I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

"What? Could there be another expert?"

How difficult is it for the demons to reach the palace without relying on inside agents?

The western border borders the demon realm, and the passes are guarded by the First Legion and the Third Legion on a rotating basis.

Even if the demons manage to bypass the main defenses and cross the wasteland into the heart of the human kingdom, they will still have to face the church's traveling deacons scattered throughout the various parishes, the adventurers' guild's branch outposts set up along the official roads, and the patrolling cavalry stationed by the major lords at the borders of their territories.

Any demon that appears near human settlements during the day will be detected.

The aura of magic is different from that of humans; even a slight leak is enough to attract the attention of adventurers or church clergy.

At night, the demons' range of activity is also limited, as human towns are filled with lights and altars of holy light, and every church serves as a watchtower.

Even if the demons are lucky enough to overcome these obstacles, they still have to reach the capital.

The royal capital's city walls are manned by royal guards on duty day and night, and the city contains the cathedral, the headquarters of the church, and the headquarters of the magicians' association. Any suspicious magical fluctuations will be detected by the multi-sensory network immediately.

Even if the demons did manage to infiltrate the capital, they would still have to enter the banquet hall right under the noses of the palace guards.

The palace's defense system consists of three parts: the royal guards on duty around the outer walls, the court magicians' perception network in the inner court, and the personal guards, each commanded by a powerful archmage.

The three lines of defense each have an independent early warning mechanism; if any one line is breached, it will trigger a coordinated response from the other two lines.

Shadow Fiend accomplished all of this.

They appeared on the skylight, threw poison bottles, and rushed towards Victor without being detected by any of the defenses beforehand.

If the demons were truly capable of such infiltration without relying on inside agents, they would have already forced the royal family to surrender through decapitation strikes.

There was absolutely no need to send three Shadow Fiends to the banquet hall to stage a doomed assassination attempt.

Who was behind this?

The second and third brothers were both sent to their fiefdoms. Although they had their own trusted confidants there, mobilizing an assassin of Shadow Demon's caliber required going through multiple intermediaries, and it was impossible to do so without leaving a trace.

Sonia has no real power.

She was too lazy to even learn magic, and spent her days either feeding cats in the garden or hiding in her palace reading and eating snacks. It was impossible for her to have the ability to arrange the Shadow Demon's infiltration.

That old fox Augustus would never do something so thankless.

He is firmly in his position as prime minister, and whether or not war breaks out has no fundamental impact on his power.

If he wanted to deal with me, his methods would be far more sophisticated than orchestrating a doomed assassination.

There's only one possibility left.

George.

Victor remembered clearly that when his Uncle George served as the Inspector of the West many years ago, he had written to his father on several occasions, suggesting that a tougher stance be taken against the Daedric.

His father ignored it at the time, so he gave up.

But just because Uncle George gave up on this idea doesn't mean that the tool person who possesses some of Uncle George's memories will give up.

If George orchestrated a "Demonic attack on the palace" during his lifetime to create a pretext for war, then it makes sense that he hired a Shadow Fiend to cause trouble in the banquet hall beforehand.

The Shadow Demons didn't need to actually kill Viktor; they just needed to create chaos, incite panic, and let the nobles present witness the demons attacking the palace.

With Holy Light and the presence of the Archmage, Shadow Fiend was destined to fail.

George wanted the fact of the "Demonic attack" itself, not the result of the assassination.

But he himself was killed by the aftershocks of the Holy Light spell before the banquet even began.

Viktor found the thought somewhat ironic.

George arranged everything, but he never got to see the drama he had planned unfold.

He died during the awarding ceremony, killed by a holy light spell he had no idea would appear.

The three Shadow Demons launched their attack at the banquet as planned, unaware that their employer was already dead.

It's so frustrating.

Although this inference was the most likely, Viktor was still not entirely at ease.

He took out a token engraved with the royal crest from his sleeve and handed it to his most trusted archmage.

"Go to the treasury and retrieve the 'Mirror of Shadows.' Retrieve the list of all the guards, maids, and servants on duty in the palace today, and check their memories one by one."

The archmage accepted the token with both hands, bowed, and left the side corridor.

A faint sound of laughter drifted from the direction of the banquet hall, probably from a nobleman who told a joke, which drew laughter from those around him.

The guests outside thought the chaos of the night was over.

They raised their glasses, discussing the Shadow Fiend's recklessness and the Lightning Bolt's speed, treating the attack as a topic of conversation after dinner.

Inside the banquet hall, Sonia and Sherry's conversation continued.

Sonia had already eaten most of the dessert in front of her. As she scraped the cream off the plate with her fork, she whispered to Sherry about the strange things she had heard about the palace.

"Did you know that there used to be a group of ornamental fish in the palace lake? Then one winter, when the lake was covered with a thin layer of ice, someone saw human facial features growing out of the fish's bellies under the ice. Eyes, nose, and mouth were all growing out of the scales, and they were breathing in the water."

Shirley listened with her head tilted to the side, her fork unconsciously poking at the small cakes on her plate.

"And there's something even more outrageous. A few years ago, someone reported that two identical Royal Guards appeared on the patrol path on the east side of the palace at the same time."

"They wore the same armor, carried the same swords, and their posture, habits, and even the detail that their left shoulder was slightly lower than their right shoulder were exactly the same. But when we checked the duty roster, only one person was on duty that night..."

Shirley put the cake in her mouth and chewed it twice.

"There are quite a few ghost stories in this palace, and nine times out of ten they're not entirely unfounded. Aren't you scared at all?"

Sonia put the last spoonful of cream in her mouth, put down her fork, and looked at Sherry with a serious expression.

"What are you afraid of? Believe in the mysticism. Anything that magic can't explain is fake, an illusion. If all else fails, there's always holy light. As long as there's enough holy light and holy water, there's no monster that can't be destroyed."

As she spoke, she took off the spatial ring from her finger and tapped it lightly on the table.

The air distorted slightly, and several exquisite glass bottles appeared out of thin air on the table.

Each bottle is about the size of a thumb, with a transparent body and a clear liquid inside. Faint silver-white specks float on the surface of the liquid, and runes that emit a soft, holy light are affixed to the outside of the bottle.

Sonia picked up one of the bottles and held it up in front of Sherry's eyes.

"Like this, you smash it directly at the monster, and as the bottle shatters, it releases holy light and purifying power. I've prepared over two thousand bottles of this."

Sherry looked at the small glass bottle, then at Sonia's serious expression.

"Over two thousand bottles? Why would you prepare so much holy water?"

Sonia put the bottle back into her ring, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Because there are so many ghost stories in the palace, I've heard them since I was a child, and I always feel that one day I will actually encounter one. Anyway, the holy water doesn't expire, so it's better to store more than necessary."