Arestia Empire'S World Domination
Chapter 47: The Beginning of the Disaster, part 2

...—Capital of Excelia, Arestia— Empire...

...—18 December 1238—...

Plaque.

Right after opening the gates of the imperial palace, Code: 9 stepped in with confidence. Right around him, dozens of Arestia's elite knights had fallen sprawled, none of them still maintaining their consciousness.

Some were seen to have bodies drenched in blood, some had lost their means of movement, some other knights even had bodies torn apart by the rapid incision and in the Carnwennan.

Anger and resentment have taken hold of themselves, the arrogance of Code 9 has increased sharply as no one can touch its skin, not even the members of the Cornwall Clan who are assigned to guard the royalty, make Code 9 no longer attack with the procedure that a killer would do.

The steps of Code 9 are not heard in the slightest, as if sublimating to the loud roar of rainwater. All the elite knights surrounding him could only be wary of the movements of Code :9.

They were perplexed, feeling a great fear, there was no one even for an elite knight who did not tremble at the sight of his comrades being savagely slaughtered with their own two eyes.

"Retreat."

The feminine voice of a woman made the knights instantly turn away. Code 9, which now unknowingly lifts one corner of its lips, greatly belittles the girl who has stood face to face with it.

Both of her eyes were thick as blood, her long white hair making all the pairs of eyes that looked at her would judge her extremely beautiful with the face she had, she said, the black military uniform he wore indicates that he was one of the highest ranking men in the military.

Hearing the order, the knights immediately stepped back. The majority of the knights felt saved, they could not possibly step back because of their vows of loyalty and pride and lineage, but fighting was also not possible due to Code: 9's overachieving abilities.

"Good night.It's nice to meet you, Your Excellency Excel Aubert." Code 9 unlocks his black hood, without the slightest bow he should have done in his honor to Excel.

An ordinary young man with short black hair with sharp eyes, that was all Excel could score before he looked at the slaughter of the knights that Code : 9 had just done.

Excel's valuation is on the rise, making it very wary of the rapid Code :9 movement.

Excel with a flat face only nodded small, feeling inappropriate if the man before him got a good impression.

"A snobbish nobleman" sneered Code: 9.

Until a while until the thunder rumbles, Excel just mute, making Code : 9 even more upset.

JGLAR!

With the sound of a lightning strike, the two of them lunged at each other, unsheathing their weapons. Unlike Code 9, which uses the Carnwennan Dagger, Excel uses its strongest weapon.

The Ruberion Sword, a sword with a blade emitting a red aura, which Excel had on his way to find wedding gifts with Ares in the past.

BWOSHI!

The two Phantasmal-class weapon blades crossed each other, causing strong wind blows to the surrounding area. The ground that was both incandescent was also slightly submerged, unable to withstand the meeting weight of the two strongest weapons in the world.

Likewise with the knights, some were suddenly thrown, many of them fell from losing their balance so suddenly.

"What would you do if you met one of the other three strongest weapons?"

The sentence once again flashed in his mind, Excel unknowingly recalls her conversation with her husband right after the two read an old book inscribed with world history on her inside the basement of Ereth City castle.

"If the enemy has a higher ability than you, run. You can't win against him alone."

"If you die, what should I do with Raze and Orcian?"

Her husband's words felt flat, but somehow Excel felt a deep sadness, leaving her only able to shut up. Even so, Ares certainly understands if someday things will happen that he does not want, even after he devised a strategy very carefully that is not the slightest accompanied by a gap.

Although Ares and Excel really don't want to do it, even though both of them really want a quiet and peaceful life for him, but the compulsion of circumstance leaves the two with a cold hand to open one of their last chosen cards, "Joker."

A pair of red and yellow eyes appeared right behind Code :9 standing, visible emitting a dim light amidst the dark atmosphere of the imperial palace courtyard. His lips curled up a smile, as if he really wanted to play around with the opponent he was about to face.

Unknowingly, the feathers on Code :9 stood up, sweating coldly. He turned around, twisting his body to check on something that was deeply disturbing his feelings.

A BLAR!

Code : 9 instinctively crashed. Carnwennan's deflections with an out-of-the-box statistic that he possessed were unable to withstand the might of the slash that struck him from behind, causing him to smash one of the walls of the palace buildings to smithereens.

The white haired girl in the green military uniform smiled back, lifting back the two-eye sword with the Ancient— class which was an Excel— gift with elegant movements.

Esther with the influence of "Alter." Excel deliberately showed the destruction of the city and the massacre that Code 9 did to the knights. Recalling memories of the past, the condition in which "alter" can be awakened is when Esther's mentality is no longer in its stability.

His mind is screwed up, some nasty whispers Excel does make him affected. Excel did it simply because he realized that Code :9 was stronger than him, even though he didn't really want to admit it.

The reason why Esther was said to be "Joker Card" was due to her actions that were no longer predictable, which even Ares judged that it could harm her. To that end, Excel has the task of making him faint, or if it is impossible then killing him is the only last option after Esther's power has weakened.

Why would...

Why is pure descent here?!

How could Ares hide his whereabouts?!

From within the pile of rubble, one hand slowly came out, Code 9 lifting its body to come out of it. The amazing thing for all eyes look—including Excel—is the body Code: 9 which cannot be said to be really hurt, only a few scratches and a small rash could be seen from his body which was now wrapped in a torn dark robe.

"Good night, nice to meet you, brother."

Looking at Esther, who was smiling as if having fun, Code :9 was momentarily dumbfounded, growing more terrified, never expecting herself to meet someone of a different eye color.

At least, I should kill the empress within those three seconds.

Code 9 rises, eliminating itself with Carnwennan's special effects to kill Excel. Despite that, Esther's sword blade once again threw down her as she was only less than 2 meters away from him.

Damnit damnit!

A BLAR!

"Do you want to play hide and seek with me, Brother?"

Once again, Code 9 staggered to get up after its back hit the palace walls. No longer able to care about the intense pain his body felt, the mind of Code: 9 spun quickly, thinking that at least he could return to face not in a state of empty hands.

Ck, let's use that plan.

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