CHAPTER 143: WORD LAW

If anyone else had overheard Xavienne and Xavian’s words, they would have immediately branded them as traitors. But, the twins themselves seemed utterly unbothered, as if the truth in their statements was so absolute that it rendered accusations meaningless.

It was as though, even if the Emperor himself heard them, he would be powerless to do anything about it... directly.

"Why do you look so surprised, Youngest?" Xavian asked with a faint, amused smile.

"Many Dukes have done such things in the olden days," Xavienne said, smirking slightly. "Even in other empires across Crymora, plenty of Dukes and even Marquises have dethroned their own Emperors."

"It all depends on whether you are willing to risk it all," Xavian added, his grin widening as his gaze fixed on Asher. "Win, and you gain everything. Lose, and you lose everything."

"So," Xavienne leaned in slightly, her smirk morphing into a mischievous grin, "what do you think, Youngest? How does prince Asher Wargrave sound to you?"

Asher didn’t even know how to respond. One moment they had been discussing the Principal of the Star Academy, and the next, they were casually plotting the dethronement of the Emperor.

He simply sat there in silence, his gaze shifting toward Yevric, who sat atop the carriage roof. The man’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, no reaction, no flicker of emotion.

He sat there as if, should Azeron Wargrave command it, he would march into the Imperial Castle and tear it apart with nothing but his lance.

Asher’s eyes returned to the twins, who were still grinning like maniacs. He finally spoke, his tone flat: "I don’t really care."

Their grins slowly faded.

"You’re no fun, Youngest," Xavienne said with a sigh.

"Indeed..." Xavian muttered, shaking his head as though disappointed that Asher had no interest in joining them to overthrow the Emperor.

Asher simply stared at them. He couldn’t tell if the two were joking or completely serious, and frankly, he decided it was better not to dwell on it.

He was still, in his own words, an overpowered ant. Charging against an elephant was suicide, especially when that elephant could manipulate people’s memories as easily as one might flick away dust.

Suddenly, the carriage lurched to a stop as the Enduron horses halted.

Asher was about to ask if they had arrived, though their current location appeared to be nothing more than a sprawling forest, when a rough voice called out:

"Everyone, get down from the carriage and hand over every gold coin and all goods you have, or you will..."

’A bandit?’ Asher thought, incredulous.

It wasn’t that he was surprised bandits existed, he knew they did. What stunned him was the audacity of a bandit stopping the carriage of a Ducal household, and not just any, but the Wargrave family.

"Brother, sister, are my ears deceiving me?" Asher asked, turning toward the twins.

"They’re not," Xavian replied. "It’s not that they’re fearless, they simply don’t recognize the Wargrave family crest. To them, we might as well be barons."

Xavienne nodded in agreement. "But it doesn’t matter. Since they’ve stopped us, intent on robbing us, today will be the day they take their last breath."

Asher began to rise from his seat, but Xavian stopped him. "No need for you to deal with it. Let our personal maid and butler handle the matter."

"I just want to watch," Asher said casually, leaping out of the carriage window.

The maid and butler, who were acting as the carriage’s coachmen, were just about to stand and slaughter the bandits when Yevric’s calm voice cut through the air:

"Allow this old man to stretch his weak bones a bit."

The two immediately paused, then stepped back. No servant in the Wargrave household would ever think to defy the Commander of the Wargrave Knight Order... well, asides Zarek.

With a faint smile, Yevric rose to his feet. He leapt down from the carriage roof with effortless grace and began walking toward the bandits at an unhurried pace.

There were seven of them, each armed with a different weapon and looking ready for a fight.

"It seems you nobles have been sitting on your high horse for far too long," the bandit leader sneered.

At that very moment, an arrow whistled through the air from one of the surrounding trees. The wind sang as the arrow tore forward, aimed directly for Yevric’s temple.

But he didn’t even flinch. He moved as though he hadn’t seen it, and when the arrowhead struck his temple, it shattered instantly, like a hammer striking glass.

The bandits froze, their eyes wide in utter shock.

Though they were criminals, they weren’t fools. They knew when they had crossed paths with an opponent they couldn’t possibly defeat. Any one of them could have been killed by that arrow, but this old man had taken it to the head without so much as blinking, and the arrows even shattered to splinters.

Without a word, the entire group turned and bolted, Astra flaring as they launched themselves into the forest in different directions.

"Did I allow you to leave?" Yevric’s voice rang out, calm yet carrying the weight of an unshakable decree. "Kneel."

The command crashed over them like a divine law, and instantly, every single bandit, and even the hidden archer, collapsed to their knees.

It felt as though Crymora itself had imposed its will upon them.

Yevric’s gaze shifted to the one who appeared to be the leader. His voice was still calm when he spoke next:

"You. Kill all of them, using different methods."

The bandit leader rose to his feet with jerky, unnatural movements, as though his body no longer belonged to him. His eyes widened in horror, but he could not stop himself.

He moved with lethal efficiency. His blade decapitated one of his comrades, sliced another cleanly in half, and tore through the torso of a third. The forest rang with screams, raw, desperate, and agonized, but still, the man’s slaughter continued until none of his crew remained alive.

His breath came in ragged gasps, his mind reeling from the horror of killing his own, but his body refused to disobey.

"In your next life," Yevric said evenly, "do not rob, do not rape. Listen to your mother next time, child."

Then, without using Astra, without any visible ability, without even the faintest ripple of power, he simply waved his hand in the air.

The motion unleashed a blast of pure, overwhelming physical force. A shockwave ripped through the forest, and in an instant, the bandit leader’s body exploded into nothing but shredded flesh and blood.

Asher stood frozen, his mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

"No need to be so surprised, Youngest," Xavienne’s voice floated from the carriage window. "What you just witnessed is Uncle Yevric’s ability. He calls it ’Word Law.’ Anything he says... becomes law."