Chapter 733: Cleanup

If you roll the clock back three days, Randa was in complete disarray, busy through and through.

That’s when Woodsman Dave not only attacked the prison but also directly assaulted the Royal Army.

In the massive City of Randa, most people stayed in their homes as if martial law had been declared, and within the safest part of the city, something akin to war was happening.

It was ‘like war’ because it was uncertain if the fight between a single person and an army could truly be called a war, especially when that army couldn’t even scratch the individual.

Regardless, it was a time of utter chaos.

The majority of the citizens of Randa, having experienced the zombie horde invasion, were too scared to leave their homes. Meanwhile, the Royal Army and the Defense Force were desperately fighting something they couldn’t even hit.

Adding to the confusion, the radio kept spewing non-stop updates about the war.

But they weren’t the only ones busy.

Among the Randa citizens holed up in their homes, there were a few who were slightly different.

Instead of staying in by choice, they were trapped inside due to external forces, and unlike others, they weren’t scared — they were waiting for an opportunity while listening to the radio.

[Breaking news: The criminal behind the prison attack, Woodsman Dave, has summoned a massive Creature in Zone A, causing significant damage. Consequently…]

[Woodsman Dave’s Creature has reportedly caused colossal damage to Zone A. Many casualties are said to have occurred.]

[-Some claim that the zombie army that assaulted Randa was also the result of Woodsman Dave’s long-term planning, and that he commandeered masses of corpses from the contaminated zone in F-District-]

And after waiting, an opportunity came through the radio.

[Feel free to ask questions. I’ll cooperate as much as possible.]

[You’re clearly not listening carefully.]

It was a conversation between Randa’s so-called hero, Lieutenant General Billy Crowley, the one who saved them from the zombie army, and the notorious Dark Sorcerer, Woodsman Dave, who had attacked the city.

Opportunity, fear. Though the reasons differed, the citizens who had been attentively listening to the radio focused on their conversation and soon learned something shocking.

The shocking truth was that Billy Crowley, a soldier of the United Kingdom, had teamed up with the Puppet to climb the ranks, and that a number of prominent figures — magicians, Druids, politicians, nobles, and even the Crown Prince — had also made deals with the Puppet.

The prominent leaders of the United Kingdom, who once despised dark magic, were now secretly aligned with the Puppet.

The Randa citizens, gripped by fear, momentarily forgot their terror and stood dumbstruck by this shocking news.

When the brain is overloaded with information, it tends to freeze, though some were exceptions.

Those exceptions were the high-ranking City Council members and government officials under house arrest by the Royal Army.

“Damn it! I knew it was going to end like this!!”

“Ugh, idiots… So, vacation’s over huh?”

“Honey. Where’s my suit? Looks like I’ll need to head back to work.”

“I don’t know.”

Of course, not all of them reacted like that.

Council members are human too, and as politicians, some had been bribed by the Puppet, while others were simply terrified of the events transpiring.

The important point was that some of them decided to act.

Out of twenty-four councilors, sixteen.

Ignoring their house arrest, they dressed in their (bribe-bought) expensive suits and stepped outside.

Naturally, the Royal Army soldiers assigned to monitor them stopped them, sparking a brief altercation.

“You’re not allowed to leave, Councilor.”

“Can’t you understand? Your commander has teamed up with the Puppet!”

“That’s nonsense! Lies from the Dark Sorcerer!”

“Lies from a Dark Sorcerer who’s winning the war?”

“….”

“How about this? You say you ‘accidentally let me slip by.’ If things go south, I’ll make sure to defend the Royal Army. Just because your king is defeated doesn’t mean you all need to die. It’s not chess, right?”

The councilors of Randa were well-versed in sweet-talking, having honed their skills in a city filled with merchants, swindlers, gangsters, and murderers.

But they were up against soldiers tasked with a specific mission, and most of them stuck to their duty.

However, on the flip side, a few were persuaded. About four to be exact.

Out of the 24 council members, only 4, roughly 17%, gained their freedom.

A small number, but gladly, in less than a day, they regained control of Randa from an army demoralized by a single Dark Sorcerer and the self-proclaimed hero who had admitted to teaming up with the Puppet.

In less than a single day.

Of course, it wasn’t just the council members who sprang into action.

One prominent government official, the Minister of Internal Affairs, also contributed. For instance, Paul Carver, who had an unofficial alliance with Woodsman Dave.

He offered a suggestion.

“There’s something we need to do first.”

“Seize control of the Defense Force and the Security Bureau?”

“No, they’re already with us. They didn’t follow the Royal Army out of loyalty to them, we’ve already had discussions with them.”

“As expected of you, Paul. So, what needs to be done?”

“We need to clean up this mess.”

A mess. An inappropriate word for political officials, but no one disagreed.

With the Zombie Army attack on Randa, the Royal Army commander’s alliance with the Puppet, and the fact that many leaders had also joined the Puppet, the term “mess” seemed like the only appropriate description.

The leaders who’d regained control of Randa clearly needed to make this mess less… messy, and Carver had a plan.

“We need to minimize the truth.”

“Minimize, not cover-up?”

“It’s far too late for a cover-up. Much too late.”

“Agreed. So what you’re suggesting is an editorial approach.”

“Exactly.”

Editing. A political method where some truths are admitted while others are cut to minimize damage.

Carver nodded.

“Yes.”

“How much will we reveal, and where do we draw the line?”

“We’ll admit that Billy Crowley made the deal, and deny everything else. We’ll claim that only he partnered with the Puppet and that the zombie invasion was his staged stunt.”

“To boost his own reputation?”

“Exactly.”

“Aren’t we cutting him a bit too much slack?”

“If we go beyond him, we won’t be able to contain the damage. This is as far as we can go.”

Carver pushed his point, and the councilors silently agreed.

Even the most seasoned politicians could see the potential downfall of the United Kingdom itself if they implicated more than Billy Crowley.

After all, if the leaders of the nation had conspired with dark magicians to stage a fake invasion, the entire foundation of the United Kingdom might collapse.

“If we stop at Billy Crowley, the Royal Army will likely comply and hand over control of Randa. It’ll also help calm the public. Most importantly, if we take the lead on this, the United Kingdom won’t retaliate.”

“If they try anything, it’ll just be admission of guilt.”

Once the pieces fell into place, everyone agreed to follow this plan.

Then, the next agenda item was brought up.

“What about Dave… what do we do with him?”

The question was about how to handle Dave.

According to reports, Dave had defeated the Pied Piper.

The strongest Dark Sorcerer who had overturned Randa by himself. No one doubted this — after all, he had also decimated the Royal Army single-handedly.

But the real issue was this.

After defeating the Pied Piper, rumors had circulated throughout the underworld, particularly among dark magicians.

They claimed the end of the world was approaching, with Dave at its center, and that the way to survive was to worship him and join him in preparing for the end.

This was as absurd as a prophecy about the arrival of the Dark Prince. The problem was, it wasn’t something they could just dismiss.

Dark Sorcerers known to be part of the Puppet’s faction had continued attempting to contact Marie, Dave’s subordinate.

The Black Hand, which had been a loose coalition, was beginning to consolidate under a single magician.

This would be a complete disaster, especially in the current situation where Holy Power had vanished.

And it might be even more dangerous than the Zombie Army, the Royal Army, or even the Pied Piper.

How should Randa deal with someone like him? More importantly, could they even manage him?

“Let’s say we hired him.”

“What?”

“We had some inkling that something was off between Billy and the Puppet.”

“I mean, we kinda stumbled into it, but true.”

“And then Billy Crowley detained us all. So, we claim we hired Dave to expose Crowley’s secret for us.”

“Damn it, does that even make sense?”

“Sure it does. From an outside perspective, that’s exactly what happened. Plus, although the Royal Army got wiped out, no one was hurt or killed. At least, no one died at Dave’s hands.”

“Sounds crazy, but it’s the truth.”

One councilor chimed in.

“No blood was spilled, so people will believe it. Besides, the prison attack was the Puppet’s doing, Forest had already disclosed that, so Dave’s not to blame for that either.”

“Even so…”

A few councilors still expressed doubts.

It wasn’t just that Carver’s suggestion was a stretch, but it was also out of fear.

When faced with someone possessing such overwhelming power, doubt and fear were natural.

Power like that inherently bred suspicion.

But ironically, their doubts were quelled by that very same overwhelming power.

“Do you have any other options?”

When Paul Carver asked that, the councilors, realizing that no other option could be relied upon, stopped offering alternatives.

Choice is only available to the strong. The councilors realized that even if they didn’t like Oliver, they had no choice but to act as though they had hired him and cooperate.

Once the plan was set, Randa’s City Council and every administrative body started moving.

The radio and newspapers, which had been aligned with the Royal Army’s occupation, quickly changed their allegiance, announcing the dirty deal between Billy Crowley and the Puppet, and declared Woodsman Dave as the true hero of Randa.

[Indeed! Randa’s City Council specifically hired the best contractor in the city to expose Lieutenant General Billy Crowley’s dark secret!]

Fortunately, most people accepted the narrative. Deep down, everyone wanted something to believe in during hard times, and this was a very difficult time indeed.

Meanwhile, the council had secretly reached out to both the Royal Family and the Central Council.

Those negotiations also proceeded as planned.

“Thank you so much for exposing Billy Crowley’s dirty secret. We had no idea anything like that was going on. We knew he was overly ambitious, but we had no idea he’d gone completely mad.”

“We thought the same.”

Even though they hadn’t coordinated beforehand, both sides exchanged words as smoothly as if they were reciting a play.

“There was one thing Billy said that sounded completely ridiculous…”

“Just a fluke caused by the operation. You know how villains spout nonsense when cornered.”

“Yes, nonsense indeed…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll edit that part as we see fit.”

“Thank you. Truly, Randa is remarkable.”

The conversation between the Royal Family’s butler and the delegate from the Central Council wrapped up without any surprises. And shortly after, they announced the new line of succession.

This all happened within just three days.

Thanks to this, Randa, which had been losing its distinct character due to the Royal Army’s occupation, started regaining its old color.

But they couldn’t relax. The danger wasn’t over yet. Plenty of unresolved problems remained. One of them was Dave’s whereabouts.

“Where’s Dave? We should at least see him, right?”

“True, we need to hear his thoughts. Not just about this situation… he’s that kind of person now.”

To this, Paul Carver had no answer.

After all, this was beyond his area of expertise, and even if it were, it would be impossible.

The man who had brought an entire army to its knees had disappeared, how could Paul possibly find him?

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud, so he was about to suggest searching through Dave’s known associates when the conference room doors suddenly opened.

Bang.

Normally, the haughty and cynical council members of Randa would shout at anyone daring to interrupt their meeting — insults, jeers, and threats would fly followed by more insults and jeers — but no one said a word.

It wasn’t because the recent crisis had made them more tolerant. Randa wasn’t exactly known for kindness.

The reason for their silence was simple: the man they had been desperately searching for, the man stronger than any of them, Woodsman Dave, had just walked in.

“Greetings, everyone. Hello to you too, Carver.”

After disappearing for three days, he casually greeted both the councilors and the ministers, as if he were simply saying hello to a neighbor, and without waiting for permission, he sat in a chair and blurted it out.

“Yes, the alliance between the Puppet and the Royal Family is real. And yes, the end of the world is coming.”

Everyone fell silent. It was as if someone had walked in and thrown a grenade. Just as they tried to calm their thoughts, he delivered another bombshell.

“Oh, and one more thing. I’m the Prince of Hell. Any questions?”

*****

“What the hell did you just say?”

After what felt like a suffocatingly long silence, one of the councilors dared to speak up.

It took great courage to ask the question, which was why the phrase “dared to speak up” felt appropriate. Meanwhile, Oliver simply shrugged.

“I addressed the things most on your minds. Whether the Royal Family is really in league with the Puppet, whether the end of the world is coming, and who I am.”

Everyone remained deadly quiet, shocked.

Things had been so chaotic lately that it had been easy to dismiss, but even the councilmen had wondered how much they really knew.

After all, there’s a big difference between suspecting something and knowing it for certain.

Oliver had just put a period on all those suspicions.

Yes, the Royal Family had a secret alliance with the Puppet. Yes, the world was ending, and yes, Oliver was at the center of it all.

“Don’t be too surprised. It’s not that difficult to figure out just by looking.”

Just as another question was about to surface, Oliver removed the doubt by volunteering the answer.

At that moment, the last scraps of skepticism melted away like snow.

Just standing in front of Oliver, just hearing those few words from him, had been enough to convince these seasoned politicians of his claims.

They weren’t crazy, so if they believed it, then Oliver really had to be the Prince of Hell.

“Any more questions?”

Oliver asked the troubled councilors once more.

Given that this anxiety was caused by him, his brazenness felt almost offensive, but instead of berating him, the councilors decided to ask what was on their minds. As regular people, not as politicians.

“What exactly is ‘the end of the world’?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“What? You asked if we had questions!”

“I told you to ask, but I never said I’d answer.”

“….!!”

The councilors’ eyes widened in disbelief. They were shocked for two reasons.

One, from the moment they had taken office, they’d never heard anyone dare to say something so insane. Two, this wasn’t the Dave they had known.

Even though they didn’t know him personally, they had heard enough about him from rumors and Paul Carver to form a general impression.

And based on what they knew, Dave wasn’t the kind of guy who’d show up out of nowhere and spout such crazy things.

‘So, what is this?’

‘Is someone impersonating him?’

“It seems you also have something you want to ask.”

Paul Carver, Randa’s Minister of Internal Affairs, seemed to sense something and quietly interjected.

Oliver nodded.

“That’s right. I told you things I was curious about. It seems only fair that I ask a question in return.”

“That’s reasonable.”

Carver nodded, then glanced at the councilors.

Following the flow of the conversation, they communicated through their eyes to grant Carver full authority to handle things.

“So, what’s your question?”

“As the leaders of Randa, how do you plan to deal with the end of the world?”