“Mm~”

With a sweet little hum slipping from the tip of her nose, Donna arched her waist, and the grand drama of a king’s gallop finally drew its curtain.

A charming flush covered every inch of her skin. Donna tipped her head back, her delicate body trembling as she carefully savored the lingering aftertaste of that final peak.

But when she lowered her head again, only disgust remained in her eyes.

“Old thing. Absolutely revolting.”

There was no need to worry that the other party would hear her, because Saint Peron V had already passed out foaming at the mouth. After only half an hour of galloping, he seemed to have grown even more gaunt.

Yet a dreamy, blissful smile still lingered on his face, as though the final regret from when he had become king in his youth had also been fulfilled in this moment.

“For you, this is already the best thing possible, isn’t it? Honestly, you got off easy... Hm?”

After casually cleaning away the filth, Donna was hooking her underwear back into its proper place when her gaze swept over the object in Saint Peron V’s hand, and her eyes suddenly sharpened.

On the core of the grand barrier, the point of light belonging to the intruder had not disappeared. In fact, it was still rapidly pushing deeper.

“Ghoul didn’t deal with him?”

Something was wrong.

Judging by the time, Ghoul should have been in contact with the other side for at least ten minutes already.

Yet not only had this intruder failed to disappear, he was still advancing...

“Can you contact Ghoul?”

Donna asked the shadows of the bedchamber. The finger she had hooked loosened lightly, and the taut fabric immediately sent a wave through the soft flesh beneath it.

“...No.”

After a moment of silence, someone in the shadows answered hoarsely, “There’s no response at all.”

“What about the others there?”

“No. The people in the rear garden have basically all gone silent. That was already one of the weaker points in our guard. Saint Haze Palace is too large. We’re somewhat short on manpower.”

“Looks like Ghoul has failed.”

Donna’s expression did not change at all, as if Ghoul’s death was not some great matter to her.

And in truth, it was not. Trash like Ghoul... if she casually threw her panties across this room, she could hit several more just like him.

Donna lifted a long leg and continued dressing.

“We must stop him. The intruder is clearly headed for this old thing. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.”

“I’ll go.”

The child playing with a strange toy stood up. “Perfect. I was already tired of this toy anyway.”

“No...”

Donna thought briefly. “All of you go.”

“Huh?”

Several startled voices came from the shadows.

“All of us?”

“Yes. Anyone who can easily deal with Ghoul and kill his way to the rear garden is not simple.”

“Then... aren’t you afraid this is a diversion?” A huge shadow squirmed, like a giant bear crawling on the ground.

“There’s only one intruder. What diversion?”

Donna glanced coldly over. “Do you not trust the grand barrier, or do you not trust me?”

“No... It just feels like making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, as you said, there’s only one enemy.”

“If he dared break in alone, isn’t that all the more reason for you to be on full alert?”

Donna paused. “And have those outside send their people in as well. Cleanup can be delayed. There must not be any mistake here!”

“Yes... Understood. We’ll go at once.”

Although this excessive caution seemed suspicious, the people in the shadows did not argue further. They quickly accepted the order and vanished from the bedchamber.

It seemed they all trusted Donna greatly, though they did not necessarily like this “pretentious” woman in their eyes.

With the audience gone, the bedchamber finally fell completely silent.

“Just to be safe...”

Donna thought for another moment, then once again approached that old thing whose whole body exuded the stench of humanity, disgusting her to the extreme. She bent down, wearing the face of the Witch of Repentance, and said gently,

“Your Majesty.”

“...”

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”

She called several times, but there was no response.

“Already useless? What a waste.”

Donna sighed soundlessly, thinking that if this sort of thing could become the king of humans, then humanity really did deserve to be destroyed.

With a turn of her hand, she took out the medicinal fluid prepared in advance to extend Saint Peron V’s life and forcefully poured it directly into his mouth.

Gulp... gulp...

“Oh dear. I accidentally poured in too much again.”

Donna looked with distress at Saint Peron V’s skin as it gradually turned flushed and feverish again.

Unlike soaking, directly pouring the medicinal fluid into this old thing was still too stimulating for him.

So...

The clothing she had just put on drifted away again. Donna familiarly mounted Saint Peron V, then arched her waist once more.

“Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. Truly disgusting...”

Donna’s expression was full of revulsion and contempt.

Yet her movements were incomparably wild.

Saint Peron V soon woke in shock, then once again sank into the bliss of a king’s gallop.

“Your Majesty...”

Donna leaned close to Saint Peron V’s ear. “May I ask you to use the grand barrier to lock onto and mark that intruder?”

“I-I can directly annihilate him.”

“That won’t do. The grand barrier’s power is needed to maintain this city’s divided independence within the void. Just lock onto him. I’ll handle the rest for you.”

“Olive... you’re so good to me.”

Seeing his Olive be so considerate, Saint Peron V could not help sinking into tremendous happiness once more.

Under his control, the grand barrier core in his hand flickered faintly.

All the radiance gathered toward that point of light, making it exceptionally bright.

Thus, an inescapable net was formed.

“Now, unless his strength has reached the level of a true Crowned, I can’t think of anyone in this world who could truly break through this palace alone.”

Donna turned her head to stare at the grand barrier core and sneered.

“I don’t care what sort of monster or demon you are. Even an Evil God’s scion wouldn’t be enough!”

“Olive... lighter... be gentle.” Saint Peron V panted heavily, clutching the sheets behind him, his gaunt body spasming nonstop.

“What are you saying, Your Majesty?”

Donna ignored him completely. She suddenly dropped her perfectly shaped hips, her head lifting high.

“This has only just begun!”

...

...

“This has only just begun.”

After devouring Ghoul, Muen continued forward.

After that, the only chances he encountered along the way were former palace guards responsible for keeping watch, or minor Salvation Society underlings. He dealt with them casually. They could not even create the slightest obstruction or burden for him.

But Muen did not relax in the least.

Because he knew breaking through the rear garden was only the beginning of this road.

Next came the truly troublesome part.

“About time.”

Muen crossed the rear garden and stepped onto the grounds of the middle court.

At the same time, he glanced at the pocket watch in his hand.

In an instant.

A pillar of light descended from the sky and directly enveloped him.

This pillar of light was formless and colorless, and it did not contain any special power either. It merely enveloped Muen, illuminating his figure until he stood out with exceptional clarity.

Just like...

The spotlight at the center of a stage.

“So this is the main character treatment?”

Muen did not resist. He knew that resisting something that could not even be considered an attack was meaningless.

He merely raised his hand, letting the light spill through his fingers and cast deep shadows on the ground.

Looking at his shadow, Muen could not help laughing at himself. “A spotlight follows me everywhere. They really think highly of me.”

Concealing his aura was useless, because while that might deceive the Witch of Repentance, it could not deceive the grand barrier.

Even Illumination Magic had rarely lost its effect, because this spotlight would illuminate his figure clearly at every moment. Even if he could hide his body, the pillar of light would not disappear.

The stealth and infiltration Muen excelled at had now completely lost their effect.

He could only charge in from the front.

For an “assassination,” this was the most difficult method.

But this had long been within his expectations.

“To be honest, sometimes I really want to ask whether this grand barrier was also designed and built by that old thing. Otherwise, why would it be this troublesome?”

Muen sighed.

As expected of the grand barrier. Even with most of its functions unusable, when it came to protecting the master of this palace, it truly still possessed extremely high intensity.

In that regard, it was somewhat similar to the restriction in Belrand Palace.

But thinking about that now was truly useless.

Only if he succeeded and made it back alive would he be able to learn the answer.

“It’s nothing more than changing from assassin to berserker.”

His twin blades spun once and were gripped tightly in Muen’s hands.

“That sort of thing... I’m good at too!”

Swish!

Without the slightest hesitation, Muen’s figure instantly turned into a stretched afterimage, flying toward the center of the middle court.

Since concealment and stealth were completely useless, he could only use speed to make up for that flaw!

“Who’s there?!”

Someone shouted angrily along the way.

The “spotlight” above Muen’s head was far too conspicuous. Almost all of Saint Haze Palace could see it clearly. Large numbers of soldiers already guarding the surrounding area hurried over.

They, too, had already been controlled by the Salvation Society. Upon seeing the intruder, they did not care about the obvious gap in strength at all. They charged at him like mad, intending to block Muen’s advance.

Muen was silent, and without mercy.

His twin blades merely spun.

This time, there were no flashy techniques, nor any blade light piercing the night sky.

Because he had to conserve stamina.

And so the technique that had long ago been integrated into his moves was once again used by him on its own. Amid his sprint, it was like a death god’s scythe passing through, swiftly harvesting lives.

Dagger Combat Arts. LV.MAX!

Pfft.

Pfft.

Pfft.

Pfft.

Pfft.

Squad after squad of soldiers fell like wheat in autumn harvest. Their heads rolled in every direction, blood spraying into the sky, adding an eerie splash of color to this meticulously tended royal garden.

“Stop—stop him! Someone stop him!”

The Salvation Society member finally began roaring in panic, ordering even more imperial guards to rush in.

Muen turned his head and looked at him.

Their eyes met from afar.

The man shouting froze at once, his whole body seeming to turn into a puppet.

His appearance did not seem to change, and there were no wounds on his body either. But in his pupils, pitch-black flames appeared out of nowhere, burning out deep holes one after another.

“Ah!”

Those holes gradually covered his entire pupils.

His angry roar became a miserable scream. Under the terrified gazes of those around him, he began burning from the inside out!

Burning with...

Pitch-black flames!