CH 219

[Your HP has decreased below 10%. You are advised to take a break.]

[Your Mana has decreased below 6%. Depleting your Mana will risk you getting infected with the Demonization Syndrome.]

……

[You have entered the ‘Brink of Death’ state!]

“Huff! Huff!” Chang-Sun panted hard, soaked in enough sweat to drench his coat. He wanted to lie down—no, he wanted to faint if he could do as he pleased because of how fatigued he was. Such a response was only natural, however, since his HP, Mana, and mental stamina had almost reached zero. His radiantly shining Drăcōnígĕna Monólĭnum was also gone now.

He had unsealed three relics and fought three Celestials in a row, one of which was the ‘Tian Shi Yuan,’ who was notorious even in . The [Execution Sword] alone was already difficult to use for prolonged periods with Chang-Sun’s current Class. His Class, which he had built with difficulty, could destabilize.

The possibility of that happening was increasing right now. He had to drop everything and rest. However, he showed superhuman resolve instead and remained standing. Still having unanswered questions, Chang-Sun tried to watch the conversation between Thanatos and the Emperor’s Seat.

‘Is he really the Emperor’s Seat?’ Chang-Sun wondered. That question had already crossed his mind when he had first exchanged blows with the Emperor’s Seat.

‘His attacks were too weak.’

Chang-Sun knew the Emperor’s Seat very well. They used to be so close that he almost called him father before. However, the Emperor’s Seat that Chang-Sun knew was an absolutely powerful Celestial. He had the strength, prestige, and abilities to live up to his title as the leader of the . Chang-Sun even thought that the Emperor’s Seat could become an Emperor-level being, which he had only heard about in legends, with more Faith.

The Emperor’s Seat that Chang-Sun had fought just now was nowhere near that level. Although Chang-Sun had trouble winning, the Emperor’s Seat couldn’t overwhelm him. He was way weaker than Chang-Sun expected.

Whirl―!

Clink, clink!

As Chang-Sun wallowed in his thoughts, the pulleys quickly turned, and the Divine Steel chains from the tied up the hands and feet of the Emperor’s Seat.

[The Celestial ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ has been arrested!]

Creak!

The pulleys beyond the hole turned in the opposite direction, tightening the Divine Steel chains around the ‘Tian Shi Yuan.’ The more the chains tightened, the more the [Zhan Lu Sword], which was still in the chest of the ‘Tian Shi Yuan,’ shook. The Emperor’s Seat had now been completely subdued, but instead of getting dispirited, he still held up his head high. It seemed he was calmly accepting the situation.

『The and the King of the Underworld… Only the likes of the King of the Underworld could certainly take the ‘Divine Twilight’ under his wings. Hahaha, I appear to have been defeated for a reason.』

The Emperor’s Seat burst into laughter even though he was about to be sealed. Even though he was the one who had set up a trap for Chang-Sun, he was the one who ended up being devastatingly defeated. It would’ve only been natural for him to get mad. However, he looked refreshed instead.

The Emperor’s Seat thought his defeat was not unnatural. The ‘Divine Twilight,’ who not only harbored a deep grudge against the but also knew it better than anyone else, had taken the matter into his own hands, and the King of the Underworld backed him up.

『Your divine class has been extremely worn out. Is it because of the recent conflict within the ?』

Chang-Sun’s eyes widened at Thanatos’ remark. ‘His divine class has worn out?’ 

Chang-Sun paid more attention to the conversation. This was his first time hearing about a conflict as well.

『Hmm? You know about it? I did hear a rumor that the has spies all over ... I guess the rumor was true.』

Although the Emperor’s Seat was under restrictions, he remained relaxed and calm. It was as if he had given up.

『That’s not important. What matters right now is that one of the Three Enclosures of the sustained an injury grave enough to damage his divine class. He then overdid himself and got captured by the .』

『Ah, let me correct one thing. I’m no longer one of the Three Enclosures.』

『You nitpick on my every word and try to weasel your way out of this.』

Unable to stop himself, Chang-Sun interrupted, “Wait! I would like an explanation about what’s going on.”

『It’s exactly what you heard. A big conflict started within the that weakened his divine class to the point where he no longer held enough power to be one of the Three Enclosures. Because of that, he was kicked out of the .』

“… What?” Chang-Sun muttered in disbelief.

『Twilight, the reason the Emperor’s Seat was hellbent on chasing down your old colleagues was to gather and restore his damaged divine class. The Tian Shi Yuan Army soldiers are currently divided among themselves. Some are following the lead of the Emperor’s Seat, and some have turned their back on him.』

“…!” Chang-Sun’s face darkened, finding the story quite shocking. “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”

Although he currently held the rank of a reaper, he and the King of the Underworld were equal in the deal they made, so he couldn’t help but find it unpleasant that Thanatos could be controlling the information that Chang-Sun received and bossing him around. After all, that meant Thanatos just considered Chang-Sun as his hound.

『… I only found out about this recently. While interrogating Xue Yong, I noticed that something didn't add up, so I reached a conclusion based on the reports of our spies in . No, this wasn’t even a conclusion. It was just a hypothesis.』

Having noticed how displeased Chang-Sun was, it seemed Thanatos tried to pacify him.

『Giving you the wrong information during your operation could have caused confusion. Once I have checked the status of his divine class during this trial, I was going to tell you the whole story.』

Chang-Sun stayed silent.

『I’m sorry if I offended you while doing so.』

Chang-Sun couldn’t stay mad now that Thanatos had apologized, so he just said, “From now on, I hope you hide nothing from me even if it can cause confusion. I’ll verify the information myself.”

『I’ll keep that in mind. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I believed the accuracy of the information mattered since the issue is serious.』

Chang-Sun nodded and stopped complaining. Instead, he busily thought, ‘Someone weakened the Emperor’s Seat enough to revoke his title as one of the Three Enclosures. To regain his divine class and honor, the Emperor’s Seat tenaciously hunted down Kali and the others…? Who could do that to the Emperor’s Seat?’

The was the for all kinds of monster and demonic deities. Its primary principles revolved around the law of the jungle and the strongest taking everything. Hence, its members often fought against one another to determine who was stronger. The Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions were no exceptions even though they were the strongest. It certainly wasn’t impossible to defeat the Emperor’s Seat, but that begged the question of who defeated him.

『You seem like you want to know who replaced me, my son.』

The Emperor’s Seat quietly chuckled, looking at Chang-Sun. The word ‘son’ kept getting on Chang-Sun’s nerves, so he quietly scowled at the Emperor’s Seat. However, The Emperor’s Seat’s laughter only got louder.

『Well… it won’t make much of a difference if I hide it now that I’m in this position.』

The Emperor’s Seat smiled plaintively after deciding to accept his current situation.

『You actually know him very well.』

“What?” Chang-Sun frowned, not understanding what the Emperor’s Seat meant. At that moment, a memory flashed across his mind.

“You won’t believe me no matter what I tell you about Richardus,” the Emperor’s Seat said. 

“No way,” Chang-Sun muttered in disbelief, so the Emperor’s Seat nodded.

『What you’re thinking is probably right.』

“… Impossible.”

『Reality is sometimes crueler than one’s imagination.』

The Emperor’s Seat smirked.

『Richardus… ‘was’ the son of mine who took my seat.』

* * *

『My son, didn’t you notice something odd before you went through the ?』the Emperor’s Seat asked.

Chang-Sun recalled the last moments of him being chased down before being captured and put through the . No matter how hard he had tried to throw his pursuers off track or how well he had hidden, these stars had always known where he was. He had been driven into a corner back then, leaving him no time to notice how odd the situation had been.

『I’ll change my question. After you plummeted, your colleagues tried to raise a formal complaint about the trial, but they were exposed and met their demise before they could.』

Before people opened up Pandora’s box, everyone had their hopes up, thinking treasures would be inside it. However, once they opened it… they realized that reality was often cruel.

『Even though only your four colleagues knew about the plan, an army waited to ambush them. It was as if they knew about the plan as well. How do you think that was possible?』

The Emperor’s Seat continued,『Richardus told me everything.』

Richardus had always been the son of the Emperor’s Seat. Among the many children of the Emperor’s Seat were the Thirteen Commanders—demonic deities who were especially strong. Richardus was the Thirteenth Commander and the Grain Star, but he had rarely stood beside the Emperor’s Seat. Hence, the others couldn’t really verify if the Thirteenth Commander really existed.

Nevertheless, there were countless rumors about him, and many of them were bizarre. Some claimed that the Grain Star[1] never made an appearance because the Thirteenth Commander didn’t actually exist. Some claimed that his health was really bad, he was the strongest commander among the Thirteen Commanders, he was the biological son of the Emperor’s Seat, he was the only one who inherited his father’s … Every one of the rumors was hard to believe.

Even Chang-Sun doubted the existence of the Thirteenth Commander, much less expect that being to be Richardus…

“Ohhhh, you’re him! You beat up the son of the ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ because he pissed you off, then you voluntarily withdrew from the