Chapter 455: End of the Conflict

At this moment, the vast conference hall felt suffocating as the murderous aura radiating from Raven became almost tangible, pressing down on the air itself.

"Brother-in-law!"

Terrified by the aura emanating from Raven, Lydon burst into tears and screams, rushing toward him.

"It wasn’t my fault! It wasn’t my fault, Brother-in-law!"

Lydon still looked like he wanted to argue his way out.

"Not your fault, you say?" Raven let out a cold, angry laugh. "Sure, you didn’t directly take part, but you knew exactly what your son was doing and chose to cover it up. You even protected him on purpose. How is that not the same as being guilty yourself?"

"B-But he’s my son, Brother-in-law!" Lydon sobbed, his voice full of desperation. "He’s your nephew too! You practically watched him grow up! Even if he really did some messed-up things, are you seriously saying you’d kill him?"

Raven’s response to that was utterly indifferent.

"Why wouldn’t I?" Raven’s voice was icy. "Forget a nephew—if my own son dared to do the kind of crap he did, I’d cut off his damn head myself."

Kaiser, Axel, and Diego all nodded in agreement.

As Raven’s biological sons, they knew better than anyone that their father absolutely meant what he said.

After all, the three of them had been thrown onto the battlefield as soon as they were old enough to remember anything. If they had died there, Raven might’ve grieved, but he would never have regretted his decision.

From Raven’s perspective, greatness could only be forged through hardship, and no one ever amounted to anything by living an easy life.

He was proof of that himself—wandering as a child, still wandering as he grew up, roaming as a swordsman, and continuing to drift even after becoming a Sword Master. It wasn’t until he became a Sword Saint that he finally settled down, earning a noble title from the kingdom and taking up the duty of guarding the border against foreign threats.

With a life like that, Raven had no intention of spoiling his children, much less allowing them to abuse power and act like tyrants.

Needless to say, his beliefs were like those of the old soldiers—strict discipline, harsh training, and the idea that only hardship built character.

Maybe that was why he felt both disbelief and deep frustration when he learned what Felix had done, realizing he had overlooked the fact that he had some truly rotten relatives.

"I know I’m not cut out to manage a territory. I’m just a brute who only knows war—fighting and killing all day. That’s why I gave up my authority and let you vassals handle things, entrusting each of you with a city to govern."

"But now, this outcome tells me I was wrong. Not everyone is trustworthy. Not everyone upholds the same principles I do."

"You indulged your son—I get that. But I sure as hell don’t agree with it. And that’s not even mentioning the things you’ve been up to all these years. I had no idea until I looked deeper."

Every word from Raven struck Lydon like a blade, making him tremble uncontrollably.

Lydon’s immense wealth clearly hadn’t come without reason.

He had taken plenty of bribes, embezzled funds, and lined his pockets in ways that weren’t exactly legal.

Even worse, it wasn’t just him—the other local nobles in Mavros Territory were no different.

"So many people have mysteriously disappeared—not just those near Karudia, but even people from other cities have gone missing... Even some soldiers in the kingdom’s army under my Mavros family’s care have vanished..."

"It’s already been confirmed that the disappearances in your city were because your son was using them for trade. If that’s the case, then who took the people from other places for trade?"

"And within my Mavros family, who else is involved in this kind of deal? Someone even dared to extend their reach into the army?"

Raven’s murderous aura grew stronger and stronger.

"I’m going to get to the bottom of this and make sure none of you get away!"

"Let’s see how you plan to hide this time!"

"And first, I’m starting with you!"

Raven’s tone made it clear he wasn’t joking, and Lydon realized he was truly done for this time. Even though he was Raven’s brother-in-law and his elder sister was Raven’s wife, that probably wouldn’t save him now.

As despair and fear filled Lydon’s heart, his gaze accidentally landed on Riezel, who was sitting to the side, watching like it was all just a show.

In an instant, Lydon’s overwhelming despair and fear turned into rage and hatred.

"IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Lydon roared at Riezel.

"IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, NONE OF THIS WOULD’VE HAPPENED!"

"YOU’RE THE REAL CULPRIT BEHIND EVERYTHING!"

"I’LL KILL YOU!"

With this furious roar, Lydon suddenly sprang into action, dashing straight toward Riezel.

"Stop!"

Seeing this sudden turn of events, the three Mavros brothers were all shocked.

"You bastard!"

Raven quickly grabbed Rebellion from beside him, ready to cut Lydon.

"Master!"

Lizbeth, sensing the threat from Lydon, snapped out of her daze and stepped forward without hesitation, standing in front of Riezel.

However, no matter how fast they moved, they couldn’t be faster than Riezel.

Just as Lydon charged at him in a fit of rage, Riezel calmly reached out his hand.

"Temporal Stasis."

Riezel, with a casual tone, cast the most unsolvable magic in this world.

"..."

Lydon, who had been charging straight toward Riezel, suddenly froze in place—his eyes burned with rage and hatred, and his face twisted into a vicious, contorted expression.

Just like that, he remained motionless, as if frozen in time itself.

"What..."

Everyone who had been preparing to react was instantly stunned by the sight before them.

It couldn’t be helped.

What had just happened was something beyond their comprehension.

Temporal Stasis, as 9th-Tier Magic, was a spell that could completely stop its target’s time. Even though it couldn’t cause direct harm to its target, it rendered them completely powerless.

Riezel, the one who had cast the magic, calmly stood up and slowly walked toward Lydon.

"Delay Maximize Magic - Energy Drain."

Riezel used his trump card, timing it precisely with the moment Temporal Stasis wore off. As soon as time resumed, he unleashed the contact magic he had been getting more skilled at lately.

And soon, as Temporal Stasis lifted and Lydon’s time resumed, the delayed magic activated.

In that instant, Lydon’s power was drastically weakened to an extreme degree, while Riezel absorbed that very energy before his eyes, converting it into a temporary buff for himself, shown by the magical energy that flickered around his body.

"Damn... it..."

Unlike Maya, who had managed to retain some level of strength despite losing most of it, Lydon instantly collapsed to the ground like a doll with its string cut, completely drained.

"Master! A-Are you okay?!"

Lizbeth finally snapped out of her daze and rushed over to Riezel.

"Do I look like I’m not?" Riezel chuckled and shook his head before shifting his gaze toward Raven. "Can I take a look at this guy’s memories?"

Hearing this, Raven gave Riezel a deep look before nodding.

"Go ahead."

Raven didn’t ask anything and simply agreed.

"No! Don’t!" Lydon suddenly yelled, his voice frantic. "You can’t let him do this, Brother-in-law!"

Unfortunately for him, Raven completely ignored his desperate shouts, standing there indifferently without even sparing his wife’s younger brother a glance.

Riezel reached out and placed his hand on Lydon’s head as he struggled helplessly.

"Control Amnesia."

As the magic activated and delved into Lydon’s memories, Riezel started flipping through them.

Riezel didn’t examine them carefully and just skimmed over them, discarding irrelevant ones while picking out those containing important information. Even so, he still saw plenty of filth in Lydon’s memories, proving that everything Raven had just said wasn’t baseless.

Riezel was sure of one thing—this count definitely deserved to die.

Lydon might not have been as utterly depraved as his son, but he was undoubtedly guilty of crimes that couldn’t be overlooked.

As a result, after seeing all the disgraceful things this man had done, Riezel became even rougher in his search, no longer caring about Lydon’s well-being.

Finally, Riezel found the memory he needed.

It was about Lydon’s deal with a magic doll named Jack.

From Lydon’s memories, it was clear that after forming an alliance with Jack in his own home, he not only promised to deliver a thousand refugees as payment but also agreed to help them infiltrate Bessare.

Evidently, the magic dolls Riezel encountered inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon had been smuggled in by Lydon.

Lydon had arranged a carriage to transport the magic dolls to Yarakulon’s location, allowing them to enter its body. Later on, following Jack’s instructions, he had someone bury a rod filled with eerie, cold energy in Bessare’s ground.

Apparently, that rod acted as a guiding beacon, helping Yarakulon navigate underground and enabling it to tunnel all the way beneath Bessare, even reaching the training field with pinpoint accuracy.

To ensure Riezel’s death, Lydon had even planned to send people to Peace Town to abduct Andrea, Fanny, and Gerald—intending to use them as hostages and, if necessary, force Riezel into submission.

It was clear just how determined the count was to avenge his son.

"Gotta say, you really went all out, huh..."

Riezel withdrew from Lydon’s memories, looking down at the man slumped in front of him with a calm expression.

"Sadly, you failed."

Lydon, unfortunately, didn’t hear Riezel’s words.

Having had his memories violently rifled through by Control Amnesia, Lydon’s mind was now in complete disarray. Now, his vacant eyes stared ahead as he lay in place, drooling on the floor, looking no different from a mindless idiot.

"Take him away..."

Raven gave Lydon a complicated look before quickly suppressing all his emotions and giving the order.

Not wasting any time, the knights beside them immediately dragged Lydon away and shut the doors to the conference hall.

"Sorry."

Raven finally turned to Riezel, offering a slight bow as he apologized.

"If I had realized what that father and son were up to sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten this bad."

Needless to say, Raven was apologizing to Riezel for everything that had happened.

"No, this isn’t your fault." Riezel said casually. "But yeah, you kinda suck as a lord. At first, I thought you knew about everything and just let those bastards do whatever they wanted."

"Hahh... it’s not weird for you to think that..." Raven let out a helpless sigh. "I mean, I’m a marquis and a Sword Saint, yet I had no clue what was going on in my own territory. Nobody would expect that."

It was understandable.

For example, even Riezel hadn’t expected this Guardian Sword Saint, someone so strong and domineering, to be completely clueless when it came to governing his own land.

But then again, it made sense.

Not only was Raven a Guardian Sword Saint and not a Management Sword Saint, but the reason the kingdom had sent him here was to fend off foreign enemies, to slaughter on the battlefield, not to turn the place into some prosperous golden town.

Raven’s main duty was war, not administration, so it wasn’t surprising that he had neglected his territory.

"From here on, I’m going to do a full sweep of Mavros Territory—purging the local nobles and officials who dared to cooperate with that mysterious organization." Raven said solemnly. "I’ll also request that His Majesty send people to investigate again, to dig up any clues that were hidden before. Maybe we’ll be able to track down that organization."

Hearing this, Riezel thought for a moment before bringing up something else.

"If you can, look into the group called Heretic Assassin as well."

Raven froze for a moment at the name.

"Heretic Assassin?"

Kaiser, standing nearby, spoke up.

"Isn’t that the organization in rumors that hunts down talented magicians?"

"I think I’ve heard of them." Axel mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Supposedly, they target people who could become Tactical-Class or Strategic-Class Magicians, trying to push back against how much the continent’s nations are relying on magic."

"Yeah, that organization exists. A lot of people think some country might be backing them." Diego also seemed to know about them, but he looked confused. "But why do you want to investigate them?"

"Because I suspect they’re connected to the mysterious organization—hell, they might even be the same group." Riezel told the truth. "I got this info from Maya. I won’t get into the details, but just check them out if possible. We might find some leads that way."

"Understood." Raven thought for a moment, then nodded. "I’ll also investigate Heretic Assassin."

At this, Riezel gave a small nod.

With that, the conflict between Riezel and the Mavros family had finally come to an end.

What the Mavros family would do next, Riezel had no idea, but he hoped that whatever they did would at least improve the state of the territory so the refugees here could get a decent meal.