Rasmus glanced to the sides where dozens of elite knights pointed their weapons at him as soon as he stood in front of the city gate. He didn’t even bat an eye on those knights and focused on the ginormous palace in the distance with the flag of a golden crown and a sun behind it.

“Count Blackheart, you have committed a world crime! Under the law of the Sun Empire, you’ll be arrested and executed on the spot!” A knight captain, wearing a red cape and black armor with gold engravings on them. “Men! Arrest and kill that man!” He commanded the knights in front of him.

Rasmus controlled the Mana in the air, seeping through the knights body like strings that were attached to his fingers. He slowly raised his right hand and slowly all the knights felt something tightened in their chests, a sharp panging feeling around their hearts. The moment Rasmus clenched his fist, all the knights coughed blood, their noses started to bleed, and blood came out of their eye sockets and ears as they collapsed. They all died on the spot before they could even make a move, and the people who watched on the sides began to scream, panicking.

The knight captain was utterly shocked that all his knights collapsed with blood on their faces. He was alone and his face became pale as his body began to tremble until his knees gave up on him and made him fall on his back. He couldn’t even form a sentence, just mumblings with his eyes wide open and hands raised.

A black smoke appeared behind Rasmus and wrapped around his body like a cape that flowed as the wind blew it. The black smoke expanded rapidly, slowly wrapping the buildings and the city walls. Rasmus walked into the city and let Rullein feast on the emotions, feeding her existence.

Isador was in his study room when he heard the bells and the faint screams in the distance. He jolted from his seat and walked to the window when he saw black smoke slowly tucked into the capital city from above. His eyes were wide open, thinking that the demons had invaded the city. He ran outside his study room to be with his parents, who were in the office at this hour.

“Father! Mother!” Isador screamed as he barged into the office, and saw his parents talking with the commander of the Royal Guard, Castor. “The city is under attack,” he shouted as he pointed at the direction where he saw the black smoke

Isador was expecting them to react like him, but what he found was only calmness in his parents’ and Castor’s faces. ‎He studied their calm expressions and noticed that they knew what was happening but chose not to make a move. He was baffled, but before he could say something, his father stood up as he fixed his attire.

‎”That’s not a demon, Isador, that’s your former instructor, your former teacher in Gratlan Academy,” Julius walked toward Isador and stood in front of him with a cold expression. “The man you looked up to has just killed a few knights without hesitation. Now, he’s here. Let’s just hope that he’s not going to repeat his deed just like what he did in the Refenus Kingdom,” he said and then walked past Isador to stop Rasmus from whatever he was doing.

‎Isador was frozen still when he found out that the thing he had seen earlier was no other than Rasmus. He couldn’t grasp what was happening until his mother and Castor walked past him that made him snap back to reality. He shook his head and massaged his forehead before he joined them, hoping that his presence would be enough to prevent Rasmus from spilling more blood.

‎”(As if he would listen to me. But I knew he wouldn’t do anything without a reason…)” Isador thought as he walked behind Julius.

‎”Open the gate,” Julius ordered calmly to the Royal Guards that were guarding the palace gate and walls.

‎The Royal Guards looked at each other for a moment, wondering if they had heard it right. They didn’t want to open the gate after what they had witnessed and the things that were happening outside the palace.

‎”Disobeying the emperor’s order will be paid with your head. Open the gate,” Castor said in his deep and heavy voice, staring at the Royal Guards that guarded the gate.

‎The Royal Guards immediately pushed the gate open and lowered the bridge that connected the city and the palace. When the gate was fully open, they were welcomed by the thick layer of black smoke that had completely covered the capital city. They felt dizzy and lightheaded as they began to hear voices in their heads even though the smoke hadn’t reached the palace.

‎Castor pushed the smoke away with Aura and managed to keep the royal family safe from the effects of the smoke. When the smoke got pushed away, that was when it revealed Rasmus was standing in front of the bridge, waiting and staring at them.

‎Castor wasn’t well-known unlike Arandil that his name soared through the whole world. So few people knew about Castor’s background, and the fact that he was from the same generation as Arandil. He was the second strongest swordsman before Arandil at that time, and the reason why he wasn’t well-known was because the second was always overshadowed by the glory of the strongest.

‎Arandil admitted that Castor was as strong as Uriel or even a little bit stronger than her. He believed that Castor could win against Uriel, and was confident in saying so. With that being said, Julius possessed two great swordsmen, and the world didn’t know that, only a few people did.

‎Castor was known to fear nothing and had experienced countless near-death experiences during his time dueling against Arandil. However, he heard the news about Arandil, who lost the castle and half of his force to the same man that stood in front of him right now. He could tell how strong Rasmus was, and he knew that the man in front of him wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. It wasn’t about being fearless, but it was being smart to not waste his life when it could be avoided.

‎”Count Rasmus…” Isador finally spoke to break the tension as he stood in front of Rasmus. “For what reason did you come here?” He asked, still couldn’t believe that Rasmus was there in front of him.

‎”I’m here to speak with that walking dead man,” Rasmus said as he walked on the bridge, staring at Julius with a straight and expressionless face.

‎Everyone was baffled by Rasmus’ words, calling the emperor of the Sun Empire, the strongest nation in the whole of Neva as a dead-man walking. Anyone would have their heads rolling on the ground the moment they said something like that, but this time, they could just listen. Isador didn’t know what to do or say after Rasmus’s words that was really unexpected. On the other hand, Julius stayed calm and signaled to Castor to not unsheathe his sword.

“I’m here to not threaten anyone, but I’m just telling the truth,” Rasmus stood in front of Isador, who blocked him from standing face to face with Julius. “The secret that you have been hiding, the secret that has been passed down from generation to generation. The demons already sniffed it, and your life, your family, your nation, it will be their main target now,” he said as he looked at Julius, but then shifted to Isador with his brows raised.

Isador furrowed his brows, not understanding what Rasmus was talking about. However, he had a feeling that it was similar to what had happened to the Holy Nation and the Angelis family. He hoped that it was nothing similar, but deep down, he had his suspicions behind the Great War that happened centuries ago.

“Would you rather die by my hand or by the demons? Or better, let’s have a short conversation,” Rasmus glanced at Julius with a stoic expression.

Isador turned around to look at his father, but as always, Julius didn’t show any reaction. He realized that this was the time for him to find out what Rasmus knew, so he slowly stepped aside and let Rasmus walk past him and stood face to face with Julius.

“What will you choose?” Rasmus asked, looking down at Julius since he was taller than Julius even though Julius was already tall for a human.

“Let’s have a talk, somewhere private,” Julius glanced at Castor and nodded, signaling him to empty the palace.

Castor narrowed his eyes slightly for a split second before he lowered his head and hurriedly went back inside the palace to order everyone to leave.

“Come,” Julius said in a flat tone as he turned around and guided Ramsus into the palace with Isador and his wife walking behind him.

Rasmus glanced at the black smoke that still coated the capital city. He let Rullein do what she wanted to do while at the same time she could guard him from any danger from the outside, and from below. He then followed Julius into the palace until the doors closed behind him, separating the palace from the outside world.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep