Side Story 1. Invasion of the Empire (6)

A mountain of countless piled-up corpses.

Shion stood atop it, taking in the sight of the crumbling empire.

“Even after killing this many, there’s still no end to them.”

The empire’s forces pressed relentlessly against Shion, making the term “endless battle” feel all too real.

No matter how many he slaughtered, they kept sending more soldiers. As he blocked their advance, crushed them, and ground them to dust, Shion felt a deep sense of weariness.

Despite being cut down again and again, they refused to give up. Day and night, he dealt with the empire’s forces charging at him until, before he knew it, this mountain of corpses had formed.

“Most of them have the same face.”

After consuming tens of thousands of soldiers, Shion realized their faces were eerily similar.

The visages hidden beneath their helmets were all carbon copies of a single man’s face. Likely, he was the man who had sacrificed himself in the empire’s laboratories to serve as the template for their clone soldiers.

Perhaps he had simply been used as a tool by the empire without ever realizing it.

“They just keep coming without getting tired.”

Shion sighed as he spotted another wave of imperial soldiers armed with weapons and magic emerging from the forest.

The empire’s forces were endless. If this turned into a war of attrition, Shion would be the one worn down first. It seemed his plan to slowly erode the empire’s strength here was no longer viable.

“The saying ‘many a little makes a mickle’ comes to mind, but this is pointless. I have no choice but to head straight for the heart.”

Shion unleashed spatial compression on the approaching army.

The torrent of mana erupting from his fingertips engulfed the imperial soldiers, compressing three thousand men into a single point until they formed a sphere.

Another meatball made of imperial soldiers joined the battlefield. He had already used this spell multiple times. There was no better magic for slaughtering the empire’s forces.

Compared to the empire’s soldiers, who wielded curses, hexes, and ancient forbidden arts, spatial magic provided a clean finish.

Most of the grotesque corpses strewn across the battlefield were the result of Shion deflecting the empire’s bizarre curses back at them.

In truth, Shion had never once used forbidden arts or curses in this battle. Every single one had been an imperial soldier’s failed attempt to kill him, turned back upon themselves.

“More sacrifices are coming.”

Before leaving the battlefield, Shion noticed a man who seemed different from the soldiers he had faced so far.

With an expression of horror, the man surveyed the battlefield as he gradually approached Shion, who studied his face and quickly discerned his identity.

“The Sword of the Empire?”

Recognizing him as the only adversary who could rival Moira, Shion incinerated the surrounding corpses in flames and waited for him to approach.

Now that a proper figure from the empire had arrived-one capable of conversation-Shion cleared away the clone corpses littering the area to set the stage for dialogue.

“Finally, someone worth talking to has arrived.”

Shion smiled as he greeted Tairan, who had pushed through the forest to reach him.

Until now, the empire had made no attempt to communicate with him. They had merely poured in troops to gauge his reactions, observing his movements, abilities, and magic from a distance.

But this time, instead of simply deploying more soldiers, someone capable of dialogue had come. Clearly, the empire hoped to gain something from this.

Thinking they might finally be ready for proper negotiations, Shion refrained from killing the approaching man and waited for him to draw near.

“Tairan, right? Pleasure to meet you. I’m Shion.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Through mental resonance with the captured legion commanders, I’ve learned everything about the empire’s leadership. Not just you-I know all about the remaining legion commanders, the empire’s ministers, and the monsters in the research labs.”

“…”

“Keeping your mouth shut won’t help. There’s no point hiding your thoughts. I can just pry open your mind if I want to.”

“Is my mental barrier meaningless?”

“Human techniques are meaningless to me.”

In response to Shion’s answer, Tairan placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

To prove the absurdity of Shion’s claim that human techniques were meaningless.

He drew his blade in one fluid motion and swung it at Shion’s neck.

‘Now!’

Tairan held nothing back, not hesitating for even a second.

A surge of fighting spirit enveloped his sword as his abilities-‘Body Acceleration’ and ‘Cognition Freeze’-activated, slowing Shion’s movements.

A swordsman’s life-or-death draw strike.

It was the most perfectly timed attack of his life, and Tairan believed that even if he couldn’t kill Shion, he could at least wound him.

“Oops.”

Clang!

But Tairan’s sword was deflected by a mere flick of Shion’s finger.

Before he could even land a proper strike, his blade was knocked from his hand and embedded itself into a tree, trembling violently. Seeing the half-bent blade, Tairan felt his spirit break in real time.

His all-out attack had been meaningless. Worse, he had lost the weapon that was a swordsman’s life.

No humiliation could be more crushing than this.

“Attacks like that are pointless. No matter how exceptional you are among humans, in the end, you’re still just that-human.”

“What… what are you? How can you wield such magic so effortlessly? Are you an adventurer? A weapon bred by the labyrinth city?”

Shion shook his head at Tairan’s question.

He was neither a war machine created by the labyrinth city nor an adventurer-his status as one had already been revoked.

Though he could reclaim his Platinum Badge anytime, Shion hadn’t bothered. He had no intention of returning to the labyrinth.

“I’m not what you think I am. I have ties to the labyrinth city, but I don’t belong to it. I’m not one of its secret weapons, either.”

“Then why are you doing this?! For what reason?”

“Well, you see… I have many things I cherish. Family I must protect. Things I wish would never disappear. And I love peace. I want my surroundings to always be filled with happiness and tranquility.”

“Then why commit such atrocities?! How many have you killed? How many more must die before this ends?!”

Listening to Tairan’s outburst, Shion couldn’t help but find it ridiculous.

“Why are you acting like I’m the one responsible for this tragedy? You were the ones who struck first. You were the ones who started the invasion. You were the ones who threw troops at me when I wanted to talk. Don’t play the victim. The real victims are the people you trampled underfoot.”

“That’s because you drove out our envoys first-“

“So we should have just obediently become the empire’s dogs, is that it? Why? Why should we? Did you think we were so pathetic we’d roll over at your command?”

Shion calmly listed the empire’s wrongdoings.

Tairan felt the truth in Shion’s words but couldn’t refute them-nor could he attack.

He had already realized the gap in their strength. Fighting would only get him killed. His only option was to negotiate with Shion and stop him from advancing further into imperial territory.

“That’s not it. The empire, as the dominant power on this continent, sought cooperation with the labyrinth city through-“

“Cut the crap. The empire doesn’t dominate this continent. That’s why I despise you. You think you’re the best. It’s laughable. To me, the empire is nothing. You. The legion commanders. Even the ancient ones you’re trying to awaken-they’re all the same.”

“…”

Shion already knew about the ancient ones.

This revelation shocked Tairan once more. The fact that an adventurer from the labyrinth city knew the empire’s secrets was deeply troubling.

“The emperor, the imperial family-they’re nothing to me. You people aren’t even worth that much. Understand? Did you only come to your senses after getting beaten to death? Only now do you want to talk properly? How amusing.”

If the ancient ones awakened and joined the fight, the casualties would only grow. Though Tairan had witnessed Shion’s strength firsthand, he also knew the power of the ancient ones.

As the empire’s representative, sent to negotiate with Shion, he now had no choice but to beg.

“What do you want? There must be something. We can grant anything. I’ve already discussed it with the chancellor. We recognize your existence. So tell me. What will make you stop? Name your terms.”

Thus, Tairan outright asked Shion what he desired. In essence, this was a plea for Shion to return to the labyrinth city in exchange for reparations-an admission of the empire’s defeat.

“What I want? You’ll really grant anything?”

“Within reason, yes. If it’s possible, we’ll do it. So speak.”

Tairan couldn’t bring himself to apologize for the empire’s atrocities. That would mean outright denying the emperor’s decisions. So instead, he asked Shion directly.

What did he truly want? If it could be done, the empire would comply.

Amused, Shion smiled and answered.

“There’s only one thing I want.”

“What is it?”

“The emperor’s head.”

Tairan couldn’t even respond.

Demanding the emperor’s head was tantamount to refusing negotiation altogether. It was a declaration that Shion would destroy the empire to the last.

“Negotiation is impossible, then.”

“Correct. Until I sever the emperor’s head and cast his soul into hell, negotiation is impossible.”

“That’s unacceptable.”

“I know. I proposed it knowing you’d refuse. The entire empire or the emperor’s life. You’ll choose the emperor, won’t you? Because you’re fools.”

Tairan sensed the futility of further conversation and retreated.

Shion didn’t stop him. He merely gazed in the direction of the imperial capital and smiled.

The ancient ones would awaken.

The seven ancient ones would be on an entirely different level from any enemy he had faced so far.

If anything, he looked forward to it. When even the ancient ones-their last hope-lay dead, would the emperor still wait idly in his palace?

“If I’ve started this, I might as well see it through to the end.”

Shion’s task was simple: slaughter every enemy that came his way until he stood before the emperor.

Only seven steps remained until he could claim the emperor’s head.