Chapter 179 - The End and The Beginning (1)

Eisen died shortly after Alfred.

Two of the five people Henry wanted to take revenge against had just died.

Henry had refrained from purposefully prolonging Eisen's suffering or torturing him. Although Eisen was just as deserving of Henry’s hatred as the others, this was Henry's way of rewarding him for the hard work he had done as his puppet.

Henry shook off the blood from his Colt Sword.

Without hesitation, Henry turned his back and looked down at Alfred, who was on the floor, bleeding from his chest.

“Y-you…!”

Although Alfred had been critically injured, he was actually still alive, or rather, Henry had kept him alive on purpose.

Unlike Eisen, there were a lot of things Henry needed to settle with Alfred.

- Kheeee!

When its owner was attacked, Sildia, the hawk of the wind, threw itself at Henry with a powerful gust of wind.

Boom!

However, it was futile. The attack didn’t have much of an effect on Henry because he had blocked Sildia with a simple Magic Shield.

“What a nuisance.”

Annoyed, Henry swung his sword and an emerald-colored Aura surged forward like a wave.

- Kheee!

- Kuaaaa!

The emerald-colored Aura swept away the two spirits at once, and by the time the waves died down, both spirits disappeared without a trace. They couldn’t withstand Henry’s sword energy, so they were summoned back to the spirit world.

“Cough!”

When spirits were forcefully summoned back into the spirit world, the owner had to deal with the consequences. As a result, as soon as his spirits disappeared, Alfred started coughing up blood, and his hands started shaking uncontrollably.

Henry brought the gleaming sword close to Alfred’s face.

Alfred was horrified, but it seemed like he still had some courage left to talk back.

“Y-you bastard..! Who are you…!”

“Bastard?”

Slice!

Without hesitation, Henry swung his sword at Alfred’s right arm, cutting it down.

“Aghhhh!’

“Heal.”

Blood gushed from his arm like a fountain, so Henry cast Heal in order to stop the bleeding. The emerald-colored mana of an Archmage stopped the bleeding instantly.

“You guys thought you were so clever when you tried to kill us, but it seems that you don’t know your place right now.”

“U-us? W-what do you…”

“My name is Henry Morris.”

“...!”

That was a name that Alfred could never forget.

Many different thoughts swirled around Alfred’s head, and his face contorted in an indescribable way, signifying that he couldn’t believe his ears.

Alfred started shaking again.

Henry Morris had been the leader of the State Contributors and the opposition of the Central Aristocrats. He hadn’t really involved himself in politics and stood as the imperial sage, never interfering even if the Central Aristocrats slandered others. Nevertheless, Henry’s existence itself had been a huge obstacle and a burden to them.

Now, the man standing before Alfred brought up the name of such a figure.

“S-stop lying!”

“It’s up to you whether you choose to believe it or not, but…”

Henry clenched his sword again, but time with a tighter grip.

Squish!

“Aghhhhh!”

Alfred was on his knees, and Henry drove his sword into Alfred’s thigh, pushing it deeper and deeper.

The blade went so deep through Alfred’s thigh that it also penetrated his calf.

“...The important thing is that I’ve been waiting for this moment all this time.”

Henry immediately cast Heal once again. He then stabbed Alfred with his sword again, and every time he did so, he automatically cast Heal. He mechanically continued this process.

When Alfred became used to the pain, Henry alternated between heating up and cooling his blade in order to change the sensation of the pain.

The pain was excruciating.

The nauseating feeling of pain took over Alfred, almost making him lose consciousness, but Henry healed Alfred every time he seemed to pass out.

Given that Alfred was being treated by the best wizard in the empire, after half an hour of constantly being stabbed and healed, his body was filled with numerous scars left by the healed wounds

“P-please…!”

Getting stabbed every second was more than enough to drive anyone crazy.

To make matters worse, Alfred had neither a knight's strong body nor their unbreakable spirit. He was just a fragile spiritualist, similar to a wizard.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Henry held up his sword again, and seeing this, Alfred desperately grabbed Henry’s boot with his remaining arm and begged him to end his torment.

“Please! Please stop…! If there’s anything you want, please tell me, and if you want to kill me, please kill me right now! I’m begging you!”

Alfred didn’t beg for his life because he instinctively felt that he would die here.

“...”

Henry stopped raising his sword and looked down at Alfred with pitying eyes.

‘I can’t believe a guy like this killed us…’

Henry knew that Alfred hadn’t been the root cause, but he was still in the wrong just as much as the emperor and Arthus.

All the more futile this was.

If Alfred was ultimately going to find himself begging for his mercy at Henry's feet, why had he been so stubbornly fixated on his own impractical ideas back then? Why couldn't he have handled things with more wisdom?

‘...It’s too early to get sad.’

Henry slightly shook his head.

He couldn’t let such emotions affect him now because he still had to deal with Arthus and the emperor.

Henry dismissed his Colt Sword and summoned his Colt Dagger. He then lowered himself to Alfred’s eye level and said, “Do you want to live?”

“Y-yes! P-please let me live!”

Alfred quickly raised his head at the unexpected opportunity.

“Alright, I’ll give you one chance.”

Seeing how the corners of Henry’s lips rose into a smile, Alfred distinctly remembered the real Henry Morris, the eighty-year-old wizard he knew in the past.

* * *

The Highlander region, where Arthus’ mansion was located, was one of the finest locations. There was a mountain behind the mansion, a river flowing in front of it, and natural disasters rarely occurred thanks to the good weather all year round.

Arthus had intentionally made this his home with the thought that this region could become the capital in the future.

Currently, most of the nobles in the empire were gathered in full uniform inside Arthus’ mansion. Of course, Arthus was also in full uniform.

However, the uniform they were wearing was not the imperial uniform; rather, it had a completely new design. This uniform was something that had never been seen before, and it didn’t have the unique patterns or embroidery of the imperial family.

“The time has come.”

Arthus sat at the heart of the hall as if sitting on a throne, and spoke to all the nobles sitting in front of him.

The nobles looked determined because today was the day Arthus’ rebellion began. To be precise, the rebellion had already started.

Half of the Imperial Ten Swords, who were in charge of protecting the emperor, had already made their way to the palace with their subordinates.

“I hope the Imperial Ten Sword will successfully take care of things.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. They’re talented people that I’ve specifically picked out myself, so all you have to do is comfortably wait for the victory to be announced, Duke.”

Kington Foram, the current Knight King and the leader of the Imperial Ten Swords, assured Arthus that he had nothing to worry about.

Kington Foram was a man of ambition.

Before the imperial hierarchy of power had changed, Kington had been the second sword of the Imperial Ten Swords and the head knight of the Central Aristocrats.

Shortly after Arthus’ successful blood bath, the former Knight King had retired after being disillusioned with the political conflict, and Kington had naturally been able to become the new Knight King. This had allowed him to become a Grand Master, as well as become the principal of the Swordsmanship Academy and hold a position equal to a Grand Duke.

Presently, Kington aspired to establish himself as the leader of a newly formed Patrician Family during the reign of the new emperor.

In total, four Imperial Ten Swords had advanced to the imperial palace.

Since Mordred, the sixth sword, and Salmora, the tenth sword, had not been replaced, there were only eight Imperial Ten Swords. Out of them, four knights had advanced to the palace.

The fifth sword, Crowell Sima.

The seventh sword, Lupin Sharif.

The eighth sword, Elphun Lascia.

The ninth sword, Karas Lesher.

These were all the leaders of the imperial palace, and each of them had their own group of knights.

They hadn’t come to the palace from the Highlander region on foot or on horses. Instead, they had moved by using the special Teleportation Scroll, specially given by the emperor only to the knights of the imperial palace.

Their armor shone brightly under the sun, but they no longer had the imperial symbol given by the emperor.

Their eyes expressed a sense of loyalty, but it was no longer for the emperor and the empire.

They wielded their swords, but it was no longer to protect the emperor; rather, it was to pave the way for the new one.

After their arrival, the palace had turned so suffocatingly silent that it seemed more like a graveyard.

Everyone knew that the four knights had this murderous aura about them because they wanted to emphasize that a new emperor was about to take the throne. Everyone knew that this was just part of the process, so nobody raised their voice. They just silently accepted that a new era was about to start. No one at the palace had any more loyalty, expectations, or sympathy left for Silver Jackson.

Clank!

Crowell Sima, the fifth sword of the Imperial Ten Swords and the leader of the third knight group, stormed into the palace where the emperor was.

“...Who is it?” The emperor quietly asked.

Crowell couldn't help but frown as there was pink smoke everywhere from the Pink Swamp Henry had provided.

“Oh…? It’s you, Crowell?”

The emperor was already wasted on alcohol and drugs, and around him were dozens of women who were also drunk and high on drugs.

This was none other than the imperial palace. A place the emperor had built to use as his personal playground for his own pleasure.

The palace was a place of fantasy where one could find and indulge in all the world’s pleasures.

The emperor called Crowell’s name, giggling under the influence of drugs.

Lupin, Elphun, and Karas, who were following Crowell, also frowned at the emperor.

‘What a pathetic sight…!’

All the Imperial Ten Swords were pro-Central Aristocrats. However, that didn’t mean that they had only taken that stance because of the success that followed. Some of them were disgusted by the emperor’s behavior, which was why they had joined Arthus’ side.

Crowell quietly ordered, “Kill all the women and capture the emperor alive.”

“Yes, Sir!”

At Crowell’s order, his subordinates unsheathed their swords. They swung their swords at all the court ladies who were under the influence of drugs.

No one screamed because they couldn’t feel any pain from all the booze and drugs.

Watching this, the emperor said, “Haha, the color of blood is so beautiful… So very beautiful…! Hahahaha…!”

The emperor was still under the influence, so he couldn’t realize the situation he was in. Actually, he was no longer the emperor.

This was the moment when Silver Jackson Edward, who had led an incompetent life, stepped down from the throne.