"SURRENDER, OR THE LEVIATHAN WILL SWALLOW YOU ALL!" Hana shouts threateningly.

Just to make it sink in, the summon lands heavily on the grass right next to them, sending a massive gust of wind at their faces, and then the weapons start to drop.

Ciel and Yunia [Fly] towards Brett and help him out of the mud. His armor has been ruined, and he seems dazed, which Ciel [Diagnose]s as a concussion, but he only needs a [Heal] to top off his HP, and then they start flying him back to us.

"You kept your own Gifted hidden, huh?" Urmeie remarks as she approaches me.

But before I can answer, an Imperial Officer marches out of the main group and shouts, "WHERE'S REINHOLD?!"

"DEAD!" Hana answers, and the Imperials gasp in shock.

"MURDERER!" Reinhold's wife shrieks and points at me, but I'm still too stunned to reply as the horrible feeling of impending doom continues to rise, making me think that I might be about to have a heart attack.

No, that'd mean that everyone is about to have a heart attack.

"OATHBREAKER!" Vanea shrieks back, then suddenly appears beside the distraught widow, the enraged not-princess wielding a sword wreathed in flames that she uses to decapitate the poor woman.

"STOP THIS MADNESS!" a priest shouts, and every one of them draws their blessed weapons, which begin glowing with a dangerous-looking holy light.

"OATHBREAKER!" Vanea repeats, mad with rage, and points at the woman's body with her sword.

"NOT YOUR PLACE!" the priest shouts back as he dashes towards her, and then the Imperial Army soldiers also become enraged, and they begin grabbing the weapons they just dropped.

"LEVIATHAN, ROAR!" I order the summon, and it obeys.

"UROOOOOO…!" a deep, long roar shakes us to our bones, and the men nearest to it even lose their balance.

"BOTH SIDES DISPERSE, NOW!" I bellow with [Godly Language], and it has a good effect on the shaken men.

Both sides promptly start to separate, with the priests helping herd them like shepherds, but the dread we're feeling continues to rise, and the sky darkens as stormy clouds cover the sun.

"That's a bad omen," Roxanne jokingly understates and smiles softly, trying to lift our spirits.

But then everyone, even the Princesses and the priests, is suddenly forced onto their knees by an overwhelming force that grips our bodies and squeezes our chests, making it feel like our clothes are made of steel.

I blink, then I notice that the Sun Man is right in front of me, glowing softly yet emitting so much heat that it feels searing, which is fitting considering his handsome face is warped in pure fury. He's wearing a light blue robe with a metallic sheen and his sun-like golden crown, making him look as ethereal as ever, but his piercing gaze and oppressive aura give him an overwhelmingly threatening air.

"What. Have. You. Done?" he slowly questions, each word like a slap to my face that fills me with guilt instead of pain, and his voice echoes in such a way that everyone hears him perfectly as if he were right before them.

But I'm confused about what's happening.

"Y-Your Radiance…?" I weakly question confusedly.

Alissa, Hana, and Aoi slowly manage to stand, fighting back against his oppressive aura.

"Tell them to stop," he quietly requests, his tone so strained that it's like he's barely controlling his rage.

"Y-you mean, resisting?" I hesitantly question.

His face twitches in anger, and suddenly something hits the three girls on the back of their heads, forcing their faces down against the mud, but Alissa almost passes out from the strike.

"DON'T DO ANYTHING!" I desperately order through [Bind], and I notice my breathing starting to speed up in fear.

The girls stop struggling and keep their faces in the mud, seething from the humiliation.

But the Emperor barely gives me time to process what's going on before he continues, "You've killed a Gifted, Wolf Ryder. Do you understand the gravity of your crime?"

I swallow heavily, starting to realize what he's getting at. "I don't believe I do, or else I wouldn't have done it," I cautiously reply.

And the heat of his glow increases further, hurting my skin and my eyes. "So you admit to being an ignorant savage?"

I start to regain control of my breathing as a bit of anger and defiance comes back to me. "Reinhold was an Oathbreaker who threatened my family's safety, so I couldn't hold myself back when dealing with him."

But that was clearly the wrong answer as the Emperor only grows angrier and his glow even hotter. "You insolent-…! Couldn't hold back? Who do you think you are? Who do you think Reinhold was?!" he shouts, yet his body remains unmoving, like a stalwart fortress.

"He was a dangerous Oathbreaker and blasphemer who cornered us! I did what I had to!" I shout back, defying his overwhelming pressure.

And he snaps back with scorn, "You could've just made him your slave, or even made his wife your slave and fucked her in front of him for all that I care. Anything would've been better than killing him!"

So I defend our actions, even though I'm sure Knowledge pushed me to kill Reinhold, "We couldn't! That was our last resort, and we couldn't risk him coming out of that attack with enough strength to still win against us! We didn't even know if someone could survive it!"

"So you admit to being an ignorant, irresponsible savage?" the Emperor questions with a sneer, and I realize that this was our real mistake.

We over-engineered a weapon, but if we had tested it on realistic targets, we'd have known that it was overkill and that we should've tried to develop something more reasonable.

I lower my head and apologize, "I… I admit I made a mistake, and I ask forgiveness."

"But do you even understand why you shouldn't have killed him?" the Emperor continues, completely ignoring my attempt to humble myself.

The girls give me some help, and I answer after a brief moment of hesitation as I raise my head again, "He… was a valuable weapon for the Empire."

It seems that this time, I've answered correctly, for the rage in his tone is pulled back, but now there's only a chilling coldness left in it. "Exactly, just like you are, except that you've overstepped your bounds and brought more damage than benefits to us. Is this aggression of yours a common thing in whatever 'distant land' you came from, or did the dragon inside you make you like this?"

I don't answer immediately as I ponder upon his words, but he intensifies his glare, pressing me to answer.

"Perhaps it was the dragon…" I'm forced to admit.

"And how do we make a dragon understand that he can't kill whoever he pleases?" he alludes, and a horrible chill goes up my spine. "Due to the fact that you're the one who's Gifted, I can't just kill you, yet, but the others…"

I immediately beg, "Please, no…!"

He suddenly disappears from before me, but before I can even react, I feel a blinding pain come from the base of my tail, making me scream in pain. Then my face hits the mud as my legs stop responding to me.

I immediately lift my upper body with my arms, and something fleshy and wet falls to my side, so I turn my head and see my severed tail beside me, bleeding copious amounts of blood because it was ripped right out along with the padding and scale armor that protected it.

A wave of relief washes over me, almost making me cry, then I let my body fall on my side as I stare up at the Emperor, helpless and obedient.

He only shows me a sneer of disgust and frustration, and his following words make me feel shame like nothing else ever has, "Unlike you… or Dame Vanea, I abhor killing innocents, but I won't let that stop me if it's necessary to teach you a lesson." Then he turns around and looks at Sa'Haa, who's far away, then at Urmeie, near his feet. "My daughters. Remember that you're also partially responsible for the actions of your allies."

But before they can answer, he disappears in the blink of an eye, and all of the pressure, the heat, and the brightness goes away with him.

The girls and a number of people immediately rush to me while Aoi picks up Alissa, who's still a bit dizzy from the blow to the back of her head.

"Wolf!" Ciel shouts, distraught.

"Your Highness!" Almaria shouts, panicked.

But I reassure them, "I'm fine. Just put it back in place and [Heal] it. We'll deal with any other problems later." And they both nod, then do as told.

I'm not angry. I'm just relieved that he showed us mercy, which also makes me ashamed of my own lack of it…

"Our lack…" Yunia whispers through gritted teeth.

In a flash, my tail is reattached to my body, allowing the feeling to return to my legs and, more importantly, to my Sword. Shit feels really weird, though, so I think my spine is a bit messed up.

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Alissa drops down beside me so that Ciel can [Heal] her. Then Alcander and the Knights approach us, as do the Companions and Sandoro, who have come running.

The Scrubber on our side has been turned off, so Hana helps me stand up, and I promptly order, "Take us back to the embassy."

Urmeie simply watches us in silence as we organize. Honestly, I don't give a shit about what she thinks because Empy threatened to kill my wives, yet only chided her, so she'd better suck it up and not give me any shit about what happened.

The battlefield remains noisy and chaotic for a while as the Imperial Army protests Reinhold's and his wife's murder, emboldened by the Emperor's actions, but the priests quickly intervene and make sure that everyone separates without incident, claiming that if even the Emperor didn't punish us for it, then why would they have any right to do so? And since it looks like the danger has passed, I finally unsummon the Leviathan to alleviate the stress on my mana organ.

We'd like to rest, but we mentally support Yunia and Ciel, who remain there for a while longer to coordinate our men and not just abandon our allies while the Imperial Army is throwing a hissy fit. They actually want Vanea arrested, but they don't have the authority to do that, and the fact that Reinhold was an Oathbreaker complicates things as he's like a Wicked-lite.

I tiredly lay down on my stomach on our supremely comfy bed that I love so much, and the rest of the girls crowd around me while Klein and the Companions just stand respectfully a few meters away. Almaria continues to heal my soul with [Weaverism] while I use [Soul Touch] on myself to boost my recovery, and Alissa holds a [Regeneration] tool against my tail. The pleasure from the healing magic almost makes me voice it out, so I promptly share it with everyone, and it does wonders for our mounting stress.

"The damage to your spirit is just as impressive as how fast you're recovering," Almaria remarks with a gentle smile, and her droopy eyes glance at me.

"I guess the latter is the result of [Mana Body]," I explain absentmindedly.

"And I advise you not to repeat the former," she soberly adds.

And I sigh softly. "I know that, which is why I only use it in emergencies."

But she continues and gives a serious lecture, "The fact that you can push yourself so far past a normal person's limits is dangerous because you don't know where your actual limits are, so you might accidentally kill yourself one day."

The girls give me knowing looks through [Bind], and I feel chided enough to not argue against that. "I understand…" I tiredly reply, and Almaria shares a smug look with them in victory.

Then we fall silent, and I start to pay attention to what Almaria is doing. It's like she's "suturing" my soul with Life, but it doesn't actually "close" any "wounds," it just creates a magical net that enhances the healing effect of [Soul Touch].

Alissa crawls up to my side with the magic tool still on my tail, and we both reflexively hug each other. The Emperor gave us the biggest scare we could ever imagine, and now all we want is to enjoy each other's warmth as we've been reminded of just how fleeting life really is.

There are so many things that we want to say to each other, but our minds are still in disarray, so this isn't the right time. The only thing we should do right now is warm up our hearts while we heal.

But I still find the bed awfully cold, so I turn to Klein and the others and order, "I give you all the rest of the day off, so get in here!"

"His Highness is in need of female pampering, and it's part of your duties to see his desires fulfilled," Roxanne declares with a snooty tone, mimicking a certain elven queen.

"His desire is our command," Hukarere obediently replies with a grin.

"We accept this arduous task," Klein wryly adds as she rolls her eyes.

"With enthusiasm!" Melanie, the shortstack, shouts gleefully.

We should also invite Lolo post-haste.

"Don't forget us!" Hana interjects and grins seductively at the little monkey.

"But no spicy stuff, not in front of Almaria," I cautiously state.

"Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness," she gently replies.

My nose is filled with the sickeningly sweet scent of their perfumes as my body is attacked by innumerable soft hands. My declaration of no spicy stuff ends up being more for me than them as my mind drifts towards savoring the wide variety of female bodies that surround me, instantly awaking my friend.

Alissa sneaks her hand onto my thigh and discreetly strokes him as it rides down my tight elven shorts, disguising it as a massage. And now, the ability to easily release becomes a burden as I'm forced to hold it in until Almaria finishes healing me.

But then a worrying report puts us all on high alert.

"Katasko is fighting among themselves," a scout reports.

It seems that the lower nobles have noticed that Alki-Alki is vulnerable and have decided to kill him. Perhaps it's revenge for this disastrous plot, or maybe they want to kill him before he can order the assassins to go after them, but it's unlikely that his death would stop the assassinations to come.

The priests don't give a shit about infighting, so they just watch as the "cattle" start a revolt, but then the scout detects Alki fleeing in a carriage along with some of the other higher nobles, which is promptly chased after by another carriage.

And we can't let him escape.

Yunia turns to Sandoro and immediately orders, "Give a Scrubber to our Winged Soldiers and tell them to follow the carriage."

"As you wish, Your Highness," he obediently replies and sees it done.

But the carriage is moving towards Mac Gantus, and bringing an active Scrubber into the town would cause chaos, not to mention that it would enrage the Emperor even further.

Alissa, Yunia, you two will have to work together and stalk Alki until you get an opportunity to assassinate him.

"Put all of my points in [Illusion Magic] and I can cast [Invisibility] on both of them," Roxanne promptly volunteers, and we begin shifting from "relaxation" to "operation" mode.

Yunia returns to the embassy, and then the two assassins [Fly] away together, now fully invisible.

"Where are they going?" Klein quietly asks, sounding worried.

"To tie up a loose end," I whisper back, and the implication ruins the mood, but both she and the Companions still try their hardest to keep their spirits up so that we can relax.

Our Lordsguard's Winged Soldiers take my bird with them, and they see the carriages exchanging ranged attacks, but the enchantments of both vehicles can stop anything aside from a high-level spell.

Unfortunately, things are too messy for us to get involved, especially with how weakened I currently am, so I don't want to risk my men in a fight to the death against nobles who have no morals nor limits to their evil.

The girls reach the edge of the city first, so they just wait, and once Alki's carriage gets within sight of the walls, the driver starts waving a big red flag, a sign that they're requesting aid from the Towsguard. Nobles aren't allowed to just kill each other, except in specific situations, so the Townsguard immediately mobilizes and sallies out, then Alki's pursuers slow down and stop throwing ranged attacks to not get in trouble with the Townsguard or the still-enraged Empy.

As they're all nobles, customs for them is fast, though it's very awkward as the two sides glare at each other while the guards just try to do their jobs. Alki-Alki is incensed, and when he notices the Winged Soldiers flying above him, he starts to look even more deranged, which is so supremely satisfying that I almost soil my pants.

After entering Mac Gantus, Alki's supporters disperse, leaving him alone, likely so that their pursuers will have a harder time getting any of them, but the girls don't lose sight of him. He's still able to request a noble-only Hyperloop Train as he won't be stripped of his nobility until the Purification ends, so he takes one to the Throne, then takes the cage-like elevator to his mansion.

Intermission - Alki-Alki

After the Templars invaded my home and wrecked the gates, the guards left and never returned, and the security enchantments weren't turned back on again. So I just push the gate, and it opens with an irritating creak, then I start walking forward.

The fact that no lowlife is ever allowed here brings me great comfort because otherwise, this place would've been thoroughly sacked within an hour after the invasion. I wouldn't care if everything was burned to the ground, but it'd be very offensive to my pride if things were stolen instead.

I slowly cross the stone "garden" that I've always hated so much. Uncomfortable for the feet, boring to look at, and the most grating, unchanging ever since I was born. I'm so sick and tired of this place that I just speed up my pace. I don't know why Father was always so insistent on never changing a thing. Shit, just a single flower or even a patch of grass would make this place so much better.

The elves got it right with their grass carpets and the other comfortable fancy bullshit they grow with magic. Unfortunately, they're insufferable stuck-up sword lickers really do deserve to get their ears cut off and their faces mangled to teach them some humility.

Then I reach the doors to my home, which have been blasted open by crude spells from the brutish Punishers. I simply scowl as I walk in, then I bask in the air of my birthplace.

Cold. Dead. Just like Father… and that still applied even when he was "alive."

"Why was I cursed to be born into such a decadent household?" I blurt out, barely believing my own mouth, but I refuse to take it back.

We are hated so much that the Emperor didn't give a shit about the death of my father, and even our allies are now turning on us because we pushed them too far. Meanwhile, the lizard has a sly fox, two Princesses, and the Whore of Rabanara with him, but I don't even have the energy to get angry anymore. All that's left is an endless sea of bitterness.

I look down at the blue tile floor made from dragon scales and get an idea. I take out a war hammer from my [Item Box] and break a few, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Maybe if they were emerald or mirror-like, I could fantasize about them, but I have nothing against the big blue gecko.

Then my eyes are drawn to the corridors, and I notice that the place has actually been ransacked by the Punishers, so I guess those insane bastards are no better than the lowlives. They may not have taken the actual valuables, but I'm sure they stole all our weapons.

There's nothing left for me here. I could go inspect that infamous room that Father kept secret from me, but that would just make me want to spit at his urn, and neither do I feel like going into any of the innumerable rooms except for one, so I just climb up the stairs to the third floor and walk to Father's office.

No… it's my office, even if it'll only be for a short time.

Dark, stuffy, and so very boring. Father was so damn cursed by the Gods that he had to tint the windows black to not get burned by the sun, and he had the audacity to claim it was just a sensitivity to light…

But the thing that annoys me the most is that the Punishers stole the damn desk! They didn't even ransack or destroy it, but just straight up stole the whole desk!

At least they left the armchair…

I sit down in it with a sigh, then I close my eyes and think.

But there's nothing left to think about. It's over. It's all over.

"Is this the end of your schemes? Are you resigning yourself to die?" A stern voice suddenly reaches my ears.

I open my eyes wide in surprise and see Theneus in front of me, and I have no idea when or how he got here. The beardless shit was dad's personal sword licker, not literally, but he's always been a passive follower, one of the weird "believers" in the "glory" of Katasko.

And I have no patience for getting my sword licked by another man. "We all lost our nobility, Theneus, and now the cattle have turned on us. I just don't give a shit about what happens anymore," I tiredly explain.

But he stares at me with his oddly intense stare, actually giving me chills. "It isn't over. You can come back from this," he states confidently.

"I failed at everything I tried to do!" I flippantly reply.

And he insists with an infuriating conviction. "Yet you still survived. You were going against the Gods, and you're still alive to spit at their feet. That's impressive."

He's so annoying that I facepalm as I shout, "But now I have nothing left!"

Then his voice becomes deadly serious, "But I do, and I want to help you get back on your feet so that you can try again."

I take my hands off my face and stare at him, but I don't see the Theneus I knew before. I see someone else, someone who… is also cursed by the sun.

And I'm not dumb. I know what this means.

"Fuck the Gods, let's do this," I answer with a sneer, and he grins like the freak he is.

Intermission end.

This heretical talk must be stopped!

Alissa and Yunia [Blink] into the room and dispel their [Invisibility] so that they can see, but they hesitate for a split second as they see something unexpected: a huge, muscular figure is between Alki and Theneus, a person with no presence nor Thread for Alissa and Yunia to detect. They see brown skin peeking out from under its gray robe, freakishly long arms, huge hands that it uses to grab Alki's and Theneus' shoulders, a hunched over upper body, a mouth covered with a leather breathing mask, and a pair of unremarkable brown eyes, eerily unremarkable.

Which are looking right at them, even though the girls were invisible a split second ago.

Alissa shoots an arrow at Alki's head and another at Theneus, but Yunia hesitates before using [Chain Life] on the huge thing as a horrible feeling of dread comes through [Precognition].

The masked thing lifts its huge hands and takes the arrows as if they were nothing, so Alissa casts [Mesmerizing Butterflies] while Yunia casts [Lightning Bolt], expecting a battle, but the thing also takes both of their spells without even flinching. Then it lands its hands on both of the men's shoulders again, and Alki's smug grin is the last thing we see before the three of them simply disappear.

That was neither a [Gate] nor a [Blink]. They just disappeared without even leaving a trace of mana.