Chapter 75

“Not bad at all. It feels like my body has rejuvenated by twenty years. Even if my lifespan hasn’t changed, I can live more comfortably until that day comes.”

The Emperor, who had consumed the Firefly Meringue in front of the gathered crowd, leaned back on his throne with a more relaxed expression. The faces of the people, who were leaving in shock, were filled with awe and envy.

The desire for that small fruit the Emperor had swallowed naturally overcame the fear of being in his presence. Knowing that those who saw his greed would seek out the priest, the Emperor ordered the Celestial Dawn Knight Order to keep a close watch on Kyle.

“Madlen, what do you think?”

The Emperor didn’t bother to elevate himself in front of this person. Because this person deserved it.

“It’s definitely the power of the Ancient God. I’m certain of it.”

“Has the darkness within you disappeared?”

“The black energy of Grimudo, which I couldn’t expel no matter how hard I tried, melted away like ice under sunlight when it touched that light.”

The person called Madlen fell into deep thought while looking at the Beacon of the Sanctuary.

“The Demon King Grimudo’s power is something even the Three Divine Gods couldn’t overcome. Unless it’s the Law of the Universe, nothing can overwhelmingly suppress the Demon King’s power like this.”

“Madlen… no, I shall call you Sir Leyman now. Sir, I didn’t ask before out of respect for your dignity, but now I need an answer.”

The Emperor had refrained from asking until now, but the need had arisen. When the Emperor asked, the old man called Leyman looked troubled. It wasn’t that the answer was difficult, but recalling that time seemed painful.

“Just how powerful is Grimudo that even someone like you couldn’t overcome even a fragment of his power and suffered all this time?”

“His black energy has the power to devour and assimilate all magical power in the world.”

The answer didn’t come from Sir Leyman. Another old man slowly walked up from behind, his hands clasped behind his back.

The nobles would have been quite surprised to see this man. The treasure keeper who guards the imperial secrets. Why was this nameless old man here? Was he of such high status that he could face the Emperor directly?

“During battle, his energy spread through our magical circuits and took over, hardening and controlling the flow of magic. It clung to our circuits like a leech, corrupting them.”

“We tried to push it out with divine power, borrow magical energy, and even swallowed elixirs. But it stubbornly remained. All remedies were ineffective. Even though it was just a fragment of his power, we had no way to reverse the corruption.”

“That’s why even at our level, we couldn’t draw magical power from the world or naturally recover it. That’s why we’ve been powerless all this time. If it weren’t for our level, the black energy would have completely devoured and eroded all the magical power in our bodies.”

Indeed. This man’s name is Elder Geher.

Along with the quiet Leyman, he was a challenger from a previous era who faced the Primal Demon King. But that challenge was only possible because they didn’t know about Grimudo.

Master Leyman still shudders at the thought of their foolishness that day.

“No master on the continent could match us, so we called ourselves Grand Masters. Not knowing that a name you give yourself is vanity, and only the name others call you is not, we were swept up in arrogance and challenged the Demon King of the Arctic.”

“Neither I nor this friend were a match for him. Only after fighting him did we realize why he didn’t try to conquer the continent and become Emperor.”

Would you believe that the magical energy that naturally flowed into our bodies during the battle still remains, even after decades, and continues to exert its toxicity?

If it weren’t for our high level of mastery, we would have been completely consumed by the black energy and died miserably.

With such a vast gap in power, worldly authority means nothing.

When you are already authority and power itself, would having a title like Emperor make you feel better?

“In my opinion,”

Sir Leyman sighed.

“To face Grimudo, the one from five hundred years ago must return.”

Of course, that person is not the first Emperor.

That person inherited the bloodline of dragons and reached the level of a master as an individual. But no matter how legendary the first Emperor’s achievements were, they are meaningless before the Primal Demon King.

Even the Emperor can do nothing alone without help. If the current Emperor has Leyman and Geher, the founding Emperor must have had similar people.

A swordsman without a master. Master Heron. This person ended the chaos of five hundred years ago and established a new order represented by the Empire. Then, he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

“Only by facing the sword he left behind could we shed our vanity.”

Elder Geher also admitted it. They thought of themselves as Grand Masters, but in reality, they were just slightly stronger masters.

What is a Grand Master? Even being a master is considered the pinnacle of humanity.

The concept of a Grand Master hasn’t even been properly established yet. So if you think you’re stronger than other masters, you might call yourself a Grand Master.

But now we know. Throughout history, there has only been one person truly worthy of being called a Grand Master.

Only that person from five hundred years ago.

That person didn’t seek out the Primal Demon King, and the Demon King didn’t seek him out either. So no one knows who was superior.

But at least that person wouldn’t have been as helpless against Grimudo as we were. Leyman and Geher would have bet everything on that one point.

“Anyway, it’s a good thing that you two have recovered. Just in case, I’ll ask, but you’re not planning to head back to the Arctic to settle things with Grimudo, are you?”

At the Emperor’s joke, the two old men laughed awkwardly.

Settle things with Grimudo? How dare they? They had neither the qualification nor the ability.

Going back to the Arctic would only result in two more corpses, let alone revenge.

“If you’re planning to stay by my side, could you help me out one more time?”

The Emperor finally got to the point. The two masters readily agreed.

The Emperor is the one who hid and helped the two who suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Grimudo and fled to the Empire.

This favor wasn’t enough to repay with their lives, but it certainly moved them deeply.

“It’s not difficult. Just say the word.”

“I want to test my son.”

The Emperor slowly continued. The two weren’t very surprised.

Hiding in the imperial palace to recuperate and seeing such things once or twice? It’s practically an annual event.

“Edmund, even if that child rebels, it wouldn’t be a big deal. If he has the ability to usurp my throne, I would gladly step aside and hand it over to him. But my son has joined hands with the Temple. The Temple only cares about the will of the gods they serve, no matter what happens to our Empire.”

“If the goddess wills it, would they care about the Empire’s interests? There have been countless struggles for the throne, and I wasn’t a crown prince either. But no one who ascended the throne ever sold the Empire’s interests to others. I really don’t want to break that precedent.”

If the Emperor were truly ruthless, he would have executed Edmund as an example without hesitation.

If he were a bit more compassionate, he would have made Edmund withdraw from the struggle for the throne and given him a suitable position while trimming his power. But giving him another chance was because he, too, was human.

The Emperor wasn’t a bad ruler in many ways, but when it came to his children, he couldn’t be ruthless. In fact, things had gotten this tangled precisely because he couldn’t be ruthless with his children. It was his greatest flaw as a ruler.

“Having risen to this position through bloodshed, I don’t want to see more bloodshed in my old age. I don’t know. It’s up to that child.”

Rebelling to become Emperor isn’t a big deal. If it proves his ability, I might even hand over this heavy burden immediately. The Empire certainly needs such ability now.

But the Third Prince has not only joined hands with the Temple faction but has also started selling the Empire’s interests to the Temple. The fact that he joined hands with the Temple to assassinate the Crown Prince was already a line crossed. That’s why, despite his worsening illness, the Emperor didn’t make the Third Prince the Crown Prince.

But when it came to passing the throne to someone else, none of his own children met his expectations.

In fact, he had even considered adopting a successor, though it never came to pass. Now that Ardein has returned, the Emperor’s options have increased.

“At this point, I really don’t want to see more bloodshed. Shedding family blood is something for the young. It’s not something to do at this age.”

But someone who sells the Empire’s interests to another faction as Emperor?

That’s not something I can overlook just because he’s my son. That’s why the Emperor sincerely hoped Edmund would pass his test.

Even if my children can’t forgive each other, I hope they can at least tolerate each other, though I know that might not happen.

In fact, deep down, I know it probably won’t.

“That’s why I’m doing this even though I know the answer. Maybe I’m just trying to comfort myself.”

“What’s the plan?”

“If it doesn’t come to light, how about we take care of it first?”

Despite having eaten the Firefly Meringue and rejuvenated, his face looked ten years older again.

“If we push that child a little, all the answers will come out. I just hope Edmund doesn’t make the worst choice. Then I’ll have to… do what I must.”

Family disputes are hard to meddle in.

The two old men deliberately looked away, pretending not to hear. But inwardly, they were replaying the Emperor’s plan in their minds.

“Now, let’s get up. You two must be busy, so I won’t take up too much of your time. Ah, Sir Leyman. Could you go and tell the Imperial Chamberlain that I’d like to invite my daughter and that priest to dinner?”

There was no need to ask which daughter he meant. Leyman nodded.

“Ah, and tell them to bring that child Roka too. Whether it’s two or three, it makes no difference.”

If that child is truly the hero chosen by the Goddess of Hope, the Emperor has something to give her.

Elder Geher asked, looking quite surprised.

“Are you going to give her a chance to wield that sword?”

“It’s not something I can just give. That sword was never mine to begin with.”

The masterless swordsman left his sword embedded in the ground before he departed. Many members of the imperial family have tried to pull it out, but the sword never responded. This sword wasn’t left for the descendants of Illumina.

Though it’s in the imperial palace, it was left for others, not the imperial family.

Even Leyman and Geher weren’t chosen as the sword’s masters. They only grasped the sword and gained some enlightenment, which allowed them to advance further.

“Everything is up to the sword. I’m just giving her a chance.”

The Emperor, too, in his youthful days, had tried to unravel the sword’s secrets, thinking it held the key to the same strength as the masterless swordsman.

Now he understands. The sword was never his, and he is merely its keeper.

The masterless swordsman, like Leyman and Geher now, was more of a partner to the first Emperor than a subordinate. There’s no record of what he thought of the first Emperor, but it’s clear he didn’t want the opportunity he left to be monopolized by the imperial family.

Just this one point shows that the imperial authority has always faced significant constraints from the beginning. Masters, who can wield power beyond that of any group, are in a somewhat horizontal relationship with the Emperor—he can request, but not command.

But is it only the imperial authority that’s like this? It’s the same everywhere.

It’s not a condition unique to the Empire, so the Emperor always felt sorry to his ancestors whenever he looked at the Empire’s lands. The situation wasn’t great when he inherited the throne, but a ruler must answer with results, not excuses.

If he couldn’t do that, he shouldn’t have worn the imperial crown in the first place. As the Emperor of a nation, who else could he hold accountable for the state’s affairs? In the end, only himself.

“In my life, I’ve made countless mistakes.”

The old man sighed as he looked at his reflection in the window.

“Those mistakes have tangled into a knot that can’t be undone until one side dies. Even though I know a knot can be cut with a sword, I’m a foolish man for trying to untie it with my hands.”

So I can’t pass this responsibility on to the next era. No matter what the outcome, I must resolve it while I’m still alive.

Even if that outcome tears my heart apart, there’s nothing I can do. That’s the duty of sitting in the Emperor’s seat.