Siegfried immediately ordered the imperial to be sealed shut. Every gate was locked down, and soldiers were posted at every corner. The security was so airtight that not even an ant could slip through it.

He had a list of every resident of the imperial palace drawn up and summoned them one by one.

Once they were present, he had Oscar interrogate every single person.

Even if Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance could be fooled, there was no way even the Sword of Truth: Fragarach could be deceived. Of course, that was what Siegfried believed.

“Are you a demonic creature?”

“Absolutely not!”

At Siegfried’s command, Oscar wielded the Sword of Truth: Fragarach and questioned the palace staffers.

The interrogation site was none other than the underground prison beneath the palace.

Once Sun Devourer Nox’s cover was blown, he would surely reveal his true form and lay waste to his surroundings. Thus, the questioning was deliberately done in a sealed-off chamber where only one person could enter at a time.

‘Let’s see how long you can hold out,’ Siegfried thought as he watched the interrogation unfold.

He was prepared to strike the moment Sun Devourer Nox showed himself, but after interrogating more than five hundred people, there was still no trace of the demonic creature.

‘Still about five hundred left,’ Siegfried thought, forcing himself to be patient.

The exact number of people in the imperial palace was one thousand ninety-five.

Sun Devourer Nox was either among them or perhaps disguised as someone not on the official record.

Either way, Siegfried planned to sit and watch the interrogation until every last one of them had been vetted.

By evening, Oscar finished vetting everyone.

After interrogating the 1,095th person, she turned to Siegfried and reported.

“The interrogation is complete, sire.”

“No one...?”

Siegfried had fully expected the last person to be Sun Devourer Nox, and he even braced himself for battle.

However, he was left dumbfounded by the result.

“Have the men searched every corner of the imperial palace?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes, sire.”

“And the head count matches?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Then how did we fail to flush that rat out...? This is quite surprising...” Siegfried muttered, still looking shocked.

“I am at fault, sire. I should have conducted the inspection more rigorously. I have failed to carry out my mission properly,” Oscar said, bowing deeply.

Siegfried shook his head and replied, “No, it’s not your fault. There was never any guarantee that the sword could extract the truth.”

The Ten Calamities were known to possess powers so overwhelming that even Chief Archangel Michael struggled against them, so it was possible that the Sword of Truth: Fragarach could fail.

Due to that, Siegfried did not blame Oscar for failing her duties.

‘But where is it hiding? Is it still inside the palace?’ Siegfried wondered.

He was completely baffled by the turn of events. The entire imperial palace had been on lockdown, and the security was so tight that not even a bug could slip past it.

Despite that, Sun Devourer Nox remained undetected.

‘I can only think of three possibilities. He is probably hiding somewhere, he has already slipped out, or he’s just ridiculously good at disguising that he can even fool the Sword of Truth,’ Siegfried thought.

Now, there was only one way to be certain.

Siegfried headed straight for the communication room and called Cheon Woo-Jin.

“How’s the black circle looking now?”

— What? Still no luck?

“Yeah.”

— It’s been shifting slightly. If you trace the movements... Look at this one.

Cheon Woo-Jin showed him various satellite images.

“Hmm... These movements definitely match the path used by the maids and servants,” Siegfried muttered while inspecting the images.

The red dot at the center of the black circle had been moving together with the attendants and right into the interrogation chamber.

With that, Siegfried concluded. ‘Damn it... It deceived the Sword of Truth.’

He concluded that Sun Devourer Nox had managed to fool both Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance and the Sword of Truth: Fragarach.

This was the first time the Sword of Truth had failed to extract the truth.

However, it was not all that surprising, as even Michael had warned that finding Sun Devourer Nox would be difficult.

“Hey.”

— Yeah?

“I’m going to have the attendants move one at a time. Can you watch and tell me when the black circle moves?”

— Sure, leave it to me. The black circle is large enough to cover the entire territory of the Proatine Empire, so even the slightest movement is visible.

“Thanks, man.”

— Don’t thank me just yet. Get them moving. I’ll track the circle in real time.

“Got it.”

Siegfried stayed in the communications room and relayed orders through his soldiers.

“Have each maid and servant circle the palace one by one.”

“As you command, sire!”

After giving the command, Siegfried waited patiently. Since the black circle moved around Sun Devourer Nox, they would eventually—by process of elimination—discover which attendant was the demonic creature in disguise.

***

“Zzz... ZzZzz...”

Three hours later, Siegfried was beginning to doze off when...

— Hey! Han Tae-Sung!

“W-What?!”

— It’s moving! The black circle is shifting!

Cheon Woo-Jin shouted, jolting Siegfried awake. Then, he immediately transmitted the satellite image for Siegfried to see.

— Get your ass moving! That thing is circling along the palace roads!

“Yeah, it’s definitely that bastard.”

Siegfried bolted out of the communications room and rushed to the servant circling the palace with the knights.

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

The knights escorting the servant immediately saluted the moment Siegfried appeared.

“Everyone, fall back. That guy is the culprit,” Siegfried warned the knights.

The servant flailed around and panicked after being accused of being the demonic creature.

“Y-Your Imperial Majesty?! N-No! I am not a monster! I have faithfully served the imperial household! How could you suspect me?!”

“Drop the act, buddy. You’re not fooling me,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

He was certain that this servant was Sun Devourer Nox.

The movement of the black circle perfectly matched the servant’s movement, so there was no mistaking it. This servant was indeed Sun Devourer Nox. Some of the Ten Calamities were natural masters of disguise. Blood Drinker Gabe was a good example, as he disguised himself as an old horse and nearly avoided getting caught.

Thus, even if Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance and the Sword of Truth: Fragarach had cleared the servant, Siegfried was not convinced that he was innocent.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see how you hold up,” Siegfried said with a grin.

Shwiiiik!

Tens of thousands of aura blades manifested and aimed at the servant. Then, the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain unleashed a rain of death on the defenseless servant.

“...!”

Even as the aura blades rained toward him, the servant stayed on the ground and did not move an inch.

‘There’s no way I’m wrong,’ Siegfried thought, trusting that his judgement was correct.

Flash!

A burst of bright light erupted from the servant’s body.

Swoosh!

The servant’s body began to warp violently. When the bright light dissipated, a demonic figure appeared.

[Sun Devourer Nox]

[A demonic entity from ancient times.]

[He devoured the sun in ancient times, triggering an ice age that wiped out ninety percent of life.]

[His ability to conceal himself is unrivaled, but he was caught and defeated by the Chief Archangel, Michael, and sealed away in the Celestial Prison, Purgatory.]

[Type: Evil Spirit]

[Race: Evil Spirit]

[Level: 750]

[Class: Sun Devourer]

[Note: One of the Ten Calamities. Extreme caution is advised.]

Sun Devourer Nox glared and snarled, “You’re quite the sharp one. How did you know it was me?”

“Using advanced technology,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Tech... what?”

“Ah, I forgot you’re an ancient fossil. There’s no way you'll know what technology is. I mean, what would you know about technical progress?” Siegfried sneered.

“Hoho...” Sun Devourer Nox simply laughed off the taunt.

“Oh?” Siegfried raised a brow, impressed at his calm demeanor.

“Technical progress... You creatures always claim that technology will save you from natural disasters, but you’re thoroughly mistaken. In the end, you will kneel before nature. How long do you think your makeshift artificial sun will last? You are weak. No matter how much you struggle, you are destined for extinction.”

Then, Sun Devourer Nox unleashed a black smoke. The black smoke thickened until it shrouded his surroundings in darkness.

“You will fall. You will become extinct.”

His voice echoed from all over the place right before he dispersed and became one with the darkness.

‘This is quite tricky. It’ll be over before I know it if I let my guard down,’ Siegfried thought as he scanned the area.

Now that Sun Devourer Nox had dispersed into the darkness, he became difficult to locate. From experience, Siegfried knew that these kinds of enemies were the most troublesome.

Without a tangible form, his attacks would simply pass right through.

For a physical damage dealer like him, there was no easy way he could end this battle.

After all, what good was his ultimate skill, Seven Steps to Invincibility, if he couldn’t land a single hit?

‘Where is this bastard...?’

Puuuk!

Something sharp pierced Siegfried’s back.

“Gah!”

Siegfried spat out blood.

‘W-What? That’s impossible...!’

He could hardly understand how an attack had penetrated his armor in a single blow. His Defense alone was absurdly high that most attacks could not even scratch him.

However, his opponent this time was no ordinary enemy—it was one of the Ten Calamities.

“You will fall, and I will shroud the world in darkness again. Frost shall follow and annihilate all life yet again.”

Sun Devourer Nox’s voice rang from all over the place.

“Argh...”

Enduring the pain, Siegfried braced for the next attack.

A crisis. He had finally met a powerful enemy after a very long time.

***

Meanwhile, the Marchioni Empire was starting to fall apart.

Rebellion spread like wildfire throughout the empire after Neighdelberg led a corp of the Marchioni Imperial Army to seize the border region with the Proatine Empire.

Starting with his rebellion, the nobles on the outskirts of the Marchioni Empire began raising their own revolt.

But that was not all...

Several major cities also turned into rebel strongholds, all of them declaring independence and opposing Emperor Stuttgart’s tyrannical rule.

The decisive turning point that caused the nobles to revolt was none other than the massacre committed by Emperor Stuttgart. The incident in which he executed every official present in the audience chamber provoked widespread uprising from the provincial nobles.

Families and supporters of those unfortunate enough to get executed just for witnessing the emperor get humiliated all rose in defiance against the tyrant.

Thus, Emperor Stuttgart had caused this rebellion.

“Rebellions are breaking out across the empire, sire.”

“Leave them be. They cannot do anything right away. And when the time comes, I shall issue an imperial decree.”

Surprisingly, Emperor Stuttgart remained calm and continued to tend to his work just as he always did. Even though reports of the widespread rebellion had erupted across the empire, he simply waved them off as if they were a common occurrence.

The newly-appointed officials, though filled with anxiety, nevertheless obeyed the emperor’s command without question.

And the reason behind it was simple...

Though rebellions were popping up all over the empire, the true power of the great Marchioni Empire was not to be underestimated.

No one exactly knew just how powerful the Marchioni Empire truly was, as all of its secret weapons were strictly confidential.

Emperor Stuttgart alone possessed the most dangerous and secret weapons of the Marchioni Empire.

His absolute authority came from that secret power, and so the officials could only hold their breaths and wait, unlike those who had recklessly rebelled against the empire.

“Send word to Beowulf. Tell him to resolve the plagues at once,” Emperor Stuttgart commanded.

“As you command, my lord.”

“And start recruiting Coral Slave Soldiers.”

With that command, Emperor Stuttgart had made it clear that he was preparing for a massive full-scale war.

Drafting the aliens into the Marchioni Empire’s imperial army was something unprecedented before, and this was a clear sign that war was looming on the horizon.