Acella was enchanted by Clairvoyance, looking at the world through the Emperor’s gaze.
She wanted to rush at Lars right then and there, but all she could do was watch a recorded scene, lacking any will of her own—a flaw of this magic.
A dragon legion poured forth from a hole in the sky.
As they spewed flames, the history built by the Empire turned to ashes in an instant.
“Isn’t it beautiful? The day the curse ends.”
Strangely, she described the scene as beautiful. She felt a sense of liberation and exhilaration. Surely, she had gone completely mad.
“Yeah, it’s a masterpiece.”
Lars, mocking her.
He didn’t have that sickly look on him now, but he appeared utterly exhausted.
He seemed to have resigned more than ever.
As if someone who had missed their last chance. Acella had never seen him give up, and her heart ached at the thought of what might have happened.
“…Prince Gothberg. I’ve hated you all my life, you know? Remember? We first met in the flower garden of your family mansion. I hated you with every fiber of my being that day.”
“Is that so?”
Their conversation was laden with words Acella couldn’t understand.
“How did you summon the dragon legion?”
“Ah, since it’s been a while, shall I tell you? I’ve reached the 8th tier, and there’s no one I can brag to. Look, this will be the base magic circle.”
He began to chatter excitedly.
The 8th tier. Something that surpassed every human in history, even the wise master—it was divine.
Did I really reach such a level?
Dragons, divine beasts. Looking at their forms, they weren’t simple low-level dragons like wyverns. They were undoubtedly an advanced form of Recall, perhaps even a higher magic.
If I hadn’t opened a Teleport Gate using a complex dimensional plane in the higher realms, it would be impossible to summon such transcendent demons in large quantities.
The fact that I did that single-handedly was unfathomable to Acella.
‘But, wait.’
No matter how she looked at it, the reason for using such magic seemed to be… to annihilate the Empire.
Acella soon grasped the underlying issue.
The reason Lars had despair was that all of his efforts had turned to dust in an instant.
And the cause was undoubtedly her.
The mad tyrant, Empress Acella.
“What do you think, healer? Isn’t the view perfect?”
Looking at the Central Square, Lars replied with a gaze filled with disdain.
“If only you weren’t here, it would have truly been perfect.”
The emotion burning in his eyes was unmistakable hatred.
For a moment, she wished he wouldn’t look at her like that, but the Emperor scoffed.
“Calling my name so casually—you’re no different from the fools who go mad at the end.”
She tilted her head.
“By the way, what was your name again?”
Whoosh!
Before she could even process the question, everything around her turned red.
The flame breathed from the dragon engulfed the insignificant human body, burning and melting it, meeting a terrible death.
Boom!
Acella found herself standing before a tree again.
Gasp, gasp, haaa!
She clutched her heart. With her head bowed, she watched the cool sweat dripping down to her feet.
“Did I… destroy the Empire?”
And in that last moment, Lars, who had been by her side, felt like she had killed him.
“W-what went wrong?”
Time twisted and warped, producing grotesque results.
That Emperor had definitely gone mad from the contamination of black magic.
Or perhaps he might just be an evil god wearing her skin.
Acella firmly believed that such a horrific end couldn’t possibly be her future, that Lars’s death wouldn’t be the case!
Crack!
She grasped another broken twig with all her might.
“Look! Citizens of the Empire! This is the pathetic sight of a defeated soldier who has betrayed the continent’s hopes!”
The hero party was dragged into the Central Square. None had a whole body.
Lars was among them. The healer, with his tattered robe, went wild upon seeing her.
“Empress! Why did you recklessly charge the allied forces? If it weren’t for that, our party would have had enough time to fight!”
“Pathetic hybrids who failed their important mission of defeating the Demon King can only talk back!”
She flicked her finger. Knights dragged Lars forward.
He looked utterly different from before. There was no sign of exhaustion or fatigue, and with an indignant attitude, he bellowed as if bursting with energy.
“We did our best! Do you have any idea how many times I tried to find a tactic to infiltrate the Demon King’s castle? Seventeen times! Seventeen times! You kept interfering, and only just now could Lishe confront the Demon King with full power! You must give us time to strategize!”
Lars yelled like a madman.
Acella marked him with her long nails, leaving a wound.
“It’s your turn first, healer.”
“W-what? Hey, hey! Empress Württemberg!!”
The knights seized him. Among the crowd gathered in the square, only those aligned with the mad Empress cheered.
As they cheered, swish, with a clean trajectory, Lars’s head fell.
Bang!
A thunderclap struck Acella’s head.
However, the Emperor merely rejoiced in the hero’s screams, sipping wine.
On the Imperial Palace gates, the heads of a hundred, including the hero party, fallen ministers, and citizens who had offended her, were displayed as decorations of their defeat.
It was only upon witnessing the beheading that the Emperor felt satisfied.
“Did you call for me, the light and darkness of the Empire, the great monarch?”
The one kneeling in the darkness before her was not a knight.
Acella recognized that disturbing robe. It belonged to the assassin that had targeted her.
The Shadow. A group of black magicians. Those the Emperor should never associate with.
“Cut the carotid artery. Make sure no one sees or hears.”
“And the targets?”
“Bury everyone except the hero and saint. Ah, that’s right. The first one is aimed at the healer.”
“Do you have a reason?”
The Emperor, trimming her nails with mana, blew out a breath. A sharp golden needle flew and lodged itself in the wall.
“He doesn’t greet me. I’ve never liked that man from the start.”
The assassin vanished, and not long after, he returned with Lars’s head packed as a trophy.
“The main forces of the allied army have been obliterated. At this rate, we won’t be able to stop the advancing enemy forces. They’ll rush into the Central Square in an instant.”
With the chief of staff conveying despairing news, the Imperial Family fell into shock.
It was the moment when defeat for the human realm was sealed due to the reckless preemptive charge ordered by the Emperor.
“Acella!!”
Crash, the door to the audience chamber burst open, and in walked Lars, disheveled.
“I told you not to move the army until we defeated the dragon! I’ve pleaded this in every round! You’re doing this on purpose, you devilish witch!!”
The knights restrained him as he strode forth.
The Emperor squatted down in front of him with a click-clack walk.
With a smile, she whispered.
“You ask a very natural question. Would I ever have an unintended failure?”
Crack, too hard, and Lars’s teeth shattered.
It was repeated over and over again.
The Emperor had destroyed the world countless times.
And each time, Lars died.
Acella’s spirit, watching it all, shattered piece by piece.
“What on earth is this?”
There was not a future where she became a saint anywhere.
There was no possibility of reviving the Empire.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
She thought the few times she had seen this were merely bad luck.
But, with the realization that most of the world’s ruin was caused by her, she couldn’t bear it.
No matter what, there couldn’t be a reason for her to want to destroy the world like this.
A reason…
If she had no inkling of it, it would be a lie.
At present, Acella had no honor or duty to uphold in the Empire. To her, the Empire was more like a sandcastle to toy with.
Even if the waves swept it away, she wouldn’t mind.
As long as the premise held that it was possible to build it beautifully until then.
But what if that sandcastle displeased her?
Let’s say it was because of an uncultured commoner, the selfish royal family, a cruel assassin, bloodless war, or…
Camilla.
If that witch had continued to distort her view of the world due to the curse in her womb, that pain, the anxiety and unease that only let her endure each day.
If she hadn’t found her beloved, and the only thing she could rely on was… magic.
The beach-blackened sandcastle might have risen even earlier.
Even if it created waves, it would have broken the castle and stood up.
“How do you feel, healer? Your schemes have all gone to waste because of me. Are you angry? Do you hate me?”
How many times had she watched the world end and Lars die?
The sight of corpses rolling around from the plague. As she gazed upon this, Lars’s expression had become serene.
The anger and bloodlust seen at first were relatively hard to find now.
“Hmm? Let me ask you. Do you want to swing that sword at me?”
The Emperor taunted Lars. Yet again, it was her unleashing the plague that led to the world’s destruction.
At that moment.
Lars turned to her, chuckling leisurely.
‘Huh?’
Somehow, it was a familiar expression to Acella.
“Haha, how could a pathetic person like me commit such treason, Your Majesty? More importantly, I can’t even touch you. I’ve already tried five times right here.”
His tone was teasing.
Having been so angry, he realized that getting mad wasn’t worth it and took to taunting her instead.
Suddenly, Acella felt a peculiar sensation, as though she might choke.
“Someone certainly seems to be talking nonsense like a madman.”
“Why don’t you try being in a hero party, Your Majesty? You’d lose your mind in no time. You’re good at magic too, how great would it be if you fought yourself? If you penetrated the Demon King’s brainstem with that ice spear, wouldn’t the citizens of the Empire shout your greatness, Your Majesty, all day long?”
“Are you suggesting I should be a bait for the Demon King?”
“Oh, you found me out. Haha.”
Swish, Lars took something out and tossed it into his mouth.
“What’s that?”
“Purgatory Flower seeds. I’ve been carrying them since about fifty rounds ago for times like these. They let you go relatively painlessly. You’re quite violent, after all. I guess I have to blame myself for messing up. Maybe I should go to Gishta first next round. That might be better.”
“Your symptoms are serious.”
“Well then, see you. No wait, if I can, it’d be better to not see you. You’re the person I hate most in this world, Acella.”
With a hearty smile, Lars collapsed, dying on the spot.
The Emperor shook her head with a troubled feeling and turned her back on his corpse.
In the quiet fields of corpses, where the wind gently caressed.
‘Ah.’
Only Acella despaired within herself.
‘Ah, ah.’
If she had the claws of her soul, she would have scratched her face until her bones were exposed.
‘Ahhhh, Aaaaahhhh!!!’
Acella realized.
‘Lars, Lars, Lars―!!’
Lars was repeating it.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.