Chapter 1288
Chapter 1288
“Oh? He didn't run away?”
Siegfried was surprised to see that Emperor Stuttgart was still in the imperial palace.
More specifically, he was standing atop the highest spire of the imperial palace, and together with him was the real Duke Randoll—not a clone.
‘What’s he scheming this time?’ Siegfried wondered while making his way toward the spire.
“Enemy of the empire!”
A knight of the Marchioni Empire spotted Siegfried and rushed at him.
“Kyuuu! Get lost, weakling!”
“Gah!”
Hamchi swiped his paw at the knight, snapping his neck into two.
Thud!
The knight fell to the ground and never rose again.
‘Hmm... Is it a trap?’
Meanwhile, Siegfried was still deep in thought, wondering if Emperor Stuttgart had prepared an ambush and was waiting for him.
‘He could’ve fled. But why didn’t he? He doesn’t have any guards with him either.’
Even if Duke Randoll was a Master, he was no real help against Siegfried. No matter how hard he tried, he would barely last a minute against him.
On top of that, the enraged Corals and Adventurers were scouring the imperial palace, killing everyone in sight. Thus, Siegfried found it odd that the emperor had no guards with him, except for the duke.
‘I really can’t tell what his motive is...’
Still suspicious, Siegfried made his way toward the spire, where Emperor Stuttgart stood.
The spire stood so high that it offered a view for hundreds of kilometers around it. Climbing it step by step on foot would be excruciating, so Siegfried decided to fly to the very top instead.
Emperor Stuttgart stood at the balustrade and watched the imperial capital burn.
Then, he turned when Siegfried appeared.
“So you’re finally here.”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Come have a seat. Let’s talk, brother,” Emperor Stuttgart said and sat at a table.
“Pfft! What a joke,” Siegfried snorted.
Hamchi shrieked in retort, “Kyuuu! Who are you calling your brother? Have you completely lost your mind?! We helped you time and time again, yet you stabbed us in the back, you ungrateful wench!”
“I’m surprised you didn’t run. I thought you’d run away with your tail tucked between your legs like a coward,” Siegfried sneered. Then, he added, “Did you set a trap or something?”
Emperor Stuttgart shook his head and replied, “No, there’s nothing of that sort.”
“Then what? Have you given up and accepted death?” Siegfried asked.
“I am...” Emperor Stuttgart muttered. Then, he said with great pride, “I am the Emperor of the great Marchioni Empire.”
“Eh?”
“My empire is me, and I am my empire. Where would I go?”
“Whoa... I didn’t think anyone could keep a straight face saying that crap.”
Siegfried was genuinely disgusted by Emperor Stuttgart’s ideology. The emperor was completely immersed in his sense of entitlement—a messed-up idea of him being the chosen one.
He believed that he was the noblest and most dignified being in existence, and that everyone else was just vermin to be deceived, used, and trampled without hesitation.
“So you’re saying that you are the empire and the empire is you? Is that it?”
“Hm?”
“Do you know how many people have died because of your shit? Do you even know how many tens of millions perished because of what you did? You claim to be the empire, yet you sacrificed your own people for your own gain.”
“That’s a preposterous accusation. My will is the will of the great Marchioni Empire. My desires are my people’s desires,” Emperor Stuttgart said with a straight face.
The emperor couldn’t fathom Siegfried’s words and was sincerely baffled by the accusations.
“Wow...”
“My death is the empire’s death, and the empire’s death is mine. Why should I feel guilty when the whole empire exists for my sake?”
“Hey, I gotta admit... You’re the real deal,” Siegfried muttered in awe.
He conceded that the emperor would never change his mind. After all, there was no way he could reason with someone whose head was filled with thoughts of privilege and entitlement.
“Siegfried von Proa.”
“Yeah?”
“Congratulations.”
“Huh? For what?”
“Congratulations on becoming the ruler of the world.”
“Sigh... What am I going to do with this dumbass...” Siegfried let out a sigh and muttered under his breath. He had no idea what he was supposed to do with the emperor, who was still spouting nonsense. “Hey, do you think we’re the same? Do you think I caused all this mess just to rule the world?”
“Ah, you’re truly quite a skilled liar by nature,” Emperor Stuttgart said with a smile. Then, he asked, “Do you truly think that someone without ambition can make it all the way here—?”
Siegfried cut him off and said, “Just shut the fuck up.”
Then, he walked toward the emperor.
Duke Randoll blocked his path and said, “Halt!”
“Get lost.”
“Show your respect to His Imperial Majes—argh!”
Duke Randoll tried to stop Siegfried, but all it took was a single punch to his midsection to knock him down.
Siegfried walked all the way up to the table and said, “You don’t seem to understand the situation you’re in. Stop with the act. It’s time to get off your high horse.”
“I’m sorry to say, but I will not die at the hands of someone like you,” Emperor Stuttgart said calmly.
“Huh?”
“I, Stuttgart von Posteriore, the Emperor of the great Marchioni Empire, will die when I choose to and live when I choose to. My destiny is in my hands and my hands alone.”
Siegfried grimaced and grumbled, “What bullshit are you spouting this time?”
“Not even Death himself may take me. That right belongs to me and me alone.”
It was then.
“Argh!”
Emperor Stuttgart convulsed and started foaming at his mouth.
Poison.
Rather than being made a public spectacle and humiliated by Siegfried, Emperor Stuttgart chose to take his own life.
‘No, you don’t! Do you think I’ll let you? I get to decide how you die.’
Siegfried hurriedly grabbed the emperor and channeled his Primordial Force into him.
Wooong!
He had no plans to let the emperor have an easy death—not until he had paid for all of his crimes.
***
The poison consumed by the emperor was called Peaceful Death, and it was a highly potent poison that allowed the user to not feel anything as they passed away. It was the same kind of medicine used in the real world for the sake of euthanasia.
In the end, Emperor Stuttgart did not wish to have a painful, humiliating end, so he chose to use this poison and euthanize himself.
‘As if I’d let you!’
Siegfried channeled his Primordial Force into the emperor and suppressed the poison from spreading. He even injected his radioactive microbes into the emperor’s body, instructing them to attack the spreading poison.
‘It’s working!’
The radioactive microbes devoured the poison spreading throughout the emperor’s body before returning to Siegfried’s mana hall.
‘It’s beating!’
Emperor Stuttgart’s heart started beating again. While the poison had caused severe damage to his organs and blood vessels, it mattered little to Siegfried.
‘Chae Hyung-Seok and Saintess Janette can fix him up. Hehehe!’ Siegfried thought with a grin.
If both of them combined their powers, they could bring back someone standing right in front of Death’s doorsteps. In other words, it was only a matter of time before the emperor was up and running, as if nothing had happened to him.
And what would happen after that?
‘I’m going to let you have a taste of hell. Kekeke!’ Siegfried thought with an evil grin.
“H-Hey, owner punk...? What are you plotting this time...? Kyuuu...” Hamchi stammered, shocked by the face Siegfried was making. He knew that whenever Siegfried made that face, he was thinking of unimaginably cruel ways to torture those who had wronged him.
As a matter of fact, plenty of people were living witnesses to his cruelty.
***
At long last, the war was finally over.
The Proatine Empire and its allies defeated the Marchioni Imperial Army in battle, conquered the imperial capital, and brought an end to its five-hundred-year reign as hegemon of the world.
The Adventurers regained control of their characters, and the Corals were freed from slavery.
Now that the war was over, the only thing left was for peace to return—or so they thought.
Unfortunately, the fall of the great Marchioni Empire unleashed immense shockwaves throughout the entire continent.
Rebellions sprang up in all corners of the continent, and more than twenty pretenders rose up, claiming to be king.
The fall of the imperial dynasty, the Posteriore Dynasty, paved the way for others to establish themselves as sovereign rulers of their own territories.
To add to the already chaotic situation, the ten calamities unleashed by Siegfried were still ravaging the Marchioni Empire’s lands.
The vast territories of the empire were in complete disaster, and the one responsible for cleaning up this mess was none other than the Proatine Empire.
This was only natural, as the ones responsible for the Marchioni Empire’s downfall were the Proatine Empire, so it was also their responsibility to clean up afterward.
‘I should stop the ten calamities first,’ Siegfried thought.
He traveled around the empire’s territories, commanding the calamities to stop.
The first place he went was the Piaro River, which had been soaked red by blood.
“Stop. Return the river to its original state,” he commanded.
At his command, the crimson waters slowly became lighter until they returned to their original color.
After that, he put an end to the other calamities, too.
“Aaah...!”
“A m-miracle... He’s displaying miracles...!”
“E-Emperor Siegfried von Proa is a god! He’s a living god!”
“A god is walking among us!”
The people were completely oblivious to the fact that he was the one who had unleashed the calamities in the first place, so the sight of him quelling them was nothing short of a miracle.
“Aaah!”
“God Siegfried! God Siegfried!”
“The world’s hero was actually a god...!”
“God has been with us this entire time!”
After quelling the ten catastrophes, the people started worshiping Siegfried as if he were a god. Every single one of his works was now regarded as a legend, and they were recorded for the future generations to read.
***
“Bring the sinner forward!”
“Yes, sir!”
It had been three days since the war ended, and Siegfried, sitting atop the throne of the Marchioni Empire, was looking down at the sinner.
The sinner was none other than Emperor Stuttgart—no, Stuttgart.
“...”
In the end, Stuttgart failed to take his own life. Upon being rescued from the clutches of Death, he was gagged and imprisoned. They chained his hands and feet, rendering him unable to take his own life.
“Bring me that thing,” Siegfried commanded.
“Yes, sire!” Metatron replied with a bow. Then, he brought a small box in front of Siegfried.
‘Siegfried von Proa... Do what you want with me. No torture is going to break me,’ Stuttgart growled inwardly.
Thud... Thud...
Siegfried took the box and walked toward Stuttgart.
‘Do you honestly think the likes of you can break me? Preposterous!’ Stuttgart thought, steeling his resolve.
Siegfried finally stopped in front of Stuttgart and took something out of the wooden box.
Was it a torture device? Was it poison?
Nobody could see for sure what the object was, but before anyone could see anything—
Whoosh!
Slap!
—Siegfried smacked Stuttgart across his face with the object, and the sound of it reverberated throughout the hall.
“...!”
Stuttgart’s eyes widened in shock.
“Whoa! That was a nice sound,” Siegfried said with a grin.
Then, he raised the object once again and slapped Stuttgart across his face yet again.
Whoosh! Slap!
“Mmph! Mmmf! Mmmph!” Stuttgart struggled with all of his strength.
Despite being prepared for whatever torture was coming his way, his resolve shattered into pieces not even five minutes into the torture.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Siegfried smacked Stuttgart’s face with the object again and again.
“Mmph! Mmmmmph!”
Every time the object smacked Stuttgart’s face, he would convulse violently, as if he were in severe agony.
The torture device Siegfried had chosen was none other than... a squid.
Of all the things he could use, he chose to use a squid. However, this wasn't a fresh squid, but one that had partially rotted and was emitting a repulsive stench.
‘O-Oh my god!’
‘Dear heavens!’
‘He’s smacking his face with a rotten squid!’
‘I-I would rather die than suffer through that...’
The officials of the Proatine Empire shuddered at Siegfried’s cruelty. In the long history of the continent, numerous cruel rulers had come up with ingenious ways of humiliating their prisoners while inflicting maximum pain.
However, using a rotten squid to inflict mental trauma on their prisoner was something that nobody had ever thought of. Perhaps, this was the first and last time someone would ever think of something as cruel as this.