628,

After hearing Eumerika’s plan, Cyclone felt awful.

He pressed a hand against his chest, showing how bad he felt after hearing it.

Eumerika saw that too, and understood.

But there was no helping it. The one they had to kill now was a king, not an ordinary commoner.

Having a way to do it was already good enough. They couldn’t afford to worry about too much else.

But that was precisely why Cyclone’s heart ached.

“Is this really the only way?”

“This is the only way.”

“Sigh…”

Facing the wall, Cyclone let out a sigh.

It wasn’t just Eumerika—even Hilmirya patted Cyclone’s back, comforting him.

“Once he loses himself to rage, if more commoners see him refusing to save people during this crisis just to kill you, the more likely it’ll be that he’ll be punished by the heavens.”

“I know. I’ll do my best, damn it…”

“Listen. All you need to do is keep running. Don’t let them catch you. Got it?”

“Got it…”

With that, Eumerika took Hilmirya away.

That left Cyclone alone, though not truly alone.

Because this plan was very simple. All Cyclone had to do was circle around the area near the King of Dusk—in other words, the place Eumerika would be heading to soon.

That’s right. Cyclone wasn’t supposed to hide in some corner. He had to become an annoying mosquito, constantly buzzing around the King of Dusk.

Right now, the King of Dusk would surely send every assassin he had to kill Cyclone.

If Cyclone approached the King of Dusk at that moment, then the people around him wouldn’t be assassins prepared to kill Cyclone.

They’d be ordinary soldiers who had come to rescue people instead.

And that brought up a problem.

What would happen if all the subordinates around him went off to rescue people, while the person he wanted to kill appeared right in front of him?

What would the King of Dusk do?

Cyclone had to seize that opening and force the King of Dusk to order the soldiers who had come to rescue people to turn around and hunt him down instead.

Cyclone would run ahead, with the King of Dusk chasing him, and then Eumerika would chase the King of Dusk.

Only if all of this happened would the people remember it during this crisis.

That was why Cyclone stepped forward.

He stepped out directly in front of the Water Shrine’s guards and the King of Dusk’s soldiers.

Their eyes met from a distance of roughly twenty meters.

“…”

There was no exchange of words, but Cyclone, looking up at the King of Dusk, didn’t run away immediately.

Cyclone knew this situation was awkward, but there was no helping it. This was what he had to do—he had to let the King of Dusk see him.

At first, the King of Dusk paid no attention to Cyclone.

Even after seeing him, he acted as if he hadn’t and continued directing his subordinates in the evacuation.

But Cyclone walked closer step by step, heading toward the large group Eumerika was leading.

Suddenly, the King of Dusk shouted.

“Hurry! Get out of here as fast as possible!! You! All of you! Go help too—guide the crowds and speed up the evacuation!”

The two royal guards standing beside the King of Dusk ran toward Cyclone as soon as they heard his order.

The moment Cyclone saw them, he took off running.

He ran toward the Great Dragon, never looking back, and kept running.

Of course, no one would chase after him.

The direction of the Great Dragon was completely opposite to the direction in which the King of Dusk was rescuing people.

“…”

Eumerika secretly glanced over and saw that the King of Dusk was still staring at Cyclone’s back.

“Assemble!”

At last, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

At first, the soldiers didn’t react.

It wasn’t until the King of Dusk roared angrily once more that they understood.

“I said assemble!! Can’t you hear me!!”

At a time when he should have been rescuing people, the King of Dusk abandoned the rescue effort and mounted his horse.

“Everyone, follow me!!”

The plan went perfectly. The King of Dusk abandoned the people and left with his troops.

“When it comes to taunting people, you really are number one under heaven~”

As she watched, Eumerika picked up her massive iron hammer.

“Seriously!! We’re supposed to be rescuing people right now! Why did he leave?!”

With an unreadable expression, Eumerika said to her subordinates,

“I’ll go take a look. You keep going!”