Staring at the key to the Sky Prison in Langris's hand and the receding figure of the Wizard King, Vangeance fell into deep thought.
"Langris, tell me—why do you think the Wizard King did that?"
Vangeance spoke, but Langris, still in his altered state, gave no response.
Does he truly not want to see me falsely accused?
Or is this just a ruse to lure me out?
But I shouldn't have shown any flaws!
Multiple thoughts flickered through Vangeance's mind like flashes of lightning.
Ethan had challenged him, outright accusing him of being a traitor. Even if not everyone believed it, there were certainly a few who harbored suspicion.
And in just two days, Rades would be subjected to a memory probe.
To unseal him now and hand over the key to the Sky Prison to Langris—such a move was completely unnecessary!
Or... am I overthinking it? Does the Wizard King truly trust me, just as he said—merely accommodating a promising young man like Ethan ?
If it was the former, any reckless action on his part would be walking right into a trap.
But if it was the latter, this was his one perfect opportunity to stage a rescue.
To act, or not to act? That is the question...
"Langris, over the next couple of days, quietly go 'interrogate' Rades for me. Report every detail to me afterward…"
After weighing everything, Vangeance chose to play it safe—for now.
At the very least, he wanted to observe how the Wizard King and others reacted.
And if it ultimately proved impossible to rescue Rades… he still had one last plan.
Those who can keep secrets, aside from one's own trusted people... are only the dead.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The Wizard King's silhouette darted through the dense forest. With his strength, Langris hadn't even sensed his presence ahead.
However, the tailing effort yielded no results.
Langris had returned home and hadn't stepped out since.
"Haaah… looks like Ethan wasn't entirely right…"
For some reason, the Wizard King let out a breath of relief.
Ethan had spoken with conviction, even accurately predicting many of their actions.
That had shaken the Wizard King's trust in Vangeance.
But Langris's current behavior, deviating from Ethan's forecast, eased his heart.
He just couldn't bring himself to believe that Vangeance was a traitor.
That night, Ethan Hayes opened the gates to the Sky Prison alone.
Sending the Wizard King to see Vangeance had been nothing more than a misdirection.
Both the unsealing and the handing over of the key were mere performances—for Vangeance's eyes alone.
Because he knew: the more you do openly for someone like Vangeance, the more he'll overthink it.
And the more he thinks, the more hesitant he becomes.
If Ethan was right, Vangeance's first move would've been to have Langris reach out to members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun still on the outside, coordinating a rescue from within and without.
Vangeance would've remained behind, pulling strings from the shadows.
Even if things went sideways, he had a solid alibi and could easily throw Langris under the bus.
But that wasn't the outcome Ethan wanted.
That's why he had the Wizard King interfere—to forcefully disrupt any plans of that sort and make Vangeance afraid to act.
And, of course, if Vangeance was reckless enough to send Langris out to make contact, the tailing Wizard King could round them all up in one fell swoop.
With both evidence and witnesses in hand, even if they couldn't topple Vangeance completely, he'd still be tightly controlled, stripped of any opportunity to stir trouble again as captain of the Golden Dawn.
"Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. And when a man is desperate… murder and silence are his only options."
With a faint smile on his lips, Ethan stepped into the Sky Prison.
Here, the inmates were the worst of the worst—vicious criminals and those sentenced to death.
Not a single one was innocent. Not a single one worthy of pity.
"I already told you—you'll never get anything out of me! Keep dreaming!"
As if he'd sensed Ethan's arrival, Rades shouted without even turning to look.
His tone was firm, arrogant.
"Heh, don't worry, I didn't come all this way just to interrogate you," Ethan said with a chuckle. "The Clover Kingdom doesn't exactly pay me overtime, you know. It's a long night… I'm just here to chat."
Chat?
What the hell—did this guy lose his damn mind?
Rades finally turned around, looking at Ethan like he was a complete idiot.
They were enemies. Ethan served the kingdom; Rades was a terrorist threatening its very peace. Chatting was something you did with friends or comrades—not with a man like him.
"Heh, you're really something," Rades sneered. "You say you serve the Clover Kingdom, yet stood by and watched me kill someone in front of you. And now you've come to chat? Interesting. Very interesting."
Rades couldn't wrap his head around Ethan's actions.
He was nothing like the Wizard King or those uptight Magic Knights.
This guy… lived for himself.
"To be honest," Ethan began, voice calm, as if speaking to an old friend, "I'm not particularly bothered that you people came here to 'redevelop' the Clover Kingdom… or even that you killed. Hatred is just part of the cycle. You hurt me, I hurt you—talk of revenge begetting revenge being meaningless… well, that's all just crap."
"I grew up in the Clover Kingdom—yeah, on the borderlands. If not for the villagers who took me in, I'd probably be buried six feet under with grass growing a mile high over my grave. You did what you had to for your side. I responded in kind."
Rades's defensive wall softened just a little.
Ethan's tone lacked condescension, lacked authority—it sounded like one man talking to another, one who understood.
"And you," Ethan added with a smile, "once served in the kingdom's Azure Orca squad. But because of your necromancy magic, no one accepted you. They even kicked you out of the country. Hm… want me to analyze it for you?"
"Talented but unappreciated, resentment brewing… Someone like you is the perfect target to be manipulated. Let me guess—your 'boss' appeared, said he valued your talent, admired your strength, even promised to help you get revenge and build a new, perfect world together?"
"…How do you know that?"
Rades blinked, blurting it out without thinking.
Ethan's words weren't completely accurate, but they were close—too close.
That man… he had indeed valued them, admired them, and spared no effort to help them grow stronger.
"How do I know?" Ethan smirked and shook his head.
How did Obito get crippled? Manipulated.
How did Madara die? Manipulated.
And even the boss they were working for... was just another poor soul manipulated by demons.
Really though…
This whole manipulation tactic?
Stronger than any magic.
The only thing that could compete… was talk no jutsu.
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