The Mad Dog of the Duke's Estate
Chapter 238. Rest in Peace (2)

Chapter 238. Rest in Peace (2)

Caron understood better than anyone why Halo had sent him here first.

He wanted me to go wild, no doubt about it, Caron thought.

Nobles, especially those born into prestigious families, were typically raised to act within the boundaries of society. They knew exactly where the lines were, and they kept to them. That was what being noble meant: Saving face, keeping appearances, maintaining justifications. Everything had to be orderly and proper.

But Caron was cut from a different cloth. He didn't care about the lines. If they got in the way of his goal, he stepped right over them without hesitation. His methods were bold, reckless even, and always disruptive. However, he knew better than anyone how to turn chaos into an advantage.

"I told you, Commander," Caron said, half-smiling. "This is the most effective method."

"You've tarnished my name," Hollander muttered bitterly. "A commander taken hostage by a rebel? That'll be recorded in the history books."

"More like a commander who sacrificed himself to save his men," Caron replied. "That's how history will remember you."

"This is madness," Hollander said.

"Then go mad with me. After all, the world already has," Caron replied.

Thanks to the hostage situation he had orchestrated, Caron had made it to the underground level of the institute without facing serious resistance.

Of course, not every soldier stationed here was loyal to Hollander. But most of them were. And that was enough to make the rest fall in line.

As a result...

"Caron Leston! Release Commander Hollander immediately!" the officers and soldiers shouted.

Caron barked out a laugh and said, "And if I don't? I'll be escorting him all the way to the depths of hell. Try and follow me there!"

"You damned lunatic! How can someone called a hero stoop to something this vile?!"

The officers and soldiers had no choice but to tail him from a distance.

Caron looked back at one particularly loud officer and grinned before saying, "Then make sure you spread the word that the youngest of the Ducal Family of Leston is a lunatic who staged a hostage crisis. Please. I'm begging you."

Given the current mood of the people, even that rumor would probably be dismissed as a fabrication by the royal family.

Fame, after all, was a strange thing. Even if you made a mess in the middle of the street, someone would probably clap for you.

With the soldiers behind him, Caron turned to face the door ahead. It was made of an unfamiliar alloy laced with mana stones. From beyond it, he could feel the faint, unmistakable pulse of dark mana.

"Commander, can you open this door yourself?" Caron asked.

Hollander let out a low sigh and answered, "Only those with the head researcher's clearance can enter."

"And who might that be again?" Caron asked.

"On paper... His Majesty the Emperor. This is a royal institute," Hollander replied.

"Aha."

There was no way the emperor, who was bedridden and barely clinging to life, had issued any kind of clearance. If the emperor was incapacitated, there had to be a proxy in charge.

Caron didn't have to think long to figure out who that proxy would be. He asked, "That would make the Crown Prince the acting head of the institute, wouldn't it?"

"That's correct," Hollander answered.

"Fits perfectly," Caron said.

He conjured up the image of Crown Prince Iorn in his mind. The latter resembled the Malevolent Emperor—at least in appearance. But in temperament, they were nothing alike.

The Crown Prince was a coward, the kind who flinched at the mere mention of Halo. And yet, what was happening now in the Imperial Palace didn't match the personality of someone so weak-willed.

There's no way he'd have the guts to pull something like this, Caron thought.

Perhaps Revelio, but not Iorn. The Crown Prince didn't have the vision or the backbone for something this large in scale.

That left only two possibilities: Either the Crown Prince had been deceiving everyone all along, or someone else was pulling the strings from the shadows.

...The first one is highly unlikely, Caron thought.

Iorn had been first in line for the throne. All he had to do was sit still and wait for the crown. He had no reason to orchestrate anything in secret...

Which meant someone else was likely behind this scheme.

Well, I'll know soon enough, Caron thought. All he had to do was see what lay beyond this door, and everything would start to fall into place.

Whoever was behind it, Caron's course of action wouldn't change. He would burn everything connected to this.

Whoever it was, whatever it was, it would all be reduced to ash.

Nodding to himself, Caron raised Guillotine and began channeling mana into it.

Whoosh.

Blue mana gathered at the edge of the blade.

Hollander watched the glow and asked in a low voice, "Are you going to try cutting through it?"

"Yes, I have to," Caron replied.

"That alloy can't be sliced easily—not even with a sword wielded by a 7-Star knight. It has high resistance to mana. If you're not careful, it could cause a backlash," Hollander explained.

"The development of magitech is truly dazzling," Caron remarked, admiring the facility's intricate systems.

"...Don't even think about going around through the wall either," Hollander warned flatly. "The walls in the Level One Security Zone are all coated with that alloy."

"Thank you for the advice," Caron replied with a nod. "But there's one thing you seem to be overlooking, Commander."

He still wore that unshakable air of calm.

Hollander stared at the young man for a moment, then realization struck him like lightning. He asked in shock, "Have you perhaps... You've reached 8-Star?"

It was a ridiculous question.

Hollander knew Caron Leston was only seventeen years old. Even reaching 7-Star at that age was nearly impossible. But 8-Star... That would be unprecedented. A feat so absurd it defied reality itself.

He'd only asked on a whim, but unbelievably, it turned out to be true.

"I've just barely dipped my toes into it," Caron said casually. "Ideally, I'd be holed up at Azureocean Castle for some alone time, but well... circumstances, you know."

8-Star at seventeen... Even if it was just the beginning of that realm, it was an absurd level of power.

It was talent that would be worthy of the title of God of War in the future.

Hollander was certain that this young man would someday be called the strongest on the continent. Even Duke Halo, currently hailed as the mightiest, paled in comparison to what Caron would become.

"A realm others spend their entire lives chasing... and you've reached it in just a few short years," Hollander said quietly, a trace of awe in his voice.

"I guess that's why early study is important," Caron replied with a smirk.

"Hmm?"

"Ah, I was just thinking out loud. Anyway, you've guided me this far, so it's time to step back. The rest is on me," Caron said.

Thanks to Hollander, they had made it here without a single drop of blood spilled, at least on the soldiers' side. That was good enough.

Caron smiled and gently pushed Hollander back. Then, he summoned Pluto, conjuring a thick barrier to isolate the space.

Shhhh.

"Take care of your commander, alright?" Caron called to the soldiers.

From here on out, it was his responsibility. He'd created the barrier through Pluto to isolate the space. He could feel the dark mana leaking through.

Caron wasn't entirely sure what was beyond that door, but one thing was certain. Powerful dark mana was being channeled just behind it.

Whoosh!

Azure Mana surged into Guillotine, resonating violently. A hum echoed in all directions.

Caron gripped the sword lightly with both hands and exhaled a steady breath. He asked, "Been bored, haven't you, Guillotine?"

"Ever since we got to the capital. All we've done is squash a few maw worms. My body's been itching," Guillotine said.

"Didn't know swords could itch," Caron teased.

"Owner, you'll never understand me," Guillotine said.

"I'll feed you until you burst. I hope you're ready," Caron said with a smirk.

Fwoosh.

Caron swung the blade, and the mana at the tip burst forth like a tidal wave.

In an instant, the wave turned into dozens of crescent moons. They were blades with such sharpness that they could cut through anything. They slammed into the thick door without mercy.

Boom!

A spray of crimson sparks burst between the moonlight. Then, the massive door split cleanly in two.

Thud!

It collapsed to the ground, and from within, foul air began to seep out. Thick dark mana began to ooze from within the room like a living thing.

"Oh? So you want to play with me?" Caron said.

He faced the rushing dark mana head-on and shouted, "Everyone, get out of here!"

Seeing what was inside only confirmed it. This was far beyond anything the Crown Prince could have orchestrated.

"Commander Hollander," Caron called over his shoulder, "From this point on, no one is to enter. You still have enough influence to make that happen, don't you?"

Hollander looked grim, but nodded firmly and replied, "Understood!"

"You got a secret tonic or something? That voice of yours really carries, even at your age," Caron said with a smile.

Now was the time to focus on the calamity in front of him, however. Caron entrusted the aftermath to Hollander and, without a moment's hesitation, stepped into the darkness.

And at that very moment...

Whoosh!

A wave of dense dark mana surged forth and swallowed Caron whole.

***

In the security zone, where not even a step ahead was visible, Caron whispered a name. "Pluto."

Meow!

Sharing his vision with Pluto, Caron took a step forward.

This was the Level One Security Zone of the Magitech Research Lab. As a place where the empire's secret weapons were developed, it was far larger than he'd expected.

A sharp, metallic scent crept through the air that was thick with dark mana. It was unmistakably the stench of blood.

"Haaah..." Caron exhaled sharply. Even breathing felt unpleasant. The dark mana here was unnaturally pure.

"...They were researching something interesting," he murmured grimly.

Through Pluto's shared sight, the shadowy shapes within the security zone began to take form—'weapons' the researchers had been working on.

Grrrr... Grrrrk...

Beastly cries echoed from all directions. Abominations that looked cobbled together from monster corpses flashed their glowing eyes in the dark. They drooled hungrily, staring at the intruder who had stepped into their den.

They were chimeras: Twisted abominations with no consistent form or pattern. There was no symmetry, no purpose in their appearance—just madness.

And yet, for some reason, Caron felt a strange familiarity when he looked at them.

Chimeras were revolting beings; artificial monsters that could only be created through dark magic—and by those who possessed deep knowledge of such forbidden arts.

So Caron wondered why they felt familiar.

"Owner... Those chimeras... They've got mana cores inside them. And they're... very familiar..." Guillotine's voice trembled with rage.

And in that moment, Caron understood. He finally grasped why the sight of those monsters stirred something inside him.

The chimeras had mana cores implanted into them, and they were using those cores to unleash dark mana.

The real horror, however, was where those mana cores had come from.

"...Shit," Caron said.

They were human. Without a doubt, those were knights' mana cores.

As the truth hit him, figures began to emerge from between the chimeras—lifeless knights.

They weren't members of the Imperial Guards. The armor they wore bore the crest of the wolf, the symbol of the Oceanwolf Knight Order.

Some had clearly had their hearts removed. Others still stood, their eyes glowing with a hollow, violet light.

The chimeras and the mindless knights lined up, organizing themselves into a battle formation. Dark mana began to rise like smoke around them, as if they could charge at any moment.

Caron clenched his fists and locked eyes with them.

Just then...

Flash!

Violet lights flickered all around, like stage lights revealing a grotesque theater.

"Lord Caron."

"Why did you come so late?"

"You left us to rot in this hell..."

Voices of the fallen knights echoed all around him, filled with blame, regret, and pain.

Caron realized immediately that this was dark magic. He recognized this spell. It had been engraved into his memory long ago.

"Marionette," he remarked.

It was a dark spell that turned victims into puppets, forcing them into a scene of the caster's choosing. It worked by twisting the victim's mind, an insidious kind of black magic.

And he remembered exactly who had favored this spell.

"The Malevolent Emperor," Caron growled.

Now it all made sense. He finally understood who was behind this entire atrocity. Caron's rage, once boiling under the surface, surged to the forefront.

The knights of the Oceanwolf Knight Order who had been deployed in full faith to protect the royal family had become victims of vile dark magic, now standing hollow and corrupted before him.

The blood in Caron's veins felt as if it was flowing in reverse. But he gritted his teeth and forced the fury down, lifting his sword.

"I'm sorry I was late," he said.

These were knights who had given their loyalty without hesitation for the sake of the Ducal Family of Leston. Their honor couldn't be allowed to be desecrated.

They deserved rest, true rest. That was the least Caron could offer them.

So Caron smiled through the pain. And to the faithful knights who had once served his house, he offered his parting words.

"I'll take revenge for you... So now, rest in peace."

A dark blue light burst from Guillotine's blade.

It was a mournful light, one steeped in unbearable sorrow.