SWNOVELXO Chapter 458
First.
Who is the only one in the Dragnity Empire who can speak of judgment?
The one who holds the absolute power to judge even the nobles of the empire.
An absolute judgment magic that ignores any noble’s resistance and penetrates defensive magic.
If there is anyone who can wield it, it is the right of the one who stands at the pinnacle of the empire.
Why does Liche’s family refuse contact with the outside world and live secluded in the forest?
It is the nature of wizards to reject contact with the secular world and build a closed society among themselves.
Because, during the Dragnity Empire, wizards nearly destroyed the world by opening a gate, and thus had to bear the resentment of ordinary people.
But even they formed communities among their own kind or lived hiding their identities.
Even Joyra’s family, who were high-ranking nobles in the Dragnity Empire, built a village and interacted with others.
Of course, living in a community with others is more comfortable than living alone.
However, Liche’s family was particularly extreme in this regard, even avoiding contact with other wizards.
As if they had committed an unforgivable sin even among wizards.
Second.
Why did Andelia’s divine soldiers suddenly start serving Liche?
Liche thought it was because she inherited the blood of a wizard from the ancient empire’s nobility, but was that all?
Would Sharl serve her just because she was a wizard of noble blood?
Andelia’s divine soldiers, like the words of a specter, were created from the beginning to protect the imperial palace and the royal family.
Simply being a descendant of nobility would not give her higher priority than protecting the ruins of the ancient empire’s imperial palace.
But in reality, the moment Sharl met Liche, he decided to serve her, even abandoning the protection of the imperial palace.
Then why did Sharl decide to serve Liche?
Sharl decided to serve Liche the moment he found her fighting slave hunters outside the ruins, not when he first met her in the ancient empire’s ruins.
But the first meeting between Sharl and Liche was in the ancient empire’s ruins. At that time, even though Liche was a wizard, he did not care and drew his sword towards Kurt’s group.
What was the difference between the Liche seen in the ancient empire’s ruins and the Liche fighting slave hunters?
The magic Liche used against the slave hunters that day was clearly the judgment of the Everlight family, a hereditary magic passed down through her family.
From the moment the divine soldier of the ancient empire, known to be loyal only to the imperial palace and the royal family, abandoned the ruined imperial palace and swore loyalty to Liche, it was something that could be easily noticed.
Clarice Dragnity Everlight.
She is the one who holds the most important key to fulfilling Lakia’s prophecy.
The specter cried, laughed, and screamed.
And then knelt down.
“…The last imperial mage of the Dragnity Empire pays homage to the legitimate successor of the Dragnity Everlight imperial family.”
There were 12 minutes left until the time the emperor had promised to make the announcement.
.
.
.
The specter knelt and wept.
Neither combat nor the gate concerned him.
What mattered most to him was the survivor of the imperial family who had lived through countless times.
“Ahhh… The blood of the Dragnity imperial family… Truly, truly it still remains! This is also the grace of His Majesty the Emperor!”
“…Am I really the princess?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I swear by the loyalty of the imperial mage, I would never mistake the imperial bloodline magic.”
It was a bewildering statement, but it had to be true.
The specter had no reason or need to deceive Liche.
Liche, who almost lost her mind from the unexpected information, soon regained her composure.
The secret of her bloodline was not important to her.
The ancient empire that had already fallen long ago.
Moreover, a bloodline that had to change its name and hide because it nearly destroyed the world by opening a gate, what pride could there be in that now?
She had something more important.
“What does it matter? The Dragnity Empire is already gone. What value does a princess of an empire with no country or people have?”
With that, Liche cautiously baited the specter.
But the specter, half-delirious, did not even notice that Liche was testing him and urgently spoke.
“Your Highness! How can you say such a thing! If Your Highness wishes, I will remove the emperor and crown you as empress immediately! No, I will offer the Spine Empire to Your Highness right now!”
He was trapped in the era of the ancient empire, in both good and bad ways.
Still remembering and acting as if the fallen empire still existed.
He was a specter.
To him, Liche’s existence was the only anchor connecting him to the Dragnity era he remembered, a lost child of time in an unfamiliar era.
That’s why he treated her with an abnormally respectful attitude, even though he had looked down on her just moments ago.
No matter how distant a descendant Liche was, with a lineage so far removed that even her genealogy was unknown, denying her was akin to denying himself.
“I have no interest in the Spine Empire. I only have one request for the imperial mage.”
“Please speak! Whatever it is, I will fulfill it even if it costs my life!”
“What I want is simple. I wish for the imperial mage to close the gate and no longer harm the other races living in this world.”
“…What? What do you mean, I don’t understand…”
“I’ll say it again. Imperial mage, dismantle the gate now.”
“….”
Even if her bloodline magic could penetrate the specter’s barrier, it was now impossible to physically defeat him.
So instead, she used the authority of the royal family to command the specter.
It was a pitiful plan relying entirely on the specter’s loyalty, but it was the only way she could act.
The specter, who had been crying and laughing like a madman, sending affectionate glances at Liche, suddenly stopped as if time had frozen.
“Y-Your Highness. Please give another command. Th-The gate is a project I have devoted my entire life to. The gate is the only way to return the world to the era of the Dragnity Empire!”
“No. It’s sad for you, but the Dragnity Empire is already gone. The era now is not for those you remember. The era of the Dragnity Empire will never return.”
“Wh-why… Why of all people, Your Highness… Why would you say such a thing…”
“What you are doing is just a long denial of reality.”
The specter turned as pale as ash upon hearing Liche’s words.
Having his very reason for existence denied, the specter seemed to have lost his soul, more lifeless than the resistance fighters or adventurers he had preserved.
The specter could not refuse Liche’s command.
Having spent his entire life reminiscing about the Dragnity Empire and denying reality, if he now denied Liche, the symbol of the Dragnity Empire, he would truly have nothing left.
But he could not stop the gate.
Building the gate was his act of denying the current era and trying to return to the past, an act of escapism. Stopping the gate and leaving the numerous other races in this world as they were, as Liche said, meant affirming the current era where various races coexist and denying the Dragnity era where only humans and beastkin existed.
No matter what choice he made, the specter would ultimately have to destroy what he had believed in all his life with his own hands.
He had to end his long escapism and accept that their era was over.
“I command you by the name of the Dragnity Everlight family, please, stop the gate.”
“Gasp, gasp…! Gasp…!”
Liche’s command choked the specter like chains.
The specter suddenly realized he couldn’t breathe.
Tick tock
There was no escape.
The reality he had been running from was now catching up to him.
“Please…”
“Gasp…! Gasp…!”
Tick tock
Tick
Remaining time, 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
“…!”
And the specter.
Chose to run away again.
A betrayer who has betrayed once can betray again.
This is something both the betrayed and the betrayer know.
“Kuh, kuhuhu. Your Highness. That is impossible. Your Highness is being influenced by associating with other races and making misguided judgments.”
“You…!”
“It is the duty of a servant to stop the master from walking the wrong path. Therefore, I cannot grant Your Highness’s request.”
“Are you really going to oppose me?”
In the end, with the negotiations broken, Liche sadly raised her staff.
“Step back, Liche. I’ll take the front.”
And in the unexpected turn of events, Kurt, who had been watching, also stepped forward with his spear.
“Hahaha! No! I will not oppose Your Highness!”
But the specter instead laughed madly and spread his arms.
As if he had no intention of opposing her.
“Do you think you can face us without any resistance, even if only the two of us remain?”
“That’s not it! Hahaha! I would love to slowly persuade Your Highness with words, but unfortunately, there is no time left!”
“Time? There should still be a little over 10 minutes left until the scheduled announcement time at the imperial palace.”
“No. The announcement time is the time it takes to send all the other races back to their original world through the gate. Since the gate’s range is worldwide, it takes that much time to send the other races back even after the gate activates.”
“Wait, that means…”
“The gate will open 10 minutes before the scheduled announcement time!! Kuhahaha!”
The specter said this and laughed madly with his arms spread.
It was a laugh declaring victory.
“Damn it! That can’t be!”
Kurt fiercely charged and glared at the clock on the specter’s chest.
Tick tock
Tick
Tock
Remaining time.
10 minutes.
Instantly, the space above their heads began to crack like broken glass.
The moment they felt fragments were about to fall, a massive dimensional gate opened.
And everything was engulfed in darkness.