At the sudden appearance of demons, the imperial palace banquet hall instantly turned into pandemonium.

The attendees tried to evacuate, but the doors enchanted with black magic refused to open easily.

Numerous nobles were injured and killed. The only fortunate things were the fact that knights and priests had been deployed in advance and that the skills of the military academy graduates participating in this banquet were exceptionally strong.

Then, the forms of the remaining demons distorted and turned into black smoke.

They converged together, forming a human shape, and soon became the figure of Chad.

“Hello, everyone.”

Chad waved his hand with a seductive smile.

Nobles who immediately recognized his identity from his red hair crawled on the floor with pale faces.

“Oh my god, it’s the Red Eagle Priest!”

“Aaah, spare me!”

Chad looked down at the scene and shrugged as if asking what was so surprising.

“You didn’t expect me to show up?”

The crowd fell silent for a moment. Chad laughed as if dumbfounded.

“Even in fairy tales, an uninvited witch appears at the end of a ball. Did none of you read books? Isn’t that right, Father?”

Chad turned around and stared at the podium. It was truly pitiful to see the emperor trembling behind the knight commander.

“You know, Father? What the witch in the story does when she appears at the ball.”

“You bastard! How dare you call someone your father!”

“Is an abandoned son not a son? Well, fine. I will curse the empire to destruction like the witch in the fairy tale, Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“You should have invited me too. Thinking about how others were dancing in such a bright and pleasant place while I was trapped in a dark and damp underground makes me feel left out.”

Then Chad began to chant a spell.

The blood covering the floor squirmed and formed long, snake-like strands. It soon started to draw a black magic circle on the vast banquet hall floor.

“Hmm? There’s not enough blood.”

Chad looked around at the nobles hiding in the corner and picked a woman.

As he flicked his finger, she collapsed to the floor, vomiting blood without a chance to scream.

Then her spouse shouted, “I won’t let you get away with this, black magician!” and charged at Chad. At the same time, another noble who was waiting for an opportunity swung his sword at Chad.

Poof.

Two sharp swords pierced straight through Chad’s chest.

“Is, is he dead?”

“Di, did we win?”

“The priest is dead!”

People who witnessed the scene cheered with flushed faces.

But something was strange. While Chad, whose torso was pierced, remained calm, the faces of the nobles who stabbed him began to distort.

Chad observed their expressions with interest.

“You fools. Does this look like my real body to you?”

Black tentacles burst out of Chad’s body, coiled around the necks of the two nobles, and snapped them.

Their bodies collapsed to the floor like puppets with cut strings. The swords that had penetrated Chad’s body also rapidly corroded and turned to ashes, scattering in the wind.

People were so shocked by the horrific sight that they couldn’t even scream properly.

Bang!

With a blue flash, the closed door was sliced away, and Matian appeared.

“Stop right there, Chad.”

“A truly heroic entrance, Matian. It seems like you calculated the right moment to come out while watching people die.”

“Cut the nonsense and surrender.”

Matian said while cutting down approaching demons without even looking at them.

“Ha. Still hogging all the spotlight for yourself, you insufferable bastard.”

Chad rolled his eyes and raised one corner of his mouth.

He’s alive! In the meantime, the nobles cheered and rushed toward the exit Matian had opened.

Matian pushed through the crowd and approached Chad.

“You came alone without any troops? Do I still look easy to you?”

Matian didn’t answer Chad’s question. He focused on making sure the imperial couple had escaped safely while keeping his guard up against Chad.

“Underestimating me because you were the student council president?”

“……”

“Fine, go ahead and try. Just don’t regret it.”

With those final words, Chad’s body crumbled, wriggled like dough, and turned into a black mass.

It transformed back into four demons and charged at Matian.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

Matian turned around while cutting down the demons. He was worried about Rukna, who had run to the back garden.

Around that time, Rukna encountered Chad in the back garden.

He had casually escaped from the underground prison while carrying the princess in his arms. Octopus-like tentacles extending from his back were coiled around unconscious knights and priests.

As soon as the tentacles saw Rukna, they slammed the bodies they were holding onto the ground and disappeared as if being sucked into his body.

But the fishy and nauseating smell emanating from him persisted.

“Haha, who do we have here?”

Chad grinned broadly at the female Rukna.

Rukna gulped and checked on the princess first.

Blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth. Was she dead? It seemed Chad had used the princess as a sacrifice to summon demons to the palace.

“I’m disappointed, Ruka. Even you ignore my greeting despite having such a pretty appearance. I was already feeling slighted after being disregarded by that other guy.”

Chad flicked his finger. The tentacles extending from his back tried to coil around Rukna’s body and pull her to him, but they were repelled by the holy power enveloping her and failed to exert force.

“Oh, what’s this?”

Chad carelessly tossed the princess’s body he was holding onto the grass as if discarding trash, then quickly approached Rukna.

“Do you have some great holy relic? Or……”

Chad easily caught up to Rukna, who was stepping back. And without permission, he snatched her wrist.

It felt completely different from when Matian touched her.

Matian always controlled his grip strength appropriately, but Chad, who was clearly weaker than him, gripped so hard that her wrist nearly broke, causing groans to escape.

“This holy power, is it yours? The amount is enormous.”

“Ugh, let, go!”

Rukna swung her foot toward his shin. In the past, he would have rolled on the floor after being hit, but he seemed to have been training diligently and skillfully dodged her attack.

“You’ve become more interesting while I wasn’t looking, Ruka. I’m so happy.”

Seductive eyes curved beautifully into a smile.

It was a face that could enchant any woman, but Rukna remained indifferent. That’s why it was even more enticing, but she didn’t seem to know that.

“I said let go!”

Rukna tried to protect her body by emitting holy power.

As her powerful holy power touched him, Chad’s skin burned as if scorched, but he also used black magic to protect his body from the holy power.

Their energies clashed. But the one whose mind crumbled first was Rukna. The enormous black magic force induced her to recall her childhood memories of being trapped in a small box.

She couldn’t breathe, and her hands trembled. If there was someone she wanted to protect, Rukna might have desperately overcome this situation.

However, while claiming her life was precious, she neglected herself and couldn’t easily shake off the fear.

“Haa. You’re so pretty, Ruka.”

Chad exclaimed while staring at the terrified Rukna.

“I want to preserve you as you are now. I wonder if that insufferable Matian has seen this side of you.”

Shrouded in black magic, he looked dark, damp, and hungry. Rukna pushed him away with trembling lips, barely able to breathe.

“Get, away.”

“I’m the only one, right? Huh? Quickly answer that I’m the only one you fear, Ruka.”

He pulled the wrist of Rukna he was holding and embraced her. And soon his lips collided with hers.

Chad, with crazed eyes, forgot the pain of his skin burning from the holy power and indulged in her.

Rukna bit into that filthy flesh with all her might to resist.

“Ugh!”

Chad stuck out his bleeding tongue and expressed agony.

He chanted a short spell, and black smoke rose from the princess’s body lying on the ground, coiled around his tongue, and disappeared.

It was black magic that healed his wounds by sacrificing the princess’s life force.

Chad stuck his tongue out at Rukna as if showing off and tilted his head.

“I’m pretty good at it, but you didn’t like it? I can make you feel much better than that impotent Matian.”

“Shut up, you dirty bastard.”

Rukna emitted all the power she could muster.

“Damn, my hand!”

Chad quickly removed his hand that was holding Rukna as if burned and shook it vigorously.

Should I kill him now? Murderous eyes fell on Rukna, then quickly transformed into a smile.

“This makes me like you even more, Ruka. To the point that I want to skin you and carry you around if you die.”

“You think I’ll die obediently?”

“Unfortunately, that’s been your fate since you were chosen as the sacrifice to taint the holy sword.”

Chad whistled, and black magicians in red cloaks appeared behind him as if they had been waiting.

Their number seemed to easily exceed twenty.

The palace security was definitely strict, so where had all these people been hiding? Rukna checked their shoes and clothing hems visible under the cloaks.

Luxurious fabrics and bejeweled shoes. At least half of them must be nobles who were enjoying the banquet.

‘Seeing them hiding their identities and entering the banquet hall, Chad’s escape wasn’t a coincidence but already planned.’

Then there was a bursting sound from somewhere.

Demons appearing all over the palace randomly destroyed the castle walls and buildings and devoured humans, while the surviving priests and soldiers were sweating profusely to subdue them.

“Today’s goal is to make my existence known to this empire.”

Chad hinted that he had deliberately allowed himself to be captured and imprisoned in the palace.

“I wanted to scare the heartless emperor who abandons even his own child for his sake. It was a pretty successful declaration of war.”

However, he expressed regret that the skills of the imperial knights were better than expected.

Chad tried to leave but then said “oops” and stared at Rukna again.

“I almost forgot. I obtained a very nice item for you, Ruka. Since my stepsister had it, it should be quite effective.”

Chad took out a small glass vial the princess had and opened the lid.

As he chanted a spell, the transparent liquid inside the vial turned into droplets and floated in the air.

‘What is that?’

She had a bad feeling. Rukna tried to run away, but other black magicians blocking the way prevented her movement.

In the meantime, the liquefied droplets flew over and soaked Rukna’s lips.

Ugh! She struggled desperately not to swallow the liquid.

But somehow a drop seeped into her mouth, and she slumped to the floor as strength left her arms and legs.

Huff, huff. Hot breaths escaped through her lips. Chad lifted Rukna’s reddening chin.

“Your pale face was like a lily, but your flushed face is like a rose, Ruka.”

“Get… off.”

Perhaps because of the impure feeling, the holy power couldn’t be controlled as desired.

Her instincts wanted to grab his crotch, but she desperately kept her guard up against Chad.

“Really? You’ll need me, won’t you?”

“Never… in my life.”

“You’re still infuriating, Ruka. Then I’ll give you the worst.”