Emperor Has Returned

The guards all wore a worried expression as the tall hooded figure stood up.

Yuldrick gripped his axe as he made his way over to the tall man.

“Filthy traitors. Do you have any idea what we had to go through because of yous? Now you’re…….”

The elderly knight got in his way. Yuldrick yelled and tried pushing him away but his legs suddenly froze.

He who had endured all kinds of hardship was frozen to the spot by an overwhelming aura emanating from the white haired knight.

His senses, well trained from years on the battlefield easily recognised the danger in front of him.

‘If I take one more step, I’ll die.’

Then, Yuldrick noticed a hammer the size of a man’s head in the knight’s grasp. Only then he realised who he was facing against.

There was only one person that used such a weapon from the Hugin knights.

“Blacksmith Dilmond…….”

Yuldrick’s mutter was heard by everyone in the room.

“What? That old man is the ‘Bloody Blacksmith’?”

“The one who uses people’s shoulders as an anvil and treats their heads as a cast……..”

“Known to have decapitated three White crow Paladins…….”

Dilmond didn’t wear any particular expression at hearing this, but for everyone else, their expression turned into fear. Naturally, everyone’s gazes next fell towards Anya. Till now they’d thought these people were simply messengers from the Hugin knights but hearing Dilmond’s name had quickly dissolved such thoughts. ‘Anya’ was also a legendary name.

“Don’t tell me, ‘Annabelle Elliot’? The beheading Raven?”

“The one who learned how to slit throats before she could even talk?”

“Proficient in assasination and command, it’s been said she could break into an army and still be able to kill.”

Those in the council started to see the real picture. They realised to whom they were pointing their knives at.

The White crow knights commander was one of the top, best of the elites, but the people in front of them were legends.

Beings with legendary stories that have endured since the days of the emperor.

Even though it was unwelcome legends, it was only logical that they felt a sense of awe.

“Knight commander?”

Even through the commotion, Ardin wasn’t paying attention to any of that.

He was recalling the few words Anya had just spoken. ‘Commander’? This brought a name to his head that he’d heard many years ago, but could never forget.

The youngest of the emperor’s children, the commander of the Hugin knights, one of the six apostates that tried to assassinate the emperor.

Although he hadn’t yet revealed himself, Ardin’s gaze could only fall upon the tall robed figure with a presence more powerful, the one who gave a creepy sensation more than anyone else.

If these were the Hugin knights, then there was only one being that they’d follow.

A living legend, a being so dangerous that made the empire conscript a new Paladin order for.

Everyone in the room could guess his identity.

“Lars Raude…….”

Lars slowly took off his hood.

Screams and moans exploded. Inside his skull, a blue flame was burning.

The small skull and his enormous stature, revealed the truth, planting fear and nervousness to everyone.

Even Yuldrick who’d broken so many skulls of the undead found his body frozen.

“Hmmph! The bastard has nothing but bones left. What is he going to do…..”

Yuldrick forced a grin as he pretended to act calm.

Though they realised their opponent was on a different magnitude, it didn’t change the fact that these people didn’t have any reason to fight against Hiveden. Yuldrick fully believed that they were here to simply protest against the previous decision made by the council.

‘It’s a good thing that I decided to safekeep the talisman the Paladins gave me.’

In his chest, was a talisman that was given to him when he briefly fought with the White crow knights in the past. It was a necklace made from tin, containing the ability to block evil power and even stop the resurrection of undeads.

The Paladins, dutifully took the talismans back when the mission had been completed, but Yuldrick had snuck away an extra one from a dead solider on the battlefield. Yuldrick clutched the talisman in his left hand as he pulled out his axe.

Lars gracefully lifted his right hand.

Following the motion of his hand, the inside of his robe gently opened. Unable to see anything inside the darkness of the robe’s interior, Yuldrick flinched as he slowly backed away.

He tightly grasped the necklace as if this was the only one thing he had his trust in. Yuldrick considered if he had made a mistake here, but his experience and battle sense from spending a longtime on the battle told him it was still alright.

There was no murderous spirit that could be felt from Lars.

“You. Are you really wanting to fight? Don’t underestimate the Red Axe mercenary corps……Outside, I’ve got five hundred……”

Yuldrick realised that he couldn’t finish his sentence.

He tried moving his lips and tongue but nothing came out of his mouth.

Only then, he realised he’d been cut in half from his left elbow to his right shoulder.

He met the eyes of a skeleton knight walking out from underneath Lars’s robe.

His head was pushed down. He saw the talisman that was broken in half in his palm.

Yuldrick’s body on a slant, slid off sideways. With a loud thud, a heavy silence filled the room.

Anya opened her mouth.

“Ardin kyung. I would like to express my condolences for your colleague.”

Ardin swallowed a large gulp.

Lars slowly stretched his waist.

In the silence, more armoured skeleton knights walked out. Absentmindedly, everyone gawked at the undead knights’ entrance.

“I would like to introduce the members of our order. Our oldest Sunbaes, Cleo, Yure, Melia and Mark. It’s hard to recognise their faces but upon closer inspection they can be distinguished so I’d appreciate it if everyone could keep that in mind.”

Four undead knights had walked out.

Their physical appearance was different, but they all had the same rusted armor and also one other thing.

Inside their white skull, a blue flame was burning. It was an eerie appearance that any living person would naturally feel a sense of rejection.

The expressions of the counselors inside the hall turned white.

“Knights of death……”

Someone whispered. A chill swept through. This wasn’t an illusion. The introduction of four undead knights made everyone inside the room freeze still.

“Knig, knights of death? What’s that?”

Selpa teeth chattered as he pulled at Ardin’s arm.

Ardin bit his lip as he looked down at Yuldrick whose body had been severed in half.

“……….Think of them as dead Paladins. Instead of the emperor’s ‘grace’ they serve death and evil powers. They’re on par with Paladins in terms of strength and agility. However, undead knights don’t get tired nor hurt so technically they’d win against them.”

“Wha, what!? There’s such a thing? Is it something from the past?”

“It’s only natural that you don’t know. Knights of death had been long forgotten since magicians were all killed during the days of the emperor. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say, it’s something from the past.”

“Then why has it shown up now!?”

Ardin couldn’t answer. He’d heard that the Hugin knights could conjure undead knights but thought of it to be a false rumour.

It was rare but there were times when undeads were naturally formed. However, it had been sometime since high class undeads like knights of death hadn’t been seen.

He remembered that it had been Lars Raude and the Hugin knights that had killed most magicians in the past.

So it was plausible that they might have gotten the knowledge that the magicians had.

And plus, the few names just now were knights that had been just as famous if not more than Dilmond.

“Please don’t act out rashly. Lars Raude nim considers these beings as comrades, and respects them as fellow members of our order. So we tend to refrain from exercising tight control over them.”

Even without Lars’s caution, the only people that could move within the room were the Hugin knights.

Ardin knew the meaning of the introduction of four undead knights. The council would have to risk their lives even with just four Paladins, much more the Hugin knights.

“Ou, outside, we’ve got five hundred soldiers ready. If you’re intending to fight, you might want to consi, consider that…….”

Even Ardin didn’t have confidence in what he was saying.

He wouldn’t be surprised if most of the five hundred ran away upon seeing the undead knights. They were mercenaries not loyal soldiers.

“Ardin kyung. I hope you’re not thinking this is the Hugin knights entire force.”

Anya smiled as she tapped Ardin’s shoulder.

“You see, our sunbae nims don’t like tight spaces. You’ll be able to meet more outside.”

Ardin swept his sweat. It was lost. There were only two options left for him.

The problem was choosing which.

If he’d go with the Hugin knights, he’d be turning the empire as his enemy. He’d eventually die.

However, if he’d decide to follow the White crow knights, he would die here instantly. The body of Yuldrick split in two came into his eyes. Ardin wasn’t an idiot.

“Alright, wh, what do you want! You win! Hiveden will cooperate!”

Head of gambling, Gino swayed his head, appalled. It was so easy to be branded as heretics the moment you publicly aligned yourself to the ever so traitorous Hugin knights.

But before Gino even got the chance to sway his head once more, his blood squirted up. With a thud sound, Gino’s head dropped onto the ground.

“He shook his head so fast, it looks like Cleo kyung was startled. Please refrain from making such dangerous movements.”

Ardin looked dumbly at how Gino’s head was easily chopped off from one swing by the undead knight with his axe. As if Gino only realised that he’d been beheaded a few seconds later, his body took some time before it toppled to the ground.

“So, moving on. Ardin nim? What did you say about Hiveden?”

Still looking at Gino’s head, Ardin was still dumbfounded. He’d always thought Gino would live the longest and yet he’d just……just died.

Then something hot fell on him. He shrieked and upon looking up he saw Selpa’s throat lifelessly hang with a long spear pierced in her throat.

“So rude, trying to leave when the meeting isn’t finished yet.”

Anya regrettably clicked her tongue.

Ardin didn’t know whether Selpa, who’d been scared frozen till just now, really did try to escape. Her blood that was falling on top of his head was real.

Instinctively, but in the most natural manner, Ardin nodded his head in agreement.

“The Hugin knights and Hiveden are old friends! Who’d suspect otherwise!”

“Then I gather you’ll be fully cooperating in our cause?”

“Exactly! If the empire makes an unreasonable request, shouldn’t it be the people’s right to resist!”

“I see. Thank you.”

Anya brightly smiled as she placed her hand on Ardin’s shoulder. She leaned in and whispered next to his ears which made Ardin tremble.

“I can’t thank you enough that Ardin nim will do his best to contribute. A few among us wanted to simply kill everyone and make them part of our force by resurrecting them as undeads. Instead of having to worry if they’ll betray us, don’t you think it’s easier to make everyone an undead?”

Ardin’s pale expression turned slightly blue.

The stink of urine from somewhere in the room could be smelled. One of the guards had pissed himself.

Ardin didn’t blame him. He was about to as well.

“No, not at all! We’ll for sure fight hard. You won’t find a braver soul!”

“Good. I’ll trust you.”

Anya grinned.

“We can always turn everyone into an undead after the fight if they’re dead.”

“………”

“You don’t look so good? Our sunbae nims were turned only after they died from fighting. Are you not happy with the way we do things?”

“No, it would be a great honour to fight alongside the Hugin knights! Ha, haha! Uh… anyways, could we discuss more practical things! How do you want us to contribute in the fight? On the wall? I don’t know if you’re already aware, but Hiveden isn’t the most prepared city for a siege…..”

As Ardin desperately changed the subject, Anya decided that was enough. She smiled as she gave him his instructions.

“It’s not something so difficult.”

Ardin bit his lip.

Everytime he heard those words from someone above, it was never easy whether it would come from the church or his superior.

But what he’d heard from Anya was completely different from what he’d expected.

“I’d like Hiveden to join forces with the White crow knights.”