Chapter 1466.1

As the chaos subsided, the Pallan Imperial Palace gradually returned to normal. Still, that didn't mean it had fully recovered its capabilities following the disaster.

The building where the rescued captives were being treated and examined was no different. A collection of explosive mana stones had triggered a chain reaction from the other explosives that had been planted in advance, the huge resulting fire immediately engulfing the entire building.

The explosion was so intense that even a Master-level being would’ve died if they had been directly caught in it. So, of course, there should be no chance for a regular group of young lords and ladies that possessed only moderate power to survive such a blast.

While those who were far enough from the epicenter of the explosion were relatively safe from its aftermath, the fire in the enclosed space was dangerous enough to instantly start suffocation. The acrid smoke was also dangerous enough to kill people.

A boy staggered out of the explosion as he mumbled to himself, “M-mission... complete.”

His appearance was marred beyond recognition as a living person. One of his arms had been torn off, yet no blood flowed from the wound. Other parts of his body had apparently already begun to decay, as if he'd been dead for a long time.

“A corpse... an undead?” In the raging flames, the boy saw Evangeline, who had appeared before him. He turned his head and saw another person lying nearby, completely charred and dead.

At the same time, the face of the young lord who caused the explosion twisted grotesquely into a smile.

Face solemn, Evangeline mumbled, “Strange, I definitely didn’t sense any undead...”

The windows abruptly shattered before the knights rushed in. “Princess! Are you safe!”

Amidst the frantic shouts, the knights used their sleeves to cover their noses and mouths against the madly surging flames.

One walked up to Evangeline, nervously asking, “The others?”

“They were all caught in it,” she answered with a grim face.

Except for Evangeline, Perserque, and a few others who had left to check on the situation, everyone else had been caught in the blast.

The rest were practically all dead.

The knights roared in fury.

“Damn it!!”

Evangeline shouted, “Be careful! He's an undead! He’s probably the mastermind behind the explosion!”

At her shout, the knights finally focused on the boy whose body was half-decayed and half-burnt.

“He’s...”

“Be careful.”

“Teehee...”

As the undead boy let out a bizarre laugh, the knights drew their swords, tense.

Yet, before he could make a move, someone entered the building and cleanly sliced through his neck.

“Your... Your Majesty!!”

Sullivan didn’t bother to respond, instead shouting, “What are you doing?! This building is still undergoing chain explosions! Get the living out! Hurry!”

“But there still might be some survivors inside...”

“Didn't you hear me?! This isn't a simple exploding mana stone blast!!”

Following his shout, the surviving personnel quickly escaped from the further explosions.

BOOOM!!!

Soon after, the entire building was completely engulfed in the explosion and began to collapse.

One of the knights watched the scene in despair and muttered, “How could something like this happen in the proud Pallan Empire...”

“Knights, heed my command! There may still be traitors inside!” Evangeline continued, “It's an undead! That means the enemy's leader can use devil magic, and they can even disguise them to be almost indistinguishable from the living, so we need some priests!”

At her cry, Emperor Sullivan shouted, “Gather the priests!”

His face grew even darker. Evangeline had managed to save everyone from the teleportation with difficulty, yet there were still terrorists included in their midst. He couldn't fathom how deeply they had infiltrated.

“What are the priests doing?! How could you not detect an undead?!”

“O-our deepest apologies, Your Majesty! Our detection cannot sense undead transformations...”

In the confusion, Illyna called out to Sullivan, “Brother.”

He just replied, “I have a lot to deal with here, so go back. We don't know who among us might be an enemy. If we don't bring in a priest of archbishop rank or higher...”

“Enough!” she shot back. “You should return to the throne room. It'd be better for you to prepare for what comes next than to stay here at the scene.”

Sullivan frowned. “A large number of children with bright futures just died. Yet you...”

“Weren't you the one who told us to stay calm?”

Sullivan flinched greatly at her sharp remark.

“Your Majesty, please, take a step back for now. What's done is done. It is absolutely necessary that you prepare now for future issues.”

“...Conduct a detailed investigation into the undead transformations. I don't know how this happened, but the undead created by the terrorists are not easy to distinguish from the norm.

Sullivan sighed with a tired face after giving his order, then headed for the throne room.

* * * 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Illyna and Evangeline followed Sullivan to the throne room.

“But, Illyna, are you alright?” he asked.

“About what?”

“Grand Duchess Perserque was also caught in the explosion...”

In fact, that was his biggest concern. Davey had already shown the way he annihilated those who touched his family, so Sullivan was naturally worried sick. Although it wasn't a direct attack, since such an incident occurred within the Imperial Palace, it was hard to predict how he’d react.

However, he couldn’t understand why Evangeline and Illyna were so calm.

Evangeline’s mother, Illyna's beloved big sis, had been caught in the blast. Considering how powerful the explosion had been, nobody could’ve made it alive, so their demeanor didn’t make any sense.

Illyna sighed, looked around, and then said, “Sullivan.”

“What is it?”

“Please follow me for a moment.” Having said that, she casually threw him over her shoulder.

“Ugh... Hmph?! W-what are you doing, Illyna?!”

“Stop squirming.”

Boom!!

She quickly headed off. The place she went wasn’t the throne room, but a secret passage within the throne room.

“T-this place is?!”

“Please be quiet.” Illyna put him down and looked back at Evangeline. “You too, Eva.”

“Yes.”

The panic they had shown just moments before was nowhere to be seen.

“What in the world... Hmph?!”

When they reached the end of the passage, Sullivan opened his eyes wide at the astonishing sight.

“Owww...”

There rested the young nobles, covered in injuries.

Perserque was treating them. “Stop making a fuss.”

“Mom!”

“You're here. How did it go?”

“I threw a bluff. If they were watching through the undead like you said, they probably got the message.”

Sullivan couldn’t believe it. “How is this... What happened?”

Perserque, seeing the confused Prince Sullivan, clapped her hands, and a barrier immediately enveloped them.

“First, we rescued the most important young lords and ladies.”

“Rescued? Where in the world is this place... And how did you know beforehand?”

Illyna sighed and explained, “Well... I stumbled across this place by chance while exploring the Imperial Palace as a child. It's not even marked on the palace maps, so I really did find it by accident. There's no doubt it's the most hidden place in the palace.”

That was what happened. They had already smuggled the young lords and ladies out and hidden them there.

Sullivan quickly realized that most of the bodies remaining in the building were mere illusions that Perserque had cast.

In the midst of the chaos, he was able to hear the full story from Illyna.

Gargantia Netzach. His devil magic could summon undead that were almost indistinguishable from the living. Even holy magic had an extremely difficult time trying to distinguish them from the living.

Thus, Perserque concluded that he must've prepared other plans as well, and searched among the young lords and ladies for anyone who'd been turned into undead. In the end, she had discovered that two of them had been turned into undead, choosing to cast two layers of magic on everyone else.

One was a warp spell that would transport them to coordinates Illyna had prepared beforehand, while the other was a three layered defensive spell that would also trigger the warp spell.

She believed that simply casting a single defense spell would still result in casualties, though merely protecting them wouldn't allow them to deal with the future events.

“In other words... that dragon is still alive, and since he's manipulating the situation from somewhere, we've faked the deaths of all the young lords and ladies.”

Perserque nodded. “We made it look like Eva survived the explosion because they might’ve gotten suspicious if she'd been caught in it too. If he’s watching through the undead, seeing the bodies that looked almost real plus Eva’s reaction should've convinced him that he was successful.”

They had deceived their allies to deceive the enemy. They were only able to make such efficient preparations thanks to Nyx having bragged extensively to Perserque about Gargantia Netzach.

Sullivan sighed. “But why reveal this only now...”

“I wanted to share this earlier. I really did! But we couldn’t know for sure who the traitor inside was. That's why we only moved the young lords and ladies who hadn't turned into undead.” She then drove the point home, saying, “In other words, a traitor that’s not an undead could also still be here.”

“At the very least, they won't be able to contact the other side immediately, since this is a completely sealed space.”

“Haah.” As the tension finally left his body, Sullivan let out a sigh and staggered.

“Snap out of it, Brother. You are the emperor of this nation.”

“Grand Duchess Perserque, I will not forget this debt.”

If it hadn't been for her, all of the young lords and ladies would’ve died at the hands of the undead.

“More importantly, what's happening outside?”

“Since we discovered the undead, the priests have begun a detailed examination.”

Hearing his preparations, Perserque nodded with satisfaction.

They had publicized the necessary information and successfully deceived the enemy. Since the lives of the important people had been saved, the problem was essentially solved.

“He'll definitely be making another move soon. In the meantime, Pallan will be heavily criticized for failing to protect the young lords and ladies.”

Gargantia would not miss that chance to plunge the continent into war.

Sullivan nodded. “It looks like I’ve really got my work cut out for me.”

“You need to prevent the situation from escalating into a war, one way or another,” Illyna told him.

“When he gets desperate and overplays his hand, we'll reveal that everyone survived, thereby bringing the situation under control, and then track him down.”

A glint appeared in Sullivan's eyes. They desperately needed information on where the enemy leader, Gargantia Netzach, was based; how powerful he was; and how many people he was manipulating.

At that moment, they knew nothing at all.