Chapter 1

(01)

Flames erupted from various places within the Imperial Palace.

Maidens and attendants screamed as they fled, and the clashing of swords echoed throughout.

I gripped my sword and ran toward the Audience Chamber, where the golden throne stood.

Please, just stay alive.

“Your Majesty!”

Upon reaching the Audience Chamber, I leaned against the wall and gasped for breath.

Fighting with the self-proclaimed revolutionary forces—the rebels—dozens of times on my way had left me in no condition to keep going.

“It seems I’m late. Have you come for my neck as well?”

With hair as white as melted platinum and eyes the color of deep gold, she sat elegantly, legs crossed, as if flaunting her slender figure, looking down at me with an air of superiority.

She was a proud and confident lord, reminiscent of a dragon.

The youngest Swordmaster of the Empire, recognized as a grand mage by the Master of the Ivory Tower.

At sixteen, she caused a coup, slaughtered her kin, and seized the throne.

A war hero who suppressed nine revolts and led five major wars to victory over the past forty years.

A tyrant who drew public ire with her near-rapacious taxation.

The Empress of the Empire that ruled the continent.

And my twin sister.

Jayrilles Solethanon Solethanis.

She looked down at me from the golden throne on the dais.

“What are you talking about?”

“Then why didn’t you run away?”

I hesitated for a moment before responding.

“I have nowhere to go.”

“Nowhere to go, you say?”

“Will the rebels accept someone who indulgently enjoyed all manner of luxuries by Your Majesty’s side?”

“Aren’t there the allied kingdoms, the noble alliance, and the merchant union?”

“Those are all the same. I am Your Majesty’s closest aide. I am first on the assassination list.”

“Who said you are my closest aide? I do not have such aides.”

She spoke with a tone that made it difficult to tell if she was joking or serious.

I remained silent, unable to respond.

“Then why didn’t you run away?”

Before I knew it, words I shouldn’t have spoken tumbled out.

“How rude.”

I shuddered at the Emperor’s words, glancing around cautiously.

I knew all too well that once those words were spoken, blood would always flow.

“However, my executioner that I appointed has fled long ago, so I cannot punish you. I will let it slide this time.”

She let out a small laugh.

“This way!”

“Gather at the Audience Chamber!”

“Let’s all charge in.”

“Everyone, be alert! It’s the Empress!”

“All will die if we’re not careful.”

Outside, voices erupted from the group of rebels calling themselves the revolutionary army.

“Did you ask why I didn’t run away?”

She picked up the sword that lay beside her throne.

At that moment, the wide entrance of the Audience Chamber and all eight side doors swung open with a crash.

“Let’s go!”

With a shout, hundreds of rebels poured in.

Each one radiated a fierce aura as if they had just emerged from hell.

What a formidable assembly.

I thought to myself, gripping my sword.

Every hair on my body stood on end with tension.

However, the woman seated atop the highest seat in this Audience Chamber smiled like a tiger facing a pack of dogs.

“Where would I go if I abandoned my home?”

She rose from her seat and drew her sword.

Her golden eyes and the translucent blade were dyed a purplish hue of mana.

An aura far surpassing that of a human emanated from her slender form.

The man at the forefront of the rebels took a step back.

He entered with a furious look, his face red with hatred and anger.

In an instant, his expression turned pale.

“Do not be afraid. After all, it is just one person!”

Just then, a group of more than a dozen entered through the wide door at the front of the Audience Chamber.

The frontmost man, with the same golden eyes as mine, gazed at the Empress.

“It’s been a while, Jayrilles.”

“Speak to me with respect.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. It is time for you to step aside. Please surrender the crown and seal.”

That man, who had rushed out shoulder to shoulder with the commoners, was my half-brother, a traitor branded as the people’s hero—Justianus Solethanon Solethanis.

“Very well. I have made my decision.”

Jayrilles smiled like a white demon.

“Your comrades will all become food for the dragons. And you will remain by my side for the rest of your life.”

The traitor prince smiled with a resolute demeanor.

The Empress shook her head and descended from the throne.

“Let’s see if you can still smile even when your legs are broken and a collar is around your neck.”

A purple aura flowed from her body, casting a deep shadow on her face.

In the next moment, a battle of thousands began.

The instant the fight started, I raised my sword and charged at the traitor prince.

In any case, those below the rank of Sword Expert could do nothing in this battle; I had to cut him down first.

Honestly, I didn’t completely understand him.

I had seen everything, good and bad, beside Jayrilles.

But I wouldn’t allow treason.

“I will not let you pass this point.”

I surrounded my sword with a mana blade and swung down.

It was a strike that could split a massive cliff in two.

However, the traitor prince with flowing black hair slipped into my side.

His speed was so great that I could barely follow with my eyes.

In the next moment, his sword ignited with a blue flame.

Unlike the mana blade I had created, it had no tremors or cracks.

It wasn’t a mana blade; it was an aura blade.

This is impossible.

How could he have become a Swordmaster?

“Step aside, bandit. A disgrace to our bloodline.”

The traitor prince clashed with my sword.

With a loud crack, sparks flew before my eyes.

* * *

“Ah.”

As I regained consciousness, my head hurt.

I had been blown away by a single strike and was now lodged into the wall.

It hadn’t seemed like many seconds had passed since the roaring had continued.

“Ha.”

I staggered to my feet, brushing off the dust and sliding my dislocated arm back in.

Before my eyes, the clash between the half-god and half-god occurred amid explosive sounds.

Even an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to see the speed at which they moved.

Among the rebels, a man looked on with a vacant expression, sword drooping.

“Did we have to fight someone like that?”

The blue-flame sword and the splendidly shining green sword clashed, sending sparks flying.

“It’s time to pay for your tyranny!”

As the traitor prince stomped, the marble and crystal floor of the Audience Chamber cracked and splintered.

He pushed Jayrilles back against a thick pillar with his sword.

Jayrilles, her back forcefully hitting the pillar, trembled.

Yet her lips still held a relaxed smile.

“How dare you speak of payment to me?”

In the next moment, her movements flowed like water.

The shoe heel infused with mana struck accurately between the traitor prince’s knee joint and muscle.

As if in severe pain, Justianus’ balance was momentarily disrupted.

At the same time, she pivoted on her left foot, swinging her sword in a circular motion.

It was a strike that would have cleaved the traitor prince’s torso in half if it had been just a fraction quicker.

It seemed we would suppress this without issue.

Thinking so, I cut down two rebels charging at me.

Nine revolts were close to civil war. Minor uprisings had become an annual affair.

To gather this level of force now was impressive.

But the Emperor had won against three Swordmasters before.

I could block the soldiers’ tactics.

The traitor prince Justianus would die here.

I let out a sigh of relief.

In that instant, an ominous energy surged from the southern sky.

A shivering aura, like that of a gallows where corpses rotted, sent chills down my spine.

“You, you.”

Jayrilles, sensing the aura as well, stiffened her face.

For the first time, her smile faded.

“What have you done?”

It was hard to believe the voice belonged to someone so proud and carefree.

The bleeding traitor prince clutched his stomach and stumbled back, laughing.

“Yes. With this level of ability, I cannot negotiate with you.”

Jayrilles gritted her teeth and dashed out of the Audience Chamber.

I followed her outside as well.

The rebel soldiers looked at us with exhausted expressions, as if they already knew everything.

A humid wind blew like the calm before a storm, ruffling our platinum hair.

“Your Majesty.”

I called out to her with a trembling voice.

“Yes.”

Her voice also trembled.

Flames and dark smoke were rising from everywhere in the resplendent capital of the one-thousand-year Empire.

Black clouds and fog rushed in like a tidal wave, engulfing even the flames.

Within the clouds and fog, monstrous beings peeked out, neither dead nor alive.

“They’ve opened the barriers.”

“Yes.”

“They’ve summoned the ancient ones.”

“Indeed.”

The traitor prince who had followed us answered monotonously.

I trembled with anger and horror as I asked,

“Weren’t you the hero of the people?”

The traitor prince, touseling his black hair, replied,

“Yes. But once I realized there was no way to win, I no longer cared.”

From within the black clouds, a corpse dragon descended.

Though its bones and scaled skin remained, it was enormous enough to cast a shadow over the entire palace.

From a mouth wide enough to swallow a whale, blue flames danced.

In resistance, Jayrilles clenched her teeth and gathered her mana.

In that moment, the traitor prince charged at her.

As a Sword Expert, I could do nothing against that speed.

Jayrilles desperately countered.

Her left arm and the traitor prince’s head tumbled down the stairs.

The sound of violence came a beat late.

“……!”

She cursed and swiftly gathered her mana again.

A transparent aura shield formed around her body in a spherical shape.

However, even she could not activate a technique requiring both hands with just one.

The aura shield flickered and dissolved.

I stood before her, forming a mana blade with my sword.

“Your Majesty, step back.”

There was no helping it.

This would be my grave.

She looked at me with a gaze that indicated I had gone mad.

“What can you do in front of that corpse dragon’s flames? It is a royal order. Flee while you can; the end of a tyrant must be lonely.”

“Jayrilles.”

“!”

I called her name.

It was the first time I had spoken it in forty years.

“I just wanted to try this once.”

“You…!”

“I am your brother.”

Even if I tried to flee, it would be too late for survival.

I gritted my teeth, trembling, and aimed my sword at the corpse dragon.

“Older brother.”

At that moment, an awkward voice came from behind me.

“I just wanted to call you once.”

You are the Empress, and I am the bandit.

Though our faces still bore the marks of our teenage years, the names we called each other and our positions were now worlds apart.

The corpse dragon spewed blue flames.

A ferocious blaze that my mana blade could not withstand for even a moment.

In an instant, my vision turned white with heat.

I felt no pain.

The sword gripped in my hand still felt vivid.

A distant reel of memories unfolded like a picture.

A childhood spent playing on the palace lawn, ignorant of danger.

You, holding someone’s hand, departing for a faraway place.

Your name, which sounded like a legend in the tales of adults.

You, seated on the golden throne, holding a bloodstained sword.

You, who had become someone else, enacting brutal purges and cruel governance.

Me, who couldn’t leave your side, unable to be properly present.

I wandered for a long time.

I lost myself to alcohol, women, and gambling.

As a completely harmless, chaotic prince, I survived countless purges.

I barely regained my sanity and began rehabilitation.

It was too late to become a Swordmaster through proper training or a grand mage through proper study.

I shouldn’t have lived like that.

I should have lived like a prince, not a bandit.

If I had, perhaps I could have blocked this inferno today.

My whole body felt like it was heating up like iron on an anvil.

If I were given another chance.

At that time, I would make everything turn back into place.

I would protect you and this Empire.

I could assert that it was the strongest desire I’d ever harbored in life.

In that moment, I felt all the mana left in my heart flood out in an instant.

It felt as though blood was surging back through my body.

Was the mana dispersing?

If so, then I was truly going to die now.

With a sensation of everything shattering, I lost consciousness.

* * *

“……Sir.”

A dim voice called my familiar name.

“Bell?”

Bell. A nickname from my childhood.

“Valenciaunos Solethanon Solethanis, Your Grace. Please awaken!”

The sound of curtains being drawn and windows being opened reached my ears. The brilliant sunlight and cool breeze poured over me.

This was too vivid for a reel of memories.

But it wasn’t bad.

I thought as I opened my eyes.

A bed draped with red curtains and a magnificent chandelier came into view.

“Have you finally awakened? You must have been tired yesterday. You usually wake up before I call.”

An emerald-eyed maid, her flowing brown hair neatly tied back, spoke to me.

She resembled someone I knew so closely that I almost screamed.

“Impossible.”

“What?”

“You’re dead.”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Rudi is already dead.”

After dying, do you continue to recall memories from your living days?

If so, that would be a truly pitiful afterlife.

“What are you talking about? Did you have a nightmare? Why would I be dead? I’m here beside you, Your Grace.”

“No way. How can you still be alive? What year is it?”

Is this not a reel or an afterlife?

Then does that mean I’m still alive?

If I survived, how on earth did I manage to escape that inferno?

The blue flames of the corpse dragon that Jayrilles couldn’t stop?

“This is the year 1073 of the Empire, the spring marking the first year of Jayrilles’ reign.”

“So I’m seventeen now?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Rudi gave me a look that seemed to question why I was asking such things.

I flusteredly got up and stood before a mirror.

A young boy with white hair and golden eyes, still bearing the signs of youth, looked back at me with a startled expression.