Chapter 878

Meanwhile, the person who ordered the bombardment of the royal palace was leisurely sipping wine just outside its walls.

“I never liked the interior decorations anyway, so this works out nicely.”

Verdandi reclined in a custom-made mobile throne while watching the destruction of the palace with a calm demeanor.

However, she soon issued another command, as though unsatisfied with the bombardment.

“Deploy the Iron Fleet as well.”

“T-The Iron Fleet, sire?”

The officer of the royal guard gasped in horror. If the pride of the Proatine Kingdom, the Iron Fleet, was deployed, then the palace would undoubtedly be reduced to ashes.

“You can’t do a half-hearted demolition, can you?”

“B-But, Your Majesty...”

The palace was the symbol of the kingdom, and losing it would have a devastating effect on the kingdom’s prestige. Not only that, the losses from the people and materials lost would be astronomical, too.

The bombardment itself could already be seen as an excessive use of force, but if the Iron Fleet was added to the equation, then the palace would be absolutely decimated, leaving behind only its ruins.

“I don’t care. Bombard it. This is the perfect chance to sweep away all the traitors. It’s a shame some of them could’ve been really useful, but sacrifices must be made,” Verdandi said nonchalantly, firm in her decision despite the officer’s advice.

“Y-Your Majesty...”

“How dare they betray me? Those treacherous fools deserve nothing but death,” Verdandi said icily while thinking of Michele.

The officer flinched at her cold icy glare and immediately exclaimed in admiration, “A-As expected of Your Majesty! You truly see through everything! Your insight is unparalleled, sire!”

In truth, Verdandi had long since known about Michele’s collusion with the Resistance. But rather than punish him immediately, she chose to bide her time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to exploit him and crush the Resistance in one decisive move.

Alas, the moment the Resistance stormed the palace with their full force, they played directly into her hands.

Her superior intelligence outmaneuvered even Michele, and she was truly several steps ahead of him.

“But who could it be...?” Verdandi muttered.

What intrigued her now was the identity of the third party who instigated this coup. There had to be a reason for the Resistance to suddenly come out of hiding and take such a bold, drastic action.

She was certain that this individual was someone the Resistance considered a central figure, as that would be the only explanation behind this uprising.

And the only person that came to her mind was...

“Could it really be you?”

Her lips curled into a spine-chilling smile as she thought of

that

individual. Of course, whether the one who instigated this coup was truly the person she suspected remained to be seen.

***

The Resistance members who seized the royal palace were forced to abandon all their plans and flee the moment the bombardment began.

“Oh my god...”

As soon as the bombardment started, Michele realized Verdandi’s intentions and collapsed onto the ground in despair.

“She knew everything all along...”

He was quite the sharp one, so he immediately understood what was happening upon seeing the artillery shells raining down on the palace.

“Lord Michele!”

At that moment, Oscar suddenly appeared and grabbed him.

“You must escape! Now!”

Michele turned to her with hollow, defeated eyes and said, “Dame Oscar... It’s over. Everything is over.”

“Get a grip! Lord Michele!”

“The Queen has seen through everything. There’s no other explanation for how she mobilized the artillery so quickly to bombard us. We’re finished. This was a trap.”

“You must not falter! His Majesty is here, so what are you fearing for?!”

“Not even His Majesty can—”

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Chwak!

Oscar struck Michele’s cheek.

“Run! His Majesty will not fail! Trust in him!”

“But...”

“Go! Now!”

With that, Oscar dragged Michele away, sprinting toward safety as the bombardment continued.

The other Resistance members, too, ran for their lives as they desperately sought shelter from the relentless barrage.

It was then.

“I-It’s the Iron Fleet!”

“Ruuuun!”

“The Iron Fleet is here!”

As if things couldn't get any worse, the arrival of the Iron Fleet plunged the Resistance into even greater despair.

Shwoooong...

The Iron Fleet’s shells began raining down toward the palace.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Kaboom!

More than half of the Resistance members were killed by the bombardment—no, far more than that perished.

When the bombardment was finally over, fewer than a dozen, including Oscar and Michele, survived.

The attack was ruthless and left only a handful alive. It was as if an invading army sought to erase the royal palace and everyone within it from existence.

***

“T-This is madness...” Siegfried growled, gritting his teeth while glaring at the destruction before him.

The entire palace was covered in thick black smoke from the bombardment, but he could see through it. Well, there was nothing much to see as the royal palace was reduced to ashes.

“D-Darling...? What in the world is going on...?” Brunhilde asked, visibly shaken.

Her shock was understandable, as she was already stupefied by Siegfried's reappearance after twenty years, and now, she had just witnessed the palace's destruction.

Everything happening all at once was too much for her to handle.

“It’s time to turn back the clock, dear,” Siegfried said, clasping her hands tightly.

“What do you mean by that...?” she asked.

“I told you earlier. If we subdue Verdandi and return through the dimensional rift, we can undo whatever happened and go back twenty years ago. That means I won’t go missing, and the rift won’t spiral out of control,” he explained.

“

Ah...

” Brunhilde muttered, still reeling from shock.

“It’s not too late. Let’s go and set everything right,” he said warmly, extending his hand toward her.

Brunhilde was still struggling with everything happening, as she did not fully understand what Siegfried was saying.

In truth, even Siegfried thought that his explanation sounded absurd.

Unfortunately, there was nothing much he could do, as revealing the truth to the NPCs was not an option. Thus, the only thing he could do was adapt to the dungeon’s scenario and concoct a believable lie to spur the NPCs into action.

But...

‘

Will defeating Verdandi really clear the dungeon...?’

he wondered.

The exact clear conditions of the dungeon were still unknown to him. While it seemed likely that the tyrannical version of Verdandi was the final boss, nothing was certain.

‘

I guess I have no choice but to see things through...’

As he was mulling over his thoughts, Brunhilde took his hand.

“Let’s go, darling.”

With that, Siegfried pulled her into his arms and leaped off the tower without hesitation.

Swoosh!

Once they were about ten meters away from the tower, the restriction on his mana use was finally lifted.

Fwoosh!

Siegfried unfurled his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit and soared toward the ruins of the palace.

Meanwhile, Verdandi also entered the palace with her elite royal guards, and her plan was quite straightforward.

She was going to capture any surviving Resistance members and publicly execute them in the main square of Preussen, making an example out of them to everyone.

“Make sure none of the survivors are killed. We will bind them to the statues in the square, drive stakes through them, and execute them before they breathe their final breath,” Verdandi issued her orders to her officers.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The officer looked visibly shaken by the method of execution chosen, but he still replied in a booming voice and saluted.

“Long live the Proatine Kingdom!”

The rest of the elite guards followed suit and saluted in unison.

As Verdandi and her elite guards scoured the wreckage for survivors, they came across a man and a woman groaning beneath a pile of rubble.

“It’s Oscar!”

“The leaders of the rebels, sire! It is Oscar and Michele!”

The elite guards dragged both Oscar and Michele, who were critically injured and barely conscious, toward Verdandi.

It was then.

Whoosh!

Boom!

Before they could reach Verdandi, the +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp slammed into the guards, killing them instantly.

“Go check on those two, Hamchi!”

“

Kyuuu!

Got it!”

Siegfried entrusted Oscar and Michele to Hamchi and walked toward Verdandi with Brunhilde by his side.

***

It did not take long for Siegfried and Brunhilde to come face-to-face with Verdandi, who still had some of her royal guards with her.

Verdandi’s lips twisted into a cold, sadistic grin the moment he saw them.

“I had a feeling that it might be you after receiving that report. It really is you, isn’t it?” she said, her voice cutting through the tension like a blade.

It seemed that the conversation Siegfried had with the cavalry chasing after Oscar had reached Verdandi’s ears.

‘

Damn it...’

Siegfried did not have the luxury of replying.

Instead, he flashed his Rune of Insight and analyzed Verdandi, only to be left completely shocked by what he saw.

[Verdandi van Proa]

[The Ruler of the Proatine Kingdom.]

[The daughter of the late King Siegfried van Proa and Princess Brunhilde of the Elven Kingdom of Elondel.]

[She is infamous as a tyrant who rules with an iron fist.]

[Type: NPC]

[Race: High Elf]

[Affiliation: Proatine Kingdom]

[Position: Monarch]

[Level: 400]

[Tier: Master]

[Class: Trinity Majesty]

[Titles: Master of Swordsmanship, Master of Alchemy, Master of Magic, Absolute Beauty, Cold Witch, Mad Queen, Brilliant Strategist, etc.]

‘

S-She really is a once-in-a-millenia genius!’

Siegfried was completely stunned. Verdandi had achieved mastery in swordsmanship, alchemy, and magic.

This was truly the literal embodiment of the trinity.

As if that was not enough, she was Level 400, which was more than ninety levels higher than Siegfried, who was Level 308, and leagues above Brunhilde, who was still Level 299.

‘

This is bad... I’m only Level 308, and Brunhilde is Level 299,’

Siegfried thought.

However, the real problem was not only her level. She had mastered alchemy, which was a notoriously difficult discipline to master, and this made her combat style completely unpredictable.

“Oh? You’re here too, Mother?” Verndai said in a mocking tone, her cold gaze shifting to Brunhilde.

“Please stop this, Verdandi. You’ve done enough. It’s time to stop this,” Brunhilde said, hoping to reason with her daughter.

“

Hmm?

What did I do? I’m the queen of this kingdom. A queen is allowed to do as she pleases, right? So why should I stop?” Verdandi retorted icily.

“Verdandi... This is—” Brunhilde said, but she was interrupted.

“And you still don’t get it, do you, Mother? You were abandoned twenty years ago, and yet you still trust that man?” Verndadi sneered, her voice dripping with scorn and anger.

“It’s not like that, Verdandi. Your father—”

“Shut up!”

“...!”

“You’re a fool, Mother! You still haven’t learned a single thing after everything you went through. That man has been like this since I was a child! He always left us behind to wander around the world. And then he just vanished, just like that, abandoning us completely!”

Siegfried winced at the harsh truth, feeling her words strike a nerve in him.

‘

T-That dealt quite the damage...’

He could not deny he had spent most of his time away from home, always out on an adventure. Even though he tried to make the most out of his time to spend with Brunhilde and Verdandi whenever he could, the accusations hurled at him by his own daughter still stung hard.

“But I’m different from you, Mother,” Verdandi said, her voice resolute as she drew her sword.

[+18 Trinity Force]

[The Magnus Opus of Quandt.]

[A masterpiece forged by the legendary blacksmith before he died.]

[It is an artifact that specializes in swordsmanship, magic, and alchemy.]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rating: Legendary]

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

[Attack Power: 7,200 + 9,734]

[Magic Power: 7,200 + 9,734]

[Alchemic Power: 7,200 + 9,734]

[Effects: +30% All Stats, +11 All Skill Levels, Enables Use of All Elemental Types When Attacking, Max Level for Swordsmanship Mastery, Max Level for Magic Mastery, Max Level for Alchemy Mastery]

“W-What the hell did you create before you died, Quandt?!” Siegfried screamed in horror, directing his frustration at the blacksmith who no longer existed in this world.

He was left paralyzed with dread after seeing the sheer daunting stats of Verdandi’s +18 Trinity Force, and it soon dawned on him that perhaps defeating her was an utterly impossible task.