774 – Like a Warrior (20)
Unlike the loyalty-lacking souls of Yufi who had dashed off to the Netherworld, the souls of Ishtar firmly held their ground.
Murmur was deeply moved by the sight of these steadfast souls.
“Souls should stubbornly cling to their host, prepared to wreck havoc! What kind of souls run away just because they got a little scared when given a chance for revenge?”
“But why aren’t they fleeing? Honestly, isn’t Ishtar way stronger than Yufi? Getting cut by a holy sword would hurt way more, soul or no soul.”
“Shhh! The souls might just be too dumb to realize.”
“Pay attention to Nise’s words! 40% of it is worth listening to!”
As the rumor of the “foolish holding-out theory” quickly lost trust, Murmur noticed that the resolute souls had sensed something unusual.
The oddity wasn’t just on that side but also the professors’ spirits who had rushed to slaughter Ishtar had the same vibe.
The souls, who should have been engaged in a dogfight, were all standing around, blankly staring into space.
What on earth was going on?
It felt just like higher-ranking monsters cowed in front of a high-ranking monster…
Following the gaze of the evil spirits, Murmur was shocked.
[High-ranking Demon – Pake Hiuqmag]
The former emperor, mocked for being the shortest-lived Emperor, surprisingly possessed tier-one qualities as an evil spirit.
His study of prohibitions and collection of wicked wisdom from the Taboo Storage, aimed at dominating his nation, may not have fulfilled his grand dream, but it helped him become a high-ranking monster after death.
Even Ishtar couldn’t carelessly move with the powerful aura hovering over Pake Hiuqmag.
Pake Hiuqmag, now at the peak of his powers in death.
The former emperor simply glanced at the evil spirit professors who had dared to talk back to him, subduing them with his gaze, while calmly surveying the surroundings.
Frankly, the deep blue glow in his eyes that burned more intensely than hundreds of others screamed danger, making it feel like any poke would lead to disaster.
The evil spirit professors weren’t keeping quiet out of mere coincidence.
Thus came the silence.
After a long pause, the emperor spoke.
“Abama has finally engaged in a showdown with the Foundation. The Director of the Foundation is corrupting the World Tree, summoning the Outsiders of the Acha dimensions and challenging the supremacy of the world with dark powers.”
Having grasped the situation, it was unclear whether he, being the son of the former emperor, would side with the former emperor’s ideals or ally himself with the Foundation to seek revenge against the hero who killed him.
In the tense atmosphere, Murmur moved to tempt Pake Hiuqmag with sly words.
“As the noble body who was once the emperor of the Empire, I, Professor Murmur, pay my respects. I am most sorrowful about your unjust death…”
“Shut your mouth.”
Pake Hiuqmag didn’t say much.
With a glint in his eyes, he brought forth hellfire from evil darkness and incinerated several evil spirit professors’ souls on the spot.
The archer Skola, thrilled to speak up, was quickly silenced by cautious Yufi.
“Ever since meeting my death in the afterlife, I blamed the hero and wandered for a long time. What was lacking that I faced defeat? Why did I fall just a step above my previous position? After long contemplation, I found the answer.”
Pake Hiuqmag didn’t only lose to the hero.
“The Dark Princess. The reason my realm crumbled was that her darkness had enveloped me. I’ve sat on the emperor’s throne once, so I hold no grudge against Abama. Even the hero who killed me may hold grudges but does not see him as an insurmountable wall. The Dark Princess is different.”
“…!”
“I lack the confidence to overcome her darkness, which has grown stronger in becoming an evil spirit. Therefore, I observed her longer than the hero. And I got the chance to peer into her mind. I witnessed a tremendous secret that shouldn’t have been seen.”
What on earth had the former emperor realized upon seeing the Dark Princess?
Oknodie’s mysterious secret?
Powerful dark summoning techniques?
The arts of summoning Outsiders?
Everyone, regardless of friend or foe, was all ears.
The unfathomable strength underlying Oknodie.
Such strength provoked the curiosity of all.
Oknodie, watched not by the living but by the dead.
One could imagine what different sights might split through the vision of even someone like the former emperor.
A perspective only ghosts could see.
A new viewpoint.
A hidden secret.
Finally, the true nature was revealed.
“Oknodie. That child is a being inhabited by one of the many selves of the Outsiders who seek to invade countless dimensions, the rulers of the world of amusement.”
“Wait, Oknodie isn’t some dangerous child! Don’t slander her!”
“Ahaha. Hero. Just how narrow is your understanding of Oknodie? Wasn’t it just a mere fragment of your life at the Academy, barely only a part of the current existence?”
“Grrr…!”
“It was a frightening memory. A high-tech civilization armed with ray guns and a space fleet was obliterated by a Player, while beings had to dash through exploding vehicles to survive, witnessing the scene of horror, the Player placed bets and enjoyed it.”
Numerous games existing in the modern era.
Players who enjoy them.
To Pake Hiuqmag, all of that appeared as mere cruelty, the crafting and enjoying of tragedies across the three thousand worlds before being cast aside.
“No world has truly faced destruction through a single downfall. Can you imagine the demonic spectacle of reversing time, twisting world lines, and defying all laws of existence?”
“?!”
“A tail-headed insane Shimiho beast bisecting planets with a single sword, hunting in the cosmos, is waiting beyond with Outsiders. Can you accept that our world, the Middle Realm, stands isolated as an infinitesimal and miserable world in the boundless universe?”
Pake Hiuqmag could only become stronger.
“For one cannot endure such harsh truths without strengthening, nor can one calmly accept that someday these formidable Outsiders will invade our world.”
“I can’t believe it!”
“Then let me show you. What I have seen, I will share with all of you here.”
Pake Hiuqmag’s memory synchronization magic engulfed the struggling Warrior Party, the final betrayer Professor Murmur, and all remaining evil spirits.
*
A roller coaster soaring high into the sky.
An amusement device meant for enjoyment, suddenly had its rail severed mid-air, launching the train into the void.
Hundreds of people screamed as they plunged into a lake, never to resurface.
A woman watched this scene, clapping and laughing.
Ishtar instinctively realized.
That must be the existence of a Player.
“Wow, incredible! If tourists walk out, the fee goes up, and if someone dies during the ride, there’s a fine! So they created a parking space underground under the lake and shoved all the tourists in! Even if they starve to death, it’s after the ride’s over, so no fine! We can dispose of the corpses beneath the lake! Total genius!”
One couldn’t help but doubt their ears.
That exuded pure joy.
Applauding the process of killing many people like bugs as ‘economic’ and ‘efficient.’
The holy sword connected to Ishtar’s soul spoke.
The truth verification result confirmed that was undoubtedly an assertion of ‘truth’ and ‘sincerity.’
“Father, why are you doing this!”
Turning her gaze, she saw a mad king trying to assault his young granddaughter while binding his child.
The king struck the screaming granddaughter’s cheek and pulled her hair as he spoke to his child.
“You’re not my flesh and blood. You’re the child born from your mother’s infidelity. The [Possession] of the Player continues only with blood-related kin. So if the blood isn’t linked, shouldn’t we mix it again? That’s how we can keep playing the game.”
In a lineage overshadowed by a crazed Necro who revived by seizing the kin’s body, the Players family was dominated.
Here, incest, torture, and assassinations of unnecessary kin were relentless.
Turning away from the horrors that one could hardly behold, an even worse scene unfolded.
Bang – Crash!
The well-developed city showcased numerous calamities, with the expressionless Player Mayor on the billboard.
“Ugh, so boring. The building development is all done, and I’m summoning disasters, but it’s getting dull? I’m too lazy, so just die already. Let’s play another game. Huh? What’s this? Surviving at the Academy by luck?”
He was convinced.
Pake Hiuqmag, the former emperor’s words were true.
The Outsiders were mad.
The world they indulged in could never meet a happy ending.
This world was hell.
*
“All these memories… are memories seen through [Oknodie]?”
Unbelievable.
Such a good child.
Ridiculous.
Ishtar trembled.
Pake Hiuqmag looked down at her and declared.
“Indeed.”
The Outsiders who reveled in all those evil deeds.
Oknodie was indeed one of the scattered fragments of Outsiders spread across countless worlds.
Pake Hiuqmag was asserting this now.
Yet the trembling that felt eternal slowly subsided.
Ishtar remembered Oknodie snuggling up to her with bright eyes saying, “I can’t sleep!” and the bashful smile she had while closing her eyes, regaining her emotions.
“Even if they share the same root, not all will mutate into the same existence. Down under that emperor, there were scum like you, and there were also wonderful empresses like Masugaki.”
How a person grows can turn them into completely different beings despite the same potential.
“Even if Oknodie is a shard of the Outsiders, I will not allow that child to decline into such a being. I, as a Warrior, will definitely protect her!!”
Pake Hiuqmag looked at her in surprise.
A smile subtly crept on the lips of the former emperor.
“Indeed. So, this is what a hero is. To face the same despair and yet speak such words. There seems to be some hope left in this world after all.”
“Do you also have the desire to protect this world?”
“For what reason do you think I want to be an emperor? It’s because it’s mine, I can’t let anyone take it.”
Pake Hiuqmag pointed to the evil spirit professors.
Those professors touched by his hand were burned and incinerated.
“Thus I declare. I will stop Oknodie’s Outsider corruption. As long as that will doesn’t change, I am on your side.”
The hero who killed him and the former emperor he killed.
Two people with the most uncomfortable relationship made a decision.
To unite as one against the greater evil, the living and the dead joined forces.
