“…”

Eurius did not rampage or suddenly draw his sword and cut the neck of the minister.

The Grand Duke also lost his cold expression in an instant because he was too dumbfounded.

‘Did the emperor really die?’

Eurius opened his mouth again in a calm tone.

“Can I go in now? I couldn’t even watch his deathbed at the door, but I hope you don’t tell me not to see his corpse either.”

His attitude was calm, but anyone could see that it was a sarcastic tone.

“I have no face to His Majesty.”

Carlos bit his lip so hard that he bled from his mouth and obediently withdrew the royal guards.

That’s how Eurius and the Grand Duke entered the emperor’s bedroom together.

Instead of the minister who was almost in a panic state, Bishop Aurel explained.

“He was barely beating his heart until just before. But now his heart has completely stopped.”

Eurius first put his hand on the emperor’s heart.

He was using force to check his body condition.

‘His heart has definitely stopped.’

He took his hand off and the Grand Duke checked it too.

The result was no different.

‘The emperor is definitely dead.’

The Grand Duke had a complex and subtle expression on his face.

The emperor had been his lifelong enemy.

But he died so absurdly that he couldn’t even imagine it.

‘Anyway, this is a golden opportunity.’

This eliminated any doubt.

There was no way that the first prince, who was not crazy, would kill the emperor.

It would be much more advantageous for him to have the emperor alive in terms of power.

But to make good use of this opportunity, one thing needed to be confirmed.

He spoke to Carlos.

“What are you going to do?”

This implied a lot of things.

The emperor is dead now.

There is no one to command the royal guard.

“We only follow the orders of His Majesty who inherited legitimacy.”

The Grand Duke smiled inwardly.

“That’s right. That’s a good thing.”

The Carlos he knew was not someone who would follow anyone else’s orders except the emperor.

And personally, he was his son-in-law, wasn’t he?

He said it a little roundabout, but his intention was clear.

‘I won’t follow the orders of the first prince who is not even the crown prince yet.’

He looked at Eurius.

He had already called Mareus and gave him instructions.

“I need to prepare for the funeral. Please do it without any trouble.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mareus was not a person who could not distinguish between public and private affairs.

He didn’t have time to lie down and cry right now.

The emergency council meeting convened by Eurius gave them a shock as expected.

“How could His Majesty pass away so vainly…”

“Sniff…”

The nobles were mostly stunned and the bureaucrats of the imperial faction were crying on their knees.

“Everyone be quiet.”

Eurius’s soft words drew everyone’s attention to him.

By the way, what about the successor?

Whether it was by legitimacy as the eldest son or by achievement, Eurius was in the best position to become the emperor right now.

“First of all, we need to prepare for the funeral, so I’ll postpone the official announcement until tomorrow.”

This was understandable.

If the rumor that the emperor died suddenly spread in the capital, it would shake the people’s hearts.

But what followed was a shock and horror for the nobles.“And to prevent chaos in the capital, you all have to stay in the palace until tomorrow’s announcement.”

Boom!

At the same time, the heavy door of the council closed.

The nobles tried to protest at once.

“What is this?”

“Isn’t this too much even for His Highness the crown prince?”

Shriek!

But when the knights drew their swords, they all had to shut their mouths.

Was this a way of suppressing them with force?

‘Damn it, what’s going on here?’

‘Is he going to start a bloody purge from now on? He’s not even his father’s son.’

But the nobles also had someone they could rely on.

They looked at the Grand Duke with desperate eyes.

He was the only one who could restrain Eurius here.

As expected, the Grand Duke opened his mouth with an expression of embarrassment.

“This is a bit difficult.”

“What do you mean?”

“I understand your intentions, but not everyone can be here.”

“Do you want to get out of here?”

“Yes.”

“…!?”

At that moment, everyone in the hall felt a chill down their spine.

The aura of Eurius and the Grand Duke collided head-on.

The Grand Duke bit his tongue inside.

‘First prince… he was hiding his skills.’

He had to be at least a superhuman to withstand his aura.

He was thinking of subduing Eurius right here, but it seemed difficult.

“Then let me go out. I want to tell the second prince the news first as his guardian.”

Of course, this was an excuse.

He couldn’t do anything to Eurius right now, so he wanted to prepare everything outside.

‘But he can’t refuse, can he?’

He couldn’t confidently subdue Eurius as much as Eurius couldn’t stop him from leaving.

If he wanted to stop him from getting out of here by force, he would need at least enough power to subdue him.

But judging from the aura he had just released, Eurius’s skills were not that much.

‘He’s amazing for his age, but that’s it.’

Eurius nodded reluctantly.

“I can’t help it. Tell Leon to come up to the capital as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

The Grand Duke bowed to him unusually.

The Grand Duke and the emperor were almost equal in status, but he showed such excessive respect for a reason.

‘Think of it as a declaration of war when we meet next time.’

That’s how the Grand Duke left the council alone and headed to his mansion in the capital.

Now that the emperor was dead, it was time to fight for real.

He summoned all the forces he could mobilize as soon as he returned to his mansion.

He had already infiltrated some forces into the capital in advance to target Eurius, plus new recruits.

‘I don’t know if the first prince heard about Gladius from the emperor, but I’ll have to make him feel it this time.’

Gladius referred to the knights who were trained with a secret method passed down in his family.

He had selected the elite among them and named them shadows.

‘I lost some of my forces to the first prince, but I’m not out of reinforcements!’

He had scraped up the remaining skilled ones from Gladius and somehow filled half of the shadows.

‘I wish Dimitri was here.’

The regrettable thing was that he had almost no knights who were superhumans or close to them, but the overall quality was so excellent that it was not a problem if he joined them.

The most important thing was that he had received a confirmation from Carlos.

‘If the royal guard doesn’t interfere, there’s no reason for me to lose.’

The Grand Duke had a firm confidence in his skills, which were among the top three in the continent.

“Gladius! All assembled!”“Good job.”

The Grand Duke glanced over a hundred people and declared with a satisfied smile.

“We’ll raid the palace at dawn. The goal is to capture the council and capture or kill the first prince.”

The key to this plan was to take over the capital.

If he killed all the key figures of the imperial faction in the council and proclaimed the second prince as the successor, there would be no power to oppose him.

‘I’m glad I don’t have to start a civil war.’

“How about the Golden Lion Knights?”

“They said they were ready to leave three days ago. They should be able to arrive in the capital tomorrow.”

His smile grew thicker.

“Then there’s no problem if we take over the palace.”

His second card was the Golden Lion Knights.

If he attacked the first prince and another rescue came from outside the capital, the Golden Lion Knights would handle it.

He had waited for this day for decades with patience.

He felt a little deflated when his lifelong enemy, the emperor, died so blandly, but the first prince was also a worthy opponent for him.

‘Finally, this annoying fight will end.’

***

Soon it was dawn.

Normally, the palace would be bright even at night, but today was a little different.

The palace was now shrouded in darkness like pitch black.

Eurius had blocked off the inside of the palace for infiltration.

Only the central palace where the servants were confined was dark, so a faint light leaked out of there.

“…”

The Grand Duke pointed to that direction with his eyes and he and Gladius’s knights headed for the central palace.

“Hmm?”

The Grand Duke, who had almost reached the central palace, let out a groan with a puzzled expression.

‘No sign?’

If he were Eurius, he would have placed at least one or two knights at the entrance. But there was no one at the door of the central palace.

Creak.

He cautiously opened the door and entered, and focused his senses again.

‘But I can definitely feel many signs inside. I just need to take over the council quickly.’

He probably thought it was safer to secure the council than the entrance.

The life of a surprise attack is speed!

The Grand Duke made a quick decision and flew toward the council.

Squeak!

Following him, Gladius’s knights who had been hiding their presence also flew in.

The target was of course, the council.

Crash!

He landed in front of the council in a few leaps and smashed the door with his sword without opening it.

He was doing well until he entered the council with momentum.

“What is this?”

The Grand Duke stared at the inside of the council with an incredulous expression on his face.

It was understandable.

The spacious council was empty of servants.

No, to be exact, except for one person.

“…!?”

Gladius’s knights who followed him also looked confused for a moment.

What they saw was the empty center of the council!

It was exactly where the throne was.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Eurius, who was sitting alone on the throne, fixed his eyes on him with a cold expression after sweeping them once.

[Fried Wilhelm]

Job: Knight, Superhuman (Grand Master)

Strength: S Agility: S Intelligence: A Willpower: A Force Aptitude: A+ Force: SS

Disposition: Cold, Ambitious

Current State: Confused

[Traits]

Swordsmanship (SS)

Destructive Sword – A secret technique that can destroy space within his range of control. The power and range increase depending on his proficiency.

Adamantine Body – A fourth-level force control.

His physical strength increases exponentially depending on his proficiency.