After Michael's abrupt return inside the emperor's domain, the emperor himself was left baffled by the whole ordeal. Time was one of the few aspects of life that he had little command over, and the man he'd depended on for some control over it, was now ridden to the bed in a sickly old body.
"He hasn't spoken a word since waking up," Razor explained, leading the way through the camps.
Cloaked in an old dark rag, the emperor followed him through a horde of soldiers looking at him in utter shock. And even though his body was completely covered by the cloth, there was no doubt in their minds about who he was.
"Why is the land all muddy?" Getting his foot stuck in a swampy puddle, the emperor turned to the sound of a cannon shell being fired by the border.
Edging over the land between Atlas, and Scorchen Gaia, they were in a neutral swamp that divided the lush human land and the malice-ridden territory of the demon lords with ashes raining down the heavens.
"From what I've heard from my predecessor, the battle has been going on for so long that the sweat of the warriors had turned this place into a murky swamp," with that explanation, Razor grabbed the emperor's arm and pulled him out of the puddle.
"I remember now…" Looking back at the imprint of his bare feet in the puddle, the emperor lied to hide his degrading memory.
However, from the dubious look in Razor's eyes, it was clear that he wasn't all that convinced by the lie. Yet, shifting his attention back to the camps, he led the charge until they reached the medical facilities of the war camps. Surrounded by a herd of medics, rushing in and out from all directions, the presence of the emperor was easily forgotten by everyone present.
And so without being assaulted with watchful gazes, the emperor finally headed into the tent in which Michael was being treated. The very moment he got in, his eyes met with Michael's golden eyes, but unlike the regular youthful gaze, the look in them was withering and frail.
"Did you get killed by Almuld?" With real concern for his well-being, the emperor got right to the point of his interests.
To the emperor's question, however, Michael gave no answer. The sole healer present inside the room was baffled by the stranger's interrogative interaction with his patient.
"He's in no state to talk, you should-"
Before the man cloaked in white finished his sentence, Razor took out his fencer and rested its tip right under his chin. His hands thrown back in shock, the healer glanced down at the fencer with a look of genuine terror reflected in his eyes.
"Leave…" That single word was enough to make the man rush out of the tent without any question.
Once they were all left alone inside the tent, the emperor moved closer to Michael from one side of the bed, and Razor moved to the other. Glancing at them both, Michael wore a scornful look on his face, almost as if he had been wronged by the two.
"You're here to ask me the same question, aren't you my lord?" Finally speaking through his dried lips, he stared at the emperor with a frown.
"What happened?" Stuck on the same line, the emperor had no patience left in him.
"I don't remember…" His answer was not at all convincing.
Scowling at the general, the emperor's eyes glittered up with the spiraling night sky. In the meantime, Razor, who was convinced that Michael was finally betraying the emperor, let out a loud laugh.
"Tell me the truth, Michael!" Peering into his eyes, the emperor had bound Michael in the charm of his true eyes. "I will not accept any more lies."
His eyes fixed on the emperor, Michael's lips parted on their own, and muttered but a few words of truth.
"I do not remember," his answer was not what the emperor had expected.
Closing his eyes shut momentarily, the emperor washed away his cosmic gaze and replaced it with his dead silver eyes. Opening them up again, he looked at Michael with the most profound confusion.
"What the hell happened to him?" He mumbled, turning his gaze to Razor.
Shrugging his shoulders with a mocking smile, Razor turned his gaze back to Michael. As he saw the sapphire earring still on his body, he reached over to his ear to take them off just like he'd always wanted.
"Maybe this will answer your question!" Grabbing the earlobes of the weakened Michael, Razor tore off the earrings with great force.
"Ughhh! What in-Aghhh!" Clenching his teeth shut, Michael tried not to say anything rash in front of the emperor.
Indifferent from both of their actions, the emperor kept a stern watch on Michael as the effect of those earrings slowly started to disappear. With a faint lister of light, his bleeding ears grew in size, and with a pointy top end to them, his real identity was once again exposed in front of the emperor.
"I never understood why you keep this useless elf around you, he may be strong, but he is a monster!" Letting out all the bottled-up rage from his heart, Razor threw the earrings on the ground and shattered them by stomping on them.
"Razor, keep your mouth shut…" Raising his finger at Razor, the emperor shut his eyes close to keep himself from lashing out at the childish behavior.
"Really? You want me to shut up when this monster is lying to you?" Not realizing that the emperor had already tested Michael's words, Razor continued to showcase his impulsive side.
"I said shut up," once again, the emperor tried to warn him, but Razor wasn't simply going to let this matter go.
"As if, I've dedicated my life to your cause, and now you expect me to accept a monster as an aide?" Pointing out the hypocrisy in the emperor's action, Razor reached for his saber and planted it over Michael's neck. "The world belongs to us humans, and we are the masters of all the creations it fosters. Does that sound familiar? That was your promise to us in exchange for our loyalty and compliance!"
"That's enough, Razor!" Michael rebutted despite being at the end of Razor's blade.
Turning his attention back to the general, Razor with rage-fueled eyes stabbed the tip of his saber into the side of Michael's muscles.
"If anyone, it should be you who should shut up!" And with those final words, the emperor has had enough.
"Kill yourself…" The words spoken by the cloaked emperor hung in the air silently for a moment, but the second Razor turned to him with a baffled expression, his hand twisted the sword over his stomach and stabbed right through his own body.
As the blood began to gush out of the wound, Razor was brought down to his knees with eyes still fixed on the emperor.
"Once he dies, and comes back, tell the healers to take off all his weapons," giving that order to Michael, the emperor turned around and left the two maimed invalids.
On his way out, however, one question kept plaguing his mind.
'I need to find out what happened, and that starts with getting to that kid that's under Asmodia's command.' Needless to say, he was done being lenient.
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