After I expressed my intent to destroy this nation, a brief silence followed. Yuel quickly moved to clasp her hands together—an ingrained action, fast and reflexive.

But not faster than someone who can read thoughts like me.

I snapped my fingers. Just before her hands could meet, a card slipped between them, sharp enough to cut the Saint's hands. Yuel gasped in pain.

“Ugh!”

“Stop using your cheat skills! Invincibility is just plain unfair!”

The Eight of Diamonds. Anything long and thin.

I quickly pulled out a wire and wrapped it around Yuel's hands, pulling her towards me. The sharp wire cut into her flesh, forcing her hands down. Her arm was yanked toward me, and I pressed her shoulder down to prevent her body from following.

“Ugh!”

“Just to remind you, the princess is here! You can’t pull any ‘let’s all die together’ stunts anymore!”

Yuel tried to resist, but it was laughable. Even without advanced martial arts, I’m still a well-trained adult man, and there’s no way I’m losing in strength to some recluse Saint. Her body trembled as I kept her subdued.

“…It’s impossible. You’ve lost all your power. You can’t destroy Gun-guk.”

“I don’t need power to destroy Gun-guk. From the beginning, what topples a bad check isn’t strength, but mistrust. That’s how crucial trust is.”

The method was simple. I already explained it. The deadliest poison is neurotoxin.

I whispered into Yuel's ear.

“With Captain Aby’s help, we’ll get the communications officers to leave their rooms. We’ll give freedom to every communications officer across Gun-guk.”

“That’s impossible! Communications officers are bound by the rule that they must never leave their windowless rooms. A mere communications officer can’t break that rule!”

“But what if it’s not a mere communications officer? What if the command comes through the communications module, essentially like an order from the command itself?”

A communications officer can’t just pretend to be the command. To become the command’s judgment, the information must be processed through many other communications officers and specialized judgment modules. It’s a system akin to a human brain.

So, no single communications officer can impersonate the command.

But a strong communications officer can synchronize with nearby officers and manipulate them.

“The communications officers upstairs are all innocent and pure. The best canvas is pure white, unstained. If Captain Aby and I take control of the upper module and start freeing the nearby officers… How’s the picture shaping up now?”

“…You intend to cause mental contamination?”

“You might call it that. I prefer to call it liberation from oppression.”

Ha. This feels amazing. I finally understand why third-rate villains monologue their plans at the last moment. Success or failure doesn’t matter. What’s important is the thrill of the moment!

Yuel was terrified, not because my words were empty threats, but because she realized the future I described was entirely possible. Even though she had seemed resigned to her fate moments ago, my words stirred a sense of urgency within her.

“You think I’ll just sit by and watch?”

“What will you do if you don’t? Pray? Too bad, your hands are tied. Should’ve thought twice before breaking your prayer.”

Yuel’s abilities are merely recreations of the original Saint’s miracles. They’re extraordinary but predictable. With her arms restrained and the princess present, she had no means to threaten me.

Ah, speaking of which, the princess’s hands are free, aren’t they?

“Princess, could you come over and hold this wire for me? It seems I’ll need your help to carry her out.”

“M-me?”

“Yes. Even I can’t climb a ladder with a struggling woman in tow, especially if she’s willing to drag me down with her.”

The princess flinched in fear.

“You want me to carry someone like her…?”

“You know better than anyone. You can’t ‘intentionally’ harm anyone, right? That’s similar to why the Beast King can’t hurt humans. Although it’s not quite as absolute as the Beast King’s conceptual nature.”

The princess didn’t fully understand my last words, but that didn’t matter. She hesitantly reached out her hand. I kept a firm grip on the wire until the princess took hold, knowing Yuel could still try to shake her off.

Hmm. I suppose I could wrap the wire around the princess’s neck, ensuring Yuel can’t push her off… No, that could lead to the princess accidentally dying, and then Siaty would kill me for sure. Better scrap that plan.

“Once we get out, we’ll show them Gunwoong’s body, expose the true identity of Aymedeer, and in the meantime, we’ll free the communications officers one by one. The system Gun-guk has prided itself on will become an object of mistrust. People will start realizing that the communications officers are just young girls, and the orders they’ve followed were all concocted amongst themselves. That mistrust will spread like wildfire, and Gun-guk will rot from the inside out!”

“That’s….”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do! I will!”

There’s no helping it. This is just part of my job.

I listen to people’s desires. But Gun-guk isn’t human, so I can’t hear its desires. And as far as the citizens of Gun-guk are concerned, Gun-guk is a damned place.

From a collective perspective, Gun-guk is better than the old kingdom. Most people who have lived under both systems would say so.

But Gun-guk is oppressive. It strips humans of choice, responsibility, and guilt. Therefore, all the misery the citizens feel is blamed on Gun-guk. The sins pile up, unresolved, until they become overwhelming…

“You called me a destroyer of civilization, but from my perspective, you’re just a human who created the most efficient machine for killing other humans. Unfortunately, that machine doesn’t fall under my purview.”

“We can’t go back to the age of savagery! Humans aren’t beasts!”

“Maybe because it’s repeated so often, many people sincerely believe that. But peel back a layer, and it’s clear that humans are beasts.”

That’s why I’m here.

Yuel’s face flickered with fear and disbelief. Somehow, despite what she knew about me, she feared me more than necessary.

‘No. This nation is my only legacy. It’s the child that he and I created! Let it fade into history, but it must not be consumed by savagery…!’

But now, Yuel had no means of resistance. She had secluded herself in grief for over a decade, and there was no one left to protect her.

Just as despair clouded her eyes, a voice broke the tension.

“Um… Huey?”

The princess hesitantly raised her hand. She looked as though she was about to make an unreasonable request, her expression that of someone unsure of how to proceed. Since I can read minds, I knew where this was headed—it was probably in opposition to my plans.

Why now? It was strange, but I responded gently since the princess still had important things to do.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you really have to expose things in such a rough way? It’s too harsh.”

“What?”

What is she talking about? Is there any such thing as a gentle attack? You can’t kindly stab someone in the throat, can you?

My bafflement must have shown on my face. The princess, still somewhat intimidated, stubbornly continued.

“Many people have adapted to Gun-guk’s system and live according to its orders. If you suddenly expose all of its secrets, it will throw the country into uncontrollable chaos.”

“Of course. That’s the point, isn’t it? The more chaos there is in Gun-guk, the safer we are.”

“But many people will suffer. Gun-guk is on the verge of waging war against the other nations. If we recklessly dismantle the command, the military will collapse. Historically, the collapse of a large armed group has always resulted in the suffering of the common people. Even Lord Shea, who loves peace, wouldn’t want that.”

Fool. I know that! That’s why I brought the regressor along!

A regressor would have kept Gun-guk alive, no matter what. Their ultimate goal is to maintain the nation’s strength to fight the weakened King of Sin later. But that can’t happen! For many reasons!

Because in that future… I would probably be the King of Sin!

“You said we don’t know Gun-guk. But the truth is, I want to change Gun-guk—change the cold, unkind nation it has become. I believe if Gun-guk had kindness, it could become something better.”

“So, you want to be kind to Gun-guk?”

“I-it’s not that grand, but if I want kindness, I have to show it first. Gun-guk desperately needs a chance.”

A mute cannot speak. Without learning the sound, one cannot express it.

Similarly, the bloodline of the Grandiomor royal family cannot feel hostility. No one has ever shown them malice, so they never learned what it is.

Perhaps that’s why the princess, despite being just human, spoke of forgiving a nation.

But…

I clutched my head and screamed.

“Ahhhh!”

“H-Huey?! What’s wrong?”

“Damn it! Why?! Why is it always the princess asking for more time?!”

Humans can find their own kings, so they don’t need a Beast King.

That’s what they said when they overthrew the human kings, yet every kingdom fell. The people, needing something to rule over them, now worship something else.

But the princess remains. And because she never learned to hate, she doesn’t despise Gun-guk. As a result…

“Are you going to become Gun-guk’s ruler? You’re re-establishing yourself in the most unusual way possible! Destroying your own kingdom only to become the ruler of the nation born from its ashes!”

“N-no, that’s not—”

“Don’t try to downplay it! Whether you realize it or not, that’s exactly what’s happening! You see potential in this nation, and you want to explore that potential further, don’t you?”

Ugh. So you still believe that the Beast King isn’t needed? If your opponent is a monarch, then the request remains valid.

But there’s a problem. According to the regressor, the King of Sin will awaken soon. I doubt I have much time left. Granting any more time…

If I think about my impending future!

“Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

It really doesn’t.

I’m not a prophet, and the future I haven’t seen isn’t my concern. Though I’m still bound by the prophecy, I won’t let a future that hasn’t arrived yet limit my actions now.

That’s the way of the prophets, not mine.

I don’t refrain from breaking the law because I fear the law enforcers. I don’t sit idle because I’m afraid something will go wrong. If I can do something now, I will.

“Really?”

“But the problem isn’t that. Princess, there’s no way to achieve your wish.”

I only do what’s possible. I’m not interested in banging my head against an impossible wall.

“Yuel’s power starts and ends with the communications officers. But the only power you have is avoiding hostility. The moment we leave this place, if Yuel calls down an angel or commands the communications officers to move the military, there’s nothing you can do to resist. Gun-guk will be the same as before.”

“If I can persuade Yuel and get a promise from her, it’ll work! She’s rational, so she’ll agree!”

“She won’t. For a nation to last forever, it can’t have a king. That’s why Yuel created the communications officers, scraping together a system without a king, even if it’s just a facade. If you want to add ‘kindness,’ your will would need to overpower every other communications officer, like a monarch ruling over subjects.”

“Ah…”

If there’s no way to achieve it, nothing you do will change that. Even if the princess has the power to avoid hostility, it’s not omnipotent. Without the ability to match the system, her cries will fall on deaf ears.

“In fact, it might be better if Gun-guk were completely destroyed. In the chaos of soldiers turning on each other, your royal bloodline will stand out the most.”

“I don’t want that to happen!”

“Of course not. Anyway, I think you understand now. So…”

Just as I shrugged, ready to give up on convincing her, Captain Aby called out softly.

“Huey.”

Her voice was quiet, but it was enough to stop me.