Chapter 52

The lights in the city went out, and it became midnight. Recently, due to the increased activity of the "Reaper," the guard units constantly patrol the vicinity of the noble residences at night. Additionally, they often hire mercenary groups from the Magic Armorer's Guild to serve as guards and patrol the area.

However, this has no effect on Shu Aclight, the King of the Underworld.

(Is this place good enough?)

Shu, who had materialized as a spirit, hovered in the air and looked down at the capital, Drain, from a great height. With a map in hand, he used water magic to create a lens to see far into the distance.

(The first one)

He launched a magic projectile at the noble residence he saw, marking it. If this marker is detected, the coordinates can be pinpointed. With such strict security, Shu cannot easily carry out an assassination. Therefore, he marks the targets from a distance without being noticed and finishes them off with death magic.

(The second and third)

He marked one after another, locking onto a total of twelve noble residences. Using the perception of unaligned magic, he can identify the noble residences targeted this time. Based on this location information, he performs the magic coordinate input.

Shu's death magic is like controlling his own limbs. As long as he has the necessary information, he can use it freely, just like grabbing something with his hand or kicking a pebble on the road. He takes life just as easily.

(All twelve locations. All locked on. Activation...)

The power of magic he possesses is a capability that touches even concepts. By manipulating energy and taking everything away, he can transform the space into absolute zero in one strike. This grants a silent, eternal sleep.

(Die, *Frozen Breath of the Underworld*)

At that moment, the twelve noble residences froze. The air liquefied due to the freezing, causing a violent storm. This resulted in a strong wind that shattered windows in the capital, Drain.

Of course, the nobles of the Fourth Prince's faction, their families, servants, and hired mercenaries all died. By collecting the energy as magic power, Shu accumulated a large amount of magic power. For a magic creature, securing magic power is a matter of life and death, so it is convenient to be able to easily recover magic power. Above all, this is the best ability for an assassin.

(The next target is the Fourth Prince Medline)

Medline's information is already in his head. He knows that Medline is in the castle, and even which residential area he is in. He got the information from a black cat, so it is accurate.

The current massacre of the nobles was more of a slaughter than an assassination, but the assassination of the Fourth Prince Medline will be a proper assassination.

(The castle has strict security)

Observing with the water magic lens, Shu saw a large number of magic armors and guards around the castle. All the guards are on high alert for the "Reaper" and are likely constantly performing magic power detection. It is unclear whether Shu's magic power concealment can hide him. Moreover, even if he approaches from the air, a spirit-type magic creature will be spotted visually.

(Pushing through forcefully is impossible...)

No, it's not really impossible. Using death magic, he can break through. He can kill the approaching guards and mercenaries, and eliminate all the magic armors and servants. After all, Shu is a creature known as the King's Magic Creature, capable of destroying a country. Capturing the castle is easy.

However, if the Fourth Prince escapes while the guards, magic armors, and servants are used as shields, it would be meaningless. As a royal, Medline likely knows at least one escape route. If he escapes, Shu cannot track him. Although Shu's combat power is among the best in the world, he relies on organizations like the black cat for information. This would make things very complicated.

To avoid this, Shu decided to finish the job as quickly as possible. By killing the nobles of the Fourth Prince's faction all at once and then immediately killing Medline, he can prevent the Fourth Prince from feeling threatened and fleeing.

Assassination is a very difficult task, especially when it comes to assassinating a person of power.

(Well, there is a way...)

There is no need to find Medline and kill him. It's a matter of changing the approach.

(Kill him first, then find him. *Frozen Breath of the Underworld*)

The residential area where the Fourth Prince Medline's bedroom is located is fixed. Therefore, freezing that area is enough. After freezing it, he can display the corpse in an appropriate place.

The life and death of a royal has significant political implications. For example, the situation is completely different if the Fourth Prince is killed versus if he dies of illness. If he dies of illness, he will be mourned at least on the surface, and the death will be handled appropriately. Other royals will give appropriate speeches to smooth things over.

However, if it is clear that he was killed, the royal family's cohesion will decrease. The people will feel uneasy and harbor strong distrust towards the royal family, wondering if it is safe to follow this royal family.

The royal family is a symbol of the nation and should never be killed. The best situation for the revolutionary army is for it to be clear that he was killed. The order to the "Reaper" was to make it clear that Medline was killed. To fulfill this request, Shu must display the prince's corpse in a visible location.

(...It's frozen)

The residential area of the Fourth Prince Medline has met its eternal death with the *Frozen Breath of the Underworld*. As a spirit-type magic creature, Shu does not feel the cold or die in such an extremely cold environment. This time, he cooled the area to absolute zero, causing the air to liquefy and the wind to blow in.

Riding the storm, Shu headed towards Medline's residential area. Entering through the wall, he found the servants turned into ice statues and shattered window glass scattered on the floor. The floor was filled with liquefied air, which was evaporating and releasing white vapor. As the vision gradually turned white, he had to find Medline quickly.

(The bedroom is... this way, right?)

Shu disappeared through the wall in a semi-transparent form.

◆◆◆

The night when a sudden storm hit the capital passed, and morning came. The residents and servants of the nobles were annoyed by the broken glass and flying objects, but such feelings were quickly forgotten.

"Kyaahhhhhh!"

A scream echoed in the first-class residential area. Shu and Ailis, who were sleeping at the inn, woke up.

"Uu~... What is it...?"

"It seems the corpse we displayed has been found."

Shu stretched and got up. Ailis, on the other hand, rubbed her eyes and wriggled on the bed.

"Is the corpse the Fourth Prince?"

"Yes. I completely froze him and then recovered the body. I displayed it in the square. The prince's clothes and accessories are still on, so there's no way to mistake him. This completes the request. We can live comfortably for a while."

"Indeed."

"The nobles who were suppressing the revolutionary army have collapsed. Even if they are the Fourth Prince's faction, losing twelve noble families will make it difficult for the Eldorado Kingdom to maintain the country."

Nobles play a part in the national government. Even if they are from an opposing faction, losing nobles is painful. Moreover, when the entire residence is destroyed, including successors and blood relatives, as Shu did, it is very problematic because the work the noble was responsible for will be left undone.

Furthermore, Shu has already killed a large number of nobles on the revolutionary army's request. The work that no one can take over is being handled by the nobles who support the revolutionary army, specifically the Bold Duke, the grandfather of Rainvald, who supports the revolutionary army. The longer time passes, the more advantageous it becomes for the revolutionary army.

"The revolutionary army will gain more power, both externally and internally."

"Then, will it turn into a full-scale civil war?"

"It won't turn into a civil war. If the revolutionary army gets serious, the capital can be captured in a day. The problem will arise if the imperial army intervenes afterward. The Great Empire has a military force that dwarfs the Eldorado Kingdom. No matter how much the revolutionary army has grown, it will be crushed in no time."

"Ah, then it's a bad situation."

"It's not really our problem, though."

Hearing this, Ailis thought it made sense. Since they are not citizens of the Eldorado Kingdom, the intervention of the Great Empire is just a matter of others. There might be some inconvenience, but there will be no significant damage.

"Maybe we'll take a request to deal with the Great Empire's army if it comes, but I don't plan to move unless there's a request."

"What if we run out of money?"

"It won't run out."

"Why not?"

"The revolutionary army has no choice but to rely on me. To crush the Great Empire's army, they need my power. It's almost certain that a request will come. I'll just take advantage of the situation."

In the first place, there is a reason why Shu refused requests from the Eldorado Kingdom and only accepted requests from the revolutionary army. It is to create a rivalry between the two forces and increase the number of requests. The revolutionary army has already tasted the power of the "Reaper" and cannot let go. The simultaneous assassination of nobles and royals was a perfect performance. If a powerful enemy like the Great Empire's army comes, they will definitely request his help. In other words, money will come in.

Assassination is an unstable profession. If the work is unstable, it is a strategy to create chaos in the world to ensure a steady flow of work. The Eldorado Kingdom, which will be affected by this strategy, will not be able to handle it.

"You are quite ruthless, Shu."

"I am a magic creature. I can't be bound by human standards."

"You are quite selfish, living among humans. But it's fine, I guess."

"You are different. I will protect you properly. Well, you are an immortal magic armor user, so you won't die anyway."

"Saying that is a bit too much."

Although it is easy to forget, Ailis's magic armor grants her the strongest power, which is immortality. As long as her magic power does not run out, she will never die or age. Ailis, who possesses A-rank magic power, is unlikely to die.

However, Shu has no intention of letting Ailis be hurt.

(A awakened magic armor user like Saint Knight Celstar might be able to invalidate Ailis's immortality. I won't be careless.)

For now, Shu went back to sleep while listening to the commotion outside.