NOVPUBIt’s over! Everything is over!
—I knew I couldn’t be this lucky! There’s no such thing as a free lunch after all!
At this moment, Augustus Kante’s heart was filled with utter dejection.
His hands were placed in front of him, bound by two triangular illusory shackles. As a result, his Path strength was also sealed.
In fact, Augustus himself had not engaged in violent resistance at all throughout the ordeal.
Or rather, as soon as the cargo ship had just arrived at the port and a dozen of fully armed inspectors on gryphons suddenly charged over, his mind had already crashed.
And just at that time, when Augustus saw those who had been jesting with him on board entering a state of combat as if they had a pre-arranged plan... his mind completely went blank.
The barrier was erected in an instant, and a mix of large rituals prepared for an imminent encounter altered the atmosphere with their spell arrays.
Demons were summoned behind him, spells of cold and flame intertwined; some people immediately disappeared into shadows, while others drew longbows. The bard who had sung and drunk with him also directly pulled out two drums and started to sing a war song.
Augustus even saw them bringing out cannons—
—My God, how do they even have these things?!
In that moment, he suddenly understood his current predicament:
Could this be a smuggling ship?
The people on the ship seemed eager to rush outside, as if they would merge into the crowd once they got off, while those riding gryphons, the law enforcers, clearly read their intent and staunchly blocked them on the ship.
Augustus, standing right in the center of the battlefield, was frozen on the spot like a puppet. Those people fought fiercely against each other, without hesitation, even dealing lethal blows—as if he didn’t even exist.
Perhaps it was the palpable confusion and fear in Augustus’s eyes that caused the spells to completely avoid him, as if he were merely an outsider.
The inspectors who rushed over to fight did not pay him much attention; at most, they just glanced at him.
But the tense battle did not last long; it soon became a one-sided affair.
The armed forces on the ship numbered over sixty, with a complete range of professions and superb coordination.
It seemed that they had greatly underestimated the other side’s strength—
They thought they were facing just inspectors, but those turned out to be inspectors... As a result, their formation did not hold up long before being overwhelmed by these elites. And this was even when the other side was trying to protect the cargo and not using excessive force.
Thunder roared in the sky, and the gryphons, accompanied by hurricanes, directly scattered their front lines.
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The assassins who moved in the shadows were struck by sharp lightning before they could get close and convulsed as the electric shock revealed their positions; their spells were dispelled before they reached their target, and the wind blades from the gryphon’s claws shattered the arrows that whistled through the air.
The demons had just emerged from the summoning array when they and the array itself were shattered by authoritative thunderbolts. The leading lady, too, held up her staff, summoning lightning that crackled and leaped among the crowd.
Augustus saw it clearly—an assassin less than two meters away from him had just materialized and was still paralyzed when a bolt of lightning passed through him, lighting up his whole body before he turned to char. The intense static electricity caused his hair to stand on end, and even his skin tingled with numbness.
A few of the strong who were still outnumbered but refusing to surrender drank alchemical potions to enter a berserk state.
—And those clad in silver-white armor, the "Knights," were not afraid in the slightest.
Thunderbolts wrapped in electric light, Gryphons entwined with storms surged forward.
Their attitude was more one of urgency than bravery—if they were even a little slower, they’d be held back by their own men. Those who were not decisive enough were so anxious they began to curse their mothers.
And those "strong ones," like lions surrounded by hyenas. They were isolated on different battlefields, then repeatedly harassed by these highly mobile inspectors, bound again and again by the Array of Law Magic.
They only needed to land one hit to kill their opponents, yet they were utterly unable to make even one effective counterattack.
In the end, the armed forces on the ship, without hesitation, jumped into the sea one after another, trying to escape underwater—but they couldn’t even manage to do that.
They ended up caught by pure white Arrays of Law Magic, bound in midair by two rings of light.
By then, the small, brown-red gryphons had their sharp, eagle-like beaks stained with blood. The limbs of those who had resisted most fiercely were broken to an almost cruel extent.
The civilians nearby, who had ever seen such a scene?
But they were not afraid of the bloody spectacle; on the contrary, they were excited, as if watching a gladiator fight—
After all, most people might not see the scene of Transcendent powers committing crimes once in a decade, let alone such a colorful, variety-filled large-scale brawl.
In the end, the inspectors, with less than twenty of their own, defeated and even killed three times their number in Transcendents. They didn’t even cause any fatalities, with only three light injuries among themselves.
When Augustus, who had stood still and unmoving the whole time, was casually tied up by Law Magic and tossed aside, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it’s so good not to be killed on the spot...
This hellish scene was finally over...
He closed his eyes and began playing dead. Hoping he could disguise himself as an innocent traveler, or perhaps someone who had been kidnapped—how he regretted not being a young man or woman, so he could claim to have been trafficked goods.
But those who tried to jump ship and were thus captured alive immediately ratted him out.
— I was just here to sell goods!
Didn’t Mr. Antlers say he held great power in Avalon?
Mr. Antlers, help me out!
And when Augustus struggled to report his identity and the reason he came here to the lady in front of him, he noticed a peculiar look in her eyes as they turned to him.
"The ’Mr. Antlers’ you’re referring to is likely the Former Minister Drost."
She kindly explained to Augustus, "He was the former Minister of Commerce. And what you are sitting on is his private smuggling ship."
"…So, that Minister Drost…"
Despite already guessing the answer, Augustus still wanted to struggle a bit.
"He has been executed for multiple charges, including treason, espionage, murder, and smuggling, just a few days ago," the lady replied.
Mr. "King" suddenly felt his heart turn to ashes.
Good news, the big client hadn’t skipped the bill.
Bad news, the big client got caught — and dragged him into it as well.
Despite Augustus’s repeated explanations that he had nothing to do with this matter, that he didn’t know Drost... saying all this was useless at that point. He was still taken, downcast, to the Supervisory Court.
And when he was about to arrive there, Augustus heard an even more terrifying piece of news —
The current heir presumptive to Avalon, Princess Isabel, was inside waiting for him. The Minister of the Department of Care of Magical Creatures was also paying attention to this matter, explicitly asking to see him.
Is that necessary! Is that really necessary!
This was just an 800 White Coin deal — of course, that was a lot for me, but it shouldn’t be something significant for you bigshots!
Augustus ranted internally like a stray dog whose paw had been stepped on, yet his expression grew even more dejected.
So when he was led inside by the lady, he smoothly knelt down before the most revered and noble figure in the room, blurting out the speech he had been rehearsing in his heart: "Please spare my life, Your Highness the Princess! I’ll tell you everything, please spare me. I have a daughter only a few years old to raise, and if you want me as a witness, I’m willing to cooperate…"
Then, sneaking a glance with the corner of his eye, he noticed that the person’s expression was somewhat peculiar.
"You’ve got the wrong person, sir."
She couldn’t help but laugh, drawing forward the youngest-looking girl behind her: "This is the true Princess of Avalon. I am the Minister of the Department of Care of Magical Creatures, Aiwass Moriarty."
"…Ah, ah. That’s right, I don’t exactly look like a princess... don’t worry, Mr. King..."
The gentle and meek young girl said somewhat awkwardly, "It happens sometimes, something like this, where Aiwass…"
— It’s over! It’s all over!
Augustus screamed internally.
But just then, he noticed something.
…Wait, wait a second?
What did she call me?
"Nice to meet you… or should I say long time no see. ’Mr. King.’"
The minister he had mistaken, Aiwass, sat there with his legs crossed, one hand propping his chin.
He had a slight smile on his lips, as if he was quite pleased: "To introduce myself — I’m the Fox, and this is Lulu."
…It was an acquaintance!
A glimmer of hope burst forth in Mr. King’s eyes.
But he quickly became aware of another thing.
— Why did I name myself "King" ahhhh!
A fresh wave of terror-filled screams echoed in his mind.
Who could have imagined that one day the fate of a nobody like me would be in the hands of an actual "Princess"!
It’s over! This time for real!
