The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 35

Chapter 35: The Roaring Lion of Victory (Victoria’s Side)

“What’s going on here?”

As he walked through the castle corridor, he swung Justirelion to repel the approaching monsters. A crimson light, the Emperor’s aura, transformed into blades, cleaving the monsters and smashing them into the walls, turning them into magic stones.

He pondered where these monsters, unlike any seen in the Empire or even the Hume Continent, had come from. Had there been a lapse in the security magical tools or the vigilance of the knights?

New monsters crawled out of every shadow in the corridor. They advanced with sharp, pointed arms aimed at him.

“Get out of my way, fools.”

Releasing the power of Justirelion, his aura, he dispersed them. With each new wave, he advanced. However, there stood something different from the monsters encountered so far.

“Well, well, one could say, ‘Long live Emperor Victoria,’ as you remain composed even in this urgent situation…”

He directed a slashing strike at the man with a deep black hood. The man dodged at the last moment, and Justirelion descended where he had been.

The man intercepted Justirelion with a black staff he seemed to have produced from nowhere. The floor cracked around him, but the man remained calm, wearing a smile.

“Before we engage in a fight, how about an introduction…?”

“Are you the one who contacted that fool? Sneaking around in my empire… is that so?”

“Oh my, you figured it out. I’m just a humble merchant, you know?”

Just before the man was pushed back, monsters attacked from the surrounding shadows. By releasing his aura throughout his body, he blew away the monsters that came in a group.

The vanished man reappeared from the shadows a little distance away. He had used that staff, probably a special ability granted by a rare drop, to infiltrate.

“But perhaps you’re being a bit too destructive? If you unleash Justirelion’s power fully, the castle won’t survive, will it?”

“In that case, I’ll either restrain you right away, or you’ll be buried under rubble before the castle collapses.”

“How dreadful. Even I didn’t anticipate that you would wield Justirelion to this extent… But from my perspective, I’ve gone through so much trouble running around here, and it seems I can finally obtain what I’m after, so I’d hate to withdraw now. Therefore…”

The man tapped his staff on the floor, and shadows spread from him, followed by the presence of monsters from all directions.

“It seems a bit forceful, but I’ll have to collect everything in this castle that’s a true rare drop, not the imitation you gave me…”

The monsters closed in with an overwhelming density compared to before. He cut them down one by one with his aura, but every time he did, more monsters came rushing at him.

“It’s futile. My Shadow Legion can produce shadows endlessly.”

He could hear the man’s voice from beyond the legion of shadows. Certainly, with such an overwhelming force, the man might think he could take his life, and he couldn’t blame him.

“I have no choice, then…”

“Oh? Will you yield?”

“I will spare you if you tell me everything about those associated with you, the ones connected to you, and your comrades. But… when you’ve been this reckless, I can’t just let you off easily.”

He released his aura throughout his body again, blowing away the monsters. As the monsters sent flying turned into a wall and the pressure momentarily abated, he held up Justirelion.

“Your actions have increased the Empire’s pus. I had to go through unnecessary trouble to drain that pus. Your foolishness must be paid for with your life.”

The lion’s eye on Justirelion’s guard gleamed, and as it shone, his aura swelled, dispelling the shadows that had surrounded him completely.