Although Gilian is a formal high-ranking knight, he is no match for Graham, who has survived the brutal battles of the Gladiator arena.
'This arrogant knight dares to attack me!?'
Greatly annoyed, Graham decided to show no mercy. He quickly activated and used the 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception'...
The bloody scene from the knight selection tournament was re-enacted.
*Splurt—!*
Like a shattered mirror, Gilian, who was attacking Graham with his sword, suddenly had his limbs severed, turning into a cloud of blood mist that sprayed onto the nearby Leip, covering him in blood!
"Ah—!"
Witnessing such a terrifying scene up close, the timid boy, Schult, was scared out of his wits and fainted.
"Graham! How dare you!"
Wiping the blood off his face, Leip was furious. As a noble, he had a cleanliness obsession, and being sprayed with blood made him livid.
"Die!"
Leip, having lost his mind in anger, pulled out a 'short tube-shaped' weapon and aimed it at Graham.
A fiery red streak shot out instantly, heading towards Graham!
This 'short tube-shaped' weapon was a Meteor, a weapon that could increase the user's magical power by five times and even store specific magic for instant release.
However, it was still useless!
"Useless," Graham sneered and casually stabbed with his dagger.
The fiery streak of magic vanished instantly with a 'pop', as if the magical attack had never existed to begin with!
"Impossible!"
Unconvinced, Leip began to frequently use the Meteor to attack Graham, with fiery red streaks flying around the chamber.
As an accomplished mage, combined with the amplification effect of the Meteor, Leip could calmly fight a whole group of high-ranking knights, but against Graham, he was completely panicked!
For the incoming wind blades and flames, Graham easily shattered all the magical attacks with a wave of his dagger, slowly walking towards Leip expressionlessly.
"Impossible! Who are you really!?"
Leip was utterly panicked, retreating while continuing to cast attack spells.
Graham, no longer wanting to play, quickly 'killed' several magical attacks, reached Leip, and gave him a hard kick, sending the old man flying.
*Bang*
*Clang*
The Meteor fell to the ground, and Leip, disheartened, began to feel fear.
"I am the princess's guardian knight, Graham! Remember that, you old bag of bones!"
Raising his dagger, Graham was about to kill him...
"Wait! I don't oppose you becoming that woman's knight! I promise to give her to you! Remember, our goals don't conflict!"
*Swish!*
The sharp dagger stopped abruptly in front of Leip's eyes.
Feeling a glimmer of hope, Leip continued, "Don't even think about killing me. No matter how strong you are, you can't fight against my thousand-man army, the 'Crimson Front'! Graham, think this through!"
"This time, it's my fault. I shouldn't have brought Gilian! Spare me! It's good for you, for me, for everyone!"
Hearing this, Graham coldly laughed and suddenly, without mercy, stabbed a certain part of Leip's head!
*Splurt!*
...
"What's going on? Why is it so noisy? Graham!"
Priscilla, who was in a deep sleep, was awakened by the loud noises coming from the mansion and couldn't help but call out her knight's name.
However, the man seemed to be absent, and Priscilla frowned in displeasure.
'That guy, he wouldn't really go and kill that old skeleton, Leip, would he?'
On the other side, Graham, carrying the brain-dead Leip, opened the entrance/exit of secret chamber and slowly walked out of the room. Before he began to descend the stairs however, he noticed all the servants already waiting below.
A striking red figure slowly approached. Upon seeing him, she immediately frowned, "I was just taking a little nap, and you lot made quite a ruckus."
She glared at him with a pouty expression, hands on her hips, and angrily said, "Graham, how long do you plan to look down on me from up there? You really don't understand respect at all. Hurry down and explain what happened in detail!"
Graham was taken aback. Oh, this arrogant woman hates being looked down upon.
"Princess, I would like to come down... And if I could, I would have done so already."
"I see you don't want to come down at all." Priscilla raised an eyebrow, seemingly pleased.
'This foolish knight really went and killed Leip...' she reasoned.
"It's a rare opportunity, I also want to look down on the princess for a while longer."
Graham glanced coldly at all the servants who were watching intently, revealing a chilling smile.
The servants in the mansion were all Leip's pawns. It seems they will need to be replaced soon.
"Hmph~! Hurry down here, I don't want to repeat myself, or else I'll have your head!"
"Yes, yes~ I'm coming down now."
Descending the stairs, Graham put down the blood-soaked, drooling, and babbling Leip, and said, "It's like this, Princess. The lord suddenly became like this. I don't know what happened."
"Oh my, I just realized the person you're carrying is the old skeleton! It seems this old bone finally realized his foolishness and started despairing and hanged himself?"
Priscilla covered her mouth and laughed lightly, showing no concern, which made the observing servants feel a chill in their hearts.
"To be precise, his body is still alive, but he is mentally dead."
Graham emphasized that Leip was still alive.
Given the current situation, Leip being alive was more beneficial to Priscilla than him being dead.
"I see, so it's sudden death then. At his age, it's quite normal." {T/N: I don't get it, someone please try to make sense of this for your fellow readers...}
Priscilla continued her speech, and no one present could refute her.
The servants had indeed benefited from Leip's promises and thus became his pawns, but now that Leip had fallen, they had to start thinking about their future.
In the end, they came to one conclusion: they had to switch allegiance to Priscilla, the lady of the manor.
"So, he's not dead yet, Princess."
Graham cooperated by stating this fact.
And Priscilla's intention was clear, she wanted the servants to know...
Leip was still alive, but he was as good as dead.
The most important person here was Priscilla Barielle!
"Oh my, it's so pitiful. My nominal husband has lost his ability to be the lord. If this continues, the Barielle territory will have a bleak future. Since this is the case, I have no choice but to take full control. It's unavoidable. Don't you all agree?"
Priscilla smiled sweetly, her voice not loud but just enough to penetrate everyone's eardrums, conveying her meaning. The servants exchanged glances, then lowered their heads and slightly bowed, indicating no objections.
They dared not have opinions on the matters of the noble lords, but among them, there seemed to be a maid who was very unwilling. She lowered her head, her eyes filled with resentment, unnoticed by anyone...
"Graham, why are you still standing there? You're so dirty, you'll dirty my bedchamber!"
"Yes, Princess, I'll go wash up right away!"
Hearing this, Graham was secretly delighted. This was Priscilla's way of implying that she allowed him to go to her bedroom!
"Hmph, what are you all still standing around for? Hurry up and take the old skeleton away and take good care of him!"
"Yes, Madam!" The servants, startled, quickly nodded in agreement and carefully took Leip away.
The remaining servants swiftly cleaned up the traces on the floor to avoid being punished by Priscilla.
...