Early morning on the third day, before the sky had even begun to brighten.
A Maid that no one could detect leaned against the closed doors of the Nolan State Guest Royal Suite in the Xīlong Pavilion, listening to the conversation of the people inside.
“Selene. Still no luck?”
“No. I can’t do it… I’ve tried all night!”
Luc, wearing the Imitation of Prince Nolan again, sat before Selene, looking grimly at the melting black slush in her hands.
That thing was in the shape of a sword—specifically, the shape Selene wanted it to take.
But no matter how many times she tried, it only resulted in the same slushy substance she held now.
“Selene… is that the only thing you can make? This… this mud?”
Vlad could now barely crawl out of bed. After two days of regeneration, he had grown a new lung.
However, judging by his breathless speech, he clearly hadn’t adapted well to the new organ.
“You’re the mud! Believe it or not, I’ll rip that lung right back out of you!”
Selene shot back with an angry threat. She was truly furious.
The clump in her hand wasn’t mud; it was a mass of Magic Power torn from her own body as a Shadow Demon… in other words, a part of her.
As a Shadow Demon, Selene lacked a fixed form—her body consisted of pure Magic Power.
Thanks to this trait, she could use her Magic Power’s ‘Imitation’ to transform into any shape.
It wasn’t just a surface-level copy… as long as she understood the target well enough, she could replicate them perfectly from the inside out.
Theoretically, she could replicate everything about that Frostblade, including its functions.
She could even tamper with its internal Magic Power structure…
This was why Luc had changed her mind and asked her to analyze the Frostblade. But looking at the current situation—
“Selene, I don’t want to doubt your clan’s talent for transformation and replication. But why do you keep failing? Was it because you analyzed it too hastily?”
“I don’t know…! The analysis is complete! This thing’s structure is also mimicking some Relic I don’t know about, but in the end, it’s just a copy. It can’t reach the precision of our Imitation or a real Relic… but I don’t know why I just can’t replicate it…!”
“Is it possible the Magic Power is insufficient? Didn’t you say so? If the Magic Power injected during ‘Imitation’ differs too much from the original’s inherent power, the replication fails.”
Aoke, who had been watching silently, offered his view. His incredibly simple observation hit the frantic Selene even harder:
“I might not be able to replicate a real Relic, but a mere imitation… how could my Magic Power be lacking? Lend me your Magic Power!”
Luc was surprised to see Selene looking at her with a rare plea for assistance.
“…Alright, let’s try.”
She reached out and placed her hand on Selene’s shoulder, transferring her Magic Power.
With her help, Selene gathered Magic Power in her hands again and began the “Imitation”—
“Oh? This time looks… smoother than before…”
Watching the mass of Magic Power slowly change in Selene’s hands, Vlad was astonished.
With Luc’s help, the mass seemed much more stable than last time.
“No, no, I’m losing control again…! Are you putting enough power in?”
Seeing the mass fluctuate again, Selene gritted her teeth in desperation.
“I am.”
“Give it your all!”
The mass greedily absorbed the Magic Power from both of them, coming closer to the shape of a sword than any previous attempt… but it still wasn’t enough.
“I… I really can’t go on…”
Not only did Selene look exhausted, but Luc also felt like she couldn’t hold on much longer. She looked at Aoke:
“Aoke. Can you help?”
“If it is Your Royal Highness’s command.”
He placed his hand on Selene’s shoulder without another word. Selene shuddered, gaining the strength to continue.
…
After a while, the Magic Power mass was on the verge of collapsing again. The three sweating people looked at Vlad simultaneously.
“…Me too? I’m an invalid…”
Facing Selene’s “shut up” glare, Vlad helplessly offered his hand.
With the strength of the four combined, the mass finally began to take on color and solidify into a fixed form—
*Pop!*
With a light sound, the Magic Power mass exploded back into a slurry. The four people looked at each other—
“Selene… you…”
“I did my best…”
“Apologies, Your Royal Highness… I have no more power to give.”
“…Why is everyone looking at me? I did my best too!”
Vlad snapped back at the cold glares from the other three.
“Forget it… let’s give up. Selene, any objections?”
“What on earth is that thing…? Even the combined Magic Power of four people can’t replicate it… Is it a real Relic? But that structure looks like a rush job…”
Luc didn’t comfort the dejected Selene, who was muttering to herself. Since the four of them together couldn’t reproduce it, there was no point in trying further.
“For tomorrow’s parade, we’ll proceed according to the established Plan. As for the Sword Saint… she verbally promised Selene and me that she wouldn’t attend. We can only trust her. Does everyone remember their roles? Do we need to confirm again?”
“No… need. You should worry about… the pig… since… he’s in charge of contacting the Human collaborators.”
Vlad glanced at Aoke. As usual, he had no trust or respect for him.
“Don’t call me a pig. While you were lying in bed wheezing like a useless person, I already made contact with them. They promised to create a convenient chaos during the parade for us to make our move… but they said the specific parade route might change, so they won’t tell us the location until the parade begins.”
“Good work. Did you confirm the identities of those Humans?”
“Yes. The people who met me were indeed employees of the Elansia Company and organizations opposed to the Duchess that we contacted before… but I secretly followed them to their residence. There, I saw the people behind them.”
“Who are they?”
“They are officials sent from the Yilansiya Imperial Capital. The Mansion didn’t even host them, so they are staying at a hotel in the city.”
“Not surprising… that’s just how Humans are. Once they’re free from external threats, all their energy goes into internal strife. It’s always been this way.”
Vlad sneered with deep-seated contempt for human nature.
“Hmm… if it’s that lot… then they certainly have plenty of reason to target the Duchess and her daughter. That means you’ll have to contact them again today. How will you relay the message?”
“I’ll come in person. I’m a State Guest traveling with you all; they should have no reason to refuse me boarding halfway.”
“Excellent. Selene… are you okay? Your role is the most important. Before we get away with that girl, you must ensure no one related to her recognizes you.”
After confirming with Aoke, Luc turned to Selene. She still seemed upset about the failure… but she had snapped out of her daze.
“…I still need you to create an opportunity for me to analyze that girl. I tried to contact her at the Bathhouse that day… but if it’s just a light touch of fingers or shoulders, I can’t guarantee the ‘Imitation’ won’t glitch.”
“Fine. There should be a chance when we board the vehicle. But can you escape safely after we succeed?”
“Don’t underestimate me. As long as that Sword Saint woman isn’t there… no one can stop me from leaving.”
Seeing that Selene’s arrogant tone had regained some of its old confidence, Luc felt relieved.
“Then everyone should recover their Magic Power and prepare for today’s action. Remember… this is the first act of the Demon King Succession War. Everything we hope for starts with the success of this operation.”