Then, he began to arrange the plan ordered by Ares.
The whereabouts of Riveria and the others were not deliberately concealed, and coupled with the identity of the elven princess already drawing attention, their every move had long been closely monitored by the intelligence agencies of the Rakia Kingdom. The kingdom's intelligence department quickly collected and compiled this information and submitted it to the Fool King.
"Loki Familia, [Nine Hells], Lv.6."
These few words appeared prominently on the report.
"Freya Familia, [White Fairy's Magic Wand], Lv.6, [Black Fairy's Demon Sword], Lv.6."
Next were two powerful members of the Freya Familia.
"Hephaestus Familia, [Sword King], Lv.2."
A genius of the Hephaestus Familia.
"Astraea Familia, [Gale], Lv.5."
When King Martinus saw this list, a strange smile appeared on his face. He patted the table, eyes gleaming with excitement, as if seeing an enormous opportunity, "As expected of God Ares! As long as we can wipe out these three major Familias in one swoop, the city will surely have to compromise and hand over the 'Crozzo'!"
His voice carried fanatical worship, his mind filled with the glorious future painted by God Ares. The imagined victory was already within reach. If they could capture members of these three major Familias, they could force the entire city to bow and surrender.
At this moment, the "disaster" caused by Marius gradually began to reveal itself. Because he was far superior to the king, this crown prince had long won the support and following of nearly all the slightly intelligent members of the kingdom's upper echelon.
These few intelligent people had all sided with Marius, forming a solid political faction. And now, most of them had gone to the battlefield with Marius, away from the capital.
As for the few who remained in the capital, due to the Prime Minister, their core figure, being violently knocked down by the king, they fell into chaos. They temporarily lost control of the royal palace, and intelligence was thus cut off.
Correspondingly, those who still firmly supported the Fool King were naturally the opposite of the crown prince's faction.
Most of these people were from the militant faction, with considerable strength, including not a few Lv.2 powerhouses, their combat ability was, to some extent, decent.
However, they generally lacked the ability to think and judge. The reason they were relied on by King Martinus was because they always executed orders without hesitation, never questioning the king or God Ares's instructions.
"Capture the Elven Princess alive, march into Alf Forest!"
They shouted.
"Occupy Orario, God Ares becomes the Grand Emperor, His Majesty the King becomes the Second Emperor!"
One more fantastical plan after another continued to spill from their mouths.
"Let those damn elves know our strength!"
"Declare war on the Loki Familia!"
"Declare war on the Freya Familia!"
"Declare war on the Hephaestus Familia!"
The Astraea Familia, reduced to just a few members, was ignored by them.
King Martinus swept his gaze over his subordinates, his eyes landing on a slightly shrewder-looking middle-aged man, "Finance Minister, you are the smartest among us. You come up with a way to capture Riveria and the others!"
He directly designated the task, tone brooking no argument.
Finance Minister: "Huh? Me?"
This Finance Minister, infamous for his selfishness, meanness, greed, and cunning, had been breaking out in cold sweat since he first heard the Fool King's plan, trembling like a sieve.
Heaven be witness, the only reason he followed the king was purely because the crown prince Marius's faction had too many capable people. There was simply no room for him to shine.
But in the Fool King's camp, his intelligence was like a crane among chickens, like a prophet, and so he was heavily relied upon, easily attaining the high position of Finance Minister.
However, now he regretted it, deeply regretted it. He finally realized that the faction he was part of was simply a madhouse.
.
.
.
.
[Three Days Later]
Emiya and the others stood in the palace of the Rakia King, documents spread out before them. These papers included secret letters from God Ares to the Fool King, and the various absurd plans written with all their mental effort by the Fool King and his subordinates.
The content on the papers was so ridiculous, it made one suspect whether these people had eaten hallucinogenic herbs or mushrooms.
"So, we were just acting in self-defense?", Emiya spoke, tone laced with helplessness.
Hedin and the others were to the side, their expressions varied. Faced with this pile of irrational plans, for a moment they didn't know how to respond.
The king and his loyal subordinates were now tightly bound and thrown on the palace floor. The Fool King's face had turned dark red from surging blood, his eyes full of anger and unwillingness.
He clearly hadn't recovered from the sudden blow, unable to accept that his proud authority had crumbled in an instant.
The king's subordinates were in a sorry state. Their former arrogance and bluster completely gone, their eyes revealing fear and regret.
The palace was silent, only the sound of paper pages turning echoed in the air. Everyone was reviewing these insane plans, seemingly trying to find a trace of logic or reason, but ultimately could only shake their heads in vain.
Previously, Emiya and the others had wanted to minimize the potential negative impact of raiding Rakia Kingdom's capital. However, the stupidity of God Ares and this king rendered all their efforts pointless.
Because Rakia Kingdom had been the aggressor, all responsibility could not fall on Riveria and the others. No matter who judged it, they could only conclude: the adventurers' actions were just and necessary.
Now, even if Riveria personally used the [Crozzo's Magic Swords] to erase Rakia's royal palace from the map, no one could say she was wrong.
In short, King Martinus's actions made Emiya and the others' previous hesitation seem overly sentimental.
As for the difficulty of the adventurers' raid on the capital, this was never a concern. The ease of this battle even exceeded Emiya's first dungeon adventure under the guidance of [High Novice].
The opponents were Lv.1 guards and a few Lv.2 squad captains. On their side were Lv.6 Hedin and Hogni, Lv.5 Ryuu, and Emiya, even the well-traveled [Black and White Knight] had never fought such an easy battle.
Even now, the vast majority of Rakia's citizens in the so-called [War Capital] were still asleep and unaware that their king had been taken down by intruders.
King Martinus, tied up and thrown on the ground, still tried to maintain his dignity in this desperate situation. He glared at the adventurers before him, eyes full of rage and unwillingness.
Even now, he still believed that as the ruler of the kingdom, he should not be treated this way, nor be humiliated as a prisoner by these people.
"You foreign invaders!", He gnashed his teeth and shouted, "You're just relying on your strength to act arrogantly and rudely! Especially that elven bastard princess. Such a proud bitch! Just because she has a bit of power, she thinks she can do whatever she wants—"
Before he could finish, a cold light flashed in Hedin's eyes.
Just as the king was about to shout more, Hedin had already arrived before him, lifting his foot and kicking him directly. Without the slightest hesitation, and without giving him time to react, Hedin's sole landed heavily on his face, cutting off his words.
BANG!
King Martinus staggered backward from the kick, letting out a painful muffled grunt. He tried to struggle, but his bound hands left him unable to move.
Hedin clearly had no intention of stopping. He raised his staff and swung it several times with its blunt end. Each strike drawing pained cries from the king, showing no mercy.
"Time to get to business," Seeing the curled-up monarch unable to make a sound, Hedin calmly arranged matters. This raid battle, which had difficulty equivalent to the first twelve dungeon floors, was still under his command.
"Hogni, go to the kingdom's armory. Don't bother with anything else, your target is one thing only: all Crozzo Magic Swords. Take them if you can, destroy them if you can't."
Crozzo magic swords were a special kind of magic sword. In the past, Rakia Kingdom had once become an invincible hegemon thanks to them.
The crafting technique of these magic swords was held only by the blacksmiths of the Crozzo family. The true power of the Crozzo swords came from the Fairy Blood passed down through generations in the Crozzo family. This bloodline granted them special forging abilities.
As long as one awakened the "Crozzo Blood," even a Lv.1 blacksmith could easily create weapons far more powerful than ordinary magic swords.
Even Tsubaki, aside from her [Magic Sword • Spiral Blade], couldn't match the power of Crozzo swords.
However, as Rakia Kingdom used more and more magic swords in war, the Crozzo family's blessing seemed to weaken rapidly amid the endless slaughter and destruction.
The legendary fairy blood grew dimmer, the Crozzo family's forging talent gradually vanished, and the crafting skills faded away.
By now, the entire Rakia Kingdom couldn't even find a single heir with Crozzo blood.
What Hedin wanted Hogni to look out for were the Crozzo magic swords possibly preserved by Rakia, made by previous generations of blacksmiths.
"[Gale], you and Emiya take Her Highness Riveria's official decree and head to the slave market. Rescue our own and the slaves of other races," Hedin continued the arrangements.
Rakia Kingdom had packaged the cruel institution of "slavery" as "contract labor," attempting to hide its savage nature to avoid condemnation and attack from other great nations.
However, this was merely a futile disguise. No matter the name change, the brutal essence of slavery remained unchanged.
Emiya and the others only learned of this today. Not because they were ignorant, but because to adventurers in Orario, Rakia Kingdom simply wasn't worth paying attention to.
In fact, it was only ten days ago that Emiya even learned of this country's existence.
A so-called "great nation" like Rakia had long since declined and become an insignificant entity.
In the eyes of adventurers, such a country was just a name on the map. Usually not something that would catch their attention, let alone something they'd bother to study.
"I'll personally guard the royal palace to ensure no accidents occur. Also, I'll handle the kingdom's military camp," Hedin said, gently adjusting his glasses.
With the nature of elves, they would not harm the kingdom's ordinary civilians. But the blood debt of the elven race must be paid for by someone.
These bloody, reputation-damaging tasks need not fall upon juniors like Emiya and Ryuu, nor upon Her Highness Riveria. Such trivial matters could be fully handled by him, the [White Fairy's Magic Wand] (perverted glasses).
After all, his reputation wasn't great to begin with. One more stain didn't matter.
"At the military camp, how about having Emiya hand the magic swords to our compatriots in the slave market, and then letting them go over?", Ryuu quietly suggested.
After these few days of interacting with Riveria, Hedin, and the others, this "useless elf" gradually came to understand their stance and began to think through these issues.
The teachings of Friana were beginning to show results.
Hedin looked over silently. A moment later, he softly said, "Alright."
The crown prince of the Rakia Kingdom, Marius, fainted directly the moment he received the battle report sent from the rear.
As the vice commander, Marius had always borne the responsibility of actual command. After all, the nominal commander was the completely unreliable Ares god.
At this moment, the prince's fainting caused the Rakia Kingdom's army to instantly fall into chaos, like a ship that lost its guide, teetering in the storm.
Amidst the chaos, the generals tried to maintain order, but as more and more officers came into contact with the battle report, the news could no longer be suppressed. Shock, anger, and unease spread throughout the army.
King Martinus, who sat in the royal capital, once tried to capture the adventurers passing through the kingdom, including Riveria of the [Nine Hells] and others, using them as bargaining chips to force Orario into compromise.
The result was that they were easily defeated by [Sword King] and [Black and White Knights] and others. The adventurers quickly stormed the palace, directly capturing that foolish king. The entire royal palace fell in an instant.
And this was only the beginning. The enraged elven adventurers then destroyed the capital's "Contract Arbitration Office". Which was essentially a slave market, and liberated all the slaves inside.
Soon, the flames of rebellion spread across the royal capital. The freed slaves, humans in the greatest number, strong dwarves, agile elves, frenzied Amazons and beastmen, all rose in revolt. Even the usually inconspicuous pallum race was eventually stirred into action.
The slaves picked up high-quality standard swords and blades of unknown origin. They stormed the capital's armory and seized a large number of magic swords.
Then, they turned their blades toward the kingdom's military camps, launching a massive offensive.
In the end, the capital's garrison was nearly wiped out. The civilian districts were not much attacked, but the palace, administrative district, and nearby military camps were flattened.
Now, under the leadership of the adventurers, this slave army advanced all the way toward Orario, that is, directly toward the rear of the kingdom's main forces.
This sudden chaos caused the Rakia Kingdom's army near Orario to completely lose their composure. The previously orderly retreat rapidly turned into a rout under the weight of panic and fear. The soldiers were terrified and fled in all directions, no longer caring about formation or discipline. The entire army plunged into utter confusion.
The commander of the Orario Familia coalition forces was Shakti, captain of the Ganesha Familia, [Staff of the Elephant God]. Although she did not know exactly what had happened within the enemy, she understood clearly that this was a rare opportunity.
Shakti decisively seized this opportunity and led the adventurers in a fierce assault. The adventurers, with high morale, were like an unstoppable flood, completely crushing the already collapsed Rakia Kingdom army.
From the time Marius first received the battle report to the complete collapse of the kingdom's army, all of this occurred within less than a single day.
And when Marius finally awoke from his coma, he immediately realized that the situation was beyond salvation. He decisively issued the order, "Immediately negotiate with Orario's Guild of Adventurers, not for peace—surrender."
"And also, inform those adventurers marching from the Rakia toward us: let them name their price, however much they want, we'll pay."
———
Riveria gazed into the distance and said, "We're almost at Orario."
At this moment, the outline of the tallest building in the dungeon city, Babel Tower, stood on the horizon, entering everyone's field of view and gradually becoming clearer.
They had departed from the Rakia Kingdom's capital, the [City of War], crossed the vast western plains, and finally returned to the familiar Orario.
During this journey, the adventurers no longer attacked the kingdom's cities. On the contrary, at every place they arrived, the cities would voluntarily open their gates to welcome them, behaving with unusual obedience.
Such an effect wasn't solely due to the adventurers' martial strength, it was also because their ranks included two key figures: the Rakia Kingdom's Chancellor and Finance Minister.
The Chancellor had been rescued from the royal dungeon by Hedin. Upon learning of the king's deeds, he merely let out a long sigh and then expressed his willingness to fully cooperate with Riveria and the others.
As for the Finance Minister, he defected even earlier. On the day he attended the mobilization assembly held by the foolish king, this pallum, skilled at assessing the situation, immediately realized something was wrong.
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