Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain

Chapter 340: It Shall Be Done

Queen Ines sat in her study, her hands trying to massage away the headache she was feeling.

The words of the documents before her grew blurry for a moment, and she squinted. A few seconds later, her vision cleared.

She sighed, before glancing at the stack of documents waiting for her at the side. She really hadn’t expected there to be as much paperwork as this when it came to ruling. And the recent attack on the academy had even made things worse.

Now, she had to approve even more processes and be informed of even more problems. She had to admit, it was exhausting.

’Father...’ her eyes went to his portrait on the wall, ’was this what you had to face too?’

A knock sounded on the door, interrupting his thoughts.

"Come in," she calmly called out.

The door swung inwards and Edric walked in, looking confident. The moment the door closed behind him, he sighed, and his body language changed completely.

His shoulders dropped, and tiredness entered his eyes. "Your Highness," he nodded.

"Edric." Ines smiled at the sight.

She was one of the very few that got to see this side of the man. He was practically a second father to her, and one of the few she found she could be vulnerable with.

His eyes swept through the documents before her, giving her a look of chastisement. "You know you could have your clerks help you with this, right?"

"I know." Ines looked away with a sigh. "But this is a very critical period of my reign. There has to be no mistakes and there’s no one I trust more than myself."

Edric opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to pursue the matter before shaking his head in resignation.

"How was the meeting?" Ines asked, changing the subject.

"Exactly as we expected." Edric said. "Ramsay was preoccupied with keeping power and shifting blame as expected, but this time, the narrative was in our favor."

"Also, I got them to agree on placing an S-rank compulsion on Noah Webb just like you suggested."

"Good." Ines nodded. "I want you to carry out the ritual immediately, before anyone else can get to him. We need him on our side, Edric. It doesn’t matter what method we take to achieve that."

"Understood." Edric nodded. Then a frown came upon his face as he saw Ines rubbing her temples. "The headaches are still not gone?"

Ines sighed, closing her eyes. "Yes. They’ve been showing up and disappearing for the past few weeks. But you know how they are. They should leave before too long."

Edric said nothing, eyeing the young queen with concern.

This was one of the best kept secrets of the royal court. Ines’ illness. She’d fallen sick when she was seven years old, and it had birthed something dark inside of her. Something he’d personally placed under lock and key.

And sometimes, the side effects resulted in headaches and fatigue. But that was a small price to pay for a sane queen.

All he needed to do was make sure that darkness never saw the light of day.

"Right." Ines spoke up, drawing his attention once more. "Did you gain council approval to deploy The Purge?"

This time, a small smile appeared on Edric’s face. "Yes, I did."

"Good." Ines nodded, mirroring his smile. "I want every inch of the kingdom scoured for this Lady in Dark."

"It shall be done."

Getting The Purge approved was a major win for Ines. This meant getting a small elite force headed by the High Magus that took orders from her alone.

But that wasn’t the reason why the Purge was so feared. It was because of their ability to dig into a man’s mind, down to his very soul. Before The Purge, there was no such thing as secrecy.

And when the fear Edric had put into the mind of the council members subsided, they would realize what they had unleashed.

They’d handed Ines the very sword she needed to cut away the rot in Camelot. And they might very well be among the rot.

"It’s time for me to get going." Edric finally spoke. "The compulsion ritual for Noah has been completed. It’s time to execute it."

"Very well. You may leave."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

And with a slight bow at Ines, he left the study.

***

Noah sat in silence in his cell, staring blankly at the wall.

The flames on the torches on the walls kept burning without ceasing, giving him no way of knowing just how much time had passed.

He had no idea if it was day or night, or if he’d been here for a day or a week.

All he knew was that he had to escape. He had to get out of here.

His eyes went down to the chains around his wrists. They kept his mana at bay, and honestly, he didn’t care.

If there was one thing he had now that he didn’t have before, it was patience. He was willing to wait for however long it took to get out of here.

He didn’t know how long he sat there until there was a familiar click at the iron door of his cell.

The door swung open, and the same woman as last time was the first to walk in.

Noah’s eyes went cold at the sight of her, but he made no move to attack. In his current state, there was nothing he could do to harm her and they both knew it.

However, as the woman walked in, Noah found out she hadn’t come alone. She walked in with three other mages, this time men, with similarly colored robes.

They moved with efficiency, detaching the chain from the wall, and surrounding him.

"Stand." The woman commanded.

Noah slowly stood.

And without any other words, they began walking, forcing Noah to follow them and keep himself from being dragged.

He was led out to the corridor, with two mages in front of him and two behind.

As they moved to their destination, Noah eyed the two before him, knowing that even with their backs turned, they were ready to tear him apart at a moment’s notice.

Three minutes later, the female mage pushed open a double door.

"We’re here."