Chapter 508: Jealousy is My Power (8)
Chapter 508: Jealousy is My Power (8)
“Ian Percus, a deadly poison is circulating through your body. The fangs of the ‘Shadows’ are always coated in venom. Since you are a knight who has reached the level of ‘High Expert,’ you won't die… but moving any further will be difficult.”
With those words, the man took a silent step forward.
In just two or three steps, he arrived before me as if gliding, his upper body leaning down.
Likely to meet my eyes.
“To be honest, I am surprised. I thought that with our numbers, we could guarantee victory even against a ‘High Expert’ or an ‘Archmage’… but for a moment, I actually felt the Sword Duke himself would need to come.”
I didn't offer any reply.
I simply panted, trying to steady my breathing.
“I will have the antidote given to you once the Sword Duke arrives. Well, since things have turned out this way, shall we introduce ourselves? My name is Ruben of Findleston….”
“Hey.”
It was a single word, uttered in a low voice.
The man’s silver tongue faltered for the first time. He looked down at me with a bewildered expression.
Because I was smiling.
Soon, my lips, curved in a fierce arc, parted.
“Shut up.”
Before the man could even ask what I meant.
Blood sprayed in a diagonal line.
In an instant, the positions of the man and I had been reversed. I walked slowly away with the man behind my back, while he sank to his knees at the spot where we had crossed.
His wide-open eyes trembled as they fixed on me.
“W-What… No matter how much of a High Expert you are, there’s no way you should be able to move…!”
I didn't bother answering.
What would be the point of telling him that I actually possess two Mental Imageries, and that one of them allows me to move my body even after death?
It was a pathetic excuse.
More importantly, I needed to speak with the Emperor.
Finally, I could face him in a true private audience.
The Emperor showed neither favor nor hostility. He merely stared at me with deep, sunken eyes.
Now that the excitement of battle had faded, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. The reason I forced a clumsy excuse from my lips was likely because I found this silence hard to endure.
“……I didn't kill them.”
“Is that something to be proud of?”
With a deep sigh, the Emperor shook his head.
Glancing around the room, his feet moved toward a chair placed by the window. Perhaps arranged with work in mind, a wide desk sat before it.
The old man buried his back into the plush cushions of the chair.
“Fine, I admit it. I misjudged you. I thought you were someone a bit more like me….”
Boom!
The explosion rang out at that exact moment.
It was the sound of the grand doors being pulverized in an instant. No, could ‘pulverized’ even describe it?
Countless hairline cracks appeared on the doors, which were made of a blend of wood and alloy. Following those lines, the door panels began to shatter piece by piece until not even a trace of their form remained.
Dust.
The slash did not discriminate between metal and wood. Before that blade, all things were equal.
Beyond the fluttering dust, a boisterous voice erupted.
“You rascal, Ian Percus! You’ve finally shown your true colors! There’s nothing for it now but to cross swords with me!”
There wasn't a hint of a sense of crisis in his tone.
And for good reason.
There was no way a master of the Sword Duke’s caliber hadn't grasped the situation inside the room by now. He was a man capable of turning me into minced meat whenever he pleased, without even needing to step into the room.
Was it called ‘Sword Soul’?
That chilling sharpness still surrounded me like a mist. Likely, it wasn't just around me; the entire building was within his range.
Yet, the Sword Duke only appeared after everything had been settled.
No matter how much I thought about it, his intention was obvious. Knowing I had no murderous intent, the Sword Duke had been standing behind the door, enjoying the show of my skills.
There was no way the Emperor didn't know what even I realized.
Another heavy sigh escaped his lips.
“……He really is just like my uncle.”
Against the backdrop of that lament, the Sword Duke leveled his blade. At a glance, his posture looked like a mess, but the moment I faced it, my breath hitched.
There were no openings.
Even if I gave it my all, could I even leave a single scratch?
Such skeptical outlooks repeated in my mind. No matter where I looked, I saw only a future where I was defeated.
Cold sweat soaked my face.
On the other hand, the Sword Duke was just grinning foolishly at my tense state. In his eyes flickered the peculiar joy of an old man dealing with a young grandchild.
“What will you do, Percus brat? For the record, you’ll die even if you don’t come at me.”
At this point, it was practically pure blackmail.
Though I grumbled inwardly, I sank my breathing even deeper. Golden sparks flickered in my vision.
Still, if I gave it my all.
If I utilized my Mental Imagery to the maximum, couldn't I at least leave one scratch?
Thought immediately translated into phenomenon.
A silver mist rose up around me.
It was only a very faint level, but it was an amount of Aura incomparable to when I was facing the Imperial Intelligence Agency. As proof, one of the agents lying on the ground began to gasp, struggling to breathe.
But it was still not enough.
The Sword Duke simply stood there, smirking. Despite that, my Aura couldn't encroach even an inch upon his surroundings. It was a truly terrifying presence.
In that case, there was only one answer.
A frontal breakthrough.
Just as the world was dyed in monochrome and the Sword Duke raised his leveled sword.
“……Enough!”
A voice that erupted like a heavy thud rattled my insides.
I felt a surge of blood in my throat and wore a bewildered expression.
The Sword Duke hadn't made a move, so why?
The secret was revealed shortly after.
Behind the Emperor, mysterious characters were hovering and humming with power. Seeing this, even the Sword Duke had no choice but to click his tongue and withdraw his sword.
For those characters were nothing less than the symbol of the Emperor himself.
Before the Emperor’s authority, who in the Empire could refuse to kneel? Even the Sword Duke, a Master of the Empire, showed proper etiquette to the Emperor.
I hurriedly withdrew my sword and knelt.
Only then did the characters floating behind the Emperor begin to fade. Another sigh, perhaps the countless one by now, leaked from the Emperor’s mouth.
“We are indoors! Why do you not realize that if two warriors of your caliber clash, not just a room, but an entire building would be blown away?”
“But, Your Majesty….”
“Uncle.”
The Sword Duke seemed to want to argue, but at the Emperor’s low call, he eventually bowed his head.
The groan he let out sounded particularly mournful.
Did he really want to cross swords with me that badly?
To be honest, I felt a bit of regret too.
To trade blows with the undisputed greatest swordsman on the continent—it was the highest honor for any warrior.
But the stage had already been cleared.
I lowered my head tactfully, stealing glances at the Emperor’s complexion.
The old man’s face seemed to have aged several years in that short time.
“There is no need for my uncle to step in. The young knight has already achieved his goal.”
At those words, I almost cheered out loud.
Though there had been some conflict, the Emperor had finally acknowledged me. That fact filled me with pride and a quiet sense of emotion.
Finally, I stood at the starting line of the path that man had walked.
Though I was already far behind, the thought that I was now capable of shouldering that man’s burden thrilled me. If I intended to walk my own path and not his, then this was only right.
Of course, I was more terrified than anything else.
I forced myself to ignore the tightening pain in my chest. That man was likely more trembling and afraid than this.
He probably wasn't even given the time to steel his resolve like I was.
Then, another scene suddenly flashed across my retinas.
The day I spoke with the Elsie from the future—the expression on the man’s face that I saw along with the sudden pain.
Something was different.
Unlike before, his eyes were filled with a bit more regret and melancholy.
However, I wasn't given much time to be lost in thought.
“……Ian Percus!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
I responded without delay to the Emperor’s dignified call.
As I bowed my head even deeper, the Emperor shouted again with burning eyes.
“If that is the case, I shall grant you a mission. In the process, you will naturally come to learn of the Imperial Household's Long-Cherished Wish!”
It was hard to control my pounding heart.
A mission related to the Imperial Household's Long-Cherished Wish.
Just how grueling a trial would I have to endure to fulfill this duty?
Thus, I finished steeling my resolve inwardly, and the next day.
“Yuren Perias, I shall grant you an undeserved honor! The honor of taking my sister, Luna, as your wife! In exchange, just one favor…!”
Facing the woman who was spouting nonsense as usual, I wiped my face with both hands.
“Please, of all the names to get wrong, why that bastard’s… are you insane?”
The Alphenhauser twins.
That persistent, ill-fated bond was tormenting me once again.