Emperor Has Returned

As Juan’s consciousness faded, his flames also began to drastically fade.

Juan’s limbs had already disappeared into dust. With his arms and legs already gone, Juan’s remaining head and body was also fast burning into dust.

Nigrato had been surprised at Juan’s counter attack, but now he was certain that he would be able to absorb him. Also, Juan had given him an unexpected gift. The flames burning on Ethan’s sword had been put out.

[Thanks for your generosity, emperor.]

Nigrato looked at the weakened Juan, and whispered as if he was taunting him.

With his long fingers, he lifted Juan’s shirt where it hadn’t yet been burnt.

Virtually, most of Juan’s skin had been burned, so Nigrato did what he could to heal Juan to the condition he wanted it upon absorbing.

[I’ll admit it. I’m glad I didn’t have to face you in your complete form. So in saying that, I promise that I won’t let your body decay.]

Nigrato looked over Juan’s body and confirmed that his flame was still eating him up. This was a problem.

[So….How to stop this fire……]

First, to end Juan’s life for good, Nigrato pointed his fingers towards Juan’s heart.

His knife like fingers landed on Juan’s chest. In order to not create excess damage to Juan’s body, Nigrato adjusted the amount of force he put into his fingers.

The moment blood squirted out from Juan’s white skin, Nigrato felt an unexpected change in his surrounding.

Nigrato’s looked towards the sky.

A group of light was tearing through the darkness. Nigrato felt something unusual about the dancing lights.

Nigrato decided to quickly act upon seeing this new variable. He pushed and squeezed Juan’s corpse firmly.

But right at that moment, Juan’s eyes opened. And a light expanded.

As the blinding light pierced through the darkness, Nigrato couldn’t understand what was happening.

He had tried to kill Juan but was left squeezing empty space. Nigrato only then realised that he no longer had arms and shoulders. Light was glistening from the spot where Juan was just at.

Juan, completely covered in flames, was burning bright.

His body was still falling apart. But unlike before, it was for a completely different reason.

Juan’s body wasn’t able to handle the enormous power that was trying to enter his body.

Juan gripped Ethan’s sword with his fiery hand. The blackened sword suddenly emitted a glaring light.

Death had always been a friendly term for Nigrato. But for once, he was afraid of the death in front of his eyes.

Unlike the cold pale deaths that he was used to, a flaming heated death was in front of him. Nigrato swung his sword in fury.

[You act as if you know what death is!]

Nigrato’s and Juan’s sword clashed.

For a brief moment a sun erupted.

The light exploded throughout Hiveden.

Juan blankly stared at the light.

It was a light that he felt familiar with. Then he realised that his body had all but disappeared. Broke down into dust, his body was no more.

Actually…..No. This light was Juan. It was Juan’s volition.

In the end, Juan had accepted the enormous amount of mana that was attempting to enter his body and this light was him explicitly expressing the new power that he’d absorbed.

Also he now knew the source of the mana.

‘Mananen Maclir’s heart.’

A piece of body that was thought to be resting at the eternal throne. His mana from his heart was being directly linked to Juan.

If a normal person tried to accept it, they would have instantly been lit on fire or turned to dust.

While this was the same for Juan, his inner self was enduring.

As of right now, Juan was the emperor.

[Bullshit. This can’t be…]

From one side of the light, Juan heard Nigrato’s voice. It looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Nigrato was just barely managing to hold onto his body from perishing in the light.

Juan felt annoyed.

With a ‘ppukk’ sound, Nigrato’s body shattered into dust.

A trifling end for the god of death who had almost brought about the end of the world.

The body that was holding him in this world, dispersed after turning to dust. Nigrato’s remains disappeared without a trace and all that was left was his essence.

Juan held out his hand to even erase his essence.

[………Your highness.]

Then, a weak sounding voice flowed out from the essence. A heavy dense voice. It wasn’t Nigrato.

“Lars.”

[Nigrato’s remains……..Once again, I am in your debt.]

“Don’t think of it as a debt, Lars.”

Juan wrapped Nigrato’s essence in his light.

“Lars. I noticed the multiple times when you tried to help. But, I cannot let this essence endure. He is the god of death. There is always a chance that he could return. And above all else, I can’t but feel pain at knowing you would need to live inside there forever.”

For a moment, Lars was silent. But soon he agreed to Juan’s words.

[You’re right, your highness…. Again, I had to leave everything for your highness to do….]

“Don’t speak like that. Dilmond told me that he had heard your voice. I know what your situation was, and your anguish. You don’t have to feel like you’re in debt.”

[Thank….you for your kindness but there something that I wanted to give to your highness…… If I was to perish, I want my last act to be of some use. With the essence that your highness gave me, please……]

The essence that he gave Lars had been with Lars for so long that now it was completely his.

This was the same for any other essence that he distributed to others. Plus currently Lars’s fused with Nigrato, so it was impossible to separate him anyways.

“Lars, that’s impossible.”

[Its……possible. For a long time….I researched Mananen Maclir’s……..heart with Dane, and found out how to separate mana individually from the same source…..”

Lars’s voice was unclear and fading. But Juan grasped what Lars was trying to say. Before Juan could say no, the darkness flowing out from Nigrato’s essence was being condensed, stopping it from leaving.

[I made…..many mistakes.]

“Lars!”

{But, father. Because I was able to see you again…..]

Lars whispered his last words to Juan.

[Prolonging my life till now………..it had all been worth it.]

*****

Everyone inside Hiveden was able to see the light.

Paladins that were continuing to fight while surrounded by darkness. Soldiers that threw themselves into collapsing buildings to rescue civilians. Residents that were trembling underground, waiting to die. Everyone saw and felt the light.

The light was bright but wasn’t blinding, and was hot but not so much that it burned.

The unidentifiable light instantly sweeped the darkness around Hiveden away. All undeads disappeared, disintegrating into dust.

The survivors blankly stared at the light. They lacked the experience nor the knowledge to understand the situation.

Camille, who was staring at the light, collapsed to her knees. Her understanding only pointed to one thing.

“Your majesty.”

At her voice, the rest of the Paladins simultaneously kneeled towards the light.

Words of praise to the emperor echoed throughout.

The Hugin knights were perplexed.

While they also worshiped the emperor, their entire existence and history was nothing short of caution.

But soon, even they were brought to their knees in front of this sacred submility.

It wasn’t just the people of Hiveden that felt this immense world altering power.

For a brief moment, the continent plate shook. Most people overlooked it as a minor shake, but there were a few that knew the meaning behind it.

The last remaining dragon lifted her head from her nest.

It was the only dragon that survived the emperor’s eldest, Gared Ga-in’s slaughter.

She flapped and opened her wings, having felt a divine presence that she hadn’t felt for the last several decades.

The gods that lived amongst people while hiding their divine presence, took off their rags.

While it was believed by most that gods were either dead or had been banished, she who always kept to her own, in hiding, had survived with the help of a few faithfuls. A memory that she’d almost forgotten, came to her mind.

The sound of a war to come.

Magicians that believed to have mastered all truth in this world, turned back their interest.

Upon feeling this unworldly power, they shivered and dusted off their books that had been long stored away.

They felt a flow that had been halted for a long time in this world, had been renewed.

The successors of the emperor’s essence, detected the appearance of this unknown figure.

In the north. Commander of the Fenrir knights, the emperor’s eldest daughter suspended the war that had waged on continuously since she’d been five.

In the west. Doctrine enforcers, bishops, fanatics, and commander of the Hammer knights holy Paladin Division, the emperor’s third son aborted the doctrine trial.

The saintress that was spewing out lies on top of the altar stopped her prophecy. Then saying that she no longer wanted to lie, she cut her out her tongue on her own.

The Pope who was listening from the front row, felt a chill as the saintress’s blood sprayed on to him.

A monster living in the far corner of the world that had stayed in silence for decades, opened its mouth.

It’s voice stained with despair and betrayal, had malicious intent behind it. The monster, covered in moss, trembled as it slowly began to stand upright.

The last of his kind, the sole survivor of his race looked to the south. Once upon a time, he had been an agent of the gods, but those same gods had wiped out his race. Vares Valte muttered as if he couldn’t believe it.

Those around him all said the same thing.

“Emperor.”

The emperor had woken.

The truth behind this unbelievable fact, rang inside their minds.

Sina was shedding tears. It was an ecstatic light. A light that didn’t harm anyone that it shone upon. There was no doubt in her mind that it belonged to the emperor.

Because of this Sina couldn’t stop her tears.

‘Juan, you’re……’

There was no reason to suspect whether Juan was the emperor.

The disappointment and despair Juan had felt towards the people, and the loneliness solitude that came with it.

Juan with a distorted expression on his face was someone that Sina didn’t want to acknowledge as the emperor.

*****

Lars’s voice had completely faded.

Juan felt the mana coursing into his body slowly diminish. He had already predicted this as it was a normal occurrence.

Someone had forcedly linked his body with his original body in a spiritual way. He didn’t know who did it, but it had certainly helped him escape from a dangerous situation.

‘What’s going to happen when this mana disappears.’

It would be great if he could make this mana his own, but right now he didn’t have the body capable of holding this amount of mana. He had also considered the fact if it would kill him, but this was highly unlikely.

‘Well. I have no choice but to use it.’

First, Juan used the newly given mana to form a physical body. After realising that he’d succeeded, he began pouring the remaining mana into his new body.

Quickly wanting to recover his body back to normal, he soon found out that the recovery process was not of his doing, but a magical sequence had already been implemented.

The sequence had already been written into his soul. Not too familiar with this kind of magic, Juan thought the possibility that it had something to do with his resurrection as well.

Not long after, the light shining over Hiveden disappeared. Juan felt the connection linking his current self to his original self, also close.

However, upon closer examination, a connection slim as a strand of hair still remained intact.

The connection wasn’t big enough for him to have access to the mana on the other side, but Juan could feel that with this, he had bridged a connection with his previous self.

Juan slowly lifted his hand. Long and slender fingers. The reason for the smooth silk texture was because his body had just been newly formed.

‘About…….eighteen huh.’

It wasn’t a lie to say that his body had reached adulthood. He was now almost free from the lack of size and mass that had dragged him down.

Until now, it had been difficult for him to show his full potential due to his lightweightness and short arms and legs.

‘Though it didn’t fill up as much as I hoped for.’

On top of using a lot of mana to fight, he had used vast amounts of it to recover. His body hadn’t filled up to his satisfaction.

But compared to when he’d arrived in Hiveden, he had been able to attain an incomparably immense amount of mana.

The sound of cheerful footsteps could be heard.

“Juan.”

Before he’d even turned, he was able to tell that the footsteps belonged to Anya.

Jumping up and down with a blushing expression, an out of breath Anya was looking at Juan. For a moment, she looked puzzled but then gathered her breath and walked on over.

Not sure what to say at first, she acted hesitant.

But then, she quietly kneeled on one knee with her head down and spoke.

“Your majesty.”