The tip of the hero’s sword is aimed directly at the heart from just a short distance.
A critical situation that can only be described as life or death.
Pake Hiuqmag saw it.
Right now, there was no one rushing to help him in desperation.
Even the Chief Court Magician, who might have wielded strength for him, was bound by the schemes of the hateful Second Princess Masugaki and would not be able to act in time.
This is the end.
It’s all due to having made too many enemies.
If he had been a little more skillful, things might have been different.
If only he hadn’t turned every top-tier fighter into an enemy and managed to stall for time while maintaining the imperial authority.
Eungchilgeom.
Imperial General.
High-Altitude Knight Brigade.
The true strength of the empire had returned to the capital, serving as a wall to protect him.
“Is that so? Maybe it’s the result of being blinded by the anxiety of having my possessions stolen during the plundering of the Forbidden Research Institute.”
Fourth Princess Oknodie.
Like a comet, that child who appeared and stole everything would ultimately take his life as well.
The child of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
Owner of the Monster Legion.
Friend of Masugaki.
Dark Princess.
While she wasn’t here, all those gathered around had come for her.
The Second Revolutionary Zelji.
Revolutionary Army General Son Ohchun.
Warrior Ishtar.
Pake Hiuqmag still doesn’t know, but there were more obstacles that came about because of Oknodie.
Sword Thief Jeto.
He bound the feet of the royal guard.
The Strongest Leave-of-Absence Student Charlotte and Minion Urgas.
They thwarted the High-Altitude Knight Brigade’s captain, Sky Knight Dmitri, who was vying for the title of the strongest in the empire.
“Your Majesty!”
Unlike the Royal Guard that had lined up under Pake Hiuqmag but betrayed him when the tide turned, the Golden Charge Brigade, who had firmly maintained their loyalty until the end, was shining so brilliantly that it reflected the scenery of the streets.
Clang clang clang!
Lilia the Mirror Thief, using mirrors as a medium, could mimic and counter any kind of attack. She rented out an entire shop in the plaza’s center, and the technique she unleashed, [Charge Reflection], snapped the legs of the cavalry of the brigade.
As she rolled on the ground, and cracks appeared in her armor, immense shock was transmitted to Lilia, who was reflecting attacks off the armor’s surface. Yet, she didn’t stop.
“I’ve crossed an irreversible path due to one moment of mistaken judgment. If so… I need to finish what must be done as a revolutionary. If I betrayed my ideals because I believed the revolutionary was right, then this is the task of a betrayer. This is my final mission.”
She would stop the insane emperor who threatened the populace.
Even if she couldn’t directly attack the future emperor, who was no better than the former one.
Stopping the charge of the Golden Charge Brigade, which hindered the hero, was something she could achieve alone.
If she couldn’t even do this, how could she face Oknodie, the disciple of the Destroyer, who would eventually become her sister?
“How futile.”
The relationships built throughout the years were blocked due to the sins accumulated in Pake Hiuqmag’s camp, helping Oknodie’s camp with every blow.
In the contrasting situation, the man who had once proclaimed himself the emperor had no choice but to accept it.
“This is how it ends.”
The glory of proclaiming himself an emperor lasted less than a day.
Whom could he blame?
All of it was due to his hasty actions.
Regret emerged belatedly.
That he lacked the qualification.
That he should have let go of his greedy ambitions.
Perhaps the late former emperor, who had always looked down upon him, had foreseen that he would meet such an end.
“Even if so.”
That didn’t excuse him to willingly open his arms and embrace death.
Pake Hiuqmag tightened his grip on the [Book of Mental Suppression] that he had once spread wide against the combined attack of the masters.
“I will give up on subduing everyone and creating a new thousand-year history. I will even give up on the expectation of surviving as an emperor. But I will not spare you, hero, who has hastened my downfall!!”
The entire output of the Book of Mental Suppression is projected intensely toward the single hero, Ishtar.
Considering that it only barely maintained equilibrium when many of the empire’s masters were mobilized, Ishtar was effectively cornered, receiving the combined attack of numerous masters alone!
She thought inside.
This is a dead end.
As the emperor’s heart was pierced by her sword, the Book of Mental Suppression would also destroy Ishtar’s spirit.
A situation where no one could survive.
“Ishtar!”
The prayers of her childhood friend Yufi instantly granted power to Ishtar.
[Prayer Technique – Golgotha of Decapitation]
[Indomitable Spirit of the Decapitator]
A spiritual buff holy magic that enhances the unwavering mental strength of the decapitator, who beheads people for the sake of justice.
“I don’t like this way of usage, but I’ll help,”
The prayer of Sister Nise from the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church pushed against Ishtar’s back.
[Prayer Technique – Holy Light of Matheus]
[Rash Impulse of the Hasty One]
A magical force that helps execute an inner impulse as quickly as a flash of lightning.
While it was essentially a curse that caused unexpected effects if used at an inappropriate time on an improper target, Ishtar, who tended to dream of slaying the emperor, was in a resolute state.
Unless she had an exceptionally firm resolve, that determination would not waver with other impulses.
That was Nise’s faith and basis for her judgment.
Yufi created a moment of pause, and Nise hastened that moment.
Both of them envisioned a future of how their prayers would help.
Creating a bit more time to reach out before being affected by the Book of Mental Suppression and a quicker chance to take down Pake Hiuqmag.
That was likely the most generic future they could expect.
If only the hero didn’t waver.
If there hadn’t been a fleeting impulse at that moment.
Whether they hit the 60% common possibility, 30% different possibility, or 9.9% extraordinary possibility, the outcome would likely be similar.
“What if it was Oknodie?”
In a scenario where death was almost certain.
The fleeting thought that crossed the hero’s mind was an utterly unexpected notion that she wouldn’t have had before.
Once the class of being a hero, praised by everyone, was obtained, there was no reason to wonder about the paths of others.
That was the case until she experienced defeat against Oknodie.
Even if someone was ahead of her at that moment, she believed that given time, she would become much stronger and accomplish far more notable achievements.
That belief was shattered by that child.
A child who, when she reached the same age as her, inspired fear about how great things would come to be.
Despite possessing such terrifying potential, even when everyone in her grade seemed to dislike her, her attitude toward Ishtar had always remained consistent.
There was a mission the hero must fulfill, and she personally taught that there were other ways to accomplish that mission.
And today, she was the one who made the plan of an emperor’s downfall come to fruition.
What would Oknodie do?
That question had become a primary focus for Ishtar recently.
Because she had become someone Ishtar wanted to pursue.
She didn’t want to seize the title of top student by default against Oknodie, who wasn’t attending the academy.
While performing every assignment and test, she always wondered what Oknodie would think.
Such musings might not be surprising if they sparked in an instant.
But the fact that they surfaced alongside the “answer” was a remarkable intuition for Ishtar, occurring once in a thousand times.
“If the sword is that close to the heart, the book should be near too.”
“The Holy Mirror can be unfolded anywhere within a certain range if I set my mind to it.”
“Of course, it can’t easily be unfolded in places where high magic reactions occur, but if I concentrate mana, it’s not impossible to create it even if I reduce the number.”
“Then.”
“It’s an unlikely possibility, but could I unfold the Holy Mirror directly above the [Book of Mental Suppression]?”
Oknodie’s technical combat style, her cleverness in not facing her opponent’s full combat power head-on, and the long study and understanding of her techniques.
All of these factors engaged together, resulting in the impulse of “unfolding the Holy Mirror right above the Book of Mental Suppression” becoming a reality through the fleeting permission granted by Nise’s prayer, which Yufi’s prayer had previously created.
[Instant Kill, Close the Book in One Blow]
Closing the book in a single strike.
A blow that creates the best outcome by evading the dual-threat with a single thrust!
“!!!”
Pake Hiuqmag instinctively recognized the crisis approaching him, drawn from the experiences he had accumulated.
When faced with a blow from the hero that would not even allow for a dual-threat, his beastly instincts caused him to pull his hands back to protect the book.
However, instinct doesn’t always guide one toward the right answer.
“Titanium!!”
Moreover, when unexpected light struck at the pivotal moment through the shiny surface of the hero’s Holy Mirror, that instinct veered even further from the proper answer.
Making a movement to protect his eyes instead of his life led his hand to the vicinity around his eyes, thereby reducing the exposed area of the book.
The hero’s sword touched that exposed edge of the book.
Tap.
The Book of Mental Suppression, which he thought was an inescapable death.
The trigger for mental destruction unveiled just a breath away.
Thud.
The pages of the book, freshly opened, were forcefully slammed shut by the sword’s tip.
The ominous disaster of forbidden knowledge, which aimed to destroy human intellect, had finally descended in the form of a book.
A book must be opened to be read.
A closed book cannot reveal its true value.
Title, cover, blurb.
Even those impose a significant burden on the mind.
However, the spirit of the hero, protected by the Holy Sword, had been so tempered by breaking and mending that it could hardly be halted or harmed by something relatively trivial, even without the Holy Sword.
[Warrior Ishtar has defeated the imperial emperor Pake Hiuqmag.]
[The warrior has acquired the subclass [King Slayer].]
Thus, the hero has achieved her goal and survived.
The Revolutionary Army cheers while the supporting factions of the emperor lose their will to resist.
A true miracle has unfolded, one that even the three great evils had aimed for; although not the former emperor, at least the citizens of the empire and the countless enemies of the empire had no choice but to acknowledge it.
