“What? Don’t make me laugh. As if you could dare to do such a thing-”

Kasha’s eyes glittered coldly in the darkness, as if mocking Nigel’s sneer.

“I… I’m the one who broke the seal on this Demon Stone. I even devised a way to separate the curse with my own hands. Who do you think knows more about the Demon Stone between the two of us? Are you really sure I can’t break this Demon Stone?”

Upon hearing her words, Nigel’s face instantly turned grim. He muttered curses under his breath, then suddenly roughly opened a glass case and took out the sword displayed inside, swinging it threateningly.

“If you even put a single scratch on the Demon Stone… you’re dead. Kasha Lyuschino.”

The sword Nigel pulled out exuded a sharp aura that was hard to believe it had been a displayed item.

However, Kasha still didn’t let go of the jewel box and folding fan in her hands, nor did she back down.

It was because she had already heard footsteps running down the corridor.

The sound of blades clashing and shouts and screams could also be heard from very close by.

Nigel seemed to have heard the sound as well, as his expression wavered. But he seemed to have made up his mind to deal with Kasha in front of him first.

“I am the master of this empire. What will you do by rebelling against me? Are you going to commit treason? Put that down right now. That Demon Stone is mine. It’s mine!”

The anxiety of worrying that Kasha might damage the Demon Stone was evident in his urgent tone.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even if that Demon Stone disappeared, would the noble bastards who bowed their heads to Nigel’s words continue to defer to him? What about the ethnic groups in the border regions and the forces of neighboring countries that he had suppressed with the power of the Demon Stone?

What had he achieved as the crown prince that he had accomplished on his own? Even if the Demon Stone disappeared, could he really inherit the throne without any issues?

He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if the Demon Stone got even slightly cracked. He had enshrined it in the glass case of this back room so that not a single speck of dust would land on it, fearing such a thing might happen.

Amidst the burning impatience, he shouted at Kasha.

“Shit! I’ll give you whatever you want, so hand that over right now! If not… I’ll kill you right here on the spot! You think I can’t do it? Huh?”

In the midst of this, his eyes were bloodshot from the lust that had started to hit him again, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

Kasha, who had been looking at it in disgust, suddenly brought the broken ring of the folding fan she was holding in her right hand to the Demon Stone, as if to show it off.

Although it was just a small ornamental ring, the sharpness of the broken edge would be enough to scratch the surface of the Demon Stone.

The sharp edge of the metal ring stained with the blood of an unknown victim emitted an ominous light.

And the moment he saw it, Nigel completely lost his mind.

“No, stop! You crazy bitch! You think you’ll be safe after doing that?”

However, Nigel’s threat didn’t reach Kasha at all.

As the crown prince of the empire, the most he could do to Kasha was probably to sentence her to beheading. And even before that sentence could be carried out, Kasha would have to end her life, bound by her promise to the Demon King Gilrod.

So Kasha just twisted her pink lips into a smile. Simply because his words were genuinely ridiculous to her.

And seeing that, Nigel finally exploded.

He spat out vulgar curses and swung his sword wildly. The sword, swung recklessly, swayed unsteadily in the air, tracing an unstable trajectory.

Nigel had lived the past year relying on the fame and charm provided by the Demon Stone.

During that time, he didn’t bother to acquire any skills or knowledge necessary to maintain his position as the crown prince. Be it political science, social skills, or swordsmanship.

The sword he had properly held for the first time in over a year could not wield power in his hands.

The tip of the sword, which had been wandering unsteadily, got tangled in the fringed golden tassels of the tapestry depicting the achievements of the imperial family. Of all the tapestries, it had to be the one depicting the achievements of his father, Emperor Ramon.

The sword he had been wielding wildly to untangle the golden tassels shredded his father’s face drawn on the tapestry.

“Aaargh!”

Kasha looked down at his struggling face coldly. As if looking at a foolish beast caught in a trap, flailing and getting dragged deeper into the mire.

He finally cut through all the tassels tangled on the sword as he raged like a beast. He pointed the angry tip of the sword at Kasha, panting heavily.

“You… devilish wench!”

Kasha quickly dodged, but the sharp blade made the nape of her neck feel chilly for a moment. At the same time, almost a span of her hair was cut off and scattered in the air.

That’s when it happened.

Bang.

“Kasha!”

Through the door that was roughly opened as if kicked from the outside, a man in a Holy Knights’ uniform covered in blood rushed in.

“Leon!”

Kasha blurted out his name without a moment to spare.

The moment their gazes collided in midair, it was as if time had stopped.

Leon’s eyes were red, probably from the blood flowing from a wound on his head. The moment he saw her, his face, which had been tense from the battle, collapsed with relief.

She could tell the moment she faced him.

How painful a time he must have endured to return here. Not being able to breathe or swallow water comfortably.

It was Kasha herself who had unknowingly sent this responsible man to hell.

However, despite that, there was not a single shred of resentment in his eyes as he looked at her.

The moment he opened his mouth to say something with a face that seemed to have turned pale, six escort knights rushed in behind him, shouting.

Leon seemed to have fought through them to break through and jumped into the bedroom for now.

Realizing that the crown prince was glaring at them with a blue blade, the knights attacked Leon even more desperately.

“I know you are not guilty, which is why I spared your lives, but if you follow me here, I have no choice.”

Leon said those words and used tremendous force to simultaneously parry the swords of two or three men, sending them flying beyond the corridor.

Meanwhile, Kasha threatened to scratch the Demon Stone with the fan ring whenever Nigel tried to attack, buying time. Perhaps feeling burdened by Leon’s presence behind him, Nigel couldn’t recklessly attack like before.

Clang! Clang! Aargh! Ah, ah… spare me…!

It took barely 20 seconds for the six elite knights of the Imperial Knights to be sprawled by the door. Leon strode among the knights, wielding his sword in a trance-like state.

There was not a moment’s hesitation or a hair’s breadth of error in the sword he swung. It was an overwhelming force that no one could block.

At one point, an opponent’s sword even strongly slashed his right arm, but he didn’t even flinch. He switched the sword to his left hand and launched a counterattack on the opponent.

Leon, who pulled out his sword from the body of the last fallen knight, casually wiped the blood on his uniform. The pristine white uniform was already soaked in blood to the point where its original color was unrecognizable. It was as if a fallen angel had manifested on earth.

Nigel trembled as he looked at him.

“You, you…! You really committed treason, you…!”

“Well. Whether this will be treason or conversely a process of arresting a traitor remains to be seen.”

Disgust dripped from Leon’s eyes as he stared at Nigel.

“I’m ashamed to think that I once truly considered you my brother, Nigel.”

“Brother? Ha!”

Nigel ground his teeth at him.

“You’re just bugs who covet my position, lighting up your eyes at every opportunity!”

“I think I’ve heard enough of your nonsense now.”

Leon stopped talking and walked over, step by step.

“Stay away! Don’t come near me! It’s treason! Treason! Arrest this man! Arrest… Ugh!”

Nigel couldn’t even finish his words and dropped his sword trembling, then scrambled to pick it up.

Leon looked down at him pathetically, then switched his sword back to his injured right hand. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed Nigel’s hair with his left hand and brought the blood-soaked sword to his neck.

Startled by the blade digging mercilessly into his flesh, Nigel flailed his limbs and foamed at the mouth.

“I want to kill you right now… but taking your life isn’t my decision to make.”

Leon said that while looking straight at Kasha.

“Leon, you…! How dare you, to me who will become the emperor! You… you’re sentenced to death now! Death penalty for treason!”

But Leon only smirked coldly, tightening his grip on Nigel’s hair.

“Before you talk about the death penalty with that mouth, I wonder if your head will fall off first, Nigel?”

“How dare you, my name…! Kn- Knights Commander! Guards!”

Nigel shouted toward the outside with all his might, but the footsteps he expected did not come. Only the sound of weapons clashing and shouts from outside the building became more distinct.

“Leon.”

Only then did Kasha call his name.

Seeing Kasha’s unharmed face and cut hair, Leon’s face contorted in pain for a moment.

Kasha pointed to the jewel box in her hand with a forced smile.

“Thank… you.”

For not being late, as always. For believing in me.

Leon, who instantly noticed that the Demon Stone was among the gems embedded in the jewel box, showed relief on his blood-stained face. He barely managed to form something resembling a smile on his still-pained face.

“Whatever it is, if it’s your will.”

Until the deadline set by the Demon King Gilrod, there were barely ten hours left now.

‘But I… I don’t regret anything. You too, right?’

Kasha asked with her eyes, and she received the answer from his gaze, which had darkened to a deep violet like the dawn sky.

Then Nigel started to rage again.

“You bastards, you think you’ll survive after doing this? Daring to plot treason in the middle of the imperial palace?”

Hearing those words, Leon smirked faintly, then suddenly dragged Nigel by his hair and stepped out of the room.

“Argh! It hurts! Let go, you traitorous bastard! Guards! Knights Commander!”

Leon dragged him out, ignoring his curses, and stood in front of the spacious window of the bedroom.

“Yes. Why don’t you directly witness the result of that treason.”

Leon raised the sword he was holding and easily pushed open the window.

Creak.

The moment the window opened, Nigel’s eyes widened as if they would pop out at the sight unfolding before him.

“What is… this?”