episode_0330

Damian, who had been staring blankly at the scene, couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling up inside him and let it burst out.

“Hahahaha! Regina. What is this? Are you crazy? Or are you planning to join me now? Huh?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Can you hear that scream? The guy who came to save you is flailing in the flames!”

Damian continuously mocked Regina.

There was no thought of Gilbert’s safety in his mind.

A knight escort could be easily drawn from the Imperial Guard, and the artifact he handed over wouldn’t be destroyed by flames of that degree.

But despite his taunts, Regina showed no sign of agitation.

She merely stared at the flames.

Sensing something ominous in her demeanor, Damian suddenly recalled that Ruan handled strange flames.

As he turned his head, thinking ‘no way,’ a figure leaped out from the flames.

It was Ruan.

He, without a single trace of being scorched by the flames, held Gilbert, whose entire body was melted and whose heart had a hole through it, in one hand.

Thud!

He threw the corpse in front of Damian.

“Did you laugh a lot?”

“……”

“Why are you silent? You seemed so arrogant just a moment ago.”

“You bastard….”

As the tide turned instantly and Damian gritted his teeth, Ruan took out an emblem and held it out.

“That’s….”

“I’ll make good use of this. Thanks to you, I got something useful.”

It was the artifact Damian had handed to Gilbert during the battle.

The Aura of Victory.

It is attached to armor or similar items, and simply wearing it enhances the owner’s physical abilities.

One might wonder what would happen if it fell off during a fight, but as it’s an artifact, such an absurd situation wouldn’t occur.

Because magic is applied to it, after all.

Click!

Ruan ostentatiously put on the emblem and clenched and unclenched his fist.

“The performance is definitely good. Thanks. I’ll put this power to good use in killing you.”

“Don’t make me laugh! You worm!”

Shouting that, an agitated Damian launched a surprise attack.

Dozens of golden sword energies poured out, splitting along their trajectory.

Ruan took a step forward, facing the sword energies.

Whoosh!

His body vanished like a flash of light, and the sword energies, losing their target, only carved into the innocent ground.

A bewildered Damian quickly turned his body and defended against the powerful attack he felt from behind.

Crash!

His body was pushed back with the impact.

When he lifted his head, Ruan was firmly blocking Regina’s front.

Damian realized belatedly.

That the reason for his provocation was for Regina’s safety from beginning to end.

Ruan grinned as if to say, ‘Did you just figure that out?’

“What if you get excited? So, will you properly play the Emperor?”

“This bastard….”

“That’s why you couldn’t win Isis’s heart. You know?”

“Shut up!!”

Damian flared up again in anger at the provocation but didn’t rush in carelessly this time.

Instead, he rolled his eyes, looking for a chance to escape.

‘I just need to get out.’

Then I can somehow cover it up.

If necessary, I can even pin this whole thing on Ruan and Regina.

The problem was that Ruan couldn’t possibly be unaware of his thoughts.

“You shouldn’t think about escaping. The moment you turn your back, I’ll pierce your heart.”

“You insolent bastard… Don’t you know what will happen if you kill me? With the Empire’s intelligence, they’ll know everything that happened here!”

“Do you think I wouldn’t have prepared for something like that? I’ll take care of everything, so don’t worry. Just shut up and attack.”

Ruan wiggled his finger.

Realizing there was truly no other way, Damian gritted his teeth and raised his sword.

“Arrogant fool. I’ll make you pay the price!!”

Swish!

Damian unleashed golden sword energy again.

Its trajectory overtly aimed only at Regina.

*

Clang clang clang!

‘Dirty bastard.’

I thought he wouldn’t die easily, but he’s utterly disgusting until the very end.

I parried all the incoming sword energies while sending a telepathic message to Regina.

– Look for an opportunity and escape immediately.

– …No.

– Are you kidding? Leaving is helping.

– Still no. What am I supposed to tell Isis if I leave you and escape alone?

– …Isis wouldn’t know. Rather, if I disappear, wouldn’t that create an opportunity for you?

– What? Is that how you see me? No matter what, I wouldn’t do something like that!

These words were a bit hard to believe.

Didn’t she even try to kill me and take my place?

But seeing Regina’s eyes, I knew it was true.

I don’t know if it’s because of this incident, but it felt like her image and impression of me had improved slightly.

– There’s no helping it, then. Support me. I’ll block Damian, so rest assured.

– Just try letting him go. I won’t let you off easy.

– What are you going to do?

– I’ll kiss Isis.

– …I’ll stop you even if it kills me.

Isis’s lips are mine.

No, not just her lips, but also her ample breasts, slender waist, wide hips, firm thighs, and plump vagina, all of it!

Even if she’s the same gender, I can’t let her fall into the hands of someone with ulterior motives.

With motivation even stronger than revenge, I drew out all my concentration.

– Here I come!

And I charged at Damian.

“Diee!!”

Swish!

Golden sword energies covered all directions and surged forward.

I pushed forward, parrying everything aimed at me as well as those targeting Regina.

Occasionally, Regina’s supporting fire flew towards Damian, but it only made him flinch for a moment, inflicting no damage.

However, that was enough.

Because in that fleeting moment of hesitation, I was advancing step by step, closing the distance.

As I got closer, anxiety and fear deepened on Damian’s face.

Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, he resorted to his last resort.

“Oh, don’t come! If you come, I’ll kill them!”

Damian pointed at the women trapped in the iron cage and threatened.

He probably thought I was someone with a kind heart who couldn’t bear to see innocent women sacrificed.

‘This stupid bastard.’

Who does he think is standing in front of him?

I’m the worst criminal who has raped and murdered dozens of women!

How could something like this work?

“Kill them.”

“W-What!?”

“Just kill them. It looks like those women don’t want to live anymore anyway. They’d probably think it’s fine to die if only you could be killed?”

“T-This madman…!”

“You’re the madman. Stop doing useless things and just die quietly. Understand?”

I stepped closer to him.

Damian convulsed at my complete lack of hesitation.

“G-Get lost! I said don’t come! Don’t you know who I am! I am the Crown Prince of the Great Solias Empire! The moment you kill me, you will be hunted across the entire continent! I won’t let you off!”

“Do as you please.”

Few people are indifferent to death, but this bastard is just pathetic.

While saying that, I, who had been watching for an opening without letting my guard down, immediately approached him through photonization the moment I found a gap, and delivered a punch to his abdomen.

Thwack!

“Gah!”

Damian’s back hunched like a hunchback.

Since I hadn’t held back my strength, his back skin seemed stretched backward.

I immediately grabbed him by the collar and met his eyes.

“You wouldn’t know how long I’ve been looking for you. I never imagined I’d be able to get my revenge like this.”

“S-Save…”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. You have to die. For me and for everyone. Goodbye.”

“W-Wait…!”

Crack!

I immediately twisted Damian’s neck.

If it were up to me, I would have liked to torture him for a long time, engraving the pain into his very soul, but I had already delayed too long.

If I stayed in a place like this for too long, I might get into more troublesome situations.

I threw the corpse aside and returned to Regina.

“Can you stand?”

“…Yes.”

Regina’s gaze, as she replied, was fixed on Damian’s corpse.

Even if he was the one who betrayed her, he was still family.

It would be difficult to easily accept that someone she once trusted was growing cold in death.

Just then.

Thump-thump-thump!

Numerous presences appeared en masse from outside the passage and rapidly approached.

‘What is it?’

Confused, not knowing what was happening, I decided to put on my mask first.

And the moment I put on the mask, numerous Imperial Guards burst into the room.

They took in the women trapped in the iron cage, me, Regina, and finally the dead Damian, then simultaneously aimed their swords.

“Immediately release Her Royal Highness the Princess!”

Simultaneously, an immense aura poured from their entire bodies.

All seven of them were strong individuals around level 300.

*

There was a woman at the top of a tall clock tower overlooking the entire capital.

Her hair was as black as if spun from the night sky, her eyes were red like blood, and her figure was plump and full of femininity.

The woman’s name was Ursilla.

She was currently spying on Ruan using an artifact.

“Hehehe! What will he do now?”

Seven Imperial Guards stood before him.

To escape, he would have to face seven individuals who would be difficult even in a one-on-one battle.

If he were caught, he would be sentenced to death, framed for all the crimes Damian committed.

Of course, she had no intention of letting him die.

If he were caught, she planned to subtly persuade her other lovers to go rescue him together.

If that happened, Ruan would completely erase all his doubts about her and truly trust her.

Ursilla was very much looking forward to seeing what method Ruan would choose.

Her expectation soon turned into excitement, and her slender fingers moved to her chest.

Squeeze!

As she applied pressure, her soft skin squashed and swallowed her fingers.

It was a familiar yet strange sensation.

“Haa… I want to do it again.”

A faint pleasure invoked memories of when she had engaged with Ruan.

Although she couldn’t call it love, lying skin-to-skin and sharing breath with him was one of the happiest moments in her life.

It was indeed a good decision to forge a new body.

In anticipation, Ruan finally employed the best method he could.

– Everyone get out of here!

It was to push back the Imperial Guards using Regina as a shield.

Given the nature of the Imperial Guards who directly assist the royal family, Regina’s safety was the top priority. They dared not violate it at any moment.

The Imperial Guards hesitated and retreated.

Ursilla’s expression, watching the situation, darkened slightly.

“So it comes to this? I’m a bit disappointed this time.”

She thought Ruan might come up with an innovative method no one else could conceive.

For example, openly raping Regina in front of the Imperial Guards? If he raped her, his strength would be amplified, which would be necessary to fight the Imperial Guards anyway, right?

She’d hoped there might be Imperial Guards who’d get excited watching Her Royal Highness the Princess being raped, but it was a shame.

“Well, it can’t be helped. People can’t always be like that.”

She considered even that to be Ruan’s charm.

Because she thought he would show an interesting side as if nothing had happened, at any moment.

Certain of the outcome of this incident, Ursilla turned off the artifact without hesitation.

She looked up at the moon and grinned.

“It’s starting now. Senior. No, Hyun.”

I’ll definitely make you mine.