540 – The Emperor Whose Fate Was Reversed
Pake Hiuqmag had longed for this day with all his heart.
Waiting for the moment when he would one day be recognized by his father, who did not age as if enjoying eternal life, and inherit the throne.
“Once all my siblings are dead and I gain the power to please Abama, I shall surely be recognized. I am the true heir to inherit the Empire!”
His wish was granted.
He became the Emperor of the Empire.
But there was one crucial process missing.
“Listen, children of the Empire. From today, the Emperor shall be taken by the rightful heir, and I declare myself liberated from my long task.”
“Abama…?”
He transferred the throne.
But the target was merely the “rightful heir.”
There was no direct expression that it would be passed on to Pake Hiuqmag, the Crown Prince.
“Can you truly not acknowledge me even until the end, when you hand over the throne and leave the Empire…!”
He understood the reason.
Just before, there had been a pointed question that brutally highlighted his failures.
“Regarding the invasions that occurred independent of your will, the tragedies that happened without your will, the opportunities given to you without your will. Have you accomplished anything as you wished?”
“…!”
“Why would I hand over the throne to this insufficient Crown Prince?”
It’s not me.
Then who could it be?
“Just as I thought, it was you. You were the stumbling block, Masugaki!”
The Empire’s Second Princess, Masugaki.
She appeared among the Revolutionary Army.
“Dear loser brother. I always knew you were a coward, but you’ve truly crossed the line now♡ How dare you touch me and even interfere with Oknodie; that really was too much♡”
A complaint from a defeated one.
What can a bunch of discarded fools, who could barely dominate monsters in the dark mana and failed to control the Empire’s high officials, do?
The Revolutionary Army wouldn’t support a princess who commands monsters unless they were insane.
“Look here, see~? Omoshiroi Hiscliff and Alexander, Abama’s subordinates. They have something to say♡”
But what if those who would legitimize such a princess appeared?
For instance… the seven swordsmen who served the late Emperor, members of the Eungchilgeom?
“It is true. We have faced repeated assaults from assassins under the Crown Prince’s secret orders during the process of returning to the Jeido.”
“The reason why the Fourth Princess and the Second Princess commanded the monsters to build their forces while avoiding casualties was to protect themselves. To survive under the command of the Crown Prince, the princess needed a legion-level force.”
“The only evidence is that you dealt with ‘noble monsters.’ Your words aren’t worth listening to!”
Pake Hiuqmag was burning inside.
Where are the high officials?
Why does no one come to help him?
He would have generously looked after them if they had stepped forward at this moment.
Are all these hopeless people who don’t even know how to approach the center of power?
No, the high officials aren’t that foolish.
There’s a problem.
In his vision scanning the surroundings, ominous signs were emerging.
Subordinates rushing toward the high officials.
Faces hardening at whispered exchanges.
Figures in robes swiftly escaping.
From somewhere, they were systematically delivering critical information to the high officials.
Information enough to cause them to break away from his influence.
“What, what is that?!”
Beyond the masses.
In the distant sky, a non-fair flight was vaguely visible.
As soon as Pake saw it, he realized.
It was the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
The foundation was secretly extending its claws!
“How can I, the great Emperor, listen to the vile words of those who follow the Masugaki princess, who wields the wicked power of dark mana originating from the demonic realm? Those who truly care for the future of the Empire should immediately hunt them down!”
At Pake Hiuqmag’s shout, the Imperial Guardsmen finally drew their weapons.
However, the guard knight squad that was supposed to follow behind sneered and turned away.
“We are the knights who serve the late Emperor. The new emperor should appoint a new knight squad.”
“To disregard the successor designated by the late Emperor, how impure your intentions are!”
“Is that so? As the commander of the guard knights, I can only remember hearing statements doubting the Crown Prince’s qualification, so perhaps one of us is deaf.”
“U… unohh!”
“Moreover, it seems you are blind too. How could you not see that immense ‘heroic energy’? It’s clear that the Revolutionary Army is on the righteous path.”
The royal family’s legacy, Pake Hiuqmag, had wholly stolen the heroes being researched at the Forbidden Research Institute.
Her achievements forced the Crown Prince into a corner. The very presence of those who did not need to reveal their identities turned the hearts of many powerful figures, including the commander of the guard knights.
A languid Pake Hiuqmag could not change this tide.
“Haha. Is that so? So you consider me beneath your notice? If you believed I inherited not a single quality from the late Emperor, that would be a grave mistake. If you believe such evidence exists, then prove it.”
Pake Hiuqmag took out a book from his robes.
Jiang and Titosso gasped.
“Jizel, stop him from opening that!”
“The original book that killed Oknodie!!”
The Book of Mental Suppression.
A tool for erasing a person’s reason and forcibly implanting obedience, a device for annihilating personalities.
“I shall demonstrate the reign of terror I learned from the late Emperor today. And I will lead a new millennium!”
—
The Emperor and Jibsa Jang hid their energy.
The Emperor’s gaze was cast around the square, and Jibsa Jang asked with a grin.
“Even if it’s rotten, the fish’s heart still exists. Do you think your son’s will shall be realized?”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Okashii-ne. Grain is a gift of the gods. No matter how much humans strive to approach their gods during reinforcement, it is the gods who respond to such devotion. Reinforcement is nothing more than another form of sacrifice, an offering to the gods.”
“Your insights are truly admirable.”
“It is not of my will. It is the will of my reckless youngest son.”
“The Fourth Princess Oknodie. The will of your youngest daughter who has ‘traded’ with you on equal terms. Hoo-hoo-hoo. You, my Emperor, can be quite cruel.”
“Grain symbolizes life. The opposite of life is death. I’ve traded twenty times to achieve the holy artifact and yet failed to realize my wish; how could my immature son achieve his goal at once? His end is determined the moment he fails to recognize this.”
The gods did not allow the Emperor to obtain the holy artifact that could kill the Principal.
Thus, the Emperor changed his mind.
If it would be mocked by the blood of the populace when exchanging another equally valued holy artifact, he would loot the gods’ holy artifacts until there were none left to trade.
It was a long-standing ambition.
And the one who changed that ambition was surprisingly Oknodie, who had just arrived at the palace with the status of the Fourth Princess.
“You mustn’t gamble, my Emperor!”
“Do I appear weak at gambling?”
“It’s only natural to look weak when you’ve been gambling a losing game for centuries?”
“Hoho. I’m curious as to why you think that. I am the being whom all of humanity fears and respects, yet why do you believe that I, who wields godlike power, am truly toying with the gods?”
“The God of Death’s acquisition of vital energy can produce holy artifacts faster than the Emperor can exchange for new ones; thus, even if it becomes a cruel tyranny, grain supply cannot be delayed. That was the plan, right?”
The greatest secret of the Empire planned for centuries.
As the child bluntly revealed this secret, the Emperor found it quite peculiar.
He had thought that the only beings making him feel such a sensation were Jibsa Jang Okashii-ne, the Principal of the Academy, or perhaps the Foundation’s Director.
But could this child truly be the biological daughter of that Director?
The exposed secret incited curiosity rather than being silenced.
It was unlikely the child had figured this out by herself; this was advice the Director sent to him.
“But there are variables like the fight between the Empire and the borders as well as the Revolutionary’s energy gathering regarding the ‘collateral damage’ that occurs while the Emperor’s plans unfold!”
“Hahahaha! The Foundation’s child must be quite favored by the Director. It’s impressive you know even the Revolutionary’s ultimate scheme.”
“T-That’s… I know because I experienced it firsthand!”
“Oh? You survived the charge of the Revolutionary’s million phantoms, that’s even more impressive.”
“Ugh, how is this even possible? I should be the one holding the advantage; why do I feel like I’m losing?”
“How could a ten-year-old child’s experiences possibly compare to the life experiences of an Emperor who has surpassed human lifespan? Acknowledged as a great feat even to have been recognized by me.”
“That’s true!”
As Oknodie tilted her head, she cheerfully exclaimed that what mattered was something else.
“Anyway, the murders happening across the continent will hasten the chance for the God of Death to create ‘Essence of Death,’ making it significantly more likely to miss making holy artifacts due to a shortage of ‘Essence of Life,’ right? Of course, your grand plan is set to fail!”
“I know. That is precisely why I’ve restrained the wars on the continent and forcibly maintained the Era of Peace. There are countermeasures against the Revolutionary’s phantoms. But tell me, is there a reason I should inevitably lose at gambling?”
Oknodie glanced around, as if she were about to reveal a secret.
Shyly, she took a cautious breath and asked.
“Couldn’t I just whisper it instead, since using mana to speak might be overheard by the gods?”
A surprisingly cute sight, like a ten-year-old child!
The Emperor, focusing on extreme safety while always protecting himself with dimensional walls, absentmindedly replied, “Then do so.”
Ah, what a terrifying thing cuteness truly is.
It’s no wonder the Emperor was impressed by how scary the Foundation taught assassination arts.
But what was truly terrifying wasn’t the petulant assassination art that could leap over layers of dimensional walls with a mere auntie-like charm; it wasn’t that either.
“If the Emperor obtains the holy artifact he wishes for, the God of Death loves the Dragon Principal, who causes the most deaths in the world! Therefore, I will pass a holy artifact that can kill you to the Principal! This means that even if you win this gamble, you’re certainly bound for defeat; it’s a definite loss!”
“…!”
Fate. A surreal insight revealing the Emperor’s predetermined defeat.
Instinctively, the Emperor understood.
“That is not a message from the Director. That man, the enemy to all gods, couldn’t possess such profound and intimate insight into the gods’ world.”
“Yikes.”
“Child of the Foundation, where did you get that information? Who is plotting to change my fate?”
Suddenly, Oknodie, who had overflowed with extraordinary confidence and certainty, became like a lost child, losing her gaze.
