Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Dark King (2)
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Kang Hyun-soo went to find the Dark King himself, without sending any summons.
There was a need to meet her in person.
“And the current Dark King can’t defeat me.”
It was also confidence in his own power.
Dark King Cecilia.
“The granddaughter of Emperor Rodius I of the Rokto Empire, and the daughter of Rodius II, who would later become the emperor of the Rokto Empire.”
However, Cecilia’s existence becoming known to the public.
“Was only after she assassinated Rodius II and entered the battle for the throne.”
A fierce civil war broke out.
And that civil war became the decisive reason for the mighty Rokto Empire’s downfall.
“I couldn’t reveal that to the current Emperor Rodius I of the Rokto Empire.”
The moment he said those words.
The being known as the Dark King would vanish before it even came into existence.
“Many were shocked to learn that the fallen empire’s princess was the Dark King.”
Even more so since it was Princess Cecilia, who had been mocked as the foolish one who pulled the trigger on the Rokto Empire’s downfall.
“Who would’ve thought she was the Dark King, devoting herself to humanity from the shadows.”
Even Kang Hyun-soo had been tremendously shocked back then.
“I have to stop it.”
He couldn’t just watch the Rokto Empire fall into ruin due to a civil war like in his previous regression.
Even if it fell as it had before.
“It should be because of war with the Demon King’s army, not a civil war.”
That was why Kang Hyun-soo had come to meet the Dark King.
But persuasion wouldn’t be easy.
“She was a bastard child.”
Cecilia’s mother had been a lowly slave of the lowest status.
“And her father lacked any sense of responsibility.”
The wastrel crown prince Rodius II hadn’t cared for his daughter at all.
On the contrary, he had tried to kill her to erase his own shame.
Cecilia had barely survived thanks to the mercy of the current emperor, Rodius I.
Her grandfather, Rodius I, had protected and looked after his granddaughter Cecilia.
“But protecting and looking after her amounted to little more than managing her without revealing her identity.”
Rodius I had entrusted his granddaughter Cecilia to Baron Briven, the head of the Shadow Guard, the emperor’s direct secret military organization.
The Shadow Guard was the emperor’s hidden power and, unofficially, the cleanup crew that handled the imperial family’s dirty secrets.
Baron Briven had taken Cecilia in as his adopted daughter on the emperor’s orders.
“That was the extent of it.”
She hadn’t even been acknowledged with an official status, let alone listed in the imperial registry.
She hadn’t been assigned guards or maids.
Cecilia’s official status was that of a baron’s lady.
And even that was just an orphaned commoner fortunate enough to be adopted into a baron’s family.
However.
“Not even Emperor Rodius I could have imagined that the entire Shadow Guard organization would fall into Cecilia’s hands.”
Though a bastard, she was direct imperial blood.
She had the qualifications to command the Shadow Guard’s loyalty.
“And the next emperor, Rodius II, and his children were such utter scum.”
The Shadow Guard, now under Cecilia’s control, persuaded numerous nobles under the pretext that a capable person needed to ascend the throne for the survival of the Rokto Empire.
“In truth, it was probably more blackmail than persuasion.”
At the time, it had been a great mystery how the emperor’s bastard child had gathered enough forces to plunge into the battle for the throne and spark a civil war.
Because of that, the prevailing opinion was that she was merely a figurehead pushed forward by power-hungry nobles.
“But that wasn’t the case.”
Cecilia herself was the Dark King.
Using the Shadow Guard as her foundation, Cecilia had built the continent’s greatest intelligence organization.
“And from that information, she grew her power.”
The Shadow Guard, being the emperor’s secret military organization, already possessed some intelligence and military capabilities.
“But in the end, it was just an organization limited to playing cleanup crew for the imperial family.”
Turning such a Shadow Guard into the continent’s top intelligence organization.
“Was purely Cecilia’s personal ability.”
By now, Cecilia had likely fully seized control of the Shadow Guard and was blocking all information from reaching the emperor.
“And the intelligence organization would have some structure in place by now.”
As time passed?
It would evolve into the greatest intelligence organization on the Atlantis dimension.
“How did you know?” she asked.
At Cecilia’s question, Kang Hyun-soo raised his head.
“I saw the future.”
Cecilia let out a scoffing laugh at Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“You saw the future? I’m curious. In the future, does the existence hidden in the shadows like me get revealed to the world?”
Kang Hyun-soo nodded at Cecilia’s question.
“Yes, though she’s mocked as the foolish princess who destroyed the Rokto Empire.”
“The foolish princess who destroyed the Rokto Empire. If that’s true…”
A bright smile bloomed on Cecilia’s lips.
“Then the future me is impressive. After all, it means a worthless imperial bastard managed to gain enough power to bring down this vast Rokto Empire.”
“However, because the Rokto Empire fell so absurdly due to civil war, hundreds of millions of powerless subjects died at the hands of the Demon King’s army without anyone’s protection.”
Cecilia’s smile faded at Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“Have you come to kill me?”
Clang!
The moment Cecilia finished speaking, sharp blades surrounded Kang Hyun-soo’s body.
“No.”
Even at Kang Hyun-soo’s response, the blades encircling him did not disappear.
“Then why have you come to see me?”
“I’ve heard that the crown prince is recently targeting Baron Briven’s territory.”
The moment Kang Hyun-soo finished speaking, Cecilia’s beautiful face twisted like a vengeful ghost.
The crown prince, her biological father.
He was targeting Cecilia, who was under the protection of his father, Emperor Rodius I.
Not to kill her and hide his shame.
But because seeing the grown Cecilia had stirred his lust.
“He’s not just a wastrel—he’s a monstrous human trash beyond redemption.”
After ascending to the throne, Rodius II had violated the late emperor Rodius I’s concubines.
Not satisfied with that, he had even assaulted his wife the empress’s mother and sisters.
He had violated noblewomen and ladies multiple times.
Whenever rumors spread of a woman’s beauty, he spared no one.
Even a dog in heat probably wouldn’t go that far.
“It’s a wonder no rebellion broke out.”
If Cecilia hadn’t assassinated Rodius II?
A rebellion would likely have toppled the imperial family itself.
“Excluding Cecilia, his children took after their father completely.”
In truth, if they hadn’t been that depraved?
A bastard like Cecilia, who had even assassinated her own father the late emperor, couldn’t have entered the battle for the throne.
“Are you planning to go into hiding?”
Cecilia still lacked power.
Thus, she chose to flee and hide from her biological father, the crown prince.
“You might really be able to see the future. You’re right.”
“I will lend strength to you, Lady of the Barony.”
“You’ll give me power?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of power exactly? My opponent is the crown prince of the Rokto Empire.”
Even the emperor’s protection wasn’t something she could rely on forever.
If she fell into his hands, it was over.
Once the deed was done?
The emperor would act to cover up the imperial family’s shame.
The easiest way would be to eliminate Cecilia.
The crown prince would receive a stern reprimand.
But that would be the end of it.
As emperor, he had no replacement for the crown prince.
If there were a capable imperial grandson, it might be different.
But they were all wastrels just like their father.
The only solution would be to abandon his desire to pass the throne to his own bloodline, adopt a capable collateral imperial relative, and discard the crown prince.
But no matter how much of a wastrel he was, the crown prince was the emperor’s only son.
If a collateral imperial rose to the throne?
The current crown prince and his children would be purged without fail.
“If you wish, I can cut off the crown prince’s breath for you.”
Cecilia’s expression hardened at Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“Is that really possible?”
The crown prince’s security was inferior to the emperor’s.
But only compared to the emperor.
It was solid enough that even the continent’s top assassins couldn’t touch him.
“Of course.”
“You’re awfully confident.”
Cecilia let out a scoffing laugh.
“But why are you trying to help me?”
The Dark Knight had mentioned the Rokto Empire’s downfall to the emperor.
But he hadn’t cited Cecilia as the cause.
And now, he was offering her power.
Even offering to kill the crown prince if she wanted.
Cecilia was curious.
All humans moved according to their desires.
So what was the Dark Knight’s desire that made him offer to help her?
“Because your very existence is a tremendous boon to humanity.”
Cecilia judged Kang Hyun-soo’s words as truth.
But that was merely one of many reasons.
Cecilia discerned the desire in Kang Hyun-soo’s eyes.
“You want to possess my very existence.”
“As expected.”
Kang Hyun-soo was satisfied hearing Cecilia’s response.
As expected of the Dark King.
She had an eye for seeing through others’ intentions better than anyone.
“Are you planning to make me emperor of the Rokto Empire? And then use me to rule the Rokto Empire?”
“I’ve considered such a plan. And I haven’t completely abandoned it now either. But the reason I want you isn’t simply your bloodline.”
“Then what is it?”
“Your ability.”
“My ability?”
“You took control of the Shadow Guard at a young age, evading the emperor’s eyes.”
“That’s right.”
“And that was just the beginning.”
“I must become someone truly great in the future.”
“Indeed. The actions you took caused great harm to all of humanity, but conversely, they also saved countless lives.”
If Cecilia had swiftly concluded the battle for the throne and won?
The Rokto Empire wouldn’t have fallen.
Instead, it would have quickly recovered from the damages inflicted by the human trash emperors and served as humanity’s sturdy shield and vanguard.
“The pre-regression Dark King Cecilia probably aimed for that picture.”
But the battle for the throne didn’t end easily, the conflict escalated, and it ultimately led to the downfall of the Rokto Empire with its long history.
However.
“If I intervene, things will be different.”
If he helped Dark King Cecilia ascend to the Rokto Empire’s throne.
And made that Dark King Cecilia his subordinate.
It would be a tremendous blessing for both the Rokto Empire and all of humanity.
Cecilia herself would gain the title of the Rokto Empire’s first female emperor instead of Dark King.
“If I refuse your offer? Will you kill me?”
At Cecilia’s question.
“Isn’t that a question I should be asking?”
Kang Hyun-soo shrugged, pointing to the blades surrounding him.
“Everyone, withdraw.”
“But.”
“I said withdraw.”
“Understood.”
The blades encircling Kang Hyun-soo vanished.
And the guards fully withdrew.
“Enough games. I already know I can’t handle you with force.”
Cecilia assessed the situation from Kang Hyun-soo’s calm demeanor and confident eyes.
Calm even with blades at his nose?
It could be due to great courage.
“But it might also be confidence in his own power.”
Moreover, considering the Dark Knight’s prowess revealed in the incidents in the Mulan Kingdom?
Her guards posed no threat.
They were the elite of the Shadow Guard, handpicked.
“But they’re just level 600 players at best.”
Far from named players or rankers, they were forces even Rokto Empire’s royal knights or giant guild executives struggled against.
“If you pay the fair price, I will become yours.”
Swoosh.
Cecilia held out a single sheet of paper.
That paper was.
A soul contract.
Not a material thing, but an unbreakable contract sworn on each other’s souls.
“It’s finally here.”
A satisfied smile bloomed on Kang Hyun-soo’s lips as he gazed at the soul contract.