The Opportunity From the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 205
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The Opportunity From the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 205
47. The Sea of Rondel (4)
[The controversial press conference of Adrian, Grand Duke of Lawrence.]
[Grand Duke Lawrence: I warn you, Ieria Nelson, Third Prince of Coralheim. Release the Saintess Ibril at once. If you do not, your family will never see the light of day again, and I cannot guarantee what treatment they will receive. If you harm the Saintess Ibril, your family will be harmed as well. If you take the Saintess Ibril's life, your family's lives will not remain intact either.]
[A public threat that shocked the reporters who had attended the conference expecting an explanation regarding the attack on Coralheim and the abduction of the royal family!]
[Who exactly is Ieria Nelson, the Third Prince of Coralheim, who has driven the Grand Duke of Lawrence to such fury?]
[Third Prince Nelson, known as a sponsor of demon worshipers and currently on the run. Is he truly the culprit behind the Saintess Ibril's abduction?]
A threat delivered on an official platform.
This shocked countless people and instantly became the world's biggest news story.
Naturally, most nations expressed concern, but contrary to that, the online reaction was surprisingly not all that negative.
-As expected of the Grand Duke of Lawrence! Look at that boldness!
--Respond to kidnapping with kidnapping! Storming the royal palace and seizing the suspect's family!
--If someone went this far for me, I couldn't help but fall for them! Saintess, please come back alive!
--Still, this crossed the line. Kidnapping a nation's king and royalty. This is a cause for war.
--What line? He dared to kidnap the Saintess. He's the criminal here.
--They say if the King isn't released from Coralheim right now, they'll declare war.
--The Elysian Coalition is also applying pressure with a statement of condemnation.
--You worry about everything. Do you think that clever fellow didn't anticipate this kind of reaction?
-Hey everyone! An additional article just dropped!
--Oh really? Then we have to check it right away!
--This is a very serious situation, but why? Why is this so entertaining?
--Because when the Grand Duke of Lawrence shows up, things never go as expected. It's interesting.
[Grand Duke Lawrence: If war is brought to me, I will not avoid it. You would do well to recall how the once-mighty Croysen Empire fell. Furthermore, do not forget that King Nelson is in our hands.]
[Official statement from the Rhinehearts Empire: The Elysian Coalition must take a step back in this matter. From the very beginning, the Coalition cannot be completely absolved of responsibility in the demon worshiper subjugation incident that caused this situation, nor in the Saintess abduction that followed from it. To resolve this matter amicably, Ieria Nelson must be bound and brought forward.]
With Adrian's fearsome reply and the backing of the Rhinehearts Imperial Family, Coralheim and the Elysian Coalition could not make any rash choices.
The Elysian Coalition tried to shape public opinion and resolve this situation politically, but....
Sadly, it was all in vain.
Adrian had firmly stated he would accept no proposal other than the Saintess's release, and other nations, given that this involved the unprecedented crisis of a Saintess abduction, merely stepped back and watched.
"Kyaaa! You insane bastard!"
The person most thrown off by Adrian's response was, of course, Ieria Nelson, the culprit who had kidnapped the Saintess.
In a fit of rage, he smashed the furnishings of his current residence to pieces.
"Calm down, for now."
As Ieria screamed in fury, unable to contain his anger, the Coralheim retainers who had fled with him tried to restrain him.
Why wouldn't they be angry too?
The king they served had been kidnapped.
But throwing a tantrum right here and now would change nothing.
Times like these called for calm, which would lead to the proper response.
"Hoo, hoo."
Having barely managed to control his anger thanks to his retainers, Ieria took deep breaths and organized his thoughts.
"How should we resolve this situation?"
At his question, the retainers spoke with added hope.
"There's no way Chancellor Aidin of Coralheim will just sit by and watch. A rescue force must surely have been formed by now. And with the support of the Elysian Coalition added on top, no matter how capable the Grand Duke of Lawrence is, and even if his wife is the Grandmaster, they will be able to rescue His Majesty the King and his family."
But what Ieria wanted was not mere wishful speculation.
It was a cool-headed, realistic plan.
"The Coalition can't move. The Holy See hasn't issued any statement and is just watching, as if observing how each nation responds. The Elysian Coalition, which has no choice but to mind the Holy See, can't possibly provide direct aid. And without the Elysian Coalition's help, Coralheim alone can't pull off a rescue operation."
"But the Holy See would never lend strength to the Grand Duke's hostage scheme. They who must always remain virtuous would they take such extreme action in front of their followers?"
"The Grand Duke of Lawrence's actions are a mess, but as a strategy, it's remarkably effective. It's actually got me this flustered right now. That's exactly why the Holy See is just sitting back and watching. If they were to obstruct Grand Duke Lawrence, who stepped forward to rescue the Saintess amidst all this..."
"You mean they'd impose covert sanctions."
"Exactly. They've surely already come to an understanding among themselves. You can just consider the Holy See to be on the Grand Duke of Lawrence's side."
At Prince Ieria's cool-headed judgment, his retainers had no choice but to fall silent as if struck dumb.
What he had asked his retainers was for a way to resolve this situation.
The problem was that no one could think of anything they could do at all.
And that was only natural after all, the Adrian they had to deal with was someone whose behavioral patterns simply couldn't be predicted.
A lunatic who had the audacity to launch a surprise attack on a member state of the Elysian Coalition and kidnap its king, no less.
"I'd like to believe it's just a bluff, but..."
The very fact that he'd already kidnapped the king meant the Grand Duke of Lawrence was capable of anything.
The Grand Duke of Lawrence's threats must not be dismissed as mere bluster.
"To go this far for the Saintess."
No matter how much Ieria acted for the greater cause, he wasn't cold-blooded enough to brush off a crisis facing his family.
After all, his brothers were all close to him, and his parents had always lavished him with love without reserve.
Thinking of the humiliation his family must be enduring at this very moment, he felt like he'd lose his mind.
"How about we do this?"
Just then, Ieria's guard knight raised a hand and offered an opinion.
"How about we kidnap the Grand Duke's parents as well? I believe the Grand Duke of Lawrence's parents belong to the Rhinehearts Empire. Their defenses should be weaker than the ducal palace, so if we abduct them, we could arrange a hostage exchange."
"Hold more hostages?"
"Yes!"
As a matter of give-and-take, it sounded plausible enough.
But Prince Ieria shook his head.
"The Grand Duke of Lawrence may be a lunatic, but he's no fool. He's surely prepared for anything that could be used as a weakness. No more likely, he's set a trap."
This was by no means an overestimation.
Given everything Adrian had shown so far, it was well within the realm of reasonable speculation.
Still, now that one person had broken the ice, another retainer began to offer his opinion.
"How about interrogating the Saintess?"
"How?"
"She doesn't know the situation outside, does she? Interrogating the Saintess to find the Grand Duke of Lawrence's weakness seems like a good approach. Might we not gain some kind of solution from that?"
Since no answer was forthcoming on their own, the suggestion was to seek one from the Saintess herself, the very party involved.
She was, after all, an acquaintance of Adrian's surely there was much information to be gleaned from her.
"Yes, that seems like the best course."
Ieria had no better option himself, so he decided to accept that suggestion.
"I'll go alone."
"Understood."
And shortly after, Ieria headed alone to the undersea cavern where the Saintess was being held.
In the cavern, Saintess Ibril lay sprawled out, staring at the ceiling.
Surely a Saintess would sense someone approaching, yet she didn't move an inch.
Here he was, unable to know what might be happening to his parents and brothers after their kidnapping and yet she, a hostage, was far too at ease. His brow twitched.
"Greetings, Saintess Ibril."
"..."
Even so, he exercised patience and offered a greeting, but no reply came back.
"Haha, now you're ignoring me?"
At that, Ieria, his stress mounting to its limit, clapped his hands.
At once, the Named Sea Serpent that had once bitten Ibril emerged silently from the water.
This was an unmistakable act of intimidation.
"Bullshit."
But the response to his intimidation was something entirely unexpected.
"Huh?"
The Saintess spat out a curse, then shot to her feet and unleashed a Holy magic attack straight at Ieria.
-BOOOOM!
"Guh!"
That attack was, of course, blocked by the Sea Serpent.
Had the Sea Serpent been of darkness attribute or a demon, it might have fallen into a near-death state, but it was an attack the Sea Serpent could withstand.
Of course, even if it hadn't unleashed its full power, it was still a formidable attack, so the cavern despite being vast rang loudly with the blast.
Ieria, too, had been caught off guard by her sudden attack, and combined with Adrian's actions, it snapped the last thread of his composure.
If the Sea Serpent hadn't blocked the attack, he would have been hit without any recourse.
"Akasa!"
He ordered the Sea Serpent to attack.
At that, the blue-scaled serpent's body stretched like a rubber band.
-CRUNCH!
"Ah!"
Ibril's right arm was torn off by the Sea Serpent.
Yet even as blood poured from her, Ibril continued to unleash attacks as if she were determined to kill Ieria no matter what.
And so the unexpected battle began, but...
"Damn it."
In the end, it led to Ibril's defeat.
If it had been Saintess Sylvester as the opponent, the situation might have differed, but Ibril was still lacking in many ways.
Ieria came to his senses at the sight of Ibril, in a state near death, impaled on the Sea Serpent's fangs.
[If you harm Saintess Ibril, your family will suffer harm as well, and if you take Saintess Ibril's life, your family's lives will not remain intact either.]
At the same time, Adrian's warning surfaced in his mind, and he quickly used the artifact to heal Ibril.
"Cough!"
Soon, Ibril, who had lost consciousness, spat out blood and opened her eyes.
Ieria let out a sigh of relief and spoke in a warning tone.
"It's useless to throw a tantrum. Whether it's Divine power or magic, this isn't a place where anything can leak outside."
Ieria judged that she had attacked to signal her location to the search party.
At that, Ibril, with an unreadable expression, used Holy magic on herself.
Then her torn-off arm and mangled body were restored to their original state.
Her combat ability might be somewhat lacking due to inexperience, but her healing ability through Holy magic was truly unrivaled.
"I understand that you, Saintess, must feel frustrated "
-BOOOOM!
And the moment Ibril recovered, what she did was...
A second battle.
"This is insane!"
Ieria could not understand Ibril's thinking.
Was she perhaps trying to commit suicide?
Or, if not that, was her goal to wear down all her enemies by endlessly cycling between recovery and attack?
Regardless of the reason, when the opponent attacks, one has no choice but to respond.
And so the Sea Serpent stepped in and knocked the Saintess down once more.
-BOOOOM!
"Stop!"
After that, the same thing repeated.
Once, twice, three times, four times...
When Ibril had experienced defeat about seven times.
The cavern was in shambles, and finally, the attacks stopped.
Ieria, who had been flustered by her erratic behavior, felt immense relief.
"Please calm down now. I know you're frustrated, but if you, Saintess, just stay quiet, I have no intention of harming you. If you want something, just ask. I'll grant it within reason."
And as he said that to calm Ibril down.
"Haha."
She suddenly let out a laugh.
Naturally, he tilted his head with a confused expression.
But at Ibril's next words, Ieria's expression hardened.
"At first, you lashed out all worked up as if you'd kill me, and now you're trying so hard to soothe me? Where has your solemn attitude from yesterday gone, and how have you become so emotional and servile?"
"What do you mean?"
"I take it things aren't going your way?"
It hit the mark.
At that, the smile on Ibril's lips deepened.
"You're in a bind, aren't you? Yes, who could have put you in such a difficult position?"
"..."
"It's Your Highness the King, Grand Duke Lawrence, isn't it!?"
A look that scorned her opponent, and eyes that went beyond killing intent into outright bloodlust.
Perhaps it was because she had endured intense pain through consecutive battles in the extreme situation of being kidnapped and confined?
The innocent simplicity typical of a seventeen-year-old girl was nowhere to be found in Ibril.
Ieria sensed it.
That the aura emanating from the Saintess before him had completely changed.
"What brought about this change of heart?"
People grow.
Especially in extreme situations, they draw a steep growth curve.
In the end, their actions had turned Ibril into a troublesome existence.
And the price for that fell entirely on Ieria.
"I just realized I've been too naive all this time. Thanks for the lesson. I feel like I've finally found my path."
"What do you mean?"
"Now, let's finish what we started. There's no better environment for building combat experience than this, so be my experience points until I'm strong enough to tear you all apart."
Nothing was going according to Ieria's plan.
"This is insane."
* * *
Ducal palace of the Duchy of Lawrence.
"What do you plan to do about what comes next?"
To Saintess Sylvester's worried question, I answered casually as if it were nothing.
"I'll give them one day of grace. If that brat doesn't step forward by then..."
"And if not?"
"Then they'll face the tragedy of losing family members one by one."
The Saintess was flustered, asking if I was serious.
From her perspective, all my actions must have seemed like empty threats.
But I was dead serious.
"But what if she harms Ibril in the process!?"
"Then the rest of the family will simply follow Lady Ibril."
At Saintess Sylvester's stiff expression, I gave an awkward smile and added further explanation.
"Don't worry. It won't come to that."
"Is that true?"
"Yes, I've prepared a few contingencies."
I'll keep posting articles by time slot and use the Hollywood System's administrator privileges to continue fabrications and agitation.
At first, I'll shape public opinion condemning the King and the royal family as accomplices of Ieria who deserve to die, and finally create a narrative that the blame should fall on all of Coralheim.
If he doesn't show himself, the entire kingdom will fall into crisis can he really hold onto the Saintess and endure that?
I don't know what grand purpose he had in kidnapping Ibril, but it can't be worth trading away all of Coralheim.
'It's vicious, but once the problem is solved, I can just call it a misreport and spin it into a passing incident.'
We weren't in a position to be picky right now either.
But should I call it fortunate?
It looks like I won't even have to go that far.
"Your Highness!"
"What is it?"
"We've received contact from Ieria Nelson!"
The culprit had reached out faster than I expected.
"Oh!"
Saintess Sylvester was overjoyed, but I had to tilt my head in confusion.
'If he was going to back down this easily, why kidnap the Saintess in the first place?'
Could he be planning to claim he's not the culprit?
No, based on the investigation results, he didn't seem that foolish.
Perhaps something unexpected came up?