Chapter 99. The Price of Greed

The Duke looked at the researcher mage with a satisfied face. The researcher mage, in turn, looked at the Duke with expectant eyes, hoping to receive something now that the implantation was successful.

But he didn’t know the Duke well. The Duke was a selfish man who only cared about himself. He wouldn’t keep someone alive who knew his secrets and held his weaknesses.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, the researcher staggered and grabbed the Duke. A dagger was embedded in his abdomen. Flames erupted around the dagger, emitting smoke.

“You are no longer needed.”

“Y-Your Grace.”

“Thank you for your hard work in creating the Maved Stone.”

“Cough!”

The researcher coughed up blood as the flames intensified, and he collapsed. In an instant, his body was incinerated without a trace. The researcher mage, who had been in charge of creating the Maved Stone, met his end.

“When the hunt is over, you must cook the hunting dog to avoid any trouble.”

The Duke let out a sinister laugh, looking as calm as someone who hadn’t just committed murder.

He was overflowing with energy. During the adaptation period, he couldn’t use his abilities, which was frustrating.

Now he could freely use his abilities and even absorb others’ abilities to make them his own.

The Duke suddenly made a cut on his body. Simultaneously, he used the ability he had absorbed from the deceased researcher mage to quickly heal the wound.

It was truly an incredible ability.

“Hahaha!”

The Duke burst into laughter, exhilarated by the immense power coursing through his body. Using his abilities once made it hard to suppress his vitality.

“Hm. So this is what it feels like. I feel overflowing with energy!”

With this momentum, he felt he could possess power comparable to the dragon that once swept across the continent.

Believing it to be the real Maved Stone, he saw the current abnormal signs as a joyous occasion. He was completely unaware that it was a warning from his body.

But what was embedded in his body was a fake Maved Stone. Unaware that the real Maved Stone had already been destroyed, he couldn’t foresee the impending tragedy.

It was when the Duke was at the height of his elation.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, the Duke clutched his chest in pain and staggered. His mana core buzzed as if it were about to explode.

Grasping his chest with one hand and supporting himself on the ground with the other, the Duke flinched. The hand touching the ground began to wrinkle.

Thinking he was seeing things, he rubbed his eyes, but the situation didn’t change.

“W-What is this…!”

The skin that had been taut due to the Maved Stone now became wrinkled and darkened, more so than before. His body, which had rapidly regained its youth, couldn’t withstand the use of abilities and aged rapidly.

It was only a matter of time before he became a living corpse.

“N-No!”

Not knowing what went wrong, the Duke crawled on the floor, denying reality, but nothing changed.

Just as he was falling into endless despair, someone opened the door and entered. The Duke’s eyes lit up, thinking it was his savior, but unfortunately, it was not.

“Samuel?”

“!!”

“Is it really you, Samuel Blanche?”

Isabelle, with wide eyes, looked at the Duke who had become an old man overnight. Samuel Blanche, crawling on the floor like a senile old man, couldn’t even stand up by himself.

Seeing the astonishing change, Isabelle covered her mouth with her hand and murmured.

“Unbelievable, I thought it might be.”

Isabelle, who had moved to the Alive family for Paris’s treatment, had instructed her confidant in Blanche Castle to keep an eye on the atmosphere inside the castle, and to report if there were any changes in the Duke’s condition.

Then she learned that the Duke had suddenly left for recuperation. Isabelle found out his location after some inquiries.

She never believed the Duke was ill. She thought he was plotting something. But was he really sick?

She had never heard of a disease that caused sudden aging. But if not, there was no way to explain the sight before her of Samuel.

Well, it didn’t matter what disease he had. Her beloved son had gone mad, and her daughter had died. Isabelle, having nothing left to lose, was confident.

Isabelle crouched down and looked at him.

“Samuel, what is this? Are you so ill that you can’t even stand up by yourself?”

The Duke trembled at her mocking question. Not knowing how she found this place, the Duke instinctively backed away, reading the madness in her eyes.

But an old man with no strength was easy prey.

“Who would have thought I’d see Samuel running away.”

Isabelle laughed as if she were watching something amusing. Then she pushed him over.

“Ugh!”

“Well, it’s better this way. I’ll kill you instead since you’ll die soon anyway.”

“Mm!”

The Duke, gasping for breath, grabbed Isabelle’s arm. Normally, he would have broken such a frail arm.

But having lost all his strength, the Duke couldn’t escape her thin grip.

“Cough…”

The Duke foamed at the mouth and rolled his eyes. Just before he died, someone suddenly separated Isabelle and Samuel. It was the Imperial Knights who had come to arrest the Duke following Camilla’s report.

“Samuel Blanche, you are under arrest for conspiracy to rebellion! Restrain the criminal!”

At Brix’s command, the knights moved swiftly. Isabelle looked at them with a stunned expression.

“Cough! Cough! Ugh…”

Barely saved, Duke Blanche crawled on the floor, drooling. He was restrained without any resistance, panting heavily.

At that moment, Isabelle’s cheerful voice echoed in the room.

“Rebellion? Hahaha! Rebellion?”

Madness gleamed in Isabelle’s eyes. She, too, was held by the knights.

“What a mess.”

Brix sighed as he looked at the aged Duke Blanche and the seemingly insane Isabelle Brilly.

‘Once you know the whole truth, you’ll be grateful to me. This incident is enough for a top-tier promotion.’

When Camilla first came to him, he never imagined it would be such a big case. He thought it was just another illegal act by a high noble. At worst, it would result in a fine.

But the more he dug, the more serious the matter became. When he went to Blanche Castle and confirmed the traces of the summoning technique, he was almost blinded by the revelation.

It was the tyrant King Autanus. The notorious tyrant who had used the evil power of the ancient Maved Stone to rule with an iron fist.

After realizing that the Duke had summoned him to learn the method of creating the Maved Stone, the imperial family decided it was not just a case of human trafficking but a rebellion.

If Aster and Camilla hadn’t interfered with the Duke, the rebellion might have succeeded.

With their help, the entire Blanche Castle was searched and evidence was secured, including the laboratory where the experiments took place.

All this happened after the Duke left for recuperation to implant the Maved Stone. Now, only the arrest and questioning of the Duke remained, but suddenly Isabelle Brilly appeared.

If they had been a little later, she might have killed the Duke, which sent chills down Brix’s spine.

Duke Blanche lay on the floor, coughing without any strength. The Maved Stone was clearly embedded in his chest, looking like an ancient mana core protruding from his body.

At a glance, it was clear that the implantation experiment had failed. The Maved Stone was dangerous as it could reverse time and take one’s life. The reversal had already begun, and it was only a matter of time before he lost his life.

At that moment, Isabelle, who had been laughing, shouted sarcastically.

“Doesn’t he look strange to you, too? I was shocked when I saw him. I almost didn’t recognize my enemy.”

“Madam.”

“If you’re going to kill him for rebellion anyway, let me do it. I’ll feel better if I kill that man myself!”

Brix looked bewildered. Isabelle’s condition seemed strange. According to Camilla Francis, she had taken refuge with the Alive family with her son.

What had happened in just a few days to make her look so haggard?

“Poor my son.”

Isabelle buried her face in her hands and began to sob. It was a complete pandemonium.

‘They’re all crazy.’

Whether it was Samuel, who carried out a mad experiment to live forever, or Isabelle, who spouted nonsense even in this situation, none of them seemed sane.

Brix, leaving the hysterical Isabelle behind, took Duke Blanche into custody. It was a pitiful sight, unimaginable for a once-great noble who had dominated an era.

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