Chapter 24: Damien Pavel

Damien Pavel.

He was a Meister-class grand mage who had once sworn loyalty to the Felberg Empire, a tragic genius ensnared by the envy of lesser men and the political machinations of those who feared his brilliance.

Framed by false accusations, he had been exiled nearly a hundred years ago and vanished without a trace.

That was the official setting, at least.

Yet here he was, Damien Pavel in the flesh, the former lord of his own magic tower and a marquis of the central nobility in his prime, now hurrying through the corridors of the Sun Palace at the summons of the young emperor who had only recently ascended the throne, Kain Felberg.

Walking beside him, matching his brisk pace, was Viscount Philips Grey, a high mage whose power fell just short of true Meister rank yet still touched the profound truths of grand magic, placing him ambiguously at the Grand Chevalier level.

“At this hour, an urgent summons… What could have happened?”

Viscount Philips Grey, direct disciple of the late Count Albers Grey and a member of the Grey Tower, asked the question with unease written across his face.

Perhaps because he had rushed here without knowing why, or perhaps because the trauma from the recent massacre at the grand banquet hall and the plaza was resurfacing, he looked on the verge of panic.

“Nervous?”

At Damien’s blunt question, Philips slowly nodded.

“Yes… I believe so.”

“Viscount Grey. Though you are still at the Grand Chevalier level, you are a grand mage who has grasped the truths of great magic. You will soon fully inherit the Grey Tower in thewake of Albers, who gave his life fighting assassins for the Empire in that banquet hall. Is it fitting for the future tower lord to appear so anxious and unsettled?”

Damien continued walking forward without even glancing at Philips as he delivered the lengthy lecture.

He strongly wished to add, “Back when I was tower lord, things like this never happened,” but with the superhuman patience befitting a Meister-class grand mage, he held his tongue.

Long years of seclusion had already reduced his social skills and empathy to near zero, evolving him into the final form of an old fossil.

He was aware of his condition and even thought he should fix it someday, so he had decided not to push his much younger junior too hard.

“Still, it seems your worries are unfounded. His Majesty the Emperor is unharmed.”

Having struck with the whip, it was time for the carrot.

With a single sentence, Damien erased Philips’ anxiety.

“If something had happened to His Majesty, the palace would not be this quiet.

More than anything, I can feel His Majesty’s presence clearly somewhere within these walls.”

The history of the Felberg Empire stretched back to the mythic age, and the imperial palace was layered with magic circles of such profound attainment that even modern grand mages could scarcely comprehend them.

To Damien Pavel, who had grown further during his long seclusion through true enlightenment on the path of magic, the emperor’s lingering aura within the palace was vividly visible.

Not long after calming Viscount Philips Grey, they arrived at the audience chamber.

However, the one who greeted them was not the Emperor, but Count Steiner Landerck.

“There was an assassination attempt on His Majesty.”

It had occurred during the search for traitors, yet Count Landerck had already concluded it was an assassination attempt.

Since Kain’s life had indeed been threatened, the count’s logic was undeniable.

“That corpse… belongs to one who abandoned their humanity.”

“You recognized it immediately.”

Grand mage Damien Pavel sensed the thick demonic energy lingering between the horrific corpse visible over Count Landerck’s shoulder and the traces of battle.

“His Majesty said Lord Pavel would be able to preserve the demon’s body intact… Is that possible?”

At those words, Damien instantly saw through the intentions of the former wastrel-turned-emperor.

He plans to summon the Religious Alliance and exterminate the Five Pillars.

How very interesting.

A chilling light flashed in Damien’s eyes.

It seemed the emperor he would serve was no mere wastrel after all.

“Depending on which school of black magic is involved, the difficulty of preservation varies, but generally, keeping a demon’s corpse intact for more than a week is extremely difficult.”

As disappointment began to surface on Count Landerck’s face, Damien continued.

“However, for a grand mage of my level, such a task is far from impossible.

It will merely require most of my time.

So please convey this to His Majesty: from now on, deliver every demon corpse that appears to me.”

“Why on earth…”

Count Landerck started to ask the reason, but upon seeing the faint madness glowing in Damien Pavel’s eyes, he hurriedly closed his mouth.

It did not seem like something the count needed to know.

“I shall convey it to His Majesty.”

Baron Hog Melros was only the beginning.

There would be many more turncoats.

Others might think differently, but at least Kain judged that besides Hog Melros, quite a few traitors bought by foreign powers were still lurking within the imperial capital.

In preparation for the coming confrontation with the Five Pillars, he believed he must extinguish these dangerous sparks in advance.

“There are more traitors. We must purge them all while we have the chance.”

Seated upon the throne in the audience chamber, Kain quietly muttered to himself.

The power of the Five Pillars was formidable.

Given their position, a direct clash with them was inevitable in the near future.

To emerge victorious in that full-scale war, he had to endure the noise that would arise from rooting out traitors now.

He could not charge into battle with betrayers at his back.

A storm of blood would blow, but there was no helping it.

Even though the Ministry of the Interior had tried to keep things quiet, several days had passed since the Hog Melros incident, so word of his betrayal had likely already spread in places.

Now was truly the moment to act.

“Count Landerck.”

Kain called to Steiner Landerck, whose expression remained stiff.

At the summons, the count immediately prostrated himself.

“You are aware of the unfortunate incident that occurred in this audience chamber several days ago?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Count Steiner Landerck was not only the commander of the Third Imperial Knight Order but also the overall supervisor of defense for the imperial citadel and palace.

Naturally, he was fully informed about the incident from several days prior.

That day, he had rushed to the audience chamber at the emergency summons and taken charge of cleaning up the scene while Baron Denver escorted Kain to safety.

Today was only the second time since then that the count had been granted an audience.

In the meantime, he had been running day and night, inspecting the capital’s defenses, mobilizing the four metropolitan legions that guarded Granada’s four directions, and conducting thorough searches and reconnaissance of the surrounding areas in case of further surprise attacks.

“We must hunt down the traitors, Count. Melros was merely the beginning.”

Kain revealed a resolute aura.

The imperial authority, which had been steadily weakening over centuries, had only recently stabilized thanks to the power of the Sigils.

No matter how great the opportunity for resurgence, if the Empire showed weakness now, the majesty of the imperial throne could never be restored.

“I agree completely, Your Majesty. We must immediately convene the imperial army and issue a large-scale search order.”

Count Landerck also voiced aggressive support.

Quite apart from his current responsibilities, as a longtime loyalist to the imperial family, he could only take a hardline stance on hunting and eliminating traitors.

Now that the existence of a traitor faction within the capital had been proven by Baron Melros’s transformation into a demon, they had to seize this chance to catch them all.

But if we make too much noise, they will all just go into hiding.

To drag as many secretly operating traitors into the open as possible, discreet yet swift action was required.

The method Count Landerck had just proposed, mobilizing the army and knights for a massive sweep, would only create uproar while yielding poor actual results.

The louder the commotion, the deeper the collaborators would burrow into the shadows.

First, they needed to move quietly and gather as much evidence as possible.

“Using knights is not a bad idea, but there is a better way.”

“What might that be?”

“Can you gather the key personnel of the imperial palace and citadel, especially those from the Ministry of the Interior, in one place?”

Kain could use the Wanderer Privilege to view the setting books of others.

Of course, not everything was recorded in those books, and since his Wanderer Privilege was still at a low level, the information he could access was limited…

Yet combined with the memories of the developer stored in his head, he could at least expect a minimal filtering function to separate traitors within the capital.

I won’t be able to find them all, but for now, this will be enough.

And so, at Kain’s command,

Count Landerck did not show even a hint of doubt and immediately sprang into action.

Coordinating with the Ministry of the Interior, he gathered high-ranking officials who handled critical duties or sensitive information that must never leak outside, summoning them to the grand banquet hall.

Traces of the Founding Day Catastrophe still lingered faintly here and there in the grand banquet hall, creating an atmosphere of dread.

Of course, one had to look closely to notice, and it was not a major problem, merely unsightly…

Yet the fact that the imperial grand banquet hall remained unrestored hinted at the current state of the Empire and was troublesome in many ways.

However, with more pressing matters at hand, they had been unable to allocate sufficient manpower to the hall; it could not be helped.

“What is this all of a sudden?”

“I heard His Majesty will give an encouraging speech.”

In any case, the nobles and officials gathered in the grand banquet hall at Count Landerck’s summons formed small groups with acquaintances, chatting lightly while awaiting the Emperor.

Rumors about Baron Melros turning into a demon had begun to spread to some extent, but no one here knew the true purpose of today’s assembly.

To hunt traitors, it was better to deceive even potential allies.

The only one who knew Kain’s true intention was Count Landerck, who was carrying out the order.

To avoid unnecessary suspicion, Kain had announced that the reason for gathering everyone today was to deliver an encouraging speech now that he had newly ascended the throne.