CH 228

The guard was strangely lax in the area, but Gerard did not doubt anything.

His opponent was none other than the emperor, the guardian and the savior of humanity. No one was arrogant enough to say that they could ‘protect’ the emperor—even Winoa Weaver, the Captain of the Imperial Guards, considered himself to be a nagger rather than the emperor’s guard.

Gerard could see the emperor’s back before his eyes. The emperor’s back looked very big and dependable. All of humanity relied on that back and the emperor carried all of humanity on his shoulders.

With every step Gerard took amidst the silence, he began to feel a growing sense of sin weighing down on his shoulders.

‘Is this okay? Is this really the right thing to do? Am I capable of bearing the weight that the emperor carries on his shoulders? What if all my bones break and I end up being crushed to death as soon as I decide to carry all of humanity on my back?’

Gerard tightly bit his lips to the point of bleeding.

‘Get it together, Gerard.’

The wide and reliable back in front of Gerard’s eyes was the result of stealing the heart of a monster.

Of course, Gerard thought that this would not damage the emperor’s greatness or noble will.

But that didn’t change the fact that the emperor was unstable right from birth. If the emperor realized himself to be a monster, humanity would instantly perish. Gerard thought humanity could not be placed on such an unstable pedestal. In fact, the emperor’s refusal to rule the empire forever could even be considered proof of his instability.

The emperor had to be eternal. If he refused to be the emperor forever, at least the Crown had to be inherited.

Gerard recalled hearing from Dane that Dane had created him as a replica of the emperor. Dane told him that he was created purely as a result of taking only the good parts of the emperor, which was the reason why only Gerard could be the true emperor.

Gerard bit his lips once again.

‘I will stab the emperor and take out the Crown. Then I will take over the power of the Crown to protect humanity and completely wipe out the Crack using Elkiehl.’

Gerard was told that the emperor would turn into an ordinary human after losing the Crown. He thought that the emperor could still live if he were given first aid immediately after being stabbed. Of course, the emperor would definitely feel betrayed by Gerard, but Gerard believed that this was the only way and it couldn’t be helped, even if the emperor ended up dying.

‘His Majesty will understand that I did it for the sake of humanity.’

This was Gerard’s plan. He had no intention of letting the Thornbush Priest Organization take advantage of him easily. A chance to obtain the power of the emperor and the Crack’s power by betraying both of them at the same time was the only way to make ‘the perfect emperor.’

Gerard believed that the empire would be reborn as a safer and more perfect place through this secret succession.

The emperor had too much faith in humanity—including those who joined the Thornbush Priest Organization, the Order of Lindwurm who had been inspired by the Crack, the heretics who still served the dead gods, the foolish ones who thought that the emperor should become a god, and even Gerard himself.

They were all unstable human beings—they needed governance. Therefore, they needed an eternal emperor—a perfect emperor who would rule over humanity forever.

‘Only you can be the true emperor.’

Gerard flinched, horrified by the feeling that he had suddenly heard a whisper in his ears for a moment. Gerard felt like he had heard the same voice when he was very young. This voice was etched deep in his memory—it was a voice he had heard for a long time, but didn’t even realize until now.

Gerard, who was agitated for a short moment, accidentally revealed his presence, at the same time revealing that he was hiding using the power of the Crack.

The emperor quickly turned his head upon feeling a sudden presence.

“Who is it?”

Without any thought, Gerard immediately swung Elkihel toward the emperor.

Then, Gerard felt that something had gone very wrong as soon as he felt Elkiehl penetrating the emperor’s flesh.

It was impossible to separate the Crown from the emperor—the power of the Crown was pushed out at the same time as the emperor’s soul. It was like they were connected to each other.

Gerard was perplexed. A huge flame started burning brightly outside the emperor’s body, but it was nothing like what the Priests from the Thornbush Priest Organization had said. Instead, the flame of the Crown that leaked out of the emperor’s body burned brightly. The sun-like flames lit up the night sky, turning it white.

The bright light that even erased the shadows made Gerard feel like he was being dried up. Compared to the emperor’s sun-like appearance, Gerard, who hid like a thief to stab the emperor’s back, looked uglier than ever.

Gerard begged for forgiveness while feeling like a trivial bug that was suddenly placed under the bright sun.

However, he wasn’t given any chance to turn back.

The emperor slowly collapsed to the floor.

***

“I knew it.”

Gerard, who was rubbing his head against the floor, raised his head and turned around at the sudden voice.

He could see a huge man looking down at him with a heavy gaze. The man had horns that surrounded his head like a crown. It was the Great General Barth Baltic.

“I knew that you’d eventually end up stabbing your own father. What a perfectly suitable way for the emperor’s life to end.”

Gerard couldn’t understand Barth’s attitude.

‘Did he know that the emperor was made using the heart of a monster? Is that why he despises the emperor?’

However, it was hard to find any sign of joy or relief from Barth Baltic’s expression. Rather, only a thick and heavy murderous intent could be felt from him.

“But, your life will end here as well. I can’t let a depraved son who killed his own father stay alive.”

Barth Baltic let out a roar and immediately charged toward Gerard. Gerard, who was helplessly lying down with Elkiehl dropped on the floor, didn't even have a chance to dodge such a fierce attack.

However, at that moment, something suddenly pulled Gerard out of the way. But the tip of Barth Baltic’s sword had already grazed his chest by then.

Blood splattered in the surroundings.

“Get it together!” shouted the person who pulled Gerard.

Upon looking back, Gerard saw an old man with a cane confronting Barth. It was a face he had never seen before.

Meanwhile, Barth frowned at the old man.

“Dane Dormund? You were banished by the emperor and kept out of the vicinity of the empire as far as I know… Oh, I see. The restriction must have been lifted since the emperor is now dead.”

Barth took a glance at the emperor’s body and then turned his gaze back to Dane once again.

Dane was on high alert, but Barth did not show any sign of nervousness at all. Seeing this, Dane anxiously tapped Gerard on the head with the tip of his cane.

“Come to your senses and get up now. I can’t hold out against this bastard for long on my own!”

Gerard did not answer. He couldn’t perceive this situation as reality even though blood was gushing out of his chest. This was because the light of the Crown emitted by the emperor made him half unconscious. But even in that situation, Gerard wondered why Dane’s current appearance was that of an elderly man rather than a young boy.

As Barth jumped toward Dane, Dane slammed the floor with his cane. The surrounding floor shook violently, the surrounding space being lengthened and shortened at Dane’s will. There was no one who could stand properly on the shaking floor—only the space where Dane and Gerard were standing remained intact.

Barth flinched for a brief moment, but soon used his horns.

Bang!

With a thud, Dane stumbled and almost fell to the floor. Dane muttered a curse and tried to use magic once again, but it was no longer working on Barth.

“I said wake up! Damn it, where’s the Crown?” Dane shouted at Gerard.

“The Crown…”

Only then did Gerard react and blankly point at the emperor’s body.

Dane’s gaze hurriedly followed the direction Gerard’s finger was pointing to, but soon made a puzzled face as if he was confused. After a short moment, Dane tightly bit his lips.

“You failed to take out the Crown? Why? Even Elkiehl couldn’t do it? We can’t separate the Crown from the emperor even with Elkiehl? No, it can’t be. I’m sure that it came out of the emperor’s body…”

Dane’s face became distorted as kept asking himself questions.

“You missed it, you idiot.”

Dane swung his cane and slapped Gerard on the cheek.

At the same time, Barth Baltic broke the magic that Dane had used on him and charged once again.

Dane swung his cane and attempted to dodge, but Barth Baltic was not slow enough to be struck by the simple attack of a magician. As soon as Barth Baltic’s fist struck Dane’s chest, Dane’s upper body burst, scattering all the way to the ceiling like a firecracker.

But Barth could immediately sense that the opponent was strangely lighter than he had expected.

As soon as Barth looked back at Gerard, he saw a middle-aged woman he had never seen before standing by Gerard. She quickly supported Gerard on her shoulders and raised him to his feet.

Barth hastily sent out a kick, but she was able to get a hold of Elkiehl before that. Barth momentarily saw the two moving away in the distance. In the blink of an eye, the two had disappeared from Barth’s sight.

Barth clicked his tongue and looked down at the place where they had disappeared.

“Your Majesty!”

At that moment, the voices of the Imperial Guards and Winoa Weaver, who had arrived belatedly, were heard. Winoa Weaver, who was late due to the earthquake that was invoked by Dane, looked beyond pale.

But Barth Baltic knew what he had to do.

“An assassin managed to attack His Majesty.”

Then, Barth raised his hand and pointed toward Winoa Weaver.

“Arrest him for neglecting his duty as the Captain of the Imperial Guards. I’ll interrogate him separately.”

***

“You fucking bitch! You lied to me!”

Gerard angrily screamed and choked the middle-aged woman. His grip was strong enough to break her neck and suffocate her. The middle-aged woman’s body drooped helplessly, but Gerard didn’t stop and tore her body apart.

The room soon turned red with blood. Gerard destroyed everything he could see and howled loudly.

Nevertheless, what he had done could never be undone.

‘I stabbed the emperor.’

The moment Gerard stabbed the emperor with Elkiehl, he definitely felt life escaping the emperor’s body.

Gerard’s plan was to only pull out the Crown while keeping the emperor alive. But the emperor died when the Crown was taken out of his body.

That’s where the problem began.

The emperor was not a monster.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

As soon as Gerard faced the brilliant light, he was certain that the emperor was not what he had thought. Gerard could read the emperor’s spirit, morality, philosophy, and anguish inside that light.

At that brief moment, Gerard was closer to the emperor than anyone had ever been. But the emperor had now died to Gerard’s own hands.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Gerard screamed and slammed his fist against the wall. The walls instantly turned to powder which scattered into the air.

Gerard gasped for air and belatedly looked outside the broken wall. He was at an oddly high place, and only after looking at the surrounding scenery did he realize that he was at the Magic Tower.

“Have you calmed down yet?”

Gerard immediately drew his sword and turned around upon hearing the voice that came from behind. Behind him stood an old man—the same old man who had showed up when he stabbed the emperor earlier.

‘Dane Dormund.’

Gerard fiercely charged at Dane with a shout, but Dane simply held out his cane while letting out a sigh. The moment Dane swung his cane through the air like a paddle, Gerard fell to the floor while feeling like the sky and the ground had turned upside down.

He violently rolled around on the floor, to the extent that ordinary people would die from breaking their necks, but immediately stood up once again and charged toward Dane.

But after the same situation repeated itself several times, Gerard no longer attempted to attack Dane.

“You won’t be able to kill me by simply running around like a wild boar.”

“The only reason why I didn’t kill you…” Gerard breathed heavily and went on. “…is because I think that you’re the only one who can take care of this situation right now.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I couldn’t come out as my true self.”

Dane, who currently looked like an old man, stroked his beard and looked around at the bodies scattered everywhere. When he raised his cane and tapped the floor, all the bodies melted away like a shadow and disappeared, almost as if they had never been there in the first place.

Gerard groaned and opened his mouth.

“What happened to the Crown?”

“I have no idea. It disappeared while you were trembling and slamming your head against the floor.”

“...Is His Majesty dead for good?”

“For now, yes. But that might change depending on how we deal with it afterward.”

Gerard slumped to the floor and sobbed. He had ruined everything because of his own stupidity, but he was given no time to grieve—everything would change rapidly now that the emperor was dead. The empire was in jeopardy.

Dane stood right in front of Gerard and opened his mouth.

“Until now, a powerful and terrifying monster—the Crown was stored and contained safely inside the emperor. But not anymore—the container has been broken and the monster has come out of it. We have to retrieve it again.”

“Dane, you son of a bitch. I’ll kill you.”

“It’s not too late to do that after we have taken care of everything. As you already know, my purpose was not to kill the emperor. I was only trying to transfer his Crown to a safer and more complete place. But it’s you who failed, is it not?”

“His Majesty was already perfect! More perfect than a punk like me!”

“You might be right. Maybe I was mistaken.”

Dane bent down toward Gerard and faced him at a close distance.

Gerard felt chills running down his spine upon facing Dane’s wrinkled and grotesque face that had purple eyes.

“But the container is already broken. Are you going to let the poison flow into the empire like this? Or will you lick the floor and swallow it up, even if you’re miserable?”

Gerard gasped for air. It was true that he was in enough pain to want to die. He had a realization that he had made a huge mistake, and he also knew that Dane’s whispers to him were like a snake’s whispers.

However, his guilt was too great to ignore Dane’s words. He had to somehow sort this situation out.

“What do I need to do?”

“The Crown will reappear again one day. Such great power doesn’t just go away that easily. I will try to advance the timing of the Crown’s reappearance as much as I can. So you have to wait until the Crown reappears. Now that the emperor is dead, you’re the only one who deserves the Crown.”

Gerard slowly raised himself to his feet. He suppressed his sadness and resumed his thoughts in a calm manner, returning to his calm and cold gaze before he knew it.

Gerard glared at Dane—his gaze filled with murderous intent and doubt.

“How do I know that you’re not deceiving me again?” Gerard asked.

“What’s the point of saying anything when you have already started to doubt me?”

“If you fail to convince me, I’ll finish everything by killing you and killing myself as well. I promise to chase you to the ends of the world to kill you. I’ll let you know now that your dirty tricks won’t work when such a time comes. So answer carefully.”

Dane erased the smile on his face upon hearing Gerard’s cold voice.

“I can’t say anything; you’re just scaring me too much. Then let’s do this—whenever the Crown reappears, I will leave it entirely to you to judge whether it is a monster or the emperor. Of course, you won’t be able to tell right away when you see it. You’ll have to wait and see until you come to a conclusion. But when it appears in front of you, you will eventually have to decide whether you want to ask for forgiveness or kill him and take away the Crown.”

Dane lifted his cane and gently tapped Gerard on the shoulder.

“Until then, I need you to be the emperor.”