episode_0228

Episode 228: Usurpation of the Throne (2)

“I’ve been waiting, Kyle! Hurry and come!”

Whoosh-

The moment the door opened, a hateful voice was heard, and wind engulfed the two. And Kyle, who was at the front, collapsed.

“K, Kyle?!”

What just happened? Ariel was clearly prepared for an ambush. But to subdue Kyle, penetrating her tightly guarded senses…

But there was no time to be lost in thought. Ariel hurriedly approached Kyle and checked his condition.

“Phew…”

He just fainted for a moment. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong. Ariel breathed a sigh of relief at his intact condition. After that, Ariel glared at the one who had caused this phenomenon.

“Reian…”

Gritting her teeth, Ariel barely swallowed her anger. She wanted to tear that hateful blood relative to shreds with her sword right now, but she held back.

She hadn’t figured out the power that subdued Kyle. If she moved rashly, she might end up in the same state. No matter how much Kyle trusted and told her to wait, it would be a foolish act. She had to avoid the worst at all costs.

“You have a lot on your mind. Shall this older brother help you?”

“Shut up, Reian. I never had an older brother like you.”

“Haha, you’ve gotten prickly since I last saw you.”

Ariel ignored Reian’s disgusting appearance and looked behind him. Her family came into view.

First, she sees her father. Her father, sitting on the throne, was unconscious and slumped over like Kyle.

On the steps in front of the throne, her blood relatives are lying in a row. Starting with her brother Kashan, all her older sisters and brothers were passed out.

Gritting her teeth, Ariel clenched her fist once again. While the Imperial Palace was being transformed into a maze, the last time she saw her family, they were fine. That’s because her older brothers and sisters were being protected by the Imperial Knights.

Reian must have had a hand in this. Seeing the formless power that had consumed their souls, that thought became even more certain. That kind of form could only be Reian’s power.

But there was something that made Ariel even angrier than that. It was the magic circle drawn around her family. Ariel was a knight who used swords, but she could roughly tell what kind of effect it had.

That’s… a sacrificial ritual mainly used by black mages.

“You beastly bastard. Are you even human? Offering your family as sacrifices!”

Ariel shouted, glaring at Reian. And Reian tilted his head and looked at his younger sister.

“What’s wrong with that, Ariel?”

An answer that was the epitome of disgust. Ariel felt like she was going to gag. Reian slowly walked towards Ariel and continued to speak.

“Sacrificing the few for the greater good is a natural thing. Even if it includes family. Of course, I’m also heartbroken by the fact that I have to sacrifice family.”

“Shut up! What greater good is there in your actions!”

At the same time as Ariel’s shout, Reian reached her. He swung his fist, imbued with mana, at her.

Ariel twisted her upper body to dodge the attack lightly. She was not only an Imperial Knight, but also a talented individual recognized in Arden. On the other hand, Reian was just an average person and neglected his training. It would be strange if she was hit.

But that impossible thing happened. A fist that weirdly curved mid-air. Thwack, it struck Ariel’s cheek. Her head turned excessively to a dangerous degree.

“What…”

Only bewildered for a moment. Reian’s fist flew in succession. An attack that looked ordinary. But her intuition told her. That she would never be able to avoid it if it continued like this.

Ariel raised her sword. She stabbed the sword into the gap found with her senses enhanced by [Transcendence of Senses]. But the part where the sword and fist met twisted, and Reian’s attack struck her chin.

A shock that shook her brain. Ariel barely managed to avoid fainting by moving her mana. Reian didn’t miss the opportunity. He beat his younger sister as if venting his past resentment.

“You’ve, always been a pain in the ass!”

His fist crushed her flesh.

“Showing off as if you know everything!”

Shattered her bones.

“Always interfering with my plans!”

He stopped attacking when Ariel vomited blood from internal injuries. Reian smiled as he looked at his younger sister, covered in blood.

“Haha, that Ariel is in this state!”

Where had the look of rebuking him from a few days ago gone? She was rolling on the floor without any resistance. Reian was pleased with that fact.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have gotten my older brother sooner.”

The reason why Reian was able to overwhelm Ariel. It was because he was using the ability of his older brother, Kashan Tianis. He was able to defeat Ariel because of that power that granted the talent of martial arts.

Moreover, with the addition of his blood relatives’ abilities and the power of the past emperors, there was almost no chance of Reian losing.

Reian grabbed the hair of the fallen Ariel and whispered.

“Ariel. Be grateful for my mercy in not killing you right away. You are very useful.”

Although Reian hated her, the value of Ariel Tianis was overflowing. Especially since she had outstanding beauty, there were many uses for her.

“Shut up, Reian… I will definitely…”

“How noisy.”

“Keuk!”

Reian stopped Ariel’s nonsense by stomping on her back. Of course, he tried not to hurt her face as much as possible. As he said just now, his younger sister’s beauty was outstanding.

“Then now…”

Reian turned his gaze away from his younger sister and moved his gaze to the side. He floated the unconscious Kyle with mana.

“Don’t take Kyle away!”

Ignoring Ariel’s scream. Reian took Kyle to the center of the magic circle. And at the moment he was about to cut out his heart with a blade made of mana.

“Tsk tsk, isn’t it too much to touch your family, let alone your friends?”

A voice he had never heard before. Reian stopped his work and turned his head in the direction the sound came from, and Ariel, who was panting, also turned her gaze towards the unfamiliar voice.

There was that man with the black hair and black eyes of the Imperial Family. A face he had seen countless times in the portraits hanging in the Imperial Palace.

Kiran Tianis. The founding emperor who built the empire, the legendary figure of the continent, and the magician who reached the impossible realm of the 10th Circle. He was their ancestor.

“Nice to meet you, my descendants! The weather is really nice today, isn’t it? Ah, I wonder if it is for you guys?”

A lively voice that didn’t suit the current situation at all. A moment of silence fell. And Ariel, who had come to her senses, opened her mouth with an unbelievable face.

“Ancestor, sir…?”

“Yes, Ariel. I am your ancestor!”

“Ah, no, not that but…”

“Haha, just kidding. The atmosphere was too heavy.”

Ariel’s mind took quite a while to return to reality at the sight of her ancestor laughing as if he was really joking.

In the meantime, Reian moved. He fully opened the power of the past emperors and his [Soul Manipulation] ability. A power that was more than enough to rival a god tightly suppressed Kiran.

“To appear only after the situation has reached its final stages. You’re too late, ancestor!”

At Reian’s words, Kiran said as if it was nothing.

“I’m a laissez-faire type. I only teach the basics and don’t interfere. Of course, only limited to family.”

“Thanks to you, things were easy. When I heard that the founding emperor was alive. I was so surprised. I thought my plan would fail.”

“They’re usually surprised. It’s quite surprising that a person from hundreds of years ago is still alive. But it’s also fun. That face of being surprised by my appearance.”

You can tell just by looking at Ariel’s appearance right now. She was still slightly out of her mind.

“For reference, I’m not really alive. It’s hard to say I’m alive because it’s a thought created by taking out a part of the soul.”

“I heard that too. And thanks to that, I was able to subdue the 10th Circle magician.”

If it was a complete 10th Circle magician’s body and soul, Reian would have died in less than a second. But that wasn’t the case, so he was able to stay alive like this.

“Aren’t you underestimating me too much, Reian?”

Kiran lightly snapped his fingers. Then, in an instant, all of Ariel’s wounds were healed.

“Damn it!”

Reian pulled up more power to block Kiran’s power. Among the various abilities of the Imperial Family, there was also the ability to stop the state of the target.

Ariel did not miss that moment. She led her recovered body and rushed at Reian. The sword aura covering the sword was aimed at the bottom of his neck.

Swoosh-!

Ariel’s sword cuts through his neck. Reian’s neck, cut past the carotid artery to the area near the esophagus, spurted blood. But Reian smiled in pain and said.

“You were careless, Ariel. You should have cut off my neck in one go.”

Reian’s neck, which was half dangling, was healing. The talent ability had been activated.

If he had completely cut it off, it wouldn’t have regenerated. It was largely Ariel’s fault for not being able to concentrate on the situation. That gap saved him.

“Reian!”

Ariel didn’t give up and rushed in. She swung her sword, releasing the anger she had been holding back. The insights and opportunities she had gained in the past attacked Reian.

But it didn’t work. Reian was armed with over 20 Imperial Family abilities.

No matter how much [Transcendence of Senses] helped, and even if he had eyes that deflected everything, it was difficult to kill Reian while pushing aside each unique ability.

That’s how Ariel was trampled under Reian’s feet again.

“Have you lost your learning ability because you are consumed by anger, Ariel. That’s not like you.”

“Shut up!!”

Regardless, Reian moved his steps to the throne. The founding emperor was also in his hands, and all preparations were complete. Now all that was left was to finish.

He stood next to the emperor and said.

“Ariel. You said this was a sacrificial magic, but that’s wrong. Of course, it’s true that something is being sacrificed, but it’s not about sacrificing the bodies of the family.”

Reian flowed mana under his feet. The formula emitted light and the magic was activated. Soon after, a giant mana sphere was created above the magic circle.

“I still have affection for them, so how can I use my family as sacrifices? Instead, I’ll use something else.”

Soon after, a scene appeared in the sphere. The memories of the target, not just ordinary memories, but the most terrible and painful memories were being replayed.

“Memories are never simple. The positive and negative emotions contained within, and the souls connected to them, become a huge power in themselves. There’s a reason why black mages use it so often.”

This magic circle was a magic to create a monster that would obey orders and destroy the world with the memories extracted from his family.

As the memories were replayed in turn, the emotions extracted from them were combined into one. And Reian, who saw his family’s memories, smiled and said.

“Father and older brother are so emotional. The most painful thing was the meeting.”

It’s really ridiculous. Well, he thought it was possible since the two cherished their family so much.

That’s how a sphere made of all the negative memories of the family was created. But this wasn’t the end.

“Ariel, have you ever been curious about what kind of terrible things a guy who was once called a scoundrel went through? I really wanted to know. What was this guy like?”

Reian tapped the slumped Kyle. At that sight, Ariel shouted.

“Don’t touch Kyle, I said don’t touch him!”

The vitality of the family was greatly reduced. It was obvious that they would become like that after having their memories extracted. Ariel twisted her body back and forth to prevent that from happening.

“Ha. In the past, you fought as if you were going to kill each other. Have you developed some affection in the meantime?”

“Shut up and leave Kyle alone!”

“No. Why should I?”

Reian ignored Ariel’s words and moved his mana. A thread from Kyle’s head was connected to the mana sphere.

That’s how the past of a villain who was once called a scoundrel began to replay.

“Sister! I will become a knight who surpasses my father!”

A youthful and youthful cry. It was the voice of a bright and energetic child, so much so that it was hard to believe that it was the same person.