The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 129 – Trap (4)

Blood spurted out of the wound caused by Juan getting stabbed by the black blade. For a moment, Juan couldn’t understand the situation in front of him, and at the same time, he understood it better than anyone else—it was the same as then.

Juan was well aware that Gerard had betrayed him—he was the one who assassinated Juan. But at the same time, it was true that Juan was hoping for Gerard to have an excuse for doing what he did and hoped that he had a compelling and inevitable reason behind his actions. He hoped for that even more after his encounter with Ras.

Juan still hasn’t forgotten the gibberish that left the mouth of the frightened Gerard on the night of the assassination. Juan even had a feeling that Gerard might have been manipulated by some conspiracy or a curse.

Not only did Gerard not attack Juan back in Hiveden, but he also saved Juan from being affected by the flame crown back in Durgal. The Gerard who had appeared to save the villagers of Arbalde was exactly how Juan remembered him being in the past. This fact made Juan emotional.

Juan wanted to believe that Gerard might have been misunderstood too, just like Ras.

Splat!

But at this moment, Gerard had once again stabbed Juan in the back, almost as if he was laughing at Juan’s hope.

Splat! Crack! Squelch! Shunk!

Elkihel repeatedly entered and exited through Juan’s wound—it was as if stabbing him just once was not enough. Juan flinched and was helplessly shaken every time Gerard stabbed him.

Juan could see Nienna as she was desperately screaming and running toward him, but he already knew that he couldn’t be helped even if she came.

In fact, he intuitively knew this fact from the moment he was stabbed by Elkiehl. It was the same as the night he had been assassinated—there was no way out of this. Juan could feel his strength being drained whenever the black blade stabbed into his chest.

‘What did I even expect?’

Juan laughed in vain; he could clearly feel Talter’s mana, Grunbalde’s fog, Nigrato’s essence, and the Evil Snake’s curse leaving his body along with the pouring blood. Enormous amounts of mana disappeared from Juan in just an instant. Death was right before Juan’s eyes and he could feel himself being dragged by Gerard’s hand.

At that moment, something tightly grabbed his wrist. When Juan opened his eyes, he saw Nienna’s frightened eyes. Then the next thing Juan felt was himself floating in the air.

***

Sina stared blankly at the black sphere that was placed on the table. She had never seen anything like this, but Sina knew exactly what it was—it was Nigrato’s essence. Juan used to call it Umbra. Ever since Talter’s short sword was destroyed, Juan had been using Umbra as both an armor and a weapon.

“This was left behind by Ras?”

Sina nodded blankly upon hearing Hela’s question.

“...As far as I know, yes. That’s what a Templar that I know from Hiveden told me.”

Kamil, the former deputy of the Order of the White Crow, gave Sina a lot of information about Juan along with the holy sword. Among all that information was the information about Nigrato’s essence that Ras had handed over to Juan. Besides, Sina had seen Juan fight using Umbra before.

She wasn’t aware of the fact that Umbra could be separated from Juan, but there was one thing she was sure of—Juan would never have left the Umbra behind if he was still alive. After all, Umbra was the last thing that his son Ras had left him.

Hela maintained her silence upon realizing just how meaningful Umbra was to Juan.

The atmosphere of the fortress of Beldeve was quite strange. The official status of Juan should be that of a prisoner or that of a commander of the punishment unit. However, no one here considered him to be a prisoner—this was especially true for the punishment unit. The members of the punishment unit remained motionless with a frozen expression upon hearing what had happened to Juan.

The situation was not too different for the other soldiers of the Fourth Division, especially when there had been a rumor circulating saying that Juan was the emperor who had returned. Ominous rumors spread all around.

However, the atmosphere of the Fortress of Beldeve was still quite a bit more lively when compared to the atmosphere of the Northern Army. The Order of Fenrir and the Northern Army were so gloomy that people thought they were holding a funeral.

This was because of the fact that Nienna had disappeared along with Juan.

“Did you say that Gerard Gain stabbed Juan?” Sina asked.

“Yes. I saw it myself. He had his face covered with bandages, but he definitely had the same face as the last time, when he saved me. I could tell just by looking at the dragon, his swordsmanship, the way he walked, as well as his eyes. He stabbed Juan several times in the back, almost as if he was trying to make up for his failure last time,” Hela laughed, dumbfounded. “I guess he didn’t want to give Juan room to resurrect this time around.”

Sina shook her head in denial.

“There’s no way that Juan was tricked by such a simple surprise attack. Besides, didn’t you say that General Nienna had already defeated Gerard at that moment? Is there any possibility that Juan purposely fell for Gerard’s trick to…”

“Well, General Nienna was also dragged into the Crack,” Hela said firmly.

A search for Nienna and Juan was still underway at the coast. There was no way that Hela would ever find Juan and Nienna near the sea; everyone saw Juan and Nienna being dragged into the Crack right before their very eyes. But Hela was desperately searching for them; she had no way of controlling the Northern Army.

None of the knights of the Order of Fenrir were able to give a concrete decision on the future measures that needed to be taken, since no one had thought they would experience such a crisis in the east. The northeastern rebels were nothing but chicks compared to the monsters of the Crack that the Order of Fenrir had been dealing with, and no one had thought they would lose their General in the fight against them. The knights grew more and more discouraged as time went by.

However, Sina hadn’t given up.

“He has a history of returning from death. So maybe he’ll come back this time, too.”

“His Majesty only managed to return to the appearance of a child after nearly fifty years had passed, even with his omnipotent power. But this time around, he was stabbed several times, and he has been dragged into the Crack. You can’t compare this situation to what happened in the past.”

“But…”

“Sina,” Hela grabbed Sina’s shoulder. “Do you know who wants to die more than anyone else here right now? It’s me. I have lost my son, my husband, my loved ones as well as the ones I respected on this land.”

Hela recalled asking Juan to talk to Gerard before punishing him. It had just been a trivial request, but Hela lost both Juan and Nienna as a result of her request.

“I thought about throwing myself off of the walls of Beldeve just so that Gerard would appear again to save me and explain to me what happened. But I can’t even do that because I have too many responsibilities I must bear on my shoulders.”

“Your Grace.”

“You are a talent that His Majesty valued. I don’t know what potential he saw in you, but I don’t think he would have expected you to deny reality and be frustrated like the other ordinary people.”

Sina bit her lips and Hela continued speaking with a determined look on her face.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do from now on. So far, I had been tied up in the east, but the east was given another chance thanks to General Nienna and His Majesty. Besides, we also have a card called Suvole that’ll help us put pressure on the capital. There’s also a high possibility that the Northern Army will take our side if we are able to persuade them.”

Hela’s words were filled with determination. Sina immediately realized Hela’s plan.

“I’m planning to head straight to the capital now. I heard that the Church is starting to change around the current Saintess. Furthermore, it is said that the Helwin family is once again emerging in power. It won’t be too hard for us to save our side. And when we gain enough power…” Hela grabbed Sina’s hand. “I will reinvestigate the case of His Majesty’s assassination from the very beginning. Not only will the deep-rooted evils of the Church, but even the Regent will be thoroughly examined without exception. Other people might curse at me saying that I’ve gone senile or I might even have to shed blood. But I think that’s the only way I could ever repay His Majesty and General Nienna. Such a process requires a lot of talented individuals. I’d like you to be there, Sina. What you want to know and what you want to get is exactly the same as me.”

Sina bit her lips and remained silent. Hela pulled Sina’s hand and hugged her to comfort her.

“Juan—no, His Majesty was someone important to all of us. He was someone that would be able to make anyone devote their entire life to him. So, I believe that you can play a big role.”

Sina stood quietly upon hearing Hela’s words, but soon pushed her away slightly, causing Hela to be disappointed.

“I want to be there with you. But…” Sina opened her mouth with trembling lips as if she was hesitating. “I don’t think Juan is dead just yet. I’d like to take some time to think about it until I can be sure of his death.”

“But it might take you forever until you can be sure.”

“You’re the one who told me that he was someone who could make people devote their entire life to him, Your Grace,” Sina said with a sad smile.

“...You’re right.”

‘It must be His Majesty’s karma to lead people around him into fate like that of a whirlpool.’

Hela laughed bitterly at her own thoughts. People around Juan chased him and got dragged into the whirlpool of fate, but Juan acted as he pleased and cynically laughed at his own fate. The fact that Juan could maintain such an attitude often made Hela jealous.

“Tell me if you need anything, and keep in mind that you are always welcome to join me. Also…”

At that moment, Sina and Hela heard a knock on the office door. Hela paused their conversation; she had told the others to come to the office in case of an urgent matter. The man who came into the room was Walter, a knight from the Order of Fenrir.

Hela looked puzzled when she saw Walter’s clean hands. After all, his hands should have been quite dirty, since Hela had left the clean up of the villagers of Arbalde to the Order of Fenrir after Gerard and Juan disappeared. But Walter\'s hands didn’t have a single drop of blood on them . Hela tilted her head in wonder; she had expected the knights from the Order of Fenrir to kill all the villagers.

“What is it, Sir Walter? Is there a problem with the mission?” Hela asked.

“Your Grace, we can’t execute the villagers,” Walter answered with a complicated look on his face.

“What?” Hela doubted her ears. “What’s the matter?”

Walter’s answer made Hela even more confused.

“None of the villagers has been encroached upon by the Crack, Your Grace. General Nienna’s order was to rescue those who had been encroached upon by the Crack, but there’s no longer a reason to rescue them. I would like to ask General Nienna to reconsider her decision, but I must ask for your decision, since General Nienna’s seat is vacant.”

“No one has been encroached upon by the Crack?”

The villagers had not only lived in the northeast but they had been living alongside the warriors of Arbalde. It was only natural that they were all encroached upon by the Crack, even if it was the slightest bit. Hela even found traces that pointed to the villagers already having been encroached upon by the Crack when she ran into them in the middle of the battle several times.

Hela suddenly got goosebumps as she belatedly realized that none of the villagers on the coast had been singing a song or mumbling a name granted by the Crack. If it turned out to be true that the villagers had not been encroached upon by the Crack, Nienna and the Northern Army would have slaughtered more than one thousand innocent citizens. Such a tragedy would have happened for sure if it hadn’t been for Gerard’s intervention.

Hela didn\'t know how to accept this situation.

“The execution will cease, but I want to ask the Order of Fenrir to investigate all the villagers. Don’t forget to check who the villagers met and what they went through after being kicked out of the village.”

***

The fog on the floor scattered with every step Juan took. The huge amount of fog made Juan feel like he was swimming in water. When Juan pushed the fog away by radiating some heat, the fog dried up in an instant and revealed the view around him.

Around him were the walls of the magic tower, though they were not fully visible to him. The abyss wasn’t quite big enough for the tower, especially when you considered all the things stored in the abyss alongside the tower—the magicians of the tower didn’t wish to scrap any of their valuable research materials. The head of the magicians in particular had begged Juan to not destroy the magic tower.

At that moment, Juan felt a faint presence—it was the presence of the head of the magicians. Juan slowly walked toward the direction where he felt the presence from. The fog grew thicker and thicker as Juan walked. Juan tried to push the fog away using the heat, but the overwhelming amount of fog constantly covered Juan’s view.

At that moment, Juan further increased the amount of heat he was releasing.

“Please stop radiating heat, Your Majesty!”

Someone said urgently from within the fog. Juan stopped increasing the heat, but didn’t lower the amount of heat he was releasing either.

“Show yourself, Dormund. I believe that you must have something to say to me,” Juan said.

A white-haired magician carefully appeared from within the fog with something wrapped in a large cloth in his arms. The magician knelt in front of Juan.

“I can withstand the heat, but this child can’t. Please have mercy, Your Majesty.”

‘A child.’

Juan felt his stomach churning and recalled the heat he was releasing. Soon the fog filled the space between them, but Juan headed toward the source from where the fog was being released. A faint mass emerged within the fog. When Juan put his hand on it, the fog began to abate quickly.

What was revealed beyond the fog was a statue of a human with an eagle head made with all kinds of materials and forms of energy such as ice, stone, fire, wind, wood, and metal. In the area where the heart would be located, the rising flame, as well as the raging ice, collided to seep the fog into its body.

Juan quietly opened his mouth after looking at the body of a god for a while.

“What were you doing with the remains of Mananen McLeir?”