"Oh~ my dear uncle, it seems that your plan… no, our plan has failed, hasn't it~?"
An Ursus youth kicked open the door to a middle-aged officer's office.
"…What have you done to my nephew?"
The officer had already realized, upon hearing the news from Chernobog, that disaster was about to descend upon him.
"What are you saying, uncle? I am your nephew~ dear commander~"
The youth approached with a mocking smile curling across his face.
But the officer had no intention of surrendering. He quickly pulled a pistol—purchased from Blacksteel International—and aimed it at his so-called nephew.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, his finger would not pull the trigger.
"…Kashchey, the Duke."
"My, my~ you caught on."
The youth—no, the body of his nephew—spoke in a flat, emotionless tone.
"…When did you possess him?"
"It seems you still don't understand the situation, little officer."
Step by step, the youth drew closer. From the officer's frozen hands, he plucked away the pistol and twirled it lazily between his fingers.
"But since you didn't kill me immediately, that must mean my body is of some use to you… I beg you, Duke, answer the dying wish of a condemned man."
The officer forced himself to sound calm.
"Take a guess~"
"..."
"Still, you're bold. Forging an Emperor's Blades transfer order… not even your superior knew about it."
Kashchey swung open the safe. He had already plucked the code straight from the young man's memories.
"…You know about our plan."
"Heh… of course. What, did you think that regular psychic screenings would keep me out?"
"..."
"Where there are people, child, there are openings for me to exploit."
"…Why bother speaking so much to me?"
"Heh… naturally, to share my perspective. Words are marvelous things, aren't they? A few sounds from the mouth can easily reshape a listener's mind—whether they agree or oppose."
"…Please, spare me. I'll denounce my co-conspirators, I'll testify for you."
"Oh~ that won't do. How could a steadfast officer, sworn to liberate Ursus from the vile, eternal demon known as Duke Kashchey, stoop to saying such things!"
Kashchey retrieved a parchment from the safe, examining it with careful eyes.
The officer understood the implication immediately.
"You… you… how could you betray the trust of the Ursus people like this?"
"Please. You never truly believed those tales of my benevolence for the Ursus people. So why bring up a 'truth' you don't even believe yourself?"
Kashchey's tone was dismissive.
Of course, there were always a few who stumbled close to his true thoughts by accident.
But what of it?
Few would ever believe that the Eternal Duke, who had worked tirelessly for Ursus, cared nothing for the nation at all.
…Well, perhaps he cared just a little.
After all, he had lived there for so long.
"That parchment… what's written on it—"
"You actually believed I'd written something meaningful?"
"..."
The officer tried to twist his face into defiance, but even his own muscles refused to obey. His body was no longer his to command.
'I'm going to die.'
It was his final thought before the Black Snake devoured his consciousness.
"Mm~ time's up. The greedy, cowardly little officer is gone. What remains is a fighter against Kashchey's tyranny. A true Ursus man, one who dares to say 'no' to the Duke."
The officer slowly regained movement.
From the youth's hands, he took the parchment and tossed it into the flames of the hearth.
'Phew, finally erased that embarrassing record.'
Watching the parchment curl into ash, both the officer and the youth shared a fleeting look of relief.
Yes—just like true uncle and nephew.
---
The Catastrophe passed.
The people of Chernobog stared at the skies in awe.
For the first time, they had witnessed someone directly resist a Catastrophe.
The Originium rain was repelled, as though by an unseen barrier—
not a single fragment fell within Chernobog.
'…Do we really have any chance of winning?'
Some of the rioters began to awaken from their frenzy.
Regret gnawed at them for their earlier choices…
Yes—how could they ever hope to stand against Ursus?
The Eternal Duke had already revealed his might, defying even the catastrophic force of a Catastrophe.
And compared to such power, they were nothing but ants.
---
Meanwhile, those military men disguised as Reunion members began to falter.
From the start, none of them truly wished to stand against Duke Kashchey.
Their superiors had promised them: Kashchey will not interfere with the Chernobog operation.
"We only seek to restore Ursus to the glory of the old Emperor. The Duke will not intervene… in fact, he should be delighted to see us act. He simply cannot support us openly, bound as he is by his position."
They had swallowed the lies, and so they raised their blades against the very citizens they were sworn to protect…
Did they truly not know what they were doing?
No. Perhaps they were only making excuses. Excuses to justify all the benefits they had received.
But the moment they saw that pure white figure, the instant those two lines were written—
they understood.
Kashchey had acted.
As he had for a thousand years, he had revealed his unfathomable power.
---
"Damn it, why are you all standing around like fools?!"
Some tried to reignite the flames of violence.
They knew the Empire would never forgive them.
Their crimes could never be undone.
So, for a shred of survival…
They had to drag others down with them.
"Everyone, that Ursus Duke is gravely injured—he's nothing to fear! And even if he weren't, do you think he would ever forgive us?"
"Trust me, trust a fellow Infected! We will seize this city and build a home for our kind!"
---
"Soldiers, we were deceived by our superiors.
But Ursus will never forgive what we've done, no matter how much we claimed it was for the Emperor' glory.
Now—we must fight for ourselves."
---
Talulah stared at that pure white figure in silence.
She hated to admit it, but something felt… off.
Kashchey's build isn't like that, is it?
And since when were his chest muscles so… pronounced?
---
The great Duke Kashchey, burning himself away, had shielded Chernobog from the Catastrophe.
The merciful Duke Kashchey, exhausting his strength, had saved countless Ursus citizens from the chaos.
"Yes. That's how we'll report it."
In the capital of Ursus, an editor calmly sipped his tea.
No one noticed the Black Snake coiled within his right eye, turning ever so slowly.