Crown Prince Valenccius struck the ground with his foot before Alcen finished speaking and threw a punch.
It aimed squarely at Alcen’s chin.
Thud!
Alcen stumbled significantly after being hit in the face.
A loose tooth fell out, pouring blood along with it.
Valenccius shoved his finger into the vacant space and pulled down with force.
Crack! Alcen’s jaw dropped as he collapsed to the floor.
“Ugh?!”
Alcen cried out in pain and panic.
His previously confident green eyes were now shaking.
Valenccius, grinning broadly, pulled out a red vial with a white glow from his pocket.
He popped off the cork with his thumb and poured the liquid into Alcen’s open mouth, getting every last drop inside.
“Swallow it.”
After forcibly closing Alcen’s jaw, not long after, his Adam’s apple moved.
“Your Highness Valen, what have you made him consume?”
Lady Trentia, who had approached from the side, asked with half-hearted curiosity.
Valenccius responded while releasing Alcen.
“It’s a potion I usually take to gain strength through Dragonification.”
“!”
Alcen’s face twitched.
Trentia, still curious, asked, “But he hasn’t undergone the Incantation of Dragon Rite, has he? What will happen then?”
Valenccius answered with a mocking tone while looking down at Alcen, who was on the floor.
“He will go berserk. To the outside world, he’ll look almost identical to the Infiltrators. Anyone who sees him will think he’s recklessly exerting power, losing his sanity in the process.”
“Are you going to handle him, Your Highness?”
“It won’t be just me. I, the Holy Knight, along with Konel and her subordinates, will take him down together. They must already be watching from her building.”
Alcen, in a state of panic, felt his entire body heat up as he glanced at the sixth floor of a nearby building.
From the top of that building, which could only be used as a hideout by the organization that dominated the slums, a girl with a cunning and intelligent expression was looking down at him.
“How dare a lowly girl who sold medicine in the slums -!”
His desperate attempts at defiance couldn’t continue.
“Indeed, Alcen. Well said. How dare a lowly wretch that takes bribes at the castle gates defy anyone?”
Valenccius pressed down on Alcen’s abdomen with his boot.
By force, with force; by trickery, with trickery; by rank, with rank.
Just as the flesh on Alcen’s body began to swell, Valenccius stepped back, igniting flames from his hand.
“There. Alcen. I hope you become a truly horrifying monster at first glance. So shocking that nobody will remember a mere werewolf.”
Surprisingly, the first thing to shift was his legs.
His pants tore, and two more legs shot out from the side of his pelvis.
But it didn’t stop there; as his pelvis swelled, more legs continued to emerge between the newly formed legs.
Human legs complete with five toes each.
By the time he had more than thirty legs, his belly began to swell like a mountain.
Veins bulged over his apricot-colored skin, and patterns resembling eyeballs appeared.
Meanwhile, his upper body remained almost unchanged below the chest, allowing his distinctive blond hair and face to be recognizable.
Lady Trentia drew a red mana blade around her sword as soon as Alcen’s transformation ended.
“Your Highness, I believe your wish has been granted. That monster isn’t something that would even appear in nightmares.”
“I think so too.”
Alcen now had a lower body resembling a four-meter-wide unpeeled onion, with several human legs protruding from it and an upper body sprouting like a sprout.
His belly and waist were so large it looked as though a massive chunk of flesh was simply stuck with a human torso on top.
“He looks horrifying and doesn’t seem very combat-effective. This should be easy to defeat.”
Valenccius grinned happily as he unleashed flames.
Whoosh!
The fierce flames scorched Alcen’s body, setting him ablaze.
“Guaaaah!”
The bulk of his upper body pinned against the ceiling, howling in rage as it moved dozens of legs in unison.
Thud, thud, thud!
“He’s unexpectedly fast.”
“Still, his physical structure limits his speed.”
Alcen approached at the pace comparable to a typical human walking quickly.
Just as Valenccius prepared for a full-on attack, something unexpected happened among the two men and the monster.
Crrrack!
The old floorboards couldn’t handle the bulging mass.
BANG!
Dust rose as Alcen’s body crashed down to the second floor.
BANG!
Once again, the dust billowed as Alcen’s body hit the first floor.
“The building is collapsing!”
“No! Something is falling!”
“It looks like some enormous mass!”
“It’s an Abomination! Everybody, run!”
A ripple of panic spread among the people gathered in the square.
Valenccius watched this and smiled contentedly.
“Regardless, he needed to be exposed to the public. Excellent.”
“No, Your Highness.”
Lady Trentia spoke sharply.
“We were supposed to capture him and then feign capturing him along with Konel and the Holy Knights in the end, weren’t we? That fool is not someone who will die just by falling three floors.”
“Guaaaah!”
Before her words could completely finish, the monster moved through the dust.
Alcen thundered right into the center of the crowded square.
The sight of a mass the size of four meters in diameter charging forth packed a punch just in itself.
“The reckless royal Valenccius and the traitorous candidate for council cannot be trusted… Ahhh!”
“Follow Lord Konel and let us create our paradise… Aaaah!”
The former slum dwellers holding pickets and raising their voices scattered in every direction.
“Finally, they are starting to speak with one voice.”
Valenccius murmured, seeming quite satisfied, while Lady Trentia looked at him as if she had heard nonsense.
“I will take that as a joke.”
“I would appreciate it if you did.”
It was a sign of denial.
Lady Trentia cast a sharp glance and stood at the edge of the crumbling wall.
Clank! A knight clad in white armor, with a red cape and hair flying as he soared into the sky.
“Evil Infiltrator Alcen, receive the blade of this Tenitia!”
Shouting with such ferocity that it could be heard all across the slums.
“Infiltrator?”
“Isn’t that Alcen?”
Even those who didn’t know what was happening in the square began to gather upon hearing the shout.
Tenitia glanced over and contemplated once more the depths of Valenccius’s insights or cunning.
Not letting Alcen’s throat be cut instantly, and directing them to pretend to struggle until Konel and the Holy Knights stepped in was all to amplify Alcen’s danger even more.
Her mana blade was also made light enough for show, lacking its usual cutting power.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
But had they not said that one sees only what they know?
As the gallant knight expertly evaded the charging bulk while piercing its legs and gradually weakening it, there was something that excited the people regardless of age or status.
“For the crime of sending thugs to kill council candidates!”
The sword Tenitia swung accurately pierced one leg’s knee.
“For framing Konel as an Infiltrator!”
The leg with its ankle ripped off trembled and hung.
“For sowing discord between the church and the guild!”
Thick flesh was deeply cut, and blood splattered.
“For attempting to turn the people of this place against Konel for your own gain!”
Tenitia’s voice rang loudly throughout the entire street.
Regardless of what happened in the slums, the knights and soldiers would not move.
When the slum population grew too large, the constables merely sold hunting rights to the nobles for profit.
Thus, the fact that a Platinum Knight was fighting for them moved the people deeply, and they paid careful attention to every word she spoke.
A man holding a sign denouncing Konel briefly glared at Tenitia before throwing the sign to the ground and trampling it.
“Damn it!”
“How dare you insult Lord Konel!”
“Where do you think you are?”
“Let’s send Lord Konel to the council!”
Public sentiment quickly coalesced before the red-haired knight, and at that moment, the girl on the sixth floor of the building murmured.
“It’s just as His Highness Valen said.”
Valenccius would have smiled bitterly, and Tenitia would have smiled in joy.
The one-legged former slum dweller Konel simply tucked that voice into his heart.
Even while wavering like that, it felt so fervent.
Muttering in such a way.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Lord Konel.”
The cadre members who had received strength from prayers to heal their wounds moved down the stairs.
I was already taken aback as I watched them move.
“It’s not time yet.”
According to the plan, Konel was supposed to emerge and pretend to fight when Alcen was nearly dead.
But contrary to the original plan, Alcen was still alive and kicking.
Filled with anxiety over the possibility of unforeseen variables, I merely bit my lip.
“It’s an Infiltrator!”
“God of Radiance!”
At that moment, four Holy Knights dashed from the temporary church.
Clad in chainmail and thick surcoats, wielding large shields and divine-looking swords.
“It’s the Holy Knights!”
The cheers of the former slum dwellers reached a crescendo.
I let out a deep breath of relief.
At least, it looked like the scene of the Holy Knights, knights, and Konel fighting together would certainly materialize.
“Look! There’s Lord Konel!”
“He was right beside us!”
He came down quickly.
A girl with a sly and intelligent expression walked out with a staff.
Her hopeful smile suited her age but the way she walked with a staff had the dignity that only a ‘boss’ could possess.
The combat members who followed her charged out, holding spears and daggers in their hands.
Lady Trentia glanced at me, and I nodded back.
Her mana blade once again became imbued with intention.
The light attacks that were merely pokes transformed into deadly strikes that could slice through legs.
Steps that had avoided body slams became straightforward blocks against oncoming charges.
“Behold, wicked one! No matter what schemes you employ, shadows wither before the light, and heroes are destined to return!”
A rallying cry using verses from scripture cheered the Holy Knights.
Konel’s subordinates drove spears into Alcen.
Victory was in sight.
Just then, I made eye contact with Alcen.
His head and upper body hadn’t transformed, but his bloating lower body had crushed him against the ceiling, somewhat mangled.
As his head turned toward me, it mouthed the words.
Wait.
“Damn it!”
I felt a horrific premonition and hastily recited an incantation.
The golden incantation surged in my palm, and a spear of flames formed in the air.
I aimed to shoot the spear at Alcen, but hesitated for a moment.
Fire magic was too visible in its trajectory.
This was just the third floor, so the people in the square could easily see it.
I was caught up yet again with the Infiltrators.
It might look like I was trying to cover up the chaos stemming from an experiment I had done in the Ivory Tower by killing witnesses.
If someone saw me helping Konel, that child’s approval ratings would plummet again.
I gritted my teeth and turned the spearhead.
Scattering most of the flames into the air left just a slight hint of warmth behind.
Though it appeared large, it would flick up, and then immediately extinguish.
Lady Trentia and the Holy Knights, as well as Konel’s combat team, had largely severed Alcen’s legs.
Konel approached Alcen with a spear in his left hand and a staff in his right.
Alcen mischievously blinked his green eyes.
At that moment, I fired the incantation at the ground beneath Konel’s feet.
Fwip!
The flaming spear shot through the air and erupted right in front of Konel’s feet.
Boom!
Swept up by the heat and pressure, Konel fell backwards.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
At the same moment, hundreds of bone-like spines erupted from Alcen’s body.
Lady Trentia instinctively wielded her sword to block them, the Holy Knights hid behind their shields, and several of Konel’s combatants stumbled back, bleeding.
“Ah.”
Then, three spear-like spines writhed above the fallen Konel’s head.
They were tall enough to pierce his head, chest, and abdomen.
“Eek?!”
“Who attacked Lord Konel? It’s a white-haired figure in white clothes!”
“That’s the third floor of that building!”
“Has Alcen been hiding his strength?”
“If it’s a white-haired figure, isn’t it Crown Prince Valenccius?”
“That reckless scoundrel might have teamed up with Alcen!”
I took the chance as the former slummers were distracted and slipped down into the underground waterway.
I caught a glimpse of an enraged Lady Trentia, igniting her mana blade to crush Alcen.
“Everyone! We have triumphed over the reckless Crown Prince Valenccius and the corrupted council candidate Alcen, and reunited as one against suspicion!”
I also heard Konel’s youthful shout.
He would make a fine councilman.
