Chapter 150: Understanding the Situation (4)
"Under the moonlight, I swear—I shall protect the heart of the empire."
A strong man bound by duty and sacred oath. The General of the Imperial Capital Guard was precisely such an existence, bearing the heavy responsibility of protecting the imperial capital. So when did such a being feel the most joy?
"When the empire protects its loyal subjects—what more reason do I need?"
It was precisely that mont when he could fulfill his oath and duty, drawing his full power to bear. Because of this, unlike the quiet adventurers, the General displayed a loud and magnificent appearance.
"Surrender! I'll just take the remaining people and leave it at that."
As the General revealed his strength, the adventurers retrieved their weapons and declared their surrender. It was a lightning-fast shift in position.
However, since that's what adventurers were like, the General reluctantly nodded. The S-rank adventurers gathered the adventurers of the empire and departed from the capital imdiately.
'This kind of thing can be amusing to watch from behind.'
One hundred thousand adventurers left the empire. All the adventurers in the capital completed their withdrawal in just a few hours.
'It's as orderly and swift as a South Korean peace protest.'
Erik watched it all with interested eyes. While the appearance was similar, the essence was completely different. They didn't move based on civic consciousness like on Earth. They had displayed such orderly movents out of fear of a single man—the Imperial Capital Guard General. So what was the result?
'In the end, it's a small number of the strong who determine the tide.'
Where they had left behind were piles of treasures. The adventurers under suspicion of various cris were dragged away by the empire's security forces.
"Huh, how much is all this? Ttak-kara, gather it quickly!"
Jang Du-sik and Janson organized the treasures left behind by the adventurers, dividing them into cash and goods.
"Interesting."
Just as Erik showed interest in the battle of wills between the General and the adventurers, the General displayed curiosity toward Erik's group. They had quickly claid the seized items as their own. And their leader, Erik, was watching with a pleased expression.
"Shouldn't those things go to the imperial treasury?"
The General questioned, and Erik tilted his head. Then he spoke.
"General, I saw Ruelle's crystal orb."
His words had nothing to do with the General's question. In Erik's hand was a single crystal orb, and within it played footage that could be called the General's shaful secret.
"They say your judgnt was clouded by dreams... but how could you raise a sword against a powerless priest?"
The General was at a loss for words. He had clearly intended to discuss ownership of the seized items... But this man suddenly spouted accusations as if conducting an interrogation.
"Huh. I have nothing to say about that matter. However, soone of your caliber should have understood..."
Erik had heard about the incident of Ruelle's attack at the temple. So he had obtained the crystal orb and analyzed the footage of that ti together with Riferoze.
"Janson blocked it, but even without Janson, the sword wouldn't have reached Ruelle."
His teacher's analysis was conclusive. However...
'That doesn't justify the action.'
Internally, his anger was seething. Erik continued speaking.
"Of course, you did stop your sword at the last mont, General. But that doesn't justify your actions, does it?"
At those words, the General's eyes wavered. Regardless of the outco, there was indeed a problem with his actions. Moreover, while he was under the influence of the nightmare demon, the General wasn't actually suffering from such severe effects at that point.
'I simply reacted to an unfamiliar existence appearing without warning.'
The General felt internally wronged. How many beings could hide their presence from him within the imperial capital?
'There's nothing as ugly as pursuing such a thing literally.'
In the end, it was a dead end. The General dropped the matter regarding the adventurers' supplies. Then he recalled an action he couldn't take at that ti. The General approached Ruelle, who stood behind Erik. Then he bowed his head.
"Priest Ruelle, I have committed a grave error. Would you not forgive ?"
It was the most respectful form of speech the General could manage.
"Given the circumstances, I understand."
She was of imperial blood and a general of the empire. It was an apology delivered with respect by such an existence. Ruelle, befitting a priest serving the divine, displayed magnanimity. And she added one more thing.
"Regarding compensation for emotional damages, please discuss with Erik."
She forgave, but he was to take responsibility. At those words, the General closed his eyes tightly. Then he asked Erik.
"What do you want?"
Then ca the answer.
"General, you revealed your power with such effort, yet isn't it a sha that the adventurers retreated?"
The aning of those words was clear.
"Let's have a match."
***
The Seven Palaces of the Continent. Among them, the most durable building was the Palace of Force. It was a place where the empire's greatest warriors could train, and where military personnel were cultivated.
"Did you truly request a duel?"
In the spectator stands of the training ground built for duels, the Emperor stroked his chin.
"I had forgotten because they were always clinging together like lovers."
The Emperor's head throbbed from the series of events. It was good until he drove out the adventurers, but what happened afterward was the problem.
"Isn't Erik soone raised by Riferoze and Priest Ruelle?"
Through this incident, the Emperor realized the fundantal principle of Erik's actions. Ruelle, the saint of the empire, demanded spiritual compensation from the General. Riferoze Astia, persistently requesting life-or-death battles with the Northern Archduke. According to reports, Erik was raised by Riferoze and Ruelle.
"Hmm, I had forgotten as well."
The Pri Minister nodded at the Emperor's words.
"Do both won treat the fully-grown Erik like a lover?"
The Emperor couldn't understand it at all.
"W-well, perhaps older won are their taste?"
"Setting aside Priest Ruelle, but Riferoze has more than a hundred year age difference with Erik..."
Saint, Kirin Child of the Empire, Hero. The forgotten reality struck him amid all these titles. Fifteen-year-old Erik.
"Moreover, if we compare him to your daughter Erica, he's not even ten years younger, is he?"
"Your Majesty, please stop saying such things. The more you speak, the stranger it sounds."
Erik, Ruelle, and Riferoze. The three of them had exerted countless influences on each other. However, from the perspective of not knowing that Erik was a possessor, one would think very differently.
"What kind of idea is it to raise a saint with a temperant similar to their own and be pleased with it?"
The Emperor repeated to himself in shock. Then he recalled the heretical remarks Erik had made. Words from the previous "cuckoo incident."
'Didn't you first suspect whether the Second Empress had an affair with the First or Second Prince?'
Where did that twisted ideology originate? The General looked at Priest Ruelle standing behind the training ground.
"Is it truly right to appoint her as the saint of the empire?"
The Pri Minister seed to have similar thoughts, rolling his red beard around.
"Your Majesty, but it's already irreversible."
"I know, I know."
It was a flow that had already passed. There was nothing to do but ride it out as is. In the midst of these complicated thoughts and confusion, the General and Erik stepped onto the training ground.
"Very well, let us begin."
The Emperor cleared his mind. However, the Pri Minister brought up another concern.
"Your Majesty, if Riferoze's influence is also involved... wouldn't this beco as big as the ti with the Grand Duke—"
"Pri Minister, say no more."
The Emperor closed his mouth. But the topic the Pri Minister had raised already troubled the Emperor's mind.
"Did she say I was a little woman causing trouble?"
She had persistently sought out the Grand Duke, demanding duels. In na it was a duel, but Riferoze fought life-or-death battles each ti.
'Surely Erik wouldn't keep charging until he gives the General a flick on the head...'
That life-or-death battle had ended as the Northern Archduke's most shaful mory of his lifeti. For a ti afterward, the Archduke had shut himself away in the Northern Mountains, pouring out his frustrations against undead.
"Huh—"
Still, it shouldn't be to that extent. The Emperor regained his composure. Then movent beca active on the training ground.
"I yield the first strike."
The General displayed the bearing of one in the superior position, offering Erik generosity. Then Erik tilted his head, asking what happened to the Moonlight Divine Artifact and why the General was holding a plain iron sword.
"Do I need to use my full power against my young saint?"
"General, I'm not that weak."
"You are strong. However, you are still far from reaching the supre pinnacle."
It was a statent that clearly established superiority. Moreover, it was true.
'Even so, it should be worth a match.'
However, Erik thought differently. If he considered everything he had accomplished thus far, he should be able to exchange blows at full power, even if he couldn't win.
'And if I use all my sacred relics, I might even win.'
Of course, that was only when both were trying to kill each other, so it was rely a hypothesis...
"Let show you the sword of the empire."
Still, he didn't want to accept the General's treatnt as a weak junior.
"I won't regret it."
Erik smiled thinly and drew his sword. He drew a plain iron sword like the General.
"How presumptuous, to draw a sword even though I'm not sure you should touch the sacred relics of the order."
Erik didn't bother answering. Instead, he focused his consciousness. On the jade-colored training ground, Erik pointed his sword at the General. Then, with all his heart and full strength, he solidified his unwavering will.
Cut.
He sought to embody a simple yet efficient act through the will of God.
Kiing!
A golden light flickered along the crude iron sword. Sharpened sanctity revealed its brilliance along the blade.
"Ho—"
The General exclaid in admiration and raised his aura. A silvery aura resembling moonlight flickered along his sword. At that sight, Erik's eyes narrowed.
'The grip strength is different.'
The power of the imperial family ant the moon itself. The highly pure silver was quiet yet noble and firm.
'But I am different.'
Erik materialized his power more concretely. His divine power beca more radiant and shone brilliantly. It was magnificent.
Sruck!
As Erik's sanctity rose, his divine form vanished. Imdiately after, silver and gold clashed.
Kuung!!!
Storms swept in all directions. Silver and gold collided, and the lights seed to devour each other, each trying to dominate the other's space. The power was loud, yet the two who wielded it remained silent. The two stood frozen, their swords locked together.
Tch-tch-tch!
Only the swords scread pitifully. At the point where the swords t, aura and sanctity clashed like sparks. After a mont.
Clang!
Erik's sword shattered.
Puak!
Blood scattered. Erik's white uniform turned red, and his shoulder was deeply gouged. However, that was all.
"Huh"
As Erik exhaled, golden light regenerated his body. Though they had exchanged only one blow, Erik's face was quite satisfied.
"Next ti, I'd like to have a match against the General wielding the Moonlight Sword."
The victor was clearly the Imperial Capital Guard General. It was obvious. However, the victor's face was worse than the loser's. No, it was rather a look of terror.
"Are you truly fifteen?"
The General stared at Erik as if he'd seen a monster. Then he touched his neck. On the General's neck was a faint wound and a single drop of blood.
***
The Emperor had a private eting with the General.
"General, how have your dreams been lately?"
He first asked about the General's wellbeing. The nightmare demon interferes with the mind through dreams. She had disturbed the General's painful mories, and based on this, had corrupted his mind.
'Of all things, the late Empress...'
The Emperor's eternal love and the person the General failed to protect. By disturbing that mory, the nightmare demon had tainted the General's mind—
"Since replacing drinking water with holy water, I no longer have strange dreams."
"That's a great relief."
The Emperor nodded. Without Erik, an unimaginable disaster might have occurred.
"Since all the water in the capital has been replaced with holy water, the people of the empire should be safe as well."
That wasn't all. District 5 is also undergoing changes now, isn't it?
"General, have you seen District 5?"
"Yes, since the World Tree relocated, that filthy land has beco fertile enough to serve as farmland."
All of this was thanks to Erik. Moreover, the reason the Emperor brought up such topics was clear.
"He is not a monster."
"I understand. Erik is a loyal subject of the empire."
Only then did the Emperor nod with satisfaction. Once a brother, now a general. You could tell just by looking at his eyes.
"It's a fact that he's not imperial family but a hero, a claim I also believe. And he wounded with that single sword strike while in the Imperial Capital..."
The duel just now had completely changed the General's mind. Not only did he agree with the Emperor's opinion, but he even ca forward with the idea of fostering Erik together.
"That power is sothing I cannot comprehend no matter how much I think about it."
"It's certainly power impossible to achieve at fifteen."
"What of his birth?"
"He was an orphan from a stateless region. Riferoze raised him after his parents passed away."
An existence with impossible martial prowess with no secrets about his birth.
That was Erik.
"Not only the Northern Archduke, but neither Your Majesty nor I possessed such power at fifteen, did we?"
"Indeed. And even if we assu he's a possessor, it still doesn't make sense."
The Emperor had even considered the hypothesis that a possessor had inhabited a newborn's body.
However, even so, Erik's realm didn't make sense.
"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be dangerous to send the empire's Kirin Child out alone?"
The General questioned Erik's departure after the duel. He also found it hard to believe in the Emperor's judgnt to let him go alone to the demon realm.
'Setting aside incomprehensible power—'
Erik was a very important existence to the empire.
"Isn't that precisely why he has beco so formidable?"
The Emperor waved his hand. Moonlight blood in the middle of the war room.
"Whether a path is marked by blood and death, its end shall be all the more brilliant."
The moonlight revealed the journey of one man. The Emperor asked.
"General, if the empire were to beco a Holy Empire, what would you think?”
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