Randolph and Balista were also among the guests that were seated in the VIP section but as soon as Julius's speech was finished, they quickly left their seats and went somewhere where they could follow what was going to happen.
The place that they chose was an open space at the top of a tall building which was situated near the plaza and there were level 6 gift holders stationed all around the place and guarded it, so weren't worried about some mere level 4 monsters at all and couldn't wait to see the whole spectacle with binoculars in their hands.
Soon, chaos spread and engulfed whole the plaza, and people began shouting, running after seeing monsters rushing out from a purple portal and Balista watched all that with a vicious smile on his face. He was taking pleasure in the things he saw through the lens of his binoculars, unlike Randolph who didn't show any particular emotion.
Their plan was executed smoothly and Julius was about to lose everything he cared about.
"It's a great success! Hahaha, look at that face! Julius is so pitiful!" Balista said excitedly.
"Mmm. Finally, they get what they deserve for their betrayal." Randolph said with an indifferent tone.
"This is so satisfying to watch! Look at that brat." Balista sneered while watching Adam who collapsed on the ground.
These two people, Randolph and Balista, had their reason for doing this.
Randolph was at a time a secret admirer of Marie but he didn't dare to tell her about his true feelings because Marie was supposed to become a Saint. But one day, he heard that Marie ran away with Julius so he thought that Julius forced his hand on her and that made him enraged. However, the reality proved that he was wrong and that Marie also loved Julius which was a fact that he couldn't tolerate.
He felt betrayed and he wanted to break them apart but he was also afraid of the Empire. But as he was getting older, he decided that the time of his revenge was now or never since he was given the perfect opportunity to do so.
As for Balista, he was only a Lord because he inherited his father's title and he was on the verge of being demoted. He was selfish and was always jealous of Kepalta's wealth so he was happy when someone from the empire said that they want to help him take possession of Juliu's territory.
'I should take care of this human garbage too.' Randolph thought, looking at the ugly man next to him.
Shortly after that, a second portal opened and the situation looked dire but Balista and Randolph had a look of satisfaction on their face as they watched the whole scene through the binoculars.
But when they thought that everything proceeded as planned, something they didn't expect occurred.
"What the hell is this kid? D*amn it, how did he become so powerful all of sudden? This does not any sense." Balista began to panic as soon as he saw Adam slaughtering the monsters.
"Mmmmm…." Randolph didn't say anything but he grumbled annoyingly.
The two of them were feeling impatient after seeing that Marie was being healed by someone from the Holy Church and Adam's demonstration of power.
Unfortunately for them, their plan had failed and it didn't even take fifteen minutes for Adam to close the portal.
They were at a loss of words after witnessing the annihilation of almost four hundred level 4 monsters, especially Balista who spent a lot of resources to get his hands on these two high-level artifacts. He planned to make this planet a part of his territory after Julius died and he counted on Randolph who was a quite influential noble in the Empire to achieve that.
Neither of them expected that Adam could also close the portals.
"Tch…" Randolph who appeared to be indifferent clicked his tongue and for the first, since he came to this planet, he looked vexed.
"W-what should we do?" Balista panicked and the smile on his face vanished completely.
They underestimated Adam's power and thought that the poison will be enough to kill him.
"We can't afford to fail. I can not be sure that they won't find some clues leading back to us so Julius and his family must disappear today." Randolph clenched his fist.
"But what can we do?" Balista asked.
"Mmmm…. It's inevitable. I will use that thing." Randolph narrowed his eyes then raised his hand and gestured for one guard to bring a tightly sealed package to him.
"B-but, isn't that thing too dangerous? The Empire will certainly make a move if this thing were to be used here. And how can we even bring it to the plaza? People will be suspicious if we sent someone there." Balista said, looking a little pale after he heard Randolph's words.
"..." Randolph ignored the panicking Balista and opened the seals on the package then a thick miasma came out of the artifact that was sealed inside of it.
This was his ultimate trump card. An artifact that could summon level 6 monsters because the bigger the portal was, the bigger the monsters that came out of it and bigger monsters equal stronger monsters.
Randolph took the stone with his bare hand and he turned around to face the plaza.
After that, he took a step back and held the stone with both of his hands as if he was holding a rugby ball, then dashed forward and used his level 7 wind elemental power to throw the stone in the direction of the plaza.
'This Randolph guy is crazy…' Balista thought, knowing that holding such an ominous artifact could absorb all of the primordial particles inside of a person's body and cause them to age unnaturally if they weren't strong enough.
****
In the area around the plaza, people were relieved to see that the threat was eradicated and they were slowly regaining their calm and helping the injured persons.
Adam and Marie's lives were also not a risk because sister Gracia was healing Marie and Adam neutralized the poison inside his body, giving some relief to Julius who had almost lost his mind a while ago.
After thinking about his family, Julius looked around the plaza and saw that the monsters had injured a lot of people and killed a considerable number of soldiers and civilians.
The whole ceremony turned into a disaster and even though Adam saved the day, he was now barely conscious.
Then he looked at Marie again. 'Why does she have to go through this? She is a very good-hearted person and she is valiant and thoughtful.' He thought. 'Unforgivable, these people shall face judgment and punishment.'
Julius vowed to himself that he would do everything within his power and even beyond that to find out the people who conspired behind all of that tragedy.
This was supposed to be a joyous occasion for him and his family but now the smile on his face had completely vanished.
"Don't let anyone leave the capital! Everyone shall be inspected and those who refuse are to be executed without any exception! This is an order!"Julius shouted, ordering complete isolation of the whole capital of Kepalta and a throughout inspection until the perpetrators of this vicious crime were found.
The head of defense Delio, the head of the Royal Knights Sylvestre, and also the head of the Shadow Corps Brad immediately took action as soon as they received these orders.
These three were also angered by this situation and wouldn't be satisfied until adequate punishment was given to the despicable culprits who used such an underhanded tactic to attack their Lord and his family.
"Please take care of him," Julius said, looking at Adam and the other injured people being carried away to a more suitable environment for them to recover.
Boom!!
"Huh??!!
Unfortunately, a black ominous stone impacted the ground a little bit away from the edifice and almost everyone's complexion turned pale after seeing what followed the impact
Because when people thought everything was over, a portal appeared and this time the color was pitch black and a sinister emanated from it.
Then a hand bigger than a young human appeared from it and followed by the appearance of a fifteen-meter tall humanoid monster holding a black war hammer and wearing ragged black armor.
Those who were knowledgeable knew that it was a level 6 minotaur because, in this universe, the name minotaur referred to a fifteen meters tall giant monster.
Julius did not know who was behind all of this but after seeing this third portal, their intentions were at least clear to him. These people didn't intend to let him or his family live and they would do anything to achieve this goal even doing something as extreme as summoning a level 6 monster.
'Why are they willing to go this far?' Julius couldn't help but wonder about the reason that pushed these people to target him and his family.
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