Chapter 652: For the Kingdom
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 652: For the Kingdom
"This is..."
Agonizing pain tore at Milne’s nerves, twisting his face into a hideous mask that bore no trace of the elegance and composure expected of the Seventeenth Prince.
The audience stood frozen, staring blankly at the arena. The fierce battle they had anticipated had never materialized. In a single exchange, the Seventeenth Prince had been critically wounded and stripped of his ability to fight.
Was the legendary Seventeenth Prince actually nothing more than a total fraud?
The contrast was so jarring that the spectators forgot to cheer for the victor.
"Something’s wrong..."
Unlike the audience, who only saw the prince enter and get instantly defeated, Muen—standing mere inches away—could sense the abnormality of the situation far more acutely.
Though he hadn't held back on that strike, it was far from his peak power.
Not everyone opened a fight with a finishing move and treated it like a basic attack the way Ariel did.
That strike of his was something even Senior Sister Fanny, whom Milne had previously defeated, should have been able to parry... There was no reason for Milne to fail so miserably.
Which meant... there was a catch!
Muen’s expression shifted. He reached out and grabbed Milne’s arm.
Within his eyes, the Black Flame swirled.
The pitch-black fire flowed silently into Milne’s body, spreading alongside Muen's spiritual power. In an instant, Muen could clearly feel something inside Milne, relentlessly devouring his life force.
"Poison?"
Muen’s gaze hardened. The Black Flame deep in his pupils flickered, attempting to incinerate the toxins.
But the poison was more terrifying than he had imagined. It had already seeped deep into Milne’s internal organs... or rather, it had been lurking in his body for a long time, only choosing this moment to erupt. To consume the poison with the Black Flame would mean consuming Milne’s organs along with it.
Unless Milne was some kind of monster blessed by an Evil God, there was no way he could survive this.
And clearly, he was not.
"Cough... cough..."
Milne coughed up massive amounts of blood. The blood was a bright, vivid crimson, which led Muen to discover another horrifying aspect of the poison.
It showed no outward symptoms on Milne’s body.
At this moment, Milne’s wretched state looked... exactly as if it had been caused solely by Muen’s blade.
"Damn it."
Muen snapped out of it and signaled toward the area outside the All-Manifestation Simulation. "Referee!"
The space of the plains rippled as the referee hurried over. Sensing Milne’s rapidly fading life force, he frowned. "So fast? You went a bit too far... Strange, why didn't the All-Manifestation Simulation's protection mechanism trigger?"
To protect the combatants and allow them to fight without restraint, the All-Manifestation Simulation featured an automatic protection skill in addition to creating the combat environment. Once it detected a threat to a participant's life, it would activate immediately to separate the two parties.
Though the conditions were strict—it hadn't even triggered during Muen’s grand battle with Ariel the day before—it should have activated long ago in a situation where life force was so clearly and rapidly draining...
"There’s something strange going on!"
The referee’s face also changed. He had been supervising the match but had failed to notice such a subtle anomaly. Only now did he realize the gravity of the situation.
Simple physical trauma, even if severe enough to cause life force to drain, could be stabilized. But... what if it was due to another cause?
The referee grabbed Milne’s other hand, sending an aura far more vast than Muen’s into the prince's body.
But before he could act...
Splurt.
A fountain of bright red blood erupted from Milne’s mouth as if it were free.
He staggered a few steps, unable to even remain standing. His glazed eyes scanned the surroundings, failing to find the figure he was looking for before finally settling on Muen.
"Muen... Muen Campbell."
"What? What are you trying to say? Who did this to you?"
"I..."
Milne’s face grew paler by the second, turning whiter than paper. He had been bleeding continuously; that single wound shouldn't have been capable of shedding so much blood, even for an ordinary person.
The referee’s expression turned grim. Even if he used healing magic to pump in more life force, how could he possibly fill the void left by this constant hemorrhaging?
It was fast—too fast.
It was as if an alchemical pump was draining every drop of blood from Milne’s body, leaving no window for rescue.
"I... Heh, how ridiculous."
Milne’s final words were like a whisper carried on the wind, a pathetic footnote to a life that had been kept in the shadows for over a decade, only to wither away before it ever had the chance to bloom.
He collapsed to the ground, dying in a manner both ordinary and farcical—a way he had never envisioned.
The joker on the stage had finally reached his end.
Muen stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the dead prince. He looked down at his own hands, which were covered in blood.
The mastermind behind this accident and their motives remained unclear, but as things stood... to everyone else, to every spectator in this arena, it looked as though he had murdered Milne.
He had killed the high-ranking Seventeenth Prince of a neighboring kingdom. This would inevitably spark a conflict between the two nations... at least, that was how it appeared.
"Muen Campbell!!"
An aged yet thunderous roar shattered the eerie silence following the incident.
Hertz jumped out at the perfect moment, his face a mask of grief and rage. With a trembling hand, he pointed at Muen:
"You... you actually dared to murder His Highness! To think you would be so arrogant! Do you have any idea what the consequences of this will be?!"
"It wasn't me!"
Muen took a deep breath and countered coldly, "Milne died of poisoning. A simple examination will prove it."
"Poisoning? Ha, who would believe that? Fine... so you had this planned all along. This is your home turf; can't you just say whatever you want? Everyone saw His Highness die by your hand. I never expected you to be so despicable..."
Hertz suddenly lunged at Muen, his expression twisted with rage.
"As His Highness's teacher, I shall avenge him myself!"
The situation spiraled out of control once more. No one expected Hertz to dare attack Muen within the Academy, in front of everyone.
It truly seemed as though the death of his student had driven him into a blind fury, leaving him with no desire other than to personally slay the murderer.
"Presumptuous!"
Suddenly, a terrifying pressure descended from the sky. The air on the stage seemed to freeze into a solid block, trapping everyone within the ice-like atmosphere, unable to move.
A silver-haired figure descended, casting a cold glance at Hertz.
"Where do you think you are, to act so recklessly?"
"I am merely avenging my student!"
Hertz continued to roar:
"Does Her Majesty intend to shield this murderer? Do you know the consequences of doing so? Or... was this the Empire's intention all along? You feared His Highness's talent and wanted to stifle him in his—"
"Silence!"
A bone-chilling cold swept through the area as white frost instantly crystallized across the stage. Celicia’s hair fluttered in the wind. Though she wasn't wearing her formal regalia, her presence alone was enough to make everyone fall to their knees.
"I will uncover the truth, and the Empire will give you an explanation. But until then, you have no right to run wild!"
"I..."
Hertz’s aged face stiffened. Under Celicia’s overwhelming might, his posture suddenly slumped. He began to mutter incoherently, looking every bit the heartbroken old man devastated by the loss of his student.
This display led many to instinctively view him as the victim—the oppressed, powerless, and helpless old man.
Celicia paid no mind to how pitiful Hertz appeared. She turned to Muen, her expression softening slightly.
"What exactly happened?"
"I don't know the specifics yet. During our first exchange, Milne lost all combat capability and crashed directly into my blade, which is how he was wounded. But a wound of that caliber should never have been fatal to a genius who practiced both magic and martial arts."
Muen paused. "According to my observations, he was poisoned before he even fought me."
"Poison?"
"Yes, poison."
The Black Flame surged in Muen’s eyes again. In the spiritual vision granted by the pitch-black fire, he could still see those black specks moving within Milne’s body.
"The poison acted incredibly fast. By the time I noticed, he was beyond saving. The referee can testify to that. On the contrary, Lord Hertz was very quick to jump to conclusions, almost as if he knew something..."
Muen looked up at Hertz.
"Hmm?"
Then he froze.
Because in the vision of the Black Flame, the Hertz standing before him... wasn't Hertz at all.
"Something’s wrong... Celicia!" Muen shouted.
Celicia reacted instantly, their chemistry seamless. The moment Muen shouted, a divine light, carrying the weight of a Radiant Crown, descended from the heavens.
The Imperial Authority condensed once more. Celicia reached out her delicate hand toward "Hertz" and suddenly clenched it.
Crack.
Crack.
There was no sensation of crushing flesh. Instead, the moment Celicia’s grip tightened, a series of fine cracks, like those on shattering porcelain, appeared across Hertz’s body.
This was...
"An Alchemical Golem!"
Dean Hathaway, who had arrived alongside Celicia, pushed up her glasses and said in a low voice:
"Hertz’s realm hasn't progressed in twenty years. I thought he had given up entirely to pursue the path of power. I never imagined... he had been secretly researching golems all this time, and to such a sophisticated degree!"
To be able to pass for the real thing under the watchful eyes of so many was a terrifying level of craftsmanship.
What was most frightening was that he had never shown this skill before.
"A trick of this level still can't fool a true Crown Bearer, but he managed to find a loophole after all!"
Celicia crushed the golem completely, her face dark.
"He couldn't have killed Muen Campbell with just this golem. That means he was just putting on a show, using this method to draw us here... Which raises the question: if this is a golem, where is the real Hertz?"
*
"Everyone, the time of our trial has come."
On an unremarkable street in Belland, Hertz was delivering a loud proclamation to the members of the diplomatic delegation who had followed him:
"The Empire acts with such despicability! To prevent the Kingdom from growing stronger, they have murdered our most brilliant genius. What an infuriating outrage!"
"Te... Teacher."
Seviel looked at Hertz with a pale face, her voice trembling as she asked, "Is my cousin... is he really dead?"
"I know you are grieving, Seviel... but it is the truth. I imagine the news has already spread. I am sorry; I sensed the Empire’s ill intentions, yet I still failed to protect Milne." Hertz looked consumed by grief.
"I..." Seviel staggered, lost for words, not even knowing if she should believe it.
Hertz didn't have time to worry about his other disciple. He turned to the already incensed crowd and shouted:
"Everyone! For too long, the Kingdom has suffered under the Empire’s oppression. We swallowed our pride, but our restraint was met only with even more heinous acts... By doing this, they have shown they have no respect for us, and no respect for the Kingdom!"
There had always been constant friction between the Empire and the Kingdom over border territories.
The Kingdom had usually been at a disadvantage, leaving many of its people with a deep-seated sense of resentment.
Thus, Hertz’s words quickly fanned the flames of their collective rage.
"Look!"
Seeing the fire was hot enough, Hertz suddenly pointed to an ordinary-looking building behind him.
"According to reports from our internal agents, the Empire’s highest intelligence organ is hidden beneath this place! Everyone, the time to serve the Kingdom is now! If we can seize this place, we will hold the Empire’s weaknesses in our hands!"
"For the Kingdom!" the crowd cheered excitedly.
"Yes!"
Hertz’s gaunt face flushed red. Like a fighting cock, he raised a fist high and shouted to the crowd:
"Everything for the Kingdom!"