Path To Godhood Begins With Marrying Wife And Gaining SSS Rank Skill Chapter 654:The Traitor

A terrifying wave of power exploded throughout the tent.

The ground beneath everyone's feet trembled violently, and the tables shook while the chairs slid backward across the floor. The lamps hanging from above swung wildly as their chains rattled without stopping, and the dancing light cast shifting shadows across the walls and ceiling.

Several weaker officers immediately turned pale under the overwhelming pressure, while others nearly collapsed onto one knee. Even many high-ranking nobles found it difficult to breathe as the invisible force pressed heavily against their bodies. Cold sweat instantly covered their foreheads, and their clothes quickly became damp. Some of them gritted their teeth and struggled to remain standing, while others lowered their heads because they could no longer bear the suffocating pressure.

Ethan also felt the crushing pressure descend upon him.

In truth, he could endure it without much difficulty.

However, unlike the others, he deliberately pretended to be struggling. He slowly bent his body and allowed his breathing to become heavier while making sure not to overdo it.

Even so, he carefully avoided kneeling completely because every Saint Realm expert inside the tent remained standing. Only those below that realm had been forced onto the floor. He quietly tightened his fists and acted as though he was using every bit of strength just to stay on his feet.

The suffocating aura spread across the entire command tent like an invisible mountain pressing down upon every living soul present.

At the center of it all, Haster remained perfectly still.

His expression stayed calm.

His eyes remained cold as he silently observed the horrified faces before him.

For several long moments, he simply waited.

His gaze slowly swept across the gathering while giving someone an opportunity to step forward.

Unfortunately...

Nobody dared admit anything.

Seeing that, Haster quietly let out a slow sigh.

"I see."

"It seems I haven't been taken seriously."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

The quiet sound instantly gave several nobles a strange sense of déjà vu.

That calm laughter somehow felt even more frightening than anger.

Haster slowly lifted his head.

His eyes settled on one particular figure standing near a pillar at the edge of the tent.

"Marquise Marco."

"Why don't you step forward?"

The moment those words left his mouth, every person inside the tent instinctively turned toward the previously inconspicuous noble who had been standing quietly in the shadows.

Ethan's brows immediately furrowed the moment Haster called out Marquise Marco's name.

He quietly looked toward the man standing near the pillar while trying to remember where he had seen him before.

After a brief moment, the memory surfaced in his mind.

Wasn't he the same person who had been sitting together with Marquise Shatad and drinking wine before Ethan barged into the tent and beat Shatad up in the middle of the argument?

In between this,he also beat the shit out of this guy.

Thinking about that, Ethan instinctively shifted his gaze toward Marquise Shatad.

The latter's face was completely filled with horror, and his expression looked genuinely shaken. His eyes were wide, and his lips trembled slightly, which caused Ethan to hesitate.

'Is he acting?' he wondered silently. 'Or does he really know nothing about this?'

Another thought soon crossed his mind, and it almost made him sigh.

'I honestly wish he was involved. It would have been good riddance.'

Meanwhile, Marquise Marco remained frozen for only a single moment before quickly forcing himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, stepped forward without the slightest hesitation, and immediately dropped onto one knee. He lowered his head and shouted loudly enough for everyone inside the tent to hear.

"This is slander!"

"I would never commit such a heinous crime!"

"I would never betray my country."

"Someone is lying and using me as a scapegoat!"

His desperate voice echoed throughout the silent command tent, and many nobles instinctively looked toward Haster to see how he would respond. Some exchanged nervous glances, while others held their breath and waited.

However, the Crown Prince merely stared at Marco without the slightest change in expression. His face remained perfectly calm, and his eyes showed no emotion. Without saying another word, he casually flicked something forward with a simple movement of his fingers.

CRAAANG!

A short blade spun rapidly through the air before crashing into the nearby stone pillar with tremendous force. The sharp metallic sound exploded throughout the tent and startled nearly everyone present. Several nobles instinctively flinched, while others took an unconscious step backward. A few officers even reached for the weapons at their waists before realizing what had happened.

Ethan lowered his gaze toward the weapon.

The instant his eyes landed on it, his heart violently shook.

As one of the highest-level blacksmiths, he could judge the quality of a weapon with nothing more than a single glance. That blade was no ordinary weapon. It was not even an EX-level blade. The craftsmanship, the materials, and the aura surrounding it all pointed toward something that existed beyond that level.

His pupils quietly contracted.

'The blade of the Transcendent Knight...'

A cold chill slowly crawled across his back.

Unable to stop himself, Ethan secretly glanced toward Crown Prince Haster while trying his best to keep his expression under control.

'My intuition wasn't wrong.'

'This guy really...'

Unlike Ethan, almost nobody else inside the tent understood the true significance of that blade.

Well...

There was one exception.

Marquise Marco.

The moment his eyes landed on the unique symbols engraved near the hilt, every trace of color vanished from his face as though all the blood had drained from his body. His lips began trembling uncontrollably, and his entire body shook in fear. His breathing became uneven as he slowly lifted a trembling finger toward Haster as though he were looking at something beyond human understanding.

"YOUUUUUUUU!"

His voice cracked from terror.

Haster calmly met his gaze without the slightest hint of emotion.

"Yes."

"Me, Marquise Marco."

His voice remained as gentle and composed as before.

"This is the blade belonging to the expert who sneaked in to kill me."

"Unfortunately for him..."

"He suffered from bad luck."

"He never knew that I had a backup plan."

A faint smile slowly appeared on Haster's lips as he continued speaking in the same relaxed tone. His eyes never left Marco's face.

"In fact..."

"How could he possibly know?"

"You never told him about it."

"Isn't that right?"

The words struck Marco like a bolt of lightning.

His eyes widened.

His lips trembled even more violently.

His throat became completely dry.

Unable to control himself any longer, he quietly swallowed his saliva while staring at Haster with unconcealed fear. His breathing grew heavier, and the hand he had raised slowly fell back to his side as despair gradually filled his face.