episode_0043

A fire demon covers the entire imperial palace.

Kneeling in the midst of the burning imperial chambers is a man all too familiar to my eyes.

“Leon…? Leontidas, why are you like this…?”

I reach out, crying out desperately, but my fingertips and voice are too powerless to reach Leon.

“Nobility once built can never be broken… Was that what you once told me? But do you know something, Leon.”

“……”

Standing before Leon, the flaming man whose face isn’t even visible, is someone I’ve never seen in my life.

Just looking at him, I feel an immense resentment, hatred, and murderous intent.

However, the flames kindled by this unfamiliar man, as if molten and sharpened from deep, concentrated emotions, are more majestic, overwhelming, and terrifying than anything I have ever witnessed in my life.

Leon sits there in despair, unable to utter a single word in response before that majestic calamity.

His usual high self-esteem and the confident, imperial demeanor that stemmed from it are nowhere to be found in Leon now, no matter how hard I search.

Exhaustion, futility, fear, grief, pleading, despair…

Only such dark, pitiful expressions, unbefitting of an imperial prince, remain on his face, making him utterly unfamiliar.

Slowly, the flaming man’s words continue.

“What’s the big deal about not being broken? If you burn everything down and incinerate it, it turns to ashes in an instant. You, the noble, and your empire too. What’s left for you now?”

“Cough…!”

The man grabs the powerless Leon by the nape of his neck and lifts him.

Unidentified crimson brands are carved onto Leon’s body, and the flames, tracing the brands, are sucked into Leon’s body.

“Aaaargh…!!!!!!”

It’s a scream of pain I’ve never heard in my life.

Would a sound like that be produced if not just the body, but the soul itself, was broken, torn, and burned?

“Stop it…! Please, stop…!”

Tears streaming down my face, I desperately throw myself at the flaming man, but my body passes through him emptily, like a ghost.

Leon, eyes wide and white, convulsed, trembling violently, then lost consciousness.

However, as the man muttered something while looking at the unconscious Leon, the flames that had been sucked into Leon’s body spewed out as if vomited, returning to the man.

Leon came to with a violent spurt of blood, his eyes once again wide with terror.

I closed my eyes at the horrific sight.

But soon, incomprehensible words gushed from the flaming man’s mouth.

“You psychotic, unfilial bastard, were you happy after achieving everything? Your mother, your grandfather, your aunt, your sister, you killed them all to climb to that position – was the taste sweet? You’re the one who sent your predecessors to their graves so quickly.”

“Please… I was wrong… Please stop…”

“Stop, my ass. This is just the beginning… I’m going to return the pain I received for ten years, with interest, so don’t you dare die easily. Even if you die, I’ll just bring you back to life to torment you.”

Along with Leon’s pleas and the man’s growling mockery, the scenes then flashed by rapidly.

Cruel flames tore through Leon, incinerated the imperial chambers, and more than half of the imperial palace vanished into ashes.

A voluptuous and beautiful witch with pink hair, and the woman dressed as empress groveling like a dog before her – who is that woman?

Where did my gentle and good niece, Marisa, go, and how did such a wicked woman take the empress’s place?

Now the scenes flashed even faster.

Leon, who had bowed his head tens of thousands of times and groveled apologetically to unknown figures, was utterly annihilated without leaving a trace of ash.

A cunning woman, like a half-formed fox, whom I utterly disliked, clung to the flaming man’s leg, begging for something, then met the same end as Leon.

The flaming man then donned the ceremonial robes worn by an emperor at his coronation and, in a square where the imperial citizens were gathered, proclaimed himself the new emperor of the ruined nation.

“Oh… What on earth is this…?”

At my cry, my vision went dark, and I found myself in a familiar place.

The mausoleum beneath the Sephiroth Imperial Palace, where the ancestors are enshrined.

Why have I suddenly come to this sacred, pure white place, overflowing with the aura of a white lion?

“Ugh…!”

With a shock that felt like my head was splitting open, stars swam before my eyes.

“Our distinguished descendant has done an excellent job of raising children.”

“Ugh… how presumptuous… Who dares… hmm?”

I’ve never actually seen him, but I know this man who stands before me now, fist clenched, wearing an expression of disdain.

This young, handsome man with vivid silver hair and mesmerizing violet eyes, wearing a greatsword…

“Founder Emperor…nim?”

Richard Leone da Sephiroth.

A thousand years ago, the great progenitor of the empire, who ascended to the throne himself at the end of mythical deeds of valor.

“Yes, I am the Founder Emperor. Hey, why did you raise your children to be such imbeciles?”

“What on earth do you mean by that… appearing suddenly and saying such things…”

Seeing the Founder Emperor suddenly appear and criticize my children, ah, this must be a dream…!

However, as if he read my thoughts, the Founder Emperor began to scold me harshly.

“You fool. Did you see that mental landscape just now and still think such comfortable thoughts? Does it really seem like a simple dream? Seriously, these descendants… only a handful have truly entered the mental landscape on their own, that’s why such a disaster has occurred.”

What the flaming man had shown was a mental landscape.

The ultimate realm that only a select few in an era, humans “beyond heaven,” can reach, including those who become Emperor of the Sephiroth Empire.

The scene shown by the unidentified man was certainly… something that couldn’t be conjured even in a dream by my imagination.

Then… could it be something that will happen in the future? Does that man have some grudge against Leon?

And the words the man spat at Leon, what unfilial act did Leon commit?

Sadly, my foolish brain, only good for fighting, cannot come up with a clear answer.

“You, descendant of who-knows-how-many generations. You were truly lucky. You are a frustrating human, but… for now, you can prevent destruction.”

“What must I do? Please guide this foolish descendant…”

I bowed my head to the Founder Emperor, who looked at me with a regretful expression, and pleaded.

“Act like a monarch. The imperial family’s domain is a savanna ruled by lions, not a hyena’s den. Cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern your state, and bring peace to the world… Do it properly. My intervention in the imperial family is this first and last time. This is already a great strain.”

It was quite disappointing that he spoke only of a vague posture or attitude rather than precise instructions, but I soon changed my mind.

“Thank you. Great Ancestor, I will heed your teachings…”

“Farewell, and don’t come back too soon.”

As if in a hurry, the Founder Emperor cut me off and vanished. With his disappearing back, I woke from whatever that was, a dream or something else.

“Hoo… *gasp*… *gasp*…”

“Hmm… Oh dear… Your Majesty, are you uncomfortable?”

As I let out ragged breaths, the Empress, who had been sleeping beside me, woke up in surprise.

“I’m fine… just had a somewhat rough dream. My body isn’t well, so my mind must be weakening.”

“I’ll call the imperial physician right away. Is anyone outside? Summon the imperial physician.”

The Empress called for the imperial physician and busily gathered water and medicine, and I watched her with downcast eyes.

Normally, I’m a devoted husband who tells his beloved wife almost everything.

Especially in the past few years, having greatly lost my magical power, I had relied on my wife even more, to the point where it was becoming dependence.

But the last words the Ancestor had left… they lingered as deeply as the shock of a slap from my father in childhood, so today I put those thoughts aside.

Act like a monarch. Cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern your state, and bring peace to the world.

It is the duty and posture of a Sephiroth Emperor to stand alone, building one’s own empire on a foundation of iron-hard secrets and tribulations.

My thought of quietly sitting in the back, letting go of my era as my body gradually declined, seems to have been utterly misguided.

Leon and Skada.

It was time to go see for myself how my children were doing in Leone, the cradle of the imperial family.

For the first time in a long while, I returned from being a kind husband to Orland Hermanius da Sephiroth, the Emperor of Sephiroth.

***

“Practical martial arts… It’s been a while since I’ve sparred at this hour.”

‘Practical Martial Arts,’ a famous course at Leone Academy.

The identity of this course is intense sparring with close-combat weapons such as swords, spears, maces, knuckles, gauntlets, tonfas, and shields (!) excluding bows.

It’s common for children of families famous for swordsmanship to take sword classes, and those from families famous for spearmanship to take spear classes.

And this ‘Practical Martial Arts’ course is where the pride of those honed martial arts clashes.

However, there are many who believe that full-scale sparring is too early for first-semester freshmen, so for the first semester only, it’s a rather lenient class.

Just for this one semester, this course was a ‘practical’ course with 80% theory and no actual sparring.

Even students who planned to pursue magic often took this course to learn basic martial arts theory and countermeasures.

“I heard your ego’s been boosted lately since you beat Blaber. Is it time to humble you? I also heard you finally broke up with Lizley…”

“You and him, in my eyes, are both the same, buddy. And why are you asking me all about Lizley? If you’re so bothered, go ask her out yourself.”

So, engaging in direct weapon sparring like this was quite a special event.

“Ras, Havart. Stop provoking each other and show proper respect.”

A solemn and firm voice reached my ears…

This event occurred because Professor Isera had stepped in to cover the class.

Professor Isera, being like the embodiment of practicality, didn’t understand why a ‘practical’ martial arts course had a higher theory component, so today’s class immediately turned into sparring…

Anyway, the guy in front of me elegantly raised his sword.

I, too, casually swung the spear I had grabbed before class and stood back, creating some distance.

Havart de Exata, the son of Marquis Exata, said to be among the Empire’s top ten swordsmen, and quite skilled for a first-year student.

He’s in Leon’s faction, and he could easily overpower someone like Blaber, whom I’d made cry last time.

He had been subtly showing interest in Lizley in a rather greasy way, so I guess high-ranking nobles like sharp-tongued women.

I don’t intend to criticize his taste, but from my perspective, it’s a bit… a challenging taste.

“Start!”

With Professor Isera’s shout, the guy came forward, stepping lightly, aiming his practice sword with a casual expression.

The ensuing sword strike was clean and decisive, showing he was quite serious about his training.

Even though his expression was nonchalant, he wasn’t underestimating me; he was making optimal moves.

He knew well that when a swordsman fights a spear-wielder, it’s over the moment they lose control of the distance.

Among ordinary soldiers who cannot use mana, the spear is absolutely advantageous due to reach difference, but we are mana users.

Distance can be shortened through various methods such as footwork, stepping, or light body techniques.

But whether it’s mana, footwork, or light body techniques, there’s a fundamental difference between him and me.

My spear shaft was already in the path of his incoming sword, and I rotated the spear shaft to push up and press his incoming sword directly to the ground.

Then, the blunt tip of the practice spear stabbed and struck the area where Havart’s solar plexus was located, so swiftly it was invisible.

Lanna Cha.

The alpha and omega of basic spear techniques, the fundamental of fundamentals, was executed cleanly in less than half a breath.

“…..!”

Havart’s eyes widened, having been struck in the solar plexus.

Pain, followed by overwhelming bewilderment, and finally, his knees collapsing to the ground.

“You’re slow to kneel too. Blaber at least knelt quickly.”

“*Gag*…”

Then, half of what he had eaten for breakfast began to dribble out like gruel.

“Ugh…”

I recoiled in disgust and subtly retreated from him, and Professor Isera, with a slightly stunned expression, watched the scene.

“Winner, Ras. Impressive… Is Etgard a family famous for spears?”

She declared my victory in a daze and asked me, surprised.

“My family runs a merchant guild. We’re famous for money.”

As I said it with a shrug, cheers erupted among the students gathered to watch.

Watching Havart sitting there with a humiliated expression, I felt as sorry as a pillbug’s leg, as if I had twisted a child’s wrist.

***

“This is insane…”

Emma bit her lip, horrified by the unbelievable sight.

In her memory, Ras was a pushover who couldn’t fight at all.

He had a tiny bit of talent in magic, but due to his soft personality, he’d often shown an inability to hit people with weapons or fists.

Emma was from a poorer noble family with an ambiguous title, but she had always thought Ras’s abilities were far below her own.

And that was also the last piece of pride that somewhat alleviated her inferiority complex towards Ras.

The notion that a lowly commoner, no matter how much they had, could never achieve great things in magic and swordsmanship, which were almost exclusive to nobles.

But now, Ras, as if he had eaten something wrong, had been showing strange performances since the last Combat Magic class.

That sight of him knocking out Blaber, from the prestigious flame magic family that Emma herself couldn’t even dream of aspiring to, in one blow…

And now, he had also brought down the third son of Exata, a prominent sword family of the Empire, said to be much stronger than Blaber, to his knees in one blow and made him vomit on the floor.

No matter how bad Emma was at fighting, she could tell that Ras had become abnormally strong at an incredible speed.

‘Can Garett… subdue Havart like that?’

Her not-so-good brain quickly churned.

Garett was certainly stronger than Havart, but she couldn’t be sure if he could knock him down in a single blow like that.

She thought it was very fortunate that this additional test would be held in an open area for fairness.

Lately, Emma had been sticking by Garett every day, pleading, ‘Defeat him in the most humiliating way possible.’

Garett had been very displeased, dismissing her with ‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ but…

“If my boyfriend loses to someone like that, it’ll affect my prestige, won’t it?”

Looking around, Ras’s teammates surrounded the swaggering Ras, making idiotic ‘Oh- oh-‘ interjections.

Eustace, Shasta, Pio.

From Emma’s perspective, excluding Pio, they were from insignificant, ambiguous families.

And Irha, the ultimate impoverished orphan, goes without saying.

“Right… it’s a team battle… isn’t it? In that case, targeting the horse instead of the rider might be a good idea. Ras, no matter how good you are, 5-on-1 must be impossible, right?”

Meanwhile, Emma was particularly displeased with Irha, who was smiling unusually innocently.