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Side Story Chapter 58

The person that broke the silence was the Poison King, the fake bartender.

“Hahahaha!” The Poison King burst into laughter. “Now this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Coming to Arcadia was definitely a good choice. I even ended up meeting my original target.”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

“Of course. I’ll bet my two balls on you not being Joshua Sanders,” the Poison King asked after he collected himself. “What’ll you bet?”

Joshua was rather intrigued by this turn of events. “Let’s hear your reasoning.”

“I can think of two things right on the spot.”

“What are they?”

“The first reason is that Joshua Sanders is an exceptionally strong man that earned the title of the Martial God. They say that he’s strong enough to make the world tremble, but I cannot detect literally a single trace of mana. ”

“I suppose not. If a less-skilled person could figure out the level of a higher-skilled person with their eyes alone, wouldn’t that be more strange?”

“You nutjob, you’re talking about normal cases. I’m one of the Twelve Superhumans that has been bestowed with the title of a King, so do you really think I wouldn’t be able to distinguish between no mana and too much mana?” the Poison King asked back, sneering. The Poison King scanned Joshua like a snake, his eyes peeling him open like scalpels. “The second reason why I chose to not believe you was that you’re with Iceline Sanders, the First Queen Consort of Avalon. When I stopped to think about it, her being here erased every single doubt in my mind.”

“Go on.”

“When Queen Consort Iceline was in the Magic Tower, she was called the genius of artifact development. Reipon, the external transformation magic artifact she created, is still praised by numerous mages. A spell as complicated as a dragon’s polymorph is achievable by a mere human with Reipon.”

“In other words, I’m a phony and only Joshua Sanders in appearance.”

“Yes, that’s right.” The Poison King set down the glass in his hand with an air of finality.

That seemed to be a cue.

“Kill them!”

The assassins’ murderous energy thickened. They took up carefully selected positions and readied their daggers to strike at any moment.

Zero’s palms got sweaty as he watched. ‘What is he trying to do…!’

He knew exactly what kind of state Joshua was in. For unavoidable reasons, Joshua was currently unable to use his mana, so defeating one of the Twelve Superhumans and dozens of elite Hashashin Guild assassins was impossible.

‘I made a mistake to not consider the possibility of the Poison King being here. In this case, I’ll at least have to get Lilith and Her Majesty Iceline whatever it takes…’

Zero prepared to risk his life, his eyes filling with determination.

“Nice try,” the Poison King said, his words falling from his lips like a death sentence, “but thanks to you, we’ll not only complete the mission we failed, we’ll also know one of Avalon’s weaknesses. I’m grateful to you for that.”

“Well… Why don’t we test that first?” Joshua asked, much to the assassins’ confusion.

“…What?” The Poison King tilted his head, puzzled.

“If I want, all the assassins here will die. It would break your heart to you lose your dear assassins, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re still bluffin—”

“Do I look like I’m bluffing?” Joshua smiled faintly.

The Poison King looked into Joshua’s abyssal black eyes and clenched his jaw. There wasn’t a single emotion in those black eyes.

‘Come to think of it, it’s strange. It’s about time for him to show some reaction…’ the Poison King thought.

There was a reason why he was called the “Poison” King, and it wasn’t because he worked alone[1]. He was great at handling lethal poisons. That was why even the strong never picked a fight with the Hashashin Guild. It was similar to walking around poop because it was filthy, not because it was scary[2].

The combination of poison and an assassin was lethal. The moment someone became the target of an assassin that used poison, that person had to not only be careful during sleep but also check every meal they ate. They even had to be careful while using the bathroom. No one wanted to go through such troubles.

Since it was his specialty, the Poison King had been secretly spraying poison on “Joshua” as soon as the imposter and his companions had come up to the bar.

‘The poison I developed is colorless and odorless. I only sprayed a very small amount so he wouldn’t notice, but he should at least have trouble breathing by now,’ the Poison King thought.

In fact, the Poison King was the weakest of the Twelve Superhumans, but he earned his reputation by developing Mamushi, the odorless and colorless lethal poison.

However, the imposter was fine in spite of the fact that he had inhaled this deadly poison. Every intestine in his body should have melted by now.

‘If he’s really a civilian who can’t use his mana, he would have lost consciousness as soon as I sprayed the poison on him. That means…’

“I can hear the gears in your head turning, you know,” Joshua said.

The Poison King’s thoughts ground to a halt when Joshua took a big step forward. He unwittingly stepped backward and then stopped, frowning.

“Mmm….!” he grunted. His assassins were watching him, so he shouldn’t do this. They seemed to notice their leader’s state and bared their murderous energy.

But something brought them pause. The Poison King was confused—in fact, all the assassins were tilting their heads in confusion. The sound was so faint that they wouldn’t have heard it if they weren’t paying close attention. Nevertheless, the murderous energy dissipated the moment the sound tickled the air.

“What in the world…?”

“This is the true murderous energy,” Joshua proclaimed.

The Poison King\'s eyes widened.

A murderous energy incomparably thicker and more vicious than the assassins’ spread through the entire building. The assassins trembled, their teeth chattering.

Across the whole continent, only a few people were able to use this special energy—killing intent.

The Poison King reached a shocking conclusion.

“That’s… impossible…!”

Killing intent was also called the murderous energy of murderous energy—those who could use it were on a whole different level. Even the previous Darkness Emperor, the ruler of the night, hadn’t been able to use it even until he died.

In the current generation, only two people could use killing intent. One was the mysterious Assassin King, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to call the other person the most famous person on the continent.

“You’re… really Joshua Sanders…? the Poison King blankly murmured.

“Let me ask you again.” Joshua stepped onto the bar and arrogantly looked down at the Poison King. “Will you take my reverse-hit request or die?”

* * *

The distinctive sound of a warp spell blared out, announcing that the imperial mage that had left for western Avalon had returned with the famous Combat Emperor by his side.

“Welcome, Sir Cain!”

“It hasn’t been long, but I somehow feel like I’ve been away for ages,” Cain murmured.

“We heard you would be returning to the Palace, so we cleaned a room for you in advance. Please rest and call on us at any time if anything inconveniences you.”

“Thank you, but I can’t afford to rest since His Majesty has returned.” Cain gently shook his head.

The imperial mages on standby all flinched. There was no way Cain would miss the odd reaction, considering how sharp his eyes were.

“…Where is His Majesty?” Cain asked, his eyes narrowing.

“W-Well…”

Cain gently nodded. “I don’t bite, so take your time. I get it. He must be busy.”

The story of a bachelor knight looking for the Emperor of Avalon was very famous within the Empire.

It wasn’t that he had no one good to marry.

“I can’t even tell whether or not my only master is alive, so how can I make a family and enjoy peace as his knight?” he would always say, despite the fact that he was well past marriageable age.

With this remark, Cain became a role model for young knights. There was even a rumor that one had to stay a bachelor in order to become a true knight.

“If he’s tending to the backlog of state affairs, I’m happy to wait. I’ve been waiting for over a decade, so what’s ten days?”

After exchanging glances for a stiff, one of the imperial mages reluctantly came forward. “Umm… Sir Cain. I’m s-sorry, but His Majesty isn’t in the Palace.”

“…Hmm? What do you mean he isn’t in the Palace?”

“Right after he showed up at the Palace, he made several shocking remarks and then disappeared with Her Majesty Iceline.”

Cain’s eyes gradually widened. “W-W-What?”

“I’m sorry!”

Cain shook his head. “No, no, this is not the time for you to apologize to me. Where is His Majesty?”

“We’re searching everywhere, but we haven’t—”

“From what I heard, he declared he would pass down the throne. Did he leave to have a quiet retirement life with Her Majesty right away or something?”

“We’re unsure…”

“Did anyone see him leaving? His Majesty has returned after over a decade, so of course you put a tail on him, right?”

“Who in this country would have thought about tailing His Majesty other than you?”

Cain’s face immediately crumpled into a hideous grimace. “Yeah, being considerate and merciful is just not my thing. Let’s die today.”

“P-Pardon?”

“From the imperial mages to knights, tell everyone with the duty to protect His Majesty to come to the training area.”

The imperial mages opened and closed their mouths stupidly.

Regardless, Cain was done speaking, so he strode away.

The one silver lining was that Iceline was with Joshua, so there was still hope that Cain could locate him. Unlike someone, Iceline would surely leave a mark somewhere.

However, Cain had one thing to take care of before he started his search.

“I know it’s been a while, but I’ll raise hell in the Palace today. I’ll make all of you beg me to kill you instead.” Cain smiled crookedly.

1. Poison and alone sound the same in Korean. ☜

2. It’s a Korean idiom. ☜