CHAPTER 64: THE TIRSHTAIN EMPIRE 1

(Third Person POV)

In the capital of the Tirshtain Empire, inside the Imperial Court...

In a grand room, twelve people sat at an elevated table, all staring at the door.

Slowly, the door began to open, and two individuals walked in.

The first was a man with black hair, a blue right eye, and a red left eye.

The second was a girl with white hair, a red right eye, and a blue left eye.

Both of them sat in front of the elevated table where the twelve individuals were seated.

"Your Majesty, welcome. What brings you here on such a sudden visit?"

At the center of the table sat an old man with white hair and steady, strong brown eyes.

"Chief Justice, I came because I want a report on everything you have been doing recently."

The black-haired young man sat in the chair, crossing one leg over the other, eyeing the twelve with a sharp gaze.

"Hahaha, Your Majesty, why trouble yourself by coming here personally for something like this? I could have sent it to your office if you had asked."

The old man laughed softly while cautiously observing the boy before him.

"I wanted to see the court with my own eyes since I’ve never been here before. That’s all. Now that I’ve seen it, I’ll take my leave. Send the report to my office in an hour."

"Of course, Your Majesty. It will be on your desk within the hour."

A wide smile stretched across the old man’s face as he watched the black-haired boy leave.

But as soon as the door closed, his smile disappeared. He turned to look at the others seated before him.

"Has any of you done something recently that drew his attention?"

The old man’s tone was cold and harsh—completely unlike his gentle tone moments earlier—sending shivers through those present.

"No, I don’t believe I’ve done anything recently."

"Nor have I."

The people in the room began murmuring about their recent actions.

"Then why did His Majesty suddenly decide to come here without warning?"

The old man seemed lost in thought, trying to understand what would prompt the Emperor to visit them like this.

But after a moment of reflection and no answer coming to him, he shook his head and dismissed the thoughts.

"Maybe, as he said, he just wanted to see the court for the first time. But... why did he bring Armanthor’s daughter with him?"

Outside, Orlax and Alice had returned to the palace and were now in the office.

Alice sat on the couch with her eyes closed, seemingly in a strange state.

Orlax sat across from her at his desk, patiently waiting.

’Teaching Alice the Control Magic turned out to be a good idea.’

Alice’s ability to read people’s emotions, thoughts, and discern their personalities was incredibly useful.

But it had one major limitation: she needed physical contact with her target.

So Orlax had discussed the matter with her, trying to find a way for her to use her ability without having to touch the person.

A few weeks ago, Orlax began teaching Alice his unique Control Magic.

Since it was a unique spell only he knew, it took Alice some time to learn it.

Control Magic is a type of spell that creates a phantom hand capable of manipulating objects from a distance.

Orlax believed that if Alice learned this spell, the limitations of her ability would significantly decrease.

And indeed, even though Alice was only at the first level of Control Magic, she could now use her ability from up to ten meters away from her target.

Alice was currently reading the emotions of the twelve people, sorting through the information she had gathered.

After several minutes, she opened her eyes, clearly fatigued from overusing her ability.

Earlier, when Orlax watched her using her power, he noticed with his right eye how differently colored particles gathered around her, moved toward her targets, and then returned to her moments later.

’Alice’s ability uses mana to extract information from a person and bring it back to her mind for analysis. It’s truly remarkable.’

Orlax snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Alice.

"So? What did you find out?"

"A lot of things."

A wide smile spread across Alice’s face, prompting Orlax to smile softly in return.

"Good."

Orlax stood from his chair and walked over to the office window, gazing at the palace garden.

"Write down all the information you gathered and then go rest. You look exhausted."

"Yes, it’s my first time using my power on so many people. My mind is worn out from the flood of information."

Alice picked up a pen and paper from Orlax’s desk and began writing down the gathered information.

After about fifteen minutes of writing, she set the pen down and handed the paper to Orlax.

"I wrote each person’s name and the information I got under their name."

"Well done. Thank you for your help this time. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have uncovered all this."

Orlax gently patted Alice’s white hair, looking at her with a warm gaze that brought a broad smile to her face.

"Hehehe, don’t mention it. Come to me anytime you need help."

After Alice left, Orlax sat down and began reviewing the paper she had written.

When he reached the end, he clenched his fist so tightly in rage that it began to bleed.

"You filthy bastards... you’ve been doing all this to my empire for over twenty years."

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before pulling out his phone.

"Alex, I want you to go to these locations."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Orlax sent several locations containing evidence of the court members’ filthy deeds and then sat quietly, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the empire...

Elena was sitting atop a tall tower in the Southern Duchy, watching the city below.

’Alright, time to work.’

Darkness began to surround her, and she vanished from the tower’s peak as if she had never been there.

In front of the Duke’s palace gate, a large shadow suddenly appeared on the ground, putting the guards on high alert.

From the shadow, the figure of a woman gradually emerged, stunning the guards with her beauty.

But her cold red eyes brought them back to their senses, making them eye her with caution.

"Who are you? How dare you appear like this before the Duke’s palace?"

The head guard of the Southern Duchy spoke, tightly gripping his sword, ready for any sudden attack.

The woman surrounded by darkness said nothing and instead walked steadily toward the gate.

"This is your final warning. Take one more step, and you will be arrested."

She ignored his words and kept walking until she was within a few paces of the guards.

The darkness around her quickly moved and formed into a black sword in her hand.

She slowly raised the sword and swung it horizontally.

Boom!

A powerful gust of wind surged from the swing, smashing the guards against the gate and destroying it.

She ignored the fallen guards and the debris from her attack and calmly walked inside.

The guards inside were terrified. None dared approach her after witnessing her previous attack that wiped out over half the guards and their commander.

She paid no mind to anything around her and entered the palace.

She released a wave of mana, searching for any sign of life.

Then, she resumed walking slowly and headed toward a basement beneath the building.

As soon as she opened the door, a foul stench hit her, making her grimace.

But the scene before her was even more revolting.

In the basement, dozens of naked women were in horrible condition.

At the center of the room, a fat man lay on a bed with a crying woman straddling him like a horse.

The state of the women was tragic. Their eyes showed signs of complete surrender and hopelessness.

The brown-haired fat man noticed the door opening and turned his head.

"Who are you? How dare y—"

Before he could finish, he realized the person at the door was a woman more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen, and he was immediately enchanted.

But before he could react, the scene around him vanished. He could no longer see anything.

"Huh? Who turned off the lights?"

He felt something trickle from his eyes, touched them, and found a liquid dripping onto his hands.

"Huh, what is this?"

He tried to get up from the bed but realized he couldn’t feel his legs.

"What’s wrong with my legs?"

He reached out to touch them, but heard something fall and suddenly couldn’t feel his arms anymore.

"What’s happening? Why can’t I feel anything?"

Suddenly, the world spun around him, and he could no longer feel his entire body.

Elena looked down in disgust at the dismembered corpse.

It turned out she had cut his body into pieces before his brain could even process it. He died without realizing it.

The scent of blood filled the basement.

Elena ignored the smell and looked at the unresponsive women.

’Their minds have been shattered so badly. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to live normal lives again.’

She took a deep breath and turned to the women in the basement.

"I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I can’t pretend to sympathize. But I can offer you a choice, the sword, and I’ll end your suffering here... or walk out that door and face life again."