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I took a chance and entered the conversation with Finis to buy time for Takatoshi to recover, but it took all I had not to let my expression betray me as the discussion unfolded. At first, I felt relieved due to being able to deny most of her claims. But as more and more details emerged, the possibility that she was truly Makoto, a messenger of god, began to grow in my mind.

The recent, unprecedented disaster. The appearance of a girl stronger than Takatoshi, who was supposed to be the strongest.

The possibility of the world’s collapse had been spoken of for ages, even before I was born. It had become an outdated myth, something even the royalty of various nations, my father included, had dismissed as mere legend. After all, the only reason anyone believed the world might collapse was because God once issued an oracle.

But that was long ago. If the world were going to end, it should have happened already. Still, with the weakening of the spirits in recent years and the recent disasters, it was clear that the world was weakening and heading towards collapse. It was hard for me to refute those claims.

Even so, I couldn’t accept them.

To admit the collapse of the world meant acknowledging the certain loss of the kingdom we were sworn to protect. And if we accepted that, what were we, the royalty, even for? We couldn’t act on the premise of losing our kingdom. We had no choice but to continue under the belief that our kingdom would endure.

I had to swallow my fears and remain steadfast, as royalty must.

Then Finis began speaking about the life expectancy of the heroes. It wasn’t a big deal, as I could still command them as slaves even if they found out the truth. But this could lead to those who had previously acted voluntarily to turn their backs on me, which meant that I would now need to command them constantly as well. I denied the claims to avoid that scenario, but there was no doubt that seeds had been sown.

Even if everything she said was a lie, the only way to obtain the spirit was to defeat her. It wasn’t realistic to try and steal the spirit while fending her off.

I had thought through possible ways to handle her overwhelming power. But any approach I considered seemed too risky. If it succeeded, great, but if it failed, there’d be no recovering from it.

While I unconsciously clenched my back teeth, trying to decide what to do, a scream rang out behind me.

I turned to see what had happened and saw Takatoshi cutting down Hikari. I didn’t understand what was going on. Killing among heroes was strictly forbidden. It was an absolute order for all slaves.

Yet there he was, Takatoshi, killing Hikari. True, the most likely way to defeat Finis would be to reduce the number of heroes and have Takatoshi, whose stats could multiply, handle her. I understood that. But I had given no such order.

Meanwhile, the number of heroes kept falling.

Screams echoed. Blood splattered. The remaining heroes’ faces twisted in fear, and they scattered. But even as they tried to escape, they couldn’t outrun Takatoshi’s speed, and their backs were sliced open.

Dying instantly would still have been good. But their backs and legs were cut open. If they managed to survive that, they were simply left behind to groan in pain. It was like a battlefield. Or rather, it was a battlefield.

Was it even worth trying to stop Takatoshi now? No—it wouldn’t matter if I did. If we failed here, there might not be another chance. If that were the case, it would be better for Takatoshi to defeat Finis while he still could.

But then, how was Takatoshi ignoring orders and killing the other heroes? And why was Finis standing still, not budging? She just stared at the horror playing out before her, as if watching a dull play.

I didn’t know the answer behind Finis’ reasons, but I did know the answer for Takatoshi’s actions.

“Takatoshi, stop!”

I gave the command, but Takatoshi didn’t halt. This meant that he had somehow broken the ring’s seal. It could have happened when he used his skill against Finis. Maybe the ring hadn’t been able to withstand the sudden increase in his stats.

I’d never heard of such a thing before, but it wasn’t impossible. Takatoshi’s strength ranked among the highest of all the heroes so far. No one of his level had ever worn a slave ring before.

Too many things were happening beyond my control. In order to command Takatoshi now, I had to treat him properly. If he were still the Takatoshi from before, it wouldn’t have worked, but the way he was now, I was sure it would work. If he wanted my life, I would offer it.

When the last hero was cruelly slain, Takatoshi finally stopped moving. Then, with a twisted grin, he locked eyes with me. Our gazes met, and cold sweat crawled down my spine.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered this outcome. It was easy to imagine the heroes resenting me. The only reason I’d been able to command these beings far superior to me was because I’d turned them into slaves. If that was broken, there was always a chance they would turn on me.

But that, too, was the duty of royalty. If killing me meant that he wouldn’t turn his power against Fraus, then my life would be a small price to pay for that. I only hoped that Soter wouldn’t try to protect me, but as Takatoshi closed in at an unavoidable speed, I shut my eyes, thinking this was the end for me. Yet, my body was never pierced by his crazed blade.

As I opened my eyes to see what was going on, I noticed Finis holding Takatoshi’s sword as if protecting me.