Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: The Emperor's End
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As soon as Luyan shifted into his monster form just as instructed, the troops facing him erupted into massive chaos.
Having battled countless monsters alongside Prim all this time, they knew one thing.
This monster was on a whole different level from ordinary ones.
As morale plummeted at the sight of Luyan, the commander of the First Army shouted.
"Don't panic! This is the scenario we've already drilled! Move into Defense Formation Five!"
Noah, who knew Luyan's true nature in advance, had incorporated countermeasures into their training over the past five years.
The troops, briefly thrown off, quickly regained their composure.
"Prepare the defense magic circle!"
The Second Army set up defense magic circles behind the First and Third Armies.
"Prepare the Water Sphere Bombardment spell!!"
"Prepare the fog spell!!"
Fog blanketed the area as intensely compressed water orbs rained down from the sky in droves.
The moment the water orbs touched Luyan's body, their surfaces shattered with explosive bursts.
It was a ferocious assault.
As a fire-type monster, Luyan was taken aback by the water bombardment magic.
While Luyan hesitated amid the obscured visibility and relentless water sphere barrage, the First, Second, and Third Armies fell back.
There was someone else suited to handle a monster of that caliber. The First Army commander swiftly activated a quest on his record parchment.
[Reicht Large-Scale Quest] Sudden High Monster Slaying!
Details: A high monster from Montgelhel has suddenly appeared beneath the Reicht Empire's imperial palace. Hurry and take it out.
Rewards: Trust (Favor) from the next emperor's army commanders, 1000 EXP, Sword of the Honorable
This should do it, right?
Following Noah's instructions, the First Army commander posted the quest details.
He'd felt uneasy about using "favor," so he went with "trust" instead of the suggested wording—not sure if it landed right.
As soon as the quest notification popped up, adventurers from all directions swarmed in like they'd been waiting.
"Whoa!!! Jackpot!! New monster!!!"
"Insane. Why's this high monster level 372? We can actually take it down, right?"
"Is this the large-scale quest they said was being prepped in the dungeon?"
They charged at Luyan—who had transformed—with excitement, as if they'd been dying for this.
[Damn it.]
He'd expected them to flee in terror at the sight of him, but these adventurers who popped up out of nowhere started unleashing attacks with fanatic glee on their faces.
He wanted to fight back too, but with the emperor nearby, he couldn't. Survival came first.
[Run!]
Luyan hurled Luisa to the side and began slaughtering the adventurers, flames erupting from his body.
The emperor, suddenly dumped on the ground, channeled mana into her legs.
'I have to control my power carefully to escape.'
The power she'd stolen from Prim was overwhelmingly vast—too much to wield recklessly.
She hadn't gained the ability to fine-tune mana control.
In the end, her muscles couldn't withstand the mana surge, and severe spasms hit. Luisa crumpled to the ground, unable to flee.
"Off to the guillotine."
Prim's soldiers grabbed the immobilized emperor and dragged her back to the execution site.
"Luyan!!! Duke Puegour—no, you're the Demon Ghost Knight now, aren't you? Where the hell is the Demon Ghost Knight in this critical moment!!!"
She screamed at Luyan at the top of her lungs, but he couldn't hear her over the onslaught of charging adventurers.
Luisa was hauled back to the execution ground. She resisted, but it was futile.
There sat Prim in the very spot where Luisa had been watching Prim's execution, legs crossed.
Seeing Prim smirking at her, Luisa ground her teeth. Her face flushed red with barely contained rage.
"You think you'll get away with killing me? Foolish child. No matter how hard you try to beat me, the one behind me will crush you. He won't let you off!!"
Screaming hysterically, Luisa was forced to her knees before the guillotine.
She wanted to use Prim's power, but unleashing it would make her body explode.
Just a little longer, and his reinforcements would arrive. She couldn't die here without even seeing him.
"This breaks our promise!!! If you kill me, you'll never be able to kill Prim!! Ryukri…… Ack!"
As she tried to utter his name, a stone materialized in midair and clamped over her mouth.
At the same moment, a deep blue-black gate tore open in the distance, spewing forth hordes of monsters.
"Argh! What the hell is that! Why's a gate opening here!!"
The adventurers, now allied with Prim's forces, panicked at the gates ripping open everywhere.
"Suppress the rebels!!!"
The rest of the emperor's army, having received the news a bit late, joined the fray and pushed forward.
The tide seemed to be turning once more.
"This is bad, Commander. At this rate, we'll get overrun. There are just too many monsters."
"......Damn it, we're so close!!"
If things continued, the entire army faced annihilation. Monster reinforcements—who could've imagined?
-I'm getting PTSD from those gates fr
-for real
-Was the gate mechanic in Nina Pinta based on real life too?
-They say Niphani's a simulation built on reality
One adventurer streamer, Kimisanggung, broadcast the chaos live.
"Hoo boy, even though I'm with the rebels, can we really win this?"
-Fuck, get rid of those guys
-No way, twist after twist after twist lmao
-Can't predict the plot at all ㄷㄷ
-Ugh;;;;; seeing gates outta nowhere makes me wanna puke;;;;; do I have to feel this fear IRL too?
-What's the emperor's deal? Why's she linked to monsters?
The chat exploded at the sudden reversal.
The gate appearances dredged up real-world trauma, wearing everyone out.
"Ahh, he's here. He's come for me."
Luisa gazed at the gate with an ecstatic smile. With his help, the situation would inevitably turn.
He wielded power beyond all living beings. Who could stand against him?
Bound, Luisa smiled. Then she sneered at Prim.
"No matter how much you flap around."
Prim, having personally mounted the scaffold and positioned Luisa's neck on the guillotine, whispered softly.
"Look over there."
Pwooooom-!
A trumpet-like roar from a single massive lifeform echoed across the battlefield.
Atop that hill stood a girl commanding a staggering horde of monster-like beings—vast in number and variety.
Dark elves, Lycus, Briawolves, and more. But they were all too beautiful to call monsters.
Beside her stood Colin Altoid, said to have lost his mind, leading his own legion.
They were all former slaves.
Sunlight beamed down on the girl at their center.
She stood atop the fierce yet exquisite Flame Harrier, smiling.
Her light brown hair whipped in the wind. Her red eyes gleamed elegantly under the intense sun.
[Awoooo-!]
[Awooooo-!]
At Dun's gesture, her waiting creatures charged the monsters.
Prim turned to Luisa, who stared at Dun in disbelief, and spoke.
"That's my ace in the hole."
The chat went nuclear at Dun's entrance. Every streamer's shared view locked onto her.
-Is that Dun wtf?
-Wtf is with her hair?? Monsters wtf?? How are they all so flashy and pretty??
-Wow fr our babygirl is badass
-Lmao did she tame monsters at this level??
-Insane insane insane insane
-Insane fkn insane
-Dunniyaㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Aaah fr I'm losing my mind I love it
-Sweep 'em all!!!
-Dun...;;;;; don't like you but rooting for ya……. deal with that gate right in front of me pls;;
Dun descended the hill astride Lycrin. Her eyes met Prim's, and she nodded.
It seemed she'd found the opponent she'd been hunting for so long.
"Executing the tyrant who devoured the nation."
* * *
Inside the former Association's Abyss testing site, the sounds of impacts continued.
"Sorry, kids. So, so sorry. Just once, forgive me, yeah? Thanks to you, I'm this strong now. Uncle Seol will buy you tasty stuff. Yeah? Gahk!!"
Seol Do-yun, watching Kim Woo-sung get stomped, slipped a hand into his pocket to check the open gate location Ise-daechi had sent.
The perfect spot to bury him quietly.
* * *
Prim gazed at the guillotine blade she'd raised earlier to kill herself.
"Luisa. Remember when I said I was learning calligraphy?"
Prim pulled out the decree announcing her own execution.
She erased her name and carefully wrote Luisa's with a brush.
Seeing her long-imagined scene unfold felt strangely surreal.
After meticulously finishing every stroke, Prim shoved the paper in front of Luisa's downward-facing face.
"Your promised gift."
"......Prim. My daughter."
"Let's end this twisted bond here."
Luisa shuddered at the warm yet cold gaze.
"Daughter, don't do this. You know how much I loved you. You can't do this to your mother, right?"
"......"
"Prim, please……. Forgive me just this once."
Prima Vera crouched before Luisa's terrified, head-shaking face.
"Those words you said to me in the prison lingered in my heart for a long time."
Prim stared intently into Luisa's green eyes.
"Among those I loved, you're the only one I want dead—for hurting me. I don't let the sparks fly to others. After you wounded me, I didn't break; I grew stronger. Turning ugly is a personal choice."
Luisa scowled at that.
"My humanity hasn't died yet. I still love you—your foolishness, your dullness, your inferiority complex. All of it."
Prim smiled.
"Your selfish flaws led me to victory, after all."
Then she kissed Luisa's forehead.
"Farewell."
A tender yet formal, rigid word.
Prim rose and dropped the guillotine blade.
* * *
An unmanned open gate.
Kim Woo-sung, his body mangled by the captured beasts, begged through sobs.
"It was all you, huh? I get it, I get everything. From now on, I swear I won't harm you guys anymore……."
Seol Do-yun expressionlessly aimed at Kim Woo-sung's head and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
* * *
Slice!
Crimson blood sprayed everywhere.
Luisa was dead.
A life of being used by those who didn't cherish her and slain by those who did.
That was Emperor Luisa's end.
Prim grabbed the former emperor's hair and lifted her head.
Pink eyes brimmed with mingled sorrow and joy, tears streaming down. Her golden locks, rippling in the wind, were stained faintly red.
"The former emperor is dead! Victory is ours!"
Prim's cry drew cheers from her tirelessly fighting troops.
"Waaaaah!!!!"
"Waaaaah!!!!"
As Luisa's breath stopped, mana vapors rose from her body and absorbed into Prim.
[No!!! That's his power!!!]
The former Duke Puegour—the Demon Ghost Knight—who had brought the monster army, wailed.
Prim closed her eyes, feeling her returning power. Ah, so this is what perfect dominion feels like.
Her mana flow perception sharpened, and the amount she could wield swelled.
{Name: Prima Vera}
{Level: 501}
Her lost record parchment returned too. Prim summoned her staff from her ring and tapped the ground once.
"Arbo Fenestra!"
Vines erupted from the earth, piercing only where monsters clustered.
Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!
The vines retracted and stabbed repeatedly at high speed, slaughtering most of the monsters.
Dun's creatures handled the rest.
Monsters kept pouring from the gates undeterred.
"Now, as emperor, my first command: Unite your strength and slay the monsters emerging from those rifts! Imperial army or mine—combine forces and drive out these nation-wreckers!"
The surrendering imperial army cheered at Prim's words and charged the monsters.
A chance they might not get booted from the military.
Amid the frenzy of everyone hastening the fight's end for their own reasons, Dun gazed skyward astride Lycrin.
A black video orb floated there.
The mana aura it emitted felt all too familiar.
"Lycrin, faster. Follow that video orb."
[Got it.]
As the black video orb drew nearer, Dun stood on Lycrin's back mid-gallop, legs spread.
She crouched slightly, coiled her legs, and leaped toward the orb.
Thud!
Dun grabbed the floating video orb with both hands and dangled from it.
"Hey~ Long time no see! Miss me?"
Grinning wide as she shoved her face into the orb, Dun's voice bubbled with excitement.
"I was hyped for you to show this time instead of just sending more monsters. Total letdown. Damn, I schemed for five years just to see you, but you're trickier than I thought, Shiki."
Truth be told, Prim could've ended the rebellion sooner, but she'd added some flair to corner this thing.
"Those gates popping up means the stuff back in my old world was your doing too, right?"
Dun pressed her forehead to the orb and burst out laughing. But her eyes blazed with rage and killing intent.
"Every time I wanna beat someone to death, they come with sob stories that ruin my stress relief—and that's when I miss you most."
Dangling from the orb, Dun grinned playfully and licked it.
"No matter how I think about it, I like you way too much. Maybe 'cause you've screwed me over so much, but just imagining pounding you to death wakes me up thrilled in the middle of the night!"
Cracks spiderwebbed across the orb in her grip.
"Look forward to it. I'll grind you up and chug you soon."
Craaaack, boom!
The video orb exploded.
Dun cackled as she plummeted from the sky.
Lycrin swooped in swiftly to catch her.
[Dun! The monsters are retreating!]
"Oh, nice. Guess the monster boss chickened out."
Dun rode Lycrin toward Prim.
Prim stood atop the scaffold with a relieved expression, waiting.
On her way to Prim, Dun spotted the crown Luisa had dropped on the ground.
The gold crown studded with jewels, symbol of this land's ruler.
Dun brushed off the dirt and wiped the blood with her sleeve.
She strode up to Prim, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head.
Then she looked up with a cheeky smile.
"Congratulations on your ascension, Your Majesty."
Dun rose and placed the crown on Prim's head.
* * *
[Association president taken care of. She's next.]
After texting Lee Yoo-hyun, Seol Do-yun leaned against the open gate wall and resumed the rebellion footage he'd paused.
Cheers celebrating the new emperor's coronation echoed beside the former president's cold corpse.
Seol Do-yun wiped the splattered blood from his face with the back of his hand and smiled.
Dun grinned on his phone screen.
-Congrats ^^b
Leaving one comment, Seol Do-yun hummed as he left the gate.
Afterward, the outfit Kim Woo-sung often contacted for body disposals and evidence cleanups entered the open gate.
They erased every trace of him that way.