The Author's POV

Thump—!

"Done."

I patted my hands while a body fell flat on the ground in front of me. Taking out one of the tubes Melissa had given me moments prior, I opened the Duke's mouth and poured the contents into his throat.

"Ukhah!"

His body jerked immediately after pouring the substance into his mouth, seemingly rejecting its existence.

...But I didn't care and forced the contents in.

His complexion gradually began to fade away, becoming paler by the second, while at the same time, scales began to form on his skin, and black veins began to emerge.

"It looks like it's working."

The poison did indeed look rather effective.

'My body is a lot sorer than I thought.'

Stretching my back, I felt every part of me ache.

'I guess this is a consequence of ingesting the Duchess's blood.'

It was only after I swallowed a bit of her blood that I was able to acquire a Sloth-related ability. Because I didn't take much of it, it wasn't very strong, rather, it was pretty weak, but it was still there.

Furthermore, it was only because I had the Nectar that I even dared to swallow her blood. Had it not been for that, I probably would've never done such a daring thing.

'It was worth it though.'

I refrained from giving the demon a further glance and instead turned to look to my right, where I saw a lovely figure standing with her bow held low in her left hand.

I thanked her.

"Thanks."

"Mhm."

Amanda did nothing more than give a slight nod of her head before walking forward and retrieving the arrow that had pierced the core of the guard.

Putting her arrow away, she looked at me.

"Do you think the demons will be aware that something happened now that he's dead?"

"Don't worry about it."

I reassured her and looked at the Duke beside me.

"Unlike the Duke over here, the guard doesn't have any contractees. His death will not cause any commotion."

According to what the Duchess told me, it was forbidden for the guards to enter into contracts with other beings. I didn't have a crystal clear understanding of the reasoning behind this action, but I knew the Duchess wouldn't intentionally mislead me about something of this nature.

Thus, I just went ahead and killed them. It saved me from using all of the gallbladder.

Lifting my head to stare at the moon hanging in the sky, I turned around.

"Let's go. We still got a lot of work to do. We only have tonight to act."

***

Duchess Klove, Duke Rhimenhart, Duke Givon, and Duke Ansandricth.

These were the names of the four remaining successors. All of them were at the beginner Duke realm and were rather respected.

Before I left the mansion, the Duchess presented me with a comprehensive booklet that contained all of the information she possessed regarding them.

the environment in which they live, the people with whom they associated with, and

like

Unfortunately…

bright, the four of them took their last

the last of

Thump—!

and I wiped the sweat

hard work, I was able to get everything that

almost three times more than earth, else I wouldn't

a bright yellow glow began to tint the sky, and what appeared to be an orange sphere began to rise into

operation lasted approximately one and a half days, all of

long nights initially struck me as odd, but I very quickly adjusted to the new schedule. I was used to not

"Are you also done?"

I looked at Amanda.

back at me, she nodded her

"Yes."

"That's great."

stretched my back

go back then. I need to catch up on some good

was worn out, and after everything was said and done, all of the preparations were finished. All I needed to do was

to

wake up, I'll know

"Hm?"

on my hand. After looking down, I could see a soft hand grasping mine. Raising my head a little, I found Amanda quietly staring toward the distance without

at her

"Let's go."

could still be cute while under the influence

***

Point Z has failed. The enemy seemed prepared.

has failed. The enemy seemed

at Point U has failed.

inundated with a tidal wave of notifications, all of which came

sound that rang

cracks formed

'What's going on?'

as a bit of a surprise to him that the Alliance had discovered the trap that

prepared in order to take advantage of

one to control

surprised him the most,

fact that they were aware, in some way, that they had elder-ranked individuals hiding close to

information wasn't something they

"A traitor?"

he could think of. Other

things

situation rather annoying. He had set up a lot of plans, and he had even sacrificed several

could it

definitely not the other high members since I'd know thanks to the

the chip. Be it when they ate, slept, or went to the bathroom... the chip

they were seeing and hearing. Furthermore, he had made it so that if

be stupid of them

of this that Hemlock was

"Just who…"

dwell on it for

the empty space of the hall, startling

of where the voice came from, he was surprised to see two crimson red eyes staring back at him. His figure was cloaked by the darkness of

"It's you?"

"Surprised?"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

of his steps reverberated throughout the empty hall, and shortly thereafter, Kevin made his

moment, neither of them spoke, allowing the