A huge amount of smoke suddenly billowed up from the Reauxgard Empire’s senate building, covering the entire thing. The only real effect it had was to make it difficult to breathe. But in a country that had experienced two terrorist attacks already, that was enough.
“Another terrorist attack?!”
“Damn it! This is where they strike next?!”
“Run! Everyone, get out now!”
“Wait, what about the documents?!”
“Is now really the time to be concerned about that?!”
The people working there screamed and began to run around in a panic as chaos engulfed the place. Everyone realized that this was the site of the next terrorist attack. And then, the imperial guards on duty rushed in.
“First and second units, stay alert! We don’t know what will appear, so be extremely cautious! Everyone else, assist with the evacuation! Folks, please stay calm and follow our instructions!”
Raising his voice, Helgar, vice commander of the First Imperial Order of Knights, established a measure of order, with the senators obeying his and his men’s commands. Though one of them wore a dubious expression, he evacuated as instructed.
“Apologies, but you will have to come over here.”
“What in blazes?!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, two knights grabbed him and dragged him into the shadows. Without any consideration for the pain he might be suffering, their swift but forceful action immobilized him in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the poor visibility caused by the smoke, no one else noticed what was happening.
“I suggest you don’t attempt anything. You, unlike members of the imperial family, would be very easy to make disappear—Senate Leader.”
So said Helgar, who’d been giving evacuation orders just a moment ago. The person he and his men had apprehended was the president of the senate, Cyrus Aegir. He was the target of this terrorist attack we’d carried out. But wait, there’s more! We’d fabricated evidence to make it seem like the imperial family had carried out the attack. This went beyond the gray area and straight into the black zone, but since no one else was killed or even harmed, it was a sin I was willing to accept.
Let me give you a quick rundown of the plot. The imperial family and the senate president had committed two terrorist attacks. The latter had been committing these crimes on the orders of the former, but now that they no longer needed him, a terrorist attack targeting him had taken place in the senate!
The whole point of this was to bring to light evidence that the imperial family’d had a hand in all the incidents thus far. Buncha evil bastards were about to get theirs, lemme tell ya. Shen and the Demon King suspected that the real mastermind was the senate president, and that he was just using the imperial family, but in order to fully expose everyone involved, we’d made it look like they were the ones pulling the strings. On top of all that, Senator Alveiro, the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks, was still in custody, so this latest one would probably weaken suspicion against him.
“What are you playing at, Helgar? The imperial guard, meant to protect the country, is committing a terrorist attack? It’s just as I thought. Those under the influence of the former emperor can’t be trusted.”
“Stop pretending to be innocent. You already understand why we’ve taken action, don’t you? We know you were planning to capture Alveiro and hand him over to the Demon King for execution, but His Majesty was one step ahead of you.”
With that, Helgar unleashed his fury. He grabbed Aegir, who’d been shoved to the floor, by the collar and snarled at him.
“You and your ilk are the rot destroying our country from the inside. You’ll pay for that, and for manipulating the rest of us.”
“Oh, how I quake before the high and mighty soldier! Bah! Get off your high horse! You have no notion of what politics is truly about!”
Provoked, the senate president twisted slightly, moving his tied hands.
“Stop him!”
The command Helgar shouted to his subordinates holding the man’s arms came a beat too late. Aegir pulled a dagger from within his robe and threw it. It had a familiar shape, and as if the necessary requirements were met, the magical power contained within surged all at once. When it did, a monster appeared.
Race: Huge Claw Wolf
Level: 88
A gigantic, wolflike monster appeared. It had enormous, knifelike claws growing out of its paws, and it glared ferociously at us like we were its prey.
“Wh-Who the bloody hell actually summons a monster right here in the senate?!” Helgar cried out.
“With security so tight, I wondered where to send this wolf, but you gave me the perfect opportunity, so I really must thank you!” Aegis retorted mockingly.
“Brace yourselves, men! Well, considering how quickly you exposed yourself, I suppose we should be thanking you.”
“Why are you so confident?”
“We wouldn’t be. If we were the only ones here, that is.”
“What?”
Their guard up, the knights smoothly stepped into formation. Meanwhile, I stood by myself, watching and cackling to myself. Mwa ha ha! Of all the monsters he’d decided to summon, it had to be a wolf! Compared to Rir, it was a whole lotta nothing in terms of both abilities and build. It didn’t have nearly the overwhelming aura my boy did. Oh my, such big claws you have! All the better to...slice an apple with. What a joke.
I’d kept myself hidden this whole time, suppressing my magical energy while just observing the situation. Now, I stepped forward and spoke.
“Down.”
I didn’t try to intimidate the monster in any way. There was no need to use En either. All I did was stop holding back. I just stared at it intently and slowly repeated myself.
“This is the last time I’ll say it. Down. If you don’t wanna die, don’t defy me. Easy peasy.”
“...Grr.”
The wolf shivered, then lay down.
“Good monster.”
I ruffled its head. What a smart wolf. Maybe I should let it run wild in the Demonic Forest and have it become part of Rir’s monster army. If using a wolf monster was the best move Aegir had to try to frame me for the terrorist attacks, he was screwed. Something irrational like an insect would’ve been way better. That would’ve definitely turned into a fight and given him at least some ammo for his plot.
“How?!”
“Monsters are the best. Unlike morons like you, they can sense their opponent’s abilities just by looking at them.”
Dealing with wild creatures was way easier than dealing with people.
“That voice... Demon Emperor Yuki?!”
“That’s ‘Your Majesty’ to you. I guess it doesn’t matter, though, since I’m gonna execute you for treason anyway. Wait, no, I’m not Yuki right now, so scratch all that.”
With an evil grin, I kept talking.
“While we’re at it, show me everything you got. I wanna see just how terrifying your ‘trump card’ is. Or was that it? Helgar, tie up his legs so he can’t escape, but keep his hands free.”
I wanted to confirm that these assholes had more monsters we didn’t know about. It’d be easier for me if he just got it all out of the way now. I had the future to think about, y’know?
“Well then. You heard the mysterious masked man’s demands. This is your last chance to reveal any other tricks up your sleeves, quite literally. However, if you have nothing else to show us, that’s fine as well. We’ll simply take you away like this. And no one else will ever know that you’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Damn it all to hell!”
Power. A compressed torrent of it. A storm of attacks so intense that even the word “storm” seemed a lukewarm description. It raged through the senate building now that the evacuation was complete and no one was inside except for the imperial guard and the suspect, Senate President Cyrus Aegir. And the one wielding this power that would kill anyone caught in it was Demon Emperor Yuki.
“Ha ha ha! Weak sauce! At the very least, they should be vicious enough to have poisonous claws or fangs or something, jeez! Not that it’d do ya any good ’cause of my Super Potions, but still!”
“Hmm... No sophistication in their attack or defense. We’d probably win even if they were more powerful than you, Master.”
“I doubt they have any experience fighting since they were created using the dungeon’s power! Sealed away somewhere all this time!”
“I...think so too. They’re big, but they fight like children. Also, this doggy is weak, but it’s fighting for you, Master, which is admirable.”
“Yeah, he’s so cute and brave, trying to help me! I’ll take it back with us and have Rir and the others take care of it! Sure, it’s pretty weak for its level, but being in the Demonic Forest with my pets will whip it into shape in no time!”
“Yup... Rir will do a good job teaching it.”
“He’ll probably just stare off into the distance with that look on his face that says, ‘As if I don’t have enough work already!’ Oh. Ohhh... Maybe my new friend here submitted so fast because it could smell Rir’s scent on me!”