Chapter 391
Aden von Agnus chuckled under the radiant sunlight. His lower body was completely gone.
“...I know I’m near my end, but it somehow feels quite empty.”
Jabel had lost it and threw himself at Joshua in a berserk rage and was lying beside Aden now.
“…I really can’t understand,” Joshua muttered.
“Understand?”
“You were in a different situation than the Emperor.”
“Oh, you meant that….” Aden blankly looked up at the ray of sunlight that was shining down through the roof, but a smile crept onto his lips. “What was different?”
“Well...”
“Over the past three years, Marcus ben Britten was tortured over and over again. In the end, he sold his soul to the Demonic Spirit just to get revenge. What part about me makes me different from him?”
Joshua’s eyes widened.
“We’re all just humans. Depending on what environment humans are in, they’re more than capable of changing. From the moment I was born to now, my only drive in life was toppling the Britten Family. That is what my father and my grandfather told me to do even before I could think for myself, and that was the inevitable result when the human named Aden von Agnus started to despise the Britten Family, even though he didn’t even know what those people looked like,” Aden said.
Joshua turned completely silent. Revenge felt very empty even if it succeeded, yet sometimes completing it was the only way to prove oneself.
“By taking the throne away from the Brittens, I was going to complete my revenge—and I would have if you, the variable, hadn’t appeared. But I don’t feel bad even at this moment. Of course, that must be because you’re my son.” Even though he was disappearing, Aden beamed. “What are you going to do now?”
His eyes were pointing at the group of people who were watching him and Joshua from the corner of the council chamber. Cain and Cazes stood at the front looking at him with worried eyes, with Duke Tremblin and hundreds of Imperial Knights behind the two.
“Do you trust them?” Aden asked.
“…I believe they took the necessary measures.”
“Assassinating the Emperor entails the death of the assassin and their entire family, so… my last regret would be dying before I see how you overcome this obstacle.” Aden smiled.
“Do you not have other regrets?”
“Regrets?” Aden quietly repeated. He fixed his eyes on the sun that hung high above them. “Not really. I pulled down the sun with my own hands, so I would say I was actually quite satisfied with my life. My deceased father will welcome me in the otherworld.”
Only Aden’s head remained now, wearing an enigmatic smile. “You don’t have time to ask me questions right now. You not only have to clear your name but also save the princess. I’ll watch how you weather this storm from hell, my son. Ah…”
With Aden’s last gasp, his entire body crumbled away.
Joshua stared into the air for a long moment.
“…Sadly, that won’t be possible since someone who made a deal with the Demon Spirit can’t even go to hell.”
Joshua stood up, ignoring all the watchful eyes he could still feel—he had business with only one person.
“Just like I promised… I’ve taken all the necessary measures.” The First Prince stepped forward after noticing that Joshua was looking at him.
“Thank you.”
“…Don’t. I just agreed with Duke Tremblin, that is all.” Kiser shook his head.
The field investigation had already been completed. Numerous nobles in the council chamber had been slaughtered by none other than Emperor Marcus. The corpses bore clear traces of being attacked by the Sun Sword, the sword technique that only the Brittens could use. However, Marcus, the culprit of the massacre, had disappeared without a trace. If it hadn’t been for the confession of the Emperor’s assassin, Kiser wouldn’t still be able to accept the fact that the Emperor had passed away.
“I’ll ask one more time since we’re already talking… Did His Majesty really sell his soul to the demon?” Kiser asked.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Kiser clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his flesh. Considering the evidence, it had to be true. Otherwise, there was no reason for the Emperor to suddenly show up and kill hundreds of the nobles. As the Emperor had been a Master himself, he would be more than capable of committing such a massacre, much less with the addition of the evil demon’s power.
“…You would already know this, but once this truth gets out, another civil war will break out within the Avalon Empire. It’ll be among the nobles this time after they split into the imperial and aristocratic factions.”
“Is that why you made out the previous Duke Agnus as the assassin?” Joshua asked.
“He’s the real culprit that assassinated His Majesty. If His Majesty is truly responsible for this massacre…” Kiser’s face darkened. “…then he died on that day three years ago in his bedroom, just as the primordial stone showed me. That is what I choose to believe.”
In fact, that was also the reason why the Imperial Knights were hesitant to take action. If the previous Duke Agnus was the real culprit in Emperor Marcus’s assassination and Joshua Sanders had killed the very Duke Agnus, then Joshua was publicly a hero of the Empire—although the knights were unsure how he should be treated in private.
“…It’s actually surprising,” Joshua mumbled.
“What is surprising?”
“You’re more than capable of framing me for high treason.”
Kiser glanced back and saw how the imperial knights from the superior battalions were glaring at Joshua belligerently; it was clear they were ready for that very thing to happen at any time. However, they couldn’t do anything further due to the presence of Knight-Commander Rod and the Sword Emperor.
“…I made a promise with the woman I loved,” Kiser said.
“Loved?”
“I don’t anymore,” Kiser added with a shrug.
“You’re quite a romantic.”
Kiser smiled bitterly and then turned away. “But the problem still remains, Joshua Sanders. From now on, you will have to face the storm that started from this incident. I’ll try to sort things out as much as possible on my end. I’m saying this just in case, but the part about His Majesty and the Demon Spirit…”
Joshua shook his head. “I won’t talk about it.”
Kiser chuckled. “…In that case, I’ll surely repay that favor.”
* * *
“Duke Agnus, begone!”
“Hero King, my ass! His son should go with him!”
“How dare you assassinate His Majesty!”
The main gate of the Imperial Palace swarmed with people. The citizens of the Avalon Empire had suffered for the past three years due to the civil war, and now the assassination of their great Emperor Marcus had driven them to the breaking point. The populace erupted into riots.
“I-Is there still no news from the inside?”
“Won’t we get beaten to d-death before then at this rate?”
The Auxiliary Battalion Knights that were guarding the main gate were flustered. At least tens of thousands of citizens were gathered in front of the gate, so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that everyone in Arcadia were here now.
-Please hear me out for a moment!
Suddenly, a man came out onto the terrace of the Imperial Palace and used his mana to project his shout across the sky. It was so loud that the people instinctively covered their ears, silencing the area in a flash. The speaker didn’t miss the chance.
-I am Kiser ben Britten, the First Prince of the Avalon Empire!
Kiser’s introduction made the people murmur among themselves.
“Hi-His Highness?”
-You have no reason to do this right now. Everything returned to its original state. Joshua Sanders is practically the hero of this Empire!
“Wh-what does that mean…?”
The people had definitely not expected Kiser’s remark. They were thrown into chaos. Right now, the prince of the Avalon Empire should be more furious than anyone else. How could he say such a thing?
-I’ll get to the point right away.
Kiser quickly added, eager to quell any misunderstandings.
-The previous Duke Agnus did assassinate His Majesty.
“I-I knew it…!”
When the first in line to the throne himself stated it in public, the people felt deeply vindicated.
-That isn’t it! You would all remember Evergrant, the previous royal chief mage, but he conducted an experiment regarding undead using the citizens of the Empire.
“He’s cr-crazy!”
-Duke Aden von Agnus, who is also known as Heimdall, was behind Evergrant.
The confusion was blasted away by a storm of shock rolling over the people. Of course, Kiser was still getting into the important part.
-Evidence will soon be revealed and prove this, but above all…
Kiser cleared his throat.
-The one who took out the previous Duke Agnus was Joshua Sanders, the hero of our Empire.
The people began to murmur among themselves.
“Wh-what did he just say?”
“The previous Duke Agnus is the traitor… but the Martial God killed him.”
“What in the world is going on?”
Under usual circumstances, Joshua was surely the hero that deserved to be praised, but he was also the son of the criminal. Although assassinating an emperor was a very serious crime, a son killing his own father was a crime against humanity.
“To sum up, the previous Duke Agnus assassinated His Majesty, and since the Martial God is the previous Duke Agnus’s son, the right thing to do is to execute him too…”
“Wait, but the Martial God is the one who punished the criminal.”
“But it’s still wrong for a son to kill his own father…”
-It’s my fault!
Now that it had come to this, Kiser, the man with the noblest blood within this empire, willingly bowed to the people.
“Yo-Your Highness?”
-The one who gave the Imperial Order that led him to break the moral law… was me.
“Wh-what…?”
-If Joshua Sanders should be accused of any crime… then it would only be staying loyal to my order as a citizen of the Avalon Empire.
Silence fell upon the area. It turned so quiet that it was hard to believe that tens of thousands of people were gathered there.
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