Fallen Star (1)

The Blood Tower, a haven for blood mages, stood tall.

Boom, boom, boom!

Directly in front of this looming Blood Tower, on a wide-open battlefield, an intense fight was taking place.

Countless monsters, summoned by the blood mages, filled the sky, casting a bloody tint.

Their power was enough to obliterate even a small mountain, but...

They couldn't reach the red-eyed woman they targeted.

That's because the beast heads that appeared around the woman swallowed all the magic without leaving anything behind.

With this, the woman's hand reached out and was held.

Just then.

A massive blast broke out unexpectedly among the blood mages.

"Ah!"

Caught off guard, the mages were thrown everywhere, hitting the ground hard.

The red lines and beast heads around the woman disappeared as if washed away.

Even though she clearly won the battle, Liushina's eyes held dissatisfaction.

'It's better than before, but... it's not quite there yet.'

Liushina considered this, looking at the blood mages groaning on the ground.

While her magic was powerful, she seemed to need more combat practice.

So, Liushina went back to the Blood Tower and made sure to spar with the tower's mages at least once a day.

Fighting without killing was challenging, but she had to do it if she wanted to improve their skills.

But she was slowly getting bored of it.

'This isn't for me.'

Furthermore, she hadn't been killing as much recently, which didn't sit well with her.

'Maybe I should stop at this level and go back...'

These thoughts started to cross Liushina's mind.

"Hmm?"

As she was thinking, she looked up at the sky and saw something unusual.

Her eyes scanned the stars above, piercing the clear sky.

In her sight, a star that seemed about to lose its light was twinkling.

"Things are about to get interesting."

Liushina knew that when that star lost all its light, chaos would descend on the empire.

She was excited for this chaos.

The more chaotic the world, the more people there would be for her to kill.

'The story's changing.'

Zion, who had quickly returned to the Imperial City, rushed to the imperial palace, lost in thought.

If Thierry had dispatched a shadow to inform him, it meant the Emperor's life was truly hanging by a thread.

Moreover, when Zion returned to the Imperial City, all immediate royal family members had already been summoned.

'The chronicles originally suggested the Emperor's death would come later.'

Where did it start to deviate?

He had assumed the general flow remained unaltered, but was he mistaken?

The Emperor's passing served as a kind of fork in the road.

Before that, power struggles among the royals and their noble followers took place behind the scenes, but after the Emperor's death, these conflicts would become glaringly obvious.

And in a more brazen form.

Naturally, this would speed up the Empire's descent into chaos.

'And the demons aren't far behind.'

Whether he knew it or not, the Emperor's presence had been a barrier. With that barrier gone, the demons would start to act more boldly.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Zion arrived at Urdios' bedroom without noticing, and the knights guarding the door greeted him.

"Welcome, Prince Zion."

The door swung open at once.

Zion stepped in without hesitation, joining the other direct royal family members, minus the first prince, and a few of the Emperor's closest confidants.

They didn't seem to have been there long as the room was still in a state of disarray.

Alongside this, a heavy aura of death permeated the room.

This aura was much stronger than the last time Zion had been here.

"You're really late for such a critical day..."

The fourth prince, Utekan, glanced towards Zion and spoke, his face unusually stern.

"If everyone's here, stop dawdling and come closer."

Emperor Urdios' voice rang out.

It was the same powerful voice as always, heavy enough to weigh down one's heart.

'Is he still okay?'

A flicker of doubt crossed Zion's eyes, but as he approached the bed and saw the Emperor's condition, the doubt vanished.

The wrinkles and dark circles on his face had spread much further than before, and his eyes were nearly white, barely discernible.

And his body was skeletal, nothing more than skin and bones.

Ten minutes.

That was how long Zion estimated the Emperor had left.

Perhaps the Emperor was experiencing that brief surge of vitality that sometimes comes just before death.

"You finally show up now that I'm dying. Of course, it's not because you're worried about me."

With a bitter smile, Emperor Urdios looked at the approaching princes and princesses and spoke.

"What are you suggesting, Father! How can we not be concerned when we see you in this state?"

Utekan shook his head as if the notion was absurd.

The Emperor, who had been studying the fourth prince with an odd look, spoke again.

"You articulate well, even with eyes like those."

Zion could infer what the Emperor meant by 'those eyes.'

Eyes devoid of even the bare minimum of emotion one would expect from a family member.

Not just Utekan, but the eyes of all the royal family members present carried the same indifference.

All, save for Evelyn.

"What you wish to hear is probably this: whether the heir I have chosen will change, and... who I will bequeath the remaining power I possess, such as the Agnes Knights."

"..."

Silence fell upon the room at those words.

They likely considered it pointless to deny what everyone already knew.

With a wry smile, Urdios spoke again, his voice steady and firm.

"The successor remains Zion. This will not change. As for my power, you all should vie for it once you ascend the throne."

"Your Majesty! That, that's...!"

Diana's eyes widened in disbelief at the Emperor's words.

To be fair, she could understand why he chose Zion as the heir and why he wouldn't surrender the Agnes Knights.

The successor named by the Emperor was a mere advantage, not a necessity, and the Agnes Knights couldn't issue commands unless they were enthroned.

However, this marked the first time in Agnes history he declined to pass on any other powers.

'Is he planning to take it all to the grave?'

Such a desire seemed excessively ambitious.

"I've said what I needed to say."

However, Urdios closed his eyes, displaying no intention of retracting his words.

Zion understood why the Emperor made this decision.

'There's no one he can trust.'

Because he couldn't ascertain who was involved with the demons.

In reality, all members of the royal family had ties with the demons, knowingly or unknowingly.

'Additionally, Utekan is already...'

Zion thought this, smirking as he glanced at the fourth prince.

"And everyone else except for Zion, step back."

The Emperor, opening his eyes again, spoke to the royal family.

"...!"

Once more, the eyes of the royal family members flickered.

Because Urdios was now indicating that he wished to spend his final moments in a private conversation with Zion.

No one present was oblivious to the importance of this.

"What the..."

However, since disputing wouldn't change anything, Diana, who had been glaring at Zion for a moment, hastily turned around.

Following her, Evelyn and Utekan also obediently retreated.

When only the two of them remained, Zion encased himself within the Black Star, effectively muffling any sound.

The Emperor appeared to have something he wanted to share with him privately.

"I've been following the news. It's almost unbelievable."

The Emperor wasted no time, affirming Zion's suspicion.

"You expressed interest in absorbing it, so I had to do at least this much."

"Is that so?"

The Emperor grinned subtly.

Zion sensed something different in Urdios' gaze this time.

Then.

Wheezing, wheezing.

The steady breathing of the Emperor began to grow ragged.

An indication that the temporary resurgence was nearing its end.

"The reason I wished for a private conversation is that there's something I want to confirm."

Urdios, cognizant of his declining physical condition, promptly broached the main topic.

"Proceed."

"Do you remember me stating that you were a demon the last time we met?"

At this, Zion gave a slight nod.

"But that doesn't seem to be the case. The darkness in your eyes. It's not a power that a demon could possess."

That's why Urdios kept ruminating.

About Zion's true identity.

Eventually, he arrived at a conclusion.

"Do you know? The Celestial Sea, the power of the Agnes family, is actually a substitute."

A fact only passed down to the Emperor of the Empire.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of surprise danced in Zion's eyes.

Such information had never been mentioned in the chronicles.

"The power wielded by the first Emperor, the Emperor of Eternity, was unique. Subsequent generations were unable to harness that power. Hence, the Celestial Sea was created as a replacement."

Urdios casually conveyed a fact that could cause a tremendous upheaval in the entire empire, including the imperial city, if revealed.

But what he intended to disclose was something else.

"Then, what exactly was the power used by the Emperor of Eternity?"

The Emperor already knew the answer.

Darkness.

It was darkness.

A form of alien darkness that stood apart from anything else in this world.

"The darkness I perceived in your eyes... Cough! I am certain that this darkness was the power harnessed by the Emperor of Eternity."

Blood trickled out as a dry cough escaped from Urdios's mouth.

His deteriorating physical state had reached its extreme, but the Emperor didn't cease speaking.

"That power couldn't be wielded or inherited by any other being. Yet, its transference implies... Cough! It implies only one thing."

It was preposterous.

Truly, utterly preposterous.

Yet the Emperor's intuition whispered to him that it was true.

"You... No, you are the Emperor of Eternity."

A highly speculative assertion, yet it closely aligned with the truth.

"..."

Zion didn't refute Urdios's claim.

While Zion couldn't yet determine whether the Emperor of Eternity mentioned in the chronicles was the same individual as him, he saw no reason to contest the dying Emperor's statement.

"Oh....!"

Urdios possibly perceived Zion's silence as an affirmation.

"Emperor of Eternity....!"

Awe filled the pallid eyes of the Emperor.

Urdios, momentarily at a loss for words, fixed his trembling gaze on Zion.

However, the utterance that soon tumbled from his lips didn't mirror such awe in the least.

"I'm sorry."

An apology.

A heartfelt apology.

"I'm sorry for failing to safeguard the Empire that you built."

A tempest of emotions, unseen until now, brewed within the Emperor's eyes.

The Empire was on the brink of dissolution.

The power was splintering with each passing day, the suppressed borderlands were baring their teeth, the clandestine manipulations of the demons were becoming increasingly malevolent, and the ensuing chaos continued to accelerate.

The sense of utter helplessness, as he could do nothing but lie in his sickbed and witness the unraveling, weighed heavily on his spirit.

The torment of watching the Empire, passed down through centuries, crumble under his reign was stifling.

But he could never exhibit that sentiment.

Because he was the Emperor.

Because he was the Emperor who, standing at the zenith of the Agnes Empire, had the duty to guide everyone.

And that's why Urdios could finally reveal his true emotions in the presence of Zion.

"Huuh, huuh...."

Even the act of breathing was becoming a struggle for the Emperor, who began to gasp for air.

"I know it's... awfully presumptuous, huuh.... But I have one request."

Urdios's eyes locked onto Zion's.

"Emperor of Eternity."

There was an intensity in his eyes that surpassed even desperation.

"Huuh, huuh please....."

Then, that intensity transformed into a plea and spilled from his lips.

"Please save this Empire."

With that final utterance, his breath stopped entirely.

So marked the end of Emperor Urdios, the ruler of this world and the most towering pillar that buttressed the Agnes Empire.

"The Empire will not crumble."

Whether this constituted salvation, he wasn't sure.

Zion softly murmured these words, staring into the Emperor's eyes that were slowly growing cold.