Chapter 59

Antidote

“So, the last person to visit was the Minister of Administration.”

“……”

“Is that your way of invoking the right to remain silent?”

“……”

When I asked calmly, the official shook his head frantically, his face pale as a sheet.

“Then is that silent agreement?”

“……”

The man desperately nodded.

I decided to believe him without much suspicion.

After all, it couldn’t be easy to lie while dangling out the window of a tall building with someone gripping the scruff of your neck.

More importantly, the prince and the Minister of Administration…

‘They just keep crawling out of the woodwork.’

I’d somewhat expected it.

I rushed over to uncover who was involved, and sure enough, it was those two again.

Since open diplomacy was off the table, it seemed they’d switched to these backdoor rendezvous.

‘I suppose it’s time I gave them a lesson.’

It wasn’t for nothing that I mobilized heavyweights like Noel and Katya and laid the groundwork in advance. I’d made preparations of my own.

Letting out a deep sigh inwardly, I flung the secretary back inside through the window.

With a thin scream, the secretary flew into the room, landing among the groaning soldiers and knights sprawled on the floor.

‘I really have gotten a lot stronger.’

I’d sensed it ever since I turned Damian’s jaw with a single strike — and he was a well-known warrior in the Empire. Now, the gap between me and these no-name fighters was like night and day. They just crumbled like autumn leaves.

Even so, I still couldn’t land a proper hit on Meyer during our nightly spars, which left me feeling crushed.

‘Still, I’ve been steadily building up my Combat Forms.’

Skills that manipulate supernatural power could be copied instantly as long as the Affection Level was high enough.

In that sense, gaining proficiency with Katya’s Grand Flame Arts and Noel’s swordsmanship — the Single Sword Strike — every time I fought was something worth celebrating.

With each battle, I could feel my own sword trajectories and the arrangement of my Holy Flame becoming more and more refined.

My short-term goal?

‘Landing a clean hit on my senior’s smug face.’

Even as quickly as I was growing stronger, I still hadn’t managed to wipe that smug grin off Meyer, who toyed with me night after night…

While mulling over those thoughts, one of the men lying on the ground looked at me and mumbled in a dazed voice.

“...M-Monster…”

“That’s only because you haven’t seen a real monster yet.”

“……”

“You should be grateful it was me who beat you up. Honestly.”

If the two currently outside the territory had entered, no one could say what might have actually happened.

Knowing Katya’s temperament, if things had gone badly, she might’ve burned everything down without hesitation. That’s why Aiden had intervened.

Lately, Noel also seemed to be getting a bit more lenient when it came to matters related to that.

But the real problem was…

‘…The most important person isn’t here again?’

Aiden frowned as he noticed the absence of the princess.

Sure, the Minister of Administration had made contact—but what on earth had the two done that the princess hadn’t shown even a glimpse of herself inside her own castle?

---!!!

Startled, Aiden turned his gaze beyond the manor walls.

A monstrous scream echoed out.

The kind of scream that would make someone with a weak heart collapse on the spot. It was definitely not a sound a human or even a wild animal could produce.

‘-A beast?’

Aiden instinctively jumped to that conclusion and immediately rushed outside.

He quickly found the source of the sound.

“Mr. Aiden! Get back!”

A wide clearing near the main estate.

Noel and Katya were simultaneously facing off against a large beast that looked like a giant arthropod.

Swordlight flashed. Flames erupted.

‘Good grief.’

The beast’s movements were so ferocious that Aiden couldn’t help but mutter aloud in awe.

Its blade-like claws jutted out from its many legs, slicing through the air with such force that even just watching was enough to make one’s chest tighten.

It wasn’t quite on the level of the recent fight between top-ranked supernatural power users, but Aiden could feel that if he jumped into that battle carelessly, there might be nothing left of him but bones.

In other words, if top-tier fighters like Katya and Noel were both present, they might be able to pull off a victory—but…

‘…This looks a bit dangerous.’

The problem was, at Aiden’s own request, both of them had used a significant portion of their supernatural powers to establish a surveillance “net” around the area. Though they weren’t being pushed back, they clearly weren’t dominating the fight either.

“I’ll back you up!”

Aiden shouted and pulled out a revolver from his coat, but Noel stopped him with a sharp voice.

“Wait, Mr. Aiden! Don’t shoot! You can’t kill it!”

“…What?”

There was no need to ask what she meant. The moment he drew the gun and aimed it at the beast, a window popped up before his eyes.

-System Message

▶ Beast presence detected.

▶ ‘Skill: Beast Hunter’ activates automatically.

▶ Analyzing target.

⊙ Liza Aslan [Beastified]

Subject has been injected with the serum of the beast ‘Black Widow’. She is undergoing continuous mutation in real time, drawing nourishment from every ounce of her vitality until death. Upon the death of the serum-injected subject, she will revert to her human form.

Weapon: 8 bladed legs

Strengths: Physical durability, agility

Weaknesses: Heart, head

“…?”

The system window itself was a result of a skill Aiden had obtained earlier from Duke Aslan, but the real problem lay in the contents.

Aiden paused, staring at the red-highlighted message.

He didn’t need to look too deeply—just the first sentence was enough of a problem.

‘That’s the princess?’

No matter how you looked at it, that thing was a beast. But since the system didn’t lie, it was better to accept it as fact.

Looking closely at the beast, he could see a small, human-like body attached to the massive creature’s main body. As if the beast had "grown" out from that point.

“……”

Aiden let out a deep sigh.

A creeping fury stirred inside his chest.

The princess had met with the Minister of Administration just recently. And according to the skill’s analysis, she’d been injected with some kind of “serum” and ended up like this.

There was no need to speculate on cause and effect. It was obvious what had happened without even seeing it. The Minister of Administration had definitely done something to the princess.

In other words…

It meant the very people who should’ve been lying low were now committing insane acts—like injecting a member of the ducal family with some unidentified beast serum.

And if they went that far, then they likely laid even more traps elsewhere.

Besides, the line “reverts to human form upon death” written in the system window… that gave him a seriously bad feeling.

‘Just how far does their scheming go?’

It was the perfect setup for manipulating the incident—spinning it into a narrative of “nobility murdered without cause.”

His thoughts on that were simple.

‘This pisses me off.’

Sure, Aiden had planned to “educate” the princess a little herself, what with how obsessed she was with the succession war. But seeing people who treated human lives this lightly—it made him furious.

The Minister of Administration was probably grinning ear to ear right now, thinking he’d finally landed a meaningful blow.

‘In your dreams.’

And knowing all this—

There was no reason to be dragged along by the enemy’s schemes.

The first step: do not kill the princess in front of him.

There was a second step, but he needed to deal with what was right in front of him first.

With a scoff, Aiden dismissed the system window that displayed the information on the princess.

“Sir Noel, Your Highness. Would you follow my lead?”

A man known as Rad Ilja Varfon cracked his neck back with a loud pop.

“Whoops.”

He barely managed to stop his head from falling clean off after turning it too far. Steadying it back onto his body, Rad let out a whistle.

The adjustments kept going awry. If he wanted to pass for a normal human, he’d have to move a bit less grotesquely than this.

Back when the prince tore this “puppet” to shreds, even after repairs, these kinds of “errors” had started occurring more frequently.

‘Still, I suppose it was worth running this piece of junk all this time.’

He muttered to himself as he observed Aiden’s group fighting the princess, now transformed into a beast.

His body, cloaked in black demonic energy, remained undetectable by anyone nearby. Especially those currently engaged in battle—there was no way they could sense him.

‘Truthfully, this is a perfect chance to take care of everything...’

If he could follow his desires, he’d “collect” everything over there right this moment.

Lionhearted. Deathwish.

Humans with that level of potential were extremely rare. If they went through the same process that created him—Rad—they’d become some of the most valuable “puppets” in his collection...

‘…No. That won’t do.’

Rad swiped a hand over his face to wipe away the involuntary smile threatening to emerge.

That would be pure selfishness.

Those people were to be used as expendable tools for a far greater “purpose.” He had no right to act on his own whims.

There was a reason he joined forces with that prince.

‘Everything must follow the proper stages.’

Rather than charging in now, it would be far easier to make use of Lionhearted if she were positioned next to the prince in the form of his “wife.”

Marriage to the prince, the heir to the throne, meant Lionhearted would become the empress. With her commanding overwhelming support from the people, the imperial public’s loyalty toward the next emperor would only be further solidified.

That would make her one of the most valuable cards once the “clan” who made a pact with that side devoured the Empire.

“……”

And so.

The first step was forcibly severing Noel from that damned man.

Aiden Kellermain.

Rad’s perpetually smiling face stiffened momentarily as his eyes settled on Aiden, who was unleashing his supernatural power.

‘…He’s a wild variable.’

If he had just stayed out of it, there were countless ways to place Noel at the prince’s side.

But then that man showed up.

Every time Rad laid a trap, he would appear out of nowhere, throwing a wrench into his plans like some cursed omen—a thorn in his side.

However, escaping the current trap would not be so easy.

The beast, Black Widow—a spider that delights in devouring its prey. The princess had been injected with the serum of a beast that rivaled elite knights in combat strength. On top of that, Rad had carefully added an effect where the subject “continues growing stronger until death.”

No supernatural power user in the world could possibly revert a human who had undergone this level of beastification.

Especially this one—it was a custom serum, created with painstaking effort. There existed no antidote. This was his magnum opus, backed by his pride.

Whether she dies in battle or with the passage of time—no matter how the situation unfolds—the princess is destined to die.

All he had to do was stay hidden, record the incident, and then use it for incitement and manipulation.

The position of Minister of Administration came in handy at times like this. Creating chaos and turning lies into truth was his specialty.

And more than anything—

‘Duke Aslan should be arriving soon.’

He’d leaked just enough information, timed precisely with Aiden’s departure, for Duke Aslan to realize that something unusual was happening in this territory.

Which meant the duke was likely rushing here as they spoke.

If he could show the duke the “death” of his daughter at just the right moment, it would forge a fairly decent grudge against Aiden. A little gift, so to speak.

‘Come on now, Aiden Kellermain—let’s see you fall, hard, this time.’

With that thought, he grinned.

Devices to “record” what was happening here had already been placed all around.

Just thinking about messing with that thorn in his side made it hard to contain his laughter—

“…?”

But.

The moment he saw what was unfolding before him—

‘…What is this?’

Rad’s expression twisted.

Things were going very differently than he’d expected.

First of all, instead of readying themselves for battle, Lionhearted and Deathwish had thrown their weapons aside and were preparing to charge in unarmed.

Clearly, even Lionhearted, who was deathly pale and screaming, didn’t seem thrilled about the idea of rushing a beast with the power of an elite knight while empty-handed.

“M-Mr. Aiden, are you sure this is a good idea?!”

“Yes. We absolutely can’t risk killing her by mistake.”

Aiden’s eyes scanned the surroundings.

“No point in giving someone exactly what they want.”

The way he moved—as if certain someone was nearby—made Rad’s brow furrow even deeper.

‘…This bastard.’

He was mocking him.

Acting like he knew Rad was here, clearly showing he wasn’t going to play into his hand.

“And what exactly do you plan to do with her, if not kill her?”

Katya tilted her head and asked with a puzzled tone and the answer Aiden gave was clearly meant for Rad as well.

“Something that’ll piss off the one who injected her as much as possible.”

With a short laugh, Aiden activated his supernatural power.

“The person behind this probably thinks that, since they made it themselves, it can never be detoxified.”

Blending into the Savior’s Vow was the First Vow.

Its name—“The Purifier.”

“Time to show them just how big the world really is.”