Chapter 138
The Emperor’s throne room was awe-inspiring. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, and the floor was paved with priceless marble. The front of the throne room was the pièce de résistance—a towering edifice of vibrant blue, serving as a backdrop for the national flag depicting an eagle affronté with its head turned to dexter with wings displayed and expanded.
The flag represented one of the three great powers of Igrant—The great Swallow Empire.
The Emperor’s throne room housed the empire’s highest seat, the Imperial Throne. However, the Imperial Throne lost its original golden luster today after being coated with a vivid scarlet liquid, which was too dark to be red and too red to be dark.
It was blood…
The throne was smeared with blood. The blood was fresh as well because it had just been extracted from the nobles of Swallow.
“Kekeke…” The wizened man on the throne opened his eyes at the laughing man.
The laughing man was overjoyed. His hair and eyes were of the same color as the blood that coated the Imperial Throne, which seemed eerie to behold. His features made him look pleasing to the eyes, but his overall beauty looked almost decadent.
The laughing man was one of the continent’s Nine Stars. In the eyes of the world, he was strong enough to stand his ground in front of Aden von Agnus. It was only natural for the man was also renowned as ‘Scarlet Sky.’ In addition, he was none other than Lucifer, the Grand Duke of the Swallow Empire.
“Lucifer, why did you do this? How…?” muttered the wizened man on the throne.
There was a literal mountain of bodies and a sea of blood. The clothes of the corpses indicated that they were nobles of the Swallow Empire.
Thud!
Something heavy and circular dropped to the floor. It was the head of a bald man with eyes widened in disbelief. It was Duke Albert van Momori’s head, the Knight Commander of the Swallow Empire’s Imperial Knights order. He was also an ardent supporter of the Imperial Family. In addition, it had been ten years since he became a Master.
Grand Duke Lucifer had been holding the head of someone like that, and if someone else were here, they would definitely be scared shitless at the horrifying sight.
Step, step...
“You’ve gone too far with that ideology of yours, Emperor Verona.” Grand Duke Lucier slowly walked up the podium to stand in front of Emperor Verona bel Grace.
Lucifer arrogantly looked down at the latter and said, “Many people have praised you for your kindness, so it was only right for you to become the emperor. However, it seemed that no one had any idea about the absurdity of your pacifism. Internally, an immense amount of power has been accumulated, yet there’s nowhere for it to go. How did you think it was going to end?”
Grand Duke Lucifer smiled at the silent Emperor Verona.
“Bang!” exclaimed Grand Duke Lucifer before saying, “It goes up like a powder keg, tearing apart everything you were fighting for. That’s how your peace ends. Haven’t you ever read about it in history? Once upon a time, at a country in the East.”
“...”
“No true king would do something as asinine as plead for peace merely for the benefit of the people. A man, especially a man born with the destiny to rule a nation—should dream to unify the continent.”
“Are you saying that war will benefit the citizens of this nation? How ridiculous,” said Emperor Verona. He finally spoke, which made Grand Duke Lucifer shut his lips in response. Upon seeing Grand Duke Lucifer’s silence, Emperor Verona continued. “Do you know how many people this war of yours will kill? Do you think a child will like losing their father? Do you think a mother will be happy knowing that her child won’t live to see the next day? What about those who will be denied the chance to drink and be merry? Those are our people—the people we have vowed to protect and serve!”
At that, Grand Duke Lucifer scoffed. “It’s only right for livestock to die for our future.”
“Don’t make me laugh!” Emperor Verona exploded with rage. “You’re contradicting yourself! Look at what you’ve done! Use those blood-stained eyes to look at what you have done! You’re just a bloodthirsty killer. Do you really think you’re serving the Empire?”
Grand Duke Lucifer turned around and saw the puddle of blood that drenched his shoes.
“Am I serving the empire and looking out for its benefit? Hahaha, I don’t know!” Grand Duke Lucifer’s crimson lips smirked at Emperor Verona. “In the end, you are not my emperor. Your elder brother Demero should be sitting there.”
“...” Emperor Verona’s face darkened at the mention of Demero bel Grace.
“Is this why you persuaded Duke Altsma to participate in the Masters’ Battle?”
Unlike the Avalon Empire, the Imperial Knights Order of the Swallow Empire was divided into two divisions, with each having its own Knight Commander. Duke Momori was the Knight Commander of the Imperial Knights Order 1st Knights Division, while Duke Altsma was the Knight Commander of the 2nd Knights Division. The Imperial Knights Order of Swallow wasn’t divided into battalions, so they didn’t have battalion commanders. Therefore, both Duke Momori and Duke Altsma were the leaders of the two Knights Division of the Imperial Knights Order, and their job was to protect the Imperial Palace.
“Why would I do something like that?” Grand Duke Lucifer revealed a creepy smile. “Is there really a need for me to deliberately craft a scheme against those two worms? After all, one of them got humiliated by that Ulabis while the other one is… dead! Hahahaha!”
As Grand Duke Lucifer’s boisterous laughter filled the throne room, Emperor Verona started trembling. “Duke Altsma… he’s dead?”
“There are no second chances in battle. If a commander were foolish enough to reach beyond his means to fight an opponent he couldn’t defeat on the first try, then he would have to relinquish his pitiful existence.”
“No…” Emperor Verona blankly muttered while shaking his head in disbelief. His eyes progressively narrowed until only the whites could be seen as his voice trailed off into nothing but an incoherent muttering, “Don’t make me laugh… his injuries were severe, but he’s definitely…”
“Kekeke…” Grand Duke Lucifer laughed eerily, and he seemed to have gone mad as he kept on laughing.
Emperor Verona seemed to have realized something as he muttered blankly, “Marco. Why did he—-no way…”
Upon Duke Altsma’s return, Emperor Verona didn’t actually see him personally. However, he believed that Duke Altsma was still alive back then because Prime Minister Marco verified that Duke Altsma was still alive.
This only meant one thing.
“He’s a clever man.” Grand Duke Lucifer cackled manically. “He knows how to read the flow, and I think we’re going to be good friends after you’re dead.”
‘Ah… Marco.’ Emperor Verona’s expression stiffened at the sight of Grand Duke Lucifer’s menacing grin.
“This has been a long time coming. I knew the Masters’ Battle wouldn’t be enough to serve as a distraction, but the current affairs of Avalon have drawn the entire continent’s attention onto them, so it can be said that the heavens are truly on my side.” Grand Duke Lucifer retrieved a glass bottle from his coat. An unknown blue liquid was swirling inside the bottle as he said, “Without a son of your own, the next in line is the princess’ husband, which is me. It is time for you to rest, Your Majesty. Leave the empire to me.”
Using his will, the bottle floated into the air.
“Lucifer, you bastard—” Emperor Verona glared at Grand Duke Lucifer with impotent fury. He wanted to hurl curses at the latter, but he couldn’t continue to do so as Grand Duke Lucifer seized his chin and forced his jaws open.
“...!”
“I hope you’ll have a good night’s sleep, Your Majesty. I shall put your life’s work to good use.”
“You bastard, How dare—”
Grand Duke Lucifer regarded him for a moment before forcefully pouring the contents of the glass bottle into Emperor Verona’s mouth until the blue liquid overflowed from the latter’s lips. It didn’t take long until Emperor Verona’s eyes bulged.
At the sight, Grand Duke Lucifer smiled sadly before muttering,
“The glass bottle is my final act of courtesy for you, Your Majesty. No one else will have the privilege of passing away like this, and I don’t think it’s a bad way to say goodbye, either.”
“Y-you…” Emperor Verona trembled in rage, but his figure abruptly stiffened.
The unknown concoction worked rapidly, and Emperor Verona’s eyes soon glazed over.
Slump.
“...” Grand Duke Lucifer watched as Emperor Verona slumped before turning around.
All of a sudden, three men in blood-red armor appeared in front of him.
“We will now begin the Swallow conquest in earnest. The news of His Majesty falling ill shall spread like wildfire immediately after the Master Battle concludes—aim for the period when the continent’s attention is on Reinhardt. I presume I do not need to elaborate any further?”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
Grand Duke Lucifer ignored his soldiers' salute and turned his back to them.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but this is but an impermanent friendship. In any case, they will also become our adversaries. Avalon—particularly Evergrant, the Imperial Chief Mage is truly extraordinary. His intelligence and his abilities are admirable, even to me.”
Grand Duke Lucifer stared at Swallow’s banner before muttering, “It will be great if we can get him on our side. Unfortunately, anything that doesn’t belong to us has to be eradicated. I can’t even depend on such illogical ideas, and we have little time to spread the word throughout the continent. Do it silently and without fail.”
“We hear and obey!”
In response, Grand Duke Lucifer dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
The three men disappeared as silently as they appeared.
“...” Soon, an oppressive silence enveloped the throne room.
The event that had just occurred was the violent prelude to the continental war that would explode a few years later. It was also the start of the scheme that would ultimately lead to Duke Agnus’ death.
***
“...” Joshua stared at the Death Knight without saying anything.
How did a hero and the representative of a nation for the upcoming Masters’ Battle become a death knight?
“Wild King, Duke Altsma?” Joshua blankly muttered. He instantly recognized one of the Swallow Empire’s Dukes, as well as one of the proud Knight Commander of the Swallow Empire’s Imperial Knight Divisions.
Despite the incongruity, the greedy creature in Joshua’s mind kept whispering.
‘Take it.’
‘It will be yours.’
“If we win this, then it will be the first time I will have a Master under me,” said Joshua with bright eyes.
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