Wendy stood in that secluded corner, her hands tightly clutching the fabric over her chest as she looked up at the pitch-black figure in the sky.
When Greg's declaration—“Your Fifth Imperial Princess, Wendy von Leinfeld, is the one I have set my eyes on!”—echoed across the entire Imperial Capital through his mana, her body shuddered violently, as if struck by an electric current.
Her eyes instantly welled with tears, blurring her vision as they welled up uncontrollably.
“Huh... What's wrong with me?”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, only to find the tears flowing even faster, completely unstoppable.
Giving up on wiping them away, she let the tears stream down her cheeks. Yet, the corners of her mouth curved upward in an involuntary, tearful smile.
Since childhood, she had been accustomed to bearing everything alone, accustomed to the malice directed at her.
She had never dared to hope that someone would stand in front of her and shield her in such a public, declarative manner.
The feeling of being resolutely chosen was like a warm flame, completely dispelling the last trace of chill in her heart.
She lowered her head, burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her voice was choked with tears, yet filled with joy:
“Honestly... Lord Bishop... If you do this, how could I ever bring myself to leave you in the future...”
...
On another street.
Allie had intended to use the moment when the phantom enemies suddenly froze to search for Greg, but then she heard the declaration echoing from the sky.
The sword in her hand paused, her dark gold hair fluttering gently in the night wind.
She fell silent for a moment, then pursed her lips and muttered quietly, “Hmph... That sounded rather domineering.”
She did feel a slight pang of discomfort in her heart, a feeling like her own treasured possession was taking risks just to protect someone else.
Yet, she truly didn't want Wendy to be misunderstood as a member of the Demon King Cult. If Greg hadn't stepped forward to clear her name, then even if Wendy were rescued, a thorn would remain in her heart forever.
While it wouldn't be fatal, it was certainly not something that could be easily accepted.
Putting herself in Wendy's shoes, Allie imagined if others mistook her for a maid of the House of Sass instead of Greg's personal maid—she would probably be angry enough to want to destroy the world.
“I'll let this foolish young master play the fool just this once.”
With that thought, Allie let out a reluctant huff, begrudgingly accepting the situation.
...
Elsewhere, Silvia was helping the commoners alongside other members of the Church of Light.
When she heard the words echoing from the sky, the light-attribute magic in her hands flickered slightly.
She looked up at the pitch-black figure in the sky. Though her gentle, polite smile remained on her face, its curve had grown somewhat stiff.
A dark emotion was quietly brewing in her heart.
“Another one... Yet another woman I don't know is quietly drawing close to Senior Greg.”
A nun approached, supporting an injured person. Upon seeing Silvia's current expression, she felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.
“U-Um, Lady Silvia, is something the matter?”
Hearing the nun's voice, Silvia quickly withdrew her gaze and shook her head. “No, it's nothing. Please set the injured down.”
She swiftly adjusted her expression, restoring the smile that had nearly slipped, before lowering her head to continue her work.
...
In front of the wooden cabin in the slums, Victoria, Vivian, and Lilith also heard the declaration from the sky.
Victoria froze for a moment, then spat in disgust. “Bah! That guy really is a scumbag!”
Although Victoria had long known what kind of person Greg was and knew this had nothing to do with her, she couldn't help but feel a strange tightness in her chest upon hearing those words.
Vivian lowered her eyes slightly, her fingers gently brushing through her ice-blue hair.
A hint of envy rose in her heart—envy that Wendy could be so resolutely claimed in front of everyone.
But she quickly let it go. She believed that with Greg's personality, if she ever found herself in a similar predicament in the future, he would definitely do the same for her, perhaps even more flamboyantly.
At that thought, a faint smile involuntarily graced her lips, and her heart quickly settled.
Meanwhile, Lilith felt a pang of sympathy for Wendy, whom she had only recently met.
She thought Wendy was truly pitiful... to be targeted by such a terrifying guy.
Just the sight of that armor was frightening enough; her future days would surely be miserable.
At the same time, a new question occurred to her.
Since Wendy had been kidnapped by this terrifying guy, what about Greg?
Could he have been disposed of by this terrifying monster as a love rival?!
Lilith was completely unable to make sense of the current situation.
...
In the sky, Isadora stood in silence for a brief moment after hearing Greg's words. A subtle expression crossed her dangerous yet beautiful face, looking like a mix of awkwardness and amusement.
She coughed a few times to clear her throat, her tone noticeably softer than before. “Cough... Well... You certainly are... straightforward.”
She had met all kinds of formidable figures, ambitious schemers, and conspirators, but this was the first time she had encountered someone as peculiar as Greg.
Despite radiating an incredibly dangerous and eerie aura, he turned out to be a hopeless romantic.
She began to think that this guy claiming to be the Messenger of the Goddess of Night might not be such a bad person after all.
She continued, “And the second thing?”
“The second thing is—”
Mid-sentence, the black sun behind Greg suddenly grew even deeper and more profound.
“I detest rats that crawl out of the dungeon.”
He pushed the Seed of Eternal Darkness to its absolute limit. The black sun became a massive vortex, beginning to ravenously absorb the mana from the phantom enemies on the ground.
These phantom enemies were essentially undead creatures. Under the effect of his Divine Protection, they not only suffered from an extra Fear status—making their movements sluggish and rigid—but the negative effects were also magnified tenfold.
Despite their vast numbers, the devouring effect of the Seed of Eternal Darkness operated with astonishing efficiency on these phantoms.
One by one, they let out silent screeches as their bodies twisted and deformed violently. The mana that formed their physical shapes was drawn out like water pumped from a well, transforming into streams of dark purple light that were pulled into the black sun, swallowed whole, and converted into pure mana.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone, the tens of thousands of phantom enemies across the entire Imperial Capital were swept clean in a mere matter of seconds.
As the final phantom dissolved, a brief silence returned to the night sky.
And with that, a figure dressed in a black steward's suit had nowhere left to hide.
He looked up at the pitch-black figure in the sky, the easy confidence completely gone from his face, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.
Rate on N.U.
