Chapter 340: The Emperor and Sophien (2)  

Swooooosh…

I was staring down the main gate of the Imperial Palace in the pouring rain. I was certain of what Sophien's troubles were now and her anguish. Now, she was becoming a human. The woman who repeated her death over hundreds of years and only knew the meaninglessness of life because she came to love a guy like me...

"Sir. What are you going to do?"

My force was with me now. Of course, they were too shallow to be useful, although they were corrupted by the Altar.

"What was the emperor thinking…?"

One of them asked me. It was annoying, and the way this insignificant bastard called the noblest emperor without respect made my blood boil.

"…I still don't know what she's thinking. We will do our job. The lighthouse is ready."

When the day comes, the continent will be destroyed and regenerated, according to my will or according to Quays.

"But… before that."

I took off my coat and threw it away.

"I must show myself like this as a servant."

Thud.

I knelt on the pavement. Dirty mud-splattered and soaked through my clothes.

"Count, Count?"

The guys next to me were bewildered. They hesitated as to whether they should kneel or do something else.

"I will wait by myself. Until the Emperor comes out."

"Yes? But...."

"It is convenient for us that the Emperor will not move until the lighthouse is activated."

I explained the reason. That was an excuse.

"However, the Emperor abruptly closed the Imperial Palace. It's not timely. Even though I'm standing opposite her, I should try to find out her intentions."

The Emperor must come to the lighthouse and put a sword through my heart. To be broken by the owner of this continent was my role.

* * *

The next day, at the Masal's residence.

"…What's the matter?"

Lia and Ganesha were tilting their heads as they listened to the breaking news through the crystal ball.

"Is this politics?

The Emperor closed the Imperial Palace. Closing the Palace was traditionally an expression of dissatisfaction, so Deculein was the first to run over and get down on his knees. After that, the pro-Imperial servants knelt beside him one by one. So, now, it was crowded with nobles of all kinds.

"Lia, if you think about it, isn't this the right time?"

"The right time?"

"Yes, to assassinate Deculein. They said he's on his knees without magic, an escort, or countermeasures."

"Umm… I don't know. Not really. Rather, when will the analysis be done?"

She quickly changed the topic. The numerous wizards gathered in Masal were still engrossed in analyzing the lighthouse, but they didn’t look so good.

"I don't know. Go and see it yourself~."

"…Yeah."

Lia opened the door. As soon as she left into the hallway, a piece of magic paper fluttered by. Lia snatched it from the air and walked until she reached the living room.

"…There's so many."

Too many. Two hundred people gathered here, looking over the materials from the Floating Island and discussing with each other.

—This. Look at this. Here, I analyzed this formula first, right?

—That's wrong.

—Why?

—Don't lose the honorifics… anyway, I don't know either. Rather, Deculein is a true genius of the century. Do they say this person is the plagiarism professor?

Lia searched among them. There were several wizards, but Louina was nowhere to be seen.

"Um. Where's Professor Louina?"

"Oh. Inside there, and she went in all of a sudden."

"Okay."

She knocked on the door that one of the wizards pointed to.

Knock, knock-

There was no response.

Knock, knock-

Again none, so she opened the door.

"Um, Professor Louina…?"

"…Ugh!"

Louina stiffened. She seemed poised to hide some documents.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh…."

Louina rolled her eyes as if pondering, then scratched the back of her neck and laughed. This person was also bad at lying.

Lia’s eyes narrowed.

"What? What is that? What are you trying to hide?"

"I-It's nothing."

"I don't think it's nothing. Did you find out something about the spell?"

Louina licked her lips.

"Oh, that's…."

"You did, right?"

"…Haah."

Louina nodded, and she sat down with a look of despair.

"Yes. I figured it out. Sort of."

"…What is that?"

"…"

Louina raised a stack of documents.

"This is Deculein's lighthouse formula decomposed into three hundred parts."

"…Three hundred?"

"Yes. Well, I didn't do anything. My disciples put it together one by one. The purpose of this lighthouse is… so, I think I can tell the purpose… that purpose is...."

Suddenly, Louina's mouth shut tight. She sighed as she rubbed her eyes and nose.

"Maybe the continent’s destruction?"

"…Ah."

Louina's eyes widened. Lia had known it for a long time, but Louina and most hadn’t heard of the Altar’s purpose. No, perhaps even the members of the Altar didn't know its purpose yet.

"That's right. The continent's destruction. This lighthouse is trying to attract a comet and drop it on the continent."

Louina got up and tapped her telescope.

"We have already observed what the comet is."

"Oh?"

"…You don't seem very surprised."

"Yeah. I kind of expected it."

"Really? After all, you are the adventurer chosen by Her Majesty, right?"

Louina smiled bitterly at her. However, Lia's and Louina's expectations were slightly different. According to the questline, Lia expected that it would be like this, while Louina had composed an empirical prediction through magical analysis, research, and observation. Thus, there was evidence of Louina's predictions.

She could officially announce it to every corner of the continent.

"What is that comet?"

"Well. We haven't decided on a name yet, but it's half the size of our continent."

"…"

This was confidential, but Lia knew science and engineering. So, she studied Earth’s science a long time ago, and she knew that if even an asteroid a tenth the size of that crashed, the planet would be destroyed.

"There's one thing I haven't figured out yet… but that could be unnecessary, right? We already know their purpose."

"So why are you here instead of revealing it?"

"…Even if I reveal it, I don't think it can be stopped. I think it would only cause chaos."

Louina explained.

"I was just learning their intent. I don't know how to stop it; I can’t. It's flawless."

Louina waved the papers.

"It's perfect. I was amazed while reading it, honestly. How was Deculein able to create something like this?"

She admired the enemy trying to destroy the continent and even blushed as if fascinated by his magic.

"But why would he use his talent for something like this?"

Louina muttered like that and put the paper down. Deculein's spell flowed down from her fingers.

"…It's okay."

Picking it up, Lia shook her head.

"I don't know much about magic, but it certainly has flaws."

"…Flaws?"

Louina turned to look at Lia.

"Yeah. A perfect spell like that is tricky, isn't it? So, only the wizard who invented the technique can handle it, right?"

"…Ah."

Louina’s eyes widened.

"Leave this document as evidence of Deculein's war crimes, and we just need to take advantage of the moment he decides to turn on the lighthouse. Then… we can kill him."

…Deculein was hoping for that too.

"…Yes. Okay. Now, Deculein is a really, really bad villain."

Louina said so and grabbed the paper again. Then, she immediately resumed her studies. Lia tilted her head.

"What are you doing?"

"You said there was one part that I haven't figured out yet. I'll analyze it again."

* * *

…In the basement of the Imperial Palace, the library. Sophien was walking there. Reaching out to the bookshelf, fumbling through the covers of countless books. Among the texture and smell of paper, leather, and ink was Deculein.

She picked out only the heavily stained books with Deculein's traces and held them in her arms.

"…He did read a lot."

Hundreds of books held his scent. All were first editions of rare books kept only in the Imperial Palace. Gosh, he was a book lover.

Rustle—

Sophien read the books he had read.

Rustle—

The history of the Imperial Palace, records of magic, and tales of ancient times. Evidence of divinity. After reading everything, she turned on her crystal ball.

"…"

Deculein still knelt in front of the Imperial Palace.

"You must be unwell."

Sophien was worried about him. Now, Deculein's body wasn’t normal. He was dying, so now, even a mere rainstorm would be detrimental to his health.

"…But. If your death is carried out by my own hands."

Sophien quietly thought. If true to what he wanted, he became a great evil that united all evil, and she became the ruler to punish him.

"Am I not gaining what is least valuable by killing what is most valuable to me?"

To Sophien, being the Emperor was worthless. All of this world wasn’t worth it to her. Even if everything on the continent was put together, it wasn’t worth more than Deculein.

"As time goes on, those thoughts become more and more clear…."

Stomp.

Footsteps echoed in the darkness of the library, followed by the faint energy of mana.

Whoooosh...

The wind blew underground, sending Sophien’s hair swaying.

"…"

Sophien looked around.

"… Sophie."

Sophie? That was a title that even her father and mother barely called her when she was very young.

"It's been a long time."

A middle-aged man was walking toward her. Sophien nodded.

"…Rohakan."

He smiled lightly.

"Yeah, it's been a while."

"…You must be dead."

Sophien stood, staring him down. What was it? Was this a fake body, an illusion, or had he come back to life?

"Haha. I'm already dead, but I'm not fake. Before I died, it was easy for me to fragment my consciousness and leave it like a time capsule."

Rohakan said. Then, without hesitation, he sat across from Sophien.

"Sit down. There isn’t much time."

"…"

Sophien stared at him, motionless, and Rohakan just smiled.

"Didn't I tell you? I saw the future."

"…"

"I knew you were going to suffer at this moment, and I knew what you would be thinking. So, I left my will, and I have something to talk to you about."

Suffering. Thinking. Sophien twisted her lips, sneering at Rohakan.

"You knew about me."

"Yes."

Rohakan pointed to the ceiling.

"But that guy, Deculein, is more amazing than I thought."

"Amazing?"

Sophien's brow twitched.

"Yes. I couldn't protect you, but Deculein is still protecting you, isn't he?"

"…"

Sophien remained silent and tilted her head at an angle. Her gaze had an edge aimed like a sword against Rohakan, but he continued with a grin.

"Sophie. You are being healed."

Healed? That word Sophien could somehow agree with.

"You, as I see you, are more alive than ever."

The current Sophien wasn't dead. She wasn't rotten. Her lifeless eyes had regained their vitality.

"How many days do you need?"

Thinking about it, humans could only suffer because they are alive. When you die, you don't even feel pain. So, this agony was proof she was alive.

"Until then, I'll stay by your side."

Rohakan said. Sophien looked into his eyes.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know…."

A soft smile tugged at Rohakan's lips.

"I'll help you kill him."