Chapter 114

It was a scene that could only be described as both comical and pitiful.

The fact that a battle for the Empire was taking place was not something hard to understand.

However, the state of the main players in this battle for the Empire was beyond words.

The King of Specters had lost his country due to the weak, the Empire’s child soldiers. Yet, he could not abandon his compassion, his own sense of justice and discipline.

The Empress, having lost her beloved younger brother, abandoned her purity to kill the one who had slain him, and was called a crippled prostitute by the foolish. She swung her sword for those who pointed fingers at her.

The Emperor, during his time as the Crown Prince, lost his mother due to the schemes of the corrupt concubines and lived in seclusion like a pig until he was saved by the Empress. Yet, seeing his friends oppressed, he came to hate the Empire. Still, today, he burned his soul for the Empire.

Camilla, who had never been loved by anyone in her childhood, even lost her brother, who, though devoid of affection, at least exchanged formal words with her. Though she had no reason to love the Empire, she still wielded her spear.

What more needs to be said about Raul? After cutting off everything and living a life of severance, he was forced to throw his sick body onto the battlefield, abandoning even a peaceful life. He fought not only with his sick body but also with a submerged heart.

And what of those fighting the demons in the distance?

Kyle lost his family due to the foolish war started by the Emperor. Yet, with the sole intention of protecting those who had saved him, he continued the disgusting fight of defending the nobles he despised.

And what of Latri? Raised without happiness due to the rigid traditions of the Empire’s knights, she lost her purity due to the arrogance of her family and the corruption of the Empire. She herself, burdened by the rationality instilled in her, was punished by tormenting her son. Yet, she fought with the mindset of willingly accepting that punishment.

It was truly a farcical drama. But at least the King of Specters found the content of this drama utterly repulsive.

They were people who should have hated the Empire even more. They were people who had received nothing from the Empire, who should have banded together to destroy it.

So why were they fighting for the Empire, blocking themselves? What value could that disgusting country, devoid of justice, pride, or belief, possibly hold?

“Disgusting. It’s all lies, hypocrisy, and pretense.”

He gave the Empire’s people exactly what they liked. The act of hating what they couldn’t understand.

“To my eyes, you all are nothing but cattle, whipped by the yoke of indoctrinated ideology.”

They weren’t truly fighting for the Empire.

They were only fighting because they had been indoctrinated since childhood to give their lives for the Empire.

There’s no way these honorable warriors would sacrifice their pride and lives for such a disgusting band of thieves.

And so, he twisted the incomprehensible unknown. Humans are such beings, after all. Beings who try to fit everything into their own framework.

The King of Specters was no different.

“I acknowledge you. I fully understand the hearts of those who support the nation. However… you have chosen the wrong nation to support, and that is your sin.”

In the King of Specters’ two pairs of arms, he held four bows—or rather, something that looked like bows, faintly shimmering in ivory.

Originally, to use a bow, one needed a free hand to draw the string, but for him now, such a thing was unnecessary.

With just the intent to shoot, he could release it.

“It’s time to pay the price for your sins.”

The Emperor, who had rushed forward to protect the Empress, was the first target.

“Even if a ruler steps forward to demonstrate the spirit of sacrifice!!! Did you think the world would be moved and retreat upon seeing your valor!!! Don’t you know that with righteous valor, you can’t even protect a single blade of grass!!! That arrogance of thinking yourself special and stepping forward!!! Don’t you know that is the worst vice a ruler should never possess!!!!!”

Even the fiercely burning crimson flames couldn’t stop the dark monarch’s arrow from piercing through everything.

The Emperor tried to respond, but his words couldn’t reach the ears of one who had given up on understanding.

“At least fall in ignorance, Emperor, without seeing the result.”

After subduing the Emperor, he aimed his bow at the next target.

The woman enraged by her husband’s fall, the Empire’s greatest talent, a pillar of both civil and military prowess, and the supreme woman who was the Empress.

Such a woman swung her sword in a fit of rage.

“Pillar of the Empire! At the same time, a woman darker than anyone to the ways of the world! Who will recognize your achievements! No matter how outstanding you are, you cannot change the declining fate of the nation! Do you not know who suffers from your meaningless struggles! What meaning does the struggle of the powerless have!!!”

Even if the Empress could foresee the movements of all things, she couldn’t foresee what the King of Specters would shoot.

Four arrows pierced her thighs and chest, and she too lost consciousness.

“The weak… must live in submission. What can the weak, who cannot even harden their hearts, possibly do?”

The King’s words seemed to carry not pity but sorrow.

But there was no one to answer that sorrowful voice. Only those enraged by their fallen comrades remained.

Enraged, Camilla swung her spear wreathed in fierce lightning, and the King of Specters barely dodged it, creating distance and aiming his bow.

A technique refined to its utmost limit, devoid of any excess. With his overwhelming physical abilities and such a technique, Camilla couldn’t defeat him.

“Princess of the Empire…! I acknowledge your talent with the spear! But what use is such a talent for wielding weapons! Talent for hunting beasts cannot save a nation! Don’t you know that no matter how strong you are individually, you cannot save anything! You are a madwoman who doesn’t know the magnitude of despair felt when nothing can be saved!”

With his voice tinged with madness, the arrows he shot struck Camilla, and she too lost consciousness. No matter how strong she was, losing that much blood would inevitably cause her to faint.

And finally, the King of Specters turned his gaze to Raul, the last remaining opponent. Raul also tried to speak, but his words didn’t reach the one who had given up on understanding.

“Raul Berze…!”

The King of Specters was enraged. He was now a creature that could only be enraged.

Was he wielding his rage? Or was his rage wielding him? It was a debate as difficult and futile as the chicken and egg. A foolish debate trying to separate what was one.

“Don’t you know that you are the most foolish here!”

Red tears of blood began to drip from beneath the helmet of the King of Specters.

“That complacent mindset of bearing everything alone! Don’t you know that is the most selfish act of folly! The ones who will suffer from that complacent thinking are ultimately the ones you wish to protect! Are you intoxicated by the idea of bearing everything alone! Or is it that you cannot trust others! In the end, it’s your arrogance! The pathetic finale of a farce! Truly… utterly… foolish…!!!”

He shot his final arrow at Raul. He aimed at something beyond Raul, but in the end, the arrows pierced Raul.

“…..Foolish dark monarch. Raul’s mockery is correct. How can I be a king without even my people? What is here is merely a specter.”

With his four arms, he grasped the necks of the heroes and moved forward.

“A specter with no right to insult anyone. Even if you insult while looking at clear water, nothing will change. No, it was clear from the beginning… a meaningless venting of anger.”

He had defeated all the heroes. Something even the Demon King couldn’t achieve. Unlike the Demon King, who wielded weapons in a fit of rage, he used monstrous physical abilities and exquisite techniques to accomplish this.

Kyle, who had stopped the demon army, wiped his sweat and glared at Latri, who was wiping blood in the distance.

He didn’t know what hypocrisy that annoying woman was up to here, but it was clear from the change in her eyes that something had happened.

“Hey, lady. What on earth…”

But before he could finish his question, a terror that made his whole body tremble was felt.

And the source of that terror revealed itself, presenting a shocking spectacle.

The four heroes who had saved the Empire. He appeared before the nobles, holding the necks of all four alone.

“Disgusting stench. No matter how much time passes, your disgusting smell remains unchanged.”

He spoke while strangling the four heroes.

“From this moment on, I forbid all speech unrelated to what I say.”

Everyone present could tell he meant it.

If anyone dared to go against his mood, they would die without even putting up a proper resistance.

“This dark monarch intends to kill these four. However… this dark monarch proposes a deal.”

A deal? What could someone in such an overwhelmingly superior position possibly propose?

“Five.”

He could have killed everyone there and taken everything, yet he proposed a strange deal.

“If five come forward to die in place of these four, I will spare these four. But those five will die in the most horrific and painful manner imaginable.”

The King was certain.

Among the Empire’s trash, many speak of honor, but few would sacrifice their lives. Among the vermin, aside from the four heroes, none would understand the value of sacrifice.