Ch.206That bastard, he’s a bad bastard!

# Chapter 206: That Bastard, He’s a Bad Bastard!

“Now that the Empress is dead, I have no interest in this Sevelli Empire anymore.”

I had to experience once again the feeling of my common sense being ejected as I realized these words came from the mouth of a leader who had been running the empire for about 100 years since its inception.

‘Wait, you even created the founding race of the empire from the beginning.’

Seeing his lack of affection, even worse than Baltium’s, I felt my blood boiling from within.

Of course, regardless of my reaction, the Former Emperor continued speaking, living in his own self-importance.

“However, I couldn’t abandon the empire immediately. If I had vacated my position right after the Empress died… Aeternia’s pursuit would have begun again.”

“…”

“So I waited, as long as the game’s starting point had passed… for a player nation that must exist somewhere in this galaxy.”

After saying that, the Former Emperor gave a short clap and continued.

“And before long, I was able to discover a nation that was growing beyond the capabilities of a mere player… no, beyond the skills of most ordinary players.”

“…The Prosnak Federation.”

At my quiet murmur, the Former Emperor nodded and continued.

“With their brilliant growth and belligerence that showed no fear of war with other nations… it perfectly matched the typical tendencies of players.”

“…”

“The indomitable will they showed during the Irtelan War and their use of tactics commonly employed by players.”

“Hmm.”

“Although they suffered great damage from Aeternia’s pawns in the process, I was deeply impressed by their unyielding will to resist, and decided to form a secret alliance with them.”

“…What?”

As I was quietly listening, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment when something completely unexpected came up.

But the Former Emperor on the table continued his story indifferently, as if wondering why I found it so surprising.

“I mobilized my personal guard fleets to eliminate enemy fleets that had penetrated into Prosnak’s interior, and spent time surrounding and annihilating Ztrakfor’s fleet that had infiltrated the rear.”

‘Insane.’

“Not only that, by selling all the northern territories gained from the Irtelan War to Prosnak at dirt-cheap prices, I helped them not only recover quickly despite losing all their eastern territories to the Kerzin Federation’s surprise attack, but grow even more powerful.”

After hearing the Former Emperor’s words, I could understand why Prosnak had been particularly friendly to our empire in the beginning.

‘Wait, so that northern territory wasn’t given up because the Former Emperor was scared… but because he transferred it to Prosnak as support?’

And to think he even mobilized his personal guard to support Prosnak internally.

From Prosnak’s perspective, it meant that our Sevelli Empire was the very nation that saved them from the brink of extinction.

If I were to compare it to my previous life in Korea, it would be on par with Ethiopia sending the Emperor’s personal guard during the Korean War.

Although now such a story could be dismissed as mere rumors and buried.

But if such information had leaked when the Kerzin Federation was still ‘intact’…

‘Oh shit.’

Just imagining the consequences sent chills down my spine.

Meanwhile, regardless of my reaction, the Former Emperor continued his story.

“But when I met their leader one-on-one while handing over the northern territories… I couldn’t hide my disappointment.”

“…?”

“That’s because Prosnak’s leader, Fern’dus, was not a player but just one of the beings that existed in this world.”

“…”

“But did I give up because of that? Absolutely not!”

Making a gesture reminiscent of Hitler, the Former Emperor smiled a rotten smile at me with Riel’s face and said:

“Using the opportunity of our one-on-one meeting, I created a new body that would allow me to become their leader, Fern’dus, at any time.”

“!”

“From that moment on, this Holy Sevelli Empire was nothing but a cumbersome burden to me.”

Upon hearing this, I recalled the story that Ambassador Samiya had shared with me.

Prosnak’s ‘grand plan’ was:

‘Collapse the hegemony led by the Kerzin Federation, dominate the northern galaxy… and then attack the pioneer, the Holy Empire of Aeternia.’

Recalling this, I quietly opened my mouth toward the Former Emperor, who was smiling a rotten smile with confidence.

“…So, you plan to fake your natural death to escape from Aeternia’s surveillance of your exposed identity, and then use Prosnak to invade Aeternia?”

“Excellent, you’d be a talent that university professors would love.”

After “praising” my words, the Former Emperor nodded and began rambling about his plan to me.

“By invading Aeternia that way, my goal is to recover Baltium’s dimensional split bomb stored in their capital.”

“…”

“To be precise, if I use the dimensional split bomb to annihilate all life forms in this galaxy… it might help my ascension or allow me to return to the original world… that is, log out, according to Baltium scientists’ predictions.”

And I couldn’t help but flinch at the Former Emperor’s mention of ‘logging out.’

‘Wait, you can go back without clearing the main quest?’

But seeing my reaction, the Former Emperor looked at me and let out a deep sneer.

“Khuhuhuhu… You must have suffered quite a bit in this world too? To react so strongly to the word ‘log out.'”

“…Hmm.”

“However, you can never choose the same method of ascension as I.”

At these words, I gave him a puzzled look.

The Former Emperor responded to my gaze with a remarkably calm tone:

“Why look at me like that? The victory in the game is naturally a glory bestowed upon only one person.”

After saying that, the Former Emperor suppressed the rotten smile he had been showing until just before, and spoke to me with an expressionless face.

“So stop your annoying resistance and quietly wait for the impending doom.”

“…”

“Before my ability and will, your resistance is meaningless, not worth even a fraction of effort.”

“…”

“You seem rather intelligent, so I believe you’ll quickly grasp the reality.”

And right after those words ended.

-Beep beep beep… beep beep!

With a sudden intense noise in my ears, Riel began twisting his arms, legs, and entire body violently.

Yet his expression remained unchanged as he quietly said to me:

“Oh, and I won’t be contacting you through this toy anymore.”

“!”

As soon as those words ended, Riel’s expression twisted violently and, how should I put it?

With overflowing ‘vitality,’ he began speaking not in his previous tone but in Riel’s unique manner:

“Kkeugigibibibibit…! Wh-what on earth is happening…!”

Nevertheless, I suspected this might be another trick from the Former Emperor.

As I watched Riel having a seizure, I quietly approached him and immediately took out the etiquette injection rod from my pocket and struck it down on Riel’s head.

——————————–

After Riel’s head was struck and he stopped.

[Pause]

With the pause activated, I spent quite a long time in a daze.

Having heard such a shocking and long story, my brain couldn’t process everything and was crying out in fatigue.

But after being in a daze for what felt like a month, I naturally succeeded in regaining my senses.

Once I did, I was able to glean two hints from the Former Emperor’s words.

First, through the Former Emperor’s story, I confirmed that Ambassador Samiya’s claims were true.

If contrary to the ambassador’s words, we infiltrated only to find that Supreme Commander Fern’dus was actually himself?

In that case, only we who carried out the operation would be screwed, and Prosnak’s main force concentrated on the Kerzin Federation front would come rushing toward us.

But if, as the Former Emperor said, Fern’dus was actually a fake?

That would provide solid justification for Ambassador Samiya’s plan.

And the second hint was that the Former Emperor came to speak to me directly.

Instead of sending a subordinate to warn me, the Former Emperor—the mastermind—came to warn me personally?

In other words, he had no other way to stop me unless he did so himself.

The U.S. government in my previous life showed a similar case.

If they really had the power and leisure to stop my plans, they would never have spoken so openly.

They would have just taken me out without a word and reaped all the benefits.

Talking like that…

As mentioned above, it was nothing more and nothing less than an attempt to buy time because they had no way to stop me.

I grabbed hold of my mental state that had been shaken by the Former Emperor, strengthened my resolve once again, and thought:

‘I need to move the plan forward as much as possible.

To give our fucking Former Emperor bastard a big “fuck you,” I’ll do whatever it takes.’