Chapter 28
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 28. Emperor
The sky inside the Red Rift was crushed blood-red, and the earth was covered with an endless number of corpses.
In the middle of that hell stood a man wearing a cloak with a golden lion drawn on it.
The Sun of the Empire.
It was the Emperor.
Around him, thousands of monsters were boiling like waves.
But the place the Emperor's sword tip pointed was not those terrible monsters.
It was the Imperial Knights, once the most noble and loyal in the Empire, to whom he had entrusted his back.
Beside him, the Imperial Knight Commander Perrion was screaming at the unbelievable reality.
"Gerard! Snap out of it! It's me! Your Commander!"
"Kane! Sheathe your sword! It's His Majesty! The liege we serve!"
Perrion called the names of his subordinates rushing with red glints in their eyes until his throat bled.
But what returned were only eerie sneers and blades full of killing intent.
"Kihihi... Commander... You seem weaker than I thought, Commander?"
"Right! Weak to the bone... We are different now!"
Knights filled with madness surrounded Perrion.
While Perrion hesitated in confusion, one knight sprang up like a poisonous snake from the shadow behind his back.
It was a strike aiming for Perrion's neck.
—Slice.
It wasn't Perrion's neck but the head of the squad member ambushing him that soared into the air.
"......!"
Perrion widened his eyes looking at the Emperor standing behind his back.
Blood dripping from the Emperor's sword soaked the ground.
The one just cut down was an adjutant Perrion cherished like a son.
"Your... Majesty...?"
Perrion's voice trembled.
No matter how much they had become enemies, he couldn't hide his bewilderment at the sight of his liege cutting down a subordinate without hesitation.
The Emperor stared at Perrion with coldly sunken eyes and said quietly.
"......They are already dead. Do not hesitate."
"However...! Why... Why did they become like this?"
The Emperor shook off the blood on his sword into the empty air.
His gaze stared into the empty air for a moment.
Deep agony and sorrow brushed past, but it was momentary.
"......The late Emperor had the exact same symptoms. Could not be stopped, and eventually... became like that."
"Ah......."
Perrion couldn't continue his words.
The end of the late Emperor, passed down only as a secret history of the Imperial Family, was being reenacted right before his eyes now.
—Clang!
Indifferently parrying the swords of the rushing squad members, the Emperor commanded.
"Whatever it is, there is no way to turn them back. If those things go out of the rift, the Empire's damage will spread. Do not let a single one out."
The Emperor tapped his own temple and added.
"And ignore the voices you hear in your head. The moment you react, you become exactly like them."
Only then did Perrion look straight into the faces of the squad members surrounding him.
Drooling from their mouths and wearing grotesquely twisted smiles, they were no longer the proud squad members he knew.
They were merely monsters drunk on power.
Perrion closed his eyes tightly.
It felt like his chest was tearing, but he was the Knight Commander.
He couldn't put his liege and the Empire in danger tied to personal feelings.
When he opened his eyes again, his eyes were coldly hardened.
"......Understood."
Perrion gripped his sword properly.
Just then, a newly joined rookie knight was rushing from the front with rolling eyes.
Normally, he was a greenhorn who couldn't even receive one exchange of his sword.
To relieve the bastard's pain, Perrion thrust into his heart in one breath.
—Kaaang!
"......!"
Perrion's eyes widened.
A heavy shock that made his wrist tingle was transmitted through the sword.
The rookie knight blocked Perrion's thrust head-on.
It wasn't simply at the level of blocking.
Strength, speed, reaction nerves.
Everything exceeded the category of human.
"Keeheehee! Commander's sword is... too slow?"
Did the red energy strengthen the squad members?
Or is that the price of power they talk about?
There was no time to ponder.
Thousands of monsters and the strengthened Knight Order crashed towards the Emperor and Perrion like a wave.
"Block them! For the Empire!"
The desperate struggle of the two men began.
How much time passed.
Silence fell over the corpses piled like a mountain.
The Emperor was kneeling on one knee, barely holding on using his sword as a support.
His whole body was hacked to pieces, leaving no intact spot.
Then, the sound of trudging footsteps was heard.
The Emperor raised his head, gasping for rough breath.
There stood Perrion, covered in blood with his left arm severed.
But something was wrong.
Perrion's two eyes were dyed blood-red.
Cloudy eyes where no reason could be found.
He too had eventually failed to resist and was encroached upon.
"......"
The Emperor silently gripped the sword hilt tightly.
The moment had come when he had to cut down even his most loyal vassal with his own hands.
Perrion approached right before the Emperor's nose.
He raised the sword in his right hand high.
He was about to strike down the Emperor's neck.
The Emperor also squeezed out his last strength to parry the bastard's sword.
It was that moment.
"Disloyalty for failing to protect His Majesty the Emperor!"
A shout burst from Perrion's mouth.
"I shall repay with my life!!"
—Stab!
Perrion's sword, which was expected to strike down, changed its trajectory and pierced his own heart.
Fearing that he, encroached upon by the red energy, would harm the Emperor, he ended his own life.
"Kugh...!"
Perrion vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed forward.
The Emperor reflexively dropped his sword and caught the falling Perrion.
Perrion's red eyes slowly lost their vitality and were returning to their original color.
"......I am sorry... Your Majesty... I could not serve you... to the end...."
"......"
Leaving his last will, Perrion's head dropped powerlessly.
The Emperor raised a trembling hand and gently closed Perrion's unfocused eyes.
And he stood his staggering body up.
His gaze headed to his own sword stuck in the ground.
The Emperor gripped the sword.
The thick veins bulging on the back of his hand represented his explosive anger and sorrow.
Instantly, the Emperor's left eye was dyed red momentarily.
Simultaneously, a heterogeneous pain that felt like splitting his head dug into his brain.
'Kekeke... Excellent.'
A sticky and unpleasant voice ringing directly in his head, not his ears.
'To cut down the neck of your subordinate without an inch of hesitation... Very satisfactory.'
The Emperor frowned and veins stood out on his temples.
But the voice didn't stop and whispered even sweeter.
'Can't you feel it? The fighting spirit boiling inside you.'
'Accept the power.'
'I'm not telling you to go crazy like them. You are the Emperor, right? A ruler, right?'
His vision flashed red.
His heartbeat irregularly, and it felt like hot lava was flowing through the blood vessels of his whole body.
'Are you going to be satisfied with just this? The Empire you want to protect is on the verge of ruin, right.'
'You have to get stronger.'
'You can reach a higher place.'
The voice stimulated the Emperor's deepest desires and fears.
'Accept me. Surpass your limits and become a legend.'
"......"
To suppress the craving for power surging from within, the Emperor bit his lip tightly until blood formed.
"......Shut up."
Along with a low growling voice, the Emperor's reddened eye returned to its original golden color.
He lifted his blood-stained sword and held it straight above his head.
It was the most aggressive posture, yet simultaneously containing the will not to step back.
Behind his back was the exit of the rift.
Beyond there was his beloved daughter, and the Empire he had to protect.
He had to prevent not a single monster here from going out.
The Emperor spat out coldly towards the rushing red wave.
"Not a single one... shall pass."
"Ah! I should have asked about Climbers!!"
Ruffling my hair in frustration, I picked up my phone.
Like a habit, I logged into [Tower Gallery].
Comments were running wild on a post titled [Title: Is this Barcode bastard dating inside the Tower?].
I chuckled seeing the comments.
Because I have preparations to do before going up to the 13th Floor, I closed the gallery and briefly organized my thoughts.
I opened the status window to check my stats.
The stats gained from leveling up were nice, but above all, the stats gained as crafting rewards were quite large.
I became certain while making equipment and potions all this time.
'Stat rewards are given only for the first crafted product.'
So, changing types like Iron Sword, Iron Spear, Iron Dagger, etc., means I can receive first crafting rewards for each.
Of course, I won't be able to raise stats indefinitely.
Items made with lower-tier materials like iron or leather had clear grade limits.
No matter how hard I tried to make them, it was hard to pull out Epic or Unique grades due to innate limitations.
Ultimately, to make higher-grade items and secure stats, I had to use better materials or make new types of weapons.
In a way, it feels like completing an encyclopedia collection?
Then suddenly, Hong Chae-yeon's words came to mind.
'Requests for other weapons are flooding in.'
She said the demand for Hunters seeking various weapons besides swords was explosive.
Taking this opportunity, I'll make all the weapons I haven't made by type.
"Now, shall we start the factory?"
I jumped up and headed to the workshop.
My eyes glistened with desire for money and stats.
Red Scale Guild Master Office.
Sunlight pouring through the glass wall brightly illuminated the office.
Hong Chae-yeon was sitting on the sofa reviewing documents.
Her expression looked much more relaxed unlike before.
The secretary handed over payment documents and said passingly.
"You seem to be in a very good mood these days, Guild Master. You've also resumed Tower climbing, which you rested from for a while due to the pain."
Hong Chae-yeon chuckled without taking her eyes off the documents.
"Does it show? It feels like blocked acupoints have been opened, I guess. My body is light so I feel antsy and can't stay still."
She subconsciously stroked her right arm.
Even though it wasn't cured, because she had caught a glimpse of hope.
"Ah! Any news on the Ice Crystal Flower?"
At Hong Chae-yeon's question, the secretary's expression turned troubled.
"That is... We are continuing to squeeze information brokers worldwide, but there is no news yet."
The secretary hesitated for a moment and added cautiously.
"In some quarters, there are even those who doubt if it's an existing material. Saying it's a name completely unmentioned even in academia... some say it might be incorrect information."
Hong Chae-yeon raised her head.
Her eyes shone firmly.
"No, it definitely exists. He said it does."
To her, SW's words were now an indubitable truth.
Considering the miracles he showed, there was no way he would tell her to find a non-existent material.
"Cost doesn't matter, so widen the scope more. Tell them to search thoroughly even the high floors of the Tower or undiscovered unexplored areas."
"...Understood. I will give instructions again."
The secretary bowed her head and went outside.
When silence returned to the office, the phone placed on the desk vibrated.
Hong Chae-yeon checked the screen absentmindedly, then hurriedly picked up the phone seeing the sender's name.
[Mr. SW: I made the other weapons you mentioned before as well.]
Reading down the text, the corners of Hong Chae-yeon's mouth went up naturally.
He is truly an unstoppable person.
How long has it been since she mentioned it, and he already made them all?
She was moving her fingers to write a reply, then paused.
Come to think of it, she had even shown her face to him, but she didn't know the most basic thing.
"Come to think of it... I haven't even been able to ask his name."
She only knew the initial SW, but she didn't know anything about his name or age.
She had just gotten used to calling him 'Mr. SW' and forgot.
Hong Chae-yeon tapped the phone screen and muttered to herself.
"Should I subtly ask next time we meet?"