Players' NPC Big Daddy

”...Huh?!”

Blaze subconsciously raised his voice, but no one here would blame him, as everyone else’s eyes were wide with shock.

”Because my father insisted on ’sullying our noble bloodline’ to marry my mother, he was stripped of his position as the heir for a time, replaced by my uncle. This portrait was painted during that period.

”Later, my father regained his position as the Lord’s heir. Since the two of them looked so much alike, painting another portrait would have resulted in the exact same image, so they simply didn’t bother changing it.

”According to my mother, my father and uncle had a great relationship—so good that they didn’t care who became the Lord. However...”

Audrey paused for a long while before speaking slowly.

”After my father ’died,’ he changed. He grew old, and his personality became withdrawn, violent, and full of ambition.”

”Perhaps that was when the Werewolf’s soul began to possess his body,” Blaze offered comfortingly, but Audrey waved it off dismissively.

”I’ve never even met my own father, much less the gentlemanly uncle my mother spoke of. Actually, I always felt this guy would never willingly give up the Lord’s position, so I knew long ago that it would come down to an armed seizure of power like today.”

”Audrey becoming a Singer was also so she could provide large-scale Enhancements to the surrounding soldiers during a charge,” Herbie chimed in from the side, proudly pointing a thumb at herself. ”And I am in charge of logistics!”

Blaze imagined two little girls, not even ten years old, huddled in a corner secretly plotting an armed rebellion. The scene was cute, but if they actually managed to pull it off, it wouldn’t be a laughing matter.

Before they knew it, they had reached the end of the corridor, standing before what used to be the royal hall of the Arcadia Kingdom.

”Blaze, take out your weapon.” Greenland adjusted her equipment, swapping out the skeletal ribcage for a mysterious veil of light gauze, and drew the Magic Staff dangling with a withered apple.

”Nine times out of ten, this corridor leads to a boss room.” Greenland raised a finger, pointing at the incomparably massive and ornate doors before them. ”The moment we push them open, we’ll see an enemy sitting on a throne in the center, and these doors will slam shut right after we enter.

”This speaks from my experience of saving the world over two thousand times,” she added.

Blaze immediately turned to Herbie and Audrey. ”You two stay out of there.”

Audrey didn’t try to play the hero; she trusted Blaze’s abilities. The biggest reason their battle with Romeo had been so difficult was that Blaze hadn’t wanted to kill him.

Blaze and Greenland exchanged a glance. They simultaneously placed their hands on the doors, and with a Heavy rumble, they slowly creaked open, revealing a crack.

A thick stench of blood assaulted their faces. Herbie immediately leaned against the wall, dry heaving.

”Get in, quickly!”

Blaze stepped through the doorway with Greenland close behind. Sure enough, the moment they entered, the heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

”Cliché,” Greenland muttered. She casually surveyed their surroundings, taking in a sight that could only be described as a Chaotic Scene.

Mangled bodies were strewn everywhere, with flesh, blood, and severed limbs scattered about like the lair of a brutal Wild Beast.

Blaze looked toward the figure sitting on the throne with crossed legs. It was a pale-faced middle-aged man, the corners of his mouth curled up as if he had been waiting for a long time, looking down at these two uninvited guests.

[?????]

[???]

Blaze cast a grave look at Greenland, who shook her head. Clearly, the information they were both seeing was the same.

They knew absolutely nothing.

This situation occurred whenever the level gap was too large. Only a special Identification Skill could see through the opponent’s Skills.

That was why he couldn’t let go of his longing for the Hunter Profession—it was the perfect Profession for directly seeing through Monsters carrying the [Wild Beast] affix.

”A Foreigner who has fallen into the Demon Path, and an exiled Fallen Knight. Audrey certainly found herself a rare combination.

”Since you are here, it means that you and Audrey have already learned the secret of the Arcadians.”

The middle-aged man slowly stood up, spreading his arms in an elegant bow.

”My name is Belcimann Arcadia, Lord of Arcadia.”

”Lord? Is that your declaration of rebellion?” Blaze raised the Twisted Greatsword and aimed it at the man calling himself Belcimann. The Eight Fire Curse Poison on the blade began to hiss and growl.

”Rebellion? In what capacity do you speak such words to me?” Belcimann raised his chin, speaking in a Proud tone.

”O exiled, Fallen Knight from the Golden Country. Have you forsaken the Golden Race to kneel at the feet of the descendants of our Silver Race, questioning me in your capacity as Audrey Arcadia’s Knight?”

”Does that matter?” Blaze frowned uncomfortably. He decided to become a meddler, just like a Foreigner.

But Belcimann was torturing him with sarcastic words, trying to force a ’justified’ label onto his actions.

”Of course it matters. Because this is not a rebellion, merely a correction! A correction of the Arcadia Clan’s mistakes!”

Belcimann suddenly stood up, his tone high-pitched and sharp. He leapt down from the throne, landing in the tainted blood. Stripped of his previous elegance, he acted like a madman, stomping on the severed limbs scattered across the floor one by one.

”Ugly! Ugly! What hideous offspring!

”To think such deformed things actually carry... actually carry my noble, noble blood of the Silver Race!

”The Arcadia Clan is meant to be eternally beautiful!”

Blaze and Greenland surveyed the mangled remains around them. Their faintly Human shapes sent a chill down their spines.

They now knew where Arcadia’s army had gone.

”Those... are your sons? You took all your sons and...”

”Ah, I ate them all.” Belcimann abruptly returned to normal, speaking with utter calmness, or perhaps it was better described as apathy.

”Just looking at these ugly things disgusts me. Their mothers were so beautiful, yet they were as hideous as Monsters.

”Audrey is the same. My children were hideous in appearance, while Audrey is hideous in Power.

”But I am very grateful to her. I cheered and rejoiced at her birth.”

Belcimann revealed a smile—one entirely opposite to the divine beauty depicted in the portrait outside. It was cold, damp, and cunning.

”Her birth introduced a taint to my otherwise flawless brother. My poor brother, his Power weakened during his battle with his bestial nature, and this made his body emit an overly tempting Incense.

”How could I possibly resist?”

An overwhelming sense of pure evil washed over them. Talk about a Werewolf’s soul possessing a body—compared to the entity before them, a Werewolf was as docile as a puppy.

Blaze subconsciously tightened his grip on the Twisted Greatsword, his golden eyes bloodshot with rage.

”Audrey’s father, the previous Lord, didn’t disappear after turning into a Werewolf. You did this to him.”

”That’s right, I ate him. But it was a magnificent sacrifice. I discovered the method to break the Arcadians’ Curse.

”It’s just that...”

Belcimann stuck out his scarlet tongue and, as if putting on a deliberate show for Blaze, licked his teeth one by one.

”It’s only enough to break the Curse for me alone—”

”Die, you fiend!”

In an instant, Blaze appeared behind Belcimann, the Twisted Greatsword leaving a bloody gash across the throat that spewed such evil.

Pitch-black blood gushed out like a fountain, spraying against the ceiling before raining down and defiling the sacred frescoes.

There was far too much blood.