Holding in his hands a lone sword of pure light, the emperor stood in front of the rotting carcass of Almuld, the renowned warlock. Surrounded by only a few of his remaining men, the emperor had been standing in front of the undead's body for more than a full day at this point. His men, one of which happened to be the southern war general Razor, were perplexed by his limbo, and yet no matter what they tried the emperor wouldn't respond or even hum out an answer to anything.
"My lord, we must get back to your domain, the army has already ceased this territory, and rumors about a rebellion amongst Dolatians needs to be addressed as well," Riley informed, but the emperor kept staring at Almuld's body as it continued to rust away into dust before being dissipated into the air.
"I killed him, didn't I?" Finally, as the body of Almuld disappeared completely, the emperor turned to his men with his eyes tearing up with blood.
Taken aback by the sight, the soldier flinched a step backward. Never in their wildest dream had they expected the emperor to be crying in front of his pupil, that too right after killing the unkillable immortal by use of a single saber.
Most bothered by the sight, Razor moved his hand in front of the line of remaining soldiers and gestured to them to retreat at once. For a spell, they could not comprehend what was happening and didn't have a clue what Razor was trying to relay to them. They were all too caught up by the sight of blood tears staining the fair skin of their young emperor.
"Retreat I said!" Yelling at his men, Razor pulled them back to reality.
Terrified by the scream, the leaders of all battalions quickly marched their troops back to camp without a single word of complaint. Once they were all far gone, Razor shot the emperor a sharp gaze as if he was utterly disappointed in his master for some reason.
"Have you gone mad?" He grunted through his teeth. "You promised to kill that monster and you did it sooner than anyone expected, so why instead of celebrating it, you're lamenting his death?!"
Carelessly staring at Razor for a while, the emperor blinked his eyes a few times. Then after wiping off the blood tears and cleaning it up in his ragged cloak, he gave him a response.
"All life deserves eternal love and a lover," making the saber of light disappear, the emperor clenched his fist tight and started making his way in the direction of the camp. "Only a heartless person can fail to see that."
'What?' Unsure if the emperor just insulted him, Razor turned around and watched as he kept walking away from the final site of battle.
"What the hell do you mean At-"
"Don't you dare use that name!" Thunder crashed right beside Razor as the emperor warned him not to push his luck. "No mortal, especially one as narcissistic as you would ever understand the complexities that come with being a god."
'You are only to accept my mercy, and flourish under a benevolent revolt against the order of the cosmos.' Keeping the last part to himself, the emperor shifted his gaze back in the direction of the camp and kept walking.
Left gasping for breath, and a heart filled with terror, Razor turned to the spot where lightning had just struck beside him. Peering at a small crater left on his right, he could only imagine the kind of hurt it could've inflicted had he been the subject of the lightning's assault.
'He's gone insane!' He thought, completely blind to his own provocative actions.
Getting back into the nearest war camp, the emperor headed right into his tent. There, however, instead of a moment of quiet, he found a group of soldiers and a messenger waiting for him inside. At the very sight of him, they dropped to their knees and bowed in respect.
"Rise," uttering that word, he moved deeper into the tent and settled down into a cushioned seat specially made for his comfort.
Getting back on their feet, the men turned to the emperor and presented the messenger. Understandably shaken after the battle with Almuld's army, the messenger stuttered for a moment as he opened his mouth to speak, but then taking just a moment to calm down, he began to explain what kind of news he'd brought the emperor.
"My lord, the people-" Taking a pause he corrected himself. "The demi-humans from Dolatia have rebelled, the whole kingdom is slaughtering guards left and right, and even the devil of dark corner had to retreat from the capital city!"
"Nabe, had to retreat?" A bit puzzled over the news, the emperor was having a hard time believing the claims. "You mean to say, that one of my war generals retreated from an army of demi-humans who've not picked up a single sword in their life's time?"
"Y-yes, my lord…" Fearing for his life, the messenger's breath grew heavy.
"Lord, the devil is waiting for you back in your domain. We all believe that it's best that you return to safety while we hunt down any rogue undead left behind by the late warlock," chiming into the conversation, one of the soldiers suggested to the emperor.
With Almuld dealt with, he had little reason to stay behind, and so with a simple nod, he had them prepare for his return. Dismissing the rest of the group, he had them empty the tent so he could spend some time contemplating over something important. Finally, after they were all gone, he mulled over the last words of the undead warlock.
'You're a monster, no amount of conquest will allow you to ruin the natural order!' Resounding in his mind, those words by Almuld kept ringing in his ears.
"I hope you're wrong, old friend…" Leaning back into the chair, he closed his eyes shut and drifted into a well-deserved rest.
By the time he would wake up once again, the preparation for his departure would be done, and Razor would already be on his way to claim even more territory in Scorchen Gaia from the remaining demon lord.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel