episode_0197

The collapse of the imperial palace caused shock and anxiety to the citizens of the islands.

Unbeknownst to Leopold, Isabella and Ernst led their supporters out of the island that day.

His original force, a small number of imperial knights who had survived the nightmare of that day and joined him, along with the Marquis Wallenstein.

The justification was sufficient.

Leopold revealed his ‘evil scheme’ to the world, and Marquis Wallenstein was also injured.

No one refuted Ernst’s statement that it was too dangerous to remain in the system as is.

Their destination is the Venetian territory in the southwestern part of the empire.

It was the home of the witch, Isabella.

It didn’t go down quietly.

Leading his troops and marching to the Venetian territory, Ernst officially declared Leopold’s evil deeds to the entire empire.

He ordered the guard knight Hector to assassinate Mathias and disguised it as the work of a monster.

An attack on the imperial palace in which she joined hands with the witch Ophelia and used her monsters to kill all members of the royal family other than herself.

He even secretly attacked the Marquis Wallenstein, who was the biggest obstacle, and seriously injured him.

Ernst presented Hector’s body and the bodies of the bug knights as evidence.

The raiders who were ‘captured’ also confessed after interrogation that it was Leopold’s order.

It was all fabricated evidence, but it was enough to deceive the poor.

In addition, as news of Kahar’s advance from the east and the horrors committed by Hashal became known, Leopold’s reputation fell further.

The knights who committed themselves to the Ernst faction rushed to complain about the horrors of Hashall.

Wallenstein also declared that what the knights said was true.

The remarks of the Imperial First Sword, who had fought in battles large and small for decades, had enough credibility to convince those who were skeptical.

Not everyone believed that and supported Ernst.

However, that was enough of a reason to raise an army.

The corrupt prince Leopold. Hashal the man-eater. Witch Ophelia.

Along with a declaration that he would bring peace and tranquility by subjugating the three criminals who occupied the system, Ernst declared war on Leopold.

The cautious remained neutral, and the ambitious began to weigh the benefits that Ernst and Leopold would bring to them.

And those who had been waiting impatiently outside the empire cheered.

It was the beginning of a civil war that would sweep the entire empire.

—-

“Civil war, Ernst has finally gone crazy! It’s not enough that you tried to frame me and kill me, now you plan to overthrow the empire by force!”

A temporary court meeting held.

Leopold, who heard Ernst’s news, slammed his armrest and let out an angry voice.

It was clearly a remark made with the nobles attending the meeting in mind.

Leopold also knew full well that Ernst was already Isabella’s puppet.

When he heard that Isabella and Ernst had fled the island, he also guessed that a civil war would break out.

Still, I couldn’t understand why they chose the unwinnable civil war.

“The Marquis Wallenstein supported their efforts, so he must have thought it was worth a try. That old man, what are you doing now that you’re old? .”

The Duke of Vienne sighed.

While he was on his way to Jedo Island, he heard the news of Ernst’s escape and dispatched his knights to attempt to capture him.

It wasn’t a bad decision.

If Ernst could be captured there, the civil war would be over before it even started, and the Duke of Vienna himself would become the person who had contributed the most.

The Duke of Vienne also did not move with his entire army… The knights who accompanied him were his best.

Six masters and fifty knights. It was thought that it would be enough to defeat Ernst’s guard.

Although the Marquis Wallenstein was concerned, the news that his ghost sword broke and he was seriously injured against a young master made him despise him.

‘Given his age, even Wallenstein of the world seems to be slowly weakening.’

The Empire’s First Sword is only a past reputation.

It seemed like six masters could easily defeat an old man.

Even if they don’t win, they can bide their time until they capture Ernst.

It was a miscalculation.

Two days time.

Perhaps thanks to the priest’s healing and the pouring of top-quality recovery medicine like water, Wallenstein’s injuries were almost completely cured.

The ghost sword revealed its teeth.

The Duke of Vienne, who lost one master and twenty knights in an instant, had no choice but to retreat in a hurry.

Fortunately, they were able to escape because Wallenstein concentrated on escorting Ernst instead of pursuing them.

After that, the Duke of Vienne entered the capital and was gathering his fiefdom soldiers.

“As the day of death approaches, I seem to have become greedy. Whether it’s power or femininity.”

Leopold criticized Wallenstein without hesitation.

In order to raise the morale of our allies even a little, we had to reduce the enemy’s reputation as much as possible.

Instead of being a noble knight who kept the empire safe for decades, Wallenstein should have been an ugly old man who showed greed in his later years.

From Leopold’s point of view, it wasn’t particularly wrong.

—-

Ernst’s rebellion began with the goal of overthrowing the ‘Axis of Evil’.

Leopold countered that Ernst was slandering him because he was not confident of winning the election.

He said that Isabella was a witch, and that he was putting her sins on himself.

They even disclosed confidential information about Hashal’s exile and that she was a descendant of the Twelve Knights… Unfortunately, the lack of any evidence was an obstacle.

Evidence that the empress was a witch and documents related to Hashal were buried under a pile of marble.

At least the mention of anti-horsepower had some effect.

The fact that Hashall is an anti-magic master has been proven long ago.

A defense argument that the identity of the person who received the blessing of Anti-Demon could possibly be an evil spirit that eats people.

Although the testimony of Wallenstein and the knights could not be completely buried, it was possible to at least make them doubtful.

Both justifications made sense, and neither justification was perfect.

In the end, the only means to determine the truth was a spear knife.

For the next five days, Leopold was constantly busy.

He asked the Duke of Vienne to summon troops, and persuaded the Archduke Faelun to promise cooperation in suppressing Ernst’s rebellion.

After ascending to the throne, he had to pledge to welcome Adelaide as empress and promise large-scale support from the North in the future… With this, sufficient power was secured.

Those who had previously supported Leopold also gathered private soldiers under his orders and began preparing to confront Ernst’s army.

They did not particularly believe Ernst’s claims, and since they had previously supported Leopold, there was no other option from the beginning.

Unfortunately, the effort to attract the empire’s main standing army and the Imperial Knights failed.

Since both sides had a valid cause, they regarded this as a civil war and declared that they would remain neutral according to tradition.

They say that the sword of the imperial army is only aimed at external enemies that threaten the safety of the imperial people, and is not a weapon to kill fellow imperialists.

Leopold also had no choice but to be satisfied with that level.

At least. It wasn’t like I was going to join Ernst.

Even if a civil war broke out, the monsters would not calm down, so the Imperial Knights could just be left to deal with it.

In this way, ‘Leopold’s Army’ was formed.

A private army of Leopoldist lords. The armies of Palun and Vienne.

Including Landenburg’s Eastern Army, this alone was a large force sufficient to defeat Ernst’s Army.

Things weren’t that bad up to this point.

… Until this time.

—-

Hashal, who had been unconscious, woke up a week after the incident.

The situation had already become uncontrollable.

======[Hashar Aishangior. Possessed person]======

“Wooweee!”

The first thing I did as soon as I woke up was spit out all the contents of my stomach.

The hospital room floor was stained with vomit, but anyone would understand if they knew my situation.

Because I was watching everything.

So clearly that you can even smell and taste it. It felt like the texture was still lingering in my mouth.

The fishy taste of the vitreous body that was leaking out as the squishy piece of meat exploded.

“Uweeeek!”

Vomit poured out once again.

Madness Hershela.

After suppressing and repressing, she finally woke up and her true self did not even feel like a human being.

It was a mad dog that ate people while swinging its killing tentacles.

Actually, I knew it.

No, I guess I should have guessed it.

The consciousness of Hershela, the original owner of this body, may remain within me.

Because I listened to it whenever I was hurt and my mind and body were weak, or when I felt dizzy due to fatigue.

Inside me, her voice calling me.

It wasn’t just her voice.

When did sounds, which at first were just auditory hallucinations mixed with noise, start to sound like human language?

Was it around the time when I realized the power of karma and was able to manage my karma by using it even to the point of frost?

As you get used to the power, the voices get closer and closer.

As if Hershela’s power was pulling her master.

… I wanted to smoke a cigarette.

Let the refreshing mint scent that fills your head wash away the stubborn smell of blood and intestines.

Once again, I felt nauseated.

“Princess Aishangior! Are you okay?!”

Perhaps they heard me vomiting, the door to the hospital room burst open and Leopold rushed in.

He also looked like he had been up all night for a week, probably because he hadn’t even been able to rest properly.

“Weeeek… .”

“… It doesn’t look okay.”

Leopold glanced at the floor of the hospital room and slowly stepped aside.

A sour smell filled the hospital room.