Conversation is futile.
The Palace Steward’s eyes widened as though they would tear apart at Khan’s charge, which embodied this resolve. In his old age, his body couldn’t even react in time. The most he could do was reflexively raise his voice.
“W-wait!”
There was no need to wield a cursed sword to deal with an old man. The Palace Steward didn’t even notice Khan’s approach until his superhumanly powerful fist, slicing through the air with a deafening noise, closed in.
At that moment, when the death of the Palace Steward—a confidant of the king and a long-standing power in the capital—seemed certain…
Flash!
Khan retracted his punch and stepped back urgently as a burst of light exploded from the Palace Steward’s chest, filling the royal family’s secret chamber. The light was indiscriminate, engulfing high-ranking officials hiding in the chamber, escaped prisoners, and the Blue Flame Knights. Only the Palace Steward, at the center of the light, remained unaffected.
“……”
“……”
Silence.
In the stillness that felt as if the recent chaos had been a lie, the Palace Steward opened his tightly shut eyes.
For a moment, he was startled by the fist that had stopped just short of his face. He glanced at Khan, now standing motionless, then at the prisoners running towards them, desperately evading the knights, and lastly, at the high-ranking officials frozen like statues behind him. Only then did the Palace Steward let out a sigh of relief.
‘So, it was true. Even with the intelligence of a monkey, it works.’
The object the Palace Steward pulled from his robes was a skull of some beast.
It appeared nondescript, but in reality, it was a powerful magical artifact fashioned from the remains of a great monster hunted during the conquest wars of Argon’s ancestor, the Usurper King.
It targeted all lifeforms possessing ‘a certain level of intelligence.’ Even Greenskins were not exempt from its power.
“Well, even a barbarian is a person, surely smarter than a goblin…”
Initially, he worried that the barbarian might have less intelligence than a goblin, but seeing him use the kingdom’s language, it was clear he was more intelligent.
“Ahem. Quite surprising, isn’t it!”
Confident in his safety, the Palace Steward slumped into a chair. He had originally intended to use the artifact against the Black Wing Duke, but in such a life-and-death situation, he couldn’t afford to hold back.
‘The duration of the artifact’s power varies from person to person.’
Before that happened, he needed to completely incapacitate the barbarian and kill all the escaped prisoners. Normally, it would be impossible for the Palace Steward to manage this alone. But now, things were different.
Plunging a knife into mind-controlled puppets was something even his old body could handle.
“Well, this worked out nicely. The target walked right into my lap. I was wondering how I’d capture him.”
No one was listening, but the Palace Steward muttered to himself out of habit.
The palpable brush with death had stripped the normally composed and shrewd politician of his usual calm. He needed to speak out loud to calm his racing heart.
“This secret chamber isn’t even known to the Black Wing Duke. How did you find it? Did you really recover ‘that item’ from Darkin? So many questions.”
“……”
“And the timing couldn’t be more inconvenient. Who could have imagined that the one who killed Darkin would stand in the way of Prince Alan? You’ve completely derailed our experiments, just as they were about to bear fruit.”
“……”
As he admitted, the Palace Steward’s betrayal wasn’t just born out of a lust for power.
“We were on the verge of controlling the royal bloodline and harnessing that power.”
The mysterious power within the royal bloodline was the common goal of the Palace Steward and several high-ranking officials. Using the royal family as puppets to control the kingdom was just a fringe benefit.
“The damage you’ve caused has to be repaid with your death. A barbarian who subdued a rampaging prince with sheer physical strength is worth researching.”
By the end of his monologue, the Palace Steward had regained his calm.
Yes, there was still time to set things right. The King and Crown Prince were incapacitated, and the Black Wing Duke couldn’t move against him without just cause. Princess Delphina’s influence was negligible.
‘First, I need to sever his limbs.’
As the Palace Steward looked around for a weapon, his eyes fell on the red sword held by the barbarian. That must be it—the famed sword that had slain the Hydra.
Without hesitation, the Palace Steward reached for Khan’s sword, Draupnir. The weight surprised him, but he gripped it firmly with both hands and swung it towards the barbarian’s legs.
Thunk.
But his awkward swing didn’t cut through Khan’s legs. Was it because he lacked strength? Or was Khan’s skin as tough as orc hide? No—
It was because the barbarian he thought had been mentally subdued was very much alert, and had grabbed the Palace Steward’s wrist.
“Gah…!”
“An experiment, huh. No wonder Argon Kingdom fell apart.”
“Y-you, how did you…!”
“Skillfully.”
『Intelligence: 2』 -1
Khan glanced at his pathetic Intelligence stat, now precisely 1 due to an equipment stat reduction. How could he explain that his intelligence being lower than a monkey’s prevented the artifact’s influence?
『I shall devour him, then.』
Draupnir, with a hint of amusement in its tone, sought permission. Khan gave a casual nod, indicating the spirit could do as it pleased.
Soon, the teary-eyed Palace Steward’s eyes began to close. His soul was now being consumed by Draupnir.
Just as Khan had once been enraptured by the spirit’s visions when he first held the cursed sword, the Palace Steward would now face a trial of his own willpower within those illusions.
‘Well then…’
Khan hadn’t expected to discover the mastermind behind Darkin so soon.
Originally, Jerome was supposed to uncover this information through his research at the Mage Tower. However, Khan had inadvertently beaten him to it.
‘I now have more leverage.’
He didn’t think Jerome’s delay was intentional. It was likely the mage’s curiosity caused him to meticulously dissect Darkin’s research logs. Regardless, this turn of events was advantageous for Khan, giving him more reasons to make additional demands.
No matter what, it was beneficial for Khan. He now had a valid reason to tack on extra demands.
Khan decided to address other matters later and instead retrieved the skull-shaped magical artifact from the Palace Steward’s robes.
There was no need to check the information screen. It was one of the loot items dropped by Darkin’s named bosses in the game. He placed the powerful mental spell-containing quasi-legendary artifact, named “Skull of Screams,” into Aecharis’s pouch.
‘Jackpot.’
He had obtained an item that typically required completing a main quest raid, for free. Additionally, he was promised two more treasures for dealing with the Palace Steward. He was already feeling satisfied.
Since the artifact consumed mana, Khan couldn’t use it himself, but it would be perfect for Maya. His party included a paladin with strong mental resistance and Khan, who was unaffected due to his abysmally low Intelligence. The artifact would be an excellent emergency tool.
“And… here it is.”
The next item he found was a golden scale fragment. Its item information was almost identical to the one Khan already possessed.
‘If the information screen labels it a scale fragment, there must be a larger original piece.’
To find it, he needed the Palace Steward to confess, but the current situation inside the palace made that difficult.
“Hrk! Cough…!”
As the Palace Steward coughed up dark red blood, Khan snatched the cursed sword from his grasp and asked Draupnir if it had finished its task. The spirit’s eerie laughter confirmed it.
“Then there’s no need to keep him alive.”
“W-wait…!”
“Why should I?”
“I can offer double—no, more than double whatever the Black Wing Duke promised! Who else can offer you such rewards?”
“Hmm.”
Khan couldn’t help but be impressed by the eloquence of the politically savvy old man, even after his mind had been scrambled by the spirit. Such is the survival instinct of seasoned politicians.
“The royal treasury must hold quite a bounty, no? At least six items, I’d reckon.”
“What…? Surely, the Black Wing Duke—! That vile man has no right to the royal treasures!”
“But you do, and you stole them?”
The Palace Steward was dumbfounded when Khan revealed he knew about the stolen items. And that was his final expression.
Crunch.
Khan drove Draupnir through the Palace Steward’s forehead and then pulled it out, shaking off the blood.
The old minister, who had imprisoned the King and Crown Prince for his greed, manipulated high-ranking officials, and disrupted the kingdom’s capital, met his end pitifully and unceremoniously.
***
The Black Wing Duke had always upheld his father’s teachings as the absolute principle of his life: “You must become the kingdom’s protector.”
He never questioned why. As a child, he accepted it as an undeniable truth. It was almost like brainwashing, and this mindset didn’t change even after he became the Black Wing Duke.
‘Your Majesty.’
The current King was a figure worthy of the Black Wing Duke’s lifelong service.
‘The Crown Prince.’
The Crown Prince, destined to succeed the throne, possessed a bloodline so pure that he was often called the reincarnation of the Usurper King, and he demonstrated outstanding talent.
‘Alan… you foolish boy.’
Alan, who died after going berserk in Nordic, was not without promise. It was just that his half-brother, the Crown Prince, was exceptionally gifted. Alan’s inferiority complex blinded him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been manipulated by petty figures like the Palace Steward.
Suppressing his bitter feelings, the Black Wing Duke entered the royal mausoleum.
A sanctuary restricted solely to those of royal blood. Within, the Duke walked confidently, accustomed to its sacred halls. He wandered through the mausoleum until he stopped in front of the tomb bearing the name of the greatest among the past kings.
‘The Usurper King.’
The great king who once threatened even the mightiest empire on the continent.
The Black Wing Duke knelt before the tomb and bowed his head in respect. At that moment, something pierced his palm, drawing out a small amount of his blood.
Rumble…
The key to opening the most secret chamber of the royal family was simple.
One needed only to possess the bloodline of the royals.
Though his lineage had faded considerably over the generations, the Black Wing Duke still carried royal blood.
Thud.
As soon as he entered the so-called “Forbidden Chamber” among the royal members, the tomb that had opened to let him in closed shut behind him. The Duke, staring at the immovable entrance, gripped the sacred sword passed down to the kingdom’s greatest knights.
The Crown Prince, born with an unusually potent bloodline that became uncontrollable, had voluntarily confined himself to suppress its power.
And the King, who sacrificed himself to save such a Crown Prince.
Before the Duke stood the most noble yet foolish father and son duo in the kingdom’s history.