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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Gulp.
Berkan swallowed as he looked at Yuma’s sword, Balmung, pointed at his neck.
He didn’t even have time to worry about his fallen kinsmen’s corpses on the ground.
What mattered now was that distrust had filled their entire species.
While only that warrior was directly pointing a weapon at his neck, most of the species present here had their weapons aimed at the Lycantropes from a distance.
Dwarves, Elves, Feline tribe, Humans.
Without exception, warriors from each species had their weapons drawn and aimed at the Lycantropes.
Hundreds of sharp swords and spears surrounded the Lycantropes.
“……”
A cold war state emerged where no one dared to speak.
The current situation was clearly one where they couldn’t easily let their guard down no matter what explanation came from Berkan’s mouth.
In a situation where demon tribes were designated as likely candidates for continental invasion.
It was enough to suspect that the Lycantrope tribe, who had fallen into a berserk state after being mentally dominated by demonic energy, might be advance scouts planted in the middle realm by the demon tribe’s side.
Berkan turned his head to the aide beside him.
“Have you figured it out?”
The Lycantrope aide, who had been standing still in a daze due to the sudden series of events, only blinked his eyes at Berkan’s sudden question.
Berkan, with his grey wolf head, spoke again with a hardened face.
“The commonality between our kinsmen who just fell into a berserk state. That’s what I’m asking about. There aren’t many cases where we fall into a berserk state.”
The answer to Berkan’s question didn’t come from the aide, but from a Lycantrope behind the aide.
“Lord Berkan.”
German, Kaim, Art…
Lycantrope Alsen examined the faces of his recently deceased colleagues one by one, looking for commonalities.
“…10 days ago, right after this schedule was set. Several warriors gathered to have a celebratory drink. These friends who fell into a berserk state… they were the friends from that drinking session. They drank Emtus, the alcohol our species drinks before embarking on important missions. It seems someone put poison mixed with demon beast blood in them.”
Lycantropes are resistant to poison.
They don’t even suffer internal injuries from ordinary poisons.
However, they take fatal damage from poison mixed with demon beast blood.
By nature, only Elves have complete immunity to poison mixed with demon beast blood.
Humans, feline tribe, Dwarves, and others either suffer from severe madness or fall into a vegetative state.
Lycantropes, as just seen, fall into a berserk state and die after exhausting all their strength and vitality.
Humans and other species can at least expel the poison through mana manipulation if they’ve reached the Master level or higher.
But Lycantrope blood, by nature, cannot expel poison mixed with demon beast blood no matter how much mana manipulation is done.
Even those who have reached Master.
Due to this terrible effect, poison mixed with demon beast blood was mentioned about a dozen times in the record books documenting the long history of the Lycantrope royal family.
This was because it had been used multiple times as poison to assassinate political rivals in succession battles.
Royal blood.
Only those born with the Lycantrope king’s blood could overcome demon beast blood.
The Lycantrope king, the firstborn son of the Lycantrope royal family who inherited that royal blood, furrowed his brow deeply.
“…They drank that strong Emtus?”
It was alcohol so strong that if drunk with a human body, a non-mana user commoner could die just from emptying one bottle.
It was strong enough that they wouldn’t notice demon beast blood-mixed poison entering their body.
Grind─
Berkan ground his teeth while thinking.
‘It’s a trap.’
This was clearly a trap.
A trap to kill him here and now.
‘Who.’
Who set this trap to kill him here.
The answer to that came surprisingly quickly.
‘It can only be that bastard.’
The second prince of the Lycantrope royal family.
Second Prince Semut.
‘He set this up to kill me.’
A setup using this Species Council as its stage.
Berkan looked at Yuma.
11 Lycantropes who were now cold corpses.
7 were Expert level and 4 were Master level.
In the current situation where such beings had gone berserk, having only a few injured and no deaths was nothing short of miraculous.
And the man who created that miracle was Yuma, standing before him.
After all, he had single-handedly swept away 4 of them in an instant.
If he hadn’t acted quickly at first, that Elf diplomat Ischeria over there would surely have died.
Her head would have been mercilessly torn off by the fangs of Master-level Lycantrope German.
And surely several more would have died.
If there had been any deaths by the berserkers, they wouldn’t even have the luxury of this standoff.
They would have gone to war without time to ask questions or demand reasons.
And naturally, he and all the Lycantropes present here would have been completely annihilated.
No matter how strong individual Lycantropes were, they were vastly outnumbered.
Berkan slowly opened his mouth.
“Alsen…”
“Yes, Lord Berkan.”
Alsen, who could be called Berkan’s right hand, urgently pressed his head close to Berkan’s side.
“Bring that Weil from the corner over here.”
Alsen’s eyes widened at Berkan’s words.
Weil was none other than Second Prince Semut’s close aide.
Yuma withdrew Balmung that he had been pointing, seeing Berkan taking some kind of action.
“Understood.”
Without hesitation, Alsen grabbed Weil’s neck and slammed him to the ground.
“Kraaagh─! What is this about! Alsen!!”
Weil writhed his body and spewed out his indignation.
Swoosh!
A dagger mercilessly pierced Weil’s side.
“Kraaagh!”
The one holding that dagger was none other than Berkan.
“Tell the truth, Weil.”
Berkan’s voice was thick with ferocity.
“Is it true that my brother, Semut, is aiming for the throne and sent me to my death?”
Weil trembled his entire body from the terrifying pain descending upon him.
“Kraaagh! Lord Berkan! I, I don’t know anything… Re-recently, I did overhear from beyond the door Prince Semut talking with his right-hand man Belok about the Demon Beast Forest! That’s all I know!”
Demon Beast Forest.
The appearance of those words caused all species’ brows to furrow.
Alsen’s deduction became very credible with Weil mentioning the Demon Beast Forest.
Currently, the Demon Beast Forest was the only way to obtain demon beast blood on the continent.
The Demon Beast Forest that had been the continent’s trouble for a thousand years.
They had dealt with all the demon beasts that had the military might to annihilate a country, but demon beasts like the troll-type Beim or bat-type Sinet, whose greatest strength was their survival ability, were still maintaining their lineage while hiding in the Demon Beast Forest.
And among the mercenaries wandering the continent, there were quite a few who sustained themselves with byproducts from the demon beasts of the Demon Beast Forest.
One of those byproducts was demon beast blood.
Berkan looked into Weil’s pupils.
He didn’t seem to be lying.
‘Well, if he knew the plan clearly, he would have known this would be his death, and wouldn’t have come to his death knowing that.’
A disposable card.
From Semut’s position, Berkan deduced that he had used Weil as one of the smokescreens to hide the operation, since not sending all his close aides would show signs of trying to bury him.
Slash!
“Kraaagh!”
Berkan, who unhesitatingly pulled out the dagger stuck in Weil’s side, turned around and spoke to the Lycantropes.
“Gag his mouth and bind him.”
“Understood.”
His subordinates quickly carried out that order.
Berkan stepped forward again.
Toward Yuma, who had pointed his sword at his neck.
“…I am ashamed.”
Berkan slowly looked around at the other species with his brow deeply furrowed as he continued speaking.
“It seems my brother, Second Prince Semut, tried to make this place my death ground in order to aim for the next throne. If even one person had died at the hands of the berserkers, you wouldn’t have let our species leave here alive.”
Everyone understood the outline of the story.
After all, Berkan had quite intensely laid out his reasoning loud enough for everyone to hear.
High Elf Luinerif let out a deep sigh.
“That’s right. While part of me still thinks we should do that… if they had become like that due to demon tribe’s power rather than demon beast blood, there would be a demon’s mark…”
Luinerif looked at one of the Lycantropes who had died in a berserk state with eyes as if looking at garbage.
“There is no demon’s mark. I think there’s a high probability that your deduction is correct. Speaking very generously, that is.”
Berkan ground his teeth at the clearly hostile gazes from the Elves including Luinerif.
However, this was a time when he had to endure any gaze and bow his head.
“That’s right. The fact that you’re leaving us like this proves how generous you all are. If there’s a way to prove that we Lycantropes have nothing to do with the demon tribe, I’d like to do anything.”
Luinerif sighed and took something out from his spatial pocket.
It was a stone that sparkled with light.
White stone.
It was a stone that would catch and emit brilliant light if the target it was held against had even a little demonic energy flowing through their body.
Luinerif held that stone against everyone except the Lycantropes who had died in a berserk state.
The stone never emitted light.
“Seer Beisir. Step forward.”
At Luinerif’s words, a blind female Elf who had been keeping her eyes closed walked forward.
“Beisir has the ability to read each person’s aura. And when the target lies, she can see their aura move.”
The small girl Elf Beisir, with white hair fluttering, nodded her head.
“Just now, was there any time when you felt disturbance in the aura during Berkan’s words or what that Lycantrope called Weil spouted?”
Beisir slowly shook her head.
“There wasn’t.”
The silver-haired Elf diplomat Ischeria, who had nearly died, ground his teeth.
“Lord Luinerif, still we can’t maintain them in the alliance as is. How dare… how dare they bring demonic energy into sacred ground. We should at least bind and imprison them.”
Tension began to grip the sacred ground again at Ischeria’s words.
Then, a being who had been watching the situation and organizing his thoughts slowly opened his mouth.
“Enough.”
That being was none other than Yuma.
The gazes of over two hundred different species all focused on Yuma.
“The Lycantropes are strong military power. Given the circumstances, there appears to be no crime, so there’s no need for pointless waste of time and military power.”
Ischeria’s mouth opened wide.
“B-but…!”
Yuma’s words cut off Ischeria’s.
“You owe me your life, so keep your mouth shut. Elf Ischeria.”
Ischeria had nothing to say.
Because that was the truth.
“Who becomes the alliance leader is not my concern. However, I will settle this situation.”
Yuma sheathed Balmung on his back and sat in a chair.
“Berkan.”
Yuma’s blue eyes met Berkan’s deep brown pupils.
Berkan felt his breath catch at Yuma’s gaze.
Right now, Yuma was giving off an overwhelming presence to all species in this sacred ground just by existing.
Because of the brief display of force he had carried out.
“…Speak, warrior.”
“The way to prove your species’ innocence is simple. It’s to grasp peace in your Lycantrope kingdom with your own hands. If your words are true, kill your brother Semut with your own hands. You’ll need to clean up all of your brother’s forces too.”
All the Lycantropes’ eyes widened.
Yuma’s words continued.
“I’ll give you one month.”
Berkan slowly opened his maw.
“…One month?”
Yuma leaned back in his chair.
“If you can’t prove your innocence by killing Semut within a month, I’ll have to lead an army myself to clean up your species.”
If they couldn’t prove their innocence within a month, he would sweep away the Lycantrope kingdom.
At that declaration, the shoulders of all Lycantropes except Berkan, who had royal bloodline, trembled violently.
Berkan looked at Yuma with his face twisted like an evil spirit.
In contrast, Yuma’s face maintained its usual bored-looking expression.
Yuma’s calm words spread through the conference hall.
“Why, think I can’t do it?”
Grind…!
Berkan’s teeth ground again.
Whether this action stemmed from anger or fear of Yuma, Berkan himself couldn’t tell.
“…Understood. Warrior. I will clean up the kingdom cleanly within a month. And I will show you the results. My brother hasn’t yet fully awakened his royal blood… on the day of the full moon, there will be no one in the kingdom who can stop me.”
Yuma slowly nodded his head.
“I look forward to it. Berkan.”
To one human.
All of the Lycantrope kingdom’s maximum military forces were completely overwhelmed.
And the Dwarves, feline tribe, and Elves who witnessed the scene of the Lycantropes submitting in real time all had to acknowledge.
That the leadership of this council had fallen into the hands of the Astes Empire.
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“They’re sick in the head. They forgot I’m him. I’m him-ulation. I am Him Kardashian, Himbuktu, Himon and Pumbaa. I got my DNA test back, turns out I’m a hundred percent Himalayan.”
~Dracula Flow
^MC on leadership of the council