The Protagonists Are Murdered by Me

No one dared to open their mouths when the jagged pillars of ice soared high in the sky like a blooming flower of ice.

“…”

“…”

Just like the spectators, the First and Second Princess were also stunned and couldn't move an inch. Yerina stood alone surrounded by the ice blue mist. She looked mesmerizingly beautiful.

That gorgeous and dazzling figure was also the victor of the succession battle. Soon, she will be the Empress who will rule the empire.

"Ah…" Someone yelped a moment later. It was a certain nobleman who had bet his life and his family on the First Princess. Just like him, a lot of people on the stand screamed, some were angry, and some simply passed out.

These people were those who never thought that the Third Princess, who had no support and had no gift of building muscle, could ever win the succession battle.

“I, I can’t admit this…”

“She uses magic!!! How can we recognize someone who won using magic!”

Some nobles denied the reality, but it was to no avail. After all, most of the people who saw the succession battle—nobles, knights, coachmen, innkeepers, cardinals and nuns, pharmacists, jesters, wanderers, farmers, hunters, philosophers, craftsmen, the greatest knights of the empire, and even the Empress—all of them were overwhelmed by Yerina's presence.

Her existence had challenged and started to change the common sense of the people of this world. Before this event, they thought that because the Empire was the strongest in the continent, the Empress of the Empire had to be the strongest in the empire. Therefore, magic, which they assumed to be nothing more than a trick for the weak, would never ever be a match against the strength of ‘muscle' and was rejected. Because of that reason, wizards were considered the shame of the family and were often cast away from their own homes. On top of it, wherever they went, they were always stoned and ridiculed.

However, in front of them right now, such a wizard was the one still standing after a violent battle. Next to her feet were the two princesses whom the people thought of as the strongest of the empire.

The people had to admit. Yerina's frost magic was strong yet beautiful and dignified; worthy of being the power wielded by the empress of this empire.

Not only that, the charisma Princess Yerina radiated could also be felt despite all the dirt which covered her entire body. With just slight eye movement and combing her hair behind her neck with her hand, her elegance and her grace flowed out. It was as if she was a woman who was born to be the Empress.

The people finally realized. All this time, they had forgotten what a true Empress was. They started to wonder why they thought that it was only people with strong muscles who were worthy of being the Empress. After all, doesn't it mean that an empress with strong muscles could only be good at fighting and lifting barbells?

A true Empress must be dignified, polite, adept at politics and possess the dignity of an empress, just like Princess Yerina.

-As of now, I declare that the succession battle has ended!!!

The Empress' voice echoed. It didn't feel as heavy as in the past, but nevertheless, it still carried an authority.

-The next Empress has been decided. Everyone, prepare yourself for the change that will happen in the Empire.

* * *

Sometime after Yerina's victory, I was revising my plan of hunting Ivan, the guardian of the Second Princess as well as the protagonist of this world. If things continue as they are, Ivan would surely die. I wouldn't have to prepare for anything.

‘The rule wherein the princess who has been defeated in the succession battle will be killed alongside her guardian and those who support her is too harsh. There must have been people among the royal families in history who wanted to live a normal life without any interest in the battle for the throne.’ I remembered Yerina saying that. She vowed that once she became the Empress, she would tear this system down first and fix it. I decided to follow her opinion.

Even though it seemed like my efforts so far were going to be wasted, it was not true. It was because just with Yerina winning the battle for the throne, Ivan would die. After all, who in their sane mind will peacefully accept their death when they have the power to resist?

"Hero! Are you really going to wait for death like this? If a weak, muscle-less person like the Third Princess took over the Empire, this empire would certainly be ridiculed by other kingdoms!” The person who spoke those words was a certain count with a vast territory who fully supported the Second Princess.

“That’s right. So far we have been competing, but now is the time to join forces. Let's protect the empire together!" Said a certain marquis who served as a faithful servant of the duke who supported the First Princess.

“Let’s do it together, Hero! Duke Haivan, who was the guardian of the First Princess, gave up and decided to accept everything the moment the First Princess lost the succession battle. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he's already old. The only one I can trust is you, the Hero!” The person who said that was a certain person who held onto both the First and the Second and was confused about which stance to take before the Third Princess won.

[The main character faces a crisis.]

[The episode will change due to the probability.]

In a secret meeting with numerous nobles, Ivan closed his eyes. Then, after sorting out the thoughts in his mind, he opened it.

"Okay! Have we been training our muscles just to let our Empire be taken over by magic? That doesn't make sense!"

“Right! Right!”

Ivan shouted, and the nobles agreed. The hero flexed his muscles and his tendons bulged out.

“We don't have to wait long. Tonight, let's turn the Empire upside down to save the princesses and the empire!”

Rebellion.

Hero Ivan and the nobles were planning to rebel against the Third Princess, Yerina. It will be Yerina's first ordeal as the future empress, but unfortunately, as long as ‘probability' was behind the Hero Ivan, Yerina would never be able to overcome it.

‘So, now it's my turn to work.'

I finally found my justification to kill Ivan. Until now, there was no reason for me to kill him. However, when he revolts against Princess Yerina, the rightful heir to the throne, the story would be different.

“Let’s go, Aracelli. Let's finish our work in this world.”

[Accelerating Time.]

* * *

“ACCCKKKK!!!!”

“It-it’s a rebellion!”

“You guys! Do you think you will be safe after doing this!!! Kuk-huh!”

A certain book described that the Primel Imperial Castle in the evening looked as if the castle walls were burning like a bright gold flame as it reflected the brightness of the sun on its golden wall. However, it was no longer a simple description in this current situation since the imperial castle had literally caught fire because of the wind of blood that brewed.

The nobles who supported the First and Second Princesses did not recognize the victory of the Third Princess and eventually raised arms. Yerina was staying in her own palace when the rebellion broke out while the Queen's Guards came forward to stop the rebellion. However, the troops of the nobles were too strong.

‘In due time, the rebellion will eventually be subdued…' Yerina thought. She was certain of it since the troops of the nobles were nothing but a bunch of private soldiers who were thrown together. They could never overcome the elite forces of the Imperial Palace.

But, even if that's the case, would there be anyone to protect her until then?

Although Yerina was the next Empress, the current Empress was still Primel Primellia. Until the succession was done, all of the troops were working for her. Which means, the only one who could protect her was herself.

Thud-!! Thud-!! Thud-!!

Rumble-!!

“Ahh…!”

Yerina could hear a huge explosion from downstairs. It was the sound of someone ignorantly smashing the wall with their fist. If that person kept doing it, the castle would eventually collapse.

‘He must have rushed to catch me!’

Even though she had no one to protect her, she had no intention of dying quietly. Yerina quickly ran to the top of the imperial castle.

Normally, the princess who won the succession battle would move to the First Imperial Castle. If Yerina had been there, she would have been protected by the empress' troops along with the Empress. However, the rebellion occured not long after the last trial of the succession battle ended, so she hadn't moved yet. Meaning that they were aiming for her who would become the next empress.

‘If things continue like this, I will die for sure…!’

Yerina spurred as fast as she could and made her way to the highest floor. The imperial castle she was currently staying in was the 40 stories high ninth imperial castle. Even if the imperial troops arrive to protect Yerina, they would be blocked by the troops of the nobles who have taken over the castle.

“That's the Third Princess over there!”

“Get her!”

“If capturing is impossible, just kill her!”

Seeing the troops of the nobles chasing after her, Yerina bit her lips tightly.

Whoosh-!!

The wind blew violently as she slammed the rooftop door open. She didn't reduce her speed and sprinted towards the railings. Then, she threw herself into the air with all her might, the rebel behind her belatedly swung their blades into the place she was seconds ago.

“…”

The rebels clenched their teeth and looked at Yerina, who stood as she stepped into the air. She laughed as her hair fluttered freely blown by the wind.

“You guys didn't bring a bow? Oh, yeah, I forgot. You guys don't use ranged weapons because it's a weapon for cowards, isn't it?" Yerina bluffed as much as she could. Floating magic was a 5 circle spell. While using it, it was almost impossible to use any other spell. Though, if she pushed her concentration to the limit, she would be able to cast some magic of 1 or 2 circles, albeit barely. But with only those spells, she knew that she could not inflict fatal blows to them.

‘I can still bluff…'

She lit a flame in her hands. It was one of the only three spells she stored. When the magic of 4 circles, ‘Pyoxytium', was activated, the rebels faltered and retreated a bit.

“Wh-what is that…”

"To use magic while flying…"

Yerina swung her hand with all her might, and when the fire hit the rooftop, flames exploded and ripped half of the rooftop. As the winds further spurned the flames more violently, the rooftop of the 9th Imperial Palace shone even brighter and burned even fiercer than any other imperial palace.

Because of that, the sight of Yerina flying in the sky while using her magic could not only be seen by the rebels who arrived on the 40th floor, but also by most of the Imperial forces watching the sky from the ground.

“It’s absurd… Did she hide this kind of power all this time?”

"Hey, how can we fight her… She used magic while flying!”

The rebels faltered even more as they already witnessed the horror of Yerina's magic—a great magic which robbed the two princesses of their successor rights!

"Haha…" Yerina could only laugh. After all, back in the third trial, she was only able to cast those spells because she prepared for it. Meanwhile, currently she couldn't use a lot of spells while she was flying through the air.

‘Now, what should I do……!’

Floating in the air right this was good and all. However, it consumed too much mana to move. It would be nice if she could go to the 0th Imperial Castle, where the Empress resided, but it was simply impossible because she didn't have the required mana to do so.

At that moment,

“What are you guys doing standing around like that! How are you supposed to catch a princess if you are just standing idly!"

The floor of the 9th Imperial Castle rooftop was torn off. And a person with a huge body appeared. It was the Hero, Ivan Faeden.

“It's the Hero!!! He has entered the war for us!”

“Heup!” Ivan snorted his nose, dug his hand into the floor, ripped the ground off, and threw it at Yerina.

Wooong-!!

“Damnit!” Yerina cursed as she cast one of the remaining two stored spells, namely mana shield. It was spread out in front of her to block the incoming brick. However, when the two clashed, the shield shook badly. Looking at Yerina who couldn't retaliate, Ivan's lips twitched.

“…just managing to float in the air, doesn’t it consume a lot of your mental strength?”

Unlike other warriors in the Empire, Ivan had a lot of experience in dueling against wizards while traveling to other continents. Among them, the floating spell was a spell which could only be used by wizards who had reached the highest level of magic. He was quite surprised when Yerina used it, but the fact that she would eventually die didn't change in Ivan's mind.

Rumble-!!<br /> Ivan tore the floor again. A huge boulder was lifted into Ivan's hands. At the sight, Yerina sharply bit her lips until it bled. She was frustrated. It was impossible for the shield to take Ivan's attack any longer.

‘If this continues…'

The moment when such desperate thoughts pass by Yerina's thought. Above Ivan's head, a man appeared and fell.

Tuck-!!

“Uh-huh!”

“Ugh!”

Ivan lay flat on his stomach when the man who fell upon him, Yoo Seodam, quickly rolled sideways. Yoo Seodam staggered to get up and checked the clock floating in the air.

"Crazy… Why did you accelerate so much?”

<As I squeezed the last remaining probability in your body, it seems that the time went ahead a bit too much. It's not my fault, though.>

“You’re saying that it's all my fault?” Yoo Seodam looked around him and saw Yerina floating in the air. Her dress was ripped in several places and she was clearly not in a good shape. Her pretty braided hair had also been undone and hung loosely on her shoulder.

Yerina pursed her mouth, and grimaced in an attempt to suppress the feeling of something rushing in her heart.

“That expression makes you look ugly.”

“…!!!" Yerina realized her slip up and hurriedly covered her face. At the same time, the floor shook because some muscly guy had just violently stood up. He then stared at Yoo Seodam with eyes that resembled a wild beast.

Yoo Seodam also took out a white sword from his inventory and aimed it at the hero Ivan.

“Still, the way you look now suits you the best.” As soon as he finished saying that to Yerina, Yoo Seodam and Ivan ran towards each other. After only a brief exchange, the 40-story imperial castle completely collapsed.

15 minutes later, when the Empire's elite troops arrived, everything had already ended.

"Your Majesty… The leader of the rebellion, the former hero Ivan Faeden, was defeated by the Third Princess' guardian, woodcutter Yoo Seodam."

The former hero was defeated by the woodcutter.

Upon hearing the news, Empress Primel laughed for a long time. She really, really laughed for a long time.