When he wandered aimlessly at park, the power of choice suddenly popped out in front of him.
[Quest: Establish your dominance as Campione (1/5)]
[Detail: Due to your choice in the Alpha Route, you have chosen the dominant and conqueror's path. What kind of Campione are you without territory, women, and an organization under your command? Do you want them? Conquer them from other Campiones' hands, challenge one of the Campiones, establish your dominance, and form your own empire from their ashes.]
Option 1: Challenge Salvatore Doni
1. Gain a foothold and become the King of South Europe.
2. Open the path to Erica Blandeli's route.
3. Gained the allegiance of Seven Sisters.
Hint: Due to Salvatore Doni's habit of seeking thrill and challenge, without a doubt, he would accept your challenge. Defeat him, and you will gain the opportunity to romance Erica Blandeli.
Option 2: Beat the shit out of Marquis Voban or kill him
1. Gain a foothold and become the King of Northern Europe.
2. Open the path to Liliana Kranjcar and Maria Yuri's route.
3. Gained the allegiance of Northern Europe Mage Association.
Hint: Openly challenging Marquis Voban would undoubtedly make you fight not just mere competition but a life-and-death battle. However, is the price worth it?
Option 3: Duel with Lu Hao
1. Sovereignty of China.
2. Open the path to Lu Hao's route.
Hint: Without a doubt, Lu Hao has disdain for someone weaker than her. You will not have any opportunity to romance her without defeating her. So, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to gain her heart and dominate her while ruling China at the same time. When you do, you will see another side of her.
Option 4: Humiliate Black Prince, Alec
1. Gained the Allegiance of Witenagamot.
2. Open the path to Princess Alice's route.
3. Hostility of Black Prince, Alec.
Hint: Due to Black Prince Alec's childishness when it comes to courting women, White Princess Alice becomes irritated with him. At first, it was fun, but his abusive tsundere attitude in chasing women while making pranks at her to seek her attention but denying any affection undoubtedly makes her see Alec as nothing more than an annoying individual. So, humiliating Black Prince Alec undoubtedly would earn White Princess' affection, yet it's not without cost; you will be hated by Black Prince Alec for sure.
Option 5: Defeat John Pluto Smith
1. Open the path to Asherah's route.
2. Open the path to John Pluto Smith's route.
Hint: Huh... Superhero America is a woman? John Pluto Smith, who has a masculine name, turned out to be a woman? Unravel her mask and defeat her, then you will gain both the affection of Leviathan and open the possibilities to John Pluto Smith's route.
Option 6: Defeat Madam Aisha (Locked)
Condition: You need to master time and space power before you can challenge her.
[Choose 4]
When Chad opted for the fourth option, he found himself abruptly transported from the peaceful park bench to a grim setting.
Surrounded on all sides by a menacing assembly of punks, thugs, and hoodlums, they circled him in the dimly lit alley, brandishing daggers.
The apparent leader, distinguished among the group, ominously licked his dagger while fixing a penetrating gaze on Chad.
To escalate the tension, one of them conjured flames in the palm of his hand, threatening to unleash them should Chad make even the slightest move.
It was unmistakably a robbery in the making.
Chad couldn't help but question why his choice led him to this odd situation.
Did it have a connection to the quest he chose upon?
Would these criminals guide him to Black Prince Alec, or was this an unexpected twist in his route?
Was he still in Japan?
Amidst the tension, a thug's harsh voice interrupted Chad's contemplation, the leader pointed a dagger at Chad and declared, "You! Yes, you! You've stepped into Prince Alec's territory. You won't leave unless you pay tribute to Prince Alec."
Unfazed, Chad chuckled and retorted, "And what if I don't?"
"Then you are death," declared the thug with control over the flame, his words dripping with menace.
As the fiery assault was launched towards Chad, Chad effortlessly deflected the flames and retaliated by hurling them back at the thug.
"Argh!"
"Mercy!"
"Mercy!"
The thug's agonized screams filled the air as his face melted under the relentless force of the flame.
Chad's display of power and cruelty instilled wariness and vigilance among the remaining thugs.
But Chad wasn't done.
With ruthless efficiency, he delivered a brutal kick to the thug's crotch, rendering him lifeless on the ground.
His speed caught the remaining thugs off guard, but they weren't defenseless.
The leader, who had been licking his dagger earlier, threw it at Chad's throat in a desperate attempt.
However, Chad was already in front of him, swiftly grabbing his head and slamming it into the unforgiving ground.
Discarding the lifeless leader's body onto his comrades, Chad continued his onslaught without a shred of mercy, attacking the thugs with relentless ferocity.
The screams of the Royal Arsenal members filled the alleys as Chad painted them red in a carnage that reverberated through the alleys.
"You... What did you want to do?" The last surviving member of the Royal Arsenal screamed in panic as Chad advanced toward him.
"Do you know who you were provoking? Black Prince Alec will make you pay for this."
"He is..." Before he could finish his warning about Black Prince Alec, Chad silenced him by ruthlessly stepping into his mouth, crushing his teeth, blood streaming profusely from the injured mouth.
"Shut up, bugger, I don't need your reminder, but you're still useful for me."
"I will send a message to your boss. And your head is undoubtedly the perfect message for that." Chad declared, wasting no time on meaningless banter as he let out a malevolent laugh.
The terrified man shivered in fear as Chad picked up the dagger from a fallen thug and aimed it at his neck, his head teetering on the edge.
No one who robs him and blackmails him would get away with it.
No one!
Chad let out a low, menacing chuckle that seemed to hang in the blood-scented air.
Then, his gaze—cold and utterly focused—snapped to the girl hiding behind the transparent wall, the sole witness to his massacre.
"Show yourself."
The command was absolute, leaving no room for evasion.
The air shimmered as the pale blonde-haired girl stepped forward.
She was ethereally cute, dressed in an attire fit for a fairy-tale princess, her bearing the picture of pure, noble grace.
She was none other than Princess Alice, the very woman Prince Alec crushed on so desperately yet could never obtain.
She bowed her head deeply, a gesture of profound apology. "I beg your forgiveness for my rudeness, my king."
Her voice was soft, melodic, yet laced with a tangible fear.
She was apologizing for witnessing something no one was ever meant to see.
Chad knew she was merely a projection, a spectral doll sent out into the world because her real body was too fragile to leave its sanctuary.
That was the cruel price for her immense magical power—or perhaps, in this mashed-up anime world, the crippling flaw of an overloaded Magic Circuit.
He understood the reason behind her distant observation, the necessity of it.
But understanding did not mean liking.
His displeasure wasn't born from her condition, but from her choice.
She had watched. She had observed his fight as one would watch a dramatic play, analyzing his power, cataloging his abilities for the archives of her organization.
There had been no hint of intervention, no offer of aid.
Had she stepped in to aid him, to fight alongside him rather than observe his fight, he might have met her with compassion, even generosity.
She had let the conflict unfold to its bloody conclusion purely for her own intelligence-gathering purposes.
And that made him displeased.
Very, very displeased.
"Do you know the price for overstepping?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm. Beneath that placid surface, a promise of absolute violence simmered.
If her answer failed to satisfy, he would show no mercy. The scene around them was testament enough to that truth.
Princess Alice did not hesitate.
She understood the calculus of survival perfectly.
Looking at the gruesome mosaic of Prince Alec's subordinates—now just a landscape of cooling blood and silent corpses—she saw the clear portrait of a tyrant.
A king who erased obstacles without a second thought.
"I am at your complete disposal and service, my king," Princess Alice responded without a second's hesitation.
She moved fluidly, sinking to her knees in the alley filth, disregarding the ruin it would cause to her pristine gown.
It was a gesture of total submission, an immediate surrender of any pretense of autonomy.
She was expressing her allegiance clearly, decisively.
She was no fool. Refusal was not an option, not even a theoretical one.
She did not fear her own death, but she feared for her family, for those under her care. This man was a calamity one did not provoke.
"Rise," Chad commanded, his tone devoid of warmth. "And show me the way to Witenagamot."
He paused, letting the implication hang in the gore-strewn air.
"I require them to perform some… dirty work for me."
He was under no illusion.
Her allegiance was born of fear, not sincerity. But it didn't matter.
He didn't need heartfelt loyalty; he needed efficient, deniable tools.
And the witches and mages of Witenagamot, with their networks and their manpower, were the perfect instruments for the tasks he had in mind.
Princess Alice rose gracefully, her projection unwavering. With a silent nod, she turned to lead the way, becoming the guide for the king, escorting him toward the seat of her own political power, now destined to become an instrument of his will.
...
In next day, morning, Windsor Castle
When the Black Prince, Alec, awoke, the metallic scent of spilled blood saturated his chamber.
A gruesome sight met his eyes—an unfortunate human's severed head placed squarely before him.
Instinctively, he recoiled, casting the head away in sheer revulsion.
However, his horror deepened as he realized the head belonged to one of his own subordinates.
The grand mansion that had once been his sanctuary now burned, its walls adorned with streaks of crimson.
Stepping outside, he confronted a chilling tableau: the lifeless bodies of his subordinates arranged naked, crucified in a macabre display.
They wore only tattered garments that barely concealed their forms, their foreheads marked with a sinister blood sigil—an eternal testament to the terror they endured even in death.
When he saw the bloody message in his subordinates' forehead 'Hell halt no fury a Campione scorned.' chill was running down in his spine.
The nightmare continued as Alec ventured to the Royal Arsenal's headquarters.
There, a heart-wrenching scene awaited him—none of his comrades had survived the brutal onslaught; they lay scattered, victims of a merciless massacre.
Whoever did it, they would pay for this.