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A full moon hung up high in the night sky, but a cloud passed across the moon, hiding the brilliant moonlight.
“Now!”
The moment the entire palace was blanketed in thick darkness, three men began to move. The security of the outskirts of the palace was very high; it was filled with all sorts of magic traps and countless guards, and there was only one gate.
“Wh-who—!”
The two of the Imperial Knights that were guarding the main gate were knocked unconscious with two audible smacks, their eyes filled with disbelief.
“Great work. You’re good.”
“Of course, we’re some of the best knights within our battalion.”
“You’re really confident too.”
“By the way, are you really going to be okay?”
“Why not?”
Four Imperial Knights usually guarded the main gate during nighttime, and two of them were from the Auxiliary Battalion. On top of that, the Auxiliary Battalion was usually in charge of guarding the outskirts of the palace, so the outcome of their infiltration was pretty obvious.
“It’s a good thing I contacted you in advance. People make fun of us for being in the Auxiliary Battalion, but our titles come in handy in times like this. Those high and mighty knights from the superior battalions always turn down the task of guarding the outskirts because they’re too large or working as gate guards since it’s tiring,” Ranger sneered.
“Don’t let your guard down. We’re just getting started,” Cazes whispered in a worried voice.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ranger flippantly answered. He gestured at the person standing behind them. “Let’s go in, Lady Charles.”
Charles emerged from the darkness. “
There is really nothing better than having inside help.”
Even during the night, her beauty was eye-catching. The two knights guarding the gate gaped dumbly at her.
“I can never get used to how beautiful Lady Charles is.”
“I envy His Highness. Fuck
”
“Haven’t you heard?” Ranger asked with a mischievous voice.
“Pardon?”
“Lady Charles will personally treat the person who makes the biggest contribution in this operation to a meal.”
The gate guards’ expressions changed completely.
“I-is that true?”
“Sir Ranger
!” Charles gave Ranger a death glare.
Ranger quickly sidled up to her and whispered, “It’s to increase morale. The knights’ morale.”
“But you can’t lie
”
“Come on. To be honest, you can treat my boys to one meal after everything is over, right?”
Charles sighed.
“Anyhow
” she mumbled anxiously, “isn’t something strange?”
“
Pardon?” Ranger tilted his head in confusion. “By strange, you mean
?”
“It’s too quiet around here.”
“Well, the Imperial Family lives in this palace, so no sane person would dare cause a clamor
”
Charles shook her head. “I’m not talking about that. If the knight that was guarding this place this afternoon was speaking the truth, then Emperor Marcus is in there.”
“Hmm
?”
“The Emperor returned after disappearing for three years. Considering that, it’s too quiet around here.”
“
Indeed
” Cazes, who was always careful, frowned slightly. “I’ll look into it.”
“Do you have a way to find out?” Charles asked him.
“If I use the emergency contact to communicate with my colleagues in the inner palace
” Cazes immediately pulled out a communication crystal ball from his inner pocket.
Charles waved her hands. “No, someone might tap into your conversation.”
“But isn’t it too risky to just enter the palace like this?”
“We have no other choice since we’ve already started infiltrating
” Charles quietly trailed off and glanced down at the unconscious knights. “I can only hope that I was worried for nothing. Let’s go in.”
Ranger and Cazes looked at each other for a moment and then nodded.
“Open the gate.”
“
Yes, sir.”
The other knights tensed up and grabbed the handle of the castle gate’s winch.
The gates creaked loudly as they opened. They were so old and worn out that it was hard to believe that the knights were opening the gates of the palace of a great empire. Perhaps it was just poor maintenance due to the civil war or—or perhaps it a premonition of an upcoming bloodbath.
As the gates slowly opened, more of the inside of the palace was revealed. The trio became confused. Through the gap they were able to see many legs.
“
Fuck.” Ranger cursed, gritting his teeth.
“Ho-how
?”
“We were too optimistic. If we have inside help, then it’s more than possible for a traitor to exist among us.”
“No way
!”
Cazes looked ahead distrustfully and saw the barricade of humans blocking their way. From the first main gate to the second main gate, which led into the inner palace, the Imperial Knights were standing in a formation.
“Hello, you motherfucking traitors?”
The leaders of those Imperial Knights were
 the remaining ten Battalion Captains.
* * *
“Jabel!”
“Don’t move!” Heimdall roared, freezing Marco just as he was going to spring forward.
“Why
?”
“Marco, go back and carry out my last order.”
Marco’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.. “Heimdall! But at this rate—”
“Are you going to defy my order?”
Marco shook his head hard. “No, but
!”
“Then do you think I’ll lose?”
Marco bit his lip. “No
 sir,” he said after a long moment of inner conflict. “I’ll proceed with your order.”
“Do you think I’ll let you go?” Joshua interrupted. Marco immediately froze.
Heimdall stepped forward. “You and I still have things to talk about,” he said to Joshua.
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“No one will be able to escape from this place,” Joshua declared.
“
Jabel, assist me.”
Heimdall stood in Joshua’s way, his snow-white clothes swishing. Jabel, Heimdall’s second apostle, was the only one who hadn’t been caught up in Joshua’s storm of aura—the rest were piled around him.
“Do you want to meet the same end as them?” Joshua asked Jabel.
“You monster
!” Jabel mumbled, gritting his teeth as he put a humming layer of the highest-class aura over his sword.
However, Joshua’s response was very simple.
Jabel’s eyes widened. Joshua’s mana overwhelmed the area and then corroded through the aura Jabel had projected around himself little by little yet quickly. The difference in their levels was clear. The moment Jabel came into contact with Joshua’s mana, his aura, an ability which only a Master could use, dematerialized and dissipated.
Jabel looked blankly at his sword. “Ho-ho-how in the world
?”
He had seen his fair share of things in life, but he had never witnessed someone’s aura being wiped out of existence without even coming into contact with it.
That was when Heimdall stopped observing the situation and intervened. Something tall rushed toward Joshua bearing an enormous amount of mana, shaking him faintly.
For a moment, Joshua pondered if he should stop the runner or block the weapon that was flying toward him.
-You’re cocky. I’m right in front of you—can you afford to think?
Heimdall delivered his message through telepathy a fraction of a second after he’d already acted, so Joshua reacted by instinct first.
Metals clashed violently against metal. Marco had already disappeared from the council chamber by then; however, it didn’t matter to Joshua anymore because Heimdall was swinging his black greatsword against Joshua from every direction.
Joshua gripped his spear as tightly as he could. Maybe Heimdall was buying time because he was giving his best from the start. Since Heimdall was the greatest Absolute in this generation, Joshua forgot about everything else and concentrated solely on his opponent.
The layer of Heimdall’s mana over his greatsword left a scratch on Joshua’s cheek—but of course, Joshua wasn’t one to take a hit without replying. Joshua immediately swung his red spear and slashed Heimdall’s face. It met resistance and cut through with an audible swish.
Heimdall’s black and white mask was neatly cut in half and the pieces clattered onto the floor, revealing Heimdall’s face. Joshua was able to see a middle-aged man with whom he was more familiar with than anyone else. His deep blue, almost black, hair fluttered in the air—the man was Aden von Agnus, the Dark God that was thought to have died three years ago, and Joshua’s biological father.
“I knew it
” Joshua ground his teeth together. There was no twist—the cause and mastermind of everything was exactly who he expected.
“I know you have a lot of questions for me
 but you know my ways, don’t you?” Aden asked.
Joshua couldn’t restrain his murderous intent any longer.
“Now you feel like fighting for real.” Aden smiled faintly.
“
Don’t regret it.”
“Regret?” Aden immediately chuckled, his eyes fixed on the spot where Emperor Marcus had been. “I’ve never known that kind of emotion in my entire life.”
Aden released an enormous amount of mana through his black greatsword, shaking the ground beneath his power.
“Come, my son. I’ll welcome you with all my heart.”