The group split up as soon as night fell. After that discussion, Billy heard for many hours that Lucyna wanted to kill the royal family herself, so he couldn't kill them. Billy ignored her since he wouldn't risk his life for her revenge. If things get dicey, he probably will make the capital explode.
"I wanted to destroy the next cores and make my earth magic skills level up, but I guess this is fine," Billy thought. "Knowledge is also power."
After using Flash for one hour, Billy reached the capital, and he noticed that something was off. The atmosphere was different… Did something happen while they were away? Certainly, they didn't hear yet of the destruction of the other dungeons.
"Hmm… I don't like this," Billy thought.
To make sure that problems won't come to bother him later, Billy had to keep his identity hidden. So, he hid his weapons, and this time he also took away the weights on his body. Once that was done, he made a weird armor that covered only his upper torso, arms, and heads. It was a very different armor made of silver, but since the glow stood out too much, he used some Earth magic to darken it as much as possible.
"Now no one will connect this figure to myself… I just have to fight without using magic and spear skills," Billy thought.
Billy wandered to think that he was worrying too much, but extra preparation never killed anyone. That was his motto. In any case, he approached the capital's walls and chose a dark part where the guards couldn't see him. After using Flash and appearing there, he opened a hole in the wall and then closed it when he crossed. In the end, it didn't seem like anyone had done anything to the wall.
It was a bit early, but the capital was pretty quiet. It was around dinner time, so the taverns were supposed to be full, but Billy couldn't hear the noise that he had heard during his stay a few days ago. In any case, Billy would learn the reason for that sooner or later.
Billy crossed the streets of the capital while using Flash to reach the next shadow. Thanks to that, no one found him, but he saw many guards patrolling. Maybe they got more serious about their job when they failed at capturing Lucyna in that trap. Regardless, despite the massive number of guards patrolling, Billy still saw a lot more around the castle. They certainly were waiting for some troublesome guests, and while Billy wanted to believe that the aristocracy of that state had many outside enemies, he knew that they were waiting for him.
"Decreasing their numbers now is an option, but then that would make me waste more time to reach the royal family…" Billy thought. "There is also the possibility that they may have some secret escape routes, and while that isn't a problem for me, I don't want to waste too much time chasing them."
The walls around the castle were pretty high, and there were some guards there as well armed with bows, trying to jump over it would alert them. So, Billy's only option was to dig a tunnel. Some mana was used for that, but a lot less than usual, thanks to his Earth magic's recent level-ups. Billy arrived at the dark garden and felt the presence of some guards there as well.
"What the hell… How cautious can those guys be?" Billy wondered while frowning.
Even if they could smell trouble, there was no way that they could know what Billy could do. Still, so many layers of defense were a clear strategy against his Earth magic. Billy decided to keep using the tunnel until he reached the castle and infiltrated using an underground route without any other choice.
When he reached the interior of the castle and opened a hole, Billy felt that something was wrong. He could feel a lot of mana around, but it wasn't coming from a single place or a single being. Hence, it was also meshing with his magic senses. Locating others will be a pain in the ass… the castle was also pretty dark and silent.
"What an ominous atmosphere…" Billy thought. "I can't tell where I should go now, but just waiting won't help."
Billy prepared his fists since he couldn't use magic like usual, and then he began to move. The most obvious place to look for the royal family would be in their bedrooms, but Billy went to the throne room instead of that. He had a feeling that something was waiting for him there, after all. Only one person of that state could have made such preparations in such a short time, and that person would only wait for his enemy at a single place that he would feel that was the most befitting place for himself… in the end, Billy's guess was right. When he found the throne room, the entrance was open, and he also could feel more mana coming from there, as well as the smell of blood. Billy didn't like that one bit.
When Billy entered the room, he saw some corpses around. Their number wasn't high, but they were all well dressed. None of them were wearing armor, though. However, there was a blond woman that had a big wound on her stomach that had a small crown near her body.
"I had heard that rats had invaded my kingdom, so why did only one showed up now?" A blond, middle-aged man wearing diamond armor and a diamond sword asked. "Did the other rats run away and cower in fear?"
Such lines almost made Billy die of cringe. He was speaking with the king of that state, and while he was wearing some expensive-looking gear, Billy felt that he was only looking at a massive piece of garbage. When the king saw the look in his eyes, the smile disappeared from his face.
