Chapter 36: Death flags suddenly
“Why. . .”
The flickering black magic and the surging pressure hit Minister Freed directly, causing him to fall to the ground.
With his red eyes shining in the dim light, the minister screamed out.
“How! How did you find this place?!”
“Do I have an obligation to answer you?”
Julius answered succinctly and lightly waved his right hand. Just that was enough to send one of the men who had just gotten up stumbling and crashing into the stone wall.
The other men screamed and tried to run away, but Julius didn’t let them escape. Mechanically hunting down the consciousness of each man one by one, he headed straight for Freed.
Slowly but steadily, the king approached Freed, who trembled in fear. Even so, Freed calmly looked around the room and nodded as he saw the necklace rolling on the ground.
“I see. You added another trick to the necklace, didn’t you? For example, if a third party damages the necklace, the location would be transmitted to you. . .”
But, however.
“Shut up.”
Julius interrupted Freed’s words with a low voice. Suddenly, a shadow burst out of Julius’s shoulder, transforming into a huge wolf that bared its fangs at Freed. The sharp teeth gouged into his shoulder, causing Freed to scream.
Looking down at him with terrifyingly cold eyes, Julius spat out his words.
“Who said you could speak? Who said I would listen to you? Who said it?”
The shadow covering him suddenly grew larger. In the midst of the magic storm blowing like a tempest, Julius shouted, his black hair fluttering.
“Who said I would spare you?!”
“Tch!”
Freed clicked his tongue while protecting his wound. The next moment, the minister stroked the empty space with his bloodied hand, and a black hole appeared there, swaying.
As soon as the minister rolled into it from his back, the hole disappeared as if it were a lie.
Margaery was amazed by the phenomenon that happened before her eyes.
“W-Where did the minister go?!”
“It’s a type of teleportation magic. If we follow the magical trace, we can find him soon.”
Julius answered calmly and turned on his heel.
Margaery was startled by the face turned towards her. Light seemed to have been drained from his red eyes, as if all emotions had frozen over due to anger and hatred.
“Yuri, sama…”
Margaery was speechless.
He was consumed by murderous intent, and he was magnificently beautiful. Even Margaery felt a chilling sensation that made her shudder.
Julius walked straight towards Margaery, who couldn’t move. He then hugged her as she trembled.
Margaery noticed that he was also trembling.
“I won’t forgive him. Lucius Freed.”
Despite the gentleness of his embrace, his voice was hard and resolute in her ear. He growled with a pale anger, boiling with rage.
“――I will definitely kill him with my own hands…”
The next moment, Margaery was under the sunlight.
Her vision blurred into white due to the sudden transition from the dimly lit place to the bright one. She instinctively covered one of her eyes with her hand and realized that she was no longer restrained.
After blinking several times, she finally realized where she was.
It was one of the attractions of Loire Castle, a large garden overlooking the Loire River and beautiful flowers. Margaery and Julius were waiting there every day for special training. Julius had apparently used his teleportation magic to fly from the underground dungeon to the garden.
(Why the garden. . .?)
Julius held Margaery in his arms and looked down at the garden with a chilling gaze. When she asked him quietly about her doubts, Margaery heard a scream.
“Blood! There’s blood!”
“Help! Get a medic! Someone, call a medic!”
The people dressed up for the ceremony were making a fuss.
It didn’t seem like much time had passed since Margaery was kidnapped. The guests invited to Flora’s engagement ceremony were apparently strolling through the garden to pass the time until the ceremony.
Minister Freed was among the gentlemen and ladies who were looking in that direction.
It was probably due to the wounds inflicted by the shadow wolf. Blood was seeping through his beige ceremonial clothes, and the red that spilled from his staggering body was staining the well-manicured lawn.
“How are you, Minister Freed?”
A middle-aged gentleman who was one of the high-ranking officials approached him with concern.
At that moment, Julius waved his hand. A gust of magical wind blew, and Freed’s body was blown away as if it had been hit by an invisible hand.
As screams rose, Margaery thought it was a bad situation.
Julius’s eyes only reflected Freed. While Margaery couldn’t forgive what Freed had done, she couldn’t let the king show a scene of purging a high-ranking official without any evidence in front of many people.
“Yuri-sama! Wait, Yuri-sama!”
She tugged at his clothes, but Julius showed no sign of looking at her. Instead, he gazed at the fallen Freed with his lifeless eyes and spoke in a cold voice.
“What’s wrong? Is the game of tag over?”
Freed gritted his teeth.
He stood up and touched the empty space again.
It was another space-time transfer. Margaery was on guard, but Freed didn’t enter the black hole.
Instead, about ten demon beasts, the same ones that attacked them in the forest, jumped out from inside.
“Demon beasts!”
“Demon beasts have appeared?!”
As soon as they saw the demon beasts, the people who had gathered in confusion began to scatter like bees.
“Run, run!! King, your people are seeking salvation!”
Freed laughed as he protected his wounds. Even Julius clicked his tongue at the people who were running away in fear.
“Damn it. Dirty tricks. . .!”
At that moment, a familiar voice echoed in the garden.
“What’s going on?”
He must have rushed over after hearing the commotion. Serge, dressed in white formal attire for the engagement ceremony, jumped in. Behind him was Flora, looking anxious.
Serge’s eyes widened in horror as he saw his brother, Freed, and the people fleeing from the demon beasts.
“What is this. . .! Why are there demon beasts in the castle?!”
“Serge-sama, Flora-sama! Watch out!”
Margaery shouted as one of the demon beasts jumped at the two from behind the hedge.
“Kyaa!”
Flora screamed. Serge instinctively hugged her, while Margaery could only watch helplessly.
The demon beast’s sharp fangs and claws were tearing apart their pure white clothes.
“Serge-sama! Flora-sama!!”
Through the gaps in their outstretched fingers, Margaery could see the two of them crouching down.
――But.
A black gust of wind raced through the garden. With short, anguished cries, the demon beasts fell one after another. The demon beast that had attacked Flora and the others also fell to the ground in the same way.
“. . .Haa, . . .haa.”
Julius let out a rough breath. The black wolf melted away as he extended his hand.
The next moment, Julius fell to his knees.
“Yuri-sama?!”
Margaery couldn’t support him alone, so she crouched down with him. The people’s cheers reached their ears.
“It’s His Majesty! His Majesty has swept away the demon beasts!”
“Long live King Julius! Long live the Wolf King!”
“Can you hear me, Yuri-sama? Yuri-sama?!”
Contrary to the people who were boiling with joy, Margaery rubbed his large back and desperately called out to him.
(This is bad. His magic is about to go out of control. . .!)
He kneeled down, hunched over, and looked in great pain. His breathing was rough, his beautiful black hair swayed with surging magic, and his red eyes shone unnaturally from time to time.
It was probably triggered by the fear of almost losing his loved one, and the strong anger and hatred towards the culprit. Furthermore, the wide-area magic he used to save everyone from the demon beast became the trigger.
“It’s started. It’s started.”
Freed, who noticed Julius’s change, blushed with excitement.
“It’s over. Everyone will die because of your magic going out of control, Julius!!”
“Magic going out of control?” “No way.” The people began to stir. It seemed that the belief that the Wolf King would not go out of control and the thought that they could not abandon the king who saved them were slowing everyone down.
In the midst of this, Serge, who was saved by Julius, approached Margaery with a worried look.
“Margaery, what happened? Is my brother. . .”
“Don’t come!”
Julius shouted angrily, pushing aside his rough breathing.
To Serge, who stopped in his tracks, Julius gave orders while shrugging his shoulders up and down.
“. . .Evacuate everyone and seal off the garden with a barrier. Got it? No matter what happens, never release the barrier. . .!”
“B-But!”
“Hurry up!!”
The silent screams spoke volumes about the limited time they had left. Serge’s face tensed up, but ultimately he chose to fulfill his duty as the king’s brother. With a heartbreaking determination that tore him apart, he shouted to the people:
“Everyone, evacuate! Those who are safe, assist the women, children, and the injured! This garden will be immediately sealed off by a magic barrier!”
“Serve you right! You usurper!!”
The guards who rushed over restrained Freed, who was laughing loudly. He couldn’t escape anymore since he was bound by magic-restraining ropes. As he was dragged away, he continued to laugh triumphantly until the end.
Despite being reluctant to leave, the others headed towards the designated castle. On the other side, the palace magicians began to chant spells.
An invisible prison was gradually being constructed to minimize the damage.
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