452

Episode 452: Another Secret Weapon Has Been Found. (2)

Raoul looked dumbfounded after hearing Gator's words.

"Lure? Are you suggesting that we assassinate him now?"

"Something similar to that."

Raoul shook his head at the words of Gator, who was ignorant of the ways of the world.

"Would that work? If that method worked against him, he would have used it a long time ago. Unless he's an idiot, there's no way to lure him out."

Earl Fenris is a master. To assassinate him, several superhuman figures from the dukedom must join forces.

Even if they were to form an assassination squad and succeed in infiltrating, Jiselle's men are also quite skilled. They also have many knights and troops.

What if the superhumans dispatched from this side are annihilated while fighting them? That would be the end of the war.

Gator shook his head at Raoul's negative reaction.

"I'm not saying we should kill Earl Fenris. Why not just target Marquis Ferdium or his younger brother?"

That was even funnier. Raoul frowned.

"Killing them won't affect the overall situation. Rather, Earl Fenris will be even more enraged and will risk his life to fight us. Unless we take over Ferdium and completely destroy it, assassinating such people will be of no use… ."

Raoul, who was speaking, suddenly realized something and nodded.

"You're deliberately trying to divert attention."

"Yes, that's right. Even during the barbarian invasion, didn't Earl Fenris take action in the end? There's no reason why we couldn't use a similar method again. In fact, if it weren't for Amelia, wasn't this operation almost successful?"

"Hmm… … ."

"You don't have to turn the entire Northern Army around. If Earl Fenris just separates from the Northern Army to rescue his family, wouldn't that be considered a success?"

The words sounded plausible. However, Raul shook his head again after thinking about the objective situation and power.

"It would be impossible to send just any number of assassins. No, it's a wartime situation right now. It wouldn't be easy for the assassins to get there."

Since ancient times, the thing that monarchs have been most wary of has been assassination. That is why the places where nobles reside boast of great defenses. It is the nobles who have passed them down through generations and strengthened them.

It is an unspoken agreement among the nobles that they will not recognize anyone who seizes power through assassination, but the odds of success are not very high to begin with.

Raoul would like to assassinate Giselle right away if possible, but if it were easy, he would have done it a long time ago.

Raul made that very point.

"Ferdium has become incomparably stronger than it used to be. Even if we send a great group of assassins, they will be intercepted before they even enter the territory."

Thanks to the mana training method improved by Earl Fenris, the number of knights and soldiers increased.

It was natural that border checks were strengthened in each region, and the lords and nobles were also thoroughly preparing for assassination.

"Earl Fenris is known for being a quick-witted person, but if you look at his actions up to now, he is surprisingly meticulous. There is no way he didn't prepare for the assassination of his family."

It is nearly impossible for a small number of assassins to infiltrate and kill their target. Most would be caught as suspicious before they even reach the territory.

Even Raviere, who was a superhuman, was unable to shake off the pursuit and ended up hiding and dying.

Gatros knew that much, but he didn't necessarily intend to succeed in the assassination.

"We should also discard a card of that kind. A card that is strong enough to infiltrate that place and move Earl Fenris."

"What do you mean?"

"Black Moon."

"… … Lord Gatros. That's it."

"Isn't there a group that protects the Duke in the dark? They are said to be so great that they were able to eliminate the shadows that guarded Rutania in the dark a long time ago. They even saved the head of that place from dying, so we can lend a hand."

Raoul shook his head immediately.

"It is impossible. They are the guardians of the duke's house. Count Balzac would not permit it."

"If it were you, I'd grant your permission. After all, Danju was only kept alive to be used as a consumable. Now, you're saying we should use him."

"… … ."

"Abandon them for the greater good. And spread rumors of the assassination plot. If he wants to save his family, Earl Fenris will have no choice but to take action."

"… … ."

"If we're lucky, Earl Fenris might even join them in their destruction. They are the best assassins in the kingdom."

"Lord Gatros, it's too much right now… … ."

"And what if we advance during that gap?"

Gator's eyes were filled with longing.

He had no interest in the sacrifices of others. His mind was filled with thoughts of how to quickly take over the capital and seize the royal treasure.

Gatros continued, his voice urging.

"He may only be able to use it once, but he is also a superhuman. No matter how much he prepared for assassination, would the Earl of Fenris stay still after hearing that a superhuman is targeting his family?"

"… … ."

"Earl Fenris will eventually have no choice but to move to rescue his family. Without him, the Northern Army will never be able to stop our High Priests and the Duke's forces."

Raoul was troubled by the plausible words.

The Northern Army will move to a safer location as soon as the Eastern Cracks are dealt with. They will not be able to rally the Allied forces on the front lines. That means that only the Royal Army will remain on the Southern Front.

They first march east to lure away some of the royal forces, while at the same time, they openly launch an assassination operation using superhumans in Ferdium.

'The Earl of Fenris must choose between helping the East or helping his family.'

Either way, if he moves, he will immediately attack the remaining northern and royal forces and advance to the capital, capturing the royal palace.

Without the Earl of Fenris, there would be no one who could stop the Duke's army led by superhuman high priests.

The long war can be fought later. For now, the fall of the royal family was the priority.

Raoul agreed that Gator's idea was quite feasible.

"It's certainly not impossible if they move. Instead, we'll have to use our final sword to defend this place."

"If the operation is successful, no one will come here anyway. Everyone will focus on recapturing the capital."

"Umm… … ."

"It might be a good idea to send assassins all over the kingdom to cause chaos. It would make them more alert. Even if it's hard for the high-ranking nobles, I think I can deal with the lower-ranking officials and nobles."

"So, you're saying that we should make Earl Fenris more alert to assassination?"

"Yeah. Whether it's spreading rumors or leaking information, we're going to make him do something about it."

Raoul was troubled. The Duke would certainly approve this operation. On the contrary, he would most likely agree with Gator's opinion. He was a man who had no concern for his own safety.

Finally, Raoul sighed and nodded.

"Okay, let's do that. I'll think about the details a little more."

The Black Moon's Danju was a skilled swordsman who had reached the rank of Master, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to kill Earl Fenris.

Even if you send a superhuman, it is difficult to successfully assassinate someone alone. However, even if you send a lot of people, it is meaningless if they are all incompetent. This means that you have to move the powerful people.

And they will eventually die in Perdium.

Still, if he could move Earl Fenris, it would be a worthwhile deal. And if the assassins would even cooperate with him, that would be even better.

"Good idea. I'm sure you'll succeed this time."

Gatros smiled with satisfaction. Raoul immediately spoke to his staff.

"I'm going to meet the Black Moon's leader. Get ready."

The Black Moon Assassins hide throughout the Duke's castle, 'Eclipse', and monitor any abnormalities within the castle. Their leader lives in hiding deep in the basement of the Duke's residence.

Raoul, who had passed through a labyrinthine path and arrived at a stone chamber, opened the door.

Creak… … .

There was a magic circle in the middle of the dark stone chamber. The magic circle gave off a similar aura to the magic circle of the crack. Even the fact that there were corpses all around it was similar.

It was different from the magic circle of the crack in that it was much smaller and focused its energy on the man sitting on top of the magic circle.

The man's entire body, including his face, was wrapped in bandages. Only his eyes and mouth were visible.

Every time he exhaled, black energy would burst out and swirl around him.

"Melkir."

At Raoul's voice, the man called Melkir opened his closed eyes.

He asked, his breathing ragged and wheezing.

"Is Your Majesty in danger?"

"no."

"Has someone broken into the castle?"

"That's not it either."

In that moment, Melkir's body became blurred and blended in with his surroundings.

Paaak!

Soon, Melkir appeared before Raoul, emitting a thick darkness. He asked in a growling voice.

"Then you must have found that woman? The woman who made me like this!"

Raoul shook his head.

"That's not it. It's been 20 years already. No traces have been found, no activity detected. At that point, it's safe to assume he's dead."

"Can you be sure?"

"Didn't you say that you were badly injured and even your mana core was broken? You can't live long in that state."

"That woman is a woman born with divine powers. Even if her core is broken, she is not someone who will die easily."

"Even so, it's hard to survive with that level of injury. If she had moved, there's no way she wouldn't have been caught in our intelligence network."

"An assassin who uses similar techniques to me. Can't you really find him?"

Raoul pondered those words for a moment.

'Surely in Fenris… … .'

Among the people investigated by the intelligence agency, there was one who used similar techniques.

However, their age and period of activity did not match. The same goes for their hair color. The woman Melkir was looking for was blonde, but the person caught by the intelligence agency was not blonde.

'No, there were quite a few assassins like that in other kingdoms. The leader of Leipold's lynx smuggling gang, too.'

The techniques used by those who were assassins were all similar. There was no need to confuse them with baseless speculation.

Eventually Raoul shook his head again.

"None. Since he's definitely dead, there's no need to obsess over him any more."

"… … Is that so."

Melkir was silent for a moment.

In fact, he also thought that the person he was looking for was dead. He just wanted revenge on the person who had hurt him like this. At that time, he had clearly been defeated.

But it seemed like the opponent had also passed away from his injuries at that time.

Melkir, calming down, asked in a complicated voice.

"… … Then why are you here?"

"I have an enemy I need to deal with."

"It seems like it's time for me to take my life."

"… … Even though this life was forced upon me, can't I be active one more time?"

It was the Duke of Delphine and the priests of the Church of Salvation who saved him from death. They could not just leave Melkir to die.

Melkir was a superhuman who became a Master over 20 years ago.

He sacrificed his life to use that skill once more, and he was not allowed to die on his own.

At those words, Melkir nodded obediently.

"Yeah, I can fight one more time before I die."

After all, he was the hidden sword of the Duke's family. He had to deal with the Duke's enemies. That was his destiny and mission.

After suffering an irreparable injury, his mission changed to protecting the Duke's family, but his original job was to kill someone.

"Who is my opponent? I hope it's someone who can burn my last."

"Earl Fenris."

Melkir looked slightly disappointed.

"That's a name I've never heard before."

"That would be it. Since he is the person who appeared while you were resting here."

"What about your skills?"

"Master."

Melkir's eyes widened in amusement at those words. It was a very satisfying prey to decorate his end.

You shouldn't just kill these types of people. It would be really boring if you just killed them.

He suddenly moistened his lips with his tongue and asked.

"Does he have a family?"

"I have a father and a younger brother."

"Then, can I kill my family like before? It's truly an art to see someone with such power suffer. I also want to make my name known before I die."

He was a brutal assassin and considered himself a high-level artist. That's why he always preferred to kill the important people around him one by one before killing his enemies.

Because I thought that it was the ultimate beauty when a strong prey was driven and destroyed mentally.

That vicious taste has been lost to me since I was badly treated by someone about 20 years ago.

Raoul smiled back and said.

"Rather, I was going to ask you to do it. The longer we delay, the better it is for us. Kill everyone who can be killed, including your family members."

"Can we move right now?"

"No, we can leave after the priests gather and start the war. Since this is a sudden plan, we need time to organize it."

Raoul smiled. He took out a strong card that he had saved and could only be used once.

This time, even Earl Fenris will have no choice but to suffer.