The white lights that shined in their eyes slowly disappeared.

“They were just fakes.”

Beacrox stoically mumbled as he wiped the blood off his greatsword.

“That’s how illusions are.”
“Father.”

Beacrox turned to see his father Ron standing there. However, Ron was busy looking, not at Beacrox, but at the disappearing white light.

The orb made from the power covering the maze ceiling that Elisneh the First had sent flying could not get past Raon and the Elementals’ barriers in the end.

Craaaack-

Of course, Raon’s shield was destroyed as well. They were barely able to block the attack thanks to layer after layer of barriers being cast by the Elementals.

“Nothing is left in the end.”

The white orb disappeared with a loud bang, but it did not affect anything around it.

It meant that illusions held no material form in the end.
Although it might be able to trick people’s minds, something fake would always be fake.
It could not leave any traces in the world.

Ron tightened his grip as he continued to speak.

“But my strength is not an illusion.”
“Ugh! Ugh!”

He could feel the neck he was choking. He could feel her shaking as she could not breathe.

“…You… You bastard…! Y, you dare!”

Elisneh barely managed to speak, however, Ron did not even glance at her.
Beacrox slowly approached her instead.

“Father, should I take care of the rest?”

Flinch.

Elisneh’s body started to shake.
Beacrox who had placed his greatsword on his back and had a thin knife in his hand stoically stared at her before looking away.
Elisneh felt as if the emotionless eyes of the man in front of her wearing a chef’s outfit were looking at her as if she was some ingredient to prepare.

Stomp, stomp.

Beacrox continued to walk toward her.
He had simply asked Ron if he should clean the surroundings up before they escaped from the maze.

However, Elisneh thought he was an assassin who was going to kill her.
She could not move her body.
Her hands had been tied long ago and her neck was in Ron’s hand.
Her feet thankfully touched the ground, but that was it.

Stomp, stomp.

Beacrox slowly came closer.
It was at that moment.

From the spot where all the white lights had disappeared…
Someone was walking out of that area.

“Young master-nim.”

A gentle voice that did not suit an assassin came out of Ron’s mouth.
Elisneh had a burning gaze as she glared at Cale Henituse who was walking toward her.

“You-”
“Ron, let go.”

Elisneh who was desperately trying to speak immediately felt her neck feel cool.
She looked to the side.
The assassin bastard had released her without any opposition at Cale Henituse’s order.

‘Why?’

It happened as she had that thought.

“Ugh!”

She felt black threads surrounding her body.

Boom!

Her body fell to the ground.

‘…Necromancer.’

The black threads that came out of Mary’s hand bound her limbs.

“Why?!”

Elisneh looked toward her and continued to ask.

“Why do you help Cale Henituse when you have the darkness attribute? No, why are you getting in our way?! It’s the same with the Dark Elves! I can’t understand this at all! Why?! Why are you doing this?!”

The black-robed individual tilted her head to the side in confusion.
She then spoke in a monotone voice.

“You must not listen to nonsense. I ignore all nonsense.”
“W, what?”

It happened as Elisneh looked toward Mary in disbelief.

“Young master-nim, here you go.”

Ron handed the black tree branch staff to Cale.
Cale crouched down and made eye contact with Elisneh.

“What the hell are you doing with the Demonic race?”

Flinch.

Elisneh’s pupils were visibly shaking.

“You, you-, even though you know-”

Her eyes were full of astonishment as she looked at Cale. She could see a twisted smile forming on Cale’s face.

“Elisneh. What is it that you know?”

He whispered as if he was the devil.

“I’ll let you live if you tell me. I’ll let you live a peaceful life.”
“…I cannot tell you.”

Cale’s eyes clouded over. Elisneh was shaking.
She was not shaking because of pain nor was she acting.
She was shaking in fear.
She was afraid of something else when she was captured by the enemies right now.

“Why? Why do you reject my offer?”

Cale tilted his head to the side in confusion with an innocent expression on his face.
Elisneh shouted in anger after seeing his response.

“You crazy bastard! Do you think I’ll tell you that?! If I tell you- if I tell you-!”

She then stopped as if realizing that she made a mistake. Cale whispered to her at that moment.

“What’s wrong? Do you have a curse or something that will kill you if you say anything? Maybe your body will blow up the moment you say something?”
“……!”

Elisneh closed her mouth shut.
That was enough for Cale.

He got up and opened his mouth to speak.

“Treat her properly like the important person she is.”
“…You-”

Elisneh was glaring at him while grinding her teeth, but Cale just honestly shared his thoughts.

“Thanks for the information. Silence is information as well. Elisneh.”

Pat.

Cale put his hand on her shoulder.
Elisneh could see the assassin’s cold gaze and the assassin’s son touching the thin knife from over Cale’s shoulder. She could also see the black robe.
She heard Cale’s voice at that moment.

“You’ll lose everything, but isn’t it more important to stay alive? Giving me information will be a good method.”

Cale was serious.
He was planning on letting Elisneh live if she managed to give him information in ways that wouldn’t kill her.
Of course, she would lose everything and he would take away her powers so that she could not cause any trouble in the future, but…

Elisneh did not believe his honesty.

“Do you think I would trust your lies?!”

It was because the expressions on the faces of the three people behind Cale were vicious.
However, there was something she did not know.

Ron was just stoic while Beacrox was annoyingly touching the knife he got from the Molden palace kitchen because it was not sharpened properly.
As for Mary, she just came closer to hear what Cale had to say without thinking about anything.

“…But it’s not a lie.”

Cale shook his head at Elisneh who didn’t understand him and casually commented.

“How do I remove the illusion from the palace?”

He was asking casually, but Cale was quite rushed right now.
He needed to hurry over to Bud.

“Do you think I would tell you that?!”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

‘What?’

Elisneh flinched at Cale’s calmness and her eyes opened wide.

“That palace is not important. Isn’t that right, ma’am?”
“Of course.”

Elisneh could see Jopis walking toward her. She had placed the hairpin back in her hair which looked perfect as if she had not been on the battlefield this whole time.

“…You-”

Elisneh subconsciously opened her mouth to speak but Jopis did not pay her any attention.
Cale started to speak instead.

“Let’s head up. I’m sure a lot of people have gathered already.”

The hole in the ceiling Raon created…
There were people looking into the hole.

There were bound to be people who ran over to the knights’ training ground after hearing the explosions.

– I am lifting us with flight magic!

It was time to leave the maze now.
Cale’s body slowly floated up and headed toward the sunlight shining into the maze.

‘…Huh?’

However, their speed slowly increased.

– Human, I will make it quick because we are in a hurry!

‘No, there’s no need to do that!’

Cale wanted to say something to Raon but his body shot up quickly as if it was an arrow.

“Aaaaaaaaah! Dodge it!”
“Everybody, maintain your formation!”

He could hear people looking into the hole dodging in shock as they got closer.
He also felt as if the hole was larger than he had expected. Raon seemed to have made a large hole.

‘Damn it.’

As Cale started to frown…

– Human! Are you very worried about the Mercenary King? I’ll go even faster!

‘No. That’s not it!’

Raon had misinterpreted Cale’s expression and Cale could not do anything as his body shot out of the hole like a rocket.
He closed his eyes because he was flying too quickly and only opened them back once he stopped moving.

“Phew.”

He could not help but sigh.
He was floating in the air above the knight’s training ground.
He was floating about 3 meters above ground, so it was not very high.
That was why he had a clear view of the ground.

“The leader of the rebels!”
“Prepare the arrows!”

The knights who were looking into the hole were urgently preparing to fight against Cale as more knights and soldiers were running over.
That was not all.

“…Is it a highest-grade mage?”
“Those are some shocking flight abilities. Is it really…a revolt?!”
“Her majesty was defeated?”

There were also shocked nobles and palace administrators nearby the training ground.
They had come over because they were curious about the hole but were slowly retreating as they were afraid of the knights trying to control the crowd as well as Cale.

“Huuuuuu. I’m busy enough as is.”

Cale let out a sigh.

“Come down to the ground right now! Get down here immediately if you don’t want to be pierced to death by arrows.”

It happened as one of the knights shouted as the representative.

Boooooooom-!

Everybody got shocked and turned toward the source of the noise.
A black bone hand appeared from the hole and grabbed the ground.
The hand seemed to be as big as an average adult.

“Ahhh! It’s a monster!”
“Do not fear! Remember the Molden Kingdom’s Knight’s Creed!”

Fear and anxiety turned the area into chaos again.

– Human! I sent them up as well!

However, everybody in that chaotic training ground stopped moving after seeing the people on the monster’s other hand and shoulder.
They could not hide their shock.

“…Your majesty!”
“Princess Jopis!”
“There are other members of the royal family as well!”

People of the Molden royal family had appeared.
Cale slowly headed down.
He walked next to the monster. It was a skeleton monster under Mary’s control.

Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-!

The knights pulled their weapons out toward the monster and shouted.

“Your majesty! We will save you!”
“You evil bastards, release her majesty right now!”

Elisneh did not look good tied up with the black threads, forcing the knights and the people of the palace to be unable to hide their anger.

“Haha.”

Cale could see a laughing Elisneh.
Her laughter seemed to be saying, ‘take a look at this, I will not break the illusion on the palace.’
It was obvious that she was sneering at Cale.
However, Elisneh’s expression instantly turned somber and she started to shout.

“I am fine so everybody step back! These people are dangerous and evil!”
“Your majesty!”
“Oh, your majesty!”

Her demeanor made everyone sad and made them turn their anger toward someone else instead of Cale.

Their anger was now directed at Jopis who was stepping out of the hole while grabbing onto Cale’s hand.

One of the nobles in the back started to shout.

“Former Princess Jopis! How can you do this? A revolt?! Have you forgotten her majesty’s benevolence to let you live?!”
“Shut up!”

The noble subconsciously flinched and his body started to shake.

“…Why?”

The person who shouted at him was the young boy from the royal family.
The young boy who used to follow Elisneh shouted in a loud voice.

“Do you know what that evil Queen did while tricking us?!”

The boy was crying. His hands were clenched and shaking as he looked at his older brother who was poisoned by dead mana.

‘For her majesty to have played a part in creating that terrible place……!’

The boy pounded his chest as he could not hide his anger and regret.

“That queen, underground-!”
“That’s enough.”

The young boy turned toward Jopis who cut him off.
He subconsciously stopped talking after seeing that Jopis’s gaze was not shaking at all.

“Pfft.”

It was at that moment. The young boy heard someone sneering at him.
He turned his head to see that it was Elisneh.

“How dare you laugh after everything you did-”
“Elisneh.”

The young boy tried to say more before stopping after seeing Jopis approach Elisneh.
Jopis looked down at Elisneh.

“Jopis. Let me tell you something. I will not remove the illusion on the palace even if I die. That is why the other members of the royal family and the nobles will not trust you. They will always think that you are the evil one. Kekeke.”
“I was relieved.”
“…What?”
“I was relieved that you only cast an illusion inside the palace.”
“Just what-?”

Elisneh looked confused.
But it really was a relief for Jopis.

Elisneh could see the smile on Jopis’s face.
Jopis smiled elegantly and reached her hand out.

There was a small orb on her hand that came out of her pocket.
Elisneh’s pupils started to shake as she saw what it was.

“…You-”
“Yes. This is a video recording device.”

Cale had given it to Jopis who would not be able to participate in the battle.
It recorded everything that had happened.

“Elisneh. Let me tell you something.”

Jopis elegantly whispered in her ear.

“I will keep you alive for now because we need information from you. But you need to face reality.”
“…What?”

Elisneh sounded worried as she asked back, but Jopis did not respond to her.

“You won’t remove the illusion over the palace?”

Smile.

Jopis started to smile.

The illusion over the palace?
It didn’t matter if it was not removed.
Jopis thought about the nobles and citizens outside the palace who were currently headed to the palace.

“Who cares about that fake illusion?”

Jopis threw the video recording device into the air.
That video recording device instantly shot up.

– I’ll do it!

Raon sent the video recording device into the air.
He then turned it on.

“…Perhaps?!”

Elisneh looked toward Jopis in shock.
Jopis calmly started to speak.

“It’s time for the illusion to break.”

Ooooooooooong-

A large screen appeared in the air starting from the video recording device.
A voice could be heard as well.

– You guys are my hostages.

It was Elisneh’s voice.

The nobles running toward the palace…
And the numerous citizens as well…
All of them looked toward the recording.

Many scenes appeared and they heard Elisneh’s voice.

– You are also potential future enemies who may threaten my position. If you’re going to die, shouldn’t I be the one to kill you?

Her voice echoed in the citizens’ ears.

– Can you hear the knights approaching us? There should be at least 300 of them.
– Correct. I can kill them whenever I please.
– Jopis, can you hear me? There are other members of the royal family who will jump into that river as soon as I give the order. Ah, should I make the servants and maids jump in as well?

The citizens heard each and everything Elisneh had said.
Elisneh’s pupils started to shake while Jopis started to speak to her in a calm voice.

“Elisneh. The palace is just a place for work. The people outside the palace who are watching this recording right now and realized the truth are the Molden Kingdom’s foundation.”

And those people would realize the truth about Elisneh and Jopis.
She whispered in Elisneh’s ear.

The dead mana that was created by killing numerous people…
And the things she had done while tricking the citizens…
The things she had done as the White Star’s subordinate…

“Your position that is filled with evil deeds… I will clean it up and take it for myself.”

* * *

As everyone was blankly staring at the recording…
Cale stealthily approached Jopis.

“Then I will be on my way now.”

Cale grabbed the hand in front of him.

“Commander-nim, I heard about your situation. I will take care of things here with the others.”

Jopis was calm but honest.

“Thank you very much.”

Cale smiled and let go of Jopis’s hand.
He then started to speak to the invisible Raon.

“Raon.”

The recording was set to repeat, so Raon didn’t need to control it anymore. The 100 or so mercenaries from the Mercenaries Guild would soon arrive as well, so Jopis, the Elves, and the Dark Elves were enough to take care of things here.
Most importantly, Jopis was talented enough to take care of things other than the battle.

“Let’s hurry.”

They didn’t have time to pay attention to the aftermath in the Molden Kingdom.
They needed to quickly head to Bud.
It had only been about twenty minutes since they received Bud’s call, but he had a bad feeling.

Paaaaat!

Cale and some others quickly got swept up in the light from the teleportation magic circle and disappeared.

* * *

“Duke-nim.”
“Yes.”
“Cale Henituse has come.”

The mountain up north covered in white snow…
The young boy sitting there smiled after hearing his subordinate’s report.
Sharp fangs became visible as the pale young boy started to smile.

Crack.

The black heart in the young boy’s hand turned to dust in his grip.

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