◈ 461. [Side Story] Everything Black
Fernandez was sitting on the throne.
On that throne frozen white and transparent with thorns.
“… The time has come.”
Thorn tree – Fernandez, who had closed his eyes while connected to Everblack, muttered that.
At the same time,
saaaa… … .
The throne, which had been frozen white for years, began to slowly melt.
The black thorns surrounding the throne also regained their vitality, as if spring had returned.
It was Fernandez who had frozen Everblack with magic in the first place, so when it was time to restart Everblack in earnest, he melted it again.
“Because the fire was always there.”
Ku-gu-gu-gu-!
The thorn tree, which regained the warmth it had been deprived of, began to grow rapidly. As if they were going to get back the time that had stopped for the past few years.
“… Planning is the final stage. The ark will be completed soon.”
Fernandez raised his eyes and looked ahead.
“Are you coming to stop it, Ash?”
Fernandez’s dark red eyes smiled softly.
“good night. As the end of a long and tough relationship between you and me, this end wouldn’t be bad either.”
The black thorn tree grew endlessly.
In the covering of Everblack, Fernandez whispered softly.
“Come on, my brother is not very patient.”
***
Ride the Kraken and run through the center of the ecliptic.
The giant monster ran forward, destroying all the beautiful decorations of the zodiac, such as fountains and statues, as well as sidewalk blocks.
My colleagues looked at it with a sad face at first, but after some time they got used to it and just stared blankly at the marble fragments flying in all directions.
“Destroy the Fifth Fountain… Are you okay, boss? Everything looks ridiculously expensive.”
“are you okay. It’s a fountain, just make it again.”
“Wow! The empire founding fee has been doubled!”
“Okay… will you be okay? The original will be kept separately… … .”
“The statue of His Majesty, the first emperor of the Huck Empire, has been smashed! Wasn’t that one of the best specialties of the imperial capital?!”
“… .”
It’ll be fine, maybe.
It’s a national emergency now, right? It’s a crisis that everyone in the city may die if you don’t do it.
Even my ancestors would tolerate the destruction of some of the statues. sure!
“You must stop it!”
“Stop the intruder-!”
“You can’t let them go to the imperial palace!”
The soldiers belonging to the imperial family tried to stop the Kraken somehow, but
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Damage Dodge! You can’t stop that!”
“Hurry up and contact the imperial palace-” When
this monster’s huge body came in front of me, I couldn’t overcome my fear and hurriedly ran away.
It’s not easy for a normal human being to stop such a terrifying monster, unless you’re a veteran soldier on the southern front.
Anyway, our progress was very easy.
The palace of thorns was quickly approaching. At this rate, we can arrive soon… … .
Koo Goo Goo!
It was then.
A terrifying vibration was heard from the far away imperial palace. My colleagues and I all looked up in amazement.
Kwagwawang-!
Old towers are crumbling.
The Imperial Palace of the Everblack Empire, which had never been called upon since the time of the Emperor and had only been expanded endlessly, was collapsing.
Black, pointed towers collapsed one after another, emitting thick smoke and dust.
And at the same time
, Kwajik Kwajik Kwajik!
grew up
Thick, huge black thorn tree trunks began to rise from the underground.
Knowing the identity of the tree well, I cried out in bewilderment.
“Everblack?!”
It was Everblack, the protector of mankind.
The entire palace was swept away by the immensely inflated Everblack. The tree was proliferating to a bizarre extent, spreading sharp trunks in all directions.
“… such crazy.”
Seeing this, I was speechless and muttered.
“It has literally become a palace of thorns… .”
“Is that tree okay, boss?! A little scary?!”
Quylan stammered with a pale complexion.
“I feel the energy of our tribe’s cursed maple tree. But much more than that… … Something inorganic… … .”
“I feel good, Kuylan. that’s right. That tree is of the same kind as the maple tree of your race.”
The difference is that it is a chimera tree made by combining the guardians of several races.
and… The child who has now occupied that tree is trying to wield the enormous power of that tree to kill his own people.
“Now it has swallowed the palace, but later it will cover the whole city.”
A human sacrifice magic circle shutdown protocol installed under the ecliptic.
Using this, he melted everyone in the ecliptic into a spiritual body, and at the same time injected the enormous energy generated by human sacrifice into Everblack.
The proliferated Everblack covers the entire city and completely cuts off the ecliptic from the outside world.
Then, it absorbs the spirit bodies of the people of the zodiac and transmits them to the spirit world.
This is the true identity of ‘The Ark’.
‘To make energy by killing people and preserve people’s souls with that energy!’
It’s a very wasteful, economical massacre plan, my brother! This crazy baby!
Fighting!
The Kraken hit the ground with its tentacle legs and galloped through the air.
At the end of our unstoppable advance, we quickly reached the imperial palace. But soon a problem arose.
bang-!
A huge, invisible magic barrier blocked us.
A magic shield installed from the front gate of the imperial palace along the fence to surround the outer perimeter.
Even though the inside of the imperial palace was at a low level, this protective magic was performing its role extremely reliably.
oh oh oh!
The kraken roared wildly, swinging its tentacle legs wildly.
However, it was of a nature that even a super-class monster could not pierce. The Kraken slashed down its tentacles terrifyingly, but Barrier did not budge.
“If you don’t open this from the inside, you won’t be able to get in.”
Stupidly, I looked toward the front gate of the imperial palace.
Behind the tightly closed front door, there were soldiers looking this way with hard faces. I commanded them.
“Imperial Guard! Open this door right now!”
“Your Highness Prince Ash. It can’t be… … !”
The captain of the guard, who seemed to know my face, stepped forward and shouted.
“This is the place where the supreme ruler of Everblack, the sole empire, resides! You have a strict order not to enter anyone without permission!”
“Whose strict order? You mean the fake Emperor Fernandez?”
Sneering, I pointed at myself and shouted.
“Hey Guard Captain! I don’t know what to do, but I have the right to open this door as well as our self-proclaimed emperor brother. open it right away.”
“What are you talking about? Opening and closing the main gate of the Imperial Palace is the exclusive authority of His Majesty. Your Highness, the Prince, has no authority… … .”
“I am the acting authority of the real Emperor Traha, His Majesty the ‘Peacemaker’ Everblack. He himself gave me the authority.”
I said pointing to my chest with my hand.
“Until His Majesty withdraws the authority, I can also use the same authority as His Majesty. Opening this door is, of course, within my discretion.”
“… You can’t prove it, can you?”
The captain of the guard, who was struggling with gritted teeth, glanced at me.
“How are you going to prove that Your Highness is his acting authority?”
“I knew that, so I brought the certificate.”
I remember living in a country of public certificates for a while. I know very well that it can be a headache if you don’t take care of these things in advance.
“ruler.”
I gestured backwards. Then I carefully carried the luggage brought by my comrades to the front.
It was a large coffin.
“Here is the certificate.”
Laughing in front of the security guards with faces that don’t know why, I opened the coffin wide.
And inside the coffin-
“… ?!”
“Huh!”
The emperor was lying down.
lying dead Even wearing a sleeping mask. I was sleeping well.
Even though I carried it like a piece of luggage, I didn’t really move, and I slept soundly. This old man is also really nervous.
As someone who had guarded the door through which the emperor passed through his entire life, the captain of the guard seemed to recognize the emperor right away. The captain of the guard immediately knelt on the floor.
“Can you trust me now? His Majesty is currently in a deep sleep, but before that, he handed over his authority to me and fell asleep.”
“… .”
“Fernandez, who faked the death of His Majesty who is still alive and ascended the throne himself, is a traitor. Did you understand the situation? Would you mind opening the door then?”
“Ha but… .”
I yelled at the guard captain who was still hesitant.
“Captain of the guard! Look straight into your eyes!”
I pointed with my hand to the inside of the imperial palace, which was being encroached by thorns, and to the city center, where citizens and soldiers were mixed and chaos came.
“Watch the city you’ve been guarding all your life crumble!”
“… !”
“Is it the form or the essence of the Empire that you are trying to protect? Which one!”
“I am… .”
“If you are truly a soldier of this country! If you have the pride of defending the imperial capital, the imperial palace, and the emperor! It should be clear what to protect!”
I shouted once more to the guard commander who kept his mouth shut and lowered his head.
“Answer me! What are you really supposed to do?”
“… It is to protect the empire.”
“Then open the door. Join us in defending the empire.”
I nodded heavily.
“This is your last chance.”
The hesitation did not last long.
The captain of the guard closed his eyes and operated the opening and closing mechanism of the front door. Soon, the barrier flickered and went off, and the thick iron gate of the main gate slowly opened to the left and right.
‘It’s fortunate.’
I internally let out a sigh of relief.
In fact, Metallic, who entered as a double agent, was waiting near the front door. If necessary, annihilate the guards inside and open the main gate.
But you don’t have to take a life that you don’t have to lose. That’s why I opened the door by persuading him with words as much as possible.
Kugu Palace!
As soon as the door opened, Metallic and the remnants of the 1st Corps, who had been ambushed behind the guard building, poured out.
The guards looked shocked. It was only then that they realized that they were about to die.
“Welcome, Your Highness.”
The remnants of the 1st Corps greeted us along with the Imperial Palace Guards who were standing still. I maneuvered the Kraken as quietly as possible and entered the main gate.
Metallic looked towards the imperial palace with a worried face. The thorns are still growing without knowing that they are high in the sky.
“… What are you going to do now?”
“Everyone has to do their job.”
I directed quickly.
“Me and my colleagues go into the imperial palace and stop Fernandez. Sir Metallic, you and the 1st Corps, rescue those imprisoned in the imperial palace, and search for and rescue Brother Lark.”
“… thank you.”
Metallic lowered his back. In the first place, Metallic and the 1st Legion were no different from Lark’s bodyguards, so they must have been waiting for this order.
Subsequently, I ordered the guards who looked at me with bewildered faces.
“Imperial Guard! You are mobilized to thwart the shutdown protocol.”
“I will move as you say, but… How exactly are we going to stop it?”
The captain of the guard asked, confused.
I raised one corner of my mouth and grinned.
“Certainly there is only one plan to stop the Shutdown Protocol?”
I have a counter protocol prepared.
It is
called “Shut-up Protocol!”
Shouting, I raised my hand and shouted,
“Activate!”
slammed down
To the cheek of my father, who was sleeping soundly in the coffin next to him wearing a sleeping mask and snoring!
Aww-!
With an exciting sound, the emperor’s face turned sideways.
“… .”
“… .”
“… .”
Metallic, the commander of the 1st corps, and all of my colleagues in the imperial guard, even the Kraken.
Everyone looked at me with gaping mouths and eyes full of astonishment.
And
“… ?”
The emperor slowly opened his eyes.
As if he couldn’t understand this situation, the emperor looked like he didn’t know why even when he took off his sleeping blindfold.
He touched his cheek, which had just been hit, with his hand.
“… uh?”
I smiled at him, looking at his still sleepy face.
The emperor clearly said:
– Until I withdraw my authority, you are no match for the emperor of this country. Protect this empire with that authority.
therefore.
In terms of authority, I am now the emperor.
My father?
You lent me the authority and haven’t retrieved it yet, so you’re saying that you’re ‘without any authority’ right now.
“As the acting emperor, I give orders to His Majesty with the emperor’s authority!”
In other words.
No matter how emperor you are, you must listen to my orders now.
I shouted, pointing my finger at my father.
“Save your country!”
Did you plan to get a good night’s sleep while leaving the acting authority?
What nonsense! You are the most cheat key!
My father, who was glaring at me despondently, spat out slowly.
“Crazy.”
Immediately after, a deep smile crept across the emperor’s lips.
“This is my son.”
