The young noble was sent spinning on the spot by the slap.
His feathered hat flew into the air.
Half his face swelled visibly before everyone's eyes.
Probably Galewing Tempest?
The entire deck fell silent.
The Marine soldiers stood frozen in shock.
A faint trace of amusement flickered through Gars' eyes.
Mazal frowned deeply, his massive frame tensing slightly.
The young noble staggered backward and collapsed onto the deck.
Clutching his face, he stared at Ritter in disbelief.
"You... you dared to hit me?!"
"Do you even know who I am?!"
Ritter dug a finger into his ear.
My god.
The classic villain line.
Timeless.
Absolutely timeless.
"Hit you?"
"I hit you because I felt like it."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Do I need to consult a calendar first?"
"Can you kill me?"
He looked down at the noble with contempt.
"You dared talk to me in that tone and look at me like that."
"Next time, it won't be your hat flying away."
"It'll be your head."
"Even Im doesn't speak to me that way."
The more Ritter thought about it, the angrier he became.
"You know what?"
"Die."
Before the final word fully left his mouth, a blood-red dragon burst forth from the mist surrounding Black Tide's hilt.
The sword never even left its sheath.
The dragon lunged straight toward the noble's throat.
Gars and Mazal's expressions changed instantly.
They wanted to intervene.
But it was already too late.
The young noble nearly lost his soul from fright.
A dark stain spread across his trousers.
Death had completely swallowed him.
Just as the blood dragon was about to strike...
Bzzzzz...
An invisible yet overwhelming force descended silently.
For a brief moment, it felt as if time itself had frozen.
The corner of Ritter's mouth lifted slightly.
The two powers collided.
Then gradually dissolved into nothingness.
A calm, emotionless voice echoed through the air.
It did not enter through the ears.
Instead, it resonated directly within the minds of every powerful individual present.
"Ritter."
"When you act like this..."
"You make my life very difficult."
Everyone turned toward the source.
Behind the terrified noble representatives.
Within the shadows.
A figure had appeared without anyone noticing.
A spotless white robe.
A smooth white mask as flawless as an eggshell.
Im.
Standing there quietly.
As though he had always been there.
As though no one had simply noticed him until now.
The royal representatives reacted as if salvation itself had arrived.
Scrambling backward, they hid behind Im.
Their faces were pale with fear.
Their eyes burned with hatred toward Ritter.
Yet none of them dared utter another word.
The Marine soldiers didn't recognize Im.
Instead, they watched him curiously.
The masked figure seemed to frown slightly.
Not at Ritter.
At the soldiers.
His gaze then shifted thoughtfully toward Black Hawk Gars and Red Tiger Mazal.
Both Admirals grew visibly more serious.
His appearance complicated everything.
Ritter looked at Im without the slightest surprise.
The blood mist around him slowly settled.
His killing intent had already faded.
It almost looked as though he had intentionally forced Im to reveal himself.
Which was exactly the point.
A true monster standing at the pinnacle of the sea would never lose control simply because a barking dog annoyed him.
"Yo."
Ritter grinned.
"Isn't this our esteemed partner?"
"I figured you'd be sitting in some lofty royal court, directing everything through a crystal ball."
"What happened?"
"Couldn't trust your subordinates?"
"So you came to supervise personally?"
Im turned his mask toward Ritter.
"The throne is not born in the clouds."
"I was not born a king."
"True authority requires strength."
"It requires war."
"It requires proof."
"I need achievements."
"I need unquestionable status."
"Bloodline alone cannot secure the Empty Throne."
"Nor can it command loyalty."
His gaze shifted toward the silent royal representatives.
"As for them..."
"They are decorations."
"Golden ornaments sent by the royal families."
"If they die here, certain unnecessary balances would be disrupted."
"That would be troublesome."
"So for now..."
"They cannot die."
Ritter's grin widened.
"Oh?"
"So they just need to stay alive?"
In the next instant...
The noble who had mocked Ritter earlier went from five pieces to one.
Specifically...
One head.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The terrified scream erupted immediately.
"Shut up."
"Shut up."
Ritter and Im spoke simultaneously.
Silence returned at once.
Ritter's gaze swept over the remaining nobles.
Their faces were ugly.
Their anger obvious.
Yet none dared speak.
"And you lot."
"Stop putting on noble airs in front of me."
"Cooperation?"
"Sure."
"But treating me like some obedient dog?"
"You think you're qualified?"
Gars stepped forward at the perfect moment.
A hint of amusement lingered in his voice.
"Gentlemen."
"I did warn you."
"Mr. Ritter..."
"Doesn't have the best temper."
"Since our target is Pilurka, perhaps sincere cooperation would serve everyone better."
Truthfully, he quite enjoyed watching these arrogant nobles get humiliated.
As for Im?
Well...
That was another matter entirely.
Mazal snorted.
But he refrained from provoking Ritter further.
Instead, he spoke in a deep voice.
"Pilurka has threatened neighboring nations for far too long."
"Their Divine Maiden Project is an abomination."
"It must be destroyed immediately."
The moment Pilurka and the Divine Maiden Project were mentioned, the nobles' expressions changed.
Their arrogance vanished.
Urgency replaced it.
Ritter quietly observed the atmosphere.
Something was being hidden.
That much was obvious.
"Admiral Gars!"
"Admiral Mazal!"
One of the older royal representatives stepped forward.
"We must accelerate our operation."
He presented a rolled parchment.
"This is a border defense map of Pilurka."
"We acquired it through... special channels."
"It isn't complete."
"But it should be enough to reveal a weakness."
He hesitated before continuing.
"As for the Divine Maiden Project..."
"We've learned they're attempting to create a... false god."
"And that false god requires an enormous energy source."
Ritter listened quietly.
A cold laugh echoed in his mind.
In the past, he might have wondered what exactly this "false god" was.
Uranus?
Pluton?
Some forgotten ancient weapon?
His thoughts drifted briefly toward Vegapunk.
The scientist who had once claimed he'd made a terrible mistake.
An endless energy source.
An infinite power supply.
Then again...
Just how much energy would Uranus require?
Pluton was the earliest Ancient Weapon introduced to the world.
Yet people actually knew surprisingly little about it.
One shot could erase an entire island.
If that much destructive power required only a few bottles of cola...
Ritter would personally lead the charge and call it nonsense.
The nobles kept speaking.
Their words sounded righteous.
But their eyes betrayed them.
Fear.
Desperation.
Killing intent.
Every important detail was carefully avoided.
It almost seemed as though they feared Pilurka surviving one extra day would expose some world-shattering secret.
"Oh?"
"Energy?"
"A false god?"
Ritter deliberately dragged out the words.
"Sounds interesting."
"So how does it work?"
"What's the energy source?"
"And what happens if this false god is completed?"
The nobles exchanged uneasy glances.
Their eyes shifted nervously.
"That..."
"We don't know the details."
"Not exactly."
"All we know is that it's extremely dangerous."
"It must be completely destroyed."
Im remained silent.
Simply watching.
Ritter chuckled.
He stopped asking questions.
Like a patient wolf watching trapped prey.
The more anxious they became...
The calmer he grew.