It only took a few more days for the Elders to get restless.
With Damien cooped up in his residence, they were running out of options.
The Divine Order gave them one month to carry out the assassination. If it wasn't done by then, they would expose everything the Elders had done to Void Palace and allow them to decide their fates.
Little did they know that Void Palace was already aware.
Persia's Compendium was always evolving. It was a written record of Void Palace's Legend, so as events took place, it would also become longer to document them.
Those like Claire and the rest had long since known about the Elders' betrayal, but they didn't do anything about it.
Why?
There were two reasons.
Firstly was a bit of innocent hope. They wanted to think the Elders would eventually turn back to the light side and see their wrongdoings. The group hadn't done anything extremely damaging to the palace yet, so they were still worth forgiving.
Unfortunately, no matter how much time passed, those Elders didn't learn. They got bolder and bolder as they were ignored, and as greed blinded their vision, the thought that betrayal was wrong completely slipped their minds.
They only realized recently the stupidity of their decisions, however, their view of Void Palace had become so clouded by their own negativity that they didn't even think they could be forgiven. They only saw death on the other side of submission.
None of the high authorities of Void Palace were soft characters. They wouldn't allow feelings to ruin them. But they still had positive emotions. For their own people, they still wanted to leave a little bit of leeway.
It was stupid, sure, but it was human, so Damien didn't criticize them too much.
Because the second reason was more logical.
Void Palace's Legend.
It needed to grow.
They were being encroached on all sides by the enemy and they couldn't make any grand movements.
It was mainly because Dante was gone, but that wasn't the only reason.
They had power. They could go to war with the surrounding influences if they wanted to, but if they did, they'd suffer losses that would leave them open to the ones waiting in the dark.
Dante was the deterrent for those people. His strength made them hesitate, so even if the palace was weakened, they wouldn't act.
Dante's strength couldn't be fathomed, but he wasn't the only character like that in the cosmos. There were several people stronger than Claire and the other Grand Dukes in the enemy clans.
If they tried to wage war recklessly and died or got critically injured, the palace would truly lose all the backing that kept people fearing them.
Their current stance was for the best.
People assumed Void Palace was weak but couldn't confirm it. The fact that information about them couldn't spread, even with traitors in their midst, meant they had something to rely on.
This way, people didn't attack the palace, which gave them the chance to conserve their strength and wait for the moment they could fight back.
Void Palace was currently in stasis. It was a state perfect for Damien's interference.
And so, when he secluded himself with the knowledge of both the Elders' betrayal and the ultimatum they'd been presented, he did so with this moment in mind.
They couldn't wait for him to leave the Young Lord's Estate.
They couldn't be mindful of the risks of trying to infiltrate a place like that.
They had to kill him, and they had to do it soon.
Because if there was one thing they were certain of, it was the fact that their deaths at the hands of Void Palace would be less torturous than the ones they'd received from the Divine Order.
So they moved.
A group of 16 Demigod Elders moved together and infiltrated the estate.
Oddly enough, the defenses they'd heard so much about were practically paper thin under their power.
"Remember, we have to be fast and quiet. If we accomplish this, we will go down in history, but if we fail…"
Rufus didn't need to say more. They all knew it well.
But they'd done sufficient research before coming here.
The servants in the Young Lord's Estate weren't too powerful, and from the silence around them, it was clear that there wasn't anyone important present.
When they let their awareness loose, they found some guards patrolling the area, but the number wasn't nearly enough to stop their entrance into the estate.
As for the servants, they were fast asleep, along with the Young Lord, whose presence could be felt on the third floor in his room.
"Move out."
Rufus gave the order, and the sixteen of them turned into shadows that prowled in the dark.
Ten of them, including Rufus, rushed to the third floor to target the Young Lord. As for the other six, they encircled the residence and took down the guards who could alert anyone if things went wrong.
The plan was going perfectly. They had to assassinate a few civilians on the way to the target, but that was nothing.
Their presence was still hidden.
"Is everything clear?"
Rufus sent a mental transmission to his people outside.
"Clear."
A one-word answer. The guards were down.
"Good. We're moving in."
He was already in front of the Young Lord's room. With clearance received, he phased through the wall with his team and quietly approached the bed.
There he was, sleeping. A man with pale white skin and a body built for combat. He looked oddly peaceful in his sleep, but his death would be anything but.
He drew a dagger from his spatial ring. It was coated in a glistening purple liquid, obviously poison.
'Quick and easy. He may be a Demigod, but even he won't be able to survive this.'
The poison was provided by the Divine Order. It would directly target body, soul, and Divinity in one go, and corrupt them all together. If one was struck by this poison, one wouldn't be able to even think about healing unless they possessed the Holy Power of the Divine Order.
That is, if they even lasted more than a few seconds under the poison's corrosion.
Rufus wouldn't allow any interference in his work. Without hesitation, he stabbed into the chest of the sleeping man and watched as his skin instantly turned a disgusting shade of black and blue.
The shade spread and soon enveloped his whole body, and as the skin began to crack and wither…
…he opened his eyes.
"Having fun, are we?"
"...!"
Rufus dashed backward on instinct.
Every sense in his body was altering him of danger.
The Young Lord who should've been poisoned and dying sat up, glancing at his withering body, and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. How annoying. After all that suspense, this is all you amount to?"
He turned his eyes to Rufus.
And Rufus turned his eyes to him.
'I can't escape.'
He already tried.
He could no longer phase through the walls.
He already tried.
The walls wouldn't break if he attacked them, and the door to the room disappeared as if it never existed.
'I can't–'
Not "he" but "they."
When he glanced at his surroundings, he suddenly realized that all sixteen of them were in the room now.
As if they'd never separated in the first place.
It was already over for them.
From the moment they stepped into the residence, they were dead.
But only now did they realize it.
