Chapter 14: Royal Palace Throne Room

Chapter 14: Royal Palace Throne Room

Five people stood amidst the lavish grandeur of the throne room, its walls adorned with tapestries depicting the kingdom's illustrious history, with a sixth person standing in the middle.

If the world learned that all these people were gathered here, there would be public shock, for all these people were distinguished in their own right, but they all seem to have gathered around another person who was inspecting the bodies scattered about the room.

How strange, thought Leon. 'Like all the others we found on the way here, none of them show any signs of struggle; it's as if they have just fallen asleep.'

If it had been one or two, he would not have paid too much attention, but there were hundreds of them on the way here.

From the time they entered the city and wandered the cobblestone streets until now, they had not found a single living person.

The number of deaths they had seen along the way made even these veterans feel sick.

Bodies littered the streets of the capital, but there was no sign of fighting or looting, only a deadly silence. It was as if the city had been abandoned, left to the mercy of some unseen danger.

A morbid curiosity to see how far this would go was all that kept them going.

Only now, standing in the throne room, did he realise that this had been their plan all along.

It was meant to set the stage for the end of a kingdom.

He could not understand what had gone wrong.

Drawing on the extensive network of informants and spies at their disposal, the Consortium delved into intelligence reports that painted a grim picture: a wave of pirate activity threatening to engulf the Oykot Kingdom.

With their ally at their side, a plan took shape. The Consortium fleet, ready and prepared, would use the element of surprise and the natural advantages of the terrain to intercept the advancing pirates before they could breach the capital's defences.

At the same time, as the Consortium fleet moved to meet the looming threat, one of its key operatives was about to embark on a critical mission: to complete the final, crucial component of the treaty with the Kingdom.

This meeting represented a decisive step forward in the meticulously crafted plans that had been years in the making.

It would mean the end of lurking in the shadows and finally denouncing the world by openly lighting the fires of revolution!

Now, amidst the chaos of the royal palace, he found himself caught in a web of conspiracy that threatened to become his greatest failure.

"Damn those bastards!" Leon's voice thundered with raw outrage, his fists clenched tightly in frustration.

André reached out to comfort Leon, placing a hand on his shoulder, but Leon brushed it away.

Sighing, André admitted, "I understand this is discouraging, but we have to go now."

Leon broke out, "Go?... And what about these people? How can we just let this 'GO' go?" His frustration echoed through the empty throne room, the weight of the situation bearing down on him.

"Yes," André said firmly. "We must leave now; I have just received reports that the fleet has engaged the pirates and that marines have appeared on the horizon, heading this way."

"Something is happening beyond our control, and it's already too late to stop it, unless you want to throw away everything we've worked for," André warned, his tone reflecting the gravity of the situation.

Leon paced around, collecting his thoughts and muttering to himself. "I knew it was too easy; there was hardly any movement from the government, and now they do something so despicable again, all to serve as a warning."

Calming himself, Leon asked, "Remind me, who planned our visit to the kingdom this time?"

This time Penelope responded, "The visit was strictly confidential and on a need-to-know basis. On this side, only the king knew that we were arriving today."

"Then what are the chances that this is a trap for us?" asked Ponto, his voice laced with suspicion.

"Slim to none; it's probably just a coincidence," Ramus replied, his tone betraying a lack of surprise but an underlying vigilance.

Leon pondered his thoughts for a moment before saying decisively, "Call the fleet; we are leaving immediately.

"The fact that the Marines are coming so quickly means they have the confidence to deal with the pirates, and we don't need to get involved."

Leon reasoned. "It's not time to reveal our ambitions to the world yet, so we'd better leave now."

The others nodded in unison; their agreement was interrupted by a gentle round of applause that startled them all.

During the conversation, a black cloaked figure wearing a blank white mask appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Sitting on the throne, they began to clap slowly, their presence creating palpable tension in the room.

"♫♪Bravo♫♪," he mocked, his voice cutting through the silence. "♪♫And here I thought you were all complete idiots.♪♫"

"♫♪Sorry to break it to you,♫♫" The figure continued, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "♫♪But this was supposed to be a trap for someone else, but plans have changed. ♫♫" Her words ring clear in the air.

"♫♫Your continued existence is no longer necessary, but the ships you came on are, so I cannot allow you to leave just yet.♫♫"

"♪Imagine the headlines of tomorrow's newspapers.♪"

"♪World in Shock Consortium Reveals True Colours!♫"

"♫Destroying a kingdom asisted by pirates; no one survived.♪"

"♪Just imagining what the backlash would be like makes me excited.♫"

As she happily monologued, the figure remained oblivious to the movements of the people in the room, whose arrogance prevented them from taking their opponents seriously, even if she had noticed them.

"♫Of course, if you kill your boss, I might keep you around and put in a good word for you with my superior.♫"

"♫But if you don't,♪" she drawled, a cruel smile twisting her lips, "♫you can all stay here and die together, if that's not too much to ask.♪" Her laughter cut through the air like a knife, a chilling melody of sadistic pleasure. With every word, her eyes danced with a gleeful madness, relishing the thought of their demise as if it were a grand spectacle for her entertainment. In her twisted mind, the suffering of others was merely a game, and she relished her role as the puppet master of their torment.

None of the members responded to the cheap bait.

… 

Darion, standing outside the room, gasped in horror as he listened to the conversation unfold.

Seeing the near annihilation of the kingdom's population filled him with anger like never before; now, he knew for sure that it was not pirates but the government behind the devastation.

Leon had told him a lot on the way here, but he had only partly believed him.

He had even received an offer for him, to which he had replied that he would think about it, though he never truly intended to accept it.

But now, faced with the horrifying reality before him, he knew he had no choice but to act.

As he clenched his fists in anger, he made up his mind to join Leon to fight against the corrupt government.

Finally deciding to stand up to oppression felt liberating to him.

He was filled with a newfound sense of purpose.

Riding on the figh He vowed that if he made it out of here alive, he would not only accept the offer but also do his best to expose this travesty to the world.

… 

Standing in the centre of the room, Leon looked up at the one who sat rudely on the throne, meeting the mad woman's gaze with a cold glint.

Directly, he asked—no, he demanded, "Why? Why kill all these people? They were innocent."

She laughed, genuinely entertained, and said, "♫Because of your band of merry men strolling about so casually, as I said, this was not originally a trap for you, but the arrival of a high and mighty emissary of the Consortium made us recast the net.♪" A haunting melody accompanied her words, her amusement evident.

"I am not an envoy, so this is all meaningless," scoffed Leon, his voice filled with disdain.

"♫Haha!♪" the woman laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke of all. "♪We're not here for you, boy,♫" she said while pointing at André with a mocking gesture.

"♫Our interest is in this gentleman,♪" she declared.

André's face contorted as if he had eaten a lemon. 'How was he found out?'

The others looked over at André in amazement but asked nothing; their question was audible in the look alone.

The agent laughed again. "♫Wait, did you not know? That makes it even better. Let me introduce you. This is André Rand, the emissary of the North Blue,♪" revaeling André's true identity.

"𝆕Now that the introductions have been made, let us get down to business,𝆕" the agent declared, his tone shifting from amusement to a more serious demeanor as he turned his attention to the impending matter at hand.

"𝆕Kill this man, and I may let you live.𝆕"

No longer paying attention to the agent, Andre said, "I can explain all of this."

"Don't bother," Ponto spat as he lunged forward with red eyes, preparing to take action.

With a quick movement, he pulled a strange-looking axe that expanded two sizes from its sheath on his back, muttering, "I should have done this in the first place."

The agent on the throne laughed heartily, enjoying the unfolding events with a twisted sense of amusement.

"♪Excellent, maybe I will let you live after all,♫" the woman sang mockingly, her laughter abruptly halting as she saw an axe fly in her direction. Before she could react, she was chopped in half, along with the throne and platform beneath her.

Ponto picked up his axe from the ground, its size returning to normal. "Good riddance," he murmured, his voice tinged with satisfaction as he surveyed the aftermath of his strike.

However, to Ponto's annoyance, the woman suddenly transformed into a thick cloud of black smoke, dodging his attack with unexpected ease.

In a second, it filled the throne room and slowly spread throughout the castle, enveloping everything in its dark shroud.

Ponto cursed under his breath, muttering, "Devil fruit users always complicate things," as he threw something forward, his voice more annoyed than anything else.

"Hmm, not just a normal devil fruit, but a logia devil fruit, to be exact," Ramus added. "But judging by her behaviour, she seems to be seriously overestimating herself."

"Bah, I hate Logia users; you take care of it, Ramus," Ponto grumbled.

"Pay up or do it yourself," Ramus retorted.

"Shut up, both of you, and just stand back and let André deal with his own mess," Leon said nonchalantly, his voice filled with calm authority.

Listening to the conversation between them, she found it a bit strange.

The complete lack of concern when they found out she was a Logia user annoyed her, so she doubled the smoke output and covered almost half the city again, her frustration fueling her determination to assert absolute dominance.

"𝄳Underestimating me will be the last thing you do,𝄳" she shouted as she reformed and took a step forward, only to trip and fall on her mask, breaking it.

"Hmm, it took longer than expected; she must have some strength to back up her arrogance," Leon said, showing some admiration for his opponent's resilience.

"I think she's one of those 'government dogs', as you call them," Norman declared confidently, his realisation dawning as he connected the dots.

"Stop wasting time and kill her. I have just received reports that many ships have been destroyed by the Marines," Ponto interrupted, his urgency cutting through the discussion.

The agent struggled to her feet, wiping away the blood dripping from her ears. "𝆺𝅥𝅯What is this? What have you done?𝆺𝅥𝅯"

"Didn't you want to finish us off quickly and make us regret underestimating you?" Ramus taunted.

"It looks like you're adapting faster than expected, though."

"Penelope, turn up the volume so she can't resist," André instructed.

"Should we 'trap' her?" asked Ramus. "Since killing Logia types like her is a pain, it would be better to throw her into the sea later." His suggestion had a pragmatic tone, considering the most efficient course of action under the circumstances.

"𝆺𝅥𝅯Trap? me!𝆺𝅥𝅯" the agent asked, feeling her intelligence being tested and her tone betraying a hint of anger.

How could they trap her, a Logia user?

Only then did André confidently step forward, his voice resonating with authority.

"Yes, trap. Now don't resist so we can get this over with," he commanded, flicking something in her direction with his thumb, as if throwing a marble.

It was unbelievable. The inconspicuous little black marble gave her a premonition of death.

In a desperate attempt to escape, the agent quickly condensed the remaining smoke into a decoy in front of her.

As the decoy obscured his retreat, he narrowly avoided a fatal attack, but the impact with the wall left her coughing blood, disoriented, and vulnerable.

Shocked, she wondered, How are they doing this? I feel dizzy and disorganised, unable to tell up from down, and unable to maintain my elemental form.

Meanwile She looked at her double, but nothing happened.

Was it a mistake? She wondered, only to be shocked to see the small marble turn into a sphere, trapping his double in a glass sphere the size of a cannon ball, which kept shrinking.

"You missed," Penelope pointed out helpfully, still a little annoyed that André had hidden his true identity from her for years.

André quipped, "Just because she can still move, maybe you should focus more instead of talking all the time," his voice full of annoyance.

His failure and subsequent blame annoyed Penelope as he countered, "The fact that I can do this to a Logia user should be commended, let alone one so strong."

As she spoke, the agent felt the discomfort lessen a bit, only to increase again the moment she stopped.

She seems to be humming softly.

Then it clicked; it was the sound! She realised she was disoriented by her humming!

She had to run. All of these people were much stronger than she had expected, and now only two of them had made a move, giving her a lot of trouble. If she did not go all out, it would be her end.

It hurt hes pride, but he had to regroup to deal with these people. She also had to inform the others that this group was much stronger than the information suggested.

"It looks like she is running away!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Marbles flew and morphed into various obstacles, including sharp spikes and barriers that resonated with the humming sound, causing extreme nausea.

Although turning her ears into smoke provided some relief, maintaining concentration proved challenging, severely limiting the options available.

With a cry of "𝆺𝅥𝅯Soru!𝆺𝅥𝅯" she dashed towards the lone exit of the building.

The biggest problem was that the exit was past those people.

Her only option was to dissolve into a smokescreen, zigzagging around the growing obstacles.

Luck seemed to be on her side, as she managed to leave the building with only minor injuries.

Invigorated by the escape, the agent taunted, "𝅘𝅥𝅲Just wait; I'll make you regret this day!𝅘𝅥𝅲" as she fled into the distance.

When the target was out of sight, Norman asked, "Boss, why did you stop me at the last second and let him go?" Fire burned in his eyes, threatening to erupt if he did not get a good answer.

Instead of answering directly, Leon asked another question: "When you catch a small fish, what do you do?"

Norman's brow furrowed as he considered the question. "You use it as bait to catch a bigger one," he replied slowly, understanding dawning in his eyes.

"Exactly," Penelope confirmed with a nod. "Let her think she's escaped. It'll make her feel safe. Drop her guard. Then, when she least expects it, we'll reel her back in and make her pay for her crimes."

Disregarding the less helpful chatter in the background, Leon inquired, "Did you complete the task?" His focus remained on the matter at hand.

Ponto nodded. "Yes, I planted it at the beginning," he confirmed.

"Excellent work!" Leon exclaimed.

He accepted a small piece of paper from Ramus and inserted it into what resembled a log pose.

Turning to André, Leon proposed, "Once this ordeal is over, we all deserve an explanation; wouldn't you agree?"

"But before André could answer, Leon started walking south and said, "Now let's go and catch a big fish!"