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Chapter 381

“Sir Cain!”

“Stop!”

The two women’s beautiful voices halted Cain dead in his tracks as he was about to race over to Joshua.

“Why…?” he mumbled.

“I’ll ask you again,” Joshua said. “You said it wasn’t the prince that gave the order, it was an Imperial Order…” Joshua trailed off, exuding an energy that was sharp as a sword. “...Do you mean Marcus ben Britten, the missing emperor, has returned?”

“How dare you!”

Roaring, the two Imperial Knights pulled out their swords without hesitation, and the knights that had poured out from the main gate did the same.

“I know you are a prince, but how dare you speak of His Majesty’s name as if he’s someone’s dog!”

“No one is more supreme than His Majesty! You’ve clearly committed lese majeste. I advised you to disarm yourself and follow our instructions!”

Joshua silently eyed the Imperial Knights for a moment and the chuckled.

“How dare I?” he asked.

“Yes! We are the Imperial Knights and we obey Imperial Orders—princes are not exempt!” the Imperial Knights shouted.

“How ridiculous,” Joshua muttered.

“What?”

The Imperial Knights’ eyes widened as an energy that was incomparably stronger than before overwhelmed them.

“Arggh…” the Imperial Knights grunted, gritting their teeth.

“A tiger just came back, but foxes are already borrowing the tiger’s authority?”

Even Cain, Charles, and Icarus were stunned. Joshua was normally tranquil like calm waters, but he was acting like a raging ocean wave right now. What made him this angry?

“Get out of my way.”

“Urgh… do you really think… there’ll be no consequences for this?”

“I’ll kill you if you don\'t get out of my way.”

The knight in front of Joshua froze. Joshua had only said he was going to kill him, so why did he feel like he was already getting butchered?

‘How can a human’s energy… be this overpowering?’ the knight wondered.

Whenever Joshua took a step forward, the knights took a step backward. And Joshua had no intention of stopping, whether the knights fought him or not.

The senior knight gritted his teeth; the Imperial Knights were getting close to the big front gate. They should do something—otherwise, they couldn’t bring themselves to meet their newly returned emperor.

“Draw your swords!” the senior knight ordered.

The remaining Imperial Knights drew their swords and assumed their stances, holding their swords at the ready. They were prepared to kill.

“Joshua Sanders! From now on, you’ll be treated as a traitor to the crown!”

Charles had been watching the confrontation anxiously, but when she heard the Imperial Knight’s statement, she shouted, “Jo-Joshua!”

“What’s wrong, Lady Charles?” Cain asked. “He’s doing fine.”

“Are you serious?”

“Look at them. They call themselves Imperial Knights…?”

Charles shook her head. “They’re doing their duty right now! Have you forgotten the Imperial Knights’ job, Sir Cain?”

“Job…?”

“To protect the Emperor and the Imperial Family of the Avalon Empire!”

Cain immediately went silent.

“I told you before that Joshua needs to be more careful right now than ever.”

“But… isn’t it meaningless since the Emperor came back?”

“…That’s…!”

Even while Cain and Charles were talking, the situation had worsened past the point of no return.

“This is my last warning. Get out of my way.”

“No, I won’t!”

“If so… do as you wish.” Joshua smiled coldly as he slowly held out his hands.

The knights frowned at him.

A cloud of sparks were suddenly flying through the air. At the same time, a black hole, which the mages named “subspace,” was created in the empty air. Through the subspace, something revealed itself. Cain knew what it was.

“That’s… my master’s spear!” Cain shouted in shock; his voice sounded even louder in the silence. It was his first time seeing the spear since his master had gone missing three years ago.

The spear was a more reliable ally to his master than having a million soldiers at his back. With that weapon, his master always brought victory to his allies and death to his enemies. He became the grim reaper, striking terror in the hearts of the enemy. His master had also stopped a million soldiers using that one spear. And so, the people in the continent called him…

“The Hero King… Joshua Sanders…!”

Merely the act of taking up the spear was beyond anything the Imperial Knights had been prepared for.

Once again, Joshua moved without hesitation.

“…Hup!” The senior knight’s breath caught in his throat. The tip of the red spear was right in front of his eyes right now. Although he was able to follow Joshua’s movement, he couldn’t stop the attack nor move, as if he was stuck in a spider web. The senior knight instinctively closed his eyes, but someone stood between Joshua and the knight, deflecting the strike with an almighty clang.

Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“Hmmm… are you really trying to commit treason or something?”

“Why… are you here…?” Joshua asked.

“I think you already know.”

Jabel, Heimdall’s second apostle, the one with flawless skin and waist-length blonde hair, blocked Joshua’s attack by crossing his two swords.

Jabel gave Joshua a troubled smile. “I guess you didn’t intend to kill the man, but your strike is still this strong… Ha, you really are a monster.”

“…You still haven’t answered my question,” Joshua said.

“Come. He is waiting.”

“So he’s in the palace, too?”

Jabel nodded. “That’s right.”

“He broke the promise,” Joshua growled, seething with palpable murderous intent.

“No, he kept the promise.” Jabel shook his head. “It’s just that an unexpected variable occurred.”

“…What?”

“You didn’t expect the Emperor to show up either, did you? Besides, haven’t you come running to the palace because you were worried about the princess?”

Joshua’s murderous intent intensified, but Jabel turned around without hesitation. He felt certain that Joshua still wouldn’t attack him from behind.

“You have no time to waste since all of your plans will go awry once the Emperor makes an appearance in front of the citizens,” Jabel said, and then walked away.

The strange part was that the Imperial Knights were still not budging.

“Everyone is in on this together…” Icarus noted, her eyes sparkling. “What in the world happened in this country over the last few days?”

Joshua watched Jabel’s back with cold eyes for a moment.

“…Cain,” he quietly said.

“…Yes, master! I’m here,” Cain answered.

“Take Charles and Icarus and get back to the mansion immediately.”

“Wh-what do you mean go back?!” Cain jumped out of his skin, and Charles and Icarus reacted the same.

“I’m coming with you!” Charles shouted.

“No, you aren’t,” Joshua firmly replied.

“It has nothing to do with you! I’m just here to persuade Prince Kiser—”

Someone suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Icarus…? Why…?”

“It looks like we’re out of options right now, Lady Charles.”

“What… do you mean…?”

“You know that we have to change our entire plan since an unexpected variable—namely the Emperor of Avalon—showed up,” Icarus said. She’d already adapted to the current situation.

Half of Avalon’s nobles supported Joshua, but there was a high chance that they would change sides now. Everything that had taken place within the Empire was to determine the next owner of the throne, so it was meaningless once the original owner returned.

“Let’s leave it to my master now,” Icarus told Charles.

“But I can’t put all the burdens on him again and sit on my hands—!”

“Lady Charles, we have no other choice; this is beyond our limits. At this rate, we’ll only slow him down.”

Charles bit her lower lip. “Then… why did we try so hard up until now? We’ve made the merchant guild strong and prepared… for what?”

“Lady Charles…”

Charles coldly turned around. “For now, I’ll do as you say and go back.”

“…Thank you,” Joshua said.

“But! Don’t die. Come back alive. I’ll take care of everything else somehow. At the very least, I’ll make sure you’re never accused of high treason.”

Joshua smiled faintly. “You’re took the words out of my mouth.”

“Please, I’m serious…!”

“Don’t worry. The Emperor won’t be able to leave a scratch on me,” Joshua said with certainty.

Charles was about to cry.

“I’ll come back soon,” Joshua reassured Charles, Icarus, and Cain.

Unlike before, the Imperial Knights split neatly in half, politely opening a path for Joshua. Joshua walked into the palace without hesitation.

The heavy front gate creaked open. Icarus watched Joshua disappear into the palace, and she turned away when she couldn’t see him anymore.

“Let’s get going too,” she said.

“…Go back without me. I’m going to sneak into the palace on my own,” Cain said determinedly.

“Don’t try to do anything stupid. There is something you have to do, Sir Cain.”

Cain flinched. “Icarus, you… have another plan, don’t you?”

“Let’s go. I’ll tell you on the way,” Icarus said. She took off in the opposite direction from Joshua.

There was not a trace of hesitation in her footsteps.