Cain was already in front of the throne room’s entrance. Sitting before the four were two huge, golden-colored doors crafted extravagantly with intricate designs.

“Evan and Neil on the right, Adele and I on the left. Kick open the doors and avoid showing yourselves.”

With a powerful kick on each door, both sprang open. Immediately after, countless arrows flew from the throne room into the hallway.

“Tch. Bunch of wimps.” Neil loudly clicked his tongue before condemning his enemies.

“How dirty. Hehe.” Adele grinned from ear to ear.

Amidst the rain of arrows, Evan peered inside the throne room using the reflection of his sword. He then shared his observations.

“About thirty archers and a hundred knights. No royals in sight.”

“Evan. Neil. Secure the left hall. Adele, we secure the right hall. We’ll be surrounded soon.”

Cain knew that there were too few enemies in the throne room. Judging from their position, a flank from three sides was highly probable. He decided to split his team into two pairs and temporarily ignore the throne room.

The goal was to subdue the two halls first and the throne room second. The left and right halls were much smaller than the throne room, which gave Cain’s team the opportunity of close quartered combat.

Because Cain predicted the additional ambush, they were now at an advantage—their enemies were split into three groups, which gave them a chance to significantly reduce the enemy numbers.

The two halls were far enough from the main hall that sound could not travel between them. Knowing this, the team of four dashed hastily towards their designed halls to maximize their distance from the main hall and catch their prospective ambushers by surprise.

And as expected, a large group of knights were assembled in the left and right halls, preparing to attack the main hall. However, they had never anticipated being the ones attacked instead.

Shing. Shak. Ksh.

Several knights fell swiftly to each one of their swings. After all, a hundred knights meant nothing against a commander’s caliber.

“Adele, take care of the rest here.”

“Mm-kay.”

By now, three minutes had passed.

Cain rushed to the throne room’s entrance expecting a wave of enemies. But perhaps because the enemies in there were expecting some sort of signal from their companions, they had yet to move. The arrows had stopped as well.

Cain waited by the doors, hiding his presence. A minute later, he sensed unrest within the throne room. Then an acrid voice entered his ears.

“Why are they taking so long! You’re all useless fools!”

The owner of this revolting voice was one that Cain recognized. It belonged to the King of Tyria, Goldberg Gemmings Tyranus. Shortly after, Cain heard several other voices.

“Mother, I’m scared…”

“Don’t worry sweetie. They will all die soon. Honey, look at how scared our daughter is… do something!”

“Just go and kill them already, you damn pieces of garbage!”

“B-But Your Majesty, the signal…”

“Who cares about the damn signal! Just go!”

“Y-Yes…”

“A few of you, stay at the door! At least you can be useful as shields.”

As knights rushed through the door, they felt a deadly presence.

Ksh.

Cain’s longsword pierced through the bodies of five armored knights.

 

“W-what the hell?!”

“What happened?!”

—The knights quivered in fear as the men in front of them fell, the sound of iron armor clanging with the floor resonated deep into their ears.  

 

Ksh. Ksh. Ksh.

As if pruning an overgrown bush, Cain unceasingly trimmed down the group of knights mercilessly—he was gradually entering deeper into the throne room.

Knights at the backline became frantic with horror at the thought of them being next. Some already fell to their knees.

Goldberg felt apprehensive to the point that the hairs on his body had bristled. His swordsman were clearly no match for Cain, so the only thing left to do was—

“A-Archers, attack!”

—but there were no longer any archers. When Goldberg had ordered them to rush outside, they switched their bows for swords.

Cain had walked into a room filled with knights who lost their will to fight, along with Tyria’s royal family at the far right of the room. The royal family had hidden themselves away from their thrones—the symbols of their statuses.

Three lavish, over-embellished, decadent chairs crafted with gold and countless gemstones, all abandoned by their owners—that was the reason why Evan previously could not see any royals through the reflection of his sword.

Cain stood in front of Tyria’s king, who was flailing on the floor while retreating.

“S-Spare me! Take anything you want! Anything!” Goldberg gesticulated at his wife and daughter, his face ashen from terror.

Cain berated him with cold eyes. “Cowering behind your knights, your citizens, and even your family. A pig willing to offer anything to save itself.”

“How. Disgusting.” Adele spoke with heavy contempt.

Evan, Neil, and Adele had entered the room when Cain stood in front of Goldberg. The three heard everything.

Cain picked up an enemy knight’s sword and pointed it at Goldberg—

Ksh.

—because he didn’t want to use his own longsword.

He then turned to look at Goldberg’s wife and daughter who were both unable to face him.

The wife embraced her daughter tightly. “P-Please… spare my sweet chi—”

Suddenly, the daughter pushed her mother away and distanced herself. “Rid my mother and spare my life. You may have the honor of raising me.”

“…” The bemused Cain wanted to speak no more. He lamented over a single thought—

Does greed flood in Tyrian blood?

—to overcome the affliction from his next two actions.

Ksh. Ksh.

✦✧

The team of four were on their way back to the main square. It seemed that Evan’s scenario was only partially correct.

“Didn’t expect Goldberg’s parents to hide in a royal bedroom. Wonder why they hid separately.” Neil sighed as he couldn’t comprehend their actions.

“He probably hated his parents.” Evan didn’t even try to hide his disinterest in Tyria’s royal family affairs.

Neil sensed this and blurted, “Whatever. Anyway, I guess that’s it. It’s all over now.”

“Cain was so heartless to the mistress and princess. Hehe.” Adele’s words were opposed by her pleasured expression.

“Adele, I urge you to ponder the events that have transpired and refrain from callous speech.”

“What…? Neil, what is Evan saying?”

“He means to read the mood.”

“But but, Cain was so cool back there.” Adele poked her chin and frowned wryly.

“Hey…” Evan wanted to rebuke her, but he knew it was impossible.

Adele tilted her head and spoke brazenly. “You have to agree that this outcome is quite ideal, yes?”

She’s a devil. That is what Evan and Neil thought.

Cain remained silent the entire time.

✦✧

When the four arrived at the main square, a few knights who spotted them started to cheer. As more knights realized that victory had been seized, they cheered as well. Eventually, the whole square was roaring with cries of triumph.

One knight, drunken with jubilation, approached Cain and uttered, “Commander Cain, what should we do with all the slaves?”

It was clear that the knight was addressing Tyrian citizens as slaves.

With cold eyes, Cain glared and scorned at the knight, but spoke calmly, “They’re not slaves. Treat them with respect.”

“Un-understood, Commander Cain.” The knight, realizing that he had overstepped his boundaries, immediately sobered and returned to his duties.

“Hey hey Evan, why is Cain so nice to those citizens?” Adele asked with innocent eyes.

Evan promptly responded, “It’s because they know the ins and outs of Tyria better than us, so we want them on our side when our king reigns over them. Besides, a kingdom needs people to flourish. Who better than the people already living here?”

“Mm, I see. So, they’re like convenient cattle.” Adele, with upturned eyes, looked at Evan as if teasing him.

“Hey…” Evan could not comprehend the mental gymnastics happening in Adele’s mind. As usual, he was at a loss for words.

Cain gave his team a command.

“Evan, update the messenger and have it relayed to our king. I’m leaving for a while. You three handle the rest.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.”

Cain needed time alone to ruminate the events of this war. The first two months of battle were nothing noteworthy, but ever since he entered Tyria, he found himself getting repeatedly baffled.

It was hard to believe that a single day could affect him this much—it felt as if he were swallowing a sword.

But the truth was that he wasn’t only affected by today. Over time, he had been suppressing the darkness of this world that he lived in.

 

Killing those who are bloodthirsty? That’s fine.

Killing those who have wicked intentions but cannot defend themselves? That’s a little harder.

Killing those who have been corrupted, but otherwise would have been decent people? That’s agony.

 

The problem is this world.

A world with limited resources will create greed. A world where people are unequal will create a hierarchy. Combine these with people who cannot fend for themselves, and the result is corruption.

I hope to meet a genuine person one day. Is such a being impossible?

One who is consciously self-indulgent. One who acknowledges inequality but is deferential and self-effacing. One who accepts convenience but employs self-restraint and reciprocity.

One who can freely swim in the darkness of this world.

As Cain passed by two greenhorn knights, one of them shouted, “Commander Cain, you’re my hero!”

The knight beside him reprimanded, “Shut up, idiot! Just lower your head.”

Cain did not respond, as he was lost in his thoughts.