Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume12 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

&mdash;The scene enacted there was hell on earth.

"Please stop, royal sister! You must not advance any further!"

Scorpia&mdash;According to legends, the demon scorpion palace used to be Demon King Solomon's residence. It was now being assaulted by hundreds and thousands of demon spirits.

Fighting alone inside a bloodstained hall was the Alphas Theocracy's second princess and general of the hierarch's royal guard, Saladia<!--サラディア--> Kahn.

Waist-length blue hair. Amber eyes infused with intense light.

However, heavy despair filled the face of this young girl who had only reached sixteen this year.

She was holding in her hand a grimoire.

Alf Laylah Wa-Laylah&mdash;the elemental waffe for summoning countless spirits.

"Oh my, you're looking energetic, my dear Saladia&mdash;"

The witch's lips were distorted in a grin of mockery.

She knew that her twin younger sister was bluffing.

&mdash;Several hours earlier, the eldest princess, Sjora Kahn, had suddenly led two hundred cult troops and taken over Scorpia. The soldiers guarding the royal palace were crushed helplessly by the onslaught of the demon spirits. The militarized spirits controlled by elementalists were devoured completely before they could bring out any of their true worth.

The Theocracy's royal guard were no pushovers. Led by Saladia Kahn, these elementalists guarding the palace were all experts who could each take on a thousand.

However, they were all defeated in quick succession before they could even release their elemental waffen.

The summoned contracted spirits were all in disarray, baring their fangs at their own contractors.

Similarly, the countless spirits summoned by Saladia Kahn started slaughtering one another.

While this hellish scene repeated nonstop in the center of the great hall, the witch walked leisurely.

"Fu, fufu, fu..."

"...Tsk... Oooh, ooh..."

Further ahead from the hall was the throne. Naturally, Saladia could not allow the witch to advance any further&mdash;

But with knees trembling, she was rooted to the spot. The witch's serpentine eyes pinned her down.

(...That's not my elder sister Sjora. It's a monster that will devour the nation!)

With a trembling hand, Saladia drew the scimitar from her waist.

"Ah... O-Ooh... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

With a mighty yell, she charged at the witch.

"Oh dear, you really seek death that much?"

The witch jeered.

She dodged the blade lightly and punched Saladia in the gut.

"Kahah&mdash;"

"Ahh... Guh... Ooh...!"

The Theocracy's princess general moaned and spat out blood.

At the same time, Sjora picked up the scimitar&mdash;

"Foolish sister. Despite the fact that you have never wielded a sword before."

"...Guh... Go ahead, kill me&mdash;"

The amber eyes were filled with hatred as the girl glared at her elder sister.

"Fufu, of course I won't kill you so easily. Because you are still useful."

The witch stepped over Saladia, collapsed in a pool of blood, and continued towards the throne.

Then&mdash;

"&mdash;I have returned. Hierarch."

She pointed the scimitar at the old man on the royal throne.

"...Have you gone mad? Cursed woman."

Next, a hoarse voice echoed in the great hall.

"A snake's child is ultimately a snake. Letting you live was evidently my greatest blunder."

Dressed in a crimson robe, the old man spoke with bitterness in his voice.

The Alphas Theocracy's current hierarch&mdash;Rajihal<!--ラージハル--> Kahn.

Despite having passed the age of eighty, the old king's gaze still had not lost its sharpness.

He was the tough warrior who survived the two Ranbal Wars despite the Theocracy's location, surrounded by the Ordesia Empire, Dracunia and other powerful countries.

Bloody conflicts between clan members were nothing rare. Nevertheless, he had crushed countless enemies along his path, stepping over numerous corpses, remaining in power to rule this Theocracy in spite of its political instability.

But right now, the witch was pointing a murderous blade at his throat.

"&mdash;You have no right to sit on that throne."

"And you do? Cursed snake woman&mdash;"

"Fufu&mdash;"

Sjora laughed in mockery and swung the scimitar horizontally.

Throat slashed, the old man fell from the throne as a corpse.

"&mdash;Hierarch!"

Saladia screamed mournfully.

"&mdash;This throne ''was mine in the first place''."

Sitting down on the bloodstained throne, the witch snapped her fingers.

Immediately, powerful cult troops entered from the great hall's open door.

"Find the surviving royals and throw them in prison. Kill anyone who resists, I don't care. Oh, but don't kill any princess maidens, or the princess general fallen over there. Accomplished elementalists still have value for certain uses."

"...Doing this, royal sister, what are you planning!?"

Collapsed in a pool of blood, Saladia yelled.

"Ahhh?"

"The continent's various nations will condemn this coup d'etat. Royal sister, you have provided the wolves with a perfect pretext to invade the Theocracy!"

Suspected of connections to the Demon King cult, the Alphas Theocracy was frequently decried by neighboring countries. In spite of that, it had successfully remained free from large scale invasions owing to the diplomatic prowess of Rajihal Kahn&mdash;the hierarch who was now lying dead before the throne.

"Pretext huh&mdash;"

Sjora Kahn scoffed.

"I am the one looking for a pretext. I want to ignite the fires of war on this continent."

"Wha... Why, why are you doing that&mdash;"

"Kukuku, need I spell it out? It is the Demon King's mission!"

"..."

The clear-cut voice rendered Saladia Kahn speechless.

"Royal sister... You, what on earth..."

Muttering in shock, the second princess was arrested by the cult troops.