***Wilthelm’s POV***

Hello Everyone! My name is Wilthelm-Nikolas Altair von Atlantasia.

Now I am officially known as Wilthelm VII, the new Emperor of the Atlantasia Empire. You can just call me Will at this point. Wilthelm-Nikolas is a tongue-biter and Wilthelm VII is too formal. I don't give a hoot about formalities.

Huh? Is the way I speak suddenly weird? Oh wait, you might all be wondering why an Emperor is speaking so casually but before we get to that.

I think I need to deal with the present.

Particularly these bums kneeling in front of me.

***

Upon my declaration, all the nobles before me had their smiles frozen.

There was a deafening silence that engulfed the hall.

Marquis Rasputin broke the silence with a shaky voice, “Um…Your Majesty…what are you-”

“Who gave you permission to speak?”

I cut him off and whipped out my wand, which I had secretly concealed underneath my clothes. I aimed it right at his face and shot a blast of Magic at him.

Of course, I was aiming for it to soar past his face by an inch.

Although it wound up striking a decorative plant and causing it to explode.

The nobles who were near it screamed in terror.

Rasfutin wound up wetting himself as a result. Gross. I gave him a look as though I found some disgusting dog crap underneath my shoes.

“WILTHELM?! JUST WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!”

Stahlin's shouting caused me to turn and glance at him.

Oh, now that's a sight.

He completely ruined his whole gentlemanly façe by having it contort in rage. I bet the guests and the populace were shocked by seeing this side of him for the first time.

In response, I gave him the sliest of smirks. Oh, I can see his eyes widen. It seems he has finally realized it, huh?

Well, let's get this show on the road!

I raised my spare hand and snapped my finger. In an instant, several black-clad figures emerged from the shadows.

There were loud shrieks and gasps.

“Eeek?!”

“KYAAA?!!!”

“The Night Lurkers?!”

“You mean those rogue assassins!”

“They’ve infiltrated the Palace?!”

“We’re going to die!”

Those were the screams that kept ringing in my ears. Um, did they all just forget that I was the one who gave the signal for them to come out? Well, whatever…

“Aim for your targets! Those loyal to me-Invoke my Orders!”

“””Yes, Your Majesty!”””

The shocking turn of events where the infamous Night Lurkers obeyed my orders has left everyone speechless.

The nobles I called out earlier were all quickly surrounded and restrained. Some tried to escape but were easily subdued with a few punches to the gut and smacks to the face. Several of the Night Lurkers gathered around my mother and the Prime Minister. One to protect, the other...not so much

My mother trembled when they approached but she quickly regained her composure as she stood up.

“W-Who are you?! How dare you-”

“We are here to protect you, Ma’am. By His Majesty’s orders.”

“Eh? Wilthelm's?! W-What’s going on?”

Mother looked around in confusion but they did not respond further as they formed a circle with their backs turned to her.

In Stahlin’s case, however, they gathered around him with their blades drawn.

“You worms dare to show yourselves in front of me?! Schweiz! Don’t just stand there! Do something!”

He immediately called out the Knight Captain, Whulvric Ludlow von Schweiz, to have his guards deal with this situation.

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He was a giant of a man who had been busy stuffing his face with the roasted meat while flirting with the ladies. Shocked by the turn of events, he didn’t display the alert responsiveness expected from a Knight Captain.

“Y-Yes, of course!"

He quickly dropped his plate and pushed the girl he was flirting with out of the way. What a gentleman...

He quickly drew out his massive claymore sword.

"Men, charge!”

He quickly ran towards the assailants with his sword ready. His men did charge. But not in the way he wanted. The Knights quickly surrounded him. All their swords and shields at the ready towards him!

“W-What?! You idiots! What the hell are you doing?!”

A young man with dog ears, a tell-tale sign of being from the Beastmen Race, responded. He was the Vice-Captain, Leofold Schweiz. And yes, he was that man's brother.

“I’m afraid we have our orders, Captain.”

“Leofold! You little twat! I knew you’d betray us!”

“That’s incorrect, Captain, I am following His Majesty’s orders. He has given us prior orders to surround you the moment you would show signs of assisting the Prime Minister.”

“What?! When did that brat?!”

Oi, did he just call his monarch a "brat"?

“Good work, Vice-Captain Leofold. Have your men restrain Captain von Schweiz for now if you please”

“As you wish, Your Majesty…Men! Seize the Captain!”

“““Yes, sir!”””

“Tch! Don’t you fools look down on me!”

He quickly began fighting the soldiers. Hmmm, even though his intellect and morality are questionable his fighting skills were indeed nothing to laugh about. And given his natural huge size and brute strength, it would give him an advantage.

However…

“HAAA-!”

Leofold engaged him in a fight.

“LEOFOLD, YOOOOUUUU-!!!”

It was a scene where the Captain and Vice-Captain fought to the death in the sub-climax of a show. I have to admit. I was having the time of my life standing here and watching this unfold.

Wulfric may have a huge frame, monstrous strength, and sword skills.

However…

Leofold was more skillful.

He parried and dodged every one of Whulvric’s attacks while at the same time all his attacks hit their mark. He even utilized his enemy’s monstrous size to his advantage. He quickly blocked Whulvric’s sword strike and swung his foot to knock the captain off his feet. And in one fluid motion, Wulfric fell backward with a loud thud that shook the hall. His sword fell out of his hand. He tried to get up but Leofold had already aimed his sword at his throat.

“It’s over.”

“Guh-“

When Stahlin saw his “little” stooge collapse in defeat he clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Tch! Looks like I have to do everything myself!”

Stahlin raised his hand. The ring on his right hand glowed as it was engulfed in flames. The Night Lurkers took a wary stance.

Just as he was about to raise his hand to strike, I slashed my wand at him.

“Wind Scythe”

I sent a blade of wind that slashed his arm off! Adolf hollered in pain. From the corner of my eye, I can see his daughter shrieking in horror.

I pointed my wand at his bloodied stump and the bloodied ice quickly formed and spread around the stump of what’s left of his arm. Well, I can’t have you dying of blood loss just yet.

“Restrain him now.”

Night Lurkers all nodded as they quickly knocked him to the ground and tied him up.

I clapped my hands to signify the end of the skirmish.

Well, that was easier than I thought.

***

I had all the captured nobles kneel before me. The Night Lurkers and Knights surrounded our prey to make sure they wouldn’t try anything.

“Well, you've all done great.”

I began after surveying them all. Now we can move to the next part of the program.

“WILTHELMMMMM!!!!!”

A loud shout cut me off mid-stream. I turned towards the voice and saw Stahlin was still shouting at me while looking deranged.

“YOU! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!!! HOW DARE YOU GO AGAINST MEEEEE?!!!”

Tired of his loud shouts, I casually raised my wand and blasted him with Ice Magic. He was quickly encased from the neck down in a block of ice.

“Prime Minister Adolv Yosef von Stahlin…no…you are Prime Minister no longer! I hereby strip you of your position!”

“W-WHA-….H-H-H-How D-D-D-Da-r-r-r-re….“

His voice was stuttering probably due to the cold. But it did not stop him from making a loud shot of protest. Hmm…maybe I should’ve frozen his mouth while I was at it.

But enough is enough.

“NO! HOW! DARE! YOU!”

I released a wave of Pressure at him and his allies. In an instant, all of them cowered in silence.

“It’s time for you to face your comeuppance, Adolv Stahlin…”

Without raising my wand, I raised my other hand. Cold winds and bolts of lightning began to gather at my palm and formed a large glowing orb of Ice and Electricity.

A majority of the guests gasped. Stahlin himself stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Although he knew I had some bit of Magic Ability, he never noticed how I was adept at magic or the fact that I was capable of Magic far beyond what this world knows as “standard” magic. Well, that’s because I pretended to be weak at it. This was within my plans.

There are many Magic Users in Atlantasia, Stahlin and his sorry excuse of a son were amongst the best Magic Users. It was one of the reasons why Stahlin was highly regarded in the first place. They also abused their use of Magic in such a horrendous way. If Stahlin did notice I had a talent in magic, I’d be added as another pawn for his already numerous schemes, and I had to make sure that never happened.

Seeing his flabbergasted expression was enough.

Lifting the crystal orb in my hand up high I said in a loud clear voice,

“I call upon the stormy ice age: Cocytus!”

I crushed the orb in my hand.

Upon shattering, it released waves of freezing winds around the hall. The windows were frosted over. The candles were immediately frozen. Icicles began to form from the chandeliers. Even though it was the middle of summer it was like winter had come in an instant!

Screams erupted from the guests as they witnessed a frightening spectacle. I wasn’t aware of it at that time but my spell also affected the outside. So right at that moment, the whole capital is experiencing some turbulent freezing winds! There were also massive lightning bolts.

Ah, crap. I overdid it.

Had it not been for Leofold begging me to stop I would’ve let the spell continue.

With one wave of my hand, the cold winds stopped and the ice that had appeared all over the hall dissipated. I waved my wand and the candles that had gone came back to life. The magic lamps still provided most of the light.

But the sight of the way I used Magic caused the room to fall into silence. The nobles, the Knights, and the Night Lurkers were taken aback. Even Leofold and my friend at the back had their mouths agape.

“His Majesty can use Magic without a Magic Item?!”

“His Majesty has been blessed by the Magic Goddess?!”

Er...no...it’s not a God’s Blessing but I did get a tip from...oh well...the cat’s out of the bag.

Seeing the look of fear on Stahlin’s and the rest of his subordinates’ faces was satisfying but I wasn’t done yet.

Especially to that man.

I made my way to the throne and sat down.

“Now then…let’s begin the third part of tonight’s activities…”

I smiled at them all. A smile that would normally be seen in villains.

I’m going to kill myself later.