360th Chapter
Ray moved toward the Imperial Capital.
Only after reaching the domain of Swordmasters did Ray finally gain full control over the overwhelming mana, and now there was no one who could possibly stop him.
Ray advanced unchecked toward the Imperial Capital, and until he reached it, there were hardly any brave enough to stand in his way.
There was no need to waste forces unnecessarily against a mortal with transcendent power who would soon die anyway.
In any case, Ray was not someone who could be stopped simply by trying to halt him, so abandoning the defense of the Imperial Capital was a wise decision.
Still, even at that moment, the Emperor remained seated on the throne without fleeing from the Imperial Capital.
“…”
Ray entered inside the Imperial Capital.
Part of the defense system activated, attempting to repel Ray.
Numerous barriers disrupted his vision but were nullified by Ray’s Absolute Domain.
Ray effortlessly dismantled the remaining few defenses of the Imperial Capital and continued moving forward.
Until the distance to the throne had grown very short, aside from the defense systems, there were no others who dared to block Ray’s path.
Then, just as Ray was one door away from the throne, Royal Guard Michael stood before him.
“…”
“…”
Michael was a loyal knight and also someone who sought a glorious death.
And yet, upon this final battlefield where he stood, Michael wore an expression of bitterness on his lips.
Without exchanging words, Ray and Michael swung their swords at each other.
Even though Michael was clad in top-tier armor, he couldn’t even properly counter Ray’s sword strikes.
Before long, Michael, whose body was shattered, grabbed onto a severed pillar, rose, and then fell silent.
Ray passed Michael and opened the final door leading to the throne.
“…”
“…”
The Emperor was still seated on the throne.
The Emperor and Ray stared at each other.
If either had questions, they desired answers from each other.
The Emperor wondered why Ray had become so desperate.
The Emperor tried to understand Ray as a person and offered the greatest mercy possible from his position.
However, since the Emperor ultimately lived a life different from Ray’s, he couldn’t comprehend Ray’s choices or desperation.
On the other hand, Ray was curious why the Emperor chose to remain seated on the throne until the end.
Though some guesses arose, Ray couldn’t be certain unless he heard directly from the Emperor.
But now, all these questions seemed futile.
The Emperor, maintaining his composure until the end, looked down at Ray from the throne and spoke.
“The karmic debt the Empire failed to settle 600 years ago has come for me.”
“…”
To the Emperor, who had already made his peace, Ray swung his sword.
The trajectory of Ray’s swing left a shallow cut across the Emperor’s chest.
As blood flowed from the split heart, the Emperor exhaled deeply.
Before consciousness faded completely,
Emperor Poibos murmured quietly, recalling his predecessor.
“I have no face to meet my father.”
Though self-critical, Poibos was undoubtedly wiser than his predecessor.
The former emperor, swayed by emotions, delayed resolving issues regarding the heir, which led to the decline of imperial authority and chaos.
At least Poibos didn’t repeat those mistakes.
He valued bonds with his subjects while never being swayed by emotions.
However, like his predecessor, failing to fully understand another person eventually led to tragedy.
“…”
Poibos maintained the dignity of the Emperor until his last breath on the throne.
After observing this, Ray dropped Moros.
“…”
The physical body had long surpassed its limits.
What kept Ray’s broken body standing was nothing but sheer willpower.
And now, having reached the final destination of his goal, Ray’s willpower collapsed along with his body.
A sense of helplessness overwhelmed Ray as he fell forward.
“…”
Thoughts scattered.
Trying to reminisce about something, but Ray no longer had time to mourn.
Long before, Ray’s body had lost its pulse, and when it finally stopped moving, it was indistinguishable from a corpse.
“…”
Ray no longer moved.
From the gaping hole in his chest, only faint traces of blood dripped onto the floor.
At that moment, a small group of knights who had defied orders arrived at the throne.
Upon witnessing the desolate scene, they momentarily lost their voices.
Clang!
Regaining their composure, the knights drew their swords and pointed them at Ray.
No trace of life remained in Ray, yet the knights attempted to sever even his head.
Just before the swords swung, a voice echoed through the space.
“Ray.”
The knights turned at the sound of the voice.
A disheveled young girl approached the throne.
Recognizing her identity, the knights attacked the girl with their swords.
Unfazed, the girl revealed her Circles.
Four Circles emitted flashes of light, unleashing magic.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking filled the air.
The small number of knights were no match for Luna.
Luna incapacitated the knights and rushed toward Ray.
“Ray… Ray… Ray…”
By the time Luna reached Ray,
there was no trace of life left in him.
All she saw was Ray’s empty chest, his raging Core now extinguished.
Holding the dead body in her hands, Luna repeatedly called out Ray’s name.
“Ray…! Ray…! Ray…!”
Luna dragged the bodies of the fallen knights towards herself.
She squeezed out their blood, mixing it with Ray’s own, and poured it into his hollow chest.
Forced by Luna, the blood began circulating through the ruptured veins left behind after Ray’s heart exploded.
Warm blood flowed through the tattered veins.
This was truly… absurd.
Before the damage to the body, Ray’s flesh and soul were collapsing on their own.
It was the price for the temporary infinite power he had gained.
Nevertheless, as Luna continued pouring blood into Ray’s chest, she eventually grabbed his collar and screamed.
“Ray!!!!!”
Ray gave no response.
Luna gripped Ray’s collar tighter.
“You promised you’d come with me!!!!! You said we’d start again!!!!!”
It was a lie.
Luna knew it was a lie, but she couldn’t hold onto Ray, and Ray died alone here.
“I did everything you wanted!!!!! I dedicated myself to your wishes!!!!!”
Facing the cost of such a long dedication, Luna ultimately revealed her hostility towards Ray.
“I’ll kill everyone…!! I’ll curse this world without you…!! Those you loved… those you hated… I’ll kill them all with my own hands…!!”
Darkness began to settle into the forming fifth Circle.
The darkness within the Circle represented Luna’s resentment towards Ray and was both her final threat and desperate cry.
It was a heart-wrenching plea: “I can’t stay the same without you… please come back to me.”
At that moment, Ray’s remaining hand lightly rested on Luna’s crying head.
Ray’s voice reached Luna’s ear.
“…Don’t do that.”
“Ray…!”
“You… Luna… you…”
With his last ounce of strength, Ray leaned towards Luna and moved his lips.
“You promised… to be a good mage, right?”
“RAY!!!!!!!!!!”
Luna screamed in anguish.
But Ray could no longer hear her clearly.
In his fading vision, Ray muttered quietly.
“If only I had just met you… and quietly stayed with you, your mom and everyone else…”
Unaware of the future, he had thrashed about.
Unable to compromise or pause, unable to look around.
Now, Ray deeply regretted it all.
Always trembling with anxiety, yet finding the happiest times, Ray let dry tears fall onto Luna’s shoulder.
“I… until the end… I’ve always been with…”
“…”
Ray closed his eyes.
He would never open them again.
Luna could feel Ray’s soul shattering beyond repair up close.
“No… No…”
Luna stood up, holding Ray’s body.
Carrying Ray’s crumbling body, she headed toward the throne.
“I can’t lose you like this.”
Approaching the throne, Luna pushed the Emperor’s corpse aside.
The throne was the central system managing the infinite mana of the mana vein flowing beneath the Imperial Capital.
Luna placed Ray’s body on the empty throne.
“Ray… please…”
Tears that seemed to have dried up completely flowed down Luna’s cheeks.
The girl’s fierce love completed the fifth Circle.
The five Circles emitted flashes of light.
The control emanating from the five Circles forcibly drew in the mana from the mana vein beneath the Imperial Capital.
Luna concentrated all the drawn-in mana to form a single spell.
Crack!
Around the throne, spacetime began to freeze.
The exact same scene Ray had experienced in Resina Records enveloped him once more.
The frozen spacetime severed all connections with the outside world.
The speed at which Ray’s soul and body were collapsing gradually slowed.
However, to achieve complete isolation from the outside and maintain that state, much was still lacking.
An apparition of Resina appeared beside Luna and pointed this out.
“Insufficient.”
*
Before using the self-destruction technique.
When facing the final choice,
just before giving Luna the bracelet containing Aptel, Ray privately asked Aptel.
“Did you interfere?”
[…]
It was a question based on solid intuition.
Ray knew that the residual thoughts left by Resina were far from friendly to the Empire.
Additionally, Resina’s lingering thoughts were aware of Lea’s existence and possessed countless ways to expose her.
If Lea’s sudden exposure to the Empire wasn’t a coincidence, there was only one entity that could be suspected.
In response to Ray’s question, Aptel shook his head.
Frowning, Ray watched as Aptel’s hair elongated and his features changed.
The apparition of Resina mediated through Aptel smiled.
“Yes, I interfered.”
“What is your purpose? Answer me.”
“Alright.”
Resina openly revealed her purpose to Ray.
Ray mulled over Resina’s confession for a while.
Then, he informed Resina of the plan he was willing to sacrifice his life to execute.
Resina recounted Ray’s plan in front of Luna.
“Contacting and persuading Anthonyus. Eliminating Ernst, who you alone currently find difficult to oppose. And seizing control of the Imperial Capital and its defense system.”
“…”
To the extent that Luna understood Ray,
Ray also understood Luna.
He knew too well that Luna would never leave him alone.
Even assuming extraordinary luck, escaping the Imperial Capital with an unarmed pregnant woman was pure fantasy.
The continent’s total forces were concentrated here, and deceiving them was impossible, even for Ray and Luna.
Thus, Ray’s objective from the beginning was to seize control of the Imperial Capital and its defense system.
If Luna could gain even partial assistance from the defense system, she could fortify the Imperial Capital as a stronghold.
Therefore, the ‘escape’ Ray mentioned was a lie from the start.
“…”
The major functions of the defense system stopped due to the meteor strike.
However, if the mana from the mana vein could be properly channeled, Luna would undoubtedly become a transcendent force here.
Without a ‘Swordmaster’ capable of deploying an Absolute Domain, it would be difficult to assault Luna with mere armies.
It would be impossible to break through without risking total annihilation.
Ray had finally reached the endpoint of his plan.
However, one variable Ray hadn’t anticipated was the Emperor’s judgment.
The Emperor remained alone on the throne until the end.
He sealed the key systems of the capital to prevent enemies from utilizing or destroying them.
“To complete and sustain the spell delaying this child’s destruction, I need access to the capital’s systems.”
“…”
“And even if I assist, to restore some of the functions sealed by the Emperor…”
Resina continued smiling as she spoke to Luna.
“A human with royal blood who has completed a contract with the founding dragon of the Empire is required.”
“…”
“Do you still have the royal family member you brought alive?”
Demon King (2)
