Chapter 32
A man adorned with gaudy ornaments.
The Golden Duke's hands began to tremble.
Though he had faced countless crises on his way to this position, never had things been this dire. Even for things that defied common sense, there had to be a limit.
'The Iron-Blood Duke and the Primordial Dragon. And now even the Imperial Family takes his side. Everyone's completely lost their minds.'
Those unbelievable rumors were true.
Somehow, in just one month, Ryan had managed to bring such powerful figures to his side.
What returned was a horrifically inevitable conclusion.
What should have been a light warning shot had turned into a fatal miscalculation.
Perhaps they had long seen his influence within the Academy as a thorn in their side. That bastard seized this attack as justification and escalated things to an insane degree.
Threatening resignation to turn public opinion.
That shameless self-harm display in front of the Primordial Dragon.
In the blink of an eye, he had become the empire's most hated man, with every power player throwing stones at him.
'He must have been waiting for me to attack.'
This couldn't possibly be mere coincidence. Just look at how perfectly everything played into Ryan's hands.
Both justice and victory were on Ryan's side.
No matter how you looked at it, he was clearly the villain here.
By not getting directly involved in the riots, Ryan kept his hands and image clean while letting others do the dirty work.
And by showing such a miserable end to someone who so blatantly opposed him, no one would dare challenge his authority after today.
Absolute power would fall into that bastard's hands.
'...When that happens, my life is over.'
He hadn't even sent assassins yet.
Given how he would bury someone just for throwing a warning shot, it was obvious what would happen next.
He'd make an example with a cruel execution.
That's what he himself would have done in that position.
'This is no time to be picky about methods.'
It was do or die.
If he didn't kill his opponent, he would be the one to die.
Having made this judgment, the Golden Duke immediately headed toward the warehouse. The only hope of turning this situation around lay within that storage room.
Underground passage. After disabling numerous locks and proceeding forward, what came into view was a doll made of flesh.
Among his many valuable possessions, this was his greatest treasure. An artifact obtained from a dungeon that had killed six of the seven elite mercenaries he had hired.
'It manipulates causality to fix the worst possible future.'
This wasn't just about making someone slightly unlucky.
A divine object that could manipulate causality itself. It selects and realizes only the most terrible outcome from countless possible universes.
An item that could only be used once. Though it had the drawback of requiring 666 innocent souls to be devoured beforehand, its power was beyond imagination.
With this, even the Primordial Dragon could be killed.
All he had to do was confirm the possibility where Zion's mind deteriorates and chooses suicide.
'Using such an item here would be a painful loss, but if it can save my life...'
It was more than worth it.
Having reached this conclusion, the Golden Duke immediately began driving nails into the flesh doll while chanting Ryan's name.
An ominous energy spread from the doll.
The curse was undoubtedly cast successfully.
Now all that awaited Ryan was a miserable downfall.
All of this would be revealed as his own fabrication. The Golden Duke and the Acting Director had never tried to assassinate him.
That truth would come to light and everyone would abandon him. He would die miserably, stoned to death for deceiving everyone. Surely such an end awaited that bastard.
'Underestimating me was your fatal mistake.'
He had to acknowledge Ryan's abilities.
Gathering such influence in this short time would be impossible even with a demon's contract.
But that professor was too arrogant. His overconfidence in his abilities made him blind to one fact - that there are some opponents in this world you should never provoke.
'Farewell Ryan, I'll at least pray for your peaceful rest.'
Certain of his victory, the Golden Duke smiled faintly.
*****
Even when caught by a tiger, there's a way to survive. When facing crisis, that's precisely when one must not stop thinking.
An apocalyptic atmosphere.
Though the situation was bewildering, I pondered how to resolve this somehow... and came up with it.
A solution that could instantly reverse this crisis.
'This situation, isn't it quite usable in its own way?'
The current riots were definitely excessive.
I didn't care what happened to the woman who suddenly attacked and nearly killed me. But hunting down board members just for agreeing with my disciplinary action was going too far.
If I were to appear here and declare 'You really did this for my sake? Did you think I would rejoice in such conflict and violence!'
It would surely work.
It would be stranger if it didn't.
Me, who rumors say is fighting for my life. If I appeared perfectly fine and shouted that, everyone would cool their heads and reflect on their actions.
If I showed my disappointment in everyone, those crushed by guilt wouldn't dare make a sound.
No one could stop me if I said I was leaving this place.
Achieving both my wish and solving the problem - killing two birds with one stone.
There was no reason not to implement this plan.
I squeezed out what little magical power I had to cast a voice amplification spell, and declared to everyone:
"Stop this meaningless fighting."
...But something was wrong.
I had meant to shower everyone with curses, yet what came out was an impossibly calm voice.
"To give in to momentary anger and spill innocent blood - I cannot condone such foolishness."
A sudden eerie energy enveloped me.
My mouth moved against my will.
I couldn't even dispel it. A mystery originating from an artifact, neither spell nor curse. This was in the realm of miracles, impossible to explain away.
"Karen, did you complete your mission properly?"
A black-clad figure who had appeared nodded.
As expected, you must have anticipated our actions. Such certainty filled Karen's eyes.
Who she brought was... an elderly man.
The starting point of this whole incident.
The Director who was said to be fighting for his life after being caught in an explosion.
"The treatment was successful. The herbs from our promised land proved effective indeed."
I am always in awe of your foresight.
Karen bowed to me while saying this.
"You must have something to say about this situation."
However, ignoring the flattery completely, I looked at the old man behind her. The Director met my eyes, seeming to have steeled himself for something.
He swallowed hard and stepped forward before everyone.
The old man shouted loudly, filled with anger.
"Who are you to impersonate my niece!"
The woman who served as Acting Director, claiming to be his niece.
The revelation that she wasn't actually related by blood.
Even I didn't understand what this meant, yet my mouth kept moving on its own. My voice remained calm, as if having seen through such tricks long ago.
"A Human Skin Mask. A deception I encountered a few times while working as a problem solver in the slums. You planned to evade the Primordial Dragon's eyes through physical means rather than magic.
...Did you think such petty tricks would work on me?"
The Acting Director's eyes shook wildly. When one of the knights holding her pulled off her face, what emerged was the visage of an ugly woman.
Everyone's faces filled with shock.
Students gasped, wondering if she had really been a demon.
Then you tortured her even thinking she wasn't a demon? What exactly am I to you people? These words rose to my throat, but my mouth was no longer mine to control.
Instead, what came out was a truly strange statement.
"Everyone on the board was under an enchantment cast by this Thousand-Faced Demonkin. If we had continued fighting and spilling blood, it would have only served that creature's wishes."
Thousand-Faced Demonkin don't exist.
That person wasn't even strong enough to cast mass enchantments on Academy higher-ups.
Therefore, they were just a common criminal.
Probably just a small fry who received a Human Skin Mask from the Golden Duke.
But why did I bring up enchantment magic?
The answer became clear before long.
"Ah..."
Dozens of elderly men wept like babies.
People on the Golden Duke's side shed tears of emotion.
I will forgive your sins. I will overlook it this time, so never repeat such wrong choices. My words must have sounded like that to them.
Proving this, mental messages poured in. One by one, Academy higher-ups swore eternal loyalty to me.
The entire board was falling into my hands.
A horrifying situation.
Yet the misfortune that befell me didn't end there.
Academy professors and students grew somber.
Before people suffering guilt for attacking innocents in my name, my mouth opened on its own.
"Though I had to hurriedly stop things due to the urgent situation, I know you all acted for my sake. I am truly grateful for those feelings."
I walked slowly toward everyone.
Meeting everyone's gaze, I asked playfully.
"But I'm a bit hurt too. Did you all really have so little faith in me?"
A smile bright enough to be irritating.
I declared to the people with a grin.
"How could I possibly leave all of you behind?"
Cheers erupted as soon as the words ended.
Everyone chanted my name as they rushed toward me.
My body rose into the sky again and again as students lifted me up. Where screams and blood had dominated just before, now only joyful laughter rang out.
...It was a happy ending for everyone except me.