And Gaon beckoned with his index finger once more.
Then, gravity intensified.
To the point where everyone in the pavilion slammed into the ground.
“Mega Bind.”
Following that, Gaon cast Bind on everyone to prevent any foolish actions.
Having perfectly subdued the key figures of the rebellion faction in an instant like that, Gaon approached the pavilion and settled in.
And upon arrival, he waved his hand.
Then, several floated up into the air.
They were the ones with restrictions, members of Abyss.
Soon, Gaon injected Pacheonki into the Abyss members who arrived in front of him.
And after destroying the restrictions, he placed new restrictions.
Restrictions that sealed their energy.
Naturally, he didn’t end with just placing restrictions.
Gaon cast Silence magic on every single one without exception and unleashed Bone-Crushing Agony.
” “
“……!”
“……!”
Everyone’s pupils dilated.
But that was it.
Because of the Silence magic, no screams echoed out.
Gaon waved his hand to the side.
Then, the Abyss members flew to the side and lined up orderly.
Following that, Gaon beckoned with his finger.
This time, those harboring demonic energy floated up.
Gaon injected Pacheonki into all of them and placed restrictions sealing the demonic energy.
And he unleashed Bone-Crushing Agony.
Naturally, he cast Silence magic, so again, no screams echoed out.
Swish.
Gaon turned his head to look at those sprawled on the floor.
They were the ones with neither restrictions nor demonic energy.
He couldn’t be sure they weren’t traitors.
And even if they weren’t traitors, he had no intention of just letting them go.
Gaon pulled them forward the same way and placed restrictions.
And he unleashed Bone-Crushing Agony.
Like that, Gaon unleashed Bone-Crushing Agony on everyone except one single person.
Gaon looked at Vladious, the only one who didn’t receive Bone-Crushing Agony.
Vladious’s expression was different from the beginning.
It was full of fear.
Gaon pulled Vladious forward.
And to place restrictions, he injected Pacheonki into his body.
Hmm?
Upon injection, Gaon tilted his head.
And with slightly furrowed brows, he began checking various parts of the body.
Soon, the check ended, and Gaon’s expression turned peculiar.
Would you look at this?
He knew Vladious wasn’t normal.
But it was more serious than he thought.
Vladious’s body and mind were ruined.
Not naturally, not by himself.
Someone artificially ruined them.
The one who could do this to royalty…….!
Vladious wasn’t an ordinary being. He was the only brother of the current Emperor Larun.
Ruining Vladious’s body and mind?
It must have happened with Larun’s acquiescence.
No, not just acquiescence, but possibly directly orchestrated by Larun.
And if that’s the case?
The probability that the mastermind behind this rebellion was Larun was very high.
Conveniently, if the mastermind was Larun, it explained why the rebellion happened and why the emperor’s faction wasn’t moving.
Swish.
Gaon ended his thoughts and removed his hand from Vladious’s shoulder.
Slash!
And a blood line appeared on Vladious’s neck, then his head fell off.
Like that, Vladious met death.
The reason Gaon killed him immediately without interrogating was because he was in a state where interrogation was impossible.
If only the body was ruined, interrogation might be possible.
But the mind was ruined.
He wouldn’t know anything, and even if he did, it wouldn’t be proper information.
Swish.
Gaon turned his head.
And the Abyss members who were the first to suffer Bone-Crushing Agony floated over.
Gaon stopped the Bone-Crushing Agony.
And he lifted the Silence magic.
“P-Please stop…….!”
“S-Save us.”
“I’ll tell you everything……”
At the same time, as if agreed upon, they all poured out words.
Gaon smiled brightly and began the interrogation.
Not long after, the interrogation of the Abyss members ended, and following that, Gaon interrogated the second group who harbored demonic energy.
And a while later, the interrogation of the second group ended, and finally, he interrogated the third group with neither restrictions nor demonic energy.
Having interrogated everyone like that, Gaon learned a lot.
As expected.
As predicted, the mastermind behind this rebellion was Larun.
Kidnapping and imprisoning Roker was also directly planned by Larun.
And surprisingly, Larun wasn’t colluded with one or two forces from the demon world faction.
The forces Gaon confirmed alone were four.
And four wasn’t the end.
“Hmm.”
Gaon let out a groan and waved his hand.
Then, those who had lied and were receiving additional Bone-Crushing Agony, the ones who made foolish choices, all froze and met death.
Having finished cleaning up the rebellion faction like that, Gaon left the pavilion and went back the way he came.
A while later, upon arriving at the entrance, Gaon could see Roker standing alone at the entrance.
Around him, those who had been guarding the entrance were sprawled out.
Naturally, none were alive.
Especially, the strongest one who had noticed Gaon had Roker’s sword embedded in his chest.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Roker spotted Gaon and bowed deeply in greeting.
And Gaon told Roker the full story of the kidnapping and rebellion he had just learned.
“……!”
Disbelief appeared on Roker’s face after hearing the whole story.
Of course, it was disbelief meaning it was hard to believe, not denying Gaon’s words.
And Gaon continued.
“Go to Asode now and relay the situation. And tell him to decide what he plans to do from now on. As for the answer to the question…….”
Trailing off, Gaon turned his head to look in the direction of Larun’s residence, which could be called the heart of the emperor’s faction, and continued.
“Tell him I’ll hear it directly after killing the emperor.”
Gaon had no intention of leaving Larun alone.
All this started from Larun’s hands.
Moreover, Larun had colluded with the demon world.
And quite deeply at that.
In this situation, leaving Larun alone was impossible.
“……!”
Roker made a surprised face at Gaon’s words.
However, that was brief.
He quickly calmed the surprise and answered.
“I’ll relay everything without missing a thing.”
“Be careful.”
Gaon said to Roker and left the place first.
And he headed to the center.
The emperor’s faction was occupying the center and north of the imperial palace.
Gaon planned to clean up from the center and go up step by step.
Of course, cleaning up didn’t mean killing everyone.
He planned to kill only those with restrictions or hiding demonic energy.
And for the rest, he planned to put them to sleep or subdue them for now.
Literally for now.
Just because they had no restrictions or demonic energy didn’t mean he planned to let them all live.
Because colluding with the demon world didn’t necessarily mean having restrictions or demonic energy.
And even if not colluded with the demon world, there might be no need to let them live.
Gaon planned to thoroughly investigate and then deal with them.
Like that, Gaon began cleaning up the emperor’s faction as planned and going up.
And a while later.
Step.
Gaon stopped moving.
Because of a middle-aged man who appeared in front.
The middle-aged man had brilliant golden hair and golden eyes.
And he held 50cm-long swords, one in each hand.
Through various features, Gaon could tell the middle-aged man’s identity.
It was definitely Hargeos, one of the Ten Swords of the Rios Empire.
And Hargeos opened his mouth.
“It is an honor to meet the great mage Sir Gaon.”
Gaon didn’t respond to Hargeos’s greeting.
Instead, he looked behind Hargeos.
Not visible to the eye, but a knight order was waiting behind.
Definitely the Sky Knights Order led by Hargeos.
And as Gaon said nothing, Hargeos continued.
“I won’t ask why you’re doing this. Instead, could you please leave like this?”
Having finished speaking, Hargeos gauged Gaon’s reaction.
And Gaon stared at Hargeos and asked.
“Do you know everything?”
” “
“You must know, there’s no way you don’t. It doesn’t make sense that the leader of the emperor’s direct knight order doesn’t know how the current situation is going.”
The Sky Knights Order was a direct knight order that received only the emperor’s commands.
Would Hargeos, one of the empire’s Ten Swords and leader of the Sky Knights Order, not know the full story of the current situation and the fact that Emperor Larun colluded with the demon world?
No, the probability he knows is 100%.
“Then, knowing and still following means…….”
Trailing off, Gaon looked at Hargeos with a face full of disappointment.
This was Gaon’s first meeting with Hargeos now.
However, Gaon knew Hargeos well.
Not just because of his status as one of the empire’s Ten Swords and leader of the Sky Knights Order.
It was because of a famous incident related to Hargeos.
Hargeos lost his wife and children to a demon baron.
From then on, Hargeos killed demons indiscriminately.
The demons killed by Hargeos were not one or two.
Yet, knowing Larun colluded with the demon world, he’s acting like this?
Hargeos couldn’t say anything.
He just had a complicated face.
He knows it’s wrong.
Should he consider it fortunate at least?
Hargeos recognized that the current situation was wrong.
Right then.
“……”
Hargeos opened his mouth.
“I have pledged my life to His Majesty the Emperor.”
And as he finished speaking, Hargeos raised his energy.
Swaaak!
Golden energy emanated from Hargeos’s entire body.
Vivid enough to be visible to the eye.
“Hmm.”
Gaon let out a groan.
Not because of Hargeos’s choice.
Brainwashing?
While the complication was getting stronger, a peculiar energy appeared in Hargeos’s pupils.
At that moment, the complication disappeared.
He couldn’t tell what method was used, but it was definitely brainwashing.
Brainwashing a Sword Master…….
That’s why he was even more surprised.
Hargeos was a being who crossed the wall.
Crossing the wall makes mental strength leap dramatically.
Yet, piercing that strong mental strength and brainwashing?
Makes me even more curious about what kind of guy he is.
The probability that the one who did the brainwashing was Larun, the culprit of all this, was very high.
He became even more curious about what kind of being Larun was.
By what means did he brainwash Hargeos?
And at that moment.
Having finished all preparations, Hargeos moved.
Gaon pondered for a moment.
Whether to subdue Hargeos and check what kind of brainwashing it was, or just kill him.
And while pondering, Hargeos arrived.
Slash! Slash!
Hargeos swung the swords in both hands.
Gaon, seeing the two swords flying toward his neck and heart, ended his pondering.
Let’s kill him.
Anyway, he planned to meet Larun soon.
He could hear how the brainwashing was done from Larun.
No need to waste time on Hargeos.
Swaat!
A curtain appeared.
And Hargeos’s two swords struck the curtain.
Ting! Ting!
Naturally, the two swords couldn’t pierce the curtain.
“……!”
Panic rose on Hargeos’s face.
And Gaon created a Pacheonki sword and swung it.
Whoosh!
The Pacheonki sword easily cleaved through Hargeos’s brilliant golden light and then reached Hargeos’s neck.
Slash!
That was the end.
Hargeos’s head floated into the sky.
And the body that lost its head began falling backward.
Gaon extended his hand.
Not to catch Hargeos’s body.
Swaaa!
Wind blew.
A very sharp wind.
The place the wind headed was the Sky Knights Order waiting behind, who had rushed out.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The knights of the Sky Knights Order met the same end as Hargeos.
Every single one without exception.