The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

The academy had just had such a big conflict with the kingdom, and then it clearly sided with Edel to interfere in the empire's internal strife. It's as if the Holy Knights left the academy and then their home was about to be taken over.

The kingdom will not sit idly by and wait for its demise.

"That's it..."

Hearing this reply, Adele was not disappointed; on the contrary, she was secretly pleased that Venere would stay and help her.

Unfortunately, individual strength is ultimately limited. Even if Vener can defeat opponents at the level of apostles and demons, his contribution to the overall situation will still be limited.

However, Venere thought that Adele did not believe he could help her regain the throne, so she offered another bargaining chip.

"If the identity of Vena is not enough, then how about the identity of Arios?"

"You mean you can represent the hero?" Edel's eyes lit up instantly.

“At least Arios won’t crawl out to refute me,” Viner said, glancing at the sky outside the window.

"If that's the case, then perhaps we really do have a chance of winning."

Wiener's promise instantly opened up a new avenue for Adele's thinking.

Compared to an empress whose position is not yet secure, the title of hero is undoubtedly much more useful.

She is now trapped on the border and unable to contact her scattered allies. Even if she testifies against Lucien as the Empress, it will be difficult to spread the word.

If one can claim to be an empress with just a territory and a few soldiers, then Lucien could easily create dozens of "Edel".

Most of the empire's citizens never had the chance to see Edel's true face; they always knelt before the supreme throne.

But the brave are different.

Over thousands of years, the concept of a brave person has become deeply ingrained in people's minds, and the appeal of one person is greater than that of a thousand troops.

It is a more effective claim to heirship than princes or princesses.

The only downside is that before acting under the guise of a hero, one must first consider whether they truly possess the ability to tear demons apart.

Otherwise, you'll have to wait until St. Freya Academy, the demons, or the hero himself come knocking on your door, and then you'll be in for a world of trouble.

“If that’s the case, I can raise an army against Lucien alone in the name of Arios without revealing my identity,” Edel continued.

If she were to raise an army under the identity of the late emperor's daughter, the people of the empire would only focus more on which of the two empresses was real and which was fake.

This is tantamount to forcing the team, and one wrong move could risk splitting the empire apart.

Even if they eventually reclaim the capital, Lucien can easily shift all the blame onto Sylph, who is merely a puppet.

The monarch's authority cannot be insulted. Whether Edelman likes it or not, someone has to pay the price for impersonating the Empress.

The price to pay is her life or Sylvan's life.

However, if it is stated in the name of the hero that Lucien is colluding with the demons, then the meaning is quite different.

In this way, the empress was still a good empress, but she was deceived by treacherous people, and the purpose of her uprising became to eliminate treacherous officials and restore order to the court.

In this way, Lucien could not remain uninvolved no matter what.

The world's attention will be focused on whether he has colluded with the demons.

As long as Edel doesn't step in, the problem facing those neutral imperial nobles will no longer be about trusting the empress.

Instead, they choose to stand with Lucien or the hero.

"So that's how it is, 'cleansing the court of corrupt officials'?"

After hearing Edel's plans, Venere couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"Purge the court of corrupt officials?" Adele repeated the three words, a meaningful smile appearing on her lips. "What a fitting name."

“Now that the direction is clear, go for it. I will cooperate with you as much as possible through my identity as Arios,” Vena encouraged. “As for the academy, leave that to me.”

"Thank you very much." Adele looked at Vina gratefully.

-----------------

Although the policy has been finalized, the specific implementation details still need to be further improved.

Werner couldn't help with these matters, so he summoned Jim to prepare his horse and went to the smelter again.

“Master Wiener,” Koffman said, still with the same respect.

"I've heard that the demons have found a way to deceive the demon-hunting equipment?" Vena asked bluntly.

“That’s true.” Kaufman nodded, a hint of worry in his voice. “Have you found a solution?”

“We have to try it first.” After a moment of contemplation, Viner instructed, “Gather all the magic-hunting equipment in your inventory and give it to me.”

"I'll get right on it." Kaufman immediately organized the factory's craftsmen to get busy.

Wiener took this opportunity to consult with the experts.

"Little Ai, how did you discover the existence of those demons?"

“Hmm… I guess it’s instinct?” Escudo’s voice echoed in Vina’s mind.

She is a holy sword forged with the goal of destroying the demon god, and is naturally sensitive to the existence of the demon race.

This is a capability that ordinary humans cannot imitate.

Escudo was deeply shocked when he learned that Vena had designed the Demon-Seeking Equipment by referencing only a few pieces of hero's legacy.

Unfortunately, the more sophisticated the instrument, the more prone it is to problems.

Once the equipment for finding demons becomes widely available, there will always be people or demons who will figure out how to break it; this is an inevitable trend.

Before long, Koffman returned with a batch of various demon-hunting equipment. "Master Viner, these are the equipment we currently have in stock. Do you think they are enough?"

“Well, you go ahead and do your other things. I’ll see if I can improve them,” Viner nodded, her tone thoughtful.

"Please let me know if you need anything."

Kaufman respectfully excused himself from Wiener and then left the room.

Viner picked up the pieces of demon-hunting equipment from the table one by one, carefully comparing and examining their structure.

First, we ruled out problems with the equipment itself.

Since the failure was not due to a technical defect, it is highly likely that some demons, in order to survive, began to change and mastered the method of human emblems to conceal their aura.

"I should have left two demons behind for testing." Viner regretted acting too quickly earlier.

Just as he was lost in thought, Escudo suddenly suggested, "Why don't you let me give it a try?"

“Of course,” Wiener immediately agreed.

As soon as he finished speaking, the holy ring that had been wrapped around his hand suddenly transformed into a dazzling light, quickly enveloping all the demon-hunting equipment in the room.

The entire process lasted for a long time, with a strange energy fluctuation permeating the air, until the light gradually dimmed and then stopped.

"That should do the trick."

Escudé, who had transformed back into the shape of a ring, spoke much weaker, as if he had expended a great deal of power.

As Vina looked at the demon-seeking equipment tainted with the aura of the holy sword, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

"That's really... pretty brutal."

Chapter 598 Sigurd's Hush Money

After being processed and enchanted by Escudo, it would be inappropriate to call this batch of equipment "enchanted equipment".

It's not unreasonable to use them as demon-slaying bombs, even if it's a bit extravagant.

Unfortunately, this method consumes the power of the Holy Sword, and even Vener himself cannot easily replicate it.

After seeing Escudo's weakened state, Vena decided not to let her use the same trick again.

"thank you."

Although the method used was not what Wiener had hoped for, he still encouraged little E.

Given the limited time and resources available, Wiener had no right to demand that she do better.

Is this enough?

Escudo asked in a low voice, as if one word from Vena wasn't enough, and he wanted to continue to force himself.

“That’s enough.” Viner nodded repeatedly.

The room was filled with over a hundred pieces of equipment, more than enough for the Lafner family to start their uprising.

As for things further in the future, he can't concern himself with that.

Viner gently stroked the holy ring on his hand, then pushed open the door and went out.

When Kaufman, who was demonstrating to other craftsmen, saw Wiener come out of the forging room, he immediately handed the forging hammer in his hand to the person next to him and quickly went to greet him.

"But what trouble did you encounter during the process?" Kaufman asked with concern.

"No, everything has been adjusted. Just send someone in later to gather all the equipment together." Vina said expressionlessly, after all, this was entirely Escobar's doing.

"So fast?" Kaufman's eyes widened. The thought that the problem that had troubled him for months had been so easily solved by the other party made Wiener's position in his mind even more unfathomable.

“This situation is rather special; it’s not solely my achievement. Remember to use this equipment with extreme caution,” Viner cautioned.

“I understand,” Kaufman quickly bowed.

Seeing that the other person seemed hesitant to speak, Vena took the initiative to ask, "Is there any other question?"

“If Master Wiener is not in a hurry to leave, could you—” Kaufman began, but his gaze swept over the surrounding craftsmen.

The craftsmen looked at Wiener with eager eyes, their faces full of anticipation.

Upon seeing this, Wiener immediately understood what Koffman meant.

“You…” Viner smiled helplessly, but did not refuse. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and walked straight to the forging table. “I can only demonstrate once.”

"Quickly make room for Master Vener!" Kofman hurriedly called out to everyone.

-----------------

"Here, hush money." Back at the Lafner family mansion, Viner casually shoved a strangely shaped spinning top into Sigurd's hand.

This spinning top was equipment he had just forged at the smelter, and it was still slightly warm when he brought it back.

"What is this?" Sigurd looked down at the iron block in his arms, somewhat puzzled.

As one of only two people in Snowdrift Valley who knew that Arios was an imposter of Venus, he found it increasingly difficult to understand his classmate.

In just over a year, Viner went from a novice herald to a level that even his father was ashamed of.

If it weren't for the Armor of Calamity, I probably would never have crossed paths with him in my life.

“You can think of it as a summoning device,” Venere explained casually, “for self-defense.”

"...How do I use it?" Sigurd sat up straight, his expression becoming much more serious.

He knew very well that any equipment that earned a "can be used for self-defense" rating from Wiener was definitely not ordinary.

"It's very simple. You just need to find a lake, launch this spinning top, and you can summon a super cool vehicle," Viner said casually.

"You want me to find you a lake in Snowdrift Valley?" Sigurd asked through gritted teeth.

If it weren't for the fact that Vena had done a favor for Snowdrift Valley, he would have loved to smash that top right into the other person's face.

However, what Wiener said next instantly changed his attitude.

“Since you’re going to follow Edel, you won’t stay cooped up in Snowdrift Valley forever. If used properly, this spinning top should be able to hold off an ordinary demon without much trouble,” Vena added.

"Well, I'll figure out a way to deal with the lake problem myself."

Upon hearing that this spinning top could summon a vehicle comparable to a demon, Sigurd's expression immediately changed drastically.

He carefully put the top into his pocket as if it were a rare treasure.

"Is this really a good idea? Such a precious thing, given to a useless person like me?"

Sigurd was still somewhat puzzled, as if he felt unworthy of this gift.

Such a treasure should be placed in the hands of a more suitable person to unleash its full potential.

"It's just that you think it's precious."

Delaying and defeating are completely different concepts.