“Damn it all!”
A coarse curse echoed through the lavish, spacious office.
Outside the firmly shut door, five knights stood in a perfect line.
A middle-aged man in green uniform approached them, radiating murderous intent.
“Can you swear on your lives that the information you just delivered contains not a single mistake or lie?”
There must be some error, thought Duke Hans Deneb.
That was why he was venting his anger on the knights who had brought the news—he simply refused to believe what they reported.
The Felberg Empire had risen on the authority of the imperial bloodline called the “Star Throne’s lineage.”
Yet as no royal had manifested a Sigil for centuries, imperial power had gradually weakened.
As the throne faltered and the Empire began its decline, nobles naturally gravitated not toward the imperial house but toward the banners of great lords with abundant wealth and mighty armies.
This was the origin of the Empire’s Five Pillars faction—still in direct confrontation with the imperial loyalists.
And Duke Hans Deneb was one of the five central figures of that faction.
The “Five Pillar Dukes” referred to one grand duke and four dukes, along with the noble houses and vassals gathered beneath their banners.
“The wastrel Third Prince who luckily survived and ascended the throne suddenly awakened a Sigil? What the hell is this nonsense?!”
Among the five dukes, Hans Deneb was often regarded as the “weakest.”
His house had a short history, and the number of vassal nobles was noticeably fewer than the others—he had long been subtly looked down upon.
Yet he remained an undisputed pillar of the most powerful faction in the current Felberg Empire.
At the duke’s genuine fury, the knights could only hold their breath in silence.
The pressure from a man who wielded immense power and had reached the realm of Meister was far beyond what mere Chevalier-level knights could withstand.
“Ugh!”
“Hah… hah…”
The knights were on the verge of fainting under a Meister’s wrath.
Their only “crime” was delivering news the duke did not wish to hear.
Yet as the five knights suffered his meaningless venting…
A third person who had been silently watching everything from the shadows stepped forward.
“Duke Deneb.”
The moment the man stepped out of the darkness, the air in the office froze.
A man with violet hair and a monocle over his left eye—his sharp, sinister impression chilled the room.
At his eerie voice, Duke Hans Deneb frowned and dismissed those around him.
“Everyone, leave.”
“Yes, my lord!”
As the knights hurriedly fled the office, Duke Hans Deneb slowly turned toward the cold, sinister man.
“Imperial Count Lucif Blaine. It must have been a long journey for a noble of the great Meiyach Empire to come all this way to foreign soil.”
Shockingly, the man Duke Hans Deneb identified was not a noble of the Felberg Empire but Imperial Count Lucif Blaine of the Meiyach Empire.
“There were a few matters in Felberg territory that required my personal attention. I believe you have already been informed.”
“I’m not sure which news you mean. I received more than one report today. Which one, Count Blaine?”
Duke Hans Deneb snapped back, glaring at the coldly smiling Lucif Blaine.
“One: those who should have become corpses in the grand plaza are walking around unharmed.
Two: the rumor that the infamous wastrel Kain Felberg awakened a Sigil is no mere rumor.
Three: Grand Mage Damien Pavel—who vanished right after his exile a hundred years ago—has joined the new Emperor.
Four: thanks to the rumors of the Sigil the former wastrel displayed in the grand plaza spreading like wildfire, the stubbornly neutral nobles are all switching to the imperial loyalist faction.”
Duke Hans Deneb rattled them off irritably.
Every single one was bad news for the Five Pillars.
“Can all of this really be resolved?”
Receiving the duke’s fierce glare, the imperial count merely smiled coldly.
“Duke Deneb, you understand the situation perfectly even without my explanation. How fortunate.”
He paused, and his eyes changed.
“And I never said I would resolve it.”
He had only said there were matters to handle.
“Are you telling me after egging us on all this time, you’re cutting the tail now?”
Duke Hans Deneb flared his aura.
Though only at the threshold, he too was a Meister sword-saint.
His circle spun, releasing oppressive mana.
Yet Imperial Count Lucif Blaine remained perfectly calm.
He too was a grand mage at the Meister level—he could withstand the duke’s pressure without flinching.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding that requires correction.”
Imperial Count Lucif Blaine replied coldly and raised his left hand.
Brilliant violet mana flashed from it, instantly dispersing Duke Deneb’s aura.
“I did provide the hilt, but the ones who swung the blade were you and the other Five Pillars.
Therefore, you cannot expect me to clean up the mess.”
His tone was like scolding a child.
Duke Hans Deneb felt deep humiliation but could do nothing else.
No matter how high his ducal rank, Imperial Count Lucif Blaine belonged to the Meiyach Empire—a rising power at least three times stronger in national and military might than Felberg.
The difference in rank was clear, and even if he lost control and fought here, victory was not assured against a grand mage of no lesser realm.
“However, as the one who handed you the hilt, I can offer a few warnings.”
The imperial count’s cold gaze fixed on Duke Hans Deneb.
“The new Emperor Kain Felberg is estimated to possess more than one Sigil.
The Sigil he used in the grand plaza and the one that turned Count Paul Ellang and his army to ash at Canossa Fortress are completely different types.”
At the ominous news, Duke Hans Deneb’s face turned pale.
For centuries, no royal had awakened a Sigil.
Yet historical records were clear—Duke Hans Deneb knew all too well how terrifying war weapons Sigils containing the power of Star Thrones could be.
“Is the information reliable? That wastrel awakened not one but two or more Sigils?”
“Regretfully, yes. And Duke Deneb, if I may offer humble advice—do not underestimate Kain Felberg.
Perhaps all of this was his design.
We even suspect he has been playing the wastrel all this time precisely for today.”
All of this was Kain Felberg’s design?
Duke Deneb shook his head in disbelief.
“Impossible. How could a mere wastrel…”
“Duke, look at reality, not rumors.
Kain Felberg survived the Founding Day assassination and awakened at least two Sigils.
All of it conveniently happened while he was treated as a wastrel.
And now he sits upon the throne.
Is all of this coincidence?
From the flow so far, it looks as though Kain Felberg used you Five Pillars as pawns to reach the throne.”
Yet while Duke Deneb continued denying reality, Count Blaine repeatedly warned that Kain must be treated with caution.
“Well, I am not the one who needs to fear Kain Felberg… Let us end it here.”
With a cold sneer, he slowly walked back into the shadows.
But before completely vanishing into the darkness, he left one final chilling warning.
“If you wish to live, be wary of the last Felberg.
He has already displayed the power of a Sigil at the coronation.
Unlike Canossa Fortress, there were tens of thousands of witnesses—so the loyalists will soon rally.”
Count Blaine did not explain further, but Duke Deneb easily understood what the rallying of loyalists meant.
A royal who had awakened a Sigil had become Emperor.
This meant the legitimacy of the Felberg imperial authority—long in decline—was restored.
Public opinion would shift dramatically.
One of the Five Pillars’ strongest arguments for attacking the imperial faction had been the prolonged absence of a Sigil in the imperial house.
Now, with an Emperor who had awakened Sigils, imperial authority would solidify once more.
Countless noble houses that had declared neutrality during the years of incompetent emperors would rejoin the loyalists.
The Five Pillars had risen by exploiting the power vacuum created when imperial authority weakened and the loyalist foundation shook.
“Extraordinary measures are needed.”
Left alone in the room, Duke Hans Deneb revealed a murderous resolve.
Watching from the shadows, Imperial Count Lucif Blaine let out a cold, mocking laugh and left the ducal mansion.
Once outside the mansion’s barrier, Count Blaine raised ominous violet mana and activated short-range warp magic.
In the world of Empire Heroic Legend, “warp” was an extremely difficult spell to implement.
It was not impossible for grand mages, but the casting difficulty was high and the distance limited, so even grand mages rarely used it.
Yet Count Blaine casually warped from a spot not far from the ducal mansion and soon appeared in an underground space filled with pitch-black darkness.
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