A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Because of the nobles' earlier attempts to sabotage matters, the Wendigo Legion—having only just enjoyed a brief moment of peace—was mobilized once again. This time, An Xora personally led them, using intelligence gathered by the Shadow Troop to begin a ruthless purge of the nobility across Ursus.
It wasn't just the nobles who had refused to attend the coronation ceremony.
Throughout the entirety of Ursus, any noble with even a hint of scandal—once uncovered by the Shadow Troop—would find their doors smashed open in the dead of night by massive Wendigo warriors, and their entire household would be cheerfully sent to the afterlife together.
With the Shadow Troop in play, An Xora's Wendigo Legion enjoyed intelligence coverage at the absolute maximum—and their mobility was just as absurd.
Thanks to the Shadow Troop's ability to move through shadows, they could rapidly transport people via the Shadow Kingdom, an independent extradimensional space that served as a transit hub. Even beings as massive as Wendigos could be relocated to any shadow-linked location in a short time, as long as ten Shadow Ninjas worked together.
Moreover, perhaps because An Xora had only purchased the Ninja Troop variant, the Shadow Kingdom they inhabited was incomplete. As a result, the corrosive effects that the Shadow Kingdom inflicted on outsiders in the original canon were significantly weakened.
As long as one possessed even a modest level of strength, briefly entering the Shadow Kingdom would cause nothing more than mild physical discomfort.
For An Xora, this was actually a good thing.
At his current level, he no longer needed the Shadow Troop—especially a low-tier force like the Ninja Troop—for direct combat. He only required them for reconnaissance and transportation. Naturally, the weaker the Shadow Kingdom's side effects, the better.
And so, leveraging this terrifying mobility, nobles across Ursus were eliminated with horrifying efficiency.
One moment their scandals would be exposed.
The next, Wendigos would drop directly onto their doorsteps.
Within just a few days, the Ursus nobility—from top to bottom—experienced a brutal and merciless purge.
And the few nobles who hadn't yet been targeted completely lost their composure.
Faced with an unending stream of reports about dead colleagues, the traditionally hostile old and new noble factions of Ursus formed an unprecedented alliance. They consolidated into a new interest group and sent representatives to Saint Honorisburg, hoping to negotiate with Talulah, the soon-to-be-crowned Empress of Ursus.
Their goal was clear:
impeach the person leading the purge—An Xora.
After all, the terrifying Wendigo Legion was still out there killing nobles.
"Your Majesty, this man acts recklessly, shows no respect for authority, treats imperial law as nothing, and slaughters loyal servants of the Empire at will! Such a person cannot possibly be trusted!"
"Exactly, Your Majesty! We speak not for personal gain, but out of concern—this man now commands a terrifying military force. If even the slightest misstep occurs, he may very well harbor ambitions of rebellion!"
"We beg Your Majesty to swiftly strip him of his military authority, lest the Empire's loyal subjects lose heart!"
Listening to the tearful accusations from the noble delegation below—so utterly lacking the arrogance they'd shown just days ago when they refused to attend the coronation—Talulah's expression turned… strange.
Rebellion?
Who was rebelling against whom, exactly?
An Xora rebelling against her?
Wouldn't that look exactly the same as things were right now?
Besides, did An Xora really need military power to rebel?
One word from him, and she'd surrender on the spot.
…Ah.
Right.
These nobles didn't know the true nature of their relationship.
From an outsider's perspective, Talulah had singlehandedly overthrown the former Emperor of Ursus and won the war through her own strength.
She was the legitimate heir of the Chernobog Ducal House.
The Third Army Group had been transferred directly to her by Duke Bëlgor.
The Infected forces that grew out of Reunion were unquestionably her own foundation.
And the Wendigo Legion had, from start to finish, only ever taken orders from Talulah herself.
In other words, in the intelligence assessments of many powers, Talulah wasn't some puppet controlled by others.
On the contrary—
She appeared to be an absolute autocrat, concentrating power entirely in her own hands.
That was precisely why these nobles had come crying to her.
In their eyes, someone like Talulah would never tolerate her armies being freely commanded by another—especially not the Wendigo Legion, the most powerful force under her banner.
After all, what ruler would allow their sharpest blade to be wielded by someone else?
As long as they could plant even a hint of suspicion in Talulah's heart, their goal would be achieved.
"Your Majesty, that man harbors treasonous intent! Please see clearly!"
The noble delegation cried out in unison once more.
This time, Talulah finally responded.
"Is that so?" she said calmly.
"Then kill them."
Instantly, expressions of joy bloomed across the nobles' faces.
"So… once he returns, we execute him?"
"Why would killing you require waiting for An Xora to come back?"
Talulah pushed aside the completed documents and finally raised her head.
Her words plunged the nobles from heaven straight into hell.
"I can decide matters like this myself. Guards—take them all away and throw them into prison."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
At her command, the guards immediately stepped forward and seized every noble present.
"Your Majesty, no! Everything we said was the truth!"
"We've been wronged! You can't kill us—please, you can't!"
"Gah! Your Majesty, you can't do this! You can't—!!!"
Their screams echoed through the hall, but Talulah didn't utter another word.
Her cold, indifferent gaze drained the nobles of all hope as they were dragged away, disappearing from sight.
The scene was so severe that even a Sarkaz girl who had just arrived to report on her work froze in shock outside the hall.
Fortunately, Talulah noticed her—someone she had recently promoted within the Ministry of Civil Engineering.
"Mudrock," Talulah asked, "did you have something to report?"
Mudrock snapped back to attention at once.
"Yes. It's an update on the city wall reconstruction. The sections of Saint Honorisburg's outer wall that were destroyed have been provisionally repaired. At this pace, full restoration should be completed in five days."
"Good work," Talulah nodded.
"Make sure the walls are fully restored before the coronation and the military parade."
"Understood!"
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