Side Story Chapter 87

The Poison King secretly positioned his assassins everywhere in the palace of the Avalon Empire.

“There is no sign of the Martial God in the Palace nor in Arcadia. We weren’t able to locate anyone who saw him.”

“Is that so?” the Poison King said.

“Yes, master.” The subordinate assassin bowed.

The Poison King nodded and looked around, taking in the view of the vast garden in the Palace. He had never envisioned the Imperial Family opening up the Palace to outsiders. It was crazy, even for the Martial God.

“Was there anything peculiar during your search?” the Poison King asked.

“It looked like Avalon’s knights couldn't afford to pay attention to us. The official number of foreign knights that entered the castle is around one thousand, which is roughly equal to the number of Avalon’s Imperial Knights.”

“At least one of Avalon’s knights will have to be in charge of monitoring one foreign knight.”

“Thirty percent of them are protecting key locations in the inner wards or a member of the Imperial Family, so technically, they lack manpower, master. That said, I haven’t taken the number of common soldiers into account…”

“We won’t have to worry about mere soldiers,” the Poison King said, his expression finally relaxing into a contented smile. All the assassins that were there today with the Poison King he had handpicked; they were elites of the Hashashin Guild. There was no way that some random foot soldiers would be able to detect the Poison King and his assassins’ presence.

“Tell everyone that I strictly forbid them from making any unplanned movements. We’ve met the very Martial God in person,” the Poison King instructed.

“Yes, master.”

“Even if the Martial God is back, the current Avalon is a sinking ship, so his plan is probably to unite the other countries against Hubalt using his name.”

The Poison King had considered what the first thing he should do before forming an alliance was if he were the Martial God. The answer was: stabilize the country. He could start something only after his family and country were at peace.

As a matter of fact, the Poison King had received intel a week ago that someone who was presumed to be the Martial God was witnessed in western Avalon. The Martial God must be still busy as a bee quelling the rebellion—of course, the Poison King didn’t have the slightest idea that Joshua had intentionally leaked that information.

“Once we verify that the Martial God isn’t in the Palace and everyone is occupied with the tournament, we’ll enter the Palace,” the Poison King said.

“Do we only have to focus on the request after we enter the Palace, master?”

“Yes, prioritize securing the target.”

“Understood!”

Kidnapping was more difficult than assassination, but the Poison King was still confident. Thanks to the Martial God’s crazy stunt, the Palace was basically open for the taking, and the targets’ martial prowess was similar to civilians’.

“You dare make a reverse-hit request to us… Hehe, I’ll make you pay for it, Martial God,” the Poison King murmured.

“How are you going to do it?”

“Well, once we get our hands on either the Second Queen Consort or Princess…”

The Poison King’s eyes slowly widened. The voice came from behind, so the Poison King naturally assumed that was his subordinate, but it hit him a second later that something was off. His subordinate addressing him casually? They wouldn’t dare to do that unless they’d gone crazy. Besides, none of his people had such a low, sonorous voice as this.

“Wh-Who is it?” the Poison King stammered.

“The person you were just thinking about.”

The Poison King’s eyes bulged. He hadn’t even been able to detect this man’s presence even though he was one of the Twelve Superhumans. The Poison King was an A-Class swordsman on top of his proficiency with poison…

‘…It still doesn’t make any sense,’ the Poison King thought.

He slowly turned his head.

“You’ll die if you turn around now.”

The Poison King froze.

“I told you that’s not how you should use stealth techniques.”

“A-Are you the Emperor?”

“If you know that, then you should know to watch your mouth.”

The Poison King’s lip trembled as he realized that the assassin who had been reporting to him was unconscious on the ground. The rest of his assassins were concealed in the Palace, meaning that he had to overcome the situation on his own—but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with any way to win.

“W-What do you want?” the Poison King stuttered, a frown tugging at his lips.

“I should be the one asking you that.”

Befitting the leader of a guild, the Poison King quickly regained his composure.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” he smoothly answered. “I’m doing this because of your request. I received intel that the people from the Hubalt Empire are going to start something in the Palace.”

“Didn’t you say something about the Second Queen Consort and Princess?”

“The people from the Hubalt Empire want them, but they’re practically as weak as civilians. That was why we tried to get a drop on them.”

“What about the part about making me pay?” Joshua asked.

“Well, I’m fighting against the most powerful nation on the continent, so I think I’m entitled to some pay.”

Joshua kept his silence for a long time, long enough that a cold sweat began to build on the Poison King’s back. Each second felt like an hour.

“I’m fine with all that, but I don’t like your attitude.” Joshua raised an eyebrow.

The Poison King was startled but quickly changed his tone. “Please p-pardon my rudeness, Your Majesty. I was just so surprised…”

His subordinates weren’t here anyway, so if all the Poison King had to do to get out of this situation was change his tone, then he would certainly do that!

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Joshua jerked his chin at him. “Tell me more about Hubalt’s plan.”

“Th-There is an extraordinary new Star in the Hubalt Empire that not only surpasses the Four Paladins but also you. You must have heard about them, Your Majesty.”

“Are you talking about the Martial Emperor’s student?”

The Poison King nodded. “He’s here right now.”

“…In other words, all the Four Paladins and the most skilled person from the Hubalt Empire are in my Avalon right now.”

“That is correct.”

“That’s quite a surprise. Then what’s their real goal?”

“Like I told you—”

“I’m not asking about how they’re going to achieve their goal. I want to know what the Hubalt Empire is trying to do with the Queen Consort and Princess after kidnapping them.”

The Poison King, in spite of all his talents, had to hesitate for a moment. This time he was choosing a side. There was a high possibility that this celebration in Avalon was going to be the starting point of the war to seize the hegemony of the continent. Should the Poison King choose the Hubalt Empire or the Avalon Empire? The former may currently be the most powerful nation and the latter may have practically fallen, but the Martial God was back in Avalon.

“Urgh…!” The Poison King’s analysis was cut short by a mixture of menacing, murderous energy and overpowering pressure. He could now understand why it was said that an imminent threat was scarier than the law.[1]

“I’ll tell you this under one co-condition,” the Poison King choked out.

“A condition in a situation like this…? Arrogant.”

“You won’t be able to get an answer from me unless you accept it. Just kill me instead.”

The murderous energy in the air thickened, but the Poison King didn’t back down. He’d already thought this through. He knew he had to analyze the situation from the other party’s perspective, and even the Poison King wouldn’t trust himself if he yielded easily.

‘Bu-But what should I do if he just decides to kill me?’

In the end, the Poison King’s gamble worked. Shortly, the murderous energy dissipated without a trace.

“Interesting. I’ll give you one more chance, then,” Joshua said.

“Th-Thank you?”

“What’s your condition?”

“As you may be aware, the tournament you're hosting is currently the largest event in recent history, and that has captured the attention of people all across the continent,” the Poison King explained.

“So?”

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I want you to make the Four Paladins suffer a devastating defeat. They have to be crushed so hard that even if the fact that we accepted a reverse-hit request from you becomes known, everyone will understand.”

“The Four Paladins?”

“Yes—and this is actually for the good of Avalon too. If the Hubalt Empire wants war, it’s better to have more allies. They’ll know whose side they have to join after you show your power.”

Silence fell upon the area once again. The Poison King wouldn’t suffer any losses if Joshua took the deal because the Poison King could simply act in accordance with the tournament’s result. If the Martial God decided to keep his end of the bargain, the Poison King would be able to witness the Martial God’s absolute power once again, which meant that he was right to choose Avalon. If the Four Paladins won, the Poison King could just carry out the request from the Hubalt Empire.

‘Since his pride depends on it, he has to take the deal even if he knows I’m using him.’

The Poison King couldn’t help but admire his own brilliance, so much so that he trembled in excitement.

“…Okay, I’ll accept your condition.”

‘Idiot!’ The Poison King’s fists clenched. The Martial God would be eating out the Poison King’s hands.

“Thank you.” The Poison King beamed, although he was secretly laughing at Joshua on the inside. “If you can do that for us, we, the Hashashin Guild, will support you with all our resources, Your Majesty.”

“In any case, if you set a condition, it’s only right for me to set a condition as well, right?”

“…Pardon?” The Poison King tilted his head in confusion. A condition? Everything was going smoothly, so what in the world Joshua was suddenly talking about? He had to hide his rising nervousness. “By condition, you mean…?”

Joshua raised his little finger with a devilish smile. “It’s hard to trust you after you betrayed me once.”

“Y-You can count on me this time. Once you take care of the Four Paladins—”

“Come on, anyone can say that.”

“Then…?” The Poison King trailed off.

“Swear on your mana,” Joshua said. The Poison King gasped, drawing Joshua’s smile into a ghoulish leer. “That is what I want.”

* * *

Cain grunted. “Hmm…”

Cain had been keeping an eye on Joshua from atop the Palace roof up until a moment ago, but then he suddenly vanished like smoke, just like before. Joshua’s movements were, as always, remarkable.

“Have you waited long?” Joshua asked, reappearing beside Cain.

“…Your Majesty, I know I asked you this before, but be honest with me this time. You still have all your power, don’t you?”

“A Superhuman like you would know that instinctively. I really lost my power. I can still feel my fingertips trembling.”

“Then how did you do what you did just now?”

“If I focus all the mana I can use into my stealth techniques, I can do that much. The Black Dragon personally taught me that stealth technique.”

Cain’s eyes popped wide open. “You focused all your mana onto your stealth techniques? Th-Then that means—”

“If he decided to use his poison, I would have melted into a puddle.”

Cain was left speechless at Joshua’s sheer audacity.

“Men are all about guts. Shall we see how faithfully they carry out my order now?”

“…And you gave him an order?” Cain shook his head in disbelief.

1. It’s a saying in Korea about how the law can’t protect you from imminent danger. ☜