The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 614: “Found It.”

In the Imperial Palace, the Emperor’s bedchamber was one of the most luxurious buildings besides the audience chamber.

It embodied almost all the praises one could use to describe a building, a palace that was luxurious, spacious, magnificent, extravagant, and resplendent.

At this moment, countless knights in heavy armor stood guard inside and outside the palace, carrying out their duties with serious expressions, guarding the Emperor’s bedchamber tightly.

Several noble officials came and went, but each time, they had to undergo strict inspections by the knights. By the time they entered the bedchamber and met with the Emperor, two or three hours had already passed.

This made many officials breathe a sigh of relief after leaving the Emperor’s bedchamber, exchanging glances and whispering among themselves.

“He actually mobilized a battalion of ten thousand from the Imperial Knight Order to guard his own bedchamber. Isn’t His Majesty a bit too cowardly?”

“There’s no helping it. Recently, there’s been a phantom thief infiltrating the Imperial Palace, possibly attempting assassination, and there’s also that mysterious expert who can summon a meteor shower and annihilated the entire Raifurut family. It’s not surprising that His Majesty is afraid.”

“After all, the phantom thief’s targets have always been nobles, and the possibility of them targeting royalty isn’t small. Not to mention that mysterious expert, who directly annihilated the entire Raifurut family.”

“And His Majesty happens to be from the Raifurut family. When he heard that the Raifurut family was annihilated by a mysterious expert, he almost fell off his throne in fright.”

“So, for his own life, His Majesty no longer cares about anything else, right?”

“If the bedchamber could accommodate more than ten thousand knights, I think His Majesty would have mobilized the entire Imperial Knight Order to protect himself.”

“Even though he already has the Royal Knights guarding him, and the Imperial Capital is currently in turmoil, with many places needing the Imperial Knights, His Majesty still keeps so many knights by his side…”

“What a waste…”

“Don’t say that. No matter what, he’s still the Emperor.”

“Hmph, it’s only because the former Imperial Consort had no intention of ruling that he could ascend to the throne. And after becoming Emperor, that person has always been manipulated by the Raifurut family. If it weren’t for Imperial Consort Mara, with his cowardly nature, how could he possibly act so arrogantly?”

“Shh, don’t be so loud.”

“Yeah, it’s fine to discuss the Emperor, after all, he’s indeed incompetent, but the Imperial Consort holds immense power, and countless nobles support her. If you don’t want to lose your head, it’s best to speak less.”

The officials whispered among themselves, turning their backs on the bedchamber and leaving with disdain.

This showed how unpopular the current Emperor was.

The Empire valued martial prowess and only respected truly capable people. If someone was incompetent, even the Emperor, they would be criticized in private.

If it weren’t for the past support of the Raifurut family, and later the Imperial Consort, this Emperor might have already caused a rebellion and been overthrown, right?

Under such circumstances, no one noticed a black shadow appearing here as if teleporting, then entering the Emperor’s bedchamber with another teleport.

None of the ten thousand Imperial Knights noticed his presence, allowing him to infiltrate silently.

…

Meanwhile, in a luxurious room, the current Emperor was still meeting with several nobles.

However, facing these nobles, the Emperor was furious.

“Trash! You’re all trash!”

A short, fat, middle-aged man, dressed in luxurious clothes, looking more like a nouveau riche than a majestic emperor, cursed at the nobles present.

“It’s just finding someone. You couldn’t catch the phantom thief before, and you couldn’t catch this mysterious expert either. Are you all just freeloaders!?”

The Emperor scolded angrily, his saliva spraying everywhere.

The nobles couldn’t hide the disgust in their eyes, but they had to put on a respectful attitude.

After all, he was the Emperor. If they were too disrespectful, they might be punished.

One of the nobles spoke.

“P… please give us some more time.” He said in a low voice, “It hasn’t even been a day since that mysterious expert committed the crime. If we have more time, then we can definitely…”

Before he could finish, the Emperor flew into a rage again.

“Give you more time? Then who’s going to give me more time!?” The Emperor shouted furiously, “That damned guy even annihilated the entire Raifurut family overnight, and the Imperial Palace was infiltrated by a rat a while ago. If that guy comes here with malicious intent towards me, can you bear the consequences…!?”

That’s right.

In the end, the Emperor was only worried about his own safety.

Although the annihilation of the Raifurut family caused headaches for many high-ranking officials of the Empire, for the short-sighted Emperor, it was something to be secretly delighted about.

Because he was Direkiss’s younger brother and had once competed with him for the position of head of the Raifurut family, but he was no match for Direkiss, being played like a fiddle.

His family also regarded him as worthless trash due to his lack of talent.

Even the servants had openly despised him.

In the end, he was even used as a political pawn by Direkiss, thrown to the royal family for a marriage alliance, serving as a bridge, or rather, a puppet, between the royal family and the Raifurut family.

This made the Emperor hate Direkiss and the Raifurut family deeply.

If it weren’t for the former Imperial Consort having no interest in ruling and being deceived by his sweet words, he would never have become Emperor.

But even after becoming Emperor, he had no real power, always being manipulated by the Raifurut family and ignored and despised by everyone in the Imperial Palace.

It wasn’t until ten years ago, when he met the current Imperial Consort, that the Emperor felt he had finally risen.

Under the Imperial Consort’s guidance, the Emperor did various things that changed his situation, overthrowing the former Imperial Consort and teaching a lesson to the Raifurut family and those nobles who looked down on him, making them all submit.

From that moment on, the Emperor felt that he finally controlled this country.

Of course, the complacent Emperor didn’t realize that those nobles, including the Raifuruts, weren’t submitting to him, but to the Imperial Consort.

This pitiful Emperor thought that the Imperial Consort was helping him and that he finally had real power. In reality, those nobles who acted subserviently before him were only bowing and scraping because of Mara.

In short, the Emperor didn’t care whether the Raifurut family disappeared or not.

Rather, he was happy and relieved that they were gone.

But a mysterious expert capable of summoning a meteor shower and annihilating the entire Raifurut family overnight put immense pressure on the Emperor.

Since that person annihilated the Raifurut family, would he, as a member of the Raifurut family, be targeted as well?

Moreover, the Imperial Palace had recently been infiltrated by a phantom thief, making the cowardly Emperor even more worried.

Therefore, the Emperor was so agitated.

“Go! Search! Keep searching!”

The Emperor roared.

“We must capture that mysterious expert and the phantom thief as soon as possible! Anyone who captures them… no, kills them, will be greatly rewarded! Those without titles will be granted titles, and those with titles will also be rewarded, even promoted!”

To quell his unease, the Emperor made a huge promise.

The nobles finally perked up, agreeing and then retreating.

Only the Emperor remained in the room.

“Ha…”

The Emperor, as if all his strength had been drained, collapsed in his chair.

“Where did the Imperial Consort go at this time…?”

The Emperor felt a strong sense of unease.

For ten years, he had become accustomed to following Mara’s instructions, and every time he did so, he achieved clear results, making him completely dependent on her.

This made the already incompetent Emperor even more incompetent, panicking whenever something happened.

When Mara was around, the Emperor would quickly calm down.

But with Mara gone, the Emperor felt unsafe everywhere, unable to relax, filled with anxiety.

Such an Emperor didn’t notice that a figure had appeared behind him at some point.

The cloaked mysterious person stood behind the Emperor, exuding a faint sense of danger, making the Emperor’s spine tingle. He instinctively turned his head and looked behind him.

Upon seeing this, the Emperor’s eyes widened.

“—!?”

He tried to scream in terror, but a hand covered his mouth.

“Mmmmmm…!?”

Muffled struggles came from the Emperor’s covered mouth, but it was useless.

The cloaked mysterious person easily dragged him away.

Soon, silent screams echoed in the room.

…

“Ugh… ah…”

After an unknown amount of time, the suppressed screams in the room turned into faint moans.

The Emperor of the Ragna Empire was tied up and hung upside down from the rafters, his head drooping, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, his face bruised and swollen like a pig’s head, not a single part intact.

The cloaked mysterious person paced around the room, searching through the bookshelves for something.

After a long time, he finally found an ancient book on a bookshelf.

There were no words or titles on the cover of the ancient book, only a painting.

A painting of a shimmering, willow-like branch.

“Found it.”

Shien smiled suddenly.