Chapter 182 - The End and The Beginning (4)
The emperor was dead.
All the court ladies and eunuchs hiding in the shadows throughout the palace had watched the death of the emperor with their own two eyes.
Rumors were already spreading fast because Arthus’ four knights and their subordinates had all died, so there was no one to stop people from talking.
“Frozen.”
Henry froze the corpses of Arthus’ knights, omitting the emperor, and put their bodies in the subspace. He then turned around and faced the Imperial Ten Swords.
“I never thought a day like this would come,” said McDowell.
Even the playful McDowell could hardly believe that the emperor had died, even though he had witnessed it himself.
“Henry, what’s next?” asked Von.
Henry waited a little before giving an answer.
“To kill Arthus, obviously.”
“Will Arthus come here?”
“No, he won’t show up here.”
“Then?”
“He already decided to make the Highlander region, where his home is, the new capital, and he’ll be waiting for Crowell to bring him news of victory.”
“Changing the capital? Are you sure?”
“I heard it from Alfred, so I’m sure of it.”
“Then what do we do now? He’ll definitely become suspicious if Crowell doesn’t return.”
“Yeah, and then he’ll probably send a scout to take a look at the situation, so I intend to announce what has happened before a scout comes here.”
“Announce? Henry, surely you’re not thinking of…?”
“Yes. We must tell Arthus that we’ve killed the emperor, and that he’s next.”
Henry planned to declare a full-scale war.
If there was going to be a war anyway, it was much better for Henry to be the first to declare it because it would make him seem more confident.
“Should we deal with this first?” said Henry as he grabbed Silver’s corpse by its head.
There was a reason Henry hadn’t frozen the emperor’s body like the other knights. He wanted to hang the emperor’s head on the highest point of the palace and use it as a symbol for the declaration of war.
Henry headed to the Blessing Chapel, the tallest building in the palace. It was where the emperor made announcements when necessary.
The three knights followed Henry as he was heading toward the chapel.
Henry was dragging the emperor’s corpse with one hand, and as a result, blood continuously spilled from it throughout the entire way, leaving a bloody trail that seemed as if it had been painted with a brush.
Henry left the trail of blood on purpose as he wanted to show everyone in the palace what had transpired.
Seeing this, one court lady turned pale and fainted, while the soldiers at the palace merely stared at Henry with their mouths hanging open.
Soon, the four of them arrived at the Blessing Chapel.
Looking up at the great pillars of the Blessing Chapel, which resembled a temple, Henry thought to himself.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’
Officially, the Blessing Chapel was designated for the emperor to deliver speeches, but in fact, Henry had also used this place to proclaim several laws.
In addition, if any knight or wizard made any significant contributions, they were invited to the Blessing Chapel to say a few words in front of the nobles.
This was also why Henry had chosen the Blessing Chapel. Today was the last day the Blessing Chapel was ever going to be used.
Thud!
Henry threw the emperor’s corpse into the center of the Blessing Chapel. He then unsheathed his sword and swung it around his surroundings.
There was a flash of emerald-colored light. The pillars supporting the ceiling of the chapel were cut down and were on the verge of collapsing.
Henry snapped his fingers and used gravity-defying magic.
The pillars that were falling down scattered in all directions and spread throughout the palace.
Loud sounds resulted from the pillar fragments being scattered everywhere, and because of this, everyone's attention was drawn to the highest point of the palace, the Blessing Chapel.
Henry moved to the edge of the Blessing Chapel, showing his face to everyone.
“Attention everyone!” shouted Henry after amplifying the volume of his voice by using mana. Thanks to this, his voice was loud enough to grab the public's attention.
“I will now begin the execution ceremony for Silver Jackson Edward, the emperor of the Eurasia Empire!” continued Henry.
“...!”
“W-what?”
“An execution ceremony for the emperor?”
“What the hell…!”
Everyone reacted differently, but that didn’t matter. The important thing was to present the death of the emperor to those who had dedicated their whole lives to him.
Henry snapped his fingers again and said, “Guillotine.”
Rumble!
A massive execution site rose from the floor and a gruesome execution tool appeared, designed to cut off the heads of criminals.
This was a one-of-a-kind spell that Henry had made specifically for the emperor, looking forward to the day when he would use this on Silver.
“M-magic?”
It was understandable that everyone was baffled, given that a guillotine had suddenly emerged from the floor.
However, none of those who were looking at the execution site recognized Henry's face, which made the whole scene all the more confusing, since everyone from the imperial palace had memorized the faces of the wizards in the Magical Spire.
“Do you need help?” Von asked.
Henry politely declined.
“Thank you, but it’s quite alright. I’ve been waiting for this day all along.”
Henry used magic to place the emperor’s neck onto the small hole of the pillory.
The emperor was already dead, but Henry hadn’t severed his head on purpose. He reserved that in order to officially declare the death of the emperor to everyone here, at this moment.
Clank!
The corpse stayed silent and Henry effortlessly closed the pillory on the emperor’s neck. The pillory tightly secured the emperor's neck and hands.
Gulp.
Everyone in the palace carefully watched every single motion in front of their eyes.
Some of them even knew that the emperor was already dead. However, knowing this didn’t mean that the scene unfolding in front of their eyes was any less shocking. If anything, it was more shocking.
Henry stepped closer to the emperor and stared at the thousands of eyes that were watching him.
There was a mixture of anxiety and expectation in everyone’s eyes.
“Everyone, watch carefully how the life of an arrogant emperor comes to an end!” shouted Henry.
Henry swung his sword and cut off the rope that was holding up the blade of the guillotine.
Like the teeth of a beast, the guillotine’s sharp blade dropped, cutting through the wind.
The moment the blade of the guillotine hit the emperor’s beck…!
Slice!
The emperor’s head rolled on the ground, wetting the chapel floor with blood.
“...”
“...”
The whole world fell silent.
The decapitation of the most powerful being in the empire meant a lot of things.
“Yay…”
“...Yay!”
“Yayyyyyy!”
At first, only one person let out a subdued cheer, but that quickly spread like a plague.
Soon, more and more people shouted as loud as the thunder, the uproar filling up the entire chapel.
There were cries of joy and satisfaction from those who witnessed the death of the emperor.
‘As expected!’
Henry grabbed the severed head off the floor and shook it as hard as he could outside the chapel.
“Yayyyyy!”
Henry felt goosebumps and shivers all over his body. He was filled with indescribable emotions. The Emperor’s death had only now started to feel real to Henry.
‘...It’s over.’
The emperor had faced two deaths.
While the first death had been Henry’s revenge, the second death had served as a symbolic gesture to fulfill everyone's hidden desires.
Henry snapped his fingers and a long steel spike appeared. He then planted the emperor’s head on the tip of the spike and displayed the head of the tyrant in the Blessing Chapel.
This brought an end to the emperor’s era.
‘It’s really over.’
This had been the demise of an incompetent emperor who had done nothing. Actually, it would have been better if he had truly done nothing at all.
The death of such an emperor marked the conclusion of an empire that had been falling apart.
“Everyone, leave! The glory of the empire has ended today! Leave and live your own lives!”
“Yayyyyy!”
Today was the day when the short, twenty-one-year history of the empire finally came to an end.
* * *
“What an odd guy.”
“I know right?”
“I would’ve been great if Henry had become the new emperor… Why would he not go for that?”
“He’s the Grand Duke’s disciple. So I can kind of understand him.”
McDowell and Von were talking to each other.
Right after the emperor died and Henry proclaimed the end of the empire, McDowell expressed what a waste it was that Henry didn’t want to be the new emperor.
“Hey, do you really not have any intention of becoming the new emperor? Think about it, if you suddenly destroy the empire, what will become of those left behind?” McDowell asked Henry.
“Their fate is in their hands. Plus, even if I suddenly became the emperor, do you think the people would accept me?”
“You might now know this, but once you obtain power, your subordinates are bound to follow you.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Dang it!”
“Stop it, McDowell. It’s embarrassing.”
“Not you too, Valhald!”
Even though he wasn’t materialistic, the reason McDowell wanted Henry to become the emperor was simple.
“What a shame. If you became the emperor, you’d be able to live with beautiful women, leagues above those from Beaustiel…!”
“...That was your objective?”
Von looked at McDowell with a disapproving look.
If Henry had become the emperor, McDowell would have been able to become a member of the State Contributors and enjoy the company of beautiful women for the rest of his life.
Valhald asked Henry, “Henry, mind if I ask what your next plan is?”
“I’m planning to blow up the palace.”
“The palace? Why would you do that?”
“The explosion of the palace will be a symbolic act to mark the end of the empire, just like the death of the emperor. Moreover, the remnants of the past must be completely eradicated in order to begin anew.”
Henry was being serious.
Although Henry had established the new empire, there was no longer anyone by his side who shared that initial honor with him.
Now that Silver was dead, there was no reason to keep the palace, as it was nothing more than a remnant of the past.
‘Of course, I have to take some things before that,’
After Henry declared the end of the empire, everyone followed his words and left the palace. Now that the emperor was dead and the empire had fallen, they all had to move forward and find a way to continue their lives. Some headed toward free cities, and others headed toward nobles they had connections with.
Everything was going according to Henry’s plan.
He hadn’t been able to take full responsibility for their lives when the war had started.
“Speaking of which, I have some business to take care of in the palace before I get rid of it completely, so I would prefer to go by myself.”
“Really? Then in the meantime, we’ll take a walk and talk about the old times.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“Don’t worry about it… Thanks to you, our tedious lives have finally become interesting again, so it’s us that should be thanking you,” replied McDowell in a cheerful tone.
* * *
The four of them came down from the Blessing Chapel and tried to split up in different directions. However, as soon as they came down, Henry saw a bunch of familiar faces, waiting for them.
One of them let out a subdued groan.
“...Oh my!”
It was none other than Lore Gillian, the current head of the Magical Spire. The people behind Lore Gillian were geniuses who basically represented the Magical Spire.
6th-Circle Archmages and school leaders were all waiting for Henry.
“Lore?”
Valhald and McDowell called out Lore’s name.
“Sir Valhald, Sir McDowell… What’s going on? How are you both here…?” Lore asked Valhald in disbelief.
McDowell answered on Valhald’s behalf, “That’s what we wanted to ask you. What were the people from the Magical Spire doing when the palace was falling apart?”
“That’s…”
Lore tried to answer, but ultimately kept quiet.
“They must’ve had a reason, such as being offered neutrality by Arthus,” said Henry.
“H-how did you…?”
Lore’s eyes grew wide.
Henry replied with a friendly smile, “Nice to meet you. My name is Henry Morris, the one and only disciple of my master, Henry Morris, the 8th-Circle Archmage.”
“W-what did you just say?”
All the wizards were completely baffled by Henry’s shocking self-introduction.
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