“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Aestrea’s voice was low—too calm.

A slow grin crept across his lips, but there was no joy in it.

Just pure rage.

Crackle…!

His violet aura snapped like a thunderstorm around his body, wrapping his fingers in lightning that hummed with killing intent.

His eyes, a deep molten red, glared at the Royal Knight with a coldness that could kill gods.

The knight flinched.

“W-Whoa…!”

They all did.

The Royal Knights stumbled back a few steps, blades raised, hands shaking. The sheer pressure coming off him felt like a vice around their throats.

The commander tried to hold firm, his face pale. “D-Don’t move!” he barked. “You so much as breathe wrong, and we’ll drop you where you stand!”

Mana exploded from their bodies like a flare, but their swords still trembled.

And Aestrea?

He stood still.

Didn’t even blink.

His eyes slowly swept over them.

He didn’t need to speak.

They knew.

He could kill them all before their hearts finished the next beat.

And oh, he wanted to.

Every muscle in his body begged for it.

But no…

Not yet.

He didn’t want to mess with the Emperor for now, especially since he hadn’t prepared anything to kill him.

The Emperor himself was an SS-rank warrior, not to mention that Lilith, the fucking succubus, was also present.

And she was also an SS-rank demon.

So, going off now would be suicide.

A stupid, suicidal move.

He clicked his tongue.

“Gosh…”

His eyes narrowed as they locked onto the commander.

‘I’ll definitely kill you, you fucking son of a bitch…’

But for now, he lifted his hands.

“Ah… go cuff him!” the commander barked, trying to sound brave.

One of the knights stepped forward hesitantly.

His armor clanked with every trembling step.

He met Aestrea’s red glowing eyes.

And his soul screamed.

His body locked up, cold sweat pouring down his back.

His vision swam.

It wasn’t just rage in those eyes.

It was death.

It was the abyss staring back.

And it was smiling.

The knight almost dropped the cuffs, his hands shook so badly they made a metallic rattle.

“HEY! HURRY UP!” the commander shouted again.

The knight jumped, nearly tripping, and fumbled the cuffs onto Aestrea’s wrists like a man putting chains on a loaded bomb.

“Let’s go back. Move,” the commander growled.

They walked through the streets, the silence of the crowd pressing down around them.

Dozens of eyes watched.

“Aestrea!”

Two voices called out.

It was both Alaine and Chaerin.

His eyes flicked to them—just for a second.

Then, he winked at them with a small smile.

As if saying…

I’m fine. Just wait.

Then, without a word, he summoned Lumi.

She fluttered toward them in her miniature form.

“Lumi?” Chaerin gasped softly, quickly catching and tucking her into her coat.

The little scythe yawned, blinking sleepily.

“…Master’s gonna use me to talk to you guys.”

Chaerin nodded.

Her eyes, though, never left Aestrea’s back.

Neither did Alaine’s.

They stood there for a few minutes, silently looking at his back until it disappeared from their sight, reaching the imperial train’s stop.

The royal knights led the Aestrea to enter the train.

“…Go in,” the knight commander growled, shoving Aestrea into a private cubicle of the imperial train.

The door clicked shut.

Cold silence followed.

Aestrea calmly tested the cuffs, channeling his aura.

Nothing.

“Tsk…” he muttered.

Reinforced with royal-issue nullstone.

Temporary, but annoying.

The train began moving.

After a full inspection was done, the Royal Knights stepped in, locking the door behind them.

They sat with swords on their laps.

Eyes locked onto him.

Every single one of them was sweating.

But they did not blink.

They couldn’t.

Not with Aestrea sitting there, arms cuffed, like a monster in disguise.

He leaned against the wall, legs crossed, smiling faintly.

“So,” he said softly.

“Where are we going?”

No one answered.

Seeing this, Aestrea exhaled slowly and shut his eyes.

Then, he started meditating, slowly regenerating his mana.

For thirty whole minutes, he sat still.

Like a statue.

No twitch. No motion. Not even a breath.

But even with that, the pressure didn’t ease for them.

Instead, it grew.

Like the air itself was folding in on the knights.

And when he opened his eyes…

『 Judgement Eye (✦ S+ Level Skill ✦) 』

CLINK.

The knights flinched.

A law scale symbol burned into his irises.

He tilted his head lazily.

“Are we going back to the capital?”

The knights said nothing.

But he saw the truth in their stiffened jaws.

It was an obvious yes.

“Mhm… maybe, prison?”

No.

“I see…”

He nodded to himself.

“The suburbs?”

No.

Then his voice dropped an octave.

“…Demon Beast Forest?”

He saw their hesitation.

…Yes.

The corners of Aestrea’s lips lifted.

There it is.

“Mhm…” He hummed, looking at them with the same smile.

“You’re planning to kill me where no one will find the body?”

Nothing.

But their auras trembled.

He pressed harder.

No.

“No? How about taking me to a place in the forest where I’ll get tortured?”

No.

“Leaving the demon beasts to kill me, so in that way, my death has a natural cause?”

Yes.

“Does that mean that the notice that I was a traitor is nonexistent, and the emperor is planning to kill me quietly?”

…Yes.

His expression darkened.

And the glow in his eyes grew into a storm.

“I see…”

Then, his smile dropped completely.

His voice—cut-glass cold.

“Then…”

“You bastards have no more use for me.”

Crackle…!

A pulse of energy exploded from his body like a living thunderclap.

“SHIT!” the commander roared—

But he never got to finish.

FWOOP!

Aestrea moved—blurring across the cabin.

His hand gripped the commander’s head like it was made of paper.

SPLAT!

He smashed it into the wall with brutal force.

Blood exploded across the windows like paint.

The commander’s body collapsed headless.

SPLURT.

SPLASH.

The others screamed.

One scrambled for a golden communication stone.

But—

『 Ice Series: Frost Spikes! (✦ 3rd-level Spell ✦) 』

SHRRRKKKK!

SPLURT!

Spikes burst from the floor, impaling him mid-air—his scream cut off in a wet gurgle as his spine shattered.

“Two more,” Aestrea muttered.

He turned, crimson eyes glowing like a devil in human skin.

The last two knights broke.

They screamed and charged.

But—

SWOOSH—

THUNK!

Their heads flew.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

Blood poured down the polished floor.

The walls.

The ceiling.

Their decapitated bodies thudded to the ground in silence.

“…So much blood,” Aestrea said, shaking his hands like a cat flicking off water.

『 Storage 』

FWOOP!

The corpses vanished into a black void.

『 Cleanse 』

A wave of white light erased the gore.

Then, he sat down again, crossed his legs, and looked out the train window.

“…So,” he sighed softly, brushing his silver hair back.

“Since the Emperor wants me dead…”

His lips curled.

“…Might as well pay the capital a small visit, right?”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The train finally rolled into the capital after two long hours.

Aestrea stepped off the platform, stretching his arms as the familiar skyline of the Imperial Capital unfolded before him—towers clawing at the sky, streets humming with mana-infused carriages, and banners of gold fluttering in the breeze.

“Phew… I’m back. Earlier than I thought.”

He looked at the bustling city with a half-smile.

“Time to gather some talents.”

Since he had gotten back to the capital, he decided that it was time to pick up some people for his new organization.

Without wasting time, he headed toward the underbelly of the capital—where broken souls lived like shadows, and filth ran thicker than rain.

The beggar district.

He activated his scan feature, but filtered it down—no unnecessary details.

Just nature, name, talent, and affinity.

There were quite a few people with hidden high-level talents, but Aestrea didn’t bother to talk with them.

Because he wasn’t looking for adults.

He was searching for…

Children.

They were perfect—small, overlooked, underestimated.

After all, he wants people who can easily get information and even kill when someone doesn’t expect it to happen.

And what job would be better than to children?

Who would think that a child was a spy?

Or even a killer?

No one.

After nearly an hour of searching…

His eyes narrowed.

Bingo.

Two names glowed on his scan.

[Target: Ruli]

[Nature: Obedient]

[Talent: SS+]

[Affinities: Lightning]

—

[Target: Leaf]

[Nature: Obedient]

[Talent: SS]

[Affinities: Water.]

“Perfect… they should be enough for now.”

Aestrea didn’t have too many resources for more than two members, especially since he was going to make sure that each one of them had a truly high talent.

Because of that, he could only get those two for now.

Besides, their nature was truly perfect for him.

His eyes followed the signature until he spotted them—two tiny figures, no older than ten, being yanked through the filth-ridden streets by a rotund man with crooked teeth and greed in his eyes.

The children were dirty, barefoot, and silent.

Chains hung loosely from their wrists.

“Move, brats!” the man barked aloud, jerking them toward a stall.

Aestrea stepped in front of him.

The man stopped abruptly, eyes darting up in annoyance—until they landed on Aestrea’s clothes.

Tailored black coat.

Crimson embroidery.

From his perspective, it was a high-ranking noble.

His expression flipped instantly—from annoyed to bootlicking.

“Ah! Good sir!” he cackled, slapping his belly.

“Fine eyes, eh? Lovely specimens, these two! Worth a fortune, I tell you—rare affinities! Good behavior! Just look at them—”

“How much for both?” Aestrea cut him off coldly.

The man blinked.

Then his eyes gleamed with greed.

“Oh-ho… for you, sir? I suppose… 100 gold should be fair, no? No less! After all, these two—”

『 Ice Generation! (✦ 1st-level Spell ✦) 』

CRACK!

An ice shard whistled past his cheek and embedded into the wall behind him, freezing it solid in an instant.

The man went dead silent.

He turned slowly to look at the jagged spike of death lodged inches from his head.

“I’ll pay twenty,” Aestrea said coldly.

“Take it. Or I freeze your tongue and your guts and feed them to the crows.”

“Y-YES! Of course! Twenty—twenty’s perfect! D-deal!” the man stammered, practically throwing the keys at him.

Aestrea caught them without blinking.

Then, he turned to the children.

They flinched and closed their eyes, trembling as if expecting a beating or a collar.

But instead…

Aestrea gently placed his hands atop their heads.

“…Don’t move,” he said softly.

They blinked, confused.

Suddenly—warmth.

A rush of pure mana flowed through their tiny bodies.

The slave seals—carved deep into their flesh—burned for a moment.

And then—

Shatter.

Gone.

Their chains clinked to the ground. The invisible shackles wrapped around their souls crumbled into nothing.

Their eyes—wide, frightened, exhausted—filled with disbelief.

And then—hope.

They looked up at him.

Truly looked.

For the first time in years, they saw someone who didn’t want to own them.

And someone—perhaps—who would make them strong.

Tears welled at the corners of Ruli’s eyes.

Leaf silently clutched his tattered sleeve.

“…Master?” Ruli asked in a whisper.

Aestrea just looked ahead.

“Follow me,” he said.

They didn’t hesitate.

They followed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep