A New Body for the Emperor
If there was the most bizarre place among Gemini's towers, it would be this one.
Inside transparent preservatives floated the hearts, brains, and body parts of various monsters, along with even the most terrifying parasitic worms.
It was the specimen room, where all manner of creatures were trapped inside cylindrical flasks.
“Ugh, I have always hated this place.”
“Your Majesty. Shouldn’t you be accustomed to it by now?”
Dave shuddered, but Gemini’s mood brightened the moment she stepped inside.
Seeing her bright, beaming smile, Dave could only let out a heavy sigh.
He wanted to say something, but a noble wearing beautiful black robes stood right beside them.
It was the Leather Artisan.
“How is it? Not too uncomfortable, I hope?”
“Uncomfortable? Not at all. I am a noble of the Empire as well. I have seen my share of an Archaist’s Ruby Salon. The smell here, however… is slightly unpleasant.”
Archaist was the ancient empire’s term for mages, and Ruby Salon referred to facilities that stored specimens inside ruby-made crystals.
Of course, Dave understood none of it.
“…I see.”
Still, as far as Dave knew, this noble was nothing like the half-baked aristocrats of Adel Kingdom.
The highest rank among the kingdom’s nobles was only a count. And even then, they were merely kingdom nobles.
The person standing beside them was an imperial noble, someone of higher status than the king of a single country.
“Still, look at the preservation state of these specimens. Isn’t it remarkable?”
Gemini asked the Leather Artisan.
The artisan looked around, then gave a single heavy nod.
“From a practical standpoint, it barely passes.”
He approached the nearest flask, gazing at the specimen of a giant worm lying dead with its belly exposed, and continued.
“If it were me, I would not preserve it in this form. This method is utterly barbaric for capturing the true essence of an object.”
Gemini’s face crumpled into a deep frown.
The artisan turned and went on.
“However, achieving this level of application without the Empire’s great magical facilities is truly praiseworthy. You must have labored greatly, Quarter-elf mage.”
A noble who was stingy with praise.
Gemini shuddered, suddenly reminded of the old elf matriarch.
“…Ohoho, I would be most grateful if you addressed me as Archmage Gemini, Master Artisan. As you can see, I have inherited the very essence of elven magic.”
“Is that so? Elven magic. It seems those forest fairies have matured enough to learn magic. Very well, Archmage. Since His Majesty instructed me to treat you well, I shall do exactly that.”
The artisan shook his head slowly.
“It appears His Majesty will soon Bestow a true facility upon you as well. Only then will you become a genuine archmage.”
That tone. That attitude.
Dave found himself gaping at the sight of a ‘real’ imperial noble.
It was even more arrogant than the demeanor once shown by those who had called themselves the ‘ancient nobles’ during his father’s reign.
Of course, because of the Rift, the country where they had played at being kings until the bitter end had been completely destroyed.
Compared to them, this man is practically humble. At least he isn’t speaking down to us.
It was true.
Had it not been for Emperor Kim Hwang-je, those ancient nobles would have referred to the royal family as ‘self-proclaimed commoner trash.’
“What you said about having something His Majesty would appreciate is true, yes?”
“It is. You will be shocked when you see it.”
She smiled brightly.
“I received something quite useful.”
“You truly mean there is a method? Forgive me, but the spell you cast on Emperor Kim Hwang-je’s body was… extremely rude and unpleasant. I find it difficult to believe you possess such skill.”
Gemini was momentarily speechless at the artisan’s words.
Of course, they had blocked the front gate in the recent attack, but she had heard the back gate had taken damage.
Every time Kim Hwang-je’s gaze seemed to fall on her, she had thrown both hands up and dropped to her knees.
For some reason, his anger had not yet turned toward her.
“…I am truly sorry about that. But… there was no other choice. Besides, this is not my own technique. You will understand once you see it.”
The artisan then spoke with perfect courtesy.
“In that case, my lady, if it is beneficial to His Majesty, I will accept anything. Now, please show me.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Gemini yanked the curtain aside.
There, floating inside a large tank, was Catiyu’s torso.
“Impossible!!”
Only then did the Leather Artisan show true astonishment.
Trembling, he pressed his face close to the crystal.
“This is a perfect homunculus replica! Moreover, a powerful Demon King’s magic formula has been applied within. Eighty-two spells that suppress contamination and amplify curses are perfectly balanced, shining with majestic brilliance!!”
It was the body—minus the head that Katima had severed—right before it would have received Labor Correction from Kim Hwang-je.
The artisan shouted in awe as he stared at it.
“Where in the world did you obtain this?!”
Of course, the torso had been thrown to them by Kim Hwang-je.
At the time, Katima had taken the head, but the body had been embedded inside him through Labor Correction.
“His Majesty Bestowed it. If you assist me… you understand what I mean, yes?”
“Of course, my lady. I see. This is truly… astonishing!”
Dave, unable to follow their conversation, watched in a daze before finally speaking.
Staring at the twitching corpse, he said, “This is a hideous thing mixed with blood magic and ancient sorcery, is it not? No, no. This cannot be allowed!”
Gemini looked at him.
“Your Majesty, as you know, this body is the very crystallization of ancient magic. We must not merely toy with it; we must put it to use. Besides, it would be dangerous for me to handle alone, but the artisan here has agreed to help.”
“Use it? You are suggesting we use this?”
When Dave raised his voice in anger, the Leather Artisan turned to look at him.
Why is he so furious?
“Gemini, have you learned nothing from the past? Do you not know why that glorious ancient empire fell and why the Rifts opened? As an archmage, tell me the reason!”
Gemini looked down at the floor and answered.
“It was because excessive greed for magic and the resulting wars… drew the attention of those beyond the stars. Their world’s diseases and the curse of the Rifts flowed into ours… However, Your Majesty, this is merely a hypothesis. No one has proven it to be fact yet.”
The artisan found the tale interesting since it was new to him.
So such things had happened across the continent while the Emperor was away.
“Very well. Gemini, even so, are you confident you can suppress the curse within this lump of ancient magic?”
Dave’s expression remained stern.
Gemini could not continue.
“She is lacking. Alone, it would likely prove difficult.”
The artisan spoke.
“…”
Gemini looked at him.
The Leather Artisan declared with absolute certainty, “I guarantee that this body will be more than sufficient to create His Majesty’s avatar. I am the only one capable of handling it.”
“…But… this is far too dangerous.”
Frowning, he stared directly at Dave.
“…Your Royal Highness. To speak frankly, you inflicted an unforgettable humiliation upon His Majesty during the recent siege.”
The artisan’s tone had changed completely.
Not only the tone but the content itself made Dave flinch.
“Hup!”
Dave could not even open his mouth; he froze solid like a stone statue.
“Yet despite His Majesty’s great fury, he has shown mercy and has not yet disciplined any of you.”
Dave squeezed his eyes shut.
Had it been him, he would never have been able to endure it.
Just what kind of mercy was Kim Hwang-je exercising to tolerate them?
“Therefore, offer this body to the Emperor. Then his avatar will be able to operate on this land as well… and you may continue to receive his mercy in the future!”
How could anyone object after hearing such words?
In the end, Dave gave a heavy nod.
On the same day the Leather Artisan persuaded Dave, Kim Hwang-je arrived at the mid-slope of Baekdu Mountain, now controlled by a Chinese warlord.
He had spammed teleportation like a madman.
“Huuu…”
“Aaaack…”
Inside World Observation, Kim Hwang-je poured Blue Potion over the mages who were trembling with exhaustion.
They regained the light in their hollow eyes as the potion rained down on them.
The ones who had truly suffered were not Kim Hwang-je but these wall mages.
Instead of the Teleport spell that moved him to remembered locations, Kim Hwang-je had bought a massive quantity of Blink spells that let him jump to anywhere in his line of sight.
After spending an entire day repeatedly using Blink while observing his target through a telescope from the highest vantage points, Kim Hwang-je had finally reached Baekdu Mountain.
“Breaking through North Korean territory in half a day.”
No matter how he thought about it, it was the act of a madman.
Still, now that he had been here once, the next trip would be much easier with teleportation.
Kim Hwang-je gazed at Baekdu Mountain, which now seemed like an entirely different world.
Glaciers tinged with blue rose like boulders between the perpetual snowfields.
It looked less like Earth and more like another planet.
After the monster outbreak, the area had apparently transformed into a land roamed by glacial beasts.
Shouldn’t he have some profound impression about such catastrophic destruction?
Yet even the thought of the sacred mountain of our people! How tragic! felt like an unaffordable luxury right now.
Inside Kim Hwang-je’s head, fury sparked and burst in every direction like fireworks.
Anyone who had gone through the same ordeal would have been consumed by identical rage.
Neither the eternal snow nor the minus seventy-eight degree temperature of Baekdu Mountain could cool the fire burning inside him.
“We’ve arrived, Mr. Seo Jun-seo.”
“These guys are villains, right?”
“That puts my mind at ease. Let’s go.”
The reason Seo Jun-seo’s voice came through as a message was simple: he was currently inside Kim Hwang-je’s body.
“I trust you.”
Using World Observation, Kim Hwang-je looked in on the kingdom’s War Council inside his body.
In the circular hall within the royal castle, Seo Jun-seo and several knights monitored the situation through a screen.
A large map Seo Jun-seo had purchased from an information guild was spread out around them.
They studied the screen synced to Kim Hwang-je’s vision and discussed the external environment and tactics with grave seriousness.
Naturally, they had no idea what material the screen was made from.
It feels like I’ve become a robot. A giant one, at that.
Everyone in the command center seemed like pilots.
“Your Majesty. Can you see that over there?”
But this fellow had followed him outside.
It was Baekju.
Though his talent had been obscured by the hunter, he was an all-weather operative skilled in tracking and detection—a former villain.
And where Baekju went, Sirius was naturally right beside him.
“Yeah. I see it.”
Between the sheer cliffs of the snow-covered mountain, a military facility hidden behind barbed wire flickered into view.
It vanished again almost immediately, swallowed by the blizzard.
The thick, blinding snowstorm made it impossible to see anything clearly.
“There are many of them. Roughly three hundred rifle-armed soldiers and about ten armored vehicles.”
“No tanks?”
“They have tank shells, but no tanks.”
It seemed Baekju could see everything perfectly even from this distance.
Kim Hwang-je lay flat on the ridge once more and examined the snow-covered arsenal through his telescope.
“We’re going straight in from the front. All of them are getting Labor Correction.”
Kim Hwang-je spoke to Sirius, who stood at his side.
“Sirius.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Sirius dropped to one knee before him.
Neither of them wore the wrestling tights today.
They were clad in the castle’s black magic armor and carried weapons modeled after their original ones.
“Shatter the front iron gate.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Sirius stepped forward, raised his greatsword, and charged.
Rumble!
Like an avalanche given human form, the warrior wrapped in raging winds sprinted toward the arsenal. The military base fell into instant chaos.
“Stop! Don’t come any closer! We’ll shoot if you move!”
“It’s a hunter! A hunter!”
“Is he alone? Is he insane?”
“Fire! Shoot him!”
No one could watch calmly as a hunter charged with skills swirling around his body.
But before they could even begin real gunfire, Sirius’s greatsword, moving like lightning, smashed into the thick iron gate and shattered it.
BOOM!
It was like watching a cannon blast the door apart.
Shards of the iron gate flew in every direction through the driving snowstorm, smashing into buildings and raining down in pieces.
Kim Hwang-je walked forward in the wake of the destruction and shouted.
“You rotten bastards! I’m going to give you a proper beating!”
Sometimes a man just needs to get punched by the Han River and scream his lungs out in Jongno.