In the sacred Imperial Palace, in the middle of the founding banquet celebration, the emergence of a monster turned the place into sheer chaos.

The Royal Knights were all focused on protecting the Emperor, leaving no one to help Asmun.

Even if there were knights left, they probably wouldn’t be able to help him. Among them, someone threw a scroll they had for emergencies.

“Kraak!”

The monster was hit full on by the weak magical power bursting from the scroll, binding its entire body. Its terrifying screams filled the banquet hall.

“What is that?”

“I’ve never seen a monster like that before!”

For the knights of Hesimoro, who were fighting against the monsters inside and outside, monsters had become almost familiar to them.

They were well-versed in the types of monsters and their weaknesses like a dictionary, but the monster before them was an unfamiliar breed.

“Asmun, Your Highness! It’s me!”

A subordinate of Asmun, who had briefly left the banquet hall due to the 1st Prince’s scheme, spotted him and was about to rush in, but suddenly Kiris, the 1st Prince, blocked his way.

“How dare you.”

Kiris’s voice was loud enough to reach even the distant Emperor.

“If you can’t handle one little monster, how can you call yourself a Prince of Hesimoro? Stay out of it. Asmun will take care of it.”

“But…!”

Asmun’s subordinate clenched his sword, facing off against the monster just inches away from his master.

The monster was at least mid-level, and although it didn’t look quite high class, its thick skin infused with magic meant that even a knight would need magical power to cut through it.

And Asmun, officially, lacked the magical power to deal with a mid-level monster.

Thus, officially.

“You dare insult a Prince?”

Kiris yelled sharply.

His words caused the expressions of Chancellor Sereman and Commander Karon, who had been watching the situation unfold, to shift uneasily.

If the monster had targeted the Emperor or threatened a common noble, everyone would have rushed in to suppress it immediately, but what stood before the monster was Asmun.

After all, Asmun was a prince too, actively participating in forming a suppression team to rid them of monsters. Thus, confronting him recklessly was akin to disrespecting him.

“Disbelieving Asmun is blasphemy against the royal family,” Karon thought. Kiris was, by that definition, insulting the royal family.

Everyone present knew this, which meant Asmun could receive no help.

What’s more, it seemed the Emperor was also curious to see if Asmun could handle this, as he refrained from giving any commands.

He could see the magical power binding the monster starting to fade.

“……”

Asmun, of course, was grasping why he found himself in this situation. This was a trap set by Kiris.

His suppression team’s recent results had been rather good, and Kiris, who had been wary of him since childhood, was likely nursing doubts again.

So he was testing him, aiming for the founding banquet where everyone gathered. The ambush on the way here was probably Kiris’s doing too.

And there was one other person who understood Kiris’s intentions perfectly. Eden, who had experienced all of this before.

“Seeing it in person is more brutal, this power struggle in the Imperial Palace…..”

Eden muttered, looking at the monster, seemingly disgusted.

The name of the unfamiliar monster was Tannir. Among mid-level monsters, it was quite powerful, and even a decent knight would struggle to scratch its tough skin.

What it loved was the stench of rotten blood mixed with spoiled wine.

Most likely, that wine poured on Asmun earlier by the maid was just that. Tannir would be drawn to the delicious smell emanating from Asmun instead of being confused.

While lower level monsters could usually be cut down with an ordinary sword and dissipate, Tannir was different.

Tannir could only be injured by the attacks of those with magical power of 5 circles or higher. That was precisely why Kiris had searched the entire nation to bring Tannir back.

‘In other words, if Asmun stops Tannir, it would publicly reveal that his magic power, officially classified as 3 circles, is actually above 5 circles.’

And Kiris would see Asmun as a threat and try to eliminate him.

On the flip side, if he couldn’t face Tannir to keep him concealed, Asmun would be utterly humiliated.

That would undoubtedly mark him as unworthy of a successor in front of everyone, which wouldn’t be a bad outcome.

Kiris was probably expecting that Asmun would be disgraced.

Of course, if that happened, he would have meticulously planned how to splendidly dispose of Tannir to save the founding banquet.

Just like I had played before.

“The monster is breaking free!”

Asmun, indeed, thought about how the magical power was about to completely dissipate, just as someone had shouted.

Being humiliated was no longer a fear, but if he didn’t take up his sword now, he would be unable to avoid injury from the excited monster.

Only after seeing his blood would Kiris pretend to save his inadequate brother.

Then he had to minimize the injuries he could suffer.

Asmun gauged the power of Tannir by observing its sharp teeth.

While Asmun was lost in thought with a blank expression, the magical power nearly dissipated. Eden, watching him, quickly grabbed a glass from the table and slammed it hard onto the ground.

The sound of shattering glass was drowned out by the commotion, catching no one’s attention. Eden quickly picked up the sharpest piece from the broken glass.

“It’s breaking free!”

As she heard the screams of the people, Eden shut her eyes tightly and cut her left palm with the sharp glass.

Blood poured out from her long-slashed palm. At the same moment, Tannir, freed from the magical bindings that had held it, twisted its frozen body and let out a howl.

Eden swiftly pulled out a vial from her pocket, bit off the lid, and poured the dark red liquid onto her palm.

“……!”

And that was the moment.

Asmun was bracing to sacrifice his shoulder, and at the last moment, Tannir, which had been ready to devour him, suddenly paused and froze.

“Yes, right here. Good boy?”

Eden murmured quietly, and Tannir, as if stimulated by some smell, flared its nostrils, suddenly turning around.

Tannir sniffed looking for the source of the scent, its eyes bright as it finally located it and widened its gaze.

“W-What the hell?”

“What are you looking at?”

The petrified onlookers struggled to breathe, their eyes trailing after Tannir. There stood an Apprentice Priest clutching their bleeding palm.

“……”

In a surprising turn of events, Asmun raised an eyebrow, staring at Eden as he did the monster.

“You’re a priest?”

“Ugh! What’s that smell?”

“Oh no, the monster’s changing direction!”

Indeed. For some reason, Tannir, now more excited than when it was bound by magic, began swiftly crawling towards where Eden was.

Seeing things go awry, Kiris’s expression hardened.

Kiris frowned and looked at Eden, who was frozen in surprise from this sudden turn of events. It wasn’t just Kiris who was caught off guard by Eden’s sudden appearance.

“Kya!”

Everyone hurriedly fled away from Eden.

However, Eden stood frozen, as if her circuits had short-circuited, gazing intently at Tannir charging toward her.

Only when Tannir’s fangs were mere inches away did she finally turn and sprint with all her might.

In its haste to chase after Eden, Tannir miscalculated its speed and smashed into the table behind her.

With a loud crash, the table shattered into pieces, and now enraged, Tannir quickly pivoted to chase after Eden again.

“Ugh….”

Eden searched with desperate eyes for the blonde man.

Then, as if on cue, she spotted a man raising his sword high.

It was Karon.