Having received Yuuki’s orders, Kagari had immediately jumped into action.
A mansion was easy to prepare with the funds left over from the Freedom Association days, and with the Damrada’s connections.
It didn’t work when it was unstable children, but when the summoned happened to be adults, they were unknowingly put under the ‘Curse of Domination’.
Yuuki wasn’t the only one doing this however. All the summoning done in this world had similar practices.
On a side note, sometimes, there are those who try to summon Devils because they think they can put them under the fealty curse.
There are such arrogant fools who delve into the forbidden summoning arts putting too much confidence in their skills.
Yuuki’s coup d’état has been in preparation for quite some time now, so the people gathered were vaguely aware of what was going on.
They had climbed up the ranks relying on their own power.
There were others who were mix-breeds created by mating strong individuals of different races repeatedly, and still others who were slave warriors that Yuuki had procured.
The Monster slaves gathered by Damrada were also present.
For this reason, Yuuki had ordered the battle-oriented monsters that showed potential to be brought into the Empire.
Breaking it down: 30 ‘Otherworlders’, 50 devils, 100 mix-breed warriors, 100 slave warriors.
With Otherworlders, Devils, and Officer-class individuals, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they would be members of the Mixed Corps headquarters.
As all of them had sat down, Yuuki and Kagari, and finally Damrada entered the room.
“Hey, everyone.
The enemy are 100 Royal Knights (TN: change; Emperors Personal Guards -> Royal Knights)
But we have 100,000 troops on our side, so it’s a no brainer.
We’ll close off the 4 gates, and erect a force field to prevent escape.
Easy right?
They will likely have Legendary-tier gear on them, so capturing them alive is probably impossible.
Any questions?”
Yuuki casually talked about killing the Emperor as if discussing the weather.
Their hopes becoming reality, they were ecstatic with being able to finally take action.
On the outskirts of the capital, Black Knight Claude had secretly gathered the Mixed Corps troops.
Just moments ago, Yuuki received report through ‘Telepathy’ that all preparations were complete.
According to the plan, the Mixed Corps would flow in after breaking through the 4 gates, and they would supervise from the mansion.
And around 20,000 from the Military Police Division?
A difference similar to that of an adult and a child, they would only slightly slow them down.
The Mixed Corps would be pit against them while they watched the movements of the Knights. Then, they would target the ones who are isolated, and slowly wean out their numbers.
The Royal Knights were a threat to Yuuki, so with luck, he could turn them into pawns using Overwrite.
For that reason too, they needed to be reeled in after biting into the bait.
But by cornering them in greater numbers, and Yuuki stepping in from that point, he could increase his number of pawns without much effort.
At that point, it would be check and mate.
There were no reinforcements coming for them, and rather easily, victory would draw closer.
“A coup d’état, I see.
It’ll fail, don’t you think?”
As if pouring cold water on his head, denying Yuuki’s ambitions, Damrada stated.
He could make calm judgements, and had a strong nose for money.
Having unbelievable skill at determining the success rate of things, this statement of his was not to be dismissed.
“What do you mean, Damrada?”
“Exactly what I said. Just now, they got Miranda.”
He took off his necklace as he spoke.
It was a charm that all three Bosses possessed, a Magic Item that allowed them to confirm each others’ survival.
“The fact that this piece got broken, means that Miranda was killed.
And now that failure is all but confirmed, going through with this plan is plain suicide.”
Damrada explained calmly.
Damrada’s words stirred doubt into the hearts of those who had gathered.
Yuuki looked at them with an unsatisfied expression and,
“Then we can just attack before they’re ready right?”
He spat out.
It would be out of order, but they would have to kill the Emperor first.
As if denying Yuuki’s countermeasures,
“It’s too late. You’re severely underestimating the Information Bureau, Yuuki-sama.
This is not a children’s game.”
Damrada replied, casting a cold gaze at Yuuki.
“Bastard, you dare show Yuuki-sama such disrespect!”
Infuriated, Kagari thrust a hand towards Damrada’s neck.
The force converged into a singular point, and the bones in Kagari’s wrist easily broke.
“Gu!”
Kagari groaned, and took some distance from Damrada, rubbing her wrist.
Damrada was certainly a master of martial arts, and his offensive strength was high.
As far as Yuuki was concerned, it was impossible for Damrada to win against Kagari.
“Damrada, are you betraying me?”
Yuuki asked quietly.
Depending on this answer, Damrada needed to be killed then and there.
“Betray? You say strange things.
But I only did this temporarily.
There’s a saying, ‘The rich have many friends’. (TN: Originally, ‘The end of money brings the end of the relationship’.)
In my case, I was being useful to the Emperor by being useful to you.”
Damrada’s cold voice echoed.
Damrada was looking down on Yuuki’s friends in the army who stank of greed.
Their impression of him changed drastically.
“I see……
“Can’t deny that. It’s something like a specialty of mine.”
Yuuki now understood everything.
Whether is was the establishment of the Freedom Association, or ‘Cerberus’, everything went according to the Empire’s plans.
The organization known as ‘Cerberus’ was, originally, a base created with people that Damrada had gathered.
It collected secrets, and sorted them by usefulness.
When the Empire decided to take over the West, these secrets would become power. Power enough to fell countries solely through blackmail.
Damrada would stand out too much as himself.
In other words, Yuuki had been used when he wanted to do the using.
It was a flame called humiliation.
“So you’re the Empires dog.
But to reveal it all by yourself right here, wasn’t it a bit premature?”
“Exactly, I’m going to end you here and now, Damrada!!”
Kagari agreed with Yuuki.
Being an ex-Demon Lord, her speed surpassed that which humans could follow. Damrada was supposed to have no way of reacting.
“Too slow.”
Easily deflecting both sets of Kagari’s sharp Demonic Clawed hands thrust towards him, Damrada closed their distance in a natural movement.
For monsters, a fracture could be healed in moments.
Having gotten close enough, he applied his hands softly to the center of Kagari’s chest.
“Spiral Penetration Break!!” (TN: “Rasen shintō yabu!!”)
He released the power accumulated in his hands into the enemy.
Damrada’s body glowed thinly, as if emitting a concentrated battle-spirit.
“Gufu!”
Kagari fell into a crouch, vomiting blood.
Being a ‘Drifting Spirit’, Demon Lord Kazaream didn’t have the power to maintain a spiritual body. It was impossible as he wasn’t a Spirit Form.
To compensate, he transformed the body on the Elven female he possessed similar to that of a Demon, and trained it to be peerless in strength.
Yet, she was disabled by a single hit from Damrada.
“I-impossible! A mere human can’t possibly-!!”
Kagari cried out while spitting out the blood overflowing from her mouth.
Kagari glared at Damrada with such thoughts.
“Fu, you should think more before you act, lady. This is why you lost against Demon Lord Leon.
You, being a yet unawakened Demon Lord, can’t even hope to beat me.
I wanted to go all out on the old man, but unfortunately, I missed my chance.
Sure, demons are unbelievably strong, but humans aren’t as stupid as you think.
Like me.”
Saying so, he looked away from her.
Having uneventfully killed quite a number of them, Yuuki was admittedly one of the strong.
Being dedicated to killing, it was an almost invincible Skill.
He was an aberrant who liked killing too much, and with help from Yuuki’s Skill, had returned to a calmer, normal state of mind…… but Damrada could easily revert back.
“See, relying on Skills too much will leave you vulnerable at critical moments.
If you don’t train your body more, you guys are all useless.”
The gathered ones, who never faced ridicule from any trainer, were being spoken to as if they were utter weaklings, and couldn’t help but get angry.
All of them reddened, and directed their murderous intent at Damrada.
Damrada felt no responsibility for the feelings of those he had betrayed.
If it was by order of the Emperor, he could even kill his own blood relatives.
He had a naïve childlike though process, but also had a cold-blooded outlook.
He was different from the ex-Demon Lord crouching on the floor.
For that very reason!
Royals Knights No.2: Damrada wanted to finish him with his own hands.
That was Damrada’s final act of loyalty towards Yuuki.