CHAPTER 671

[T.L: punisher87]

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'Seven.'

Despite the various tragedies that had occurred, Dante had rapidly gained absolute power in the empire over the past three years.

Usually, power gained so quickly is precarious.

However, with only seven traitors, it was a testament to how well Dante and his advisor, Kashmir, had been doing.

Euria handed Dante a diagram of the traitors' locations that had been previously drawn.

'Three 10th grade officials, three 7th grade officials, and one 5th grade official?'

Jin also glanced at the traitors' positions out of the corner of his eye.

'They're too insignificant to be recruited to assassinate the regent of the empire.'

At first glance, they were all people who didn't even have a trace of political power or remarkable abilities. They were just ordinary officials.

Dante also had the same question. He couldn't think of anything these officials could do to assassinate him.

However, outward status and abilities can change at any time. Zephyrin had proven that, and the power of a prophet's chaos control could transform people into different forms.

"Well, I believe you're all too busy to even consider betrayal."

At those words, quite a few of his servants spit out swearing in their hearts, saying, "What the fuck is this?", but those who lied were not included.

Silence ensued. Even when Euria was verifying the liars, the room was silent for almost ten minutes, and the officials couldn't figure out why Dante was acting this way.

Then, after a long period of contemplation, Dante eventually turned his head towards Jin and gestured for him to come closer.

'What?'

'I knew those seven could be traitors, but what's the best way to ask the next question?'

'How did you become so stupid in my absence? You are asking that question now.'

'I've always had a somewhat dense side to me.'

'I should have properly organized the question list for you beforehand. You don't need to worry, Dante. Ask if there's someone who passed information to Runcandel. That way, you'll find out whether they have only had a change of heart or have truly betrayed you.'

'Oh, I see.'

Dante cleared his throat.

"Ahem! Since there aren't many questions left, you must understand my eccentric behavior."

"No, it's not!"

"No, it's not!"

Euria thought about listing the liars as well, but stopped because there were too many of them.

"Among those here, has anyone informed the Garden of Swords about me or the Empire?"

Of course, the answer was no. However, the seven who were first highlighted by the power of truth were telling lies again.

Jin soon found out why the Garden of Swords had enlisted such ordinary people as its helpers.

'The entry to the imperial castle. If the Prophet didn't endow them with special abilities, it means that they only need entry in the Imperial castle.'

The reason for the need to go in and out of the imperial castle was obvious. The internal structure.

The Vermont Imperial Castle was the largest external building in the world and had the most complex internal structure. Particularly secret areas such as the emperor's residence or underground passageways were unknown to most other powerful forces.

'Even the seven traitors who have been identified as low-level and mid-level operatives cannot know all those secret areas.'

It is only natural that the forces such as Runcandel, Zipfel, and Nameless could not find out even after planting numerous spies in the imperial family for a long time. In addition, the location of the secret areas of the imperial family changed irregularly.

So why them?

Jin made an assumption.

'The tunnel that the prophet made in the past Sota Desert...… What if she needs the help of an imperial servant to make it? She might need a rough idea of the internal structure of the palace, if not a very detailed one.'

Even with that assumption, there were still questions.

Dante has been out on missions alone in the contaminated area many times, so such a moment would be more appropriate if he was assassinated.

'I can gradually find out why she chose the imperial castle instead when he was on a solo mission.'

First, he needed to confirm what information they had provided and whether his assumptions were correct.

'Jin.'

'Finally, ask if any of the gathered subordinates have received chaos or other special abilities.'

Dante nodded.

"Final question. Among the subordinates gathered here, has anyone been bestowed with chaos or other special abilities?"

"No!"

Not a single person lied this time.

That meant even if they captured them immediately, there would be no other casualties.

'Detain those individuals.'

As Jin whispered, Dante revealed the anger he had been suppressing.

"Hairan!"

"Your orders, lord patriarch!"

"Capture Kima wrights, Julian wrights, Edmond Kell, Deva Roskela, Bernard Qian, Killane Knash, Ata Boin immediately."

Hairan's elite who attended the meeting arrested them before even 15 seconds had passed. 

The subordinates were shocked by the sudden turn of events.

They had been summoned out of nowhere and now they were being intimidated by these thugs.

Or some even thought that Dante had finally vented his vengeance for Ron and turned into a tyrant.

"Your Majesty, why are you doing this?"

"Your Majesty, why are you doing this to us?"

"I will tell you my truth so that other subordinates do not misunderstand. The person standing behind me is the princess of the Free Nation Tikan and a contractor of Azmil."

"Ah...!"

Everyone exclaimed. If the girl in disguise is Euria Alfrion, then the identity of the man who was exchanging whispers with the regent was obvious.

There was no reason to hide his identity anymore.

"We are from Vamel Alliance, Jin Runcandel. Our alliance informants have discovered that the imperial family has betrayed Zipfel and sided with the Garden of Swords. Therefore, it was urgently needed to find out if there were any people in the Empire who were in contact with the Garden of Swords."

The imprisoned traitors knelt before Dante. Dante immediately covered Euria's eyes as he drew his sword, and struck one of the men's necks.

Thick, pouring blood quickly stained the golden floor.

"Hee, hee."

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding. I didn't betray."

"Shut your mouth. The one who died painlessly earlier was just lucky. You guys are unlucky."

The traitors trembled and looked around. Not only Dante and Jin's party, but even the servants who had anger and hatred for the terrible overwork under the Regent were staring at them as if they were going to kill them.

Even if they didn't like Dante, it was true that all the servants gathered here were dedicating their lives for the empire.

Everyone felt a great sense of pride that the imperial capital was in such good condition in this chaotic era, and they thought there was no other way than Dante's way for empire.

But those traitors were trying to ruin it all.

"If you want to save yourself even a little bit of bad luck, it's best to answer my questions very truthfully in detail from now on."

As Dante gestured, the attendants quickly handled the corpses and wiped the blood. Euria, who opened her eyes again, saw that there were only six people left, and thought that Dante had unexpectedly brutal power.

"First of all, what was promised by the Garden of Swords?"

Jin had expected it to be eternal life, as foolish people like the Barton and Seygalga's elders had said in the past.

"... survival."

One of the traitors met Dante's eyes. He had the most calm eyes among the remaining six. He was determined that such a day could come someday.

"Survival?"

"Your Majesty...we have personally met with Madame Rosa. To be precise, it was a meeting through some kind of crystal ball, but we were able to see the power that Runcandel possesses through a conversation with her. She said she would destroy everything in the world except for Huphester."

"So, you betrayed the empire to go under Rosa's wing and live a petty life, is that it?"

"If you truly care about the Empire, you must surrender to Madame Rosa even now. I may be a traitor, but this is the only advice I can give you."

According to Euria, the traitors, including him, sincerely thought so. Not only the empire, but the whole world would be powerless against Rosa.

"I won't blame your weak choices. So you should accept the punishment that will come to you in the future."

"...You intend to annihilate our entire family."

"Everything in your family will be erased from this world. But if you confess the information you provided to Rosa, I will spare the innocent children and servants."

Euria showed a blue string, revealing that Dante's words were true. The traitor who was talking to Dante lowered his head.

"There is not much information that low-ranking subjects like us can know, Your Majesty. The information we provided to Rosa was the entire structure of the palace, as promised."

At that point, Jin recalled the Prophet's Tunnel once again.

"Did they explain what they would do with that information?"

"No, they did not."

It was the truth. As Jin expected, they had no information that could be passed on to Runecandel other than the rough structure of the palace.

In fact, Rosa didn't ask them for any other information.

"I'll keep my promise. Take them away."

 "Yes, sir!"

Watching the traitors being dragged away, all of the servants were wearing distorted faces. Their anger was directed at Rosa and the Garden of Swords, not at Dante.

Jin stepped forward.

"The prophet in the Garden of Swords has the ability to create special tunnels. It is highly likely that they asked traitors about the internal structure for the purpose of making it. Maybe they didn't just try to assassinate the regent, they might have tried to invade the imperial castle through the tunnel."

Therefore, their next task was to confirm whether tunnels had already been formed inside the palace.

Dante had already thought of a way to do that.

"We'll destroy the entire palace to find out. Since it's full of the symbols of the lost imperial family anyway, there's nothing to regret. We'll start immediately, so prepare yourselves."

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