Trevry Treati was an eight-circle mage, though only at the seventh level. He was highly skilled within his family, enough to be entrusted with handling this negotiation personally. He possessed a developed form of fire-element magic and specialized in explosion magic. He could place explosive magic circles with power reaching the seventh level, and thanks to the eighth circle, he could impose conditions on those bombs so they would not detonate accidentally and would only activate according to specific rules.
From the information given by Polter, who had seen the bodies of the nine agents covered in magic circles, Shion Lan thought carefully before asking Solan Neumann,
"Can Bloom interfere with his explosion magic?"
After thinking for a moment, Solan replied,
"If I use the Spirit Lantern, she can do anything."
Shion smiled and began explaining the plan to her.
At the same time, the entire area was surrounded by numerous noble families, while the commoners tried to stay as far away from Trevry as possible, leaving him isolated in a circle with the agents and his subordinates.
King Jord Joul looked at him and asked,
"What is this deal?"
Trevry answered calmly,
"The deal is very simple. I will hand over those agents, and in exchange, I want the First Prince, Jayden Joul, and his mother. I will also take Shun Ranus, his sister, and his mother. As for the remaining four…"
His gaze shifted toward Shion, who was discussing the plan with Solan.
"I want Shion Lan, his stepmother Forite, and his two younger siblings."
Everyone was shocked by such a demand, but Shion clenched his teeth, pulled Solan closer, and whispered,
"Inform the king about my plan."
Then he looked at Trevry, who remained calm as if his request would naturally be accepted.
But suddenly, Cliff Biv interrupted,
"What about me?! Did you forget about me?!"
Trevry replied indifferently,
"I needed to see you personally to confirm certain things, and I already confirmed something important."
He looked at him with terrifyingly cold eyes.
"You leaked the kingdom's secrets, you bastard. And we do not forgive those who reveal our secrets."
The queen was stunned.
"Then why did you tell me to bring him here?!"
Trevry answered without concern,
"There is a limit to the information that does not affect us, but he crossed that line. I can judge that much myself. And now…"
He activated a tool from the king of Amoritchi and declared:
"(Royal Command) — Die."
Magic circles activated inside Cliff's mind. His eyes widened in horror, and before he could even breathe, his body collapsed to the ground as the signs of death overtook him.
No one cared.
No one pitied someone like him.
The king then asked Trevry,
"Why do you want the Lan family?"
Trevry answered,
"His Majesty is furious at the one who started this entire matter, and we also have Shun, who seeks revenge against his father's killer. So we wish to reduce unnecessary bloodshed."
When the king was about to speak, he suddenly stopped after one of the spirits delivered Shion's plan to him.
He turned toward Shion and said,
"I do not believe Lord Lan is too young to speak for himself, so I will let him decide."
Halm Night was shocked.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?! Lord Lan is one of the greatest contributors in capturing the traitors!"
Halm did not want Shion to be harmed because he owed him greatly.
But Shion stood up and said,
"I thank Lord Night, and I will not forget his kindness. However, this matter has become personal now, and I hope you will support me from behind."
He then turned toward Trevry, who was waiting for confirmation.
"I don't recall the Treati Family making deals based on emotions. Why exactly do you want me?"
Trevry replied,
"It seems you misunderstand the situation. I am—"
"The only person here who doesn't understand his position is you."
Shion interrupted him before calmly sitting down again.
With a sharp gaze, he continued,
"You came here at a time when everyone hates the name of the Amoritchi Kingdom, and without permission—"
"I obtained permission from the First Queen!"
Trevry interrupted firmly.
"It seems the little boy does not understand certain basics, so allow me to explain—"
"You?"
Shion mocked him.
"Receiving permission from a traitor means nothing at all. You should realize that you are the one in danger here, and your arrogance is only worsening your situation. Tell me…"
A stellar aura filled with dominance appeared in his eyes.
"Are you not afraid of death?"
Trevry laughed.
"Your Majesty, did you not teach your children how to deal with guests?"
Shion sneered.
"Or perhaps you simply cannot argue against a child? Are you afraid of dying at my hands? Maybe this is the level of the Amoritchi Kingdom."
Anger finally appeared on Trevry's face.
"Now I understand why they told me to bring you…"
Veins bulged on his forehead as he growled,
"You have a sharp tongue that will bring about your destruction, boy!"
Halm then added,
"You have the option of not taking him. Otherwise, you may die from anger before the battle even begins."
Trevry exploded in rage.
"The deal has changed! I want this brat dead before everyone instead of taking him!"
Miral Flair, head of the Flair Family, scoffed,
"Do you know nothing about negotiations despite being from the Treati Family?"
Brad Sano added,
"It seems he doesn't even carry that family's blood. He is too stupid to understand his own situation."
The head of the Jura Family remarked,
"Whether he has their blood or not does not explain such low intelligence."
Then the head of the Shine Family spoke coldly,
"He still doesn't realize that his death here is inevitable."
When Trevry saw himself being mocked from all sides, his fury intensified.
The queen cried out in disbelief,
"Do you all want your agents to die?! Are you truly this heartless?! Why?! Is it because of that damned brat?!"
King Jord replied indifferently,
"The Shadow Forces exist to serve the king. If I ordered them to kill themselves right now, they would do so without hesitation. Bringing them here within only a few days means they were never interrogated, which means the information we received was a lie. Furthermore, Amoritchi never needed to interrogate them in the first place. Thirdly, what this fool has done is considered an attack on the kingdom's territory, and I can kill him for it."
The queen protested,
"But I gave him permission!"
The king no longer cared about her words.
"Then since you are the cause, I can simply cut off your head and present it as a gift to the King of Amoritchi."
Trevry interrupted,
"But she is no longer your queen! Especially after betraying you!"
The king raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Is she a traitor? She is my beloved wife, whom I was forced to sacrifice for the sake of maintaining peace between the kingdoms… and as compensation for your spilled blood."
The queen shouted,
"That won't work because I will confess everything and admit I was working with them!"
The king calmly looked toward Trevry.
"Do you want your king to admit before the Assembly of The Continental Pentarchy that he sent agents into my kingdom?"
At that moment, Trevry realized he had miscalculated.
'The reports said the king loved his wife so much that he slaughtered an entire family for her… so when did he become this cold?'
He immersed himself in thoughts,
'The agents we got were actually officials and got the information In a legitimate way and it reached Ostiferos in normal way as if the merchants did it. But..... the information was wrong and there was no evidence but threatening to get them as Ostiferos is simply.... clean.'
Forced to retreat, Trevery said,
"Fine. I will take everyone except Shion Lan. How about that deal?"
The king turned toward Shion.
"Lord Lan, this man wishes to take members of your family. What do you say?"
Shion smiled coldly.
"I have a better deal…"
With silver eyes and a perfect smile, he said,
"How about you personally execute the traitors you came to protect, and in return we will let you leave alive? Then our kingdom may consider it a courtesy to the Amoritchi Kingdom."
Trevry nearly exploded from the endless humiliation he had suffered in a single day.
Shun and his family watched everything unfold before Shun shouted,
"Shion Lan!! Do you really want to kill your family?!"
Expressionless, Shion replied,
"I belong to the Lan Family, not the Ranus Family. Watch your tongue, or I may consider that slander."
At that moment, Solan leaned toward his ear and whispered,
"Shion, we finished disabling the circles."
Shion looked toward the king.
"Your Majesty, I have said everything I needed to say. You may now decide."
The nobles did not understand what he meant until the king suddenly ordered,
"Lord Shine, secure the hostages."
In a flash, the head of the Shine Family slammed his spear into the ground and drove Trevry's subordinates away.
Trevery snapped his fingers, only to be shocked that the hostages did not explode.
Thinking quickly, he threw three teleportation scrolls toward the queen, her son, and Shun before attempting to flee.
'This was never part of the plan! But at least I can secure the lives of those three. They are important.'
Chaos spread instantly.
The commoners fled in terror before the battle could reach them, while the nobles protected the civilians and dealt with Trevry's followers.
When Shion saw that one scroll had gone to Shun, a terrible feeling filled him.
His stellar aura surged as he rushed forward at maximum speed.
At the same time, the queen used the temporary Royal Command her husband had once granted her, suppressing the Blazing Flame and forcing them to collapse in pain.
She rushed to help her son escape and activated his scroll.
A gray magic circle formed around him, space distorted, and he vanished.
Shion instantly realized what was about to happen.
The nobles did as well.
"If Shawn uses that scroll, he'll escape!"
Seeing Shion rushing toward him with murderous intent, Shun immediately activated his own scroll.
"(Star Cutters)!"
Shion roared as his sword descended toward Shun.
But Shun was faster.
He disappeared before the slash could land.
When Trevry saw that Jayden and Shun had escaped, relief filled him.
But then he saw the king stopping the queen from teleporting away.
With a single motion—
the king severed her head.
Witnessing such a horrifying scene, Trevry attempted to flee.
Yet an overwhelming pressure descended upon him from the head of the Shine Family.
Trevry activated a simple domain to protect himself, but the head of the Shine Family declared,
"(Personal Domain: Heavenly Ray)!"
Light condensed above the battlefield.
Using aura, countless spears formed in the sky before raining down upon Trevry.
Shocked by such a destructive technique, Trevry hurried to activate another scroll.
The head of the Shine Family sneered,
"Did you forget that my family possesses the fastest movement techniques?"
With a single step, he appeared beside Trevry, snatched the scroll from his hand, and retreated just before the spears of light pierced through Trevry's body.
Trevry had never imagined he would meet death in a place like this.
But the head of the Shine Family coldly declared,
"Do not think you will die so easily."
The spears deliberately avoided his vital points, leaving him alive.
Trevry's followers were slaughtered.
The only losses were the escape of Shun and Jayden.
Fury overwhelmed the king.
He considered extracting information from Trevry regarding the importance of Jayden and Shun, as well as their plans.
But keeping him alive any longer was becoming troublesome as he saw the spells of the king of Amoritchi spread through Trevry's body destroying him.
At that moment, Solan stepped forward and said,
"Your Majesty, I can extract the information from him… but on one condition."
Everyone's attention shifted toward the young woman, wondering what condition she would demand.