My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 248

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Father Conceals His Strength
Chapter 248
“…….”
Nicholas blazed with fury at Enoch’s silence.
“You’ve come crashing in here making such a racket—you’ve no hope of negotiating with me over the lives of Vermin.”
“Negotiate?”
Enoch let out a soft laugh.
Then his expression hardened, and he leveled his blade toward Nicholas.
“Today I will hang your head from the highest tower of this fortress, and wash clean the land fouled by your blood.”
“…….”
“Eek!”
The Advisor, Ramon, who had been prostrate, scrambled backward in terror, crawling for cover.
Emperor and Enoch stood locked in silent confrontation.
“Ha ha ha….”
Nicholas’s laughter broke through the frozen stillness.
He had not anticipated Enoch would reach him in so short a time.
Barely ten minutes ago, the Advisor had only just reported that Enoch was engaged with the Imperial knights—no time to prepare.
It was unbelievable.
“Don’t you hear it, Enoch? The desperate screams of those Vermin begging for their lives?”
Nicholas stepped forward and gestured toward the broad windows of the great hall.
“All those Vermin you care for so dearly—they’re dying right now. Does that move you not at all?”
“…….”
“Does it not affect you, since you cannot see them die before your eyes? Hmm?”
Nicholas swept his outstretched arm in a wide arc.
At the same moment,
an immense shadow fell across the bright sky—a vast, crimson fireball.
Boom-crash!
The attack plummeted to the earth with a deafening roar.
Far below lay the quarter where commoners dwelt. There would surely be defensive forces stationed there, sent by the Emperor’s own hand….
“Ha ha ha ha!”
“…….”
Nicholas laughed, watching Enoch’s expression—jaw clenched, eyes narrowed in pain.
“Want me to do it again?”
“Why would you ask?”
But Enoch, whom Nicholas had expected to lower his head and beg for mercy any moment now, remained cold.
“Go ahead. Do as you always have. You’ve devoted yourself to death and destruction with that precious ability of yours—it should be no hardship. Burn your own life if you wish; I won’t stop you.”
Enoch’s response was unlike him, and Nicholas’s laughter slowly died.
* * *
In Jedo, in the common district.
Bodies of the Emperor’s defenders lay scattered throughout the scene of carnage.
Just as the recovery effort was underway, an enormous fireball manifested in the empty sky. All screamed and wailed in terror.
“Everyone!”
Among them stood Julian, commander of the Holy Law Corps, and
“Deploy your barriers at once!”
dozens of high-ranking Ability Users and researchers from the Magic Tower.
In an instant, a blue barrier unfurled across the entire residential district, forming a solid and perfect ward.
Boom-crash!
The cruel tyrant’s fire scattered helplessly in the sky with a thunderous bang.
* * *
“What has made you abandon your convictions?”
Nicholas goaded Enoch with eyes that couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“How many have you killed to reach this point? Did those Diez blocking your path not beg for their lives? Or did they die without even a scream?”
“…….”
“And my poor knights—what became of them? They sought only to defend, their hearts full of loyalty, and yet you cut them down without hesitation?”
Nicholas made a show of rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.
“You are cruel, Enoch. It seems you cannot hear the voices of those in hell cursing your name.”
“Your tongue grows long, doesn’t it? I must frighten you more than I thought—the way you’re needling me, trembling like some insect afraid of being trampled.”
At Enoch’s words, Nicholas’s face stiffened at once.
Swish!
Without pause, Enoch swung his blade.
The sharp blue Sword Aura shot forward, only to be blocked by the shield of a Holy Law Corps mage surrounding the Emperor.
“Why….”
“…….”
“You’re acting like someone who has nothing left to lose, aren’t you, Enoch?”
Nicholas recalled Enoch’s daughter, who would be detained in the Magic Tower.
“Is she safe? Does she greet her father as always, bidding him to return safely?”
“…….”
“Shouldn’t you check on her safety this very moment?”
“Indeed. I’ll do so after I’ve taken your head.”
“Ha!”
Nicholas let out a hollow laugh.
Touching Enoch’s daughter would cost him dearly, so he’d planned merely to keep her detained in the Magic Tower as a hostage and use her as leverage. But….
‘It seems I have no choice but to show him his daughter’s demise before his eyes.’
Nicholas closed his eyes tightly.
When using his Ability on another Ability User, he—as a Primera—envisioned his own form after his Life Force was depleted.
‘……?’
In that instant, Nicholas’s eyes flew open.
‘What is this?’
The image that flickered through his mind for a moment.
An old man on the brink of death, hair white as snow and back bent, covered in wrinkles.
‘Why?’
He was bewildered.
Why did merely summoning an Octava require so much Life Force?
It was at a level where he’d need to drain nearly all of his remaining lifespan.
As if… a Dos….
No—it was demanding even more Life Force than most Dos would require.
Yet Enoch’s daughter was certainly an Octava. He’d used his Ability on the child before, not long ago.
To drain as much Life Force on a lower-ranked Ability User as one would when handling a high-ranked Ability User….
‘Could it be?’
There was only one person in the Empire who could pull off such an unheard-of trick.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Of course—I must do as you command.”
“You’ll hand over the child, and you’ll forgive my past disrespect. For me, it’s quite the bargain.”
The Magic Tower Master, Oscar Manuel, alone.
“That bat-like bastard!!!”
At that moment, Nicholas lost his composure and fury erupted from him.
‘Did he set up this trick because I might threaten the child’s life?’
Grinding his teeth, Nicholas caught sight of Enoch’s lips, quirked upward in what looked like mockery. An expression as though the man had seen right through his panic.
The realization struck Nicholas, and his entire body began to tremble.
‘Could it be…? When did Enoch pull the Magic Tower Master to his side? How long has this been in the making…?’
Oscar Manuel was not a figure easily brought into someone’s fold.
He never leaned with the fluctuating scale of power, hedging his bets between sides. He moved with ruthless calculation, purely for his own gain and security.
So why, then, had he sided with Enoch?
On what grounds?
“Y-Your Majesty…. Perhaps it would be best to… to withdraw for now….”
“Silence!!!”
Nicholas snapped, his voice cutting through the trembling whisper of his Advisor, Ramon, from behind.
If Oscar was aiding Enoch….
“Is the Imperial Throne what you desire?”
With bloodshot eyes, Nicholas jerked his chin toward the golden Imperial Throne behind him.
“How dare you covet the throne, you who wield your Ability only by the grace of this Primera!”
“What I desire is—”
Enoch spoke without inflection.
“Your head alone.”
“You cursed bastard….”
An indescribable rage surged up, scorching his chest. Nicholas ground his teeth and drew rough, ragged breaths.
Five Imperial Guard soldiers stood beside him.
They could not stop Enoch.
That was why his Advisor had urged him to flee at once.
But he could not.
He now knew the Magic Tower stood behind Enoch. If this castle fell into his hands, reclaiming it would become nearly impossible.
Perhaps… an unprecedented situation could unfold where an Ability User who is not Primera seizes the Imperial Throne itself.
‘It cannot be. It must not be.’
Whatever happened, he could not allow his house—or this kingdom—to be taken from him.
‘I was reckless.’
His sword against Enoch, Cheshire, had departed to conquer the Isolem Kingdom.
He could not surrender the name of that great conquering king—the triumph Cheshire would bring upon his return—to Enoch Rubinstein in default.
“Whatever happens, you must stop him at all costs. I will protect him so he does not die.”
Nicholas commanded the Imperial Guard.
Then.
‘……?’
Beyond the collapsed doorway behind Enoch.
A figure’s silhouette was approaching across the corridor.
‘Ah.’
Cheshire.
His sword had returned.
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
Nicholas raised his arm, halting the Imperial Guard’s charge toward Enoch.
“Enoch.”
He laughed with an eerie sound, tilting his head in mockery.
“How strange. It seems the Divine has not yet abandoned me.”
Cheshire drew his blade as he approached. At the deadly killing intent, Enoch turned to look back.
Their eyes met across empty air.
And yet,
Enoch, who had expected to assume a stance of immediate confrontation, gazed calmly at Cheshire before turning his head back toward the Emperor.
‘What is….’
Nicholas felt a strange dread, and his eyes narrowed.
Soon, Cheshire stood quietly beside Enoch.
A moment of silence.
Tearing through that suspicious quiet, Cheshire unfastened the Red Cloak he wore and let it fall to the ground.
The symbol of Dos, the Sword Saint.
And also the symbol of an Ability User’s submission to the Emperor—that crimson cloak
“…….”
was trampled firmly beneath Cheshire’s military boot.
“Ah….”
The moment Nicholas witnessed that treasonous act.
He understood where that omen of dread he had felt in a flash had come from.
“Ha, haha….”
His eyes, bloodshot, widened to their limit. Laughter, as if from madness, filled the great hall.
“Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha!!!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————