Chapter 126 – Trap (1)  

Juan remained silent for a moment. Nienna was right—Juan might be able to deal with the Templars for now, but dealing with the entire Church and the Imperial Army was a whole different story. Even if Juan returned to the empire by fighting against them, internal strife and sacrifices would only increase without achieving the ‘punishment’ that Juan wanted.

“...You seem quite well-versed in the principles of kingship,” Juan said.

“Well, the person I watched and learned from was pretty decent. Considering the current situation, It would now be difficult to avoid the matters of the capital like we have been doing so far. To be honest with you, I really want to take you to the capital right now and say ‘here is the emperor you guys have been worshiping as your god. Now, all those who are guilty should run to the training ground right away and line up in the order of severity of crimes.’ But…” Nienna shrugged her shoulders.

“Doing so will just create a huge mess. Your daughter is the second in line to the empire and she is the leader of the strongest soldiers in the empire, you know? Think about what would happen if I brought you to the capital and said that you’re the emperor—everyone would growl, raging that General Nienna has grown senile due to her old age or she is seeking to usurp the throne. At that point, we could simply kill everyone, but that’s not really the best move.”

Juan nodded upon hearing Nienna’s words—Juan still didn’t have the overwhelming presence of an emperor.

Nienna continued speaking with her eyes shining.

“In that sense, there are three things that you must do.”

Nienna stretched out three fingers.

“Three things?” Juan asked.

“Yes. Number one. Becoming stronger. I shouldn’t even have to mention this, right? I’ll talk about the step-by-step method later on,” Nienna said while folding one of her three fingers that she had stretched out. “Number two. Usually the third thing would be the most important, but this is just as important as the third. We need to catch Gerard Gain. Not only did he stab you, but he’s one of the traitors who ruined the empire and led to its current state. It’s clear that Gerard is a traitor, and no one can truly say that the emperor has returned without catching Gerard Gain.”

Nienna stopped talking for a second and looked toward Hela.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the primary reason I have come to the Eastern Territory. And it is also the reason why Hela is in the office with us right now.”

Only then did Juan turn his gaze toward Hela. Although Hela was the owner and the commander of the fortress of Beldeve, Juan had been thinking that there was no need for Hela to stay in the office and listen to the conversation between Juan and Nienna—but Nienna’s words suggested that Hela was necessary for their plan.

“You’re saying that Gerard will come for Hela? Are you going to use her as bait?” Juan asked.

“Hela has decided to cooperate if such a situation arises. But I bet Gerard will show up way before then.”

Nienna said in a confident tone.

“There are many reasons to catch that bastard, dad. He stabbed you, ruined the empire, and became corrupted by the Crack. One reason to die is enough, but he’s got three. Besides, he’s in the east. I have a feeling that the reason for him to stay in the east is also related to you, dad. If he really is here, I’ve got a plan to pull him out sooner or later.”

Nienna continued speaking with a strange smile.

“Anyway, catching Gerard will be the first step on your return, dad. Lastly, number three—the most important…”

Nienna said, being unable to hide her perplexed but excited expression.

“You must kill the emperor.”

***

The snow grew stronger as the night approached.

The songs that filled the battlefield were long gone and only silence prevailed as the snow piled up. There were thousands of bodies scattered on the battlefield, but no one held a funeral for them.

The Order of Fenrir and the Northern Army retrieved the bodies, but did not hold a funeral for them. The knights and soldiers of the Northern Territory believed that those who had been encroached upon by the Crack couldn’t properly head to the afterlife. They believed that those who had been encroached upon by the Crack would have their souls sucked through the Crack and become prey to the other monsters inside the Crack.

Thus, there was no point in having a funeral. However, the Order of the Fenrir and the Northern Amry collected the bodies in an empty space; infectious diseases may start spreading in spring if the bodies were left unattended. They planned to burn the bodies all at once when it stopped snowing. Juan was visiting a hill made up of the bodies collected by the knights and soldiers. Then, the sound of clattering horse hooves was heard from behind him.

“Juan!”

It was Sina. Sina got off her horse and quickly approached Juan while exhaling a white breath.

“I’ve been looking for you. I wasn’t able to properly thank you for what you did for me back at the garden.”

“Thank me? For what?” Juan asked.

“When you were dueling with General Nienna. At that time, you saved me at the last minute, didn’t you?”

Juan smiled without answering.

“To be honest, I had no idea what had happened at that time. I had no idea why General Nienna was suddenly standing in front of me in the middle of the duel and why you were blocking me from General Nienna. I was so shocked that it was hard for me to come to my senses. But after thinking about the situation, I was finally able to find out what happened.”

“Is that so?”

“Turns out I was too immersed in the duel between you and General Nienna. I must have unintentionally shown some murderous intent. And General Nienna who was focusing on the duel mistook my murderous intent for yours and attacked me instead. Then you blew up General Nienna’s hand to protect me,” Sina explained.

Juan silently continued walking as Sina followed after him.

“I only attacked Nienna because it was the perfect timing to do so; after all, she lost her concentration for a moment. You would have done the same as me if you were put in my shoes. Rather, I should be thanking you. I won thanks to you,” Juan replied as if he was annoyed.

“Whatever your reasons were, you saved me.”

“And I’m telling you that I would have blown up Nienna’s hand regardless of what you did. Come to think of it, you’ve also saved my life before in Durgal, right? Actually, we’ve tried to kill each other and saved each other several times. I’ve never had another relationship like this,” Juan burst out laughing.

Juan inadvertently realized that his relationship with Sina was quite strange. Their relationship was beyond just a good and bad relationship. Even Juan couldn’t define his relationship with Sina, even when he had many connections and relationships in the past.

On the other hand, Sina didn’t smile the slightest bit despite Juan’s laughter.

“Of course, I have not forgotten what you did to my knight order. I still hold a grudge against you for killing my comrades. Apart from that, it is also true that our relationship is not simple. The power you gave me is also connected to that, right?” Sina touched the tattoo on her eyes. “This is no simple burn, is it? I feel my tattoo burning hot and bright whenever you exert your strength. I have no idea what intentions you had when you left me with this scar,” Sina continued with a sigh. “But it is an undeniable fact that you are the emperor. Although your values don't quite align with the values of the emperor I used to serve, I still believe that the emperor I used to serve is somewhere inside you. I intend to bark next to the emperor until he opens his eyes.”

“Bark?” Juan asked.

“Yes, just like the emperor’s watchdog that I am.”

Juan laughed in a low voice and stopped walking as he approached the place where the bodies of the warriors of Arbalde were gathered. The Order of Fenrir had placed a protective magic spell on the bodies to prevent them from being further corrupted by the Crack. Unfortunately, this protective magic could only prevent the Crack, not other forces.

“Why do you think I came here, Sina?” Juan asked.

“I don’t know. To mourn the deceased?”

“You know there’s no way I would do something like that.”

Instead of waiting for Sina’s answer, Juan took something out of the box he had been holding—it was the dragon skin that poured out of the box with a thud.

An extremely strong curse as well as mana were still being released from the vestiges of the Evil Snake that had been worn by Velkre due to the fact that it was forcefully removed from his skin.

“...What are you trying to do?” Sina asked.

“I didn’t want all these bodies to go to waste. I’ve become quite a thrifty person ever since I was revived. So I thought it would be nice to follow Ras’ precedent. There’s no one who can match him in efficiency of recycling corpses.”

For a moment, an ominous thought passed through Sina’s head. She turned pale in an instant.

“I vowed to kill all of these bastards, but Nienna stepped in before I could. So I have no choice but to make up for it in this way,” Juan said. “How could you insult them like…”

Juan placed his hand on a piece of the Evil Snake skin even before Sina could finish speaking. The pieces of the Evil Snake then wrapped around Juan’s hand with a mushy sound and climbed up his arm.

Juan began to chant a spell at a speed that was so fast that it was unintelligible—Sina couldn’t understand it at all. He then began to demonstrate magic using the mana inside the Evil Snake. The blood oozing from the Evil Snake spread like a spider’s web. Juan rubbed the blood of the dragon as well as the deep-seated curse entangled in the Evil Snake together in Juan’s hands, then it climbed above the body of one of the warriors of Arbalde.

At the same time, Juan spread the Umbra widely and covered the surroundings with it. It was a piece of cake to make an army of the undead with the help of the essence of Nigrato.

“A terrible grudge as well as a fine body are must-have ingredients for making the best undead. And if the Dragon Lord’s curse that urges one to kill the emperor and ruin the empire is intertwined with those ingredients…”

Juan smiled grimly while burning the blood of the Evil Snake brightly, and Sina looked at Juan with a pale face. Soon after, something slowly rose up from the pile of corpses. The skeleton of the being that stood up while throwing off the rotting skin from all the corpses was not pale white in color, but ominous red.

Starting with the first undead, all the other undead soon began to raise their bodies here and there as well. Not all of the warriors of Arbalde had been revived. Only about fifty warriors stood up from within the pile of corpses. The most bizarre among all of them was the huge undead that was intertwined with numerous bodies.

Upon seeing the large two-handed axe held by the undead, Sina realized that it was Urkel. Urkel, who had turned into an undead, felt even more ominous and creepy than the knights of the dead that Sina had seen back in Hiveden.

“We have some special undead here. They are like dragon blood soldiers.”

“What the… what the hell are you going to do with all of these undead?” Sina asked.

“That’s a pretty silly question, Sina. Why do you think I created all these soldiers?” Juan laughed and continued speaking. “Nienna told me during the day that I have to kill the emperor. And we mean the ‘emperor’ that is enshrined on the eternal throne and dried up like a mummy. Not only should we kill him because he’s the vessel that is keeping my mana locked up, but also to symbolize that the emperor?has returned.”

Juan snapped his fingers. At the same time, the dragon blood soldiers roared—it was an eerie sound.

“In that sense, the undead created using the curse of the Dragon Lord who was so eager to kill the emperor will prove to be very helpful. I should congratulate the Dragon Lord, since she’ll eventually be able to achieve her lifelong goal.”

Juan slowly stored all the dragon blood soldiers into Umbra, which had spread out like a cape—this was exactly how Ras used to hide all the knights of the dead. The space inside Umbra couldn’t allow living beings inside, but it was large enough to hold even the fifty dragon blood soldiers.

“So I’m starting to wonder what you think, Sina. Do you still believe that the emperor you once served is inside me after seeing what I’ve just done? Isn’t it fair to admit that the emperor you used to serve has always been this way?”

Sina didn’t know what to say.

A blizzard, the dark moonlight, the undead with red bones clattering as they walk, Juan controlling the undead, a strange insanity in Juan’s eyes, and the cold wind that was penetrating Sina’s bones—all these things were pressuring her, almost as if Juan was saying that the emperor she once knew was already killed by the hands of humans.

“Juan… What can I say?”

There was only one thing Sina had to say.

“Even if the owner decides to abandon the dog, the dog cannot just abandon its owner. If the owner is losing his mind and burning to death, it is the dog’s job to bark until he dies. If you decide to walk into hell on your own, I’ll be the dog that burns in hell right beside you while barking the loudest.”

***

The blizzard became even harsher as the winter deepend. It was a piece of cake for Nienna to remove the snow clouds if she wanted, but she continued to stay in Beldeve while watching the snow cover the entire fortress. The only people who suffered because of her decision to stay were the soldiers who were working on removing the snow.

The soldiers grumbled and whispered among themselves; they suspected that Nienna was making more snow fall on purpose, but no one knew the truth.

“The soldiers have been complaining a lot, Nienna.”

Juan spoke to Nienna who was looking at the sea from atop the fortress wall. She was looking at the sea with her feet hanging down the wall.

“Please tell them that a lot of snow in winter will make their land more fertile in spring. Now that we have kicked out the northeastern rebels, we should have Beldeve prepare to accept more residents.”

Then a strange-shaped snowflake fell on Nienna’s ear. Nienna stopped shaking her legs and became still upon feeling the snowflake. She seemed to be focusing on something for a while, but soon turned toward the inside of the fortress wall with a bright expression.

“Any good news?” Juan asked.

“They’re ready. You’re ready too, aren’t you dad?”

“Ready for what?”

Nienna smiled.

“Ready to catch that bastard, Gerard Gain!”