He threw the items on his desk at the masked man kneeling before him.
"You failed! And you call yourselves the Dark Division!?"
To his anger, it seemed Linus had left evidence of his actions.
The situation could be easily covered up, as it was due to an unauthorized move by a senior member of the Clave Trading Company.
However, Liam would soon know that they had made a move.
The masked man was also anxious.
"The enemy seems to know our methods. They were too efficient, and I believe the people around Liam are also highly skilled."
They possess an organization on par with the empire's Dark Division.
Upon hearing this, Linus felt a chill run down his spine.
He had underestimated the enemy, who turned out to be much more troublesome than he thought.
And now, it was too late.
"---We must crush Liam at all costs. Cleo can be dealt with however, but if we don't act now, my position will be in jeopardy."
He thought that even a powerful noble could be dealt with easily.
Until now, they had been dealt with easily.
However, he realized that this was beyond his capabilities, and Linus found himself cornered.
In this situation, he couldn't even think about competing with Calvin.
If the nobles of his faction learned of his current situation, they would flee.
The masked man reported back.
"Liam has requested an audience with Prince Cleo and is heading to the palace. We can't afford to hesitate any longer. Prince, gather your best men. Knights or mercenaries, it doesn't matter."
Linus was already in a very bad situation.
An assassination within the palaceâthough a rather forceful method, he had no time to choose.
At this point, if he didn't eliminate Liam, he would have no future.
"I'll gather as many as I can immediately. You must also give it your all."
"Hai!"
The masked man disappeared, and Linus was left with a hollow expression, filled with despair.
â
I went to the palace to meet Prince Cleo.
The palace is quite large, and despite the recent assassination attempt, it was eerily quiet.
It was also late at night.
However, the atmosphere was still unusual.
I got into a floating vehicle and felt a sense of hostility as I looked outside.
"---A bold assassination attempt. When humans are cornered, they resort to desperate measures, even if they know it's a bad move."
Klaus, my guard, hadn't noticed anything yet.
"Lord Liam, is something wrong?"
"Hey, stop the car."
I had the driver stop, and I got out with my guards.
Kukuri, who seemed to have noticed, appeared with her subordinates as I stepped out.
The location was a well-paved road, with trees and street lamps lining both sides, and flower beds were also present.
The road was wideâprobably four lanes in my previous life, making it eight lanes in total for both directions.
As soon as I stepped out, gunshots rang out.
I moved my body just half a step to the side, and the bullet hit the ground.
The ringing in my ears was minimal, thanks to my enhanced physical abilities.
Klaus rushed in front of me.
"Lord Liam, please step back!"
"Stay out of my way. You should focus on protecting yourselves."
I pushed Klaus aside and drew my sword.
I deflected the bullets fired by snipers from different locations one after another.
It was somewhat amusing.
I was a little pleased to be able to recreate the expert technique of slicing bullets that I had seen in my previous life.
Of course, this was thanks to my enhanced body and the techniques of the Ippan-ryu.
This level was child's play.
I looked at Kukuri.
"The snipers are a nuisance."
"Hai."
Kukuri's subordinates disappeared into the darkness.
Then, more people started to gather at the scene.
They were not the palace guards who had sensed the disturbance, but rather people exuding hostility.
Were they knights, soldiers, or mercenaries? They surrounded us in large numbers.
The guards, including Klaus, drew their swords in front of them.
"You, do you know what you're doing!?"
The enemy didn't seem interested in talking to us.
They were masked and had weapons in hand.
I held back the guards who tried to step in front of me.
"Klaus, don't get in my way. This is a good opportunity to deal with the skilled individuals that Prince Linus has."
I lightly tilted my chin at the enemy.
"What's the matter? Aren't you going to attack?"
There were some strong individuals among them.
But they were not my match.
Linus, who could only gather this level of force, was indeed a suitable first enemy.
He was like a mid-boss in a game, providing good experience points.
The knights charged at me.
The soldiers tried to fire their guns, but I dealt with the obstacles in front of me before they could.
Without changing my stance, I remained in a haughty attitude while the soldiers were sliced and bled in front of me.
The mercenaries were in chaos, but the knights shouted at them.
"This is the Ippan-ryu! If you value your life, don't get cutâ"
I killed the knight who opened his mouth.
His head was severed before he could get close to me, but the other knights seemed determined and continued to charge at me.
Their resolve was admirable.
Butâ
"Don't think that resolve alone will do."
---I cut them all down.
It might look like I didn't move at all, but I had severed the heads of all the knights.
They fell to the ground one by one.
Klaus was stunned, so I warned him.
"Klaus, you should at least protect yourself."
"H-Hai!"
The mercenariesâbounty hunters, I supposeâwere watching the knights fall and trembling as they looked at me.
"What's the matter? Don't you want my head? If you do, you need to aim your weapons."
As I took a step forward, the frightened mercenaries dropped their weapons and tried to flee.
I cut down those who turned their backs on me.
They were not within the range of my blade, but the distance to the enemy was within my reach.
"You have no choice but to die once you aim your weapons at me. Your master will die as well. Too bad."
The bounty hunters, in a state of confusion, aimed their weapons at me, so I sheathed my sword.
With a click, the enemies fell one by one.
The scene must have been incomprehensible to the onlookers.
Klaus was perplexed.
"Klaus, it's over. We'll take a different route to meet Prince Cleo. Inform the palace guards as well."
The scene around us was gruesome.
Klaus shook his head and became serious.
"Is the planned route dangerous?"
"There's no need to be straightforward. I have a bad feeling."
As I was about to return to the car, Kukuri approached me.
"Lord Liam, I have something to report."
I smiled at Kukuri's report.
â
Cleo had fled to a facility located outside the harem.
The facility was guarded by a security team and served as an emergency shelter.
Cleo, who had fled to this facility, was relieved with his guard, Ristea.
Ristea sighed.
"It's a good thing Lady Cecilia wasn't in the harem."
It was fortunate that Cecilia, who was not suited for violent situations, had left the harem for a meeting.
Cleo looked at the faces of the servants who had fled with him.
"Tia, a few people are missing, aren't they?"
Tia, who was armed as a guard, was standing beside him but spoke coldly about the missing servants.
"Perhaps they anticipated the attack and made excuses to stay outside today."
Cleo understood.
"Yes. Some of them have served me for a long time."
If they had anticipated the attack, they were traitors.
In front of the servants who were huddled together in fear, Cleo couldn't show any signs of unease.
He tried to maintain a composed attitude.
Seeing this, Tia praised him.
"You are impressive, Prince Cleo."
"Are you treating me like a child? More importantly, have you been able to contact the earl?"
"Yes. It seems he was attacked on the way, but he is heading here without any problems. He should arrive in about five minutesâ"
Tia, who said this, drew her rapier and moved to protect Cleo as the sound of metal clashing was heard.
The security team's knights, who had been guarding the place, were being cut down, and more intruders entered through the entrance.
Ristea also drew her weapon, but her reaction was slower than Tia's.
"---They've attacked even here!?"
It was understandable that Ristea was confused.
However, the enemy seemed to know the situation well.
"Court affairs are mysteriousâthis kind of thing happens all the time."
The reason Ristea was confused was that the knight who had entered was someone she often saw in the palace.
It was unexpected that he would participate in this attack while usually working as a regular knight.
The man, who usually had his eyes almost closed, now had them slightly open, and they were very cold.
Tia ordered her subordinates to protect Cleo and stood in front of the man.
Her voice was lower than usual.
"Your master doesn't seem to care about the means. It looks like they don't care about the consequences."
The men laughed softly at this.
Tia narrowed her eyes.
"What's so funny?"
The man with the narrow eyes spread his hands a little and shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing, it just shows that you're unfamiliar with court affairs. If you knew who our master is, you would be shocked."
Tia readied her rapier and cut down two knights who approached at incredible speed from behind the narrow-eyed man.
Cleo couldn't react.
(Are these guys skilled?)
Tia, who easily defeated them, must also be highly skilled.
The narrow-eyed man applauded.
"Excellent skills. I'd like to recruit you."
Tia had a provocative smile.
"Shut up. I'll kill all of you."
As Tia stepped forward, she quickly retreated.
Immediately after, a sword was swung down where she had been standing.
The man who swung the sword was over two meters tall.
He smiled at Tia's reaction speed as he swung a sword as large as his body.
"It's been years since someone dodged my first strike."
Cleo recognized the man and opened his eyes wide.
"What are you doing here?"
Ristea was also trembling.
"---Why is the Sword Saint here to attack us?"
The Sword Saint, who carried a long sword on his shoulder, looked at the narrow-eyed man.
The narrow-eyed man showed a smug attitude.
"The empire's darkness is deep. When you think you've seen it all, it turns out you've only seen the entrance, a common occurrence."
There were multiple Sword Saints in the empire.
The number varied by era, but in the present, there were four Sword Saints.
They were the highest-ranking swordsmen, who had climbed to the top based solely on their sword skills, regardless of their school or faction.
One of them was now standing in front of them, as an enemy.
Tia was also on high alert.
She showed less confidence than before.
The Sword Saint spoke to Tia.
"Well, let me ask you one more time. It's a waste to kill a swordsman with your skills in such a place. How about joining us?"
Tia laughed through her nose.
"My master is and will always be one person. I will never betray him."
"Too bad. ---I wanted to kill a more skilled version of you!"
The Sword Saint closed the distance in an instant and engaged Tia in a sword fight.