Tion’s underground villa a week ago.
During that week, Bizen had over ten thousand opportunities to kill Tion. He had played along until now for two reasons.
First, for Emperor Amir Viment. If Tion still had a direct line to the Emperor, Bizen intended to use it to find his whereabouts.
Second, because of a request from the client.
—Watch him for a few days. If he shows even the slightest sign of repenting for his sins, capture him alive and bring him to me. To serve as a cautionary tale for the family, I will give him time to atone.
That didn't mean Tion would be allowed to live. It was merely a consideration, a chance to die with some measure of repentance.
Tion had just kicked that opportunity away.
“N-Nameless…!”
“It seems you really have no way to contact Amir Viment. I tried to be patient in hopes of making things easier for our princess, but my patience has run out.”
“W-Wait! If I can get in touch with His Majesty, will you spare me? If so, I’ll contact him right now…”
“Regrettably, that ship has sailed. And though it’s taking some time to find him, he’s going to die anyway. It’s only a matter of time with Nameless’s top assassins on his trail.”
Shlick!
The dagger slid through Tion’s throat smoothly and swiftly.
Tion Hairan died instantly. The remaining knights didn't even dare to resist; they were thrown into a panic, scrambling to escape.
However, as Bizen pulled the transparent threads he had set in the air once more, they were all ruthlessly cut down.
“Aaaagh!”
“Spare me! Please, spare me!”
In less than ten seconds, every single one of the remaining knights had drawn their last breath.
When the mission was over, not a single drop of their blood stained Bizen’s body.
*
Similar scenes were unfolding at the main houses, villas, and secret shelters of the families that had sided with the Emperor during the first phase of the Sword Emperor Holy War.
“A-Acting Patriarch! It seems Dante Hairan has already begun the purge! The knights at the main house are being assassinated…!”
At the Harlow family’s shelter.
They had sent Scott Harlow of the Central Knights and other warriors to join the Imperial Army in their attack on Hairan.
The ones killing the Harlows were also assassins from Nameless. They had received a contract to kill everyone in the Harlow family except for a few of their most talented individuals.
“Heh heh heh… So it’s come to this. Yes, having lost everything, it’s only natural he’d come back for revenge.”
At the Chendler family’s main house.
They, too, had struck at Hairan, led by Gloria Chendler of the White Spear Knights.
In this manner, the families that had sided with the Imperial Army—including the Lilista family, the Lilista Magic Squad, and the Pan family—were paying a price that bordered on total annihilation.
The assassins of Nameless took their lives without hesitation.
“The world is truly unpredictable. Dante Hairan… I heard he turned into a demon during the war, but I didn't expect him to act this quickly.”
The Vice-Patriarch of the Henserck family spoke in a resigned voice. Standing before him was another top assassin of Nameless, ‘An.’
“You’re mistaken,” An said in a dry voice, looking at the Henserck Vice-Patriarch.
“The person who commissioned us to kill you isn't Dante Hairan.”
“What?”
“Just thought I’d let you know. I don't usually bother with such talk, but I didn't want you to resent the wrong person in the afterlife.”
An’s sword severed the Vice-Patriarch’s neck. Behind him lay the corpses of the Henserck mages, yet not a single drop of blood marred his milky-white clothes.
Dante had no intention of killing them immediately. Just as he had wanted to give Tion time to repent before death, he had intended to give these families a chance to contribute to the stabilization of the Empire before they faced their end.
The one who had commissioned the massacre of the families that sided with the Imperial Army was not Dante, but the Imperial Family itself.
They were cutting off their own tails, creating a pretext to escape with as little damage as possible. Those disgusting mystics cared more about their own safety than the restoration of an Empire contaminated by chaos.
The Imperial Family truly believed that the Empire could only return to normal if they remained intact. They believed they still possessed the power to make it so.
Nameless was a neutral blade of assassination.
As long as one was qualified and could pay a sufficient price, any faction or individual could borrow the sword of Nameless.
If the protection of Ron Hairan still existed in the Empire, Nameless would never have accepted the Imperial Family’s request. The only reason Nameless accepted a contract that could shatter the Empire’s balance was purely because Ron was gone.
However, Nameless had not accepted every request the Imperial Family made this time.
Out of all those who had stood with the Imperial Army, there was one family.
Nameless had rejected the Imperial Family’s request to assassinate the remaining leadership of the ‘Perel family.’
To be precise, it wasn't a rejection. Rather, they couldn't take the job because the requests ‘overlapped.’ Nameless had already received a request to protect the Perel family from assassination for the time being—and that request had come before the Imperial Family’s.
—Kevin Perel was a piece of trash, but Sir Johnsina Perel ultimately sided with the Imperial Army for the sake of the people. Even if that choice was wrong in the end… as a knight and as a warrior, I wish to respect Sir Johnsina’s life. Please protect them from assassination for the time being.
Thus, the Perel family was able to preserve itself from the blades of Nameless.
And fortunately, most of those remaining in the Perel family took after Johnsina Perel.
*
It was four days later when a top assassin of Nameless finally discovered Emperor Amir Viment.
Amir Viment was hiding in a nameless forest in the southern part of the Empire. Not a single member of the Inner Imperial Guards or even a personal escort remained by his side.
“Hello?”
Yona Runcandel.
At the sight of her smiling brightly, the Emperor looked up and knew instinctively.
Death had finally come for him as well.