Because most of the high nobles and mages qualified to officiate the strict coronation rites had become corpses in the Founding Day catastrophe, there was no choice but to borrow the power of the Emperor’s Cult due to the shortage of personnel.
Thus, Aaron Valerian—the holy knight of the Emperor’s Cult assisting with the ceremony—gazed at Kain with eyes containing an almost burdensome excess of emotion.
The holy knights of the Emperor’s Cult, who had lived their entire lives praising the Felberg imperial house and the Emperor, were exceedingly familiar with coronation procedures.
Thanks to that, Aaron Valerian was now proving immensely helpful to Kain.
“Is it almost over?”
Even as he descended from the podium under Aaron’s guidance and approached the throne, Kain could not relax his tension.
Once he donned the “Golden Crown” symbolizing the Emperor of the Felberg Empire and sat upon the throne, most of the coronation rites would be complete.
Yet unlike the other knights who were gradually loosening their tension as the remaining procedures dwindled, Kain had to feel an even sharper strain at this very moment.
The reason was simple.
There is no way this will pass quietly.
Kain’s eyes gleamed sharply.
The system message had explicitly stated that surviving the coronation would grant a Sigil as reward.
If that was the case, it was impossible for everything to end without incident.
[Main Story Chapter 1: The Bloody Coronation commences. Survive.]
As expected.
The instant he wore the golden crown and sat upon the throne, the system message appeared before his eyes.
At the same moment, Baron Heinrich Denver—sensing the shift in the plaza’s mana waves—created a gust of wind as he dashed to Kain’s side and drew his sword.
Clang!
A jet-black object that collided with Denver’s aura blade was repelled with a sharp metallic screech.
“Protect His Imperial Majesty!”
With the golden crown now upon his head, Kain was no longer merely the Third Prince inheriting the throne—he was the undisputed new Emperor of the Felberg Empire.
At Denver’s shout, nearby imperial knights rushed over and formed a protective ring around Kain.
“They’re coming!”
With someone’s cry, shadow assassins draped in abyssal darkness appeared from all four cardinal directions.
One from each side—four in total.
They bore the exact same form as those who had raided the grand banquet hall on Founding Day.
“So it comes to this after all.”
Muttering quietly to himself as he gazed at the black figures surrounding them from east, west, south, and north, Kain acknowledged it.
They were undoubtedly the same ones from Founding Day.
Though far fewer than on that tragic day, the Felberg Empire had also lost countless heroes in the catastrophe, so this was by no means a situation to relax in.
Moreover, though only one stood blocking each direction, their presence was so overwhelmingly powerful that no one in the grand plaza could move easily.
It was as if invisible demonic hands had seized the legs of the tens of thousands gathered there.
While the assassins to the east and west held their positions, the ones to the south and north turned their heads toward Kain.
Though their entire bodies were wrapped in writhing pitch-black darkness, Kain could feel the sticky killing intent directed squarely at him.
“Come.”
Kain spat provocatively at the shadow assassins.
At the same instant, the southern and northern assassins vanished without even leaving afterimages.
“Your Imperial Majesty!”
It truly happened in the blink of an eye.
Someone’s shout rang out, and only belatedly did Kain witness heavily armored knights intercepting the ambush of the two shadow assassins with their swords.
Though he had awakened a Sigil, the perceptual realm of the body that had lived as a wastrel Third Prince still had its limits.
And in that instant that far transcended his perception—
Clang!
Baron Heinrich Denver and Count Steiner Landerck—who had closed the distance in a flash to protect the Emperor—each blocked one of the shadow assassins that had crossed space itself.
The true “Bloody Coronation” had begun.
With the start of this massive event, the assassins that emerged shrouded in deep darkness revealed their killing intent toward Kain without hesitation.
Possessing power far too great to be mere assassins, they swung their blades to break through the escort formation.
The guards swiftly stepped forward to block those aiming for Kain.
Some clashed with Baron Heinrich Denver, sharp metallic clashes ringing out between them.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was an exchange that utterly surpassed the perceptual realm of Kain Felberg, who had lived the ordinary life of a wastrel.
Before Kain could even track the next movement, Denver had already exchanged dozens of strikes with the assassin in front of him.
When the shockwave from their clash struck Kain’s face, he recoiled in shock—not from panic, but from realizing he was utterly useless in this situation.
These are not enemies I can handle.
Around the same time, after countless exchanges, Baron Denver painfully realized that the assassin before him had reached a realm far beyond his own.
A man who had attained the glorious rank of Grand Chevalier at a young age through pure sword training without ever feeling a lack of talent.
Yet even he could only despair that he might not last another ten seconds against the dark being before him—let alone win.
Count Landerck, a Meister one full step above Denver, was no exception.
At least high Meister… no, perhaps close to Grand Meister…!
Even among those officially titled sword-saints at the Meister level, differences in skill existed.
And now Count Landerck had no choice but to acknowledge that the unidentified assassin trading blows with him stood at a realm far higher even within the Meister domain.
After one intense exchange ended, the two assassins shrouded in deep darkness stepped back several paces to regroup.
The moment a brief lull arrived, Count Gard Apeldio—commander of the Fifth Imperial Knight Order—and Aaron Valerian, holy knight of the Emperor’s Cult, joined the protective formation.
“Baron Denver! Escort His Imperial Majesty to safety!”
Count Steiner Landerck ordered in a voice prepared for death.
There seemed no chance of victory, so he intended to burn his own life to buy time for the Emperor of the Felberg Empire to escape.
That was what he judged to be a loyal subject’s duty.
Even if he died, the Emperor must live.
“Count Landerck. Regretfully, escape seems impossible here.”
Yet to Landerck’s words, Kain replied with a bitter smile and stepped forward.
“Your Imperial Majesty! You must flee even now! You are the last hope of the Felberg Empire!”
“Count Landerck. Do you think I do not wish to live? Unfortunately, fleeing is impossible. Look there.”
Finishing his words, Kain pointed toward the assassins positioned to the east and west of the grand plaza.
The jet-black aura pouring from their bodies had formed massive barriers of darkness, completely sealing the plaza—no one could escape.
The assassins to the east and west stood motionless, seemingly focused solely on maintaining the enormous barrier.
Imperial knight order mages had tried unleashing powerful attack spells to break the barrier, but their magic was blocked by some unseen force protecting the assassins, losing all power.
In any case, two Meister-class assassins were not participating in combat, which was not entirely bad news.
The problem was that their barrier made reinforcements impossible.
“The retreat path is blocked.”
Count Landerck quickly assessed the situation.
The unidentified assassins had used a barrier to isolate the grand plaza from the outside world, rendering his plan to buy escape time with his life meaningless.
Then… only one choice remains. We must kill them all.
Count Landerck steeled his wavering resolve and cautiously adjusted his stance.
He extended his shield forward with his left arm and slightly drew back the longsword in his right.
No longer a defensive posture to buy time while protecting Kain, but a fully committed stance ready to trade flesh for bone.
Yet perhaps the assassins sensed the desperate resolve of the loyalists to protect the last royal with their lives?
They too began cautiously watching for openings, differently from before.
Amid the suffocating tension, Kain busily scanned his surroundings to fully grasp his current predicament.
Four assassins had revealed themselves in the grand plaza so far.
Two were maintaining the barrier, while the other two confronted the imperial knights in the center.
They intend to finish off the last royal.
Kain quietly sneered, feeling the sticky killing intent prickling his skin.
The dark aura writhing around the assassins distorted like a mirage, making it impossible to clearly see where their gazes were directed.
But as expected, they clearly aimed to take the life of Kain, who had only just ascended the throne.
Yet this differed slightly from the events at the grand banquet hall on Founding Day, when they had targeted not only the royals but most of the Empire’s heroes and high nobles as well.
What is the difference?
In any case, the Imperial Guard forces defending the grand plaza were largely divided into two groups: seventy percent had gathered in the center to protect Kain, while the remaining thirty percent watched the two assassins maintaining the barrier.
In other words, all troops that should have protected the citizens had been sent to the Emperor’s side.
If the assassins wished, they could begin a march of massacre in an instant.
For some unknown reason, their blades were not yet turned on the innocent citizens—that, at least, was fortunate.
I must end this quickly.
Having made his decision, Kain closed the distance to Count Steiner Landerck so his voice would reach.
The knights tried to stop him, but Kain’s will was firm.
“Count Landerck.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”
At Kain’s call, Count Landerck answered cautiously without taking his eyes off the two assassins before him.
Extreme tension was evident in his voice.
“Can you gauge their level?”
The body of Kain, who had lived as a wastrel, could not assess the assassins’ strength.
He had to borrow the eyes and words of Count Landerck, a Meister called sword-saint.
Yet.
“At least high Meister.”
Count Landerck said this and forcibly hid his expression—to avoid revealing the unfavorable situation to the Emperor he served.
But it was already too late.
Kain had caught the momentary distortion of his face.
Regretfully, the enemies’ realm was so overwhelmingly high that even the Meister-class knight Landerck would find them difficult to handle.