Return of the Unrivaled Spear Knight

“The Young Master has been called to the Imperial Palace, Duke.”

Duke Agnus paused. In his hand was a tree branch a little thicker than the two of his fingers combined.

“He did all of this crap as he pleased, then he fled to the imperial palace so eagerly, and now I’m left cleaning after him.”

Duke Agnus burst out laughing as he exclaimed. Baron Hed, his secretary, bowed his head and apologized.

“What do you feel about the actions of your Master, Cain?”

Duke Agnus shifted his gaze to his front, and Cain, who was soaked in sweat, was seen.

“Haah, haah, haah—”

Looking at Cain, who kept breathing heavily, Duke Agnus smiled coldly,

“Don’t get me wrong. This happened because your master asked me to do this.”

Cain sweated buckets when he heard the Duke emphasizing the words ‘he asked me to do this’ over and over again.

‘He’s brutal!’

Kane stumbled and took a step back, screaming inside.

What Duke Agnus is currently doing, it was obviously an outburst of rage.

Alarms were constantly ringing inside Cain’s head.

Pak.

Just like how he had done until then, Duke Agnus kicked the ground and dashed towards him again.

“Crazy—”

While watching the Duke approach Cain with tremendous speed, all Cain could do was lift his two handed sword and mutter.

“I’m too slow!”

PAK.

“Keugh.”

Cain, who opened his eyes wide, groaned uncomfortably due to the immense power of the branches that were now embedded in his abdomen.

It was a typical branch the Duke had randomly picked up from a tree.

But it became a legendary weapon when it was used by the legendary Duke Agnus himself.

Flop.

Duke Agnus immediately turned his head around when he saw Cain lose his balance and then fall unconscious.

“Did the kid do something wrong, Duke? You’re clearly venting your anger out on Cain.”

Baron Hed looked at the unconscious Cain.

“We haven’t even started yet. Don’t you believe that it's too early for him to fall asleep?”

“He—”

Duke Agnus asked the dumbfounded Baron Hed,

“What are the twelve families doing? Especially those who had been chastised before?”

“Nothing much on the two families, but the Villas Family have filed a formal complaint since their lone heir was beaten half to death like that—”

With a look of being in jeopardy, Baron Hed trailed off at the end with a troubled face.

As everyone knew, what had transpired between the two, would be engraved in the history of the Academy from now on.

Veron Shen Villas got what he deserved after acting like a villain.

Veron Shen Villas, who had been romping around without realizing that the environment was frightening, was severely affected by the bodily agony and the mental shock that had been far above anything that he had ever experienced.

Of course, there were a slew of undesirable consequences as well.

“Are you thinking about that? Because I was about to ask if that was your intention—”

Duke Agnus nodded in response to Baron Hed’s question.

“My intention?”

“If Marquis Villas writes us an official complaint, then we need to respond in some way to prevent any backlash in the future.”

The formal complaint, which included the family's seal, was not something that was insignificant.

If they somehow ignored the complaint, it was like saying that they were ignoring the complaining family as well, and an accusation like that was definitely not good news.

It could even become the reason for a territorial war.

Well, the Marquis would never be crazy enough to walk over the Agnus household even if he wanted to…

“It is certain that what happened to the Villas Family’s Heir will be discussed at the quarterly Noble’s competition.”

Then Duke Agnus would have to give an explanation to the family in front of everyone.

In conclusion, this would prove to be a huge embarrassment for Duke Agnus because of his title as one of the nine stars.

But,

Duke Agnus, who had earlier smirked and burst out laughing, spoke as if it wasn't such a huge problem.

“It’s not my problem.”

“What?”

Duke Agnus continued to speak while looking at Baron Hed who kept asking him questions with a blank expression.

“I’m not the type of father who would care so much as to wipe his son’s butthole. I’m not that compassionate. And I’m not the type of person to scold someone if what they did was something that suited my temperament either.”

“My Lord…”

Baron Hed was about to say something when he noticed Duke Agnus' smile, which at first glance appeared mischievous.

The Duke was his master…someone who he had been with for a long time.

‘Despite this, I have no idea what is going on within that head of his.’

“Hed. “

“Yes Duke?”

“I’ll take care of Maquis Villas. And if he has some conscience left, then he himself will take care of the rest.”

“Yes Duke.”

“Joshua von Agnus, he’s doing a lot of things as soon as he reached the capital.”

Duke Agnus smiled deeply when he looked at Cain and then started walking.

“Duke!”

“...”

Duke Agnus came to a complete halt when he heard a voice behind him.

“You have a message from the Duchy. Young Master Babel was called to the capital. His Majesty wants to see how the treasure of the Empire is doing. Knight Commander Chiffon is accompanying him and they are expected to arrive in a few days.”

Baron Hed, who had been speaking, came to a halt.

This is because, unlike before, Duke Agnus' current countenance was stiffer than ever, as he slowly turned his head.

Duke Agnus opened his mouth with a shaky voice toward Baron Hed, who was now dead silent, and said,

“What—”

"Everyone, pay attention."

A voice full of Emperor Verona's majesty resounded at the court of the Swallow Empire.

“I hereby declare that the fight against the Principality of Thran to be postponed indefinitely until a separate order is received.”

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

With an astonished face, Duke Momori opened his eyes.

“No way, Your Majesty! What do you mean by giving us orders like that? I’m concerned that other countries will mock our empire because we are staying quiet even though we were assaulted like this!”

“The Duke is correct, Your Majesty! They will look down on us and thoughts like those have to be culled immediately!”

“Please consider it once more, Your Majesty!”

When Prime Minister Marco noticed Emperor Verona sighing as if had been expecting the responses he got, he took a step forward.

“His Majesty is not suggesting to halt it indefinitely, but merely stating that more time is required to identify the enemy’s true identity!”

“The identity of the culprit has already been revealed, Prime Minister! What kind of identity are we still waiting for?”

Duke Momori clenched his fist, clearly irritated.

“Please remember that you’re a nobleman. This is why we are not making any progress. It is because all you think about is fighting.”

A voice was suddenly heard from behind them.

“Who is this crazy fellow—”

“Who the hell are you—”

As the lords of the court expressed their surprise, the red-faced Duke Momori turned his attention toward the door.

“How dare you!”

Duke Momori’s eyes widened in an instant.

“Are all of you here?”

The man in front of the court entrance smiled brightly as he drew the people's attention.

He appeared to be a young man, perhaps 30 years old.

The hair on his head resembled a dark red blood rather than a flaming red color.

The audience was creeped out by his bloodshot eyes, which were the same color as his hair.

Obviously, his clear features were admirable, but the attractiveness he emitted was far from pure, and it rather displayed an image of decadence.

This kind of atmosphere was possessed by only one individual in the Swallow Empire.

Unlike his youthful glow that was exhibited outside, his real age was much older than that.

He was one of the nine stars and a subordinate of the past emperor, Cerona belle Grace.

“Archduke Lucifer.”

Archduke Lucifer smiled cruelly as he heard Emperor Verona mumble in a quiet voice.

“I greet the sun of the empire.”

“Well—”

Archduke Lucifer bowed properly to Emperor Verona, who was staring silently.

The court became so quiet that even the sound of a needle falling could be heard.

Nobles who had been energetically shouting at the Emperor earlier, were now quiet as dead mice.

“Are you a complete moron?”

“What—”

At the stark words of Archduke Lucifer, Duke Momori stuttered with a puzzled look.

“Which country do you think this occurrence will benefit the most?”

“That’s—”

Archduke Lucifer continued to talk even before Duke Momori finished his sentence,

“Do you think that the new Prince of Thran will leave behind such a mistake if he was behind the incident?”

Archduke Lucifer smiled coldly as he looked at Duke Momori’s face as he mumbled his excuses.

“...”

Archduke Lucifer, who caught a glimpse of Duke Momori, who was trembling from the unforgivable insult, now cast a glance around the entire room.

“Does anyone else have the same thought?”

“...”

Archduke Lucifer smirked and broke out laughing as he swept through the nobility of Court who had not responded to his question.

“But since you still have your doubts, I’ll explain it to you.”

“...!”

The nobility opened their eyes wide when Archduke Lucifer spoke quietly to them.

“A lot of countries would definitely benefit if this situation depleted our military might, and among them—”

Archduke Lucifer licked his lips.

“Except for the Hubalt Empire, which is preoccupied with the Pope's election, we can limit all the potential countries who stand to gain the most into a single location, and I’m not even going to think about the other trash countries who would dare try to meddle with us behind our backs.”

After speaking, Archduke Lucifer turned to Emperor Verona with his arms wide open.

“Don't you think so, Your Majesty?”

Emperor Verona grumbled as he looked at Archduke Lucifer, who inquired with a light smile as if he was attempting to turn all the attention to him,

Prime Minister Marco eventually whispered the name with a hard face on behalf of Emperor Verona, who now had a concerned expression on his face.

“The Avalon empire.”