"Your Majesty! King Nasubi! It's a disaster! A red dragon has suddenly appeared in the secret chamber where the coffins are kept! It is attacking the Seed Urn, the treasure passed down through generations of our royal family!"
A Royal Guard, having narrowly escaped with his life, rushed into the King's chambers, screaming in a blind panic. The terror and chaos etched into his eyes made it clear that Allen's transformed state had left an indelible mark of primal fear upon his soul. After all, humans felt utterly insignificant before the colossal form of a Great Dragon; even their automatic firearms had failed to inflict so much as a scratch.
"What?! What did you say?!"
Nasubi bolted upright from his chair. The usual calm, composed mask on his bloated face shattered, replaced by an expression of pure fury and dread.
"Your Majesty! A... a dragon is rampaging in the secret chamber! It's attacking the family's sacred Urn!" the guard stammered, his voice trembling as he repeated the report.
"Dammit! Quickly! Mobilize everyone! Kill it! No matter the cost! We must protect the Urn at all hazards!"
After a brief, stunned silence, Nasubi roared his orders. He personally led all the guards by his side, charging toward the scene of the incident.
As the King of Kakin, he was naturally aware that Allen possessed a Nen beast in the form of a red dragon. He realized instantly that Allen had never intended to reconcile; instead, he had been meticulously planning to sabotage the Succession Contest ritual and dismantle the very foundation of the Kakin Royal Family's legacy.
What shocked him even more was Allen's complete lack of subtlety. The moment the Urn's hiding place was discovered, he had launched an all-out assault without hesitation. There were no scruples, no concerns for the resulting political upheaval or the severe consequences that would surely follow.
When Nasubi arrived at the threshold of the room, now a roaring inferno, he found that every guard and Nen user he had stationed there was dead. Only the massive red dragon remained, continuously bathing the Urn in its lethal breath.
Seeing the Urn's situation reach a critical state, Nasubi discarded all pretenses and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "No! Stop it! Stop at once! I command you to cease!"
"Oh? If it isn't His Distinguished Majesty the King."
Hearing the familiar voice from behind him, Allen finally paused his destruction. He used the tip of a massive dragon claw to gently lift the Urn. Under the relentless assault of the Flame of Life, the object's power had been severely depleted. It could only focus its remaining energy on reinforcing its own defenses, leaving it with no strength to resist the enemy's touch.
"Allen the Grim Reaper! Do you have any idea what you are doing? Do you realize the consequences of this action?" Nasubi interrogated him aggressively.
Allen chuckled and nodded. "Of course. The worst-case scenario is simply becoming an enemy of the entire nation of Kakin. But do you really think I care?
"Besides, do you know the highest level of assassination? It's not what most people think, like killing a target silently and slipping away. A true master of assassination walks through the front door with dignity, kills everyone who lays eyes on him, and continues until the mission is complete.
"By that same logic! If I kill every member of the Kakin Royal Family here and announce to the world that you all died in a fratricidal struggle for the throne, how many people do you think will actually care about the truth?
"After all, I have been granted the highest authorization by V5! Did you think your family were the only clever ones in the world, free to break and toy with the rules at will? No. From the moment you revealed your ambition to rule the entire human world, you became the target of all."
"Highest authorization from V5?!" Nasubi's pupils dilated sharply. "You mean... their acceptance of us into the V6 was merely..."
"Yes. It was only to lull you into a false sense of security. Don't worry. Once you self-important royals have vanished, Kakin will be carved into at least twenty different nations based on local customs and regions. All the lands you annexed through military force will return to their original states," Allen explained with dark meaning.
As the two spoke, several adult princes, including the first prince Benjamin and the second prince Camilla, arrived with their subordinates. Benjamin, the most hot-tempered of the lot, asked his father directly: "Father! Is this the enemy we must face?"
"Yes, my son. Use every ounce of your power to kill this monster and reclaim the Urn. Otherwise, our clan will vanish from the face of the earth this very day," Nasubi replied grimly, giving his confirmation.
"Understood! Move out!"
At Benjamin's command, the Private Guard of the First Prince manifested their Nen abilities and launched a fearless assault.
"I admire your bravery. But unfortunately, no matter how many ants there are, they can never threaten a dragon."
With those words, Allen snapped his wings open, delivering a devastating Wing Buffet to the charging soldiers. He then opened his maw and unleashed a blast of Dragon Breath, incinerating them all into charred remains. In a single second, the First Prince's entire Private Guard was wiped out.
This staggering display of power didn't just force the arrogant Benjamin to feel true fear for the first time; it caused the other princes, who had been ready to move, to recoil in terror.
Yet, one person did not retreat: the second prince, Camilla!
This pathologically conceited woman didn't back down. Instead, she walked forward boldly, tilting her head back to lock eyes with Allen's violet draconic gaze. After several minutes of silence, she spoke with a cold sneer, "What? Are you not going to kill me?"
"Kill you? No. I have a much better way to deal with you." Allen smiled meaningfully, then instructed the Red Dragon: "Vaelastrasz, you take control of the body from here."
"As you wish!"
As Vaelastrasz's voice echoed through the room, the red dragon's eyes shifted from violet to a molten, lava-like crimson. Without a moment's hesitation, she snatched Camilla up and, with two sickening crunches of her massive jaws, tore the woman's legs and feet right off.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
The excruciating pain forced the arrogant second prince to pay a heavy price, and she began to howl in agony. She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that the opponent would defy all logic, not by killing her, but by turning her into a cripple.
At the same time, by consuming the flesh of the Nen user, Allen acquired her ability, Cat's Name.
Once the flesh had been fully digested by the dragon's powerful stomach, Allen reclaimed control. He mocked her with utter contempt: "Did you think I was unaware of your ability? Or did you think a Nen ability that grants resurrection would make you invincible? I'm curious: if I just watch you bleed to death, will Cat's Name still activate? And if it does, is your Nen capacity truly enough to pose a threat to me?"
"You... how do you know...?" Camilla gasped, lifting her head through the searing pain.
"I have many sources of intelligence. I know the abilities of every single person here. Furthermore, I have the Urn. You have already lost this game," Allen announced his victory with a cold sneer.
"No! You haven't won yet!"
Nasubi suddenly moved with the speed of a lightning strike. He unsheathed a dagger and plunged it deep into the First Prince's back. Benjamin, completely off guard, had his heart pierced through. A look of sheer disbelief crossed his eyes before he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
But he wasn't finished. In a few seconds of pure madness, Nasubi slaughtered every one of his children who had arrived on the scene.
When the deed was done, the stout man threw his hands into the air and screamed at the ceiling: "O great ancestors of Kakin! Our clan has reached the hour of its ultimate crisis! Come to me! Grant me the power to strike down my enemy!"
The moment the words were spoken, the Urn, which had ceased its resistance, wrenched itself free from the dragon's claw and flew straight to Nasubi. In the blink of an eye, the corpses of the princes scattered on the floor began to stand up, their bodies swaying as they manifested various styles of ancient armor under the control of a formidable power.