Chapter 187 – Emperor (1)

000

“Cain!”

Hearing a woman’s voice calling his name, the man turned around.

Wearing a clean imperial officer’s uniform. How many medals he wears on his chest, and how he wears a wide-brimmed hat on his head.

He is the commander of several divisions in the empire, and at the same time, he is no longer an orphan without parents or a family name, but a human with status and power.

And-

“No… Should I call you Cain Lupus Regios from now on?”

Saying that, the woman who seemed to be teasing herself and at the same time looked a little relieved was Cain’s old boss and his supporter.

She is Yurdina Flairis, older sister of Hugh Tina Flairis, now one of Cain’s wives.

She too, although she was later promoted to a position higher than that of a provincial commander.

Compared to Cain, who has been rapidly promoted, he is now in the position of Cain’s subordinate.

Unlike Hugh Tina, who likes her her flashy outfits, she cut her natural hair color brown short.

Wearing a dress suitable for a banquet hall, she exuded a more mature charm.

Since she herself has already reached the age of marriage, people around her also talk about her marriage to her, but she herself does n’t seem to have any thoughts about it.

The ring finger of her left hand was still empty.

“Mrs. Yurdina.”

“You still call me honorifics. Now your position is much higher.”

Yurdina, who seemed oddly pleased with Cain’s attitude towards her, gave a small smile while covering her mouth her with her hand.

“Today is your improvement celebration party. Wouldn’t it be okay to have a slightly brighter expression? Like Yuna and Tiara… Talking with the other kids too.”

Saying that, she pushed up the brim of Cain’s tightly pressed hat with her index finger and examined his face.

Cain’s eyes his, hidden beneath it, were as cold as ice compared to when he enlisted in the Imperial Army 10 years ago.

“…”

“War turns a person’s heart into a barren wasteland. Wow. It’s a well-made sentence. It’s the people around you’s role to support it. But what the hell is your heart drying up with?”

Cain looked at Yurdina in the eyes without saying a word, then she stepped back, pressing the brim of her hat once more.

“Are they here too?”

“Yes, of course. Each of them is doing their own thing in the Imperial Army. I think you were frustrated that you didn’t contact me at all.”

“I’m glad if everyone is doing well. Tell them I’m doing well too.”

Hearing that, Yurdina blinked her eyes and looked up at Cain with her arms crossed.

The last time I met him in person, he was a few centimeters lower than his eye level, but now I have to raise his head to make eye contact.

“Are you already giving orders as your boss?”

“That…”

“…Are they your family?”

At Yurdina’s words, Cain just stood still without saying anything.

“…They’re in the ballroom downstairs. They can’t come in until here, which is for nobles. Say hello properly.”

“…Yes.”

When Cain heard Yurdina’s words, he turned around and headed for the stairs as if he couldn’t help it.

[Aren’t you going to make that woman completely yours? A family like Hutti or Flareless… She’s It’s a perfect target to further expand your status.]

Hearing Pandora’s tempting voice, Cain stops her and looks back at Yurdina.

It was the first time to see her in a dress, but she was a different woman’s charm from her younger sister her Hugh Tina, who was praised as beautiful and the beauty of Gyeongguk.

Naturally, she didn’t neglect training on a regular basis, and she had the well-trained muscles of a warrior.

No matter who the opponent is she, she has a straightforward attitude that does not change her response her, and yet she is a talented woman who has a strategy plan that can reliably read the game.

She wasn’t asking if what Pandora was talking about was simply not counting the ‘imprint of domination’.

Already, the imprint of Cain’s rule was engraved on her. Although it is a thing of the seed stage to the last.

By forming a lasting relationship and injecting Cain’s dark magic, she gradually makes her body and mind dependent on Cain.

And, by making him a being in a cage that can never escape from Cain, his imprint her fully blooms.

The soul is absorbed by Pandora, and Yurdina’s ego her and everything disappears, turning her into a mere outer shell.

Pandora said let’s do it, she was whispering to Cain.

Just like she has been to a few people before.

“…What’s wrong? Cain.”

However, Yurdina looked at Cain looking at her as if it were a little strange, and she asked.

“No. Nothing.”

In contrast, Cain turned her body around and went down her stairs as if nothing had happened.

Pandora’s yawn sounded like it wasn’t funny.

As she started to descend the stairs, a sharp-looking man who was talking to the women below her looked up at Cain and said, ‘Oh!’

His name His is Otis.

As one of Cain’s direct subordinates and a member of his platoon during the military academy, Otis had his unique sociability, quick-wittedness, and skills that were second to none in terms of force.

In Cain’s eyes, he was still by his side aiding him.

More than anything else, Cain thought that his eloquence was his strong point.

“Look, everyone! The person who is descending into this banquet hall is the mysterious ruins that have repeatedly driven the proud expeditionary force of the Empire into the abyss of failure and agony. Conquer the dungeon of the Black Star! The grace of the Emperor’s Majesty Accept it, become his adopted son, and the great general who will lead the future empire! It’s His Excellency Cain Rufus Regius!”

As the man proudly raised his voice in praise of Cain, applause spread so loudly that it filled the banquet hall.

Incidentally, he also suggested organizing an improvement party to commemorate conquering the dungeon of the Black Star.

Cain thought of just passing on quietly, but he said he had to let everyone know about his great achievements.

For Cain, who repeatedly builds his reputation like a machine and rises to a higher position with it, Otis played a large role in maintaining his reputation.

Even Otis didn’t seem to grasp what Cain’s true purpose was.

When Cain reached the top of the stairs and looked at Otis, Otis knelt with his hand on one of his breasts.

“Otis.”

“Yes, Cain. What do you need?”

“Recite a poem for His Majesty the Emperor. All my credit belongs to him.”

“Leave it to me! Now, everyone. From now on, this humble clown Otis will recite a poem in praise of the Emperor, so please listen!”

As Otis proudly spreads her arms, she begins to recite a poem for the emperor in a loud voice, pasting ornate rhetoric.

While everyone’s eyes were on him, Cain walked slowly, approaching the three women who were watching him from the corner of the banquet hall.

“…Cain.”

It was`Lisa` who called her her name with the meaning of her longing and affection towards Cain who came close to her.

She was of mixed blood with a harpy, and her back was small, but her wings were her sprouted, so she was a little more exposed than the others because she was wearing a banquet dress with a cut back.

Her silvery hair was down in a plait and glistened beautifully in the moonlight coming in from outside her window.

“It’s been a while, Cain. When was the last time I saw you…”

‘Yuni’ was also wrapped in a white dress with one side of her long pink hair pulled back.

Somewhere, she is characterized by a skirt that looks like a flower bud, and she must be older than the other two.

Her cute impression of her didn’t fall off, and she even looked a little younger.

“The graduation ceremony of the military academy. I went with a group to Yurdina-sama to go see it. Did you forget?”

Finally, a tiara with blue hair rolled back.

Where did her introverted personality her in her childhood her go? She was wearing a revealing blue dress similar to the color of her hair, with a white coat over it.

Compared to her other two her, she’s taller, and her curvature her is feminine, so even comparing her to Pandora would be a good match.

“Wow…! That’s already happening. Then, it was five or six years ago…!”

When Yuni held her hand and smiled at her, Lisa nodded her head as well.

Unlike her childhood, they became calm as adults and grew into people who could do a good job under Yurdina.

Yuni is the vice-captain of the Sisters of Combat, the only healing unit of the Imperial Army.

Lisa is a member of a special operations unit that specializes in subduing and capturing monsters.

Tiara is brilliantly active in the Empire’s research institute, and she is a mage and scholar whose name has been heard many times by Cain.

“Did Yurdina-sama tell you to come and see us?”

When Tiara said that, Cain looked at her for a moment and then nodded her head.

“…Yes. I thought so.”

“Yeah, thanks Cain for coming to see me. Because it’s in a great location… It must be hard to talk to commoners like us now.”

“…I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

Both Yuni and Lisa were a little disappointed with Cain’s attitude of his, but they convinced themselves that there was nothing they could do about it.

To be honest, it was because the changed Cain felt like a stranger.

But as far as the tiara goes, she looks into Cain’s eyes and she shuts her mouth for a moment, then she asks.

“Revenge for Sensei and Abel. You didn’t give up.”

When Tiara said that, the other two looked at Cain with her eyes wide open.

Cain was talking while looking at the tiara.

“Yes. I never forgot or gave up even once. I will definitely make them pay the price.”

“Even if it causes a war between the Empire and the Kingdom and results in the deaths of many people?”

Tiara and Cain’s eyes met.

The tiara’s intelligent eyes, like ice, and Cain’s eyes filled with the flames of hatred and revenge seemed to contrast.

“Yes. While I came to say hello, I just came to tell you a story.”

“A story…?”

Cain was to put her thoughts into her mouth, emotionless.

“Leave the empire. With Yurdina-sama.”

“What-“

When Yuni tries to ask what she’s talking about, Cain interrupts her and continues.

“Soon the empire will be blown with blood. Make sure that no part is out of my reach… After that, it will be a war. I will attack the kingdom.”

“… Wait, Cain. That’s-“

“If you interfere, I will kill you.”

Lisa’s face froze at Cain’s words her. It was by shock and by horror.

“That’s… You’re saying that because you know we can’t get in your way, right?”

When Yuni calmly asks, Cain nods her head.

“I don’t mean to underestimate you guys. Yes. You guys are already beyond the point of being stopped. The fact that I’m telling this to others means that no one can stop my plans.”

“…Through.”

Tia scratched her head as she clicked her tongue.

“Such- if you start a war, the children?!

“…”

Lisa, who rarely expresses her own feelings, could n’t help but pour out her emotions her on her drum her. Cain didn’t say anything or move her head her. As if she had no value in the question.

But Tia holds back Lisa with one arm, and she replies as if she had expected Cain’s reaction to her.

“You’ve been swallowed up by power, Cain.”

“…”

“Lilim and Pandora must have encouraged you. If you need power, rule it. See humans not as humans, but as numbers and tools and devour them. Yurdina-sama’s engraving on her body must have been done by you as well. ?”

“…”

“…Telling us to leave. Is it the last bit of humanity left in you?”

[Noisy child…]

As Pandora’s dark energy starts to flow out, Tiara spreads her magical defense and tries to distance her from her.

The next moment, Cain grabs Pandora and completely suppresses her power her.

“… Cain.”

“If you know that far, then you should make your own decisions from now on, T-ara. This is the last thing I can tell you as a family.”

“Why do you want to do that? Is it because of resentment or vengeance?”

Cain didn’t answer any of her Uni’s questions to her and turned her away.

“…If it’s family, tell me…!”

Lisa tried to hold on to Cain, but Cain only walked out of her place her, not looking back and telling her to be quiet.

“I told you. The previous one is the last story.”

With that said, she left the noisy banquet hall.

001

“People see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and feel what they want to feel.”

The act of spitting out the smoke while giggling while holding a pipe in your mouth and removing it.

Even though he was an adopted son, it was not an acceptable rude thing to do in front of a man who became the prince.

She had blue hair similar to a tiara, but she wore an eyepatch over her eyes and was as tall as or slightly taller than Cain.

She had a difficult personality that did not match her beautiful appearance of her, but the mark of Cain’s dominion was engraved on her cheek of her.

“Baal.”

“Did I say something wrong? They probably thought you said it for them. But the truth is different. You were trying to rid the empire of beings that could be your weak points. I understand that I can’t kill you, but I mean.”

“…”

Their insight, called Megiddo’s clan, was of great help to Cain, but sometimes they trample on people’s hearts at will and touch his nerves.

“Have you forgotten? I’m here with you to tell you this. So that the source of your strength, ‘loneliness in your heart’, won’t disappear because the other guys hate you too much.”

“Shut up, continue interpreting the slate.”

In the depths of the dungeon of the Black Star that Cain conquered, there was a slab containing records from the primitive world.

The Megiddo clan is a being that has inherited the traditions of the ancients. Among them, Baal, the daughter of the current chieftain, was the best summoner of demons and the number one in the ancient language within the clan.

In the first place, it was Baal himself who asked me to clear this dungeon in order to find out her records.

“Lilim will be waiting for you at home. Today, too, you must be alone comforting yourself in bed, waiting for your return.

“If you talk any more, I’ll cut your tongue out. Focus on finding out if there’s any record of Adam’s current location.”

Baal shrugged her shoulders at the presence of the terrifying greatsword he felt behind her, but did not lower her one hand that was placed on her slate her.

While Baal was interpreting, Cain pondered the word Adam and remembered what happened in the past.

002

The first time Cain learned that he was Adam was when she was a cadet at the military academy.

When she visited there as an exchange student program with the academy, she found it while searching through the records left by her benefactor to her, `Teacher.’

“Adam must be found and destroyed.”

‘The present kingdom is just a puppet of Adam.’

… The same record is written on it, so she even sneaked into the Forbidden Library to gather information in order to further investigate its existence.

After all, she couldn’t get any information from the Forbidden Library, though.

However, on another occasion Cain came across information about Adam.

While investigating Adam, she heard the story from Baal, a young girl she met.

“A machine that creates humans…?”

Even when she first heard her story of her, she could n’t easily believe Cain.

However, Baal delivered all the stories related to the ‘throne’ and ‘Adam’ to Cain.

“Adam is an artificial spirit and a machine that has gone mad. It was created in the primitive world and mass-produced humans to be used as weapons of war. It’s the result of being injected with.”

“What’s his purpose?”

In the past, when Cain asked such a question, Baal closed her mouth for a moment, but then she quickly raised the corner of her mouth and answered.

“To become a human god.”

She said that it was not necessary to be a human to reach the throne.

Naturally, it was decided that when Adam reached the throne, the current world would be destroyed and a new world created where he would reign as the ruler.

Therefore, the clan of Megiddo had been searching for Adam’s whereabouts for a long time, and in the process, it was said that they had barely succeeded in finding ‘Cain’, a soul created by ‘Eve’ and repeating reincarnations, as a rival to Adam.

“Adam is the one who created the ancestors of all humans in this succession world… He has dominion over the beings he created. Only two people can completely escape from that. ‘Lilim, who has a soul purely created by Eve. ‘ And ‘Cain’ or, just your former lives.”

At first he tried to ignore it by saying he didn’t care.

After all, Cain’s goal was to get revenge on Abel and her teacher.

The lingering feelings for what the teacher could not accomplish… I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t completely there.

Revenge against Lucius Chaldearis was more important than that.

“Adam has been manipulating the great events of history from behind the scenes. He skillfully turned all human beliefs towards him. He created a world of humans by separating humans from the spirit gods. Conflicts big and small do.”

“…”

“Besides. Irregulars with weak self-control… When mutants were born, they got rid of them somehow. For example, your teacher or… The prince of the you called your brother.”

“Teacher… Abel…? But, that’s Lucius-“

Baal shook his head in response to Cain’s words his.

“That’s how things turned out to be. It’s impossible for Adam himself to forcibly control his mind and make him carry out his own commands. It’s just that, to the extent that he induces the direction of his thoughts to turn in that way. Of course… That’s not the case either. Although it is impossible to invent desires at will.”

“In other words… Are you saying that it was Lucius who killed Abel… And ‘Adam’ who caused the situation to move him that way?”

“Yes. The illusion I showed you. Also, if you read all of your teacher’s records, would you believe it?”

“…Where is he?”

Cain’s anger is directed at another target. Baal answered with a raised corner of his mouth.

“Adam has a high probability of being close to a being who can exert a strong influence on the continent. For example… He is the king of the kingdom.”

Being close to Lucius, Lucius was controlled by Adam to kill Abel.

Then it was clear what had to be done.

Destroy even Adam, somewhere in the kingdom- near the king.

003

“Hey Cain. The decoding is over.”

As she quietly organized her thoughts, Baal’s voice flew in and looked at her. Baal was sitting on her slate and smiling at her.

“How was it?”

“As expected. Here, there is a record of what happened to Adam. It seems to be a replica of the ‘Emerald Tablet’… It is an item that records various incidents that occurred here.”

“I don’t like magazines like that. I’m asking what happened to Adam.”

Baal let out a sigh and dropped her cigarette to the ground.

“As expected, Adam is in the king’s capital ‘Elkerd’. That’s also in the royal castle. Of course, there was no kingdom or capital at the time he was transferred, so it’s a story of coordinates.”

“…I see. I’m glad my work hasn’t changed.”

“It’s not only that. There is also a record of the Dark Demon clan here. Adam must have been afraid of you who were not under his control. You’ve been tampering with history.”

“It’s new, so I’m not surprised.”

Cain talked to her there, and then got close to her Baal her and raised her up.

“I’m going back to the system right now. The remaining process is the next four.”

“Four? Take the seat of emperor. Wage war with the kingdom. Destroy Adam. Isn’t that the end?”

When Baal says, there’s one more thing about her, Cain looks back at her.

“Yes… If he has been manipulating this world to his liking until now. This world itself can be said to be a product of him… That world is a lie. Sensei and Abel are the victims of such lies. If you had to lose your life as a lie, you’d need to put an end to that lie.”

When Cain talked to that point, Baal shut her mouth for a moment, then opened her mouth wide and laughed again.

“Yes! That’s how it should be! That’s how it’s worth telling! The black beast that will devour the world…! The constellation of your destiny isn’t wrong as expected!”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Baal let out a laugh that drained his throat.

“Once he occupies the throne, he can recreate the world at will. Right?”

“Okay.”

“Then. I can recreate the current world as I know it…With the dead humans brought back to life.”

“Right.”

[…

“If that’s the case. Do your best for that. Baal. I will end the mission given to your clan.”

“I don’t like a mission like that. I just want to see the world change with the knowledge we impart.”

004

“Whoa…”

Early moning.

Yurdina left the empire with three of her disciples and was walking along the borders of the kingdom.

It’s already been a week without a break.

As a member of the proud Imperial Army, I thought it was completely incomprehensible to leave the military and the country.

The murder of His Majesty the Emperor, which takes a lot. Cain, who became emperor after him.

Establishment of a demonic sword unit made up of black demon clans.

A policy of gathering minority clans and accepting them into the Empire.

And because of the earnest request of the three people, he was convincing himself that it was unavoidable.

“There must be a village near here. It’s a border area, but… It’s a village without anything, so Cain won’t be aiming for this place either.”

Saying so, Tiara looked at the map.

First, the four of them moved to a suitable village, and then, as I had said before, the other Orpheans children were planning to cross the border one by one.

“Ah! There’s a kid over there. Shall we ask him a little?”

Yuni, who was going ahead of her, spots her blonde girl and runs to her.

“Hey! We’re looking for a place to settle down near here… Do you, by any chance, know?”

“You can go over there.”

When Lisa looked in the direction the girl was pointing her finger, she could see smoke rising from the chimney, albeit very light.

“That seems right.”

At that time, a growing sound came from the girl.

Yurdina approaches such a girl and meets her at eye level.

“Have you not had breakfast yet?”

“…There is no breakfast. Everyone, there is not much to eat. The adults said ‘famine’.”

Except for Yurdina, the three of them kept their mouths shut. ‘Famine’ was also the cause that made the three orphans.

“Most of the famines are caused by changes in soil quality and excessive farming.

“Yeah. And if you pray, things will get better.”

When T-ara and Yuni said that, the girl tilted her head in disbelief.

Yurdina took out a small piece of bread from her bag and handed it to the girl.

“Go, thank you… !”

“…A place where even these kids don’t have enough to eat… There must be a lot to do.”

“I’ll help you! Even if you look like this, you’re strong!”

When the girl said that and clenched her fist, Yurdina smiled bitterly and stroked the girl’s head.

“…You look only 10 years old… What’s your name?”

“I’m Lesia!”