act18d0

Your threat is weak and empty. Wherever I stand, the earth beneath me belongs to the Empire of Ursus.

You never had the right to address me, traitor, not before the word 'demon' left your lips. Soon, I will beat out of you how you came to know this secret...

Your understanding of the 'demons' does not grant you a dialogue. You murdered an Ursus Grand Duke, and you know of our darkest secrets.

Your countless crimes... are worthy of a thousand deaths.

It seems we won't be convincing each other for the moment.

Though that applies only to... your evaluation of the situation on hand.

Beast, bare your fangs!

You can't fool me!

Mon3tr...

(Impatient braying)

Mon3tr, do not underestimate him.

He's no normal human.

You hid a device here in the garden... No... a creature...? *Hiss*...

You know of the 'demons,' and you have a monster serving you. One that Ursus's vast knowledge is yet unaware of.

Perhaps your crimes have far exceeded my expectations.

Or perhaps I managed to make an impression on a Royal Guard.

*Hiss*...!

I won't deny it, traitor.

But you have my curiosity. What drove you to betray our homeland...? No, no... Perhaps... my investigations did not fully uncover your entire past.

And it looks like that is indeed the case. Unlike the criminals who escaped to Sami, it appears you still have a trick up your sleeve.

Do not get the wrong idea... It is hardly a difficult matter... to kill you.

I suppose it's why you are staining this area around us?

You needn't concern yourself. I know what I am doing.

—Mon3tr!

(Wailing)—

*Hiss*... I did not expect it to be this hard.

If your own flesh and blood is also as hardened, then, indeed, it makes you a formidable foe.

Mon3tr, come back. Don't chase after him.

Avoid the black mist. That's not mist at all.

This is far beyond the normal realm of Originium Arts... It looks like it has really been too long since I last dealt with the Emperor's Blade. You and your men have made remarkable progress.

You know this much about our secrets...?!

Even the most senior Ursus scientist would never be allowed to meddle in the Royal Guards' ancient ritual...

Ancient rituals. Yes, only the ceremonies of your crazed, self-proclaimed spiritual leaders could adorn your kinds with your demons.

You're a survivor of the Valley of the Setting Sun.

*Hiss*...!

The Empire's will is always focused and unswerving, yet your goal seems to stray from your motherland's. At the very least, you are not that young.

You should not be fighting me, Royal Guard. Both you and I know that the job I finished was one that you and your men should've done yourselves, but never did.

Don't be mistaken about where that right lies, traitor. You do not represent Deity Grypherburg's laws and prestige.

If you truly witnessed the whole uprising, Royal Guard, then you should understand this more so than anyone. The Empire's rise and fall has never truly been affected by dignity and honor.

Let me ask you this, then. Did the last emperor ever truly look down on Victoria from the bottom of his heart?

Perhaps I do not give you enough credit, traitor.

I will give you one last chance. Reveal your secrets, and I will grant you a dignified death.

Alas, given this death would have nothing to do with my own conviction, dignity was never on the table.

Mon3tr.

(Elated braying)

*Hiss*... *Huff*...

As the fear in the air heightens, the Royal Guard draws his blade. He is about to execute Ursus's will.

6下

*Hiss*...!

This technique...! Your body's rigidity and your judgment are nothing alike! What are you?!

(Howls)

Wait, Mon3tr!

(Sorrowful wailing)

You humiliated me, monster... This is what you deserve.

Hmph!

Mon3tr, readjust. He's on his last legs.

*Hiss*...

Those are no minor injuries, Royal Guard.

Likewise, traitor. You gave yourself an injection... You most certainly felt more than a poke in the arm.

How peculiar. By appearance, you are no different from a veteran warrior. You possess all the traits necessary for you to be the perfect soldier, yet you rely on a beast... a monster for your power.

The marks of battle can be covered, but the lands you've tainted can never bear fruit again. You should not have been so obstinate in your actions.

You fear... Certainly, if you truly know our secrets, then you should feel nothing but fear right now.

'Each Royal Guard is himself a nation.' The language of this saying is certainly colorful, but it also speaks the truth rather plainly.

Need I remind you? Your mask is fracturing. Reality is reacting to the evil that lingers in your body. The cage created by the ritual is beginning to fissure.

Or do you really believe that Victoria will turn a blind eye when an Ursus Royal Guard sets off a horrifying annihilation at a count's manor?

The Royal Guards' duty rests with all that exists in Ursus.

Don't make me laugh...! I don't need a traitor to teach me what my duty is.

Tell me, then. Who do you serve? Ursus as it is now, or the great shadows of the past?

Tell me, Royal Guard. Do not bring shame to your title.

—Tell me, what does the current Ursus Emperor think of the Pine Valley affair?

Or do you mean to tell me the seeds of that uprising, the origins of the crisis were all the will of the Emperor?

You were the cause of it all!

(Roars)

—Feel free to keep deceiving yourself, but the truth is the young emperor is unaware of the events that transpired there.

You believe he has no need to know.

You... all of you seek a bygone era.

I won't judge whether this is correct, but when a Grand Duke is allowed to die in a political conflict, his death will always lead to an all new rebellion.

This is not for you to judge.

I can foresee the many consequences of his death. Some wished for him to die out of anger and their desire for so-called justice. They wanted his death in order to erase evidence and to cut off ties.

Others wished for him to live. They wanted him to continue to fulfill the duty he cannot remove himself from. Perhaps there were also those who wanted to keep a witness alive to serve as a stepping stone, to revolt against all those involved with the Third Army.

It didn't matter whether he lived or not. The key was how the contradiction that followed was handled.

You don't mean...

It was up to an unremarkable Ursus assassin to kill the Grand Duke, someone she could never imagine to reach, out of personal grudge. Only then were those crimes finally erased, digested like grass seeds eaten by burdenbeasts.

From the sound of it... You have great foresight. You mean to tell me you solved such a difficult problem as a mere citizen?

It was the best choice to make in order to keep Ursus's internal friction from developing any further.

(Strange sound) Enough with the presumptuousness!

(Braying)

Traitor! Your excuse is an insult to Ursus!

Even if all is truly as you say and your actions benefit Ursus in thousands of ways, it was not your decision to make!

—Control yourself, Royal Guard.

I can smell your lies—How dare you claim you did this for Ursus?!

(It's spreading. Even though it's only a small demon shard embedded in that device, it is more than enough to level this entire manor.)

—The Valley of the Setting Sun has turned into a land of fear!

(If the Royal Guard wants my life... Mon3tr... Kill him immediately. That's far more effective than defense.)

Even if the Empire's glory lasts another thousand years, those black lands no longer belong to Ursus! They are no longer part of this world!

Do you want to repeat your mishaps?! Do you want to drag the Empire into a war of unimaginable scale just because you lost control of yourself?!

You are just caught up in the former emperor's grand vision!

*Hiss*...!

That moment, the fear in the air immediately boils into material substance.

Once the earthshaking emotional release comes to a halt, there remains nothing but a faint, ominous black glow emanating from the cracks of the Royal Guard's mask.