Chapter 127

Rebellion is something you start when you want to, but it’s not something you can end when you want to. Once you pick up a sword, there’s no going back to how things were.

Forward, and forward again. Only by staking your life can you keep moving ahead. Prince Edmund’s face was already drenched in sweat.

“Do you regret it?”

“The die has already been cast. What good would regret do now?”

The nervous prince answered Archbishop Armata’s question. They had already come this far. If they were going to stop the rebellion and surrender, they wouldn’t have started in the first place. And above all, the Temple would never have allowed him to do so.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. We will likely win without much difficulty.”

Prince Edmund trembled as he looked at the remnants of the Imperial Palace’s Protection Magic Array, which had been completely destroyed. He never expected this. He truly couldn’t have imagined that the Church Country possessed such power.

How did this even happen? A traitor? A betrayer? If not, was there some kind of device planted in the core of the magic array?

Unaware of the Dragon Chimera, Yanid, the prince was simply horrified by the power of the Hilrae Church. Not knowing that this power was merely a one-time use, he shivered in fear.

This… this is unexpected. The magic array passed down since the time of the first Emperor has been completely destroyed today.

Even if it was a Protection Magic Array created by the first Emperor by gathering a large number of mages, powered by the Dragon Vein, it was nothing more than a fragile object before the Dragon Chimera.

If things continued like this, even if he ascended to the throne, he would forever be nothing more than a puppet of the Church Country. Every time he heard about the forces the Church had mobilized, his back was drenched in cold sweat.

“This time, we too have suffered significant losses. The Holy Knight and two Saints have come here personally, and we’ve even drawn in Queen Kisea of the Eastern Plains.”

“That Beastmen Master! The Queen Kisea, wielder of the Annihilation Spear?”

“You knew of her. In return, once Your Highness ascends to the throne, you must use the Empire’s power to assist her. That was the condition under which she was hired.”

Prince Edmund was inwardly speechless at Archbishop Armata’s words. Aside from the fact that they were already speaking as if the throne was his, he was horrified that they had made such promises without even consulting him.

Even now, while he was still just a prince, they were already presenting him with the bill. It was obvious what would happen once he ascended the throne. The title of Emperor would be nothing more than a formality.

‘Damn it.’

But the milk was already spilled. Having climbed onto the tiger’s back, there was no choice but to ride it to the end. Outwardly, he obediently agreed and continued to listen to the Archbishop’s words.

“This is more certain than mobilizing a large army. The Emperor will likely not survive.”

‘And neither will the forces loyal to him.’

Archbishop Armata hid the terrifying implications as he spoke. In truth, the Church intended to use this opportunity to thoroughly uproot the Imperial loyalists.

Did the three Archbishops of the Grantea Diocese not know that Edmund, while outwardly obedient, had different thoughts? They simply chose not to address certain matters.

The new Emperor was not someone so docile, and to ensure he left no room for opposition, such measures were absolutely necessary. It could be seen as a form of insurance.

In previous struggles for the throne, no one had touched the loyalist forces, no matter who became Emperor. After all, they would become his loyal followers once he claimed the throne.

But this battle was not a struggle between members of the Imperial family, but a conflict between the Imperial Court and the Church, and further, between Imperial authority and Church authority. It was not something that could be resolved with minimal bloodshed.

“An hour should be enough. Trust us.”

The Archbishop was confident that the Emperor would now pay the price for his complacency. But his confidence was a bit premature.

Just as the Emperor had underestimated the power of the Church, the Church had also underestimated the power of the Empire.

Even though it’s common sense that two tigers biting each other only leave wounds, both sides secretly viewed the other as a mere lynx, unworthy of being their equal.

Just as the Emperor had failed to account for Yanid, the Hilrae Church’s secret weapon, the Church had also failed to account for Leyman and Geher, the two Grand Masters. They were unaware that these two had recovered from their past wounds and regained their peak strength thanks to the Beacon of the Sanctuary.

And then, another variable further complicated the battlefield. The Celestial Dawn Knight Order, an organization left not by the first Emperor but by Master Heron, had grasped the situation.

*****

“The Protection Magic Array has been destroyed.”

The blind swordsman, Xerox, tapped the table with his fingers. This frail-looking blind boy was, in fact, the current Grand Master of the enigmatic Celestial Dawn Knight Order.

That position was not appointed by the Emperor but earned through strength. Master Xerox’s expression grew serious as he listened to the report from his deputy, Natalia. This was no ordinary matter.

“From the moment the Temple began plotting within the Capital, which is clearly Imperial territory, I had my suspicions, but it seems they truly believed in their cause.”

“But how could this happen? The Protection Magic Array created by the first Emperor, who gathered the continent’s most powerful mages and used the Dragon Vein’s magical power as its source, has been destroyed in an instant. It’s hard to believe.”

Deputy Natalia, unusually anxious, continued speaking. Though they looked like siblings, they were clearly superior and subordinate. Xerox remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“…It’s possible. The world is vast, and if they sought a way with their power, they could have found it. We were complacent, and now we’ve been properly caught off guard.”

“The Dragon Knights were stopped before they could even sortie. The Gargoyle statues have become mere decorations. They were all linked to the Protection Magic Array, so when the array was destroyed, they stopped functioning.”

“It seems we… relied too much on the relics left by the first Emperor. Now that the relics are gone, everyone is in chaos… Sigh.”

Indeed, are we any different? We just rely on different people. Xerox thought to himself.

Now, the Imperial forces were like blind and deaf men. All magical means had completely collapsed, shattered by the Dragon Chimera.

Everything left by the first Emperor had ceased to function. Internal errors are more terrifying than external threats.

In such a situation, with the Temple’s forces invading, the Imperial Palace was left defenseless. But that was only until now.

What Master Heron left behind had little to do with magic.

Even Yanid, a master of a completely different field, couldn’t stop or interfere with what he had left. After all, what she could stop and destroy was limited to magical constructs.

“Seniors. I apologize. It seems I must use the relic left by that person.”

Before the wall adorned with portraits of past Knight Order leaders, the blind man knelt and repeatedly apologized. Though he lacked sight, his Sense Energy was superior to others. While others saw the world through light, this hidden swordsman felt the world through magical power.

After offering his apologies, he stood up and took a sword hanging on the wall, attaching it to his waist. The masterless swordsman had left two swords in this Imperial Palace before disappearing.

One of them was the sword Roka had once wielded, the sword he had used in life. Xerox, too, had once held that sword and felt enlightenment.

But that sword was not left for the Imperial family. It showed no reaction to those of the Golden Bloodline, descended from the Gold Dragon.

The first Emperor, Eldrin, had sought out the masterless swordsman and strongly protested. He wanted his descendants to rule the Empire for a thousand years.

The masterless swordsman, however, advised that such things were futile. He argued to his old friend that just as there are days of prosperity, there are also days of decline, and that decline could be the foundation for a new beginning.

But Eldrin’s warning that the collapse of the Empire would bring unprecedented chaos was not entirely wrong, so the masterless swordsman eventually compromised and left behind an additional sword.

Not to enlighten the descendants, but solely to cut down threats.

But he set a condition. The descendants could draw this sword only three times.

He believed that saving the Empire from three crises would be enough. If a nation couldn’t overcome a fourth crisis without his help, it was better to let it fall than to prolong its suffering.

Now was the third and final time. Xerox took a deep breath and stepped outside. Seeing his fully armed comrades waiting for him, he shouted a single phrase.

“The time has come to fulfill our duty.”

There was no verbal response, but everyone nodded solemnly in reply. Xerox quickly assessed the situation and issued their orders.

“Grand Master. Are we going to protect His Majesty?”

“His Majesty already has two Masters by his side. There’s no need for us to be caught up in the enemy’s momentum to protect him. They will surely expect us to gather by His Majesty’s side, so we’ll take them by surprise. We will intercept the Church’s Holy Knights.”

He was not a foolish man, but he had not received crucial information. For the past few days, the Capital had been under strict control, and even merchants had sensed the ominous situation and avoided the Capital.

Even a single mouse had to pass through strict inspections, so much information from the outside failed to reach its destination, and even if it did, it was often ignored.

The formal magical communication channels had long been severed by Yanid, so information did not flow properly. The Capital was now blind.

The true enemy this sword must be drawn against.

The hand of the Death God, polluting the continent, continued to stretch out even at this very moment.