Ryan was unsure what to do.

As a Captain in the royal guard, he had never in his life been faced with such a difficult decision.

The hero- the one who was said to serve justice and fight for humanity, was in front of his eyes after having slain a noble and threatened the king.

As a guard, it was obvious what Ryan should do. He needed to eliminate this criminal here and now, before things got out of hand.

However, this was the hero.

The King had taken such lengths to ensure that the Ruthobold Kingdom held onto the hero, and now he was supposed to kill him? This would put his country into an extremely weak position diplomatically, and it would incur the wrath of the other countries for not having simply complied with the Emperor and trying to greedily hold onto power, before killing off the very hero they so desperately clung to.

Along with this, this hero had killed the Emperor himself. Even if they killed the hero here and put the blame on the dead hero, their relationship with the Empire was tarnished. War was an excessively likely scenario, and without a hero nor the control over the Indeterminant, who had left for the Empire, the Kingdom was in an extremely bad position. In a worst case scenario, the Empire would awaken their own hero before leading a force right into the Kingdom.

To further matters, he would not even be able to kill the hero if he tried. The hero was said to hold power beyond belief, and as such he wouldn't be able to just kill him, even if he attacked with his entire troop of 20 men who had gathered and circled around him.

Finally, Ryan just a few moments before found himself speaking and chatting with the hero as if nothing was wrong.

Was that all just an act?

Ryan found that hard to believe. He felt that the hero must have had a good reason for this. Even so, he could not let his emotions stop him from doing what needed to be done.

Their swords were all drawn, and they all stood waiting for someone to make the first move- namely their captain.

As the leader, it was the job and the responsibility of Ryan to make the difficult decisions.

There was never any right choice, only decisions which were a complicated mix of good and evil, where the leader had to weigh out the pros and cons of each and bear deep within their conscience the knowledge that by their decision, the evil which they chose had occurred.

Was this really the same hero who just earlier was speaking of becoming a pillar for all to lean on?

Or perhaps, he still intended on doing so?

Was it possible that this hero had actually done something right, and eliminated deep corruption within the nobility, and intended to completely rewrite the system in order to do so? Perhaps the Emperor did indeed have a deep rooted corruption, and this was merely this hero's radical form of justice, going against all diplomacy and simply radiating justice, radically causing change in the world.

Was this simply Ryan's foolish hope, which he had placed in the hero? Or was there really a good reason behind his absurd actions?

He didn't know what to do, however just as he was pondering what to do, the hero did something unexpected.

He removed his armor.

He dropped the chestplate he was wearing to the ground, and smiled kindly at Ryan as if he was speaking with a lifelong friend.

"My friend, tell me what you think, Do you believe that I would kill that man without reason? Do you truly in your heart think that I have simply slaughtered him in cold blood out of anger or insanity? That is not the case. I have removed him from this world because he stood in the way of a peaceful and just kingdom. I understand how dirty it can look... I understand how disgusting and disturbing it can be to see justice being performed... true justice. Not a naive justice that tries to have everyone get along while keeping the entire system the same... oh no. I am looking for something much greater than that. Will you come with me on this journey, or will you kill me here? Do you know what I think? I think it is necessary for each man... for each leader in particular, to make his own decision. So I will give you the choice."

Kyle opened up his arms, as if he was going to hug Ryan.

"If you wish, you may take a free stab at me. If you kill me, then that is your own justice, by your own decision."

Ryan was even more sure now what to do.

This man in front of him was offering himself as a sacrificial lamb in order for him to fulfill his own sense of justice?

What should he do?

"What are you doing, idiot!! Kill him now while he is unguarded!!", King Ruthobold shouted at Ryan.

However, Ryan couldn't move.

'This isn't justice... to kill an unarmed man without even understanding the truth behind his motives... and a hero at that... I cannot... forgive me, my king...'

Kyle smiled at seeing that Ryan was plagued with indecision.

"It is difficult, is it not? When you don't understand what is right and what is wrong? You already know this. How easy it is to follow someone else's decision. You can hold them accountable if anything goes wrong, but how difficult it is to be the one to bear the burden. I have found the answer, my friend. I have figured out what is right and what is wrong, and as the hero I am ready to bear that burden. All you need to do is follow me, and I will lead you to it."

Ryan dropped his sword at this.

"Forgive me, my king. I cannot kill the hero. For the sake of the people of this country..."

"YOU FOOL!!! THIS MAN WILL LEAD THE COUNTRY TO RUIN IF HE IS NOT KILLED HERE AND NOW!!!", the king shouted.

After the king shouted this, a clang noise was heard from behind the back of the hero.

Another guard had tried to stab Kyle from behind, however his face came filled with terror on seeing that his sword had bent as if it were a piece of plastic on contact with the tough skin of the hero.

"Im... impossible... his skin is stronger than steel... it bent my sword so easily..."

Kyle looked at the soldier behind him.

"I'm sure you understand well which side you have chosen by doing that."

Kyle grabbed the waist of the man who was standing by him, and picked up his entire body, wrapping the man around his neck like a scarf. A cracking was heard as the spine of the man was twisted, and Kyle then prepared to throw the man aside.

With a heaving motion, like he was throwing a sack of grain, he threw the man into the wall with an excessive amount of force. Blood splattered all over the wall, which had caved in at the location of impact, and the man's eyes went white as they rolled back into his head. The body fell to the ground with a loud thud, and landed in the wooden seating area, crushing it.

"Listen up, to everyone here. I am a hero. It pains me to have to take the life of another man, but as you can see, he attacked me first. Is there any soldier in here who doesn't understand that by attacking another, that they put their life on the line? I do not think so. Now, Ryan. It seems you have spoken through your inaction. You do not wish to come against me? I threw that man against the wall because he attacked me from behind, however if you attack me from head on, I will not fight back. This goes for any other soldiers here. If you can manage to kill me, then I will accept that and die for you."

Kyle looked around at all the soldiers faces.

"Is there nobody who wishes to take up the challenge?"

A female soldier stepped forward.

"I will do it."

"Go ahead."

Kyle held out himself for her to attack, and she walked up, taking a swinging stance.

She had fear in her eyes, but there was also a fire there. Her hands were trembling, but her heart told her to move.

She was doing what she believed to be right, in killing such a chaotic person.

Slash! Slice! Slash!

A flurry of swings sliced into Kyle, clanging against his skin as he did not even move. He continued to hold himself still while enduring the brunt of the blows.

The woman danced around him, putting power into every strike. She aimed at his outstretched arms, at his chest, and at his legs.

She thrusted forwards with a piercing motion towards his heart, however this too was met with a loud clang, and she reeled back from the impact.

However she didn't give up.

She aimed for his neck, and sliced it, to no avail. The sound of fingernails on a chalkboard could be heard as the iron blade slid past where the artery would be.

The woman began breathing hard.

She knew she could not kill him, but she had to continue.

'Will this man really allow me to go after doing this? No, that doesn't matter. I need to kill him, no matter what. My life is not important... I am doing this for the sake of the king and for the sake of the people of the country...'

She brought the blade above her head, and thrusted it downwards on to the head of Kyle. He did not move, but instead allowed the sharp blade to hit him square on, which once more rattled as it struck him.

The woman had little strength left, and she was shaking so hard at this point that she could barely even move. Fear was beginning to overtake her.

'But wait... what if I aim for his eyes...'

It was a cowardly move, but perhaps he had a weak point.

She once more put herself in the position to thrust towards him, and ran forward with her blade in hand.

She thrust right into the eye of Kyle, who did not even blink as the blade smashed into his eye.

Clang!

To no avail. He did not have such a weak point.

'How can he take a hit to the eye without so much as even blinking! Even if he is a hero, surely he wouldn't know that his eyes are protected! Even if he did... to take such a blow would still be concerning, and at least cause you to close your eyes...'

"Are you wondering how I can stand here without even blinking at your onslaught?"

The woman looked flustered, and fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Er... well, yes..."

"It is because I have seen things much more terrifying than my own demise... I have seen things much more disturbing than my own pain... and I have walked by them without so much as blinking an eye. How then, could I even dare to blink at something so trivial as being attacked?"

The woman's heart beat at this.

'Wha- what is this? Why... why do I feel like I shouldn't be fighting him? Why... why do I feel like I should instead follow him?'

The woman dropped her sword, however it was not out of surprise or giving in. It was simply because her hands were shaking too much to hold onto it.

"I see that you were unable to kill me. However, you were able to face me head on, and did not do anything shameful, like the man who tried to stab me from behind without a second thought. However, I have told you a lie. The reason I killed him was not because he tried to stab me from behind."

"What?", Ryan exclaimed.

"It wasn't!?", Another man shouted.

"Why did you kill him then?", The woman asked calmly, however her heart was alight. She felt as if this hero was about to enlighten her on a form of justice she could have never come to on her own.

"I did not kill him because he stabbed me from behind. There is nothing cowardly or shameful about stabbing others in the back. I have been stabbed in the back before, and I see nothing wrong with it. If I needed to do so, I would, so long as it was for the greater good. Politicians do it all the time, and it is nothing more than a tactic to be used... the difference between that man and you, is that he was doing it for the glory of being the one who killed an outraged criminal... while you instead, were attacking me in order to save people from my rampage. Isn't that right?"

The woman stood back in shock, as she looked over to the man who lay dead on the wall.

He was indeed, a soldier who had bribed his way into the position of royal guard, and was willing to take any method in order to increase his status- including the murder of the hero. He must have seen the chance and taken it, never once considering the good of the people or any form of justice. He was simply trying to increase his reputation.

How did the hero know this?

"Now, is there anyone left? If your intentions are as noble as this young lady here, I will not hesitate to spare you of any attacks. However, if you have ill intentions, know that nothing will escape my ability to [Perceive Intentions]."

The woman's heart bounced around within her chest at being called a young lady.

However, all the men around dropped their swords.

They understood well after her show that they could not best the hero. He had no weak points, and resistance was futile.

"I see. I will take your silence as agreement. Now then, King Ruthobold, I believe earlier you said that you would not allow the nobles to be replaced with a certain 7 prostitutes? Why is that exactly? Do not speak, for I already know. It is because deep in your heart, you seem to believe that you are above them, and you would never even consider submitting your power to such women."

Kyle ran towards the king, and in a tenth of a second went across the room from where he was fighting the guards over to the front of the throne.

"W-wait!! I apologize, hero!! I was wrong in making such a statement!!"

"Were you also wrong in ordering all those soldiers to kill me off?"

"I was wrong!! Forgive me!!"

"And were you also wrong in lying to me just now about being wrong? You aren't actually feeling any guilt, are you? You're just lying through your teeth, begging for forgiveness in order to survive, right?"

"What!?! N-no!!! There is no way..."

Ruthobold wiped the sweat off his face before he started to mumble incoherently.

"T-there... cough... urg.. no... ah... no... ick... th..."

"Lying? Will these incoherent mutterings be your last words?"

He caught his breath after barely being able to speak, and muttered one last statement.

"W-wait... I am... your father..."

"Hm? Did you just say something?"

The king seemed to catch his breath, and his eyes lit off as he grabbed onto a final shred of hope to save himself.

"I... I am your father!!! Forgive me, hero, but you are among my sons, of a different mother than the queen!! You... you wouldn't kill your father, right!??! I am related to you by blood!!! And here before you are all your half brothers and sister!!! If you are taken into the family, you can become the next heir in line to the throne! I am sure that Reginald would have no problem heeding you the title of successor! You can become the king! You will surely take pity on your own father, and come into our royal family, no?"

Kyle's face twisted with absolute horror and disgust. He wore a face of which showed his complete detest for the man in front of him.

"My father? You, my father? Us, related by blood?"

Kyle knew from his [Perceive intentions] ability, which he had been using the entire duration of the session, that the king was indeed telling the truth about being his father. However, he was also using this in order to survive, and had no intention of actually submitting the title of heir to the son of a whore.

"Come into your house as a member of your family? A useless father like you who abandoned me, leaving me to burden those women at the brothel? While they labored to take care of me, you were over here living lavishly like a king, even as the mother of your own child died and her colleagues were sacrificing their entire livings to feed your child? Is that how you treat your son, and the mothers of your sons? No. That's not right. You have spoken before through your actions, and the message came to me loud and clear. I am not your son. And just as I am no son of yours, you are no father of mine."

Kyle walked over to the throne, and the king began squirming in his seat.

He continued spouting incoherent language, as Kyle approached him.

"Mmph!!! Agh!!! No!!! Stay back!!!"

He held out his hands in order to defend himself, however before he even knew it, Kyle's palm was on his head, which had been splattered across the headrest of the throne.

"This king had no form of justice in his very being. From beginning to end, he only ever cared about himself. He even went so far as to offer me the right to become the heir, but he didn't offer me the throne right now, did he? Isn't that ironic? To the bitter end, he wished to clamp onto his silly position, while only prolonging a disaster."

Kyle turned to Reginald and smirked. He knew that Ruthobold had no intention of giving away the position, but the others had no way of knowing this.

"Isn't that funny, oh BROTHER OF MINE. He was about to give away your position as heir. To a dirty, common, bastard like me. Does that make you rage within your heart? Does it fill you wish jealousy, just like that other 'brother' of mine? Sister, do you not have anything to say about this? Your beloved father just got killed in front of your eyes. Does anyone wish to join him?"

Reginald, Reagan, Arctus, and Sylvester all were completely horrified, however they didn't speak a word. If they said anything, they would likely be killed.

"I see... nobody has any complaints. Then, oh good brothers and dear sister, it looks like this seat has been emptied."

Kyle then threw the butchered body of the king off the seat of the throne, and it landed at the bottom of the steps leading up.

Kyle took a seat, and crossed one leg over the other in a kingly manner. Folding his arms, he let out a smile and beckoned the guards with his index finger to come closer.

"It looks like this Kingdom has now become one ruled by the hero, and the number of those in opposition... are zero."