SWNOVELXO Chapter 453
Even as I chased after the flash of magic, the uneasy feeling didn’t subside.
At some point, Shail, who had naturally joined us and was running alongside, looked at me and asked, “Total annihilation? What happened? Didn’t the Resistance say they were going to destroy the gate? Did they miscalculate the Emperor’s strength?”
I wish it were as simple as the Resistance being weak and underestimating the Emperor’s power. That would be a relief.
“No. The Resistance isn’t that weak, nor are they foolish.”
But I knew they had hidden strength far beyond what the Empire’s nobles had grasped. Having operated under the Empire’s radar for decades, each one of them was a seasoned warrior.
But did they misjudge the Emperor’s power? No, that couldn’t be. If anything, it was more likely that my party and I had underestimated the Emperor’s strength. They had been hiding in the shadows of the Empire for years, experiencing its power firsthand and observing it more accurately than anyone else. It was impossible for them to misjudge the Emperor’s power now.
“Then why did the plan fail?”
“…Perhaps, just as the Resistance was a hidden card for us, the Emperor also had something hidden.”
“…Something like what?”
“I don’t know.”
As we exchanged these brief words, we quickly arrived at the location where the tracking magic had been launched.
The place we arrived at was the very heart of the Imperial Palace, a forbidden area where only the imperial family and a select few permitted by the Emperor could set foot.
It was the Emperor’s residence.
Who would have thought he’d install a gate in his own living space?
The Emperor’s residence was large and spacious, with a view overlooking the entire capital, but that was all. The massive gate was nowhere to be seen.
But we didn’t stop, even as we doubted. The moment we stepped into the Emperor’s residence, the scenery around us shifted.
The overall silhouette remained the same, but the surroundings were filled with ancient Empire-style magical tools, spreading like the veins of a parasitic creature throughout the palace.
And at the center of these magical tools, on the highest floor of the Emperor’s residence, a massive blue gate pulsed.
“The scenery changed!”
“Those weren’t there before! What’s going on?”
“That… that’s the gate! How could such a huge gate go unnoticed until now!?”
The ancient Empire’s magical tools and the gate itself had revealed themselves in an instant.
Shail answered the shocked party, “It’s illusion magic. They used illusion magic like a veil to disguise the palace, making it appear unchanged from the outside. Now that we’re inside the veil, we can see the palace’s true form.”
“Indeed… Only those who aren’t of the imperial family can approach, and without approaching, the illusion can’t be pierced. That’s how they built the gate right in the heart of the capital without anyone noticing. No one would suspect the Emperor would install a gate in his own residence.”
As we stepped further into the Emperor’s residence, grotesque sights came into view.
Taxidermied beastkin and elves, looking as if they might come to life at any moment.
They were scattered throughout the Emperor’s residence in various poses—some terrified, some enraged, some bravely charging forward.
There was no order or consistency to their poses. It was unsettling.
Wait… could these be…?
“Taxidermied other races… How disgusting.”
“All that talk about respecting other races, and yet he fills his residence with these things. What a hypocrite.”
“…No. No, you’re wrong! These aren’t just taxidermies!”
The party, initially horrified by the taxidermies, soon realized something. Serena screamed as she noticed something about them.
“What do you mean? They’re not just taxidermies?”
“These… these people are the Resistance!”
“Wait! What are you talking about!?”
The things we thought were randomly scattered taxidermies in the Emperor’s residence…
They were all members of the Resistance who had been deployed today to overthrow the Emperor.
“What on earth… What happened here?”
“…They’re not breathing. They’re all dead.”
“This is horrifying. Turning people into taxidermies like this…”
Even though we’d seen our share of horrors as adventurers, the sight of people we’d just met at Tirbing’s mansion hours ago, now turned into taxidermies, was more shocking than anything we’d ever seen.
The party was speechless, their expressions indescribable as they looked at the taxidermied Resistance members.
“What’s so shocking? Didn’t they prepare for death when they decided to oppose the Empire? Whether they die by the sword or by magic turning them to stone, death is the same. Besides, we don’t have time to waste here. If we really care about them, destroying the gate should be our priority now.”
“You…! How can you say that…!”
“No. Shail is right. The Resistance’s sacrifice… We’ll honor them after we destroy the gate and end all this.”
“Kurt…”
The party wanted to shout at Shail’s heartless words, but this time, he was right.
If we cared about them… stopping here wasn’t what we should do.
We passed by the Resistance members turned into taxidermies by magic and headed to the top floor where the gate was installed.
…
…
…
The top floor of the Emperor’s residence.
The scene there was the most gruesome of all we’d witnessed on our way up.
Traces of a fierce battle were evident everywhere.
The number of Resistance members here far exceeded what we’d seen on the lower floors.
Even Tirbing’s closest elf servants, who had worked as maids in his mansion, were among them.
And…
In the midst of them, Tirbing, frozen in the act of casting a flash of magic.
Mari immediately rushed forward.
“Tirbing!”
She reached out to grab him, but he didn’t even feel his own daughter holding him. Like a mannequin, he fell to the ground with a thud.
“Dad… Dad…!!”
The word “Dad” she had longed to say, but Tirbing, now a taxidermied figure in the act of casting magic, couldn’t hear her.
“…Damn it.”
We had expected this when we received the signal of the Resistance’s annihilation, but…
We forced ourselves to look away and surveyed the battlefield.
This was the top floor.
There was nowhere higher to go.
Given the scale of the Resistance here, this must have been where the main battle took place.
Then the Emperor would be waiting for us here.
As we prepared for his ambush and scanned the battlefield, I spotted the Emperor in a place I never expected.
The Emperor, lying as if dead in the middle of the battlefield.
“The Emperor is down…!”
“Not just the Resistance, but even the Emperor is down. What on earth happened here?”
“Maybe he couldn’t stop the Resistance and resorted to a mutual kill in a last-ditch effort. If so, does that mean we just need to destroy the gate…?”
The party cautiously approached the fallen Emperor to check his condition, but he was truly unconscious.
Is this the end…?
After all, despite the great sacrifice of the Resistance’s annihilation, did the plan succeed?
Is this really the end…?
No. It can’t be.
Just before the Emperor teleported us to the underground prison, I definitely felt it.
The presence of the true caster of the spatial magic, not the Emperor, who had transformed the audience hall into a banquet hall…!
The Emperor is a trap!
Zzzt!
In an instant, my intuition, honed to its limits through training to face Newgoros, caught something.
“Get back! It’s a trap!”
The first to move were Shail Delphine, the Empire’s master, and I, who had sensed the Emperor’s true presence during our first meeting.
Swoosh!
I deflected the incoming firebolt with a spear infused with aura, while Shail, instead of defending, darted toward the direction of the firebolt with lightning speed.
Kaaang!
With the sound of the barrier shattering, the illusion magic hiding his presence also tore away, revealing him.
“Kehehe. So you’ve finally made it this far.”
It was a grotesquely twisted existence.
Like a dried-up old tree, it seemed as though a body that should have died long ago was being forcibly kept alive and made to move.
“But your hopes will not come true. Just like all who have set foot in this palace today. Just like all who have stood in the Empire’s way until now.”
The voice of the being, clad in a jade robe adorned with geometric patterns reminiscent of ancient Empire ruins, was nothing like the Emperor’s. It was a withered, twisted voice, like squeezing a dry old tree.
But I immediately realized.
The owner of that voice was the true specter of the ancient Empire, the one who had been manipulating the Emperor like a puppet and ruling the Empire for over a century.
“Finally, we meet. The owner of that damned notebook. It’s been a long time coming.”
The stubborn connection I had stumbled upon at the start of my journey.
The time to put an end to it had come.