Ku gugugugu─
All he did was draw up energy, but the atmosphere around him erupted.
Even the seated crowd couldn’t help but squirm in their seats, desperate to break free.
Pahsak!
The ice that Ezekiel froze shattered into nothingness.
“…”
Ezekiel blinked quietly and swallowed dryly.
The emperor drew up a tremendous amount of energy. It meant only one thing.
At last, the time had truly come for him to bear the consequences.
In the very next moment…
“…What’s happening!”
“Has it already started!”
“What nonsensical act!”
Voices filled with astonishment echoed as familiar faces stood at the edge of the execution ground. All the princesses except the 4th princess, and Arcne peeked out as well.
However, there would be no reunion between Ezekiel and them.
Suuuuuuu─
A dome-shaped barrier enclosed the emperor and Ezekiel. It perfectly blocked everything from seeing or hearing outside and inside.
Paang!
“Ugh!”
The 5th princess was immediately flung out of the dome-shaped barrier.
In a way, it was fortunate.
It was a one-on-one fight between Ezekiel and the emperor, after all.
‘…I need to closely observe the emperor’s abilities.’
The emperor’s powers were still unknown. But once he began to understand them properly, it might become the key to victory in some manner.
Ezekiel poured all his focus into his sensitivity to energy.
Thud─ Thud─
That was when the emperor began to approach.
His footsteps were light, but the aftershocks were anything but. The ground shook as if it were trembling, reverberating with a thunderous sound.
Thud─ Thud─ Thud─
The emperor had no form, which meant he bore no expression. There was a blend of confidence and antiquity, as if he regarded his existence merely as a natural disaster.
Thud─ Thud─ Thud─
The emperor hadn’t done anything yet.
He was simply starting to walk towards Ezekiel.
“…”
It was a pressure so intense that it was hard to maintain his sanity.
Suddenly, the emperor spoke.
“To be honest, I was a bit curious. Now that you’ve mentioned treason, I wondered if you could actually follow through with it…”
The emperor finally halted his steps.
Only then did the overwhelming pressure that seemed to distort the very planet fade away.
Ezekiel quickly caught his breath. Fortunately, he confirmed that all his elementals nearby his heart were safe one by one.
“…I’m still disappointed. Disappointed. All you’ve done is down that Sun Elixir before coming here.”
“You speak of the Sun Elixir as if it’s nothing.”
“It isn’t much. What truly makes a person strong is something else altogether. Non-physical entities, to be precise.”
As he spoke, the emperor slowly flexed his hand.
Then, a heat hazy energy gathered in both of his hands.
“Seems like we’re short on time, so let’s have a quick chat. You’ve taken a large amount of Sun Elixir at once. You know you can’t handle the side effects, right?”
The emperor asked calmly.
“You’ve effectively committed suicide already. I’m genuinely curious what mindset led you to that decision.”
“To avoid losing.”
Ezekiel replied with equal calmness.
In truth, he was a mess inside.
His insides were trembling. The awakening effect was so intense that he could hardly blink his wide-open eyes. He had consumed an excessive amount of the Sun Elixir.
And even with that much intake, he couldn’t assure victory against the opponent right in front of him.
Ezekiel struggled to adapt to his current physical condition as he barely managed to speak.
“…I won’t lose anything today.”
“That’s impossible.”
The emperor shook his head quietly.
“When I first became the emperor of the empire, I thought the same way as you. I wanted to create a blissful empire without losing anything. However, you know well that such a thing doesn’t exist.”
“As for the empire, I’m not asking for that much. Just the lives of the princesses is enough.”
“No, that is already too generous for you.”
Ezekiel began to draw on his energy frantically, as if he would never back down. The ground kept freezing and thawing, repeating the cycle, even without any action.
Did the emperor sense the sincerity in his gaze?
Slowly, the emperor nodded.
“…You’ve worked hard all this time, Ezekiel.”
It was a remark that felt like a brief farewell.
For just a fleeting moment, it seemed as though the emperor adjusted his posture. It was so brief that it couldn’t be visually tracked.
The next moment…
“…!”
Ezekiel’s vision was filled with the emperor’s fist.
In an instant, the atmosphere shifted, and the emperor’s fist reached right to Ezekiel’s nose.
‘…Focus. Give it your all!’
As he unleashed all the energy within him to its extreme, the split second felt stretched incredibly long.
Ezekiel concentrated all his power on the ‘ice’ element. He intended to defend himself first.
Blocking the initial blow would suffice.
Thus, a wall of ice rapidly formed between the emperor’s fist and Ezekiel’s face. The moment he was certain he had successfully defended himself…
Chak!
The emperor’s fist merely made contact with the ice wall.
A massive shockwave didn’t erupt, nor did the ice wall shatter into pieces.
The fist just rested against the wall.
“…?”
A question clouded over Ezekiel’s face.
What on earth was the intent behind this attack?
Suddenly, he began to think too much about the opponent. After Ezekiel dispelled the ice wall and quickly retreated to create distance…
Pachik.
It was the sound resonating in his head.
“…?”
While he didn’t feel pain, Ezekiel couldn’t help but blink. The sensation he had just felt was something so foreign that he had never experienced in his life.
Afterward, he tried to summon the ice element again.
But it didn’t come as he wished.
How does one use the ice element again?
Ezekiel pondered.
…
After a long while, Ezekiel finally summoned the ice element.
Hwaaaaa─
He took a breath of relief only after witnessing the swirling energy radiating from the palm of his hand. How could he have momentarily forgotten something he had been with his whole life?
Was it the side effect of the Sun Elixir?
Or had he been too frightened? Was he too tense?
“Ah…?”
It didn’t take long to find the answer.
When he tried to create an ice spear, it didn’t work as he intended. He didn’t remember at all how he had handled it.
He didn’t know it.
No, to be precise, he knew it but no longer did.
Fragments of memories remained, whispering to him. You can no longer use that.
“…?”
That was a chilling sensation.
Forgetting something he had known so well in an instant. Losing the ability to regard something he had once cherished.
“…”
His body trembled slightly.
He was experiencing something utterly unimaginable.
At that moment, a voice struck his ears.
“How does it feel?”
Ezekiel finally stopped staring at the palm of his hand and slowly raised his head.
The emperor was watching him with his arms crossed.
“I understand what you hold dear and what you have built up over your life. But you know, don’t you? Those who commit treason must be punished more painfully than anyone else.”
His instincts whispered to Ezekiel.
Now.
Right now, kneel and beg.
Run away immediately.
“…Therefore, the punishment I will enact is no more than this.”
The emperor quietly flicked his hand.
“You will not die here today. But…”
Suddenly.
Ezekiel had the feeling the emperor was smiling eerily.
“…Your existence shall simply vanish. All of your memories will fade, and no one will remember a presence named Ezekiel.”
At that moment, the dome-shaped barrier vanished in an instant.
And the princesses, who had been standing right next to the barrier, immediately became visible.
Seeing the worry etched on their faces, it seemed they had been deeply concerned about Ezekiel’s state, unable to remain apart due to anxiety.
However.
Gradually.
“…?”
Their expressions began to shift to a blankness.
They blinked as if they had no idea what was happening. They looked around as if confused, unsure of why they were even there.
In that situation.
The emperor slowly.
Very slowly, spread his arms wide.
“Ezekiel… no, nameless one.”
That voice was more weighty than anything else.
“Can you truly carry out your intent even if nobody remembers you? Really?”
Only then did Ezekiel understand.
The emperor’s power.
‘Annihilation.’
He truly was an existence that could erase everything.
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