Chapter 437: The Main Cause

"Orlan! Are you okay?"

Orlan turned at the sound and saw Aston and his wife running toward them.

"I’m fine. How about you two?"

They stopped beside him, breathing heavily.

"We’re fine too," Aston said, patting Orlan’s shoulder. "The chaos earlier caught us completely off guard. Ena and I barely had time to react. Luckily, we managed to escape—otherwise, those demons would have killed us."

Just imagining it sent a shiver down his spine. It was Aston’s first time seeing demons in person.

Their appearance was revolting and terrifying. Worse still, they weren’t true demons—they were humans who had died and been turned into monsters.

The ones responsible for that were unimaginably cruel.

"You’re right. Syra and I almost died too. If it hadn’t been for the soldiers acting so quickly, we might have ended up as corpses in the palace hall," Orlan said with a wry smile.

They exchanged looks of relief.

"By the way, I saw several Viscount families wiped out earlier. Even Count families from the western and northern regions weren’t spared. In some cases, only the family head was killed; in others, the entire family was slaughtered. All of them died tragically and were turned into demons," Aston said, his voice heavy.

"What? How many victims were from the high nobility?"

"I’m not certain. But it’s likely more than ten noble families. Several diplomats and representatives from other kingdoms were among the victims too. It’s... horrific." Aston swallowed hard, a shiver running through him.

He knew this could spell disaster for everyone, especially the imperial family.

The guests from outside the region held high status—some were even princes, prime ministers, and ministers representing their kingdoms.

Their deaths, coupled with their transformation into demons, would surely provoke outrage and demands for justice from those realms.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this could spark war—especially if anyone chose to exploit the situation to attack the Great Velmora Empire.

Although powerful, the empire would struggle to withstand an attack from multiple kingdoms at once.

Orlan’s expression darkened as he considered the implications.

"This is really bad," he muttered.

What he feared most was a full-scale war between the empire and those kingdoms.

With its vast military power, the empire could theoretically win such a war.

But victory wouldn’t necessarily follow—on the contrary, it could lead to ruin.

The chaos in the hall had occurred because the palace had failed to ensure the safety of its invited guests.

Even if the emperor and the imperial family were not personally at fault, that wouldn’t lessen the blame.

In the eyes of the world, the fault rested squarely on the palace’s negligence.

If the kingdoms went to war and lost, the Great Velmora Empire would be branded a criminal by all the powers of the world.

Once that happened, there was nothing stopping great powers—like the Holy Empire of Valtanir or the Eastern Empire of Izanagi—from launching attacks under the banner of "exterminating the evil force."

Composing himself, Orlan looked at Aston with cold resolve. "We must prepare for every possible disaster. Do you understand?"

Aston nodded slightly. "I understand."

***

"Father, are you sure you don’t want to come out?"

Inside the palace hall, Dariel watched his father, who was facing the demon, with a serious gaze.

"It’s fine. Leave me be." The Singularity of Light waved his right hand.

Dariel said nothing and immediately turned to leave the hall.

He hadn’t expected such chaos to erupt. Fortunately, he had brought his father along. Otherwise, evacuating his children, nephew, and younger sister would have been impossible.

Once Dariel was gone, the Singularity of Light made a slashing motion with his index finger.

Instantly, the four demons that had tried to attack him were cleaved into pieces, falling to the ground.

"What pathetic trash," he sneered coldly.

In truth, he could have annihilated all the demons in the hall, but he deliberately held back.

The humiliating incident from a few months ago still lingered in his mind.

Back then, he had returned home humiliated, mocked by Ragan and the nobles of the Great Velmora Empire.

Though time had passed, he would never forget it.

Therefore, he wouldn’t intervene unless Ragan pleaded with him directly.

Well, this will be interesting. Ragan Lorian—I want to see how you handle this,

he whispered, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

After this incident, the Great Velmora Empire would undoubtedly face criticism from all sides.

The thought of Ragan struggling later filled him with satisfaction and anticipation.

"Argh!" A demon roared from his right.

Without turning his head or moving a finger, the Singularity of Light instantly cleaved it into four pieces, which fell to the ground.

All right, let’s head to the evacuation room and see what Ragan does,

he whispered, stepping outside.

The surrounding demons charged fiercely. Yet the Singularity of Light’s protective circle reduced them to ash in an instant.

***

Outside the evacuation hall, Ragan stood alongside Orion, King Maldrin, Prime Minister Mikazura, the King of Serothia, and the four dukes, all wearing serious expressions.

Ragan, in particular, wore a gloomy expression, deep lines etched across his forehead.

"Have you found the culprit?" He asked, his voice controlled but tense.

"Not yet, Your Majesty," Orion replied, bowing his head. "I have searched the hall thoroughly but found no sign of anything that could have caused this chaos."

Ragan’s fury boiled over, and he slammed his fist into the wall behind him, cracking it.

Everyone present gasped. They all knew Ragan was no ordinary man.

His nickname—the Lion of the East—was far from empty words.

"Your Majesty, I have a theory. May I speak?"

Mikazura’s voice cut through the tense silence.

Ragan took a deep breath, steadying himself, and fixed Mikazura with a firm gaze.

"Go ahead, Prime Minister Mikazura. Speak freely."

Mikazura gazed toward the palace hall and said, "It’s possible that the cause of this incident was the wine we drank earlier."

"Wine?" Everyone reacted in shock.

"Yes, wine," Mikazura repeated. "Water is the easiest medium for poisoning someone. Perhaps, without our knowledge, someone was working behind the scenes—poisoning the wine, killing several people, and turning them into demons."

Thankfully, he had been drinking from his own cup all along. Otherwise, he might have become a victim himself.

The others considered his words and found them plausible.

"Wine, huh? Who would have the audacity to do such a thing?" Ragan ground his teeth.

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t identify the culprit.

"Orion, inspect every bottle of wine that came in and went out. I want it done within an hour. Do you understand?"

Orion bowed. "Understood, Your Majesty!"

"Good! Now—"

Before Ragan could finish, a distant explosion shook the ground.

Boom!