Chapter 336

Godhand's voice faded away, and I was left on edge, my nerves tingling.

Thud. Thud.

Heavy footsteps, followed by—

Screech. Screeeech.

The sound of something being dragged echoed.

The heavy footsteps stopped in front of me, and the bag over my head was abruptly yanked off. What the—?!

My vision was suddenly flooded with light, disorienting me. I squinted, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

"Good afternoon, Prince Ash."

It was a voice I had heard a few days ago in prison. I could now see the person standing in front of me clearly.

"Mason...!"

Of course, it was that spy bastard.

Mason looked as though he'd been through an intense battle; he was covered in blood. And he appeared to be much larger than before.

Was he in a growth spurt? Or did he take steroids?

Mason curled his lips into a savage grin.

His scruffy beard... as strange as it sounds, it seemed more like the bristles of a wild animal than a man's beard.

"Thanks to you, we caught the rats."

With that, Mason tossed what he'd been dragging onto the ground.

"Gah!"

"..."

It was two elves from Shadow Squad. My teeth chattered.

"Godhand! Burnout! Are you okay?!"

Mason placed his military boots on top of the fallen elves and shrugged.

"I've known for a while that these guys betrayed us."

"What...!"

"So, I fed them false information. And sure enough, they took the bait."

A few days ago, Mason and the Aegis Special Forces had entered Crossroad and immediately leaked that information to Godhand, who reported it to me.

I had Mason arrested and thrown in jail as soon as I heard he had approached Lucas...

Could it be that all of this was premeditated?

"Aegis Special Forces isn't so naive as to keep a double agent alive," Mason chuckled, putting his foot on Godhand's injured area.

"Do you not care about your brethren struggling to survive in the autonomous region, elves? Acting so freely like this, huh?"

Crunch—

Mason's boot pressed down on the wound, making Godhand scream in pain.

"Ah—argh!"

"Enough!"

As I yelled, Mason glanced at me under his thick eyebrows. I spat out the words.

"I don't care about these elf slaves. Quit stalling and get to the point."

"The point?"

"Yeah. There has to be a reason you came all the way to the southern end of this vast continent to raise hell like this."

I clenched my teeth and asked.

"Is your aim the wife and children of Crown Prince Lark?"

"That's not our team's jurisdiction."

"Then, do you plan to kidnap and kill me?"

"That's not it either, Your Highness. It seems you have some misconceptions about our special forces. We're not audacious enough to harm royalty."

Despite kidnapping a royal, Mason spoke as if he'd done nothing wrong.

I couldn't hold back my anger any longer.

"Then what the hell are you doing? This isn't a game, and I don't have time for your riddles. Just say what you came for and get out of my city!"

"..."

My outburst seemed to catch Mason off guard for a moment, but then he chuckled.

"Don't get so worked up, Your Highness. You don't look too well."

Mason gently stroked my forehead with his thick hand.

The caring touch enraged me even more. I wanted to kill this bastard.

"Fine, I understand. In truth, we brought you here to ask for your assistance with our mission... I'll tell you everything."

Mason pulled up a chair and set it down in front of me before seating his massive frame on it. 

Then he began to speak softly.

"Prince Ash, the truth is, we were deployed here a few months ago."

"What?"

"A few months ago, when the intelligence network in Crossroad was destroyed, we came down to restore it and to carry out a specific special mission."

I remembered when I had exposed that Godhand and Margarita were spies. At that time, I had also destroyed the shrine's communication line that was connected to Margarita.

Was Mason saying he had been deployed here since that incident, which happened more than half a year ago?

"Restoring the intelligence line was easy. The problem was the special mission personally assigned to us by Lord Fernandez."

Mason scratched his chin awkwardly.

"No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't accomplish that mission. We couldn't return empty-handed, so we eventually resorted to the extreme measure of kidnapping you, Prince Ash."

"..."

"We merely seek your 'cooperation' to complete the mission we have been assigned. That's all there is to it."

Baffled, I asked, "What exactly... is this mission?"

Hesitating for a moment, Mason finally blurted it out.

"...'Demon King Subjugation.'"

"...?"

For a moment, my mind froze.

Was this some kind of joke? My brain refused to process what I had just heard.

"What?"

What did you just say?

Mason calmly explained once more.

"We were deployed here as human envoys sent by Lord Fernandez, who is set to be the next emperor of the Empire, to subjugate the ruler of the monsters, the 'Demon King.'"

"..."

After a moment of stiffness, I finally managed to speak, imbued with nothing but unfiltered sincerity.

"What kind of bullshit is this, you maniacs...?"

***

Mason spilled the beans about everything they had been up to in Crossroad for the past few months to subjugate the Demon King.

It had been easy to establish themselves in Crossroad.

The city was desperate for labor, and it didn't turn down anyone willing to work. 

They quickly planted people in various places and restored the intelligence network. However, the subjugation of the Demon King was not progressing.

"We already knew about the dungeon beneath the Black Lake. The issue was how to get inside..."

They had succeeded in getting beneath the Lake Kingdom, but the main gates remained firmly closed, and no alternative entrances were found.

The only entrance, [The Dried Sewer], could not be accessed without the guidance of NPCs, and most NPCs were currently kidnapped by the Nightmare Legion.

In the end, they hadn't even managed to get into the Lake Kingdom, let alone subjugate the Demon King.

"We even tried entering when the main gate opens—during the monster raids. But we lost half of our agents to the pouring horde of monsters and had to retreat."

Recalling that time, Mason bowed his head to me.

"The fact that you've been fighting against such terrible hordes of monsters all this time... I truly respect you, Prince Ash. I mean it."

"..."

I simply glared at Mason as he continued speaking.

"When we were about to give up, we got hold of one piece of information. That Prince Ash freely roams the dungeon beneath the lake, and that a visitor from there has even been to Crossroad."

"..."

"So, our strategy has changed. We seek Your Highness's cooperation. However, given that Your Highness is hostile towards the monsters and the Demon King, it's unlikely you would comply easily..."

"So you resorted to kidnapping and threats?"

"Well, yes, that's how it turned out."

Mason chuckled slyly. I hesitated before asking.

"What are you planning to do by meeting the Demon King? You, a human, meeting that bastard who's hell-bent on destroying humanity... what exactly do you intend to discuss?"

Mason shrugged his shoulders and candidly revealed, 'Well, there's no point in hiding it anymore–'

"It's a declaration of surrender."

"..."

For a moment, my vision turned white.

"...Am I not feeling well?"

Lowering my head in disbelief, I took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I must have misunderstood. Say that again. What did you say?"

"It's a declaration of surrender, Prince Ash. A complete declaration of humanity's surrender to the monsters."

My head started to throb. I wanted to rub my temples, but my arms were tied, rendering me immobile.

This was beyond the realm of rational understanding.

It can only be described as trolling caused by utter insanity.

What the hell?

"Why the fuck would you guys throw in the towel when people are still fighting hard?! Right now, my soldiers are battling monsters at the frontline, risking their lives!"

I yelled furiously. Mason simply listened.

"And instead of helping them, you pull this shit behind our backs? I can't comprehend this at all! Why did Fernandez rebel and why is he surrendering to the Demon King?"

"How would I, a mere hunting dog, know the deep intentions harbored by His Highness Fernandez? I am simply executing the mission assigned to me."

Mason grimaced before continuing.

"However, His Highness Fernandez did say this."

"What?"

"'This is the only way to save the Empire.'"

"..."

"'No one may understand, but this is the only way. If it means preserving the Empire, I am prepared to accept all the disdain and humiliation.'"

Gritting my teeth, I growled.

"I can't cooperate."

"Prince Ash."

"Do you think I'm insane enough to cooperate with such a plan?"

My head ached as if I was about to vomit, but I couldn't help but shout again.

"Fernandez is neither the Emperor nor the commander of this monster front! He has no right!"

"Well, who knows. Soon, His Highness Fernandez will become the Emperor, and the Emperor oversees all fronts of the Empire. He will also represent all of humanity in this world."

Mason nodded solemnly.

"Soon, this world will move according to the will of His Highness Fernandez."

"I will stop him."

"How about worrying about your current condition first?"

Rising from his seat, Mason took threatening steps towards me. I clenched my teeth.

"You said earlier you didn't dare harm a member of the Imperial Family?"

"Usually, yes. But when it comes to the mission, Aegis Special Forces can grow the balls to do anything."

"This fucking lunatic..."

I spat out menacingly.

"My subordinates will come soon. Lucas, who used to serve you, will be the one leading them, sword in hand to cut off your head."

As Mason approached me, he shrugged.

"Lord Lucas is dead."

"What...?"

"I just came back from piercing a heart with my own hands."

Mason pointed to the blood splatters on his body. My eyes widened.

"Don't lie."

"There's no salvation, Prince Ash. Please assist me in fulfilling my mission while I'm still asking nicely."

Mason's massive hand gripped my shoulder tightly.

"My patience is running a bit thin today. It's great to be beast-like, but the thinning thread of rationality is the problem... Or is it actually an advantage?"

Mason chuckled dangerously, tightening his grip on my shoulder, then—

"Kidding. There are far more gentlemanly ways."

He slowly released his grip.

Then, he pulled out a syringe filled with pink liquid from his pocket. My eyes widened again.

"Is that, could it be..."

"Yes. It's a forced hypnotic extracted from a Succubus. Extremely hard to find nowadays since the Succubi are almost extinct."

Mason grinned confidently.

"No matter how strong-willed you are, this will make you roll over like a cute pet."

"..."

"Heh heh, Your Highness, you'll have to move as I direct you."

I pretended to shudder in fear. Oh, scary!

'I'm completely immune to mental status abnormalities...'

If even the charms of a Succubus Queen have no effect on me, what chance does a sedative extracted from a lower-tier Succubus have?

This is bulletproof glass, you idiot!

'More importantly...'

I bit my lip and looked out the window.

'Did Lucas... die?'