Chapter 200
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Kingmaker (4)
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"Di-Dianes-nim...!"
"Haha, even rotten, it's still bonito..."
All around us were walls.
Steel shields and sharp spears had formed an impregnable rampart under the blue sky, encircling me and Peleus in an instant.
Right now, Peleus and I were surrounded by countless soldiers.
We'd snuck in by fanning ourselves casually on the street before brazenly scaling the walls into the palace.
But it had been ages since I'd been caught in such a textbook encirclement, stirring up a strange sense of nostalgia.
"Y-You bastard! Do you even know where you are, barging in here?!"
"...Haa. My god."
Was this the limit of the era?
I couldn't help but sigh.
I'd thought I'd made a bit of a name for myself in Greece these days, yet here they were spouting canned lines so leisurely.
"What's your rank and name?"
"Wh-What?"
"Your position, rank, name. Don't you grasp the situation?"
Right now, I was an extremely, extremely dangerous intruder.
No one knew when I'd slipped in, how I'd done it, and I even had this hulking figure beside me—hostage or fellow intruder, who could say?
"Some nameless, unaffiliated scum breaks into the king's palace, and you're just encircling me half-heartedly, casually asking for my name?"
They could hurl spears, snipe with arrows, or shove with shields and overwhelm me with numbers.
Back when that emperor punk pulled his stunt, the chase through the Imperial Hall had my spine tingling for real.
But in broad daylight, with the intruder practically begging to be caught, they're grinning lazily and asking my name? Where I'm from?
"Ah... what a letdown."
Screw the plan—maybe I should just bulldoze straight through.
"Di-Dianes-nim? Provoking the soldiers like that...!"
"Oh, Peleus. Soldiers? Where do you see any soldiers here?"
Were they calling anyone with a helmet and spear a soldier?
Scarecrows who couldn't even manage basic vigilance—soldiers, my ass.
"Ah, yes. I was wrong to hope for that palace intrigue bloodbath like old times."
Originally, Peleus was supposed to gather evidence of King Iasos's corruption and scandals, then I'd pick it up, stir up the palace a bit, and bail.
By now, Atalanta and Heracles should be ready outside.
Play around moderately, then slip out—easy.
"...Pardon?"
"Nothing. Now, where to, how to get out?"
This should have drawn enough aggro.
As I pondered our exit, noise erupted ahead. On the high balcony overlooking us from the palace, an elderly man decked out in garish finery appeared.
"You scum! Do you know what this place is? Bow your head at once!"
"...No need for introductions, then."
A crabby face, flushed from yesterday's booze.
Yet desperate to look imposing in his crumpled cloak and flashy jewels.
And topping it off, the golden crown screaming who this cranky old coot was.
No matter how wealthy Arcadia was, only one man could dress that excessively.
King Iasos of Arcadia.
'...Oh?'
Things were unfolding more smoothly than expected—I couldn't suppress a grin.
My target had come to me on his own two feet.
In my experience, kings were as heavy-bottomed as their egos—fires or floods be damned, they never budged.
I'd figured I'd have to slaughter everyone here and storm in before he'd show. But hot-tempered Iasos had waltzed right into view.
He wasn't even gentleman enough to call a king.
"Hmph! So you're Dianes, I take it?"
"And you're King Iasos, I presume."
"...Insolent! A so-called hero dares spout such nonsense before a king of a nation?!"
As I shot back sarcastically, a rat-faced lackey nearby squeaked in outrage.
Literally eunuch vibes—classic sycophant.
Now...
Aggro pulled beyond expectations. How to make this even more entertaining?
Like a chef eyeing a delectable ingredient, pondering the perfect dish.
Misinterpreting my silence, Iasos bellowed triumphantly.
"Kuhahaha! Finally coming to your senses? Even if you tricked my elite troops into some weird trap on Mount Taygetus with your sorcery. This is my court! My loyal soldiers heed my command—your monster magic won't work here!"
"Monster?"
"Yes! Monsters! You wear human guise but bear the blood of other beings, bringing calamity with your bizarre spells! If not for you, Arcadia, I, and that cursed daughter Atalanta would all live in peace!"
In the spittle-flying rant of King Iasos and the assenting glares of his soldiers, I glimpsed the lives the forest demigods had endured.
I'd suspected as much—they'd been lifelong witches in a witch hunt.
Divine blood or monstrous, what did it matter?
Born that way, blamed for every mishap, shunned and reviled.
Those eyes staring at me—fear, disgust, rage—they'd faced that gaze their whole lives.
The furious mob outside was no different, probably.
"Alright, I've decided."
Stew? Roast? Stir-fry?
As I mulled cooking methods, the perfect recipe hit me.
"This needs slow simmering to really soak in the flavor."
So as many as possible could chew and tear into it.
"Peleus."
"Y-Yes?"
"You head out first."
With a breath, demonic energy surged from my feet, morphing into a massive bird that snatched Peleus and his scroll bundle before soaring skyward.
"Wh-whoa!"
"Wh-what?!"
"Magic! He's a mage!"
"Th-the intruder's escaping! Sh-shoot!"
The soldiers panicked at the sudden giant bird's ascent with Peleus.
But that chaos was a huge boon for a first-rate martial artist.
"I held back for Atalanta and Heracles last time, didn't even get a taste."
Time to play properly after so long?
"Y-You! Everyone, snap out of it—attack this one first!"
"Ignore the escapee! Deal with the mage first!"
As expected, a few with their heads on straight—remembering the real target—charged me amid the ten-man mob where two or three might be decent.
Rear, front, flanks.
Textbook encirclement tactics, straight out of Hero's Forest drills.
The long-dormant demon stretched awake.
Asura Heaven-Reversing Strike - Thunderclap Fury
-Kwaaaang!!
A massive explosion shook the earth.
The signal flare heralding a royal house's doom rocked all of Tegea.
"It's about time..."
"What're you worrying for? If you've got time, help carry this!"
Outside Tegea's walls.
At the spot Dianes had designated last night, Heracles and Atalanta were busily constructing something.
With his superhuman strength outlifting a hundred men and the laborers Peleus had gathered, the work was child's play.
It was a makeshift platform, where Atalanta would soon deliver a speech.
"I still don't get it. It's just a gate made of wood and scrap metal.
Why not just charge and smash it? All this talk from Dianes is a pain."
"Honestly, kinda."
Dianes had left the aftermath to them and vanished into Tegea, dropping Chiron-like cryptic words.
Don't fling the gates open from outside—make them open themselves.
"Like stripping a lady's clothes, yeah?"
"...Pervert."
"Hey now, who's the one passionately locking lips in broad daylight with witnesses?"
"Get back to work!"
Atalanta kicked a stone at the grinning, uncharacteristically teasing Heracles.
He dodged nimbly, chuckling as he fled.
Notably, massive boulders dangled from both hands.
"...Sigh."
Her head already ached over what to say.
And here was the great hero rubbing salt in her black history.
Was Zeus really entrusting Greece's future to this guy? Atalanta sighed.
"Let's see... So, wise people of Arcadia, lend me your ears... No, please lend your ears? Lend me your ears, please? How do I even..."
She'd slaved over the speech all night, but even to her, it seemed dubious if Tegea's folk would listen.
"Should've taken Master Chiron's oratory lessons after all..."
Heracles's scribbled draft was more coherent and persuasive, ironically.
She regretted ditching those classes despite Karyklo's nagging, vowing to live in the forest forever.
Finally swallowing her pride to grab Heracles's speech—
-Kuung!
"Huh?"
A visceral thump like a heartbeat jolted her; she slowly looked up.
"Hey, bear-boy. You felt that too, right...?"
"Yeah. That's definitely..."
Like thunder rumbling before a storm, a fierce vibration drummed their hearts.
Only those who'd awakened their aura sensed the colossal presence; the warriors couldn't tear their eyes from the source.
It came from Tegea.
Specifically, the towering royal castle at its heart.
"What in the world..."
Before Heracles could finish his question, the answer appeared.
-Kuugwang!
Even from afar, the deafening boom slapped their ears.
Simultaneously, one pillar of Tegea's royal castle outright vanished.
"...He's sure making it flashy."
Hadn't he said to hold back on force as much as possible?
Atalanta nodded quietly at Heracles's dumbfounded mutter.