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The unpleasant feeling of brain bits underneath his feet, the numbing reek of blood, the distractingly red lake… Joshua forgot about them and focused on his opponent.
Marcus swung, swinging his sword wildly as if trying to destroy everything in the chamber.
“Haha! Hahahahahaha!” Emperor Marcus laughed maniacally. The laughter was unbelievably delighted for a person responsible for a horrible massacre. “It’s good! Indeed, Joshua Sanders! You never disappoint me!”
The thin, two-meter-long sword came flying toward Joshua; it was clear that Marcus was aiming for Joshua’s right kneecap, stymying the younger man’s retreat.
Marcus’s eyes widened because his target had suddenly disappeared. Joshua was still retreating, but Marcus’s target was out of sight.
It quickly became apparent to Marcus where it had gone.
“…Hup!” Marcus grunted.
An enormous bang echoed throughout the chamber. Using the spear that had suddenly appeared in his hands as a support, Joshua threw a kick aimed at Marcus’s temple. Marcus raised his arm and managed to block Joshua’s kick with difficulty.
“Oh, it’s Longin. It did break away from its shell, but still, the energy it exudes… It’s a truly tempting weapon.”
The mention of Longin dragged a reaction out of Joshua.
“Emperor, how do you know about Longin?”
“…Hmm?”
“Wait… did you make a contract with a demon?”
After a long silence, Marcus grinned. “…So he never told you even until the end. Hehehe.”
“Answer me.”
“Well…” Marcus shrugged lightly and abruptly sprang forward. “I’ll tell you if you entertain me a little more.”
Joshua's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly regained his composure. After a scant moment of thought, he quickly moved.
Just like he had before, Joshua could get his answers after he defeated his opponent, so he didn’t hesitate. That was how he had lived until now, and it wasn’t really going to change even if Joshua went through the same thing again.
Marcus thrust his sword straight forward. In front of him, Joshua swirled his spear elegantly and countered with a basic spear technique. The spear and sword clashed in the air. There was no way Marcus hadn’t felt the impact of the collision.
Marcus’s unexpected response made Joshua flinch.
Marcus had been pushed back by the collision but immediately threw his sword away—even though it was said that it was more humiliating for a knight to lose their grip on their sword than it was to die.
However… Marcus was called a martial genius for a reason. The sword soared in the air, but it returned to Marcus’ hands as if they were tied together. Then Marcus swung his sword again without missing a beat.
The sound of metal on metal again brought a genuinely surprised expression to Marcus’s face.
“You blocked that?”
Marcus’s sword had been neatly blocked by the center of the spear’s shaft, but Joshua even carried the action into a clockwise rotation, pushing back Marcus. In contrast to Marcus, who was using all sorts of advanced techniques, Joshua was using only the basic spear techniques to block Marcus’ attacks.
“You arrogant…” Marcus mumbled, furious. He fixed his grip on his sword, and an immense amount of mana gathered up inside him.
He utilized the Imperial Family of Britten’s first secret technique, the Monarch’s Sword Strike. Who could hold their head up high before his sword? Just like there were social classes in the Human Realm, there was a difference in levels among the warriors.
Kneel, bow, and despair.
He would gladly forgive your pathetic talent.
Marcus slammed his sword into Joshua’s spear using the most advanced technique he knew, the one that had made Marcus ben Britten a Master. The attack certainly held the power to cut an entire mountain in half—however, Joshua didn’t budge one bit this time. Instead, he rotated his spear counterclockwise to redirect Marcus’ sword attack into the ground.
“Hehe.” Marcus was genuinely dumbfounded. “So I’m not even worthy of being a sparring partner, huh?”
“…I’m trying my best,” Joshua quietly said.
“Your best… Who will believe that when even your opponent can’t?” Marcus chuckled.
“It doesn’t matter what you think.” Joshua’s muscles swelled as he began to push Marus away. “My method is always the same.”
“…Okay.” Marcus felt sweat begin to run down his back and grinned. “Then I should be the one who tries my best from now on.”
Joshua tilted his head in confusion.
“I recently… came to a big realization. Look.”
Joshua froze in surprise. An immense amount of the power—overwhelmingly more powerful than any other existing powers in the world—suddenly poured out from Marcus. Joshua knew what this power was better than anyone else.
“…Demonic power?”
“I’m the Emperor of Avalon, Marcus ben Britten. Hahahahaha!” Marcus burst into manic laughter. A wave of Marcus’ black demonic power surged against Joshua.
“…Ugh.” Joshua’s palms ached; they felt like they were going to tear. Marcus’s demonic power was as pure as a god’s.
“Emperor… you definitely sold your soul,” Joshua said with utter certainty.
“Hehehehe…” Marcus laughed wickedly. “So what?”
“You have everything, so why would—!”
“It has been three years.”
“…What?”
“For such a long time, I had to spend every day in humiliation, unable to die. Every tendon was severed, and my mana hall was completely shattered. Then I was shoved into a deep dungeon.”
Joshua’s eyes widened.
“Do you think I had any other choice?” Marcus asked in a low voice.
“A knight’s soul is noble on its own! Your willpower can’t possibly be that weak!”
“I’m a ruler of a great empire, not a knight,” Marcus firmly said.
“You know I’m not talking about your title. Marcus ben Britten, you’re a Superhuman who became a Master after trying excruciatingly hard!”
Joshua really couldn’t understand Marcus since making a contract with a demon could not be taken lightly. Once he finished signing the contract, his soul became completely bound to the demon, the other contracting party. On top of that, he must follow the demon’s order forever, and was even denied the escape of death. Only after the annihilation of his soul could he gain eternal peace.
“You’ll never understand me. You’re just a bastard, so how could you understand how I felt after I, an emperor, was dragged down from the throne and shoved into a deep dungeon?”
Joshua finally realized that Marcus didn’t know—no, forgot about—one important fact. Even without an Oblivion Flower, it would be possible to cut out a certain memory using a submission seal.
“So! That was why you sold your soul to somebody who is related to your enemy?” Joshua shouted.
At that moment, Marcus visibly flinched. “…What? What do you mean my enemy—Urgh!”
Marcus couldn’t finish asking his question because he was suddenly struck by an intense headache. It felt like thousands of bugs were eating away his brain at once.
Marcus screamed in unbridled pain. “Argghhhhhh!”
He really forgot all the memories related to Heimdall.
“Ugh… The damned forbidden seal again…”
Joshua's eyes widened. “Forbidden seal?”
“Huff, huff… It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill you, the son of that fucking Aden von Agnus, and rule this land again, no matter what!” Marcus roared.
Marcus’s thick storm of demonic power became bigger and stronger, enough to make Joshua’s skin sting. Joshua automatically tightened the grip on his spear. Yes, the one whom Marcus had signed a contract with wasn’t an ordinary demon or a demon king—he was the only one in the vast Demon Realm who had god-like demonic power.
“…The Demonic Spirit Lubechern,” Joshua mumbled in disbelief.
In other words… the Demonic Spirit was behind Marcus.
* * *
Heimdall flinched; he felt an enormous amount of energy reaching all the way to the inner palace, located beyond the council chamber.
“…They’ve begun,” Heimdall muttered.
“I finished reporting, so I’ll go there myself,” Jabel said, prostrated before Heimdall.
Heimdall didn't answer. The other apostles felt the extraordinary collision of energies and began to gather one by one.
“I know you think of Joshua Sanders in a special way… but the Emperor won’t be able to win on his own,” Jabel said. “Heimdall, I think me and the other apostles have a chance against him without you if we all fight together…”
Heimdall shook his head. “No, you don’t.”
“…Pardon?” Jabel asked.
“You and the other apostles don’t have a chance against him. Zero. Jabel, you have seen the fight with your own eyes, so surely you would know.”
Jabel was speechless. Although he had been ignoring it, he was instinctively able to tell as soon as he had seen Joshua’s fight that with his capability, he wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on Joshua Sanders.
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“But at this rate…” Jabel cautiously continued.
“I’ll go there myself,” Heimdall declared.
Jabel and the other apostles boggled at him.
“Yo-yourself, sir?”
“So get ready.” Heimdall immediately turned away, indicating he had zero intention of going back on his word.
“…Soon,” he mumbled under his breath.
His back looked lonely for some reason.