The truth of the matter was that there was no good way to prove whether Kai had killed Lucian or not. The man had locked himself away in a chamber and swallowed poison. In this age, there were no autopsies, no physicians who could dissect a body and declare its end without question. They could not delay for long either—funerals came quickly, and Lucian’s had been no exception. The only witnesses had been Kai and his own men. In the eyes of the nobles, that meant his word stood against suspicion. Nothing more.

So instead of trying to prove the unprovable, Kai had chosen another path. He would not waste breath claiming innocence alone. Instead, he had made the very act of killing Lucian, even if it had been done by his hand, justifiable. At the same time, he affirmed that he had not done it. Both truths layered together, leaving the Assembly to wrestle with the weight of his reasoning.

As soon as his words fell—“Even if I did, I do not believe I did anything wrong”—a wave of gasps rippled through the chamber. Cloaks rustled, mouths snapped shut, nobles whispered into their neighbors’ ears.

Kai stood still and waited, letting the noise swell and then thin again. Only when the silence returned did he speak once more.

“Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying a noble deserves to die, or that one should kill their own kin.” His eyes swept across the seats. “What I am saying is this: Lucian Kellius was an evil man. And even if he did die—he deserved it.”

The words cut through the tension, and he pressed on before anyone could stir again.

“Baron Idrin has already confessed that Lucian was behind the massacre of an entire village. That alone speaks to his cruelty. But it was not only that. When I took over Veyrin, the city was hollowed out. People had been starving for months. Crime had spread like fire, because my brother did not care for his people. He cared only for himself. Men, women, and even children worked like slaves under his watch.”

The nobles stirred uneasily, some frowning, others exchanging glances as though unsure how much of it could be denied.

Then, from the higher stands, Regina’s voice rang clear.

“An incompetent noble does not deserve death,” she said, making sure the Assembly heard every single word. “Even if he was responsible for a massacre. He should have been brought to justice through law.”

Kai turned his head toward her and stared unflinchingly. Though he didn’t soften, he remained neutral.

“Which law are you pertaining to, Your Highness?”

Regina blinked, just once. Her lips parted, but no words followed at first. “What?” she managed, finally, caught off guard.

Kai did not look away from Regina. His voice cut through the silence.

“Tell me. The specific law that should have kept Lucian from being killed.”

Regina’s lips pressed together. Her eyes flicked, but no words came. For a moment, she was stumped.

Then, from just below her seat, an older noble rose slowly, his robes trailing as he stood tall and steady. He rubbed his big stomach in circles.

“I am Duke Renard Kestrelain of House Kestrelain. The law you are asking for, Count Arzan, is Imperial Law 3.2, of the nobles’ category. It states that any noble proven to be a tyrant to his population, or an accomplice in killings, must be brought to justice before the King. The King alone holds the right to deliver the verdict—not you, Count Arzan, nor any other noble.”

A stir of nods passed through the higher stands, the law sounding familiar to some.

“You seem well versed in the kingdom’s laws, Duke Kestrelain.”

The old man’s chin lifted. “I am.”

“Then you should also know another law,” Kai said, and noticed his voice sharpening. “Imperial Law 6.9, pertaining to demonic beings and powers. It states: Any man, regardless of rank, station, or bloodline, is to be struck down immediately if found colluding with dark forces. That law includes those who deal in curse arts, those who consort with intelligent beasts, and even those who ally with liches or the blood drinkers.”

The chamber shifted, voices rising in shock before being smothered again. Kai saw Regina’s face tighten into a frown, the corner of her lips pinched white.

He pressed on. “Count Pious already reminded us all—Lucian himself proclaimed I was in league with blood drinkers. Just as he proclaimed I was behind the village massacre.” His gaze swept toward the lower stands. “But proclamations are not proof. And what was seen during the fief war tells another story.”

He let his voice drop.

“Blood drinkers were sighted in Sylvan Enclave. Not by me alone, but by many. They were seen flying above the battlefield. Ask any of the men who fought there, they will tell you the same.” For original chapters go to novel-fire.ɴet

A ripple of panic stirred the benches. Nobles exchanged sharp whispers, some becoming pale visibly, others stiffening at the word. Blood drinkers were well known as terrifying beings. Kai got the response he needed, so he raised his hand slightly.

“But they were not on my side.”

Duke Renard leaned forward. “Then… are you saying…?”

Kai met his eyes and nodded. “Yes. I am saying Duke Lucian was in contact with the blood drinkers. They appeared at every major battle of the fief war. And I fought their leader, Shakran, with my own hands.”

A chorus of gasps and low shouts spilled across the chamber once again. Some nobles clutched the edges of their benches, others exchanged frantic whispers, the word blood drinker rippling like poison through the air.

Kai looked into King Sullivan’s eyes directly and reached into his robes. His fingers brushed against something he hadn’t liked to carry. It felt cold and wrong and simply disgusting. But he drew them out anyway, opening his hand to let them fall with a faint clatter to the stone floor before him. They were blackened, jagged nails, still faintly humming with the residue of unnatural mana.

He raised his hand, drawing the spell structure, and pushed mana. The next second, the nails floated into the air. Threads of his mana carried them, drifting slowly past the benches so every noble could see. Men craned forward, women covered their mouths, a few recoiled outright.

“These,” Kai said. “are blood drinker nails. We gathered them after countless skirmishes during the fief war. I do not know what bargain Lucian struck with them, but this proves one thing beyond doubt. He was colluding with dark powers.”

As the nails passed, his eyes fixed on Regina.

She sat still, her face still the epitome of neutrality. But when one of the nails floated near her, she snapped it from the air, holding it between two fingers as if to inspect it. For a heartbeat, her eyes flickered—not surprised at its existence, but as though wondering if they belonged to Shakran or something else. She looked at it long enough for others to notice, then placed it back in the air, letting it drift away.

Kai’s jaw tightened. He wished, so badly, to say aloud that Regina had been the one helping them—that her hand was in the shadows behind Lucian’s. But this was not the time. Today was not about her. He had already fractured her pawn Veridia’s mMana heart; the damage was done. The sharper nobles would put the pieces together themselves in time.

One of the nails drifted back toward Duke Renard. He caught it carefully in his palm, turning it over with a frown. His brow furrowed deeper as he looked toward Kai.

“But how do we know,” the Duke said slowly, “that these creatures were truly fighting for the late Duke Lucian? Proof of their existence does not prove their allegiance. We have no witness to say they fought with his forces.”

The air in the chamber grew heavy again. Dozens of eyes turned to Kai.

He did not hesitate. He turned his head toward the lower stands, his finger lifting to point. “Why don’t you ask the Baron?”

Baron Idrin stiffened as though struck. Under the weight of so many gazes, his face drained paler than before. His hands shook on the bench, his lips parting with the faintest tremor.

“From what I know… it was the blood drinkers who carried out the massacre.”

All eyes turned once more toward Baron Idrin. The man’s lips trembled before the words left him in a hoarse whisper.

“Yes… it’s true. The massacre was carried out by them…” He swallowed hard, his gaze darting around the chamber before locking on Sullivan. “But, Your Majesty, I didn’t know. I didn’t know Duke Lucian had dealings with them. I didn’t even know they were with his forces.”

Kai’s jaw tightened, though he kept his face calm. What a lie. The blood drinkers had fought beside Idrin’s men in the Verdis campaign. He had seen it himself. But there was no need to press further. The man was already standing on the edge of a noose. He would be lucky if he lived to see another sunrise.

King Sullivan scoffed, the sound sharp. “And yet you knew a massacre was to happen. You knew innocents would die. And you had no quarrel with it.”

Idrin’s shoulders sagged. He lowered his head, unable to meet the King’s gaze. “…Yes.”

The silence that followed was taut, nobles shifting uncomfortably in their seats as the weight of the admission settled.

Kai breathed in slowly. Now. This was the moment to seize. While their minds still turned with the shock of blood drinkers in their own lands.

He let his voice cut through the quiet.

“Even if you do not believe Baron Idrin,” Kai said, his tone steady, “there are enough people in the Sylvan Enclave who saw the blood drinkers aiding Lucian’s forces. And there is more. My brother’s butler—Rubert—can testify himself. That man stood against Lucian’s dealings from the start. He was the one most vehemently opposed to him colluiding with dark powers. He has served my house faithfully for decades, and his word carries weight.”

The murmur that rippled through the chamber was different this time, less suspicion, more grudging acknowledgment. Heads turned toward him with new eyes, some sharper, some weighing him more carefully than before. He was no longer simply justifying himself. He was making Lucian a villain in their minds.

But Kai wasn’t finished.

“I know,” he said and raised his hands, “that many of you still believe I killed my brother. And truthfully…” his eyes swept the hall, “I would have liked to. For his sins. But that is not how it happened. He could not bear his loss. He drank poison.”

The words landed like stones.

“That,” Kai said simply, “is the truth of the matter.”

A long silence stretched, broken only by the rustle of robes and the faint shifting of feet. Nobles glanced at one another, their whispers hushed, the chamber caught between disbelief, fear, and uneasy acceptance.

If Kai had been even a little naïve, he might have expected the questioning to end there. But he wasn’t. He knew better. He had whole factions arrayed against him, and they weren’t going to let him walk away from the Assembly with just one neat confession and a few proofs in hand.

So the questions kept coming.

One after another, nobles rose from their seats. Some asked for details about the fief war—how his troops had moved, where his supply lines had come from, why certain villages had been left undefended while others received aid. Others pressed for corroboration from the nobles he had brought under his custody, demanding testimony over the smallest details most had likely forgotten or never noticed in the first place.

Then came questions of the beast wave. Had he really killed the vermorga? How had he survived the sheer number of creatures that descended? What formation had his forces used to hold the lines? From there, the questions flowed into the plague extermination, men prodding for every step of the process.

And then, as though digging into his victories wasn’t enough, some lords pressed him on the mana cannons and the other innovations that had rolled out from Veralt under his name.

Kai answered steadily. Calmly. Patiently.

He spoke of his mother’s notes—how much she had left behind, half-finished concepts that he had only refined and completed. That part was easy to believe. Anyone who had followed him closely knew Arzan Kellius had been obsessed with magical theory long before awakening as a Mage. He had studied seals and alchemy while other nobles wasted hours on the hunt or the court. That history became his shield now, a simple way to show that his hands had always been in the craft, even before mana ever obeyed his will.

It seemed to soothe some. A few nodded, others folded their arms, wariness tempered by the weight of his explanation.

But Kai knew it wouldn’t last. And sure enough, she rose again.

Regina.

Her silks shifted softly as she stood, her eyes fixing on him with calm venom. Kai felt it immediately—the tightening in the room, the breathless anticipation of the nobles as the Queen prepared to speak. He had known this was coming. And as soon as her voice rang out, his suspicion was confirmed.

“Count Arzan,” Regina began, her tone cool, almost gracious. “You have done well to shave away much of the Assembly’s doubt today.” She paused deliberately, letting the words hang, letting the nobles nod as if in agreement. He knew the game too well not to notice. Just as expected, then her voice hardened. “But I still have matters to raise. Matters that are very important, and that question your intentions toward the kingdom itself.”

The chamber went still.

Kai straightened, his face calm, but inside, his thoughts sharpened. Here it comes.

“And what would these matters be, Your Highness?”

Regina smiled faintly, though there was no warmth in it. “First of all, I very much enjoyed your explanation of the fief war—how you managed to defeat armies far larger than your own. It is not often we see a military genius capable of such feats. And I believe most here do not even grasp how remarkable it truly is, buried as it is beneath your other supposed accomplishments. But I like to understand. Tell me, how did you really do it?”

Kai inclined his head slightly. “I believe I have already answered many questions about that.”

“Not in the way I want to hear.” Her smile widened. “You said you took on the armies of different nobles in succession, used tactics to break them. And yet… you also claimed to fight blood drinkers. Dozens of them, if I heard correctly. We all know how difficult it is for a normal Knight—or even a Second-Circle Mage—to slay one. Yet you and your forces did this repeatedly. How?”

Kai felt the weight of what was coming immediately. This was one of the traps he had prepared for, but even knowing it was coming didn’t make it less dangerous. Nobles could look away from brilliance without jealously. They could even forgive ruthlessness. But if they smelled a weapon they could not control, their greed would gnaw at them until nothing else mattered.

So he answered plainly, choosing the lesser danger.

“You are speaking of my Enforcers.”

The grin on Regina’s lips spread like a blade unsheathed. “Yes. Do you care to explain what they are?”

“They are my Knights. Knights trained to channel mana.”

A rush of whispers swept through the Assembly, louder than before. A wave of surprise passed through the nobles. Some voices carried open awe, others suspicion, and many—greed. Kai felt goosebumps rise.

From the upper benches, a noble in gold-embroidered robes rose sharply. “Are they Mages then? Mages trained in close combat?”

All eyes turned back to Kai, waiting, eager, hungry.

“No. They are not Mages. They are warriors who can use mana. They do not wield it the way a Mage does. They cannot cast spells. They can only shape it around their bodies—enhance their strikes, harden their defenses. But even so, they are equally as destructive when trained well.”

He let the words hang, then added, calm but clipped, “I will not go into further detail. I believe you all have the idea.”

For a heartbeat, the chamber was silent, nobles blinking as though trying to process what they had just heard. And then—like kindling catching fire—the room erupted.

Dozens of lords leapt half from their seats, voices clashing over one another.

“Is it really true?”

“How many of them do you have?”

“Could anyone handle mana then?”

“How do they even work?”

The sound became a storm, the sharp edge of greed flashing naked in their eyes. Kai could see it—men who had looked suspicious a moment ago now staring as if they had glimpsed treasure, as if his Enforcers were already theirs to take.

And then, above it all, came Sullivan’s voice.

“Enough.”

The nobles immediately faltered.

“Calm yourselves. Regina has not finished. You will ask questions after she is done. Maintain decorum, or I will have you removed from this chamber, and your vote voided.”

The threat was quiet and heavy. No one doubted he meant it. Reluctantly, nobles sank back into their seats, though the fever of their eyes had not cooled.

All turned back toward Regina. She stood poised, lips curved in the faintest smile, reveling in the attention she had carved for herself.

“Now that everyone knows what they are,” she said smoothly, “I have one question for you, Count Arzan.”

Kai felt everything pause because for some reason, he knew this question would be harder than the one before.

“Why have you hidden their existence from the kingdom until now? You yourself admitted they are destructive and powerful. So why did you not, as a good noble lord, share this with the realm? Why not help us be more than just a kingdom?”

***

A/N – You can read 30 chapters (15 Magus Reborn and 15 Dao of money) on my patreon. Annual subscription is now on too.

Read 15 chapters ahead HERE.

Join the discord server HERE.

PS:

Book 2 is officially launched!

If you’re on Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free—and even if you’re not buying, a quick rating helps more than you think. Also, it’s free to rate and please download the book if you have Kindle unlimited. It helps with algorithm.

Click HERE.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep