"Protect His Majesty!"
"Quick!"
"Evacuate the crowd!"
The mastermind's appearance instantly ignited chaos, and cries of alarm erupted throughout the stands.
Upon the Marshal's Rostrum, the old butler who had successfully launched a sneak attack on the military Crowned One by using Pope Ferret to draw attention slowly curled his lips into a smile.
The next moment, the entire rostrum was flooded by black, viscous liquid. His body sank into the petroleum-like fluid as a thorn tree began to grow, and upon its trunk, the blood-red figure of a giant gradually emerged.
But this time, the giant's face was no longer blurred. Its features were clear—and they were unmistakably those of the old butler!
—God of Suffering!
"My Lord!"
The believers of the Desire Spirit Sect cried out devoutly.
At the same time, among the noble guards and within the Church of the Holy Spirit's bishop corps, quite a few Beyonders suddenly turned on their companions.
Scarlet blood instantly splashed across the stands.
They were all members of the Desire Spirit Sect, or heretical believers influenced by the Blood Pact Law—though, in a sense, there was not much difference between the two.
The stands fell into utter disorder. Many dignitaries and nobles lost all composure in that instant, staging one farcical scene after another.
The square was much the same. With so many heretical believers among them, the rest were left at a loss.
"Silence!"
Duke Alger let out a furious roar.
In an instant, an invisible door opened in the void, revealing a living metal fortress.
Large numbers of mechanical puppets marched out, shielding King Arthur VI, the Queen, and several great nobles within their ranks.
This was a Crowned One of the royal family—an Alchemist skilled in protection!
Fluorescent runes flickered across the surfaces of the mechanical puppets,