Pirate Kingship

Even on the brink of death, you still feel utterly satisfied.

All because you thought you’d finally found true Love!

But this Dancer is completely useless except for providing emotional value.

She can’t straighten out a whole Kingdom’s finances like her big sister, and she can’t drive technological innovation like the eldest lady either.

Like this, and she still daydreams all day about making the kings of the Continent kneel and lick her boots?

One hundred percent another Demon Concubine who’ll bring ruin to the country and its people!

Once you’re done with this errand, I’m definitely kicking you over to cousin’s "United Pharmaceuticals" for re-education through labor."

Right now, by leveraging the taboo insight into the [Seven Layers of Veil Dance], he cleanly and decisively took Salome down.

But in the eyes of the outside world, that [Styx of the Nether River] kept swelling and shrinking, as if the Dancer sealed inside was still struggling desperately.

The corner of Byron’s eye also caught Mercurius’s face turning downright ugly.

If only two clowns had been caught he might have let it slide, but given how important Salome was to him and that [Capricious Joker], there was no way he’d give up.

And on the surface it looked like Byron had struck first at the Dancer, while the Dancer hadn’t displayed any Strange Arts, seemingly the innocent party caught in the crossfire.

Sure enough, the Ferdinand Family’s Warship swung its bow around and came alongside.

"Duke Cosimo" called out from afar like some peacemaker:

"Your Majesty the Frenzied Hunt King, what on earth is going on here?

Are those two clowns and the Sea Monster assassins?

But I can vouch that Miss Salome is innocent.

Her fame as a beauty has spread throughout the Empire and the various countries of the Continent; she’s a frequent honored guest of many big shots, so please, do hurry and let her out."

Listening to this soft words with an iron core, Byron also guessed what he was thinking.

He figured Byron was still in the dark, and wanted to use the Ferdinand Family’s so‑called "worldly connections" to coax the Dancer back without having to resort to bloodshed.

The Ferdinand Family members behind him all wore approving looks, chiming in one after another:

"Your Majesty the Frenzied Hunt King, Miss Salome is so beautiful, she must be a good person!"

"Please, spare her."

"It’s truly hateful that the assassins exploited Miss Salome’s presence like this..."

Seeing this posture, Byron pondered for a moment as if seriously considering their suggestion, then suddenly gave "Duke Cosimo" a bizarre grin:

"You got... pegged by Louis XI."

Even after living a thousand years, with an excellent Temperament, at those words the "Traitor" couldn’t stop his heart from jolting.

He didn’t even have time to think about how Byron had learned this secret, or how much Byron actually knew about him; clinging to a sliver of hope, he forced a smile and said:

"Are you talking to me? You must have mistaken me for someone else."

Byron turned a deaf ear, once again solemnly repeating:

"You got pegged by Louis XI."

"I haven’t set foot in the Iris Kingdom for nearly ten years, Your Majesty shouldn’t make that kind of joke at random."

"You got pegged by Louis XI..."

No matter how the "Traitor" argued, Byron just kept repeating that one line.

The Ferdinand Family members could tell something was off too, and couldn’t help falling silent one by one, already feeling the atmosphere on the ship grow more and more bizarre.

Same person, different fate.

Byron had run into Salome earlier, while the Traitor had run into Louis XI, and the consequences were worlds apart.

After the third repetition.

When Byron finally called him out by name:

"Son of Jupiter, Mercurius, you got pegged by Louis XI."

Even a thousand‑year‑old Pseudo-God could no longer think about using the Ferdinand Family as a human shield.

Or rather, precisely because he had lived a thousand years, he cared unbelievably much about this sort of thing.

The rational strings in Mercurius’s mind finally snapped.

"Aaaah... Byron Lancaster, I should’ve killed you back when you were waging the Throne War against the York family!"

On reflex he wanted to write Byron to death with the History of the Silver Continent.

His "Divine Aspect" once again began to stir.

Then he caught himself, Divine Light flashing over his body as a black‑covered parchment book appeared in his hands, the title on the cover glaringly clear... "Divine Comedy", by Dante!