Chapter 242 - The Heir of the Empire
Path of the Beast. Path of the Human. Path of the Asura.
Three of the Six Paths unfolded simultaneously in the dark chamber of the Black Giant Castle.
They had not used them specifically to target one another, but as they looked at one another’s faces, a dense killing intent naturally filled the air.
The characteristic of sorcery, which was influenced by emotion, manifested on its own, and even the hellish difficulty became somewhat lower.
For the sake of reducing that difficulty, the four had gathered in one place even without the Youngest Son.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Of course, there was only silence upon silence, without so much as half a word.
Even the Fourth Son, who was among the chattiest of the siblings, merely opened the Scripture of the Dark Wheel with a sullen expression.
The First Son had been the earliest, but now all four of them had reached the basic stage.
However, applying this in actual battle was still a distant matter.
To reach the practical stage, practice, practice, and more practice was the answer, but there were many ways to practice.
Furthermore, the Millesdusk blood kin knew the fastest and most entertaining method of practice.
“…Hey. You all.”
The Fourth Son, who had the lightest temperament among them, spoke first.
“…Yes.”
“…What is it?”
The Second Daughter and the First Son answered in reluctant voices.
“That…. It seems we have all roughly gotten somewhere now, so should we try matching up a little…. You know. That.”
The Fourth Son’s words kept breaking off and continuing again.
“Ah. That.”
“That. Not bad.”
Nod, nod.
That alone was enough for the other blood kin to understand what he meant. After all, it was something they had been thinking about as well.
RUSTLE—
Without anyone needing to go first, the blood kin rose from their seats.
They stood in the same triangular formation into which they had split and exchanged glances. Their eyes had turned sharp, like gunfighters in a standoff.
“Deciding an order is bothersome, so let us make it a free-for-all.”
“How can the words free-for-all even come out of your mouths!”
“You sisters are shameless beyond belief.”
The sisters, who defended and attacked together yet had brazenly called for a free-for-all, remained firm in their opinion.
“This is actually better for you too. Even if we decide an order, it will only guarantee a two-on-one.”
He wanted to ask whether there was no option for the two of them to fight separately, but there truly did not seem to be one, so he gave up.
“Let us begin.”
“Yes~ Let us just do it. I did not bring this up so we could argue~.”
“We use only the Six Paths. Curses, other sorceries, and swordsmanship are all forbidden.”
“Obviously.”
Otherwise, it would not be practice.
“I shall take the first move.”
As he spoke, the First Son clasped his hands together.
“In your dreams. I have gotten much faster too.”
The Fourth Son pressed his palms together and responded.
“We do not intend to keep up with you two, but we are not slow either.”
Nod.
The Second Daughter and the Third Daughter brought their left and right hands together to form a Hand Seal.
Their hands were clearly different in size, but because they had always held each other’s hands, they fit together without the slightest distortion.
“See the world with three pairs of eyes, and grasp the world with three pairs of arms.”
“New flesh over bone. New skin over flesh.”
“The sins and achievements within the affairs of life. They are karma linked by formless chains.”
They recited the activation words of the Six Paths at the same time.
At that moment, changes occurred as well.
A skull overlaid the First Son’s face, and other skulls appeared on both sides of his head.
Three Heads, followed by Six Arms.
Two pairs of thick skeletal limbs floated into the air and became the First Son’s additional arms.
“Tch….”
The First Son clicked his tongue behind the mask.
Because the connection was not perfect, the two new pairs of arms did not obey him well.
However, he was not the only imperfect one at the moment.
“You are creaking quite a bit too.”
“Shut up~.”
The Fourth Son, who cursed him brightly, had two Meat Golems before him.
The Meat Golems created with the Path of the Beast among the Six Paths were a head taller than the First Son.
Their size itself was not strange, but what truly stood out was the faces of the golems.
“Those pig heads are truly hideous.”
“Yes. They are ugly.”
The heads of the Meat Golems were those of pigs, to the point that harsh words came out without thought.
Even so, the Fourth Son proudly crossed his arms and snorted.
“I am still lacking, so I can only make two for now, but once their numbers pile up and keep piling up, those words will disappear soon enough~.”
Moreover, this was not the only thing worth mocking. The Fourth Son’s eyes turned toward that object of ridicule.
“And what about you! Is that single bluish chain the full extent of your Six Paths?”
“It looks weaker than the chains of fools who only think themselves clever.”
“Hwahahaha!”
At the First Son’s casual remark, the Fourth Son clutched his stomach and laughed. The Meat Golems laughed along with him.
However, the Princesses reacted exactly the same way as the Fourth Son.
“Hmph. Laugh as much as you like. Let us see if you can still do that in a little while.”
The blood kin mocked one another and were mocked in return, thickening their killing intent once more.
***
Would he make them younger siblings? Or would he take them as dear friends?
For the first time since entering the social gathering hall, the Crown Prince revealed the self he had been seven months ago.
He was torn between his innate warmth and the coldness he had to possess as an heir.
The Crown Prince’s eyes shifted slightly away from the Chancellor and toward his father.
However, the emperor did not meet the Crown Prince’s eyes. This time as well, he did not intervene and merely watched.
“Your Highness. If it is difficult for you to answer, I will call on you separately afterward.”
“No. There is no need to postpone this question, so I will answer now.”
If he postponed it, the nobles would doubt his qualifications as a ruler.
As the Chancellor had said, the implicit perception between the Great Families and the Empire was that of elder brother and younger sibling.
Yet the Crown Prince, who would one day stand at the pinnacle of the Empire, could not hesitate or delay his answer here.
Even so, his lips would not part easily. Even when he managed to open them with difficulty, no voice came out.
It was a moment when he needed a little help.
—Your Highness. It is Dante.
“……”
The Crown Prince barely stopped his expression from wavering in surprise.
—I do not have time to explain, so I will speak quickly.
The bloodshot eyes met the Crown Prince’s golden eyes in the middle of the social gathering hall.
—The gains and losses attached to what Your Highness says now are far too great. Far more than Your Highness realizes.
Therefore, he had to speak well.
In this social gathering hall overflowing with weasels and old serpents, the young eagle could not afford to be looked down upon.
He had to spread his sharpened talons and press them down from the high sky above.
—On the other hand, what I can gain here is limited. If Your Highness hesitates, it will remain limited in the future as well.
‘What should I do?’
The Crown Prince’s thoughts were not conveyed aloud, but they were transmitted through his gaze.
—It is nothing difficult. Thoroughly press Millesdusk down and stand above it. I will adjust myself to Your Highness.
“……”
The Crown Prince nodded faintly.
It was a nod so small that only the Youngest Son, who knew the reason, could recognize it.
The heir of the Empire spoke before everyone.
“Millesdusk, and all the Great Families, can never stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire. It was so in the past, it is so in the present, and it will be so in the future.”
The gazes that had been fixed on the Crown Prince now turned toward the blood kin of Millesdusk.
The blood kin had come to the Imperial Palace as an envoy, and in truth, it was no different from standing here as Millesdusk’s representative.
“He is taking a forceful stance.”
The Margrave murmured as he poured the liquor he had brought with him.
It was forceful enough for him to say that. The representative of the East had just watched his homeland and his family be entirely dismissed before his eyes.
As a member of the Imperial Family, it was natural to look down upon everything else, but for the blood kin of a Great Family, that was not the case at all.
In their own lands, the blood kin of a Great Family possessed power greater than that of royalty.
How would that young blood kin react? Would he grow angry and storm out? Would he swallow his rage and glare?
The Margrave, Pale, and the Chancellor all glanced at him.
The Youngest Son displayed his specialty before that audience.
“His Highness’s words are entirely correct.”
The blood kin of the East bowed at the waist, just as the Chancellor had done to the emperor a moment ago.
“It is an obvious fact, as one can tell simply from how the Great Families knocked on the doors of the Imperial Palace in order to obtain the Empire’s road.”
“……”
Goosebumps rose over the Chancellor’s wrinkled skin. He doubted his own eyes, wondering what it was he had just seen.
Only when cold sweat flowed beneath his shabby clothes did his mind snap back into focus.
That was a snake. A great serpent with an unbearably thick face and even thicker scales.
The serpent flicked its tongue and continued moving the red lips on that pale skin.
“How could we ever dare to covet it? The Imperial Palace, raised high in the center of the world, is difficult for Millesdusk to reach, no matter how high we build our towers.”
He carefully uttered words that were obviously lies without a trace of sincerity, one by one, as though they were not lies at all.
The serpent’s tongue soon changed its target.
“Therefore, Chancellor.”
“…Yes.”
“Do not interrupt His Highness the Crown Prince’s words with a question whose answer is obvious. Even to me, who is not an imperial citizen, it does not seem proper.”
Chancellor Gunter placed one hand over his chest near his heart and bowed to the Crown Prince.
“I am ashamed, Your Highness. It was my mistake, and there is no room for excuses.”
“That is enough. I do not mind.”
“I am deeply grateful.”
After that, the Crown Prince continued the well-polished account before the feudal lords.
The Wisdom delegation had withdrawn, and a new contract had been made with the Millesdusk delegation.
The Empire had given the supply routes and roads prepared by Wisdom and received gold in return.
As for the gold, the Youngest Son had been able to readily promise it personally with what he had earned through the Dark Elixir.
“That is what happened over the past seven months.”
It was an explanation so brief that it was hard to believe it had explained seven months.
However, it was fortunate that this was a diplomatic matter involving two Great Families.
They were negotiating over war with one Great Family, and another Great Family had joined in.
Moreover, that Great Family was hostile to the Great Family that had arrived first.
Their hostility was the very reason the subject of war had been placed on the negotiating table in the first place.
There were more than enough reasons for time to have dragged on, so an explanation reduced to only the main points was bound to be short.
When the Crown Prince stepped back, it was the emperor’s turn.
“The introduction to the social gathering has become longer than expected.”
“I am ashamed, Your Majesty.”
At the emperor’s words, the Chancellor quietly bowed his head. He had shown a weakness once, so he would have to be picked at for a while.
“From now on, the feudal lords may act freely. Also, Chancellor, follow behind me for a moment.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Only the old emperor and the old retainer left the social gathering hall.
The two walked to a quiet place that suited both of their dispositions. During that time, the ruler and his subject only crossed their legs without saying a word.
“Listen as we walk.”
“Yes.”
“Chancellor. I am thinking of laying down my burden now.”
“…Please, take back those words, at least.”
The emperor did not stop speaking, just as he did not stop walking.
You saw the Crown Prince today as well.”
“…I did. However, Your Majesty, you are still hale.”
“A fully grown emperor is better than a hale emperor.”
“Your Majesty. Please postpone your decision and listen to what I have to say now. His Highness the Crown Prince has certainly grown. But look at the world as it is now.”
The world was not normal.
The two Great Families of the East and West had aimed guns at each other and pulled their triggers.
The bullet fired from the western edge toward the East had been stopped by the Youngest Son.
The East had fired the same kind of gun in response, and that bullet was now flying.
Unlike the West’s, this bullet from the East was by no means light.
It was closer to a shell than a bullet, and it was enough to bombard the West.
If the West’s response was even slightly inadequate, the matter might be decided with this attack alone.
And now, in a world changing this rapidly, even the Empire was trying to change.
“Could you not endure just a little longer?”
“Chancellor. You will serve a third emperor.”
“…Your Majesty. Please…”
THUD—
The emperor stopped walking. The Chancellor stood exactly one and a half steps behind him, at the distance from the emperor permitted to the Chancellor.
Even if his two eyes vanished at that very moment, he could keep that distance.
It was a position he had maintained for that long, and it was a position he would soon leave.
That was why the emperor made his decision.
“Precisely because he will be the third emperor you serve, you will be able to care for him even more skillfully. Furthermore, while I am still emperor, there is a piece of advice I wish to give you.”
“…I will engrave it in my heart.”
“The Fifth Son of Millesdusk. Keep him close.”