Byro wore a look of lingering fear, grateful that he hadn't accepted Edolas Marco's invitation or spent more time with him.
Otherwise, he might have been caught in the crossfire.
It was clear these attackers had come for revenge against Edolas Marco, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't have killed him as well if given the chance.
"Who could it be?"
The king muttered to himself, completely at a loss.
After all, Edolas Marco had far too many enemies—pinpointing the culprit's identity would be extremely difficult.
...
On the other side, the "murderer himself," whose identity was difficult to determine, had long since left the city.
He had departed before the royal capital was completely sealed off—their lockdown was too slow.
Of course, even if they had sealed everything off, it would have been utterly useless in front of Marco.
When it came to "escaping," Marco was quite the authority, mainly because the abilities of the Aries Gold Cloth were just that authoritative.
"Gold-level is just this overpowered."
While marveling, Marco removed the Aries Gold Cloth and directly summoned the Gemini Gold Cloth.
As the Gemini Gold Cloth appeared, its constellation symbol form looked peculiar, resembling a four-armed, two-faced statue.
The entire Cloth was shaped like the upper half of a human body.
In the center was a head with two faces facing opposite directions, flanked by four symmetrical arms.
Describing it as two people back-to-back felt inadequate—it was more like conjoined twins or a single entity with two aspects.
"Too bad I don't have a twin brother." Marco chuckled.
With a thought, the Gemini Gold Cloth immediately unlocked and enveloped his body.
Though both were golden in color, unlike the Aries Gold Cloth, the Gemini Gold Cloth was more rigid and formal in design, especially with that square helmet.
Once worn, it made him look like a stern official just standing there.
Of course, it was still handsome, just slightly more old-fashioned in style.
Besides, appearance was secondary for a "Gold-level" Cloth.
In the face of the sheer stat boosts and absolute power the Gold Cloth provided, all other trivial concerns had to take a back seat.
Marco had always been an honest proponent of raw strength.
"Gemini is truly unique."
Marco reflected on how the Gemini constellation offered a wide variety of abilities—not all of them simple, brute-force combat skills.
Many had special effects.
Phantom Demon Emperor Fist: A legendary forbidden technique of demonic fists, said to be a move known only to the Pope.
The first skill granted by the Gemini Gold Cloth was a highly unusual mental-type ability with terrifyingly powerful effects.
Unlike other illusion-creating phantom fist techniques, the Phantom Demon Emperor Fist could directly dominate the target's brain nerves, completely controlling those hit by it.
Once struck by this move, the enemy would cease attacking the user and, as if hypnotized, obey the user's commands, serving as a slave.
If the victim suffered a fierce attack, they would become extremely frenzied, turning into a demon solely focused on killing.
However, breaking this technique wasn't difficult—it would be dispelled as soon as the victim killed one person.
In other words, after being hit by this move, one must kill a person to break free.
"Evil. Overpowered." Marco commented on the Phantom Demon Emperor Fist.
"But... very practical. Extremely practical."
After criticizing it, Marco circled back.
Though the skill was indeed evil and overpowered—hardly the act of a gentleman—he could choose to use it critically.
"Ahem, anyway, I won't use it for anything weird." Marco defended himself a little.
Although he really wanted to immediately test the power and control of the [Phantom Demon Emperor Fist], he was currently outside the royal capital with only one person by his side—Mystogan, who had been waiting for him all along.
Naturally, such a move couldn't be used casually on one of his own, so Marco had to suppress his urge to test it for now.
"Marco, didn't we agree to keep a low profile? What did you do in the city?" Mystogan looked speechless.
Even though he wore a mask, the helplessness in his words was clear to Marco.
"Couldn't be helped. I happened to run into the Edolas version of me, so we had a friendly exchange. In the end, we reached a consensus and achieved a great reconciliation. He even became my support."
Marco grinned and shrugged like a little bear.
His words were truly cutting—"Edolas Marco" had indeed become his support, though the way he provided it was a bit special, directly becoming a part of Marco's own strength.
"..."
The corner of Mystogan's mouth twitched under his mask.
How could he possibly believe that?
"Don't worry. They'll never figure out who did it no matter how hard they think."
Seeing the worry still lingering in Mystogan's eyes, Marco explained that he hadn't left any clues behind.
"Edolas Marco" had been directly absorbed by the system—a true case of "destroying the body and erasing all traces."
Not a single body parts remained.
He had come and gone using "Instant Movement," so naturally, no one could have witnessed him.
"They'll definitely think it's some remnant of a Magic Guild."
Marco could easily guess who they would pin the blame on.
After all, someone or some organization had to take responsibility. Leaving the case unsolved and dragging it out wasn't an option—the pressure on everyone would be too great.
"That's true. They'd never expect we came from Earth Land." Mystogan nodded.
After hearing Marco's approach, he felt it wasn't a big issue. Those people would probably never uncover the truth, even in death.
"Did you gather any useful intelligence?" Mystogan asked, getting to the real business at hand.
He was a bit worried that Marco might have gotten too carried with having fun and forgotten about it.
"Ha, it went incredibly smoothly. I even managed to scout out the royal palace." Marco laughed heartily as he spoke.
His intelligence-gathering mission had been a complete success.
This was all thanks to Edolas Marco, who had been absorbed by the [Saint System].
His life memories had provided Marco with immense convenience. Not only did Marco now know the situation in the royal capital, but he was also familiar with most areas inside the royal palace, thanks to Edolas Marco's knowledge.
"How?" Mystogan's eyes widened in surprise.
Hearing Marco speak so seriously, without a hint of joking, he could tell Marco had indeed obtained a substantial amount of information.
"Watch this."
Marco picked up a small stick and began drawing on the ground.
He sketched out the general layout of the royal palace's various buildings and basic routes, providing an extremely detailed map.
"Impressive."
With just one glance at the map on the ground, Mystogan confirmed one thing: Marco truly gained something valuable.
Most of what was drawn on the map aligned with reality, with only minor discrepancies from his memory—perhaps changes made after he had left.
When it came to the palace interior, Mystogan certainly had the authority to speak.
Earlier, he had worried that it might be completely different from his recollection, given the numerous mistakes and embarrassing incidents that had occurred before.
But now, it seemed the palace hadn't changed much.
"What do you say? Should the two of us charge straight into the royal palace?"
Looking at Mystogan, Marco proposed a suggestion.
Now that they had clarified the palace's layout, they could go in and capture the leader first to end it all directly.
"Do you think we can pull it off?"
Mystogan pondered for a moment, genuinely considering the feasibility.
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