"Alright. Looks like the Headquarters has been taken care of." Kuzon smiled, watching the result of Maya's work.
In a mere moment, she had decimated an entire building.
'Its the third largest building I've seen in this place. And she did it so easily...'
The largest building was the Royal Place, and the second was the Royal Residence.
"She has really grown, huh? Well, I look forward to seeing what happens now."
Kuzon and Maya had split up, each handling the Eastern and Western side respectively.
'That way we both get to have our fair share of enemies without being interrupted by the other.' Kuzon, who was floating in the air, could see a multitude of corpses already beneath him.
Already numbering in the tens—no, maybe hundreds of thousands?
"These are all soldiers and lower ranking Nobles, though. Where are the big leagues?" Of course, he already knew the answer to his Inquisition despite murmuring the question.
'I can sense everything here in great detail. The Royals that are around are donning their armor and preparing their weapons.'
Kuzon also noticed that not all of them were present. Of course, this was to be expected since they arrived uninvited.
'They're using Magic to contact the Royals outside. It seems the First Princess is also not present. The twins are here, though.' His smiled deepened.
He had already decided to spare their lives, considering they were harmless. Plus, they had done him a great service.
'Though it's not like I need it now, but still...' His thoughts came to a close as soon as he detected several presences approach him.
'Looks like they're here.'
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<
Plumes of purple flames instantly consumed the area that he occupied, sending multiple recurring blasts echoing in the sky.
Like condensed fireworks that were made up of pure fiery energy, the flames kept sparking and exploding, brightening up the sky with it's glory.
As soon as the eruption began, a group of twenty individuals appeared.
They were, of course, all Royals.
Some were Princes, some were Princesses, while others were simply relatives who had the Royal Blood.
Their concerned faces didn't vanish despite Kuzon being caught in their explosion. Perhaps they knew it in their hearts.
... That such a thing wouldn't be enough to defeat their opponent.
"I see. So most of the Inquisition Officers are out. You're the only ones left..." Kuzon's voice echoed forth as he descended from the explosion in the sky.
As one would expect, he was completely unharmed by the terrible sight that would have ended another.
Gasps filled the air. Surely, even if he wasn't defeated, they expected some measure of injury to have been inflicted.
Unfortunately, their expectations were quashed.
'Other than the twins, there are about three other Inquisition Officers. The rest are just member of Royalty. Perhaps they were given administrative roles and.management activities rather than Inquisition.' Kuzon ribbed his chin as his sole of his shoes touched the ground.
"Well, there's no real need to deal with you guys. I suppose I'll kill off the strong ones and leave the useful administrative-role types."
The group had terrified and rage-filled expressions on their faces, yet for some reason, they didn't move.
No, rather, it was more like they COULDN'T!
"It seems the [Marionette Worms] have fully matured in all of you. That's good..."
There were many features of the Marionette Worms that made them very useful. One.of the most important ones was the ability to spread to another and rapidly duplicate in the next target.
By becoming a parasitic Spell-based inanimate mechanism, the Marionette Worm's directive was simple.
Absorb energy from the body of it's host. Subtly spread itself to every part of the body by duplication, and after that, infect another by traveling through the glands and pores of one to another.
Since they were Energy Based, they could phase through thin layers and membranes as well.
In the end... Kuzon could infect as many unsuspecting people as he wanted using this process.
'Good job, twins. Everyone here has already been infected.'
As a result, they couldn't defy him now that he had awakened the latent Marionette Worms.
"Alright. Which ones among you are the strongest?" Kuzon asked the group.
About five of them lifted their hands. The twins were among, and the other three seemed to belong to the Inquisition.
It seemed even more backup would be arriving shortly.
'Lets end it before then.' Kuzon snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the neural pathways of his targets were severed, and the neural network ceased to function.
'I shut down their brain, essentially. They're dead.' Kuzon looked at the three fallen Midas Royals.
As promised, he didn't kill the twins. But, he still caused them to fall unconscious.
'Now, then... let's further thin out the herd.' Kuzon's grin increased.
He didn't particularly enjoy senseless murder, even though it seemed like he did. Perhaps he was simply taking pleasure in something else.
The fact that he had already become much stronger.
"Okay..Next question. Who is the best in administration here."
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After thinning the herd, Kuzon managed to spare five Royals besides the twins. That made up to seven people on his end.
'Having Royals alive to lead the people, even if they are puppet leaders, is essential for the smooth running of the Midas Empire.
This nations culture relied on it a lot, after all.
"It's about time for the main event. Hehe..."
Just as he said this, a intense surge of energy descended from the sky—like a brilliant comment—creating a massive crater upon contact with the ground.
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<
"Looks like we meet again, Princess."
Just as Kuzon expected, the one in front of him was none other than the First Princess of the Midas Empire.
"You... you bastard! I swear I will destroy every ounce of you for what you've done!"
... Princess Gloria Midas.
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