Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Empress's Terror
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"It should be about time for some news."
In the Daroa Empire's audience chamber.
Justina gazed out the window while leisurely swirling her wine.
A greedy smile curled at her lips.
Daroa's pride and her right-hand woman, Tower Master Arman.
Even the ancient disaster Jormungand that he had summoned.
"Arrogant imperial scum... You should've known your place."
She pictured it.
Amid the horribly strewn corpses of the imperial army,
the haughty tyrant Emperor Darcor groveling on his belly, begging for his life.
'Just when I needed a new toy. Maybe I'll collar him like a dog and keep him as a pet? Heh heh...'
It was right then, as she lost herself in the sweet fantasy and raised her wine to her lips.
BOOM!
The audience chamber's doors burst open as if they might shatter.
Justina's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"What is the meaning of this? Do you have any idea where you--"
But her shout cut off abruptly.
It was because of the soldier crawling in across the floor.
"Gasp... gasp... Y-Your Majesty!"
The soldier's condition was wretched.
His skin was blackened and rotting away, his armor melted and fused to his flesh.
Only the Daroa Empire's emblem pinned to his tattered cloak barely marked him as one of theirs.
The soldier clawed at the floor, eyes rolled back, screaming in agony.
"D-Disaster! Everyone... everyone annihilated!"
The air in the audience chamber froze solid.
Justina's brow furrowed deeply.
"...What did you say?"
Her voice trembled faintly.
Annihilated?
Daroa's army? With the Tower Master there?
"Speak clearly. Annihilated, you say? Where? Surely not the vanguard?"
"N-No, the main force... The entire main force, including Tower Master... Aaaargh!"
The soldier suddenly clutched his head and convulsed, as if a horrific memory had resurfaced.
His eyes rolled back completely, whites showing all around.
"M-Monster... It's not human!"
"Calm yourself. What exactly happened?"
"A man in a black uniform fell from the sky. He landed, and then..."
The soldier's entire body shuddered violently.
"Tower Master's magic... Lord Jormungand's breath... Everything..."
"And?"
"Gone. Just... wiped away like that..."
The soldier could say no more.
Foam bubbled from his mouth.
Thud.
Finally, he collapsed unconscious.
'N-No way... Impossible...'
The wine glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.
Crash!
Red wine soaked into the audience chamber's carpet like blood.
All her delightful schemes had gone up in smoke.
'Arman defeated? And even Jormungand?'
Incredible as it was, the soldier's pitiful state told the truth.
Cold sweat trickled down her spine.
'He's coming. The monster... straight here.'
Justina shot to her feet and bellowed.
"Guards! Summon the Royal Guard Captain this instant! Mobilize every soldier!"
There was no trace of imperial poise left.
"Raise the palace defenses to maximum alert! Seal the gates--not even an ant gets through!
Do it now!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Before long, the imperial palace had transformed into a fortress.
Thousands of knights lined the walls,
and dark mages layered magical barriers two, three deep.
As night deepened, tension reached a fever pitch.
In the Empress's office.
Justina paced, gnawing her nails.
"What's the situation? Still no reports?"
"Your Majesty, rest easy. No anomalies detected around the capital."
Royal Guard Captain Barus reported in a steadfast voice.
The word of the empire's foremost swordsman, a Sword Master.
"We've overloaded the underground mana reactors to power the defensive arrays.
Even a dragon's breath won't breach us for at least half a day."
"Is that enough? Can you really hold it off?!"
"I stake my head on it. No assassin, no army will pierce this place and reach Your Majesty's person."
Justina felt a sliver of relief at the captain's confident tone.
'Right... It has to hold.'
No matter the monster, this was the heart of the Daroa Empire.
The culmination of centuries of dark magic mastery.
No monster could breach it.
'Arman must've let his guard down...'
She repeated it like a mantra, hypnotizing herself.
Yet she flinched at every whisper of wind from the window.
Flinch.
"...I'm weary today. Retiring to my chambers. Don't slacken vigilance for a moment."
"As you command, Your Majesty. Rest well!"
Justina walked the corridors under the ironclad guard of her escort knights.
Even then, every flickering candlelight made her jump,
whirling around repeatedly.
Step. Step.
'C-Calm down, Justina. You're the Empress. Don't fear something like this!'
She gripped her trembling hands, forcing composure.
At last, she reached her bedroom.
The deepest sanctum of the palace.
The safest place of all.
Her one true refuge where she could finally rest easy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Justina opened the bedroom door and stepped inside.
Creak. Slam!
"Haa... haa..."
She leaned against the door the moment she entered, panting raggedly.
She still couldn't relax.
Click. Rattle. Grind.
She locked the five magical mechanisms on the door one after another.
When she placed her hand on the handle and channeled mana,
a purple magical array shimmered into existence, then faded.
[The seal has been completed.] Only then did Justina's legs give out.
She staggered to the bed and collapsed onto it.
Cold sweat poured down her body like rain.
She had survived.
At least for tonight, she was safe.
Come dawn, she could regroup,
issue a total national mobilization, and churn out more troops.
'Yes, there are ways. Release more beast legions... Summon greater undead armies with dark magic...'
As the terror ebbed, thirst surged in its wake.
She reached for the bedside table.
Her customary pre-bed wine would be waiting, as always.
"Some wine... Huh?"
Justina's hand froze in midair.
On the table.
Normally, a silver tray would hold a corked wine bottle and a single crystal glass.
But the bottle was already uncorked,
and the crystal glass brimmed full to the rim.
"....."
Justina cocked her head.
Had I ordered it poured ahead?
No... I'd never given such an order...
A maid's mistake, then?
Her maids wouldn't make such an error.
They knew her temper--they'd never risk their necks...
What in the world?
Lost in utter confusion at the inexplicable scene,
that's when it happened.
Swoosh.
A bone-chilling cold brushed past from behind her.
Wind blew from the direction of the window, which should have been sealed shut.
'No way?'
Her heart hammered like it might burst.
She had to turn around.
She had to check.
But her body refused to obey.
Instinct screamed at her.
Don't look back.
Clink.
"This house wine's decent."
A low, icy male voice.
Utterly serene, all the more terrifying for it, drifting from the darkness.
Creak.
Justina's head turned stiffly, grinding like rusty hinges.
At the moonlit windowsill.
A man's silhouette lounged in the armchair.
Legs crossed, he swirled his wine glass leisurely.
"H-Hic..."
Justina opened her mouth to scream.
But her throat locked up, leaking only a metallic rasp.
Terror.
In the shadows, the man's eyes gleamed.
Pale moonlight caught his pupils, glowing red.
He hadn't even named himself,
yet she knew.
The monster who had devoured Tower Master Arman and Jormungand.
He was sitting right there before her eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Daroa Empress Justina trembled violently, on the verge of blackout.
But Emperor Darcor's inner thoughts were entirely different.
'Why'd you take so damn long? My ass is killing me from waiting.'
Darcor shook his head.
He had arrived a full hour earlier than her.
The boredom of waiting in an empty room,
the urge to flop on the bed and nap--he had barely suppressed it.
'Honestly got a little drowsy...'
And why was the armchair so damn stiff?
Daroa Empress style, obvious at a glance.
'Wine with no snacks, too.'
Still, Darcor set the glass down with a satisfied air.
He tilted his head crookedly
and addressed the frozen Empress.
"Missed you enough to die, our Empress?"
"H-How... H-How did you get... in here?"
Justina shuddered, spitting out the words.
The barriers? The Royal Guard? The locks?
Everything had been perfect.
The captain had staked his neck that even a dragon's breath would hold for half a day.
"How? Just walked in."
She couldn't believe it.
How could anyone reach this place?
'What the hell is this monster?'
Of course, if it had been a dragon's breath like the captain said,
it might've held half a day.
But Darcor had simply strolled in.
Soldiers had been on high alert, eyes bulging.
But as always, the world was brutally relative.
Darcor was leagues beyond their level--impossible to stop.
Locks?
He hadn't even bothered with them from outside.
Darcor smirked and rose from his seat.
Step. Step.
As he approached, Justina recoiled in horror.
She backed up until her back hit the cold wall.
No further retreat.
"M-Mercy... A-Anything you want... P-Please, just spare my life!"
The Daroa Empress's dignity was nowhere to be found.
Tears streaming, she begged desperately.
'Yes, exactly.'
Darcor looked down at her and chuckled.
His lips curled in a vicious smirk.
This was the reaction he wanted.
Killing was easy.
But killing outright gained nothing.
'I'm not some lunatic tyrant...'
Collections always flowed best at peak terror.
Darcor leaned in close and whispered softly into Justina's ear.
"Why so late getting home? World's a dangerous place, y'know."
"H-Hic..."
"And lock your doors tighter next time."
Darcor brushed her tear-streaked cheek,
grinning wickedly.
"Wouldn't want thieves dropping by."