The Sovereign's Arrival
Bwaaaaaaaang!!!
A horn blasted, its sound so deafening it felt as though it would tear the colosseum apart.
Bang!
Pop! Pop!
Beautiful fireworks painted the sky, scattering colorful confetti over the blood-stained arena.
Promotion Match Ended!
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Uwoooooh!"
The elves in the spectator stands erupted into cheers.
Surviv⚙rs: 2
"Whoa..."
"Wait..."
The text on the system window announcing the final number of survivors was no longer written in the elven script.
"...Huh?"
"...?!"
Only the final letter glitched, flickering back and forth between the elven script and Hangul.
Just as I hadn't been able to read the elven language, the elves in the stands couldn't read the Hangul. They stared, utterly dumbfounded.
Fwoosh...
Crackle, pop...
As the fireworks completely died down, the scene inside the arena was laid bare.
Twenty-eight elven corpses.
One living elf.
And me.
Silence fell.
The cheering stopped instantly.
The elves, who had just been singing, dancing, and celebrating, shut their mouths as if someone were choking them.
Then, one by one, whispers began to break the silence.
"...What is this?"
"Survivors..."
"Only two left?"
"But the promotion match always..."
"Isn't it always ten?"
The stands, once filled with roaring cheers, were now thick with confused murmurs.
"What on earth is the meaning of this?!"
"...My son! Where is my son?!"
"This isn't what we were promised!!!"
The nobles in the VIP seats were in no better state. Those who had sent their children into this promotion match stood up, their faces pale with shock, wailing in despair.
It was only natural, considering the children they had pumped full of every buff imaginable had died so pointlessly.
I suppose it makes sense they'd react like that.
Ten people were supposed to pass the promotion match. Yet, only two remained.
And to make matters worse, one of them was a human—me.
On top of that, the single elf I had spared wasn't even the strongest one here...
The entire game had been ruined in the most frustrating way possible for them.
"..."
Chaos reigned in the colosseum.
Standing at the very center of it all, I raised my head and looked up at the vessel floating in the sky.
The golden veil remained perfectly still.
Instead, a heavy, rhythmic marching sound echoed.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Elven soldiers rushed into the arena. Unlike the participants of the promotion match, these soldiers were fully equipped with proper armor and weapons.
They quickly surrounded the surviving elf and me, drawing their swords with a sharp shring!
They pointed their blades at us, ready to slit our throats or pierce our hearts at a moment's notice.
"Kneel and show respect to His Imperial Majesty!" shouted the man who appeared to be their commander.
Level 50... no, maybe around 60?
The level difference between us was at least twenty. He wasn't someone I should pick a fight with.
But...
I glanced up. I didn't kneel. I simply kept my eyes on the Emperor's vessel floating high above.
"Please, kneel...!"
The last surviving elf beside me had already dropped to her knees.
"If you don't, you will die...!" she whispered desperately in a tiny voice.
"Why should I?"
"...!"
"You're misunderstanding something, Nairin."
When I called her name, she flinched in surprise.
Did she really think I wouldn't recognize her? I had figured it out around the time I was slaughtering the other elves.
An elf around my level who was willing to help me... there was only one person that could be. Nairin, the one I had spared before.
Should I be glad I let her live back then? If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to enter the pillar of fire.
"He is your Emperor."
"...!"
"Not mine."
There are no emperors in South Korea. We vote for our leaders. Not that these primitive elves, who still hadn't escaped their medieval system, would ever understand that.
"Show respect to His Imperial Maj—!!"
Before the elven commander could finish screaming, his veins bulging, I ripped off my mask and tossed it aside.
The colosseum froze in sheer horror.
The music had stopped at some point, leaving only a suffocating silence hanging over the arena.
"Phew..."
Taking off the mask felt incredibly refreshing.
"H-His ears...!"
"...He's a human?!"
"Why is there a human in the promotion match?!"
The crowd erupted into a frenzy. Even the soldiers pointing their swords at me wavered, their eyes shaking.
How is a human here? Their faces practically screamed the question.
"Lord Taepyeong...!!"
As Nairin tried to scramble to her feet, I raised a hand to stop her.
"Stay down, Nairin."
"...!"
"Right now, associating with me won't do you any favors."
If they found out she was following a human, calling me "Lord Taepyeong," there was no telling what this cult-like society of fanatics would do to her. I couldn't let someone who helped me get killed.
"Hey!" I waved my hand toward the vessel floating in the air.
"Did he just... to His Imperial Majesty...?"
"H-Hey...?"
The elves' faces contorted in shock once more. Regardless of their reaction, I pressed on.
"The promotion match is over, right?"
Silence.
"Then how about you send me back now?"
Silence.
"As you can see, I'm just an ordinary human!"
Silence.
The golden veil still didn't budge. Instead...
"How dare you address His Imperial Majesty so insolently...!!"
The elven commander's face flushed crimson with rage. He drew his own sword with a sharp shring!
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"A mere human dares!"
The commander's sword slashed forward, aiming directly for my neck.
Clang!!!
I parried the strike with my twin swords.
A clash between a Level 30 and a Level 60. Normally, the Level 30 should have been shattered to pieces. But...
"Y-You bastard...!"
The colosseum's restrictions were still active.
Skills, items, levels—everything except race was equalized. In other words, this was a battle of pure skill.
Screeech!
And once the playing field was leveled, he couldn't do a damn thing.
"...!!"
As the commander's sword began to push back against him, panic colored his eyes. I grinned at the sight.
"What's wrong? Not going the way you expected?"
"...Grrgh!"
Griting his teeth, he poured all his strength into his blade and deflected my swords with a loud clang!
The moment his sword thrust forward to pierce my heart, I swiftly spun out of the way, slipping behind him.
I swung my twin swords, aiming directly for his eyes—
"Enough."
A beautiful voice echoed directly inside my head.
...The Emperor?
The tips of my blades stopped right in front of the commander's eyeballs. It wasn't by my own volition.
Hummmm...
An inexplicable force held me. My body wouldn't move, as if gripped by a giant hand.
...Is this the Emperor's power?
It was an immense pressure that felt like it could crush me to pieces at any moment. It was likely only possible because this entire space was under the Emperor's absolute control.
He could kill me right now if he wanted to...
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
Pop!
The force holding me vanished, and the commander's body right in front of me exploded.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Flesh and crushed organs rained down onto the stone floor.
It was as if an invisible hand had squeezed the commander until he burst. Only the remnants of what used to be a commander remained.
"..."
Even for me, this was a bit shocking.
It's a power close to a god's...
The elves were the strongest race, practically ruling the Tower. And the Emperor was the one who stood at the very pinnacle of that race.
Is this the kind of power you get when you reach the level of Emperor?
A chill ran down my spine.
Was it fear?
No...
It wasn't fear. It felt more like the sensation of facing the 'tagger' in a game of hide-and-seek.
Yes. This wasn't dread; it was anticipation.
"Haha..."
I chuckled softly and looked up. The Emperor's vessel, which hadn't budged an inch, was slowly descending.
It landed smoothly in the center of the colosseum.
Then, the golden veil parted.
A shadow slowly walked out from within.
Finally.
Hair that looked like molten gold. Amber eyes that seemed to hold the sun itself. Skin so pale and translucent it looked carved from white jade.
He exuded a beauty that could not be compared to any mortal creation.
Faced with this almost violent level of beauty, everyone in the colosseum fell to their knees.
...Is that guy really a man?
Except for me, of course.
Maybe it was because he was too perfect, but it felt uncanny, almost like looking at a monster. It actually repelled me.
Well, at least it allowed me to stare at him blankly without being mesmerized. I suppose I should count that as a blessing.
"..."
The Emperor stared at me for a moment, then let out a beautiful smile.
"It has been a long time since I last saw a living human."
...Does that mean you've seen plenty of dead ones?
"How did a human enter this sacred sanctuary..."
"..."
"...and slaughter my beloved subjects?"
"..."
I didn't answer. He hadn't been asking me in the first place.
"Ack! G-Gah!"
An elven inspector was floating in midair, foaming at the mouth and thrashing as if being strangled.
But how is he supposed to answer when you're hanging him like that? Well, I doubt the Emperor actually cared about hearing an answer anyway...
Crack!!!
Just like the commander, the inspector's neck snapped at a grotesque angle.
Crunch! Snap!
His limbs followed suit. The inspector's body crumpled haphazardly, like a piece of paper being balled up.
Only after every bone in his body was shattered did the inspector's limp form drop to the floor.
Snap!
The Emperor flicked his fingers.
"Cough! Blegh!"
Only the inspector's head reverted to normal, though blood was still pouring from every orifice.
"Answer me."
"T-This human... it was a system error..."
"..."
"Argh! Gah!"
Groaning in agony, the inspector desperately continued his explanation.
He explained that the spell to locate the Dark Elf Slayer and the spell to find Level 30 candidates for the promotion match had clashed, causing a system error.
It seemed the Quiet Eira Forest's Earring I was wearing, along with the Elf's Sword given to awakened elves, had interfered with the process.
"Furthermore, because he possessed a Clean Core, this error..."
Clean Core. That probably referred to my dantian.
"Hmm."
The Emperor nodded slightly after hearing the explanation.
And then...
Boom!
...Seriously, why does he keep blowing people up? I'm the one getting covered in blood here.
Ptooey!
I wiped my mouth and spat out the metallic-tasting blood.
Before the spit could even hit the ground, sharp, piercing glares locked onto me.
Their faces made it clear they wanted to tear me limb from limb if given the chance. But none of them dared to move. Their Emperor was right here.
"I see..." the Emperor murmured, as if realizing something.
Then, he turned to me.
"Is it true?" he asked.
"Are you the human who slaughtered the dark elves?"
"Sigh..."
I pressed a hand to my forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Is the dark elf really the issue right now? Look at how many elves died right here. What kind of question is that?
Elves really are a bit slow in the head...
Still, I should probably give him an answer.
"Yeah."
"..."
"It was me."
What of it?