Chapter 240

Chapter 240: The Making of an Emperor

The Making of an Emperor
Chapter 240. Vessel of the Emperor

Ferda did not realize what was happening in reality.
He simply lay sunken in a place like a deep reservoir, looking toward the sky.
Unable to breathe, a pressure closing in from everywhere bound Ferda in the deepest depths.
— I have to do something…
How?
This is consciousness.
I want to escape, but there was no strength to fight.
The only thing he could do was extend a hand toward an unreachable light.
Helplessness enveloped Ferda.
“Valdrova.”
The further away she drifted, the closer her face became.
Ferda asked himself.
Why did I come to love her?
At first, it was empathy.
It was what I had longed for when I was young.
That curiosity led me toward her.
That was how I came to properly know Valdrova.
She was stubborn.
Stubborn, but warm.
I soaked in that warmth.
Just as they say there is no correct answer for love, I thought it was something like that.
— She wanted to become a person like a campfire.
A voice was suddenly heard.
The scenery that had been like the bottom of a reservoir changed to a dark place.
There, a man stood.
— But before the Primordial Chaos, such a campfire was no different from a candle before the wind. She had to burn herself. Everyone saw those tears.
A deep voice he had never heard before.
He continued speaking as if monologuing somewhere.
— I burdened her with a duty.
— But she is not fulfilling that duty. Because she loves everything. Because she loves everything, she lets them be.
A silence as if pondering something.
And he opened his mouth again.
— I will not leave it like that.
— Being born and dying is the natural order, and guiding that natural order is her role.
At that moment, the darkness vanished and flames rose.
It was a village.
At first glance, it was a place large enough to be similar to Hestia Village.
The sound of crackling fire, and at the same time, cruel screams were heard.
Ferda felt a presence and turned his head.
There stood Valdrova.
Though they called her the Aspect of Fire and Power, at that moment she was an infinitely helpless woman.
With hollow eyes, she shed tears of blood.
Her mouth moved, saying something countless times.
Why?
Ferda could not understand what this situation was.
However, his body moved independently of his will, and his lips did the same.
— Now, look. Valdrova.
He spoke in an excessively soft voice.
— This is the sight of the things you wanted to protect disappearing.
Consciousness was pulled away.
Once again, Ferda was sucked into the reservoir of the abyss.
Breathing is blocked.
My chest feels even more oppressed.
“That… is not me.”
That was not Ferda.
There is no way I would hurt her.
That was why he was afraid.
If I remain trapped in this abyss just as I am,
Will I become that kind of person?
Will I hurt her again like that?
“No.”
If so, I would rather die.
I screamed a silent scream toward the unreachable light.
I do not desire salvation, so please grant me that mercy.
— Regent Ferda-nim?
Someone’s voice.
Unfamiliar, yet a voice he had definitely heard once before.
— Can you hear me?
I wanted to answer something, but I could not.
I only prayed that they would not overlook me like this.
— It seems your consciousness has gone to the other side. But since you can hear my voice, it does not seem too late yet.
She seemed to understand Ferda’s condition.
— From now on, I will do the work of pulling Regent Ferda-nim out of his consciousness. You might want to say thanks, but my job ends there. We are being pursued, you know?
Anyone is fine.
In a situation where I do not know what is happening, if only I can regain consciousness, I will cling even to a rotten lifeline.
— That was a long preamble. So, let us begin.
At that moment, I felt something descend from the light.
Its shape was indistinct.
If it looked like a rope, it looked like a rope; if I thought of it as a long hand, it looked like a hand.
A sensation that any way I accepted it was fine.
Ferda carefully took that hand.
At that moment, the long hand firmly gripped Ferda’s hand and lifted him up just like that.
Ferda knew this sensation.
The place that had been like the reservoir of the abyss instantly spread into light, and the location transformed.
This is Valdrova Castle.
The place where the Spring Festival was held and which was full of vitality.
There, Ferda had made a mistake exactly once.
Dazed, his steps became tangled.
In that moment that could have led to embarrassment, the sensation of being skillfully guided.
I remember.
— You are…
However, the face that had been full of freckles was different from back then.
She had an excessively simple and innocent woman’s face.
Like a common face you would see in one out of ten people in a village.
— Nice to meet you. My name is Angrem. I am the Saint of Sierra, also called the Saint of Mercy, but they generally call me the Chain of Sierra.
— Chain?
— To catch a wolf, the leash has to be sturdy, right?
As if her role had ended, she released their intertwined hands and let Ferda go.
— We will meet again soon. Let us exchange proper greetings then.
When he was alone in the ballroom, Ferda finally realized reality.
— Ugh…!
Awakening from a cruel dream, he returned to a reality that was miserable beyond words.
Ferda was kneeling.
His head was so confused that all kinds of words spun around.
The Chain of Sierra, the village in flames, Valdrova shedding tears of blood.
My head hurts.
My spirit returned to my body and now there was no room to think about anything.
“First things first…”
Ferda reflexively checked priorities first.
What was it?
Rolling his eyes, he searched for the most relevant object.
What caught his attention was a black book.
“Right, that is it.”
The Legion of Gamigin.
Called Gamigin’s Utopia, that thing that finally succeeded in the human world.
“I have to destroy it.”
Ferda tried to invoke magical power.
Yet nothing remained.
Both the Dark Circle and the Red Circle were squeezed to their limits.
With the feeling of wringing even the moisture from dried meat, he tried to gather it, but it was still not enough.
Ferda tried to stand carefully from his seat.
His legs shook, so in the end he decided to simply crawl.
His body told him that he needed to rest.
Ferda tried to persuade that body with all his strength.
At least, that book.
Only after reducing that book to ashes could he close his eyes.
With that unyielding determination, Ferda slowly crawled.
It was when Ferda tried to reach his hand toward it.
The book floated in the air.
He thought it was magic, but someone was holding that book.
Ferda forced his head up to check who it was.
The first visible things were large boots.
Jed, Arwen, or…… Ruri, who lost her shoes somewhere and came wearing large boots someone had discarded.
He only hoped it was that.
Yet Ferda’s hope was cruelly shattered before reality.
— So this is that thing.
Eugene Hudret.
He, who had carefully destroyed all power sources, arrived after everything was resolved.
The worst.
Of all things, for that to fall into that bastard’s hands……
Ferda looked at him.
— It seems quite a fierce battle took place. I heard from the mage outside that its power vanished, and the castle is about to collapse along with it.
— ……
— Well, that source does not seem to be here either. Probably because that bastard Alberto and his assistant are very powerful. We need to get out fast. What will you do?
He asked with a smile.
Asking while it was clearly visible felt unusual.
Ferda barely opened his mouth.
— That book……
— Hm?
— That book…… hand it over.
Ferda was no less determined.
King Hudret glanced at the black book and asked.
— Do you covet this? Well, you are a mage, so your pursuit of power must be different from anyone else’s.
— I must…… destroy it.
King Hudret looked at Ferda in silence, holding the book.
Expressionless.
That was why it was difficult to tell.
What kind of reaction would this man show before the temptation other kings went through, and which he went through himself?
Ferda wanted to believe that King Hudret was not tempted.
With his physical abilities, there was no way to win against Hudret.
— If you see that…… it will show you the desires you harbor.
— Desires, you say?
— The kings were consumed by those desires. And…… they killed each other.
— Hmm…… was that so then?
King Hudret rested his chin on his hand.
A doubtful reaction, but not entirely dismissive.
— It makes you believe you will realize what should remain an illusion, and must remain an illusion. So, please…… destroy it.
— Are you saying that if I look at this, I will be devoured by the book, is that it?
— That is right.
— Hmm……
Subtle reactions continued.
If only his body were intact, he would have ambushed him immediately, but now he had become a fragile body that could not even defeat a child.
After looking down for a moment, King Hudret chuckled.
— Allow me to ask one thing.
King Hudret extended his index finger and asked.
— What do you think about the Emperor?
— Emperor……?
— My father wanted to become Emperor. He tried to instill his dream into his son, and that was me.
— ……
— But the grander the dream, the weaker the family bond becomes. They could not even help each other, only repeated assassination attempts and framed one another. I regretted it, I was disappointed.
— ……
— So, naturally, a certain eye opened.
He pointed to his own eyes.
— They call it Eye of Wisdom, do they not? I call it Eye of the Emperor. I can roughly tell what kind of heart those with ambitions unfitting for their position harbor.
His eyes were ordinary brown pupils.
That Eye of Wisdom was by no means composed of a magical structure.
— So it was truly convenient for filtering out those I thought were doing useless things. But it was not omnipotent either.
He crouched down and touched Ferda’s forehead.
— I learned that when I met you. Among the humans I have seen, you harbored the greatest ambition. Yet, you were different from other kings. That was truly interesting.
The laughter ceased.
He continued with a more serious voice.
— Ferda Valdrova. The man who became the consort of the Tyrant, Valdrova. So allow me to ask once more. What do you think about the Emperor?
Ferda responded to his words.
— An Emperor is, ultimately, just a human who will die one day.
They say the higher one climbs, the fiercer the wind blows.
— Then what is the reason to be in such a high position and continue climbing?
It is simple.
— Because my fiancée is in that position.
And the following words were not Ferda’s.
— She does not know how to step down from that position, so she is struggling.
He did not understand why he had said that.
Perhaps he blurted out nonsense because his mind was hazy.
Hearing those words, Hudret smiled.
— Allow me to verify that once.
Hudret finally opened that book.
At that moment, his eyes opened wide.
Like an explorer discovering a treasure.
Like a farmer feeling a single rainfall at the end of a long drought.
— Certainly…… interesting things.
He definitely saw.
The figure of himself reborn as the ruler of the continent.
The vision of everyone submitting beneath him.
The utopia that anyone with kingly qualities dreams of.
— But it is a trivial thing.
King Hudret lost interest in an instant.
He did not hesitate at all and burned that black book with his own hands.
Ferda could not hide his surprise at that scene.
— Why do you look at me like that? I feel like you are looking down on me, and it is fucking unpleasant.
— How……?
— I am not blind. If I have my eyes open to reality, what reason would I have to be moved by that trash?
He pointed with his chin toward where the corpses of the kings lay.
— Is the result of those who tried to pursue the ideal this showed lying scattered like that?
Every word was true.
He watched it burn to the end and crushed the ashes.
— Whoever walks the path of the Emperor needs firm conviction. With resolve and without haste.
The book disappeared without a trace.
His pupils turned toward Ferda.
— So, conversely, I want to ask you. How did you see this book and resist?
Ferda remembered the illusion it showed him.
Yet shining more clearly than that was red.
— Valdrova.
His hopelessly stubborn woman came to mind.
That woman who cannot be replaced by dreams and delusions remains in reality.
— So that was it.
King Hudret nodded as if he had finally understood.
— I wondered why you were so to my liking, and it was because of that.
— ……
— Because you do not have the dream of being Emperor. Since you are someone who will not become Emperor, why would there be a need to fight?
King Hudret sheathed his sword, grabbed Ferda’s arm, and hoisted his body over his shoulder.
— Rest. I will personally deliver your body to your assistant.
It was an utterly humiliating posture, but Ferda had no strength to protest.
As Hudret said, now he only had to rest.
The Kingdom of Heinkel began to collapse centered on the citadel.
The area that lost magical power crumbled like piled sand, and the cheers of soldiers who knew nothing echoed everywhere like victory reports.