chapter_0190

191 – Hero of the People Max

191 – Hero of the People Max

The Empress looked at the door.

The loud sounds coming from outside grew closer to the door.

Wow!

Cheers.

And applause.

The roaring cheers seemed to spread like wildfire from outside the great hall.

It was strange.

The great hall where the Emperor resided had never allowed sounds above a certain level, lest they disturb the Emperor’s duties.

Why such a loud noise?

She belatedly realized that this place was not reality.

“It was an illusion controlled by Max.”

It felt so much like reality that she had been mistaken into thinking this was real.

“At least I should warn them not to break the laws of the imperial court.”

If the situation strayed too far from reality, it would break her immersion.

Experiencing this place as an illusion could lessen the impact.

She sighed.

“Should I wake up from this illusion and start over?”

But the brief silence she had felt just moments ago left a deep impression on her.

Though it had lasted less than two minutes, that short moment felt like a blessing to the Empress, who had always suffered from noise.

“…It will be noise that will soon disappear.”

Wow!

Though the cheers echoed through the great hall, they were better than the continuous wailing of lamentation.

In fact, they felt almost like leisurely music.

The Empress leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and savored the sound for a moment.

The sound grew louder, creating a feeling as if she were at an orchestra.

Wow!

It drew closer.

Wow!

And the closer it got.

“Kill the Emperor!”

It became clearer.

“What?”

Who dares to utter such blasphemous words?

The Empress frowned.

Are they saying they will kill me?

Who?

The pleasant feeling she had experienced turned filthy in an instant.

It was a word she had never heard in her life.

No.

She had heard it once.

When the Demon King descended.

—Human Emperor. To resist the Lord with that frail body is laughable. Relying only on the Hero is foolish. Do not worry. The human Emperor will soon die at my hands.

The Demon King had warned her of death through Communication magic.

He had already been killed by the Hero.

It was the first time since then.

Someone dared to shout that they would kill the Emperor.

“Max, that bastard, doesn’t he have thoughts of harming me?”

Could it be that he revealed his true intentions while pretending it was an illusion?

It was at that moment.

“Capture the tyrant Emperor alive!”

The voices of the people grew closer.

The roar filled with anger shook the ground.

Bang!

With a loud noise, the door to the great hall soon opened.

There were no knights urging them to flee.

As if they had already fled.

There was not a single guardian on the Path of Glory that extended before the great hall.

The ones who had sullied the Path of Glory with muddy feet were mostly peasants.

Those holding hoes, sickles, and spears glared at the Empress, engulfed in an inexplicable rage.

As the voice tormenting her mind disappeared, had reality finally appeared?

“How interesting. Are you the ones who have come to kill me?”

She asked, looking at the angry crowd.

Her voice was overflowing with composure.

It was only natural.

She knew better than anyone that a peasant daring to thrust a spear at the Empress was unthinkable.

It was not because their strength was weak.

Nor was it because the Empire’s defense was strong.

If that were the only reason, the Empress would not have been so confident.

The knights were strong, and the mages were powerful, not to mention the might of the royal guard, but above all.

“I have not forsaken my people.”

They had not committed such wicked acts as to rush here with their farming tools.

Her rule had always been directed toward her people.

The current Empress was one who received respect and love from the Imperial subjects.

The Empress pondered.

Should she end this illusion, which was contrary to her original desire for ‘rest’?

Or should she continue it a little longer?

Finding it intriguing, she decided to watch a bit longer.

“What have I done wrong for all of you to gather like this?”

At the Empress’s words, everyone shouted.

“We are tired of tyranny!”

“I don’t want to live in fear of death every day!”

“If half of our harvest is taken as tax, what are we supposed to eat and live on?”

Countless peasants voiced their grievances.

Some said they had lost their homes due to the Emperor, lost their wives, and lost their land and everything.

Living in hunger every day was the norm, and it was natural for someone to die each day.

Naturally, all of it was not her doing.

Yet they dared to discuss her sins.

“Looks like those who should die have gathered.”

Rough words slipped out.

“Having prepared for death, I commend your spirit.”

It was interesting, but that was not a reason to refrain from anger.

“I did not wish to be disturbed in my rest like this.”

The Empress raised her hand.

The ruler of all.

Though guarded by knights, she was also one who held power.

The Imperial Family’s Power was of a different kind than others, and it was absolute.

Thus, she could easily make those before her, even if they were illusions, disappear.

There was no need to use her power separately.

If she looked at them with eyes that only saw the truth, those who were merely illusions would soon vanish.

She closed her eyes and opened them.

However.

“……”

The world had not changed.

The false peasants, filled with lies and illusions, still glared at her with eyes full of rage.

“What is happening?”

It was strange.

She felt no power.

As if someone had severed the source of her strength.

The suddenly cut-off power did not return.

“What the hell…?”

“Indeed, the Emperor has lost her power!”

“Let’s drag that woman down!”

The peasants surged forward and stood below the twelve steps.

However.

None of them could ascend the steps.

An unknown force repelled them all.

The peasants who had rushed forward retreated once more.

Yet the Empress could not watch their farce.

She was still flustered by the power that had vanished.

“You seem flustered.”

At that moment, a familiar voice was heard.

She looked up.

Max was standing among the peasants.

Though he was dressed slightly better than them, he looked disheveled and was grinning at her.

“Max…?”

Why are you here?

The question was brief.

“Wow! Hero of the people!”

“Max! Max!”

“The new ruler of the Empire!”

“Max will restore peace!”

The peasants chanted Max’s name.

“…What is happening right now?”

“I think you already know without me saying.”

“What?”

“The Emperor has lost her power, and that power has all turned to the people. It means it is time for the noble Empress to step down from the throne.”

Max approached the twelve steps.

The twelve steps that no one had been able to breach.

They symbolized the status of the Empire.

Max stepped onto the first step of the twelve steps that no one had breached.

“Stop!”

Even at the Emperor’s command, Max continued to ascend the steps.

“It’s a royal decree! Stop immediately!”

Max’s steps did not slow as he climbed the stairs.

10, 9, 8…

The distance between Max and the Empress grew closer.

“Damn it… Max! Turn off the illusion! It’s a royal decree!”

The closer Max got, the greater her confusion became.

Confusion.

It was a feeling she had never experienced before.

In her life, she had never felt this emotion even once.

How many times had there been such situations as Emperor?

Certainly, never once.

She glared at Max, who was climbing despite her orders.

“It is my command! Now! Kneel!”

Even with the Emperor’s shout, all Imperial subjects should bow their heads, Max approached indifferently.

Truly, her power had completely vanished.

Now that she had lost the Imperial Family’s Power, there was not much she could do.

She could either rise from the throne and flee.

Or simply watch him approach.

Fleeing from the throne was absolutely unthinkable.

Max was now only one step away from her.

“Are you not going to flee?”

“Do you dare mock me…?”

“Do you still think you are the Emperor?”

“…What?”

“To be called Emperor, one must rule the Empire. But what are you now?”

Max pointed at the peasants filling the great hall.

“Which of them is trying to follow you?”

“Y-you dare…?”

“To call oneself Emperor when there is no one to rule is unqualified.”

Max, standing one step below and looking up at her, laughed mockingly as he climbed.

“If you had been qualified, I would have already been dead.”

Max stood at the same level as her.

It was the first time.

Someone dared to stand at the same level as her.

Even the former Emperor had always stood apart from her.

When he ruled the Empire, he was above her.

When she came to rule the Empire, he lay in a coffin below her.

In this world, no one could stand at the same level as the Emperor.

But now.

The man before her was looking down at the Empress from the same level.

“What can you do now that you have lost the Emperor’s power?”

Max lifted the crown resting on her head and tossed it aside.

Clang!

“Ugh…”

In this disgraceful situation that tarnished her honor, the Empress could do nothing.

“Without being an Emperor, you are just a foul-tempered woman.”

Max laughed.

His hand, which had discarded the crown, reached toward her body.

“Still, this body has its uses.”

“What? How dare you!”

She instinctively raised her hand to slap Max.

But.

Snap!

“Where do you think you’re being rude?”

Max grabbed her wrist and grinned wickedly.

“The Emperor who has lost her authority is nothing.”

Riiip!

He tore her clothes.

Before the furious peasants who had come to kill her.

The Empress’s white skin was exposed to the world.

Her slender waist, ample breasts.

And atop them, pink nipples blooming like flowers.

It was a feeling of powerlessness she had never experienced.

The realization that she could do nothing.

That there was nothing she could control.

She was angry.

Her chest felt tight.

“You, you…”

“Your breasts are quite a sight.”

With a lewd smile.

This man, with a scoundrel’s grin, approached her as if to cover her.

Then his hand squeezed her breast tightly.

“Ahhh!”

A scream escaped the Empress’s lips, a sound she had never made in her life.

“The Empress is still a woman. To cry out like this just because her breasts were grabbed.”

With a rough and vile smile, Max began to suck on her breasts.

“Ugh! S-stop it. Don’t humiliate me any further…”

The Empress trembled.

“Just kill me. Behead me and hang me in the square. That would be less humiliating!”

She resisted and shouted in anger.

“After death, what meaning is there in having your honor tarnished? It must be sullied while you are alive.”

“…What?”

“I will torment you until you hit rock bottom, so look forward to it.”

Those words choked her breath.

The Empress gritted her teeth.

It was the first time she felt a sense of defeat.

Despair.

The frustration of being able to do nothing.

In this situation where it felt like her whole body was bound by ropes.

In this situation where not a glimmer of hope could be seen.

Her head grew hot.

Her whole body grew hot.

But closer than that was the pleasure that gradually tickled her.

A pleasure she had never experienced before.

The subtle pleasure that crept in between despair and powerlessness was slowly seeping into the Empress’s body.

“Haah, haah.”

Max’s skilled hands slowly descended from her breasts.

And when his palm gently pressed down on her lower abdomen as it traveled down to her navel.

“Haah!”

The Empress let out a cry and lifted her legs.

Her skirt, not yet fully torn, fluttered.

Not knowing what to do, she glared at Max, who had torn her dress apart.

“You, what are you…?”

“Me?”

Max faced her and smiled.

“I am the man who will take the seat you are sitting in.”

It was a situation that should never be welcomed.

The throne was everything to her.

Yet why.

Her heart raced.

Why was her heart pounding like this?