The chaos of the past few days had ultimately been wrapped up with the official investigation concluding that the evil Shadow had created a zombie horde to overrun the royal capital, then caused two worlds to collide in an attempt to destroy the world.
The world itself was perfectly fine. Even after being chopped into six pieces, it had returned to normal, and both its overall size and landmass had actually increased by a third.
As for Shadow, after flying into an impotent rage over the failure of his plan, he had fled the royal capital in defeat. Meanwhile, everyone who had been turned into a zombie but remained physically intact had returned to normal.
At least, that was the story Cid had managed to piece together after spending the past few days treating, sheltering, and resettling the capital's citizens, while trying to keep them from losing their minds over the experience of becoming zombies.
Oh, apparently there was more.
According to some inside information from Eta, the Hero Faction had taken advantage of the world-ending crisis and the gap created when Shadow destroyed the barriers. They had dispatched large numbers of Evil Dragons and black-robed figures to seize a freshly produced batch of top-tier materials.
As a result, there were now suspicions that Shadow and the Hero Faction were working together.
Heh.
Cid did not care.
It was not as though this was the first or second crime that had been pinned on him. Once you had enough debts, a few more hardly mattered. If anything, the more blame the various factions threw his way, the more impressive his record became.
Maybe one day he could even earn a title like "The Most Evil in History."
Besides...
He really was plotting to destroy the world.
The more viciously they smeared him now, the harder the truth would slap them in the face later.
"Hehe..."
"BOOM!"
Cid had barely let out two sinister chuckles when an explosion suddenly rang out nearby.
He paused and looked toward the source.
Hmm.
It seemed a few of the hundred thousand or so surviving residents had suffered another PTSD episode and started a terrorist attack.
Cid was not surprised in the slightest.
How should he put it...
Some people were not exactly grateful to the ones who saved them.
After all, when they regained their senses after being zombies, some had found themselves with their jaws wide open, gnawing on someone's arm.
There were even plenty who had eaten their own family members.
After going through something that traumatic, the survivors either ended up terrified out of their minds or mentally unstable, burdened with enormous psychological scars.
It would hardly be strange if some of them suddenly snapped and lashed out at society.
"Guards, go arrest them and give them somewhere to calm down. Remember, don't hurt them."
A beautiful woman with fiery red hair watched the scene and let out a sorrowful sigh before ordering the knights beside her to handle it.
"Your Highness Princess Iris, aren't you... being a little too merciful? They're causing trouble at a time like this. Shouldn't they be executed on the spot?"
"No. They're only pitiful people who lost their families and friends. The true evil..."
Princess Iris shook her head, rejecting Cid's rather extreme suggestion.
She spoke with a compassionate, sorrowful expression.
"Is the inherently evil Shadow! He is the source of all sin and evil!"
Her voice suddenly rose.
As though she shared an irreconcilable blood feud with Shadow, Princess Iris ground the words out through clenched teeth, her voice filled with blazing fury and bone-deep hatred.
"..."
The sinister smile on Cid's face froze.
He looked at the First Princess Iris, fell silent for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh.
"Um, Your Highness Princess Iris, I know everyone outside is saying Shadow caused this disaster. As for the part about him cutting up the world and trying to destroy it, I won't comment, since I was... I mean, I wasn't there."
"But there's something else I personally witnessed. According to Alexia and Christina's analysis, the Thirteen Nightblades were behind drugging everyone in the city and turning them into zombies. Shadow actually stepped in to help and repeated what he did in the Lawless City to save everyone."
"Cid, let me correct you on one point. That isn't a rumor. It's a charge recognized by nations across the world."
"Second, Alexia, that idiot who has been brainwashed by Shadow and fallen for his attempts to sow discord, knows nothing about Shadow! And yet she actually believed those ridiculous rumors!"
Iris spoke with the frustration of someone bitterly disappointed in a loved one.
As Alexia's older sister, even she did not know what to do with her anymore.
Perhaps one of life's greatest forms of helplessness was having no choice but to watch a loved one run straight into a fire pit while being powerless to stop them.
That fire pit might be a schemer manipulating them.
It might be gambling or drugs.
Whatever it was, it certainly would not end well.
"But aren't there rumors among the public..."
"You just said they're rumors, Cid. And you actually believe them?"
Princess Iris stared at him as though he had said something ridiculous.
Cid felt deeply humiliated, but when Iris pulled out a document, he could only fall silent.
"I want to believe my sister. If she could give me even the slightest bit of evidence... no, if I could find even a shred of evidence myself, I would be willing to believe her."
"But no matter how hard I try, I can't conjure evidence out of thin air."
"These are the test results from samples taken from the remaining supplies distributed by Marquis Despoht and the others. I had them independently examined by three government institutions and five private organizations."
"Unless all eight institutions were compromised, the evidence is conclusive. Don't even think about falsely accusing thirteen nobles who devoted themselves to the country and its people."
"All thirteen of them have already been murdered by Shadow, and the power of their families has also been attacked by my father. They're on the verge of being stripped of status."
"I intend to plead with my father. I cannot allow those who devoted themselves to the country and its people to meet such a miserable end because of political infighting."
Iris finished in a low but resolute voice.
After confirming that her assignment had been completed without issue, she turned to leave, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Cid.
Could it be...
Did I really kill the wrong people?
Were the Thirteen Nightblades not the ones who poisoned everyone?
Cid blinked, his mind filling with doubt.
At the time, Alexia and Christina had sounded absolutely certain. They had practically nailed the blame onto the Thirteen Nightblades beyond dispute.
But looking at the evidence Iris had now produced...
Could those guys actually have been good people?
Should I go to the Underworld right now and apologize to them...
Wait.
Were they really good people?
Cid abruptly snapped out of his thoughts and narrowed his eyes.
The evidence Princess Iris had produced did prove that the Thirteen Nightblades had not poisoned anyone.
But that did not prove they were good people.
After all, anything the Invincible Vampire Slayer had found inside a dead man's house could not possibly have been fake.
Which meant that even if they had not poisoned anyone, they still deserved to die.
Besides, considering how Princess Iris had previously investigated the Thirteen Nightblades only for her conclusions to end up nowhere near the truth, there was another possibility.
According to the principle that one's position determines one's thinking, the chance that someone had successfully bribed all eight testing institutions was extremely low.
But it was definitely not zero!
"Ah, I almost forgot. There's something else I need to tell you."
Iris, who had already started walking away, suddenly came back.
She glanced cautiously from side to side and lowered her voice.
"Cid, once you're finished with everything here over the next few days, you should leave and stay somewhere outside the country for a while."
"Huh? Why?"
Cid stared at Princess Iris in confusion.
He genuinely could not understand what she meant.
Normally speaking, after surviving a disaster of this magnitude, the royal capital, which was now packed with powerful fighters, should have been the safest place in the entire Kingdom of Midgar.
"How should I put this... I'm worried Shadow might come back and attack you."
"???"
Seeing the question marks practically covering Cid's face, Princess Iris sighed and explained helplessly.
"Last night, my father received intelligence from several other kings within the alliance and passed it along to me."
"The disappearances haven't only occurred in our country."
"To be precise, on the night of the zombie outbreak, large numbers of citizens vanished overnight across multiple countries."
"Given the sheer number involved and the intelligence we've gathered, we believe the culprit was Shadow."
"???"
Cid was both shocked and delighted.
He had already prepared himself for all sorts of crimes to be pinned on him, but he genuinely had not expected even something like this to end up on his record.
"Princess Iris, why do you think Shadow did it?"
"Because the only person capable of crossing that many countries in a single night and silently taking away so many lives is Shadow. He has both the ability and more than enough motive!"
What kind of logic was that?!
Just because I can do it means I did it?
So being strong means people get to point a gun at you?
Cid took a deep breath.
"...And what motive would that be?"
More than having yet another crime added to his record, Cid was curious what kind of genius had managed to conclude that he was responsible.
"That day, something urgent came up and I had to leave the capital temporarily."
"But I never imagined that this was Shadow's strategy to lure me away."
"Shadow seized the opportunity created by my absence and began carrying out his plan. By the time I returned, the royal capital had already fallen."
"I was no match for Shadow and was defeated."
"Then, right in front of me, he restored the people inside the city, which was already on the verge of destruction, back to normal."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Iris shot Cid a look, apparently annoyed that he had interrupted her, then cleared her throat with a few coughs.
"It was a good thing."
"But the devastation of the royal capital was clearly caused by Shadow in the first place. So why would he suddenly stop and save everyone?"
Her gaze sharpened.
Princess Iris spoke with complete certainty.
"Based on the calculations of my advisors, along with the theory I proposed, I won't claim that our conclusion is absolutely infallible, but we're ninety-eight percent certain."
"In order to make the two worlds collide and destroy the world, Shadow overtaxed his body. Afterward, he fought another unknown 'World's Strongest' and suffered severe injuries."
"That's why he withdrew the power sustaining that endless sea of zombies."
"What an utterly heinous man."
If you want to frame someone, you'll always find an excuse.
So because I wasn't the one who created the virus, I apparently had no reason to cure it?
"But even after withdrawing that power, the injured Shadow still didn't return to his full strength."
"So he began attacking ordinary people and draining their life force to heal his wounds."
No exaggeration, no boasting.
The entire Kingdom of Midgar put together could not survive one slap from his pure physical strength.
Just because he had become weaker did not mean everyone else had suddenly become stronger.
And more importantly...
He had not even been injured.
"Maybe Shadow really was just trying to help?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Cid tried giving her a subtle hint.
Princess Iris reacted as though she had been triggered, wildly gesturing with her hands.
"Zombies were eating people everywhere. The city was burning and falling apart. And while looking down at that living hell, Shadow actually let out that horrifying laugh!"
"If he isn't evil, then he's a complete psychopath!"
"Just curious. Did Shadow laugh like this?"
"Hahaha..."
"Not really. It's not evil enough."
"What about this?"
"Ahahaha..."
"That's a little evil, but it lacks the aura of a madman."
"Heh heh heh..."
"The aura is there, but you're missing the soul-piercing demonic quality in Shadow's voice."
"Hmph-hahaha-hm-hm-ha..."
"That was pretty good, but it still doesn't feel as authentic as Shadow."
Are you insane?!
Cid's expression twisted.
Was Princess Iris absolutely sure she was not slandering him?
His laugh last night had obviously been the first one he had demonstrated!
"Don't be discouraged, Cid."
"Other than Shadow himself, I doubt anyone could truly imitate that sinister laugh."
"Especially someone like you, a spirited young man with justice in his heart. There's no way you could reproduce Shadow's voice perfectly."
"You already did very well."
Seeing Cid's twisted expression and assuming he was disappointed, Iris patted him on the shoulder.
She had to admit that Cid's imitation had been remarkably convincing.
An ordinary person might genuinely have mistaken it for the real thing.
Unfortunately, while Cid could imitate Shadow's outward form, he could not reproduce the soul behind Shadow's voice.
He had failed to capture even a trace of Shadow's greed, his love of eating children alive, slaughtering cities and destroying nations whenever he was in a bad mood, his bloodlust, his willingness to sacrifice countless lives without caring who died, or the madness of making the entire world his enemy.
"It's unfortunate that so many people have been deceived by Shadow, and that reproducing his voice is so difficult."
"Otherwise, I could simply make a recording of Shadow's voice. I'm sure the elite forces throughout the world would recognize him immediately."
Iris shook her head regretfully.
Her incompetent allies really were difficult to work with.
She had already given such specific instructions, yet not one person had managed to produce a convincing imitation.
Apparently, only Shadow himself could make that sound.
"Yes, yes. It's all my fault."
Faced with Princess Iris's unwavering conviction, Cid suddenly felt at peace.
Perhaps nobody in the world understood Shadow better than Princess Iris did.
If even she had reached this point, what else could he possibly say?
Besides, she was the one who had been beaten to her knees, not him.
He might as well go along with it.
"But Princess Iris, could you explain something?"
"What do you mean when you say Shadow was 'severely wounded by an unknown powerhouse at the level of the World's Strongest'?"
The empty look in Cid's eyes suddenly sharpened.
He had found the real problem.
This was outrageous.
Slandering him was one thing.
But claiming he had been injured fighting a weakling?
Absolutely not.
She could call him evil.
She could not call him weak.
"Oh, that? I don't actually understand it very well myself. I'm only repeating the analysis from my advisors."
Iris rubbed her chin.
She made no attempt to pretend she was an expert and openly admitted that she had only heard it from others.
"They based their conclusion on what Knight Marco discovered while investigating the enormous crater outside the royal capital."
"To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why my advisors are so certain that Shadow was seriously wounded by an unknown powerhouse who sacrificed his own life."
"Their certainty makes it sound almost as though the person fighting Shadow was sending them reports during the battle."
"But that's outside my field of expertise, so I trust their analysis..."
"That said, based on what I know about Shadow, there's also a possibility he wasn't injured at all."
"He might even have deliberately created the evidence of his supposed injuries to mislead everyone."
"He could be pretending to be weakened while secretly planning something behind the scenes."
"Something involving the destruction of the world."
"Perhaps he's preparing to unleash another apocalyptic catastrophe."
As Cid listened to Iris casually tear apart the whole situation, a chill ran down the back of the mastermind who had deliberately suppressed his Magical Power during the fight and had recently obtained defensive maps of the major factions so he could put pressure on them.
Oh no.
She got everything right.
Could she really be a genius?!
"Whew. It was nice talking with you, Cid. I feel like I've gotten a lot of stress off my chest."
"Remember to tell Alexia what I said."
"I really do have to go now."
Watching the red-haired beauty walk away, Cid forced a sinister smile.
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