The nobles, upon hearing Adam's apathetic and imposing voice, were stunned, as if deer caught in the headlights. In the hearts of the common people, a feeling of respect and reverence for him arose, for he stood proudly alone (as they saw it), indifferently facing the king.

Immediately, changes came over them as if the king had become a traitor and Adam a savior. This was the unanimous belief as if it were the absolute truth, nothing but the truth.

Amarantha couldn't help but be enthralled by this spectacle, as if Adam had suddenly transformed into the king, swapping roles with Shizurana, who trembled in fear, bowing low and not daring to raise his head.

"What is this..." wondered Queen Kasumi.

Her beautiful brown eyes widened in astonishment, and her pupils dilated as an inexplicable sensation welled up within her chest. Her face flushed, and she crossed her legs, rubbing them together, trying to quell this itch, while the flames of excitement burned within her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a similar state, but only in her daughter, Amarantha, who gazed in astonishment at Adam, clenching her fists and pressing them to her chest, as if trying to contain the restlessness of her heart, which seemed on the verge of leaping out of her chest.

"I feel... strange, very strange," thought the princess.

She watched anxiously as the nobles obediently left the hall, even closing the door behind them, leaving only her father, four officials, and her mother in the room. There was no one else left as if ordinary people did not want to be here, avoiding the wrath of the counselor.

"Now, I think the conversation will go much smoother. I hate curious glances; they're just annoying," said Adam, pushing his hair back and feeling satisfaction.

His gaze was filled with arrogance and contempt. He made no effort to hide these emotions; on the contrary, he displayed them openly in his actions, gestures, and words, causing even further damage to the defeated king.

"The worm who devised these strange manipulations was deceived by a demon. It looks amusing," Adam grinned, suddenly appearing in front of Shizurana, who failed to react and was seized by the throat, hanging in the air.

"No! Your Majesty..." one of the officials suddenly shouted, but...

"Shut the hell up, you bitch. Lie down in your place and don't bark without permission. Got it?"

"Y-yes."

Making sure the officials understood his words, Adam snorted and turned to Shizurana, locking eyes with him.

Gazing into Adam's black eyes, which seemed to possess a devouring power, Shizurana felt like an ant, a mere insect before an all-powerful being. His envy, greed, and foolish thoughts were cast aside, far away and for a long time.

"Cough..."

"Well, what do you say? This situation is indeed quite amusing," Adam remarked, sharply tilting his head and cracking his neck. "So, where are your emotions, Johnny?"

"P-please, have mercy, sir!"

Shizurana's voice was filled with despair and fear, occasionally choking when Adam intentionally tightened his grip on his neck, causing the king to repeatedly fear for his life. When the air in his lungs ran low, Adam loosened his grip, only to repeat the process once he was satisfied that the king had breathed enough.

It was akin to a traveler who had journeyed through the desert for a long time, only to find a drop of water when he finally reached it. Even after he drank that drop, his thirst only intensified.

Adam also indirectly influenced the king's mind, attempting to restructure his thoughts and partially seize his consciousness – this was done in the style of his beloved wife, Amarantha, who stood on the sidelines, nodding in satisfaction as she watched his actions.

"Good, this will help in the future. A puppet king is a good step towards our future if we want to bring that plan into reality," thought Amarantha, observing the king who was breathing heavily, kneeling. Then her gaze shifted to her husband's back. "Both he and I... we will live happily. We will have children, many children... we will live each day in happiness, ignoring the rest of the world."

For a moment, her eyes seemed vacant, and a mad smile appeared on her face, only to disappear when she noticed that Adam had turned toward her. Understanding his intentions through their exchanged glances, Amarantha activated her power, creating a semblance of telepathy.

"What did you manage to find out?" Amarantha asked as she approached Adam.

Without turning to her, Adam sighed and looked at the king, who was trying to catch his breath. His face was pale, and his eyes had turned lifeless, but the gaze directed toward Adam was filled with respect and obedience.

"The spell worked. But that's not the important part... this guy had a mind control mark on him, something similar to yours," Adam replied as he approached the throne and shamelessly sat on it, crossing his legs.

He didn't even pay attention to the princess and the queen, who watched his every move with red faces, as if their lives depended on it. Despite this, Amarantha was much more attentive and immediately noticed the changes in the two women.

"Hehe~" She suddenly smiled when a thought occurred to her, but Adam's words brought her back to reality.

"I wanted to investigate that mark, but it self-destructed as soon as my magical energy touched it. Structurally and based on my ancestral memory, I can confidently say that demons are involved here. I smell a conspiracy from a hundred thousand kilometers away," Adam surprisingly became talkative and frowned, expressing his dissatisfaction as he looked at Amarantha, whose gaze seemed full of understanding. "It seems you're thinking the same thing as me. That official with the appearance of an old man... a demon."

"Yes, I noticed it when I detected the disappearance. He had a barrier on him, created by an unknown object, which was so powerful that it managed to deceive my senses," Amarantha frowned, feeling irritation that the enemy had been so close, and she hadn't noticed. "Although in my defense, I didn't pay much attention to him, I wouldn't have missed a demon's aura. So, there are two possibilities here: either the Chaos Royal Family or someone from the high nobility of the Chaos Empire was behind this."

"Fuck. This whole situation smells fishy. Amarantha, do you have any ideas for our next steps that will help us avoid any dangerous confrontations with demons? I feel it would be highly disadvantageous for us to engage with demons right now, especially if there's no actual hostility between us," Adam said.

Amarantha agreed with his words as she didn't feel the need to engage in hostilities with demons, although it was a bit late to say that now. Considering that Adam already had one demon enemy in the form of a Demon Baron, this was a minor issue.

"I think Veronica wouldn't pay much attention to him just because of a minor feud," thought Amarantha, remembering the Demon Queen, who was always indifferent to the world and preferred to spend her time meditating and training, pursuing the goal of surpassing limitations and entering a new stage of life.

In a sense, among all the higher beings who had signed agreements with each other and no longer fought, Veronica was the most dedicated. Seeking new limits of existence was her ultimate goal, which she had been following for over nine thousand years.

Yes, she was old... very old. The oldest of all beings who still lived during ancient times.

"Well, problems start when you least expect them. First, let's deal with this situation," Adam said aloud, no longer communicating telepathically and looking at the two women. "Ladies, I would like to have a brief conversation with you after some rest... could you arrange a room for me, please?"

"Eh?! Oh... y-yes, of course!" Kasumi, the queen, was the first to respond. She nodded shyly and hurried off. Adam could have sworn he saw a small puddle where she had been sitting before, but he chose not to comment. However, when the princess followed her mother, Adam couldn't help but be surprised: "Damn impressive..."

Next to the small puddle... There was one twice as large.

***

At the border, where construction work was taking place.

"Fuck, working in this heat is unbearable. I hate my boss who thinks a nice summer day is a damn good reason to start construction. Seriously!" A rough male voice sounded, belonging to a builder who was carrying bricks.

Sighs and nods from other builders followed, clearly agreeing with their colleague's words. They wanted to rest, drink, and eat, not work like demons.

"Stop complaining, Pinky. You're a damn unskilled laborer with no connections. Where do you expect Fortungard's (the capital of Avalonia) conditions for yourself, huh? You've got to work hard to feed your family," complained another builder about his colleague's behavior, who seemed to have just returned from the restroom.

"Listen, moron, slow down. You enjoy living here because you're a mage! A damn mage who makes money like nobody's business. Fuck you, drop dead!"

"Keep your hatred in check, idiot..."

Watching and listening to the exchange between these two, the builders chuckled and returned to work. However, Pinky suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left side and yelled in pain when he discovered a deep cut caused by an unknown object flying at high speed.

"FUCK! It hurts, damn it! Bring a first aid kit, damn it!"

The builders were genuinely alarmed and looked at Pinky, who was bleeding. One of the closest to him rushed over with a first aid kit and began to administer first aid.

Meanwhile, the unknown object flying at high speed groaned as it felt a headache. It couldn't collect its thoughts and was experiencing dizziness, the urge to vomit, and weakness throughout its body.

"Shit, did that advisor notice my disappearance? I hypnotized everyone..." the object complained suddenly. "Oh, what the fu-!"

An explosion followed, causing the object to crash into a large tree. Like a domino effect, trees began to fall one after another.

To be continued...

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