Chapter 174: Review (Spoilers Ahead)

Cain couldn’t make heads or tails of the current situation.
He even pinched his cheek hard, wondering if he was stuck in a bizarre dream.

But that wasn’t going to change a thing.
Everyone in the 30th Division was dancing frantically as if their lives depended on it. The headquarters had instantly turned into a ballroom.

‘W-What the heck is going on?’

This bizarre scenario had only one possible cause—and having just that one made it all the more worrying.

It was a petty criminal organization thinking of itself as something grand, and now his comrades were trembling and obeying on mere words from some low-life.

‘Did they use some kind of trick? A command spell?’

The situation was so ridiculous that even such absurd thoughts crossed his mind. But as logical as that seemed, it didn’t hold water.

The man in front of him was no polymorphing dragon, and there wasn’t a hint of magic in what he said.
Sure, it couldn’t be dismissed that Cain might’ve missed the mana packed in the words, but if that were the case, why was he the only one still standing firm?

In other words, it wasn’t a command spell.

It was just an ordinary and meaningless directive that held neither power nor compulsion.

‘B-But if that’s true…’

Then we’d have a problem. A huge problem compared to the earlier one.
If it was just a simple command and not something like a magic spell, then why on earth was the entire 30th Division obeying it to such an extent?

Their faces were soaked in shame, and the doubt about their lives was glaring in their eyes, yet they didn’t utter a single complaint.

There could only be one reason for that.

‘D-Don’t tell me… they’re all spies!’

That seemed impossible.
The perks given to soldiers of the Empire were good enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

They could get whatever they wanted without paying a dime.
If it was an item they desired, they’d just grab it without a second thought. Even for people, if they wanted them, they could just take them by force.

They could commit any crime without facing punishment and live a luxurious life enjoying their first-class citizen privileges.
So how could these people choose to become Black Fangs? All of them, without exception?

What kind of fool made that choice?
But that was the only way to explain this craziness.
The other theory he could come up with was that they collectively swore allegiance to the terrorist organization’s leader.

But such a ludicrous event couldn’t possibly happen in reality.
So the only explanation left was that the leader of the Black Fangs had somehow charmed everyone to their side.

‘What kind of monster are you?’

If just one of them failed to convert, all the information could leak out and ruin everything.
Not to mention, if one person changed their mind later, he could get stabbed in the back too.

Yet the guy seemed completely unaffected by that disadvantage, managing to control thousands of hearts entirely. It transformed the impossible into reality.
It made Cain wonder if this guy could even rival Prince Renya in strategy and rhetoric; the thought was shocking enough as it was.

‘Even their insight transcends the limits of humanity.’

Why did he manage to sway the entire 30th Division yet avoided approaching Cain?
He must have known.
Cain wasn’t the type to be swayed by sweet words and throw Prince Renya and the Empire aside like garbage.

That was his essence.
His unwavering loyalty and firm convictions had been read without a single word exchanged.

Realizing that sent cold sweat dripping down Cain’s back. A sense of despair enveloped him.
But Cain wasn’t so irresponsible that he’d give up just because his enemy was stronger than he thought.

No matter what, he always gave it his all.
Now was the time to do everything he could, and it was obvious what needed to be done.

He quickly moved through the dancing crowd. A communication device came into view.

He had to relay the information that the 30th Division had already fallen into the hands of the Black Fangs. And gather reinforcements.
To that end, Cain swiftly moved his hands.

Moments later, a connection tone rang out.
In less than three minutes, he was linked to the 38th Division managed by Prince Renya.

In under three minutes, he said…
“Black Fangs have taken over the 30th Division! Please send reinforc…”

Click.
The connection was abruptly cut off. No matter how many times he called back, no one answered.

And… the same thing happened repeatedly.
38th Division, 45th Division, 48th Division, 49th Division. He tried contacting them in order, but all he got back was consistent disregard.

What this told him was painfully clear.
The 30th Division wasn’t the only one to be quietly taken over.
At least five divisions had been confirmed to be in the clutches of the Black Fangs.

“…Damn it.”

What about the news of the revival of the Black Fang leader to other divisions? For a moment, he thought about it, but the outcome was too obvious to ignore.
Those five divisions were ones Renya focused on managing. What kind of power could possibly stop the schemes that Renya couldn’t?

He hastily scrapped the useless plan of urgently reporting to the Imperial Guard that the Black Fangs were rising and calling for battle preparations.
Given the situation, there was only one course left to him.

Now he had just one card to play.
A proud knight who wouldn’t be swayed by the cunning tongues of the Black Fangs. Cain was ready to step up.

‘There’s still a chance.’

He acknowledged their stealth and meticulous strategies. But in the end, what mattered was brute strength.
At that moment, he sensed no illusion magic from the leader. They were clearly using the corpse of the leader.

That meant they were sufficiently desperate, having to resort to utilizing the body of their fallen leader. There wouldn’t be any competent fighters among them.

Now was the time to put the Empire’s technology to use.
He headed straight to the armory. With the authority granted to him by the prince, he recognized the high-tech equipment laid out before him.

The Heavy Artillery Orbital Bombardment Weapon MK2. There was no other option worth considering in this situation.
He had no time to delay.
With weapons in hand, he rushed out.

Fortunately, the group of Black Fangs was still there and hadn’t left yet. The traitors from the 30th Division seemed to be preparing to charge towards the palace imminently.
‘I can’t let that happen.’

Cain quickly set the weapon into operation. It shimmered beautifully, radiating brilliant light.
With his finger hovering over the trigger, Cain shouted in excitement.
“Behold! This is the grandeur of the Empire!!!”

And then, he pulled the trigger.
The overwhelming presence of the Heavy Artillery Orbital Bombardment Weapon MK2, with all its finely-tuned machinery spinning and resonating…

– Pshhhht.

Not a bomb, but only smoke wafted out pathetically.
It was a situation that had already drawn too much attention by being loud. Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to Cain.

Sweat started to flow from him naturally.
Cain pushed the trigger repeatedly in panic, but nothing changed in the outcome.

– To think of keeping the mana stone fuel constantly filled on a weapon he wouldn’t even use was the height of inefficiency. Such wastefulness…
Suddenly, a memory flickered through his mind.

The prince had pointed out that issue once before.
He had said it was too wasteful to expend mana fuel that naturally dissipates over time on a weapon that wouldn’t even be used.
Back then, there was a mention of accepting some tiny waste to prepare for emergencies, but the prince had countered like this:
– “Don’t worry about that. I’ll calculate an efficient charge level that will still be usable in an emergency and reduce waste.”

‘He definitely said to trust him.’

Could it be that the calculations were wrong…? No, that couldn’t be right.
The Black Fangs must have pulled something slick beforehand. It was the kind of sneaky sabotage they’d be fond of.

To doubt the prince’s abilities or that he was against the Empire was sacrilege of the highest order.
He rapidly purged such disloyal thoughts from his mind and focused on assessing the situation.

The enemy had already caught onto everything.
And the one chance he had, his weapon, had just been deemed unusable.
But… he didn’t back down.

With his coldly calculated mind.
Even in a situation where he felt cornered, his brain was functioning logically, devising a solution.

Should he choose to flee?
Or inform the outside world about the Black Fangs’ revolution? That was merely a desperate measure.
A foolish idea one might conjure up.

At this very moment, the ideal solution was remarkably simple.
‘Take a hostage.’

Basically, they were outnumbered. If it came to direct confrontation, even Cain couldn’t avoid losing.
So the best move would be to kidnap someone vital yet also someone easy to dispose of.

And in this situation, the easiest target was…
‘Sorry, fake leader. You’ll have to be the sacrificial lamb for my plan.’

In truth, it was the powerless fake leader!
Without hesitation, Cain dashed toward the white-haired boy.

‘…What exactly was this guy?’

As I stared at the corpse lying on the ground, I found myself pondering. Since he couldn’t even give orders properly and kept acting all weird, I wondered if there was something about him…

When I poked it, he broke in half like some common ruffian.
He flaunted his identity as the Black Fang leader but threw himself into danger without a second thought—I just couldn’t comprehend it.

But there was still a lot of work to do.
I stopped pondering how this fool’s mind worked and got up from my spot.
All eyes turned to me. Including the five divisions I had gathered through communication, it had grown into what could only be called a proper army.

Apparently, this was the total available military force.
Except for one.
So I declared to them, looking at their faces.
“Let’s head to the palace.”

It was time to meet Renya again after so long.