The Hero Disciple Is Back - Chapter 97



96. It’s all mine and I am the master

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty… You are cold to me, even though it has been so long since we last met.”

The crown prince came to see the emperor after a long time. He didn’t really want to see him, but… he was really busy before that. The human world was now united as one to prevent the worst future. Normally, that would have been impossible.

Because each human being lives in a subjective world called their own world. Therefore, each person thinks differently, has different definitions, and lives with completely different senses of right and wrong. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for humans, or groups of humans, to unite as one and form a single line.

For that, an absolutely necessary prerequisite is required.

It is absolute despair and hope that can be leaned on.

Only when faced with despair that they can never overcome on their own strength can humans stop thinking about anything else and focus solely on the need to come together at this moment. After all, there is no human who does not become desperate when faced with the sense of crisis that they might lose everything.

But there must not be only despair.

Just as any famous sword will eventually be broken if you keep hitting it with a hammer, if the hammering called despair continues, eventually humans will not be able to endure.

So what is needed is hope.

Only when there is enough hope to expect and lean on can a person make the determination to fight with earnestness without completely collapsing.

The human world today was already meeting these two essential conditions.

The World Tree burned because of the Demon King. The power of the elves was so strong that humans could not ignore them. Their numbers were certainly small, but they were a race of long-lived people, and each and every one of them had reached a state of transcendence that was incomparable to humans. Even though such races and the World Tree had joined forces, they lost their land and the World Tree burned down. Naturally, the human world could not help but fall into the crucible of despair.

But it wasn’t all despair.

It was the warrior and the first white dragon.

The hope that they had caused damage and sent the Demon King back also spread throughout the human world. That was why people despaired, but at the same time, they were able to stand up without falling, leaning on a staff that they could lean on.

Now, we have come to a point where we have come together in order to somehow survive and fight for the future.

As such, the crown prince had no choice but to be very busy. He was the actual leader of the empire. As such, there were more than one or two things he had to do. As such, he had been keeping his distance from the emperor, whom he had originally not wanted to pay much attention to. However, since the emperor was said to be sick and unable to leave his bed… . He had no choice but to come see him.

First of all, it was known that there was no particular problem with the father-son relationship because he was working in place of the emperor who was not feeling well. So he couldn’t help but be concerned about people’s opinions.

“The Empire… is it okay?”

“Since when have you been thinking so much about the Empire and showing such interest in it?”

“Because it’s yours….”

The emperor answered without any hesitation.

The empire is his own property.

The emperor lived his entire life thinking that way.

He was born into the imperial family as if heaven had told him to become the emperor, and he was eventually able to sit on the throne. That is why the emperor thought that way all his life. He was born to become the emperor, and in the end, the empire was his property.

“You have always been like that. It is not surprising. But the Empire does not belong to the Emperor. A country cannot survive without its people. No matter how much Your Majesty claims the Empire as yours, the easiest part to replace in this Empire is not the people, but you. In fact, I am the one who filled your empty spot.”

“… Have you come to insult and mock your father who is lying in his sickbed?”

“No. I just wanted to tell you this before. If I had said something like this before, Your Majesty wouldn’t have paid any attention to it. You would have completely ignored me, calling me a child’s words.”

“… Very… . Cool. The commander has arrived. Phew. I think I need to rest for a bit… . Go out.”

“Okay. I’ll tell them to prepare some medicine that’s good for restoring your stamina.”

“… If I were you, I would have poisoned you without hesitation.”

“That is why. It is Your Majesty’s way, not mine.”

With those words, the crown prince left.

The emperor continued to follow her back with a gaze that was difficult to describe.

The Emperor knew the Crown Prince well. The Emperor never spoke to the Crown Prince, but… . Whenever he looked at the Crown Prince, it was like looking into a mirror. More precisely, the past. A mirror that showed the past. He too had a crossroads. He had been there when he had been struggling in front of it. There, he had made a choice. The Crown Prince had made a choice too. They just chose different paths.

So the crown prince will definitely live a life different from his own. How will history evaluate that? I can’t even imagine it now.

I couldn’t even imagine myself becoming a mere passing of the past, since it was the privilege of future generations to make any kind of evaluation.

‘The brighter that guy shines, the more I become shadowed and dyed in darkness.’

After all, if we look at history as a standard, the previous emperor and the next emperor are rivals. When one side is bright, the other side becomes dark as a comparison. That is why there have been countless instances in history where the relationship between the emperor and the crown prince, or the king and the crown prince, was not good.

That was when.

【How about you stop being so stubborn, Emperor of the Empire?】

“It’s you again…?”

【Really. Why are you so stubborn when you are such a corrupted soul?】

“Krrrrr.”

The emperor was not simply bedridden due to illness.

【It’s no use getting upset. I am the Dark King of the Four Heavenly Kings, Diaer. Any soul that falls into my hands will eventually be dyed in my color.】

The last of the Four Heavenly Kings, Dark King Diaer

If the Overlord and the King of Fighters ascended to the position of the Four Heavenly Kings through force, and the Four Heavenly Kings ascended to the position of the Four Heavenly Kings through the ability to create a great army, the reason the Dark King was able to ascend to the position of the Four Heavenly Kings was because of his overwhelming information power. And the reason he possessed the greatest information power among the Demon King’s army was because he was able to obtain souls and make them his slaves.

He approaches and seduces the souls that are pursuing their desires, eventually dyeing them with his own colors and turning them into slaves. That is why the Dark King was able to gain the greatest information power in the Demon King’s army, no, in the entire human world and the Demon World.

It was only natural for him to approach the Emperor, a soul who had walked the path of corruption without doing anything himself. As the Emperor, he would know a lot.

“Kekekeke.”

The emperor laughed.

Even though I felt a pain that felt like my heart was being torn to pieces

He laughed.

Because it was so funny.

He was the emperor of the empire, and he had commanded the world so much… The power he had so desperately desired and believed in as his own had been taken away… Now, the demons were trampling on him as if he were their toy.

How can you not laugh?

How can you not laugh when you, who was so arrogant as if it was yours and you had nothing to fear, end up in such a miserable state and get trampled on? You can’t help but laugh.

【What’s so funny? Are you crazy because you’re in so much pain? Are you out of your mind?】

“Heh heh. Maybe so.”

【Now listen to me. Isn’t this a good deal? You are only reclaiming what was taken from you. You are reclaiming the empire that you have considered your own all your life. Isn’t this the most meaningful thing to you? Oh. I can hear it already. You will laugh heartily, feeling the hot joy of reclaiming what is yours. The end of the world? Are you the kind of person who cares about that? No matter how incompetent you are as an emperor, you are the one who holds the crown in your hand and sits on the throne, not caring how many people will be unhappy because of you becoming emperor?】

… yes.

He himself was that kind of person.

It is not like me to come now and pretend to be clean and act like a hypocrite.

Even though he was called a tyrant and even though he was recorded in history as the worst emperor, he prioritized his own greed over such things. He sat on the throne knowing how inadequate he was, and he ruled unjustly for his own greed even though he knew it was wrong.

From noble mtl dot com

If there were a trial in the afterlife and heaven and hell were to be decided through that trial, the emperor knew better than anyone that he would definitely end up in hell.

Now, pretending to be clean, good, and righteous is hypocrisy. It’s just nonsense.

okay….

rather….

As the last emperor… .

Even until the very end, his name will be engraved as the master of this empire… .

It might not be bad… .

“Okay… Let’s sign the contract… .”

【Hahahaha! That’s the right choice! Why did you waste your time and suffer unnecessary pain! Come on! Let’s make a contract right now! Even though I’ve fallen, I’ll definitely dye you in my colors. Lots! Very definitely!】

The Dark King reached out to the Emperor’s soul without hesitation. And that was the moment he grabbed it.

“Kuaaahh …

The pain of having one’s soul squeezed was literally no different from the pain of having one’s heart squeezed, so the emperor suffered, vomiting blood.

The Dark King smiled and enjoyed the sound of the pain being poured out, as if it were a harmony. That’s why he let his guard down.

Phage crackle!

So when I realized something was wrong, it was too late.

【…what?!】

At that moment, the Dark King sensed that something was wrong, so he tried to let go of the Emperor’s soul from his hands.

Kwak!

But that couldn’t be done!

It was as if it had been glued together, and I couldn’t take it off no matter how hard I tried.

“Coolook! What are you doing, demon? Are you dyeing my soul with your color?”

【You b*stard! What the hell have you done!】

“Did you think that in the long history of the Imperial House… there was never a single incident involving the Demons…?”

The Demon King appeared so long ago that no human could remember it properly… However, that does not mean that they completely forgot about the existence of the Demon Tribe.

This was because the demons had been consistently leaving their mark on the human world in the form of contracts. Naturally, the demons had appeared in the long history of the imperial family. That was why the imperial family had been consistently conducting research to prepare for the demons. They did not know when the strange and unidentifiable dangerous power of the demons would target the imperial family.

That is why the imperial family had several plans to deal with the demons.

One of them was to borrow the power of the holy relics. Originally, the holy relics were supposed to be well-kept by the temples, but… . In the long history, there were cases where the temples were lost due to unfortunate events or accidents, and whenever they were lost, the imperial family would take care of them to protect them(?) in their treasury. And as much as they were carefully protected and cherished, they would use them when necessary. They were only used to check(?) how well the holy relics worked.

“No matter how much you are one of the Four Heavenly Kings, your true nature is evil… Kkuluk! Can you really overcome the power of the holy relic?”

【Why?! Hypocrisy! You have lived your whole life so filthy that you are no different from a demon, so what difference does it make if you, the master of a corrupted soul, come and do this now! The violence you have wielded as you please, claiming the empire as yours! Sins will not go away!】

“Make no mistake, Demon… I have not changed one bit. I still consider the Empire mine and consider it my property.”

【Then why!】

“It’s a simple story. It’s so simple.”

Even though blood was dripping from his mouth and he was dirty, the Emperor continued with a cool smile.

“There is no master in the world who tolerates thieves.”

【what…!】

The king tried to argue as if he was being ridiculous.

The emperor didn’t care one bit.

He simply activated the well-hidden relic.

“Sepia, Goddess of Dreams, please open the world of dreams for me.”

At the same time, the Emperor’s soul and the Dark King’s soul began to be sucked into the holy relic. The Dark King tried to escape somehow, but he couldn’t. If he had been in perfect condition, it would be different, but in his imperfect state, and in his soul state, he couldn’t properly use his powers…

But that wasn’t the only worst thing.

-Okay. Come fall into the dream world with me, demon.

【You b*stard…!!!!!!!!】

This was because the Emperor’s soul was still attached as if by glue.

【No!!!!! The promised day is not far away!!!!!!!!! And you’re leaving like this!!!!!!!!!!! This can’t happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No one heard the desperate cry of the soul.

In the end, the Dark King and the Emperor fell into the dream world.

♧♧♧

A war that took place only with soul and soul

So despite such a huge war,

The imperial bedroom was spotlessly clean, without a trace.

Only the emperor was sleeping comfortably on the bed.

Only the emperor, who had fallen into a deep sleep from which he would never wake up, remained asleep.

Swish!

There was someone who showed up in such a place.

It was none other than the warrior of infinite regression, Sera.

She approached carefully and took the sacred relic left behind by the God of Dreams that she had hidden away.

“The master does not tolerate thieves….”

Sarah would just secretly go to the emperor and tell him things he didn’t know and help him directly.

The Dark King, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, approaches you.

The moment you take possession of his soul for the contract, even though you are a human, there is a way to trap that dark lord and make him suffer greatly.

So, I found the holy relics that were hidden in the imperial treasury and even gave them to the imperial documents on how to use them.

It was also her work to hide the holy relic so well that the Four Heavenly Kings and the Dark King could not sense its presence.

As she took the holy relics containing the souls of the Emperor and the Dark King, she looked at the Emperor sleeping soundly for the last time, his body empty of its contents and nothing more than an empty shell, and sang.

“… In the very end, he was a bit more emperor-like.”

She bowed her head silently and said politely, showing her respect.

He was a character who wasn’t very helpful in the infinite regression… but I couldn’t deny it this time.