Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 54

Creating Minions to Build the Human Empire 56

“Kill each other now.”

###

“What…”

What kind of nonsense is this?

The expression of wanting to ask that was clearly visible on Hugo’s face.

The audience also wore the same expression and remained silent.

Edar smiled and spoke again.

“I ask you, those who are here. Did you really find this kind of thing fun and cheer for it? Did you really find this childish game enjoyable?”

“······.”

Hugo suppressed the curse that rose to his throat.

With Agaton dead so easily, he was powerless.

The blood relative he called to deal with Duke Mazenkin.

He never imagined the blood relative would die so helplessly.

‘There was no such thing…!’

Agaton had told him there were troublemakers.

An order to deal with those who were troubling the Elder.

When Hugo heard that story, he thought simply.

‘The Elder must be having some trouble.’

‘Something is wrong. Agaton didn’t know either.’

If he had known, would Agaton have provoked him?

He would have run away as soon as he found Edar.

‘Would it have been the same if Agaton’s opponent was Mazenkin?’

Mazenkin was the strongest in Wallachia.

Although he had aged and couldn’t overcome the flow of time.

Hugo, who prided himself on his strength, would have had to concede a few moves.

If such Mazenkin had faced Agaton?

‘At best, a mutual loss. That old man is strong but gets tired quickly because he’s old, so if the blood relative and servants rush him, he’ll just stall for time and die. But that woman killed him so easily in an instant… wait.’

Edar’s vassal [a subordinate bound by oath] standing proudly on the stage.

If the vassal is that strong, how strong would his lord be?

‘At least Mazenkin or more. And there’s a possibility of another vassal next to him—’

Gulp.

A chill ran down his spine as the thought reached that point.

His body tensed up, stiffened, and saliva flowed uncontrollably.

‘How, how did such a guy suddenly appear!’

He screamed inwardly.

Edar finished speaking to the audience and turned his back.

His calm gaze collided with Hugo’s in the air.

Hugo’s heart seemed to stop for a moment.

‘What is this sense of oppression….’

The opponent, who had looked like a kid until just now, felt so much bigger.

Hugo himself felt so small, as if he were standing in front of a giant.

And his skin began to burn, and his whole body began to ache.

Was the sun shining down on him?

Hugo grimaced in pain.

“Is this the strength you spoke of?”

Edar let out a laugh.

“Where is the mighty figure you spoke of?”

And he continued in a voice only Hugo could hear.

“Was this all it took for you to give up on humanity?”

Hugo’s shoulders trembled in shame.

“You, do you know who you killed and say such things…. ”

Edar laughed softly.

“Are you talking about Vlad’s blood relative?”

“······!”

Hugo gasped.

“You did this knowing that…! The Elder will never forgive you!”

“When did he ever forgive? It seems to me that he already ordered you to kill me, or am I mistaken?”

Hugo trembled, his teeth chattering.

His face turned blue, and sweat streamed down his forehead.

“It’s not… it’s not over yet.”

“Is that so? Then convince me. Prove that your actions were right by sending out someone stronger than her.”

“That’s…”

He hesitated, biting his lip.

A warrior stronger than the human woman who killed Agaton?

‘No. There isn’t. Why would such a warrior be here?’

Hugo thought it was an absurd request.

Agaton was a support he had begged for.

The blood relatives who refused, saying things like the laws of the world.

Didn’t he offer all kinds of tributes to appease the blood relatives’ backlash?

But now he’s asking for a warrior stronger than the human woman who overwhelmed Agaton?

If that were possible, Sodoma would already be in his hands.

‘If the watchers come forward….’

Agaton was the youngest of the blood relatives that Vlad cherished.

There were several guardians attached to him to monitor the youngest’s deviation.

They were also blood relatives and powerful figures that Agaton couldn’t easily treat.

If they and their servants attacked the human woman together?

Even if she could overwhelm one, she wouldn’t be able to overwhelm several.

Hugo glanced at the woman who killed Agaton and met her eyes.

He flinched.

‘No. It’s impossible.’

His intuition sent a warning.

Sending them out would only result in the same death.

The moment he saw the turquoise eyes, he realized it instinctively.

He stiffened his neck and sweated coldly.

‘Let’s… let’s end the game like this….’

He raised his hand to stop the game.

But someone shouted before him.

“Count Hugo Chaiken!”

Hugo raised his face sharply.

The king leaned against the railing and pointed his finger.

“Continue the game! How long are you going to make me wait!”

Food splattered from his mouth.

He staggered as if he would fall off the railing, completely drunk.

Three maids, holding his heavy body from behind, turned red.

‘That bug…!’

A livestock [derogatory term for a human] that would have been kicked out if it weren’t for Duke Mazenkin’s mercy.

His anger boiled at the situation where he was being scolded while drunk.

But that wasn’t what he needed to worry about.

“Continue!”

“Don’t even think about ending it like this!”

The audience, who had been watching Edar and his vassal in silence.

They applauded like thunder even at the king’s unsightly behavior.

The audience responded to the king’s shout and screamed.

The arena shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“More! More!”

“Send out the warriors!”

The atmosphere of the arena came alive.

The audience, who had held their breath at the unexpected ending.

The atmosphere that would have dispersed if he had just said one word that the game was over.

It blazed like oil on fire at the king’s shout.

“Garos!”

“Mekan!”

“Juno!”

“Send them all out!”

‘Th, this… damn it!’

The warriors whose names the audience called out one by one.

Hugo gritted his teeth as he heard their names.

All of those warriors were not human; they were servants [supernatural beings bound to serve a vampire].

The arena was a business of the blood relatives, after all.

‘Do you think we run the arena for your pleasure? It’s to supply blood stably. It’s just a business led for entertainment!’

If you kill citizens or buy slaves and eat them, you’ll be suspected, but if you kill them on stage and suck their blood in the name of performance art, you’ll be applauded.

‘Fight more? Who decided that? I absolutely can’t do that.’

He wanted to vomit curses because his stomach was churning.

Livestock that only had sweet-smelling blood.

He wanted to reveal his identity in this place and slaughter them all.

But it wasn’t the time yet, so he couldn’t do that.

‘If it weren’t for the kid and the old man. If it weren’t for those two, I would have….’

He suppressed his boiling murderous intent and relaxed his expression.

He disguised his anger with a smile and gestured to the audience to calm down.

“Quiet! Calm down. Calm down, citizens!”

Uproar———!

Jeers erupted.

The crowd was out of Hugo’s control.

The crowd, with blood rushing to their heads, only raised their voices even louder.

Hugo couldn’t manage his expression and was distorting it more and more, when,

“Quiet!”

A high-pitched voice filled with magic covered the audience.

The audience closed their mouths as if a crying child had suddenly stopped crying.

“You’ve been through a lot, Count.”

Hugo frowned.

The expression he had been acting reflexively crumpled.

It was the voice of Mazenkin, the human he hated so much.

Turning around, he saw the Duke standing behind him.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen citizens so angry.”

The Duke stroked his beard and smirked.

“Aren’t you delaying the game too much? Where is your warrior? Hasn’t he even entered yet?”

His tone was obviously pretending not to know even though he knew.

Grind…

Hugo clenched his fist tightly.

The Duke scoffed even as he received the glaring gaze.

He didn’t know that the arena was a business of the blood relatives.

Also, Hugo thought he didn’t know the relationship between Hugo and the blood relatives.

But he clearly knew that the warriors of the arena had a deep relationship with Hugo, that Agaton, who died today, was a warrior comparable to the Duke, and that he was called to check him.

‘Did you come to laugh at me!’

Hugo’s barely suppressed anger boiled again at the sight of him pretending not to know the situation of the arena, acting as if he was sad that the warrior had died, and gently scratching his humiliation.

“You must be heartbroken, as if you lost an arm.”

Hugo trembled like an aspen tree.

Not because he was scared and cold, but because he was soaked in humiliation.

The Duke laughed and patted Hugo’s shoulder.

Then he took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to him.

“······?”

Hugo was about to throw the letter away when he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu [a feeling of having already experienced the present situation].

The seal on the wax sealing the letter caught his eye.

He hurriedly opened the letter and checked the contents.

“This is….”

“I have this too.”

The Duke also handed over the blood relative’s signet ring.

Hugo realized it was Agaton’s ring.

The imperial signet ring that he had taken off when he was active in front of the public.

The face that had been red turned pale the moment he saw it.

“H, how….”

His eyes widened and his tightly closed mouth opened wide.

He was so surprised that even his trembling stopped.

“How did you get this?”

He slipped up in his confusion.

He should have pretended not to know, but the situation was what it was.

He couldn’t maintain his composure and misspoke.

The Duke smiled.

‘I caught you.’

The smile must have meant that.

‘Damn it…!’

His expression was the opposite of his inner thoughts.

The Duke’s lips were stretched long, and Hugo was making a crying face.

It just so happened that the place where the two were was the arena.

There were nobles among the crowd in the arena.

The nobles perked up their ears and looked at the two.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“Oh, it’s a misunderstanding.”

He belatedly protested, but the Duke’s smile didn’t fade.

“A misunderstanding? Is it a misunderstanding that you wrote word for word that you had to kill me? Is the family’s seal forged?”

“Of course! L, look. Anyone can copy the seal, and sometimes they lose it. You have several seals too, don’t you?”

“Even though it’s made of Orichalcum [a mythical metal]?”

“Th, that’s right!”

The Duke nodded greatly.

Hugo was about to feel relieved at the sight of him expressing affirmation…

“Do you think I’m a pushover?”

He flinched at the sight of the Duke hardening his expression again.

‘Damn stubborn old man!’

Once he made up his mind, he would never back down.

He knew well because he had been with the Duke for a long time.

Now that he believed the letter was true, he wouldn’t back down.

‘Why, why do you have to pick a fight with me now?’

If it had been just a day ago, he would have just clicked his tongue and ended it.

He would have grumbled that the losses would be enormous and fought a battle.

But now Hugo’s wings were clipped.

‘Agaton is dead. Fighting the old man is too dangerous.’

On top of that, Edar had appeared as a variable.

It was suicide to face two at the same time when one was already overwhelming.

‘I have to yield. For now… I have to yield to the old man and buy time.’

His pride was tarnished, but there was no other way.

Edar would leave after attending the noble council anyway.

It wouldn’t be too late to deal with Duke Mazenkin after that.

Thinking that, he opened his mouth.

– Hugo, retreat.

Hugo blinked and glanced behind the Duke.

He faced the audience who had been watching Hugo from before.

He was a servant who was aiming for Edar in the crowd.

‘What are you talking about?’

– Strongholds are being attacked simultaneously. This place is also dangerous.

The servant moved his mouth silently.

Hugo, who read the meaning with lip reading, widened his eyes.

If it’s a stronghold, isn’t it naturally a safe zone where the blood relatives stay?

Not just one, but several? At the same time?

Dare to attack the blood relatives?

‘Who? How?’

He looked at Edar and Mazenkin alternately.

Edar looking at him calmly,

Mazenkin smiling with anger in his eyes.

A thunderbolt struck his mind.

‘These guys…!’

At that moment, Hugo felt his neck tightening.

The arena, which was like his own home, felt like an execution ground.

He saw the servants hiding among the crowd.

They were fleeing to the nearest exit.

They had also realized that this place was not safe.

“Kuh….”

Hugo gritted his teeth and ran away.

He pushed the Duke, who was blocking his way, and ran straight to the exit.

He ran as if arrows were chasing his back, even though no one was chasing him.