Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Family Head's Verdict
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Something fell at Campeji's feet.
Campeji lowered his head.
“…Gasp!”
He was too shocked to even scream.
“I’m just short-tempered, you see.”
Campeji’s heart pounded wildly at the sound of Sein’s voice.
“As you know, those Demorus heir candidates are busy people. They’ve got so much on their plates.”
His stomach churned.
Eeeeeeeee—
It felt like tinnitus was ringing in his ears.
“Hic!”
The hiccups, which had seemed to stop as the drunkenness faded, started up again.
“Let’s call the mission complete with this.”
What had fallen at Campeji’s feet was his close friend, the lord of Tonba.
More precisely, his head.
His friend, with whom he’d been drinking and enjoying the party just moments ago, lay there with a face drained purple.
“Ah, if you’re worried about the territory’s knights or soldiers, don’t be.”
He lifted his head to look at Sein’s face.
Waver.
To Campeji, Sein’s face seemed to ripple like waves.
“They won’t hold out against bandits, let alone a territory war, for the time being. How many survived?”
That playful voice only drove him madder.
“Are you listening?”
“…Immortal.”
Campeji suppressed something bursting from his chest and spoke.
“What… happened to the youngest of the Immortal House?”
There had been the youngest of the Immortal House, paired with Sein to liven up the entertainment.
“Lord Brando…?”
Brando.
A being who had grown through longer training and education in the underworld than the Sein before him.
No matter how much support Sein had from Rasiel and Dante, the gap in experience would overwhelm and crush him….
“Ah, did you need that guy’s head too?”
“……!”
“If there’d been an extra fee, I would’ve brought it.”
Shiver, shiver, shiver.
Campeji’s entire body trembled like an aspen leaf.
“Anyway, the job’s done.”
The upright Sein declared.
“Unspoken rule….”
Campeji’s faint voice.
But he didn’t let any more words escape his mouth.
“I’ll let you live today, Campeji.”
Because Sein’s voice flowed in.
“Roberta over there looks like she wants to tear you apart right now, but I’ll hold her back. You’ve got value only if you’re alive.”
“…….”
Swish.
Before he knew it, Sein stood right in front of him, looking down at Campeji.
He was clearly a much younger man, yet to Campeji, he looked like a giant.
Even bigger than those nobles in the center.
“Don’t you dare think of using me, Campeji.”
The heavy voice amplified the intimidation.
“Don’t drag me into your games.”
It was unfair.
This was just their play.
Why did his friend have to die?
“Do you even understand what it means to commission Sein Demorus?”
Even though he himself had regarded the soldiers, knights, and territory folk as mere pawns.
“Live to pass this on.”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
At Sein’s words, Campeji bowed his head and replied.
“I will keep it in mind.”
“There, all settled. Now smile. And don’t forget to wire the payment.”
Sein passed by Campeji.
“Can I take an arm at least?”
Roberta asked Sein.
“You did well, Roberta. That’s how you ask for permission.”
Sein’s response.
“His arm is yours.”
Splash!
No sooner had Sein finished speaking than a fountain of blood sprayed from Campeji’s side.
Campeji collapsed to the ground.
Derren and Roberta passed by on either side of him.
*
*
*
Sein knelt on one knee, head bowed.
Twitch.
Tejera, the great head of Demorus watching him, furrowed his brow.
It was different from before.
Even with the same pressure that had forced him to his knees both times.
“Sein Demorus, reporting back from the family mission.”
This time, Sein was only on one knee.
“…….”
The vassals and heir candidates gathered there felt it too.
“How.”
Tejera was a monster.
The seed of a monster could become a monster.
But it would need proper nourishment and experience in the process.
“To grow this strong, this fast.”
Sein’s growth was beyond measure.
However, Tejera’s reaction was just that initial twitch of his brow. Resting his chin on his hand, he looked down at Sein with a languid expression and said.
“I’ve heard the report.”
At that voice, Sein nearly buckled the one knee he’d been holding.
“You wiped out the lord’s castle in Tonba.”
“…….”
“Family Head!”
Then, for the first time, one of the vassals spoke up.
Gail, captain of the 3rd Force.
A middle-aged man with a mane-like beard and striking red hair.
In a world where lower numbers meant stronger, Demorus’s 3rd Force was no light name.
In fact, Gail was blood kin to the current head, having competed in the heir race alongside him.
“Sein Demorus has broken the unspoken rule!”
And he was the second heir candidate—the only woman among them—Tampia’s declared supporter.
“Have you not heard what that boy did!”
At Gail’s words, the head slowly turned.
Unspoken rule.
Something not formally agreed upon but tacitly permitted.
“Who will entrust territory wars to Demorus now!”
At Gail’s words, some vassals nodded.
No matter how much it was Sein’s solo act, the lords might see it as Demorus’s will.
Demorus, who ruined their games.
“Sector 4’s Otok territory war has already been canceled, and the damage Demorus must suffer due to one Sein Demorus is immense!”
More vassals nodded.
Demorus’s interests—and those against them.
“And it cracks the peace we’ve maintained all this time!”
Everyone had heard how Sein had beheaded the lord from Rasiel onward.
What had happened until now could be overlooked under Demorus’s name.
Lower sector lords were replaceable parts, swappable anytime.
But from Sector 5, they were under the New Empire’s protection.
“It’s a grave error that could shake the Black-White Accord! Family Head!”
Seeing the vassals agreeing with him, Gail raised his voice even more.
“Punish Sein Demorus severely right now! Strip him of his heir candidate status….”
“Shut your damn chirping.”
That was when Sein spoke.
“Youuu worm!”
The moment Gail bellowed with a face twisted in rage.
“Lower your voice.”
Tejera’s voice echoed through the hall.
Thud.
In an instant, everyone dropped to their knees.
Even Sein’s barely held single knee buckled.
‘This madman.’
And that wasn’t the end?
Just what level was he?
Shiver.
His whole body trembled.
Absolute terror. Within it, Tejera spoke.
“Gail. You dare command me?”
*
*
*
“That’s not what I meant….”
Gail, who had been playing the unyielding general moments ago, trembled as he spoke.
“Didn’t you just order me to strip Sein Demorus of his heir candidate status.”
“Family Head! No, forgive me!”
The moment Gail cried out.
Boom.
An explosion rang out.
Where Gail had been.
Beside it.
In front of it.
Splatter.
Something that had been Gail was now a mess.
“…….”
As befitting Demorus vassals, they didn’t show it outwardly, but the clear fear in their trembling pupils was visible.
“Dare not command me.”
“The Family Head is right!”
Emperor.
“But Gail was not wrong.”
Tyrant.
It should have always been this way.
What would a being with absolute power and absolute strength be otherwise?
Even Sein himself thought so.
“Sein Demorus.”
“Yes…. Family Head.”
This was the first time in this life he’d properly used honorifics.
He’d tried to be fair to everyone.
‘Fuck.’
Before such absolute power, it all meant nothing.
However.
“Speak.”
Trembling all over, Sein resisted the Family Head and replied.
“I’ll give you a chance to explain.”
Was this the price for sowing seeds and letting them run wild?
No.
‘Tejera is a rational man.’
Sein had studied the current head of Demorus more than anyone.
Knowing the NPC’s tendencies and personality was basic for攻略.
What Sein had done this time.
“Are the lords that important?”
Was all calculated.
A rational man.
But above all, one who valued his own authority.
“Without our underworld, they’re parasites who can’t even protect their own necks.”
“……!”
At Sein’s words, the vassals’ pupils shook.
“Since when did Demorus become their plaything?”
“Heir candidate….”
Some elders tried to warn Sein, but Tejera raised a hand to stop them.
“Without them, is Demorus useless?”
“…….”
“You dare.”
Authority.
“The punishment for daring to treat Demorus as a game. In Demorus’s name.”
Sein understood that better than anyone.
No vassal here would know.
They might be someone’s superior, but ultimately, they were someone’s underlings.
Heaven above all, I alone am supreme.
Unless you’ve stood at the top.
“If that’s a sin, I’ll gladly accept it.”
You could never know.
“If Demorus’s name must fall to the dirt! If it pains us to see it!”
He empathized.
Heir of the underworld.
Yet an outsider of unclear origin.
Most here had chosen sides.
Those who hadn’t would hesitate to side with Sein.
A natural result based on odds of victory.
“I’ll step down as heir candidate or whatever. Peace….”
Smirk.
Sein smiled.
“How meaningful is that?”
At Sein’s words, the vassals began to see him differently.
“The underworld rose to this position through struggle. Do you think peace without struggle truly benefits the underworld?”
It was the first time.
Smirk.
A smile spread across Tejera’s hitherto languid lips.
“Family Head, you decide. I’ll follow.”
“Good. I will render judgment on Sein Demorus.”
This moment was the trial.
The price: life.
“I bestow a commendation upon Sein Demorus.”
Success.