/
Dane slowly walked around Sina with a smile. It was as if he was satisfied with her answer.
“You’re right, Sina. The emperor loved humans terribly. The reason why the emperor suffers is because of humans, and the reason why he died is because of humans as well. Everything he loved ended up betraying him, and everything he made destroyed itself. All of that was done by humans that the emperor loves so dearly.”
“But…”
“There’s no ‘but,’ Sina. His love for humans is sublime and beautiful.”
Dane forced Sina’s arm down. He didn’t put much strength into his hand, but Sina dropped down on one knee and met eyes with Dane.
“Such sublime love is worth protecting.”
“...Worth protecting? What do you mean?”
“Look at the current emperor, Sina.”
Dane waved his cane and summoned Juan, who was lying there with a pale face just like a corpse.
Sina was once again agitated to see his pale expression, but Dane changed the scene around them once again.
Juan cut down the guards at the burning Tantil Colosseum and released the monsters in a crowded stadium. The next scene showed the time when Juan exterminated the Order of the Blue Rose in the Laus Mountains. It also showed the image of Sina, who was drenched in blood as she fought against the demonic slaves. Then the scene changed to show Juan putting the Templars into a fire pit and then burning them to death, as well as the scene of him fighting against the warriors of Arbalde.
Finally, the scene of Juan giving a warning to his enemies, but then smiling and saying that he hopes that they ignore his warning and resist with all their might so that he could kill them all flashed in front of Sina’s eyes.
Only a madness for violence and revenge remained within Juan, and it was hard to find the nobility he once had as the emperor. He was so different, that it was to the extent that Sina had to wonder if it was the same person.
“The reason why so many people who encountered the emperor weren’t able to recognize him immediately after seeing him is not only because of his appearance that has changed,” Dane whispered in Sina’s ear. “The current emperor is a ruined emperor, Sina. Only you can bring him back to who he used to be in the past.”
Sina flinched and turned her head in surprise, only to see Dane pointing his cane toward Juan who was lying on the ground.
“He wasn’t born to be the emperor, but was made to be the emperor. However, we missed the opportunity to do so this time. It’s not too late yet though—we can start all over again and create the new emperor.”
Sina backed away with a perplexed look on her face.
However, Dane stared at Sina and yelled at her upon noticing the strong sign of repulsion on her face.
“Just think about what would happen if Juan was allowed to sit on the throne as he is now!”
Sina flinched. Juan was desperate for revenge, and he would be able to achieve anything he wanted with his overwhelming power and ability. Considering how the empire had built a deep-rooted evil under the name of the emperor, it would only be natural for a storm of blood to sweep through the empire even if only the bare minimum part of the empire was cleaned up.
Sina also agreed that the deep-rooted evils needed to be cut out, even if some blood needed to be shed. But, it was hard to imagine the scale of bloodshed that Juan would cause—and there was also the issue of how Juan would rule the empire after he became accustomed to ruling with the help of the sword and using bloodshed.
“Right now, I’m not only leaving the emperor to you, but I’m entrusting you with the future of the entirety of mankind,” Dane said as he drew a circle on the ground.
The circle soon became black like muddy ink. Then Dane pulled something up from the circle as if he was scooping something out.
“There is no need to think too much. I will give back to you the emperor you have long since wanted—the original emperor who was full of love and benevolence. You will then be leading the return of such an emperor with your own hands.”
The object that Dane scooped out from the circle quickly hardened into a pointed shape after dripping some black water. The object looked like a dagger with a rough texture and had the shape of a palm-length tile. As soon as she saw it, Sina felt an unknown fear from the black object.
“Take this, Sina.”
“Wh-what is this?” Sina asked.
“It’s Elkiehl,” Dane answered briefly. “It's pretty hard to get my hands on it. With this, we can take out the crown from the emperor and then remake him into a proper emperor. You can eliminate anything from him if you stab him with this.”
‘Elkiehl? The crown?’
Sina was confused, since she had never heard of either of the two before.
However, Dane pushed Elkiehl into Sina’s hand as if he was forcing her to grab onto it. Sina looked at the dagger with a strange texture as if she was possessed.
“Use that, and stab the emperor as if you’re trying to take his life, and that will make the emperor you want. You will be able to accept the emperor of love and benevolence rather than the current emperor of revenge and blood with your own hands,” Dane said as he pushed Sina toward Juan.
He then added, “Or you could choose to become the emperor yourself. To be honest, I really think that you deserve the title. No matter what, let’s return to everyone with the true emperor. And I’m talking about His Majesty of back then, who killed the gods and led mankind.”
It was true that Dane’s offer sounded quite sweet to Sina’s ears. Sina was deeply skeptical about Juan, but nevertheless, she could not deny the fact that Juan was the emperor. Because of this, her skepticism was bound to be directed at herself.
If she just closed her eyes and stabbed Juan just this once, the emperor that everyone in the empire, including Sina, were waiting for will return.
However, despite knowing that, Sina couldn’t move at all.
Then, she opened her mouth in pain.
“Why me? Why can’t you do it yourself…?”
“I wish I could say that it’s because only you have the most ideal heart and mind to do it… but that is not the case. Due to some vows I made in the past, I can’t get too deeply involved with everything except to steer the situation in the right direction,” Dane answered with a sigh.
“Moreover, the only people that can touch the crown after stabbing the emperor are those who have been granted the essence of the emperor. None of the remaining descendants of the emperor would be willing to cooperate with this. But you—you are the only other person with the emperor’s essence who would agree with my thoughts.”
‘The emperor’s essence.’
Sina had already heard about the fact that she had the emperor’s essence within herself. But something still didn’t make any sense to her.
‘Since when did I have the emperor’s essence and how did I end up getting it?’
But based on the way Dane was speaking, she was sure that she had the essence of the emperor within her.
‘Was it on the night when the Order of the Blue Rose was wiped out in the Laus Mountains?’
Sina suddenly felt the tattoo on her left eye beginning to burn with an unknown pain.
‘Did Juan give it to me at that time?”
At that time, Sina had desperately wanted to kill Juan.
But then, Sina became even more confused—she wondered why Juan would give her his essence when she had been so hostile toward him.
‘Giving the greatest power that he had only ever given to his children to someone who wanted to kill him… what did he mean by that?’
Sina inadvertently recalled what Juan had told her at that time in the Laus Mountains.
***
“You are definitely not the emperor they are anticipating. Of course, there’s no way you really are His Majesty and I will never acknowledge it, but if you still claim yourself to be the emperor… I can’t leave you alone.” Sina glared at Juan. She only had one eye left, but her glare was even stronger than when she had both eyes. “I will have no choice but to kill you to protect them from the despair you will bring.”
“I guess it can’t be helped when you gain the ability to kill me,” Juan smiled in satisfaction.
***
And now, Juan was just lying there like a corpse. Sina had the means to kill him, and she even had the right to kill him.
Sina thought over and over.
‘Did Juan predict this situation? Was he trying to make me feel indebted to him by saving my life? Or was he…’
“Don’t think too much, Sina,” Dane said as he thumped the ground with this cane. “Close your eyes and just do it. After that, everything else will proceed on its own.”
Sina felt her arms slowly pointing downward, almost as if she was being manipulated by something. The tip of the dagger in her hand aimed toward Juan’s chest.
At that moment, Sina fixed her eyes on Juan’s face. She wanted Juan to say something to her, as if she would feel comfortable if she heard him tell her that everything is okay.
The next moment, Juan was looking at Sina with his eyes open. This caused Sina to flinch and shudder in surprise.
However, Juan was still lying there with his eyes closed when Sina blinked her eyes; she had just seen an illusion.
Sina remembered how Juan was always aloof in the face of death. He was afraid of being alive, but he was never afraid of dying.
‘Taking his life is nothing. What he feared the most was…’
Then Sina stabbed Elkiel deep into Juan’s chest.
At the same time, Dane’s face brightened with joy.
“Yes, that’s it! Now…”
Dane suppressed his pounding heart and prepared to proceed with the next step.
“Now a crown will appear above the emperor’s head at any moment. Once it does, lift the crown and then transfer it to the bowl I have prepared. Then the biggest step will be over. We can then get ready to make the new emperor that…”
Dane chattered with excitement, but his words gradually died down. Soon, the joy on his face disappeared, and he made a perplexed expression.
“Why isn’t the crown showing up?”
“You said Elkiehl can eliminate anything, right?”
Sina looked back at Dane with an expressionless face.
“You were right. It seems like it can even remove the magic restraints left behind by Barth Baltic’s horns.”
***
Dane face hardened with frustration.
As soon as Sina pulled Elkiehl out from Juan’s chest, his wounds began to quickly heal. The recovery began as soon as the magic restraints that had been interfering with the flow of mana disappeared from inside his body. The large hole in Juan’s stomach had already stopped bleeding, and new flesh and muscles filled in the gap.
“Do you realize what you have just done?” Dane glared at Sina as if he was ready to stab her to death. “To save him means that the empire will lose its true emperor. I believed you to be a true knight that was loyal to the real emperor. But how dare you betray my faith?”
“It’s funny how you say that I betrayed you when no one even told you to believe in me,” SIna drew the sword from her waist and pointed it toward Dane. “You know nothing about Juan. You also know nothing about what kind of a being the emperor is, nor what a human being is—because you’re nothing but a monster.”
“I—!”
Dane approached Sina with an angry look on his face. Every time he took a step forward, the darkness would recede a bit more and reveal their surroundings—Mananen McLeir’s body, slanted walls, and people wearing robes emerged from within the darkness.
“It was I who created the emperor.”
A dozen or so men pulled out their swords and canes in unison.
Sina could tell that each and every one of them was a formidable opponent.
“I’m the one who protected the humans long before the emperor was even born. I was the one who gathered and led the members of Aruntal. I gave directions to the hero, and I gave advice to the foolish king. I did! That was all me!”
Sina looked back to see if there was any sign of Juan waking up. His wounds had healed considerably, but his eyes were still firmly closed.
A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.
At that moment, Dane aimed his cane at Sina.
“And you say that I know nothing?”
“Yes.”
Sina got tired just trying to answer Dane. She strained all her muscles as she braced herself for the moment of the clash.
Then, Dane, who looked furious, suddenly lowered his cane and smiled a fresh smile.
“I see. I guess you and I are done here. I thought we would make great partners, but it’s too bad,” Dane quietly continued speaking. “Aruntal, kill her and retrieve Elkiehl.”
The men surrounding Sina began to approach her. From the very first blow that was aimed at her stomach, Sina immediately felt that her life was in danger.
The man who had attacked Sina first was considerably powerful, and she had a feeling that he was more skilled than she was. She thought that her skills had grown quite a bit by following around Juan, but these opponents were unexpectedly strong.
Sina had no choice but to go on the defensive; however, she still had to struggle to keep Juan from being attacked by them.
“Keuk…”
Three men pointed their swords at Sina, while the rest of them surrounded her with their canes aimed at her. There was no doubt that Sina wouldn’t be able to hold out if the remaining magicians decided to use magic when she was already busy dealing with the people wielding the swords.
All of the opponents were wearing a robe and had a mask on their faces. All that could be known about them was that they all had humanoid body. Neither their gender nor their race could be identified.
Amidst the tension, Sina frowned when she recalled Dane’s words.
‘Aruntal? I thought all of the members of Aruntal were dead.’