*Ting!*
The sword of Ryzen let out a soft metallic din when it returned to its sheath, breaking the silence after the duke was beheaded.
When the head of the duke fell to the ground, Hugo screamed.
"RYZEN!"
His voice was filled with anger and hatred. His mana erupted uncontrollably, helping him to escape from the demigod of the church of the sun at the cost of an injury on his abdomen.
Then, he rushed towards Ryzen.
"DIE!"
But before he could reach him, several chains of light coiled around his arms and legs.
It was a spell from the demigod cleric!
"GET LOST!" Hugo bellowed, breaking the chains using brute force. But in the short instant when he was caught by the chains, he felt something piercing his chest.
It was Ryzen's sword.
"Ugh!"
Hugo grunted. His body stopped abruptly, and his eyes looked at the Ryzen in disbelief.
Ryzen pulled back his sword and looked at Hugo indifferently.
"Shame. You are a good warrior, but too loyal to my father. If I let you alive today, you will surely try to kill me later."
Hugo panted briefly and looked at the blood on his chest. Then–
"ARRRRRGHHHH!!!"
Ignoring his wound, he raised his twin swords and slashed towards Ryzen!
But the injured Hugo could not be faster than Ryzen.
With a flash of light, Ryzen moved past Hugo, and Hugo's head flew through the air.
Just like that, another demigod had been killed.
Bloed looked at the scene with a complicated expression. Two demigods. Two people powerful enough to dominate a part of the world had died in one night.
At some point, Madeline's group had arrived too. They were also looking at the scene with surprised and confused looks.
After Ryzen killed Hugo, he put his sword back in its sheath and walked towards the cleric.
"Thank you for your help, Cardinal. How is the situation in the city?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Ryzen." The cleric-like man, a cardinal of the church of the sun god, nodded calmly. "The knights of the church are hunting the villains behind all of this. The situation is under control."
"Thank you, Cardinal." Ryzen smiled gratefully. Then, he turned towards Bloed's group and his expression became ice-cold.
"As for you, I will ask the headquarters of Moonlight Glow and the Church of Fate for an explanation."
"An explanation?" Charise, who had recovered enough to stand up again, asked with a frown.
Ryzen nodded indifferently. "That is right. The actions of your churches tonight have contributed to the chaos in the city. Several good men died due to your rash actions."
The group was startled. One second later, Madeline's chilling voice sounded.
"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Ryzen? I guess the purpose of our actions is clear. Are you going to ignore our contributions!?"
"Your help, Miss Madeline, was unnecessary," Ryzen replied. "As you can see, we had already a plan to deal with the situation. Your actions instead only added to the chaos."
"Sophistry!" Madeline bellowed. But when she was going to continue speaking, a hand stopped her.
It was Charise.
She was looking at Ryzen and the people of the church of the sun god with narrowed eyes.
"Stop it, Miss Madeline. Can't you understand the situation?"
Madeline was startled, but quickly, a look of realization appeared on her face.
At the same time, Bloed sighed.
The church of the sun god had backed Ryzen to become the new duke, so now Ryzen was giving all the credit of tonight to the church of the sun god.
At the same time, he took advantage of this opportunity to suppress the other two big churches.
Still, the situation was not so simple.
When Bloed spied the conversation in Auspicious Night, he learned that an archbishop of an unknown church was helping with the duke's plan.
Now, Bloed learned from the duke that the archbishop belonged to the church of the sun god.
And although in the end, the church of the sun god did not truly cooperate in tonight's incident, Bloed could not help but feel disgusted by them.
The church of the sun god knew about what was going to happen tonight. Ryzen knew it too.
But they did nothing to stop it.
Instead, they used it for their own gain.
It was a scheme where Ryzen became the new duke and the church of the sun god the second biggest winner.
As for the people that were sacrificed tonight? They were just hapless victims of a power struggle.
Charise stared deeply at Ryzen before turning around.
"Let's go back. Tonight's show has ended."
Bloed and the others nodded.
When they left the city hall, Javelin could not help but show his unwillingness.
"Are we really going to leave like this? So many people died tonight just for that shit to become the duke!"
Charise gazed at the night sky and opened her mouth. "Many innocent people die unjustly every day, Mr. Javelin. This time at least, the main culprit was killed. As for Mr. Ryzen... Although I admit he is despicable, the truth is that he killed the duke. We don't have any reason to attack him."
Javelin fell silent, unable to answer. Although he did not want to admit it, he knew Charise was right.
The real world was like that.
…
The next day, Diadel City was shrouded by a gloomy atmosphere.
Thousands of people died during the night. Men, women, children, and elderlies; killed mercilessly.
Most of the church of slaughter's men were caught or killed in the end, but some of them escaped. The main culprit, a demigod named Jaden, was never found.
The son of the Duke, Ryzen Diadel, announced that his father was partially responsible for the situation. According to him, his father became crazy because of his impending death and colluded with the villains of the church of slaughter to commit a blood sacrifice and increase his lifespan.
Fortunately, Ryzen had discovered his plan and stopped him with the help of the church of the sun god, foiling the dead duke's plans.
After explaining the situation, Ryzen announced he was going to become the new duke. He also thanked the Church of the Sun God for their timely assistance and criticized the Church of Fate and Moonlight Glow for adding more chaos to the city.
Finally, he announced that as thanks to the church of the sun god for their timely assistance, he will make the church the official religion of the duchy.
Like that, the massacre of Calice City came to an end.