251 episodes
64 Underground (1)
“ It’s the same as before. Someone who deserves to stand next to me as Eileen just said. and… … .”
With those words, Shion, who glanced at some women who looked at me with slightly tense eyes, continued.
“ The one who survived this war.”
“ Ah.”
At Zion’s words, the people made an expression that they realized something.
Yes, now they are on the verge of a great war in which the fate of the world is at stake.
In a way, it was ridiculous to decide the empress in such a situation.
“ Well, it would be even better if you like coffee.”
Shion, who smiled at him, added a word and lifted the teacup that Fredo had filled.
In fact, what I was thinking about just before Shion answered was not about Fredo’s question.
‘ Am I going to stay here after the war is over? Or is it going back to the original time?’
As soon as the story about the Empress came out, it was a thought that popped into Shion’s head.
What will happen to him after completing his contract with the gods?
What were your prior intentions?
The clues from the gods and dragons so far had given him an outline in my head, but it still felt like an important key was missing.
‘ Isn’t the only way to know this is to kill the Demon King?’
Sion looks at the teacup in front of him for a moment and falls in thought.
Soon after, a possibility began to appear in Shion’s mind.
‘ Maybe we can get one more clue before that.’
With him, Zion’s eyes also began to slowly sink in.
* * *
“ In the end, Zion Agnes was crowned.”
In the dark abyss where even a ray of light did not exist, the Grand Duke of Fury quietly opened his mouth.
“ Then… … Is it war now? You’ve been preparing since then. That guy.”
To those words of anger, Acrimosia responded with a frown on her eyebrows.
An abyss that oscillates strongly as if to represent her mood.
“ Before that, I want to give you a bite to eat… … There is nothing worthwhile.”
I’ve been thinking about him all this time, but nothing comes to mind.
Because all the plans they had been carrying out within the Empire had already gone awry.
And mostly by Zion Agnes.
“ Still, a powerful force joined this side, so I can only be satisfied with that.”
He let out a low voice of anger as he recalled the ‘first sky’ that came to the magic station not long ago.
But even with those words, his frowning furious eyebrows did not open.
“ Hmm… … .”
She kept her arms crossed as if contemplating on something and shedding a sigh.
How much time has passed
“ Yes.”
Acrimosia’s mouth slowly opened and a calmer voice came out.
“ Isn’t there one thing Sion Agnes hasn’t touched yet? The capital of the empire, even within the imperial castle.”
“ What do you mean, it’s been a long time since the Hwangseong was devastated… … !”
The eyes of anger that stopped talking as if something came to mind in her words went deeper and deeper.
“ Are you talking about the ‘remnants’ of the First War? Surely that could do a huge blow to the Empire… … .”
A remnant that had been nestled deep within the imperial fortress of the Empire even before they ascended to the position of Grand Duke.
So I couldn’t remember it right away.
The anger that had been thinking about the “remnants” of the previous generation slowly shook her head.
“ But it cannot be triggered by our own strength. So that’s why I left it alone.”
From the beginning, it was said to be the rice cake in the picture.
“ It will probably be difficult unless the king himself comes forward.”
That said, it was practically impossible.
Their king did not appear even when the Demon Devil was defeated in the First War, and when two of the newly ascended Four Great Princes died.
There was only one last time, I had reacted to something, but after that, there was no news again.
“ Then I will ask the king.”
With those words, Acrimosia stood up.
“ Where are you going?”
“ Where do you think you are going?”
A frenzy that responds to the question of anger and walks away.
Of course she knew too.
Even if he personally visited and asked for it, the king would not be able to move.
But he couldn’t stay still.
Slowly, Zion Agnes’s hand was holding them tight, and in this situation, they couldn’t stand still without doing anything.
Soon after, the new type of Acrimosia was about to escape the abyss.
– You don’t have to.
A voice rang in their ears.
No, it didn’t ring in my ears.
A voice that can never be denied, starting from the head and engraved into the depths of consciousness.
The whole body of the archdukes trembled as if struck by lightning at the far-off intensity of that voice.
With him, their heads start to turn on their own as if they were possessed.
A single existence that appears at the end of their sight.
– I’m here.
That moment,
“ Wow, my king… … .”
The archdukes’ knees began to bend slowly.
* * *
The first floor of Baengseonggung, the center of the imperial castle and the place where the emperor stayed.
There, Sion, accompanied by only a few close friends, was scanning the interior of the palace that was now completely hers.
‘You described it in quite detail.’
Antique paintings on the interior walls.
Those were the achievements of the previous emperors who ruled Agnes until now.
There was no specific indication of what kind of emperor’s achievement it was, but the period of the painting could be guessed by the fact that the color of the painting had changed.
at that time,
‘ That’s… … .’
A strange picture came into Shion’s eyes.
Unlike other paintings, this is the only painting that does not honor the emperor’s achievements.
Although the Imperial Castle was in the background, the beings in the picture were not the emperor, but a man with a spear and countless monsters that seemed to be fighting him.
‘ Is it during the First War?’
Because it was a picture that was never mentioned in the chronicles, when I was young, I had doubts in Sion’s eyes.
“ The painting is the achievement of the first hero, Magnus Flair.”
A single voice from Zion came from behind.
Shion’s eyes turned to him, and the figure of 1st Prince Rubrios, who was walking towards him, came into view.
The person Shion wanted to meet here.
“ Even though it was not an achievement of the emperor, it was a decisive achievement that saved the entire capital, including the imperial castle, and led to victory in the First War.
From the moment Zion became emperor, he was respectful to Zion.
“ What was your achievement?”
“ At the end of World War I, the horsemen, who felt they were at a disadvantage, had one superstrength. It was to attack the capital, the heart of the empire, and the imperial castle, the most central among them. The power mobilized was a whopping two of the four great princes and countless high-ranking demons under them.”
After saying that, Rubrios, who looked at the painting for a few seconds, continued.
“ It was such a sudden attack, and he appeared when the imperial castle was about to completely collapse, which had not been properly responded to.”
1st Hero Magnus Flare.
“ He appeared alone without a party, and on the spot he threw the two archdukes to the ground, and as a result, he was able to lead the great war to victory.”
However, it was impossible for even the strongest warrior to face two archdukes at the same time. Magnus, who was seriously wounded in battle, died shortly thereafter.
‘ Isn’t it annihilated?’
One of Rubrios’s expressions took a bit of a hit, but Sion went straight to the point without asking about it.
“ I’ll go down to the basement from now on, so I’ll leave you with my work in the meantime.”
The reason why Shion called the first prince to this place.
In fact, I was going to entrust it to Evelyn, but she was not currently in the Imperial Castle because she had left for the border.
At Shion’s words, Rubrios’ eyes were dyed with doubt.
“ Do I really need to leave it to you?”
Rubrios knew.
The emperor who ascended to the throne learned that the first thing he had to do was visit the ‘Dream of the Stars’ in the basement of the People’s Palace to perform some kind of ceremony.
But the ceremony lasted only a few hours at most.
There is no need to entrust this task to someone else.
“ I think it will take longer than I thought.”
At those words, the young question deepened in the eyes of the first prince, but Shion turned around as if he had no intention of answering any more.
“ Go away, Your Majesty.”
Those close to Zion politely bowed towards him.
The new form of Zion, who had been far away while being seen off by his entourage and Lubrius, disappeared completely beyond the dark underground passage of the People’s Palace.
* * *
“ Again, you’re here again… … .”
These were the first words that Veila, the warehouse keeper of ‘Dreams of the Stars’, looked at Zion on the third visit.
Is it because of the shocking appearances that Zion showed in the past two visits?
In her eyes looking at Zion, anxiety prevailed rather than joy.
Seeing Veila’s reaction, Shion smiled and opened her mouth.
“ Do you know what I am here for?”
“ Yeah, that’s right! First of all, congratulations on your ascension to the throne, His Majesty Zion Agnes.”
Saying that, Veila bowed her head deeply.
‘ I’m sure he’ll come back as an emperor.’
She had been expecting it to some extent, but it was still surprising, so she took a deep breath and calmed her mind, then raised her head again.
“ Are you going to proceed with the registration ceremony right away?”
“ I do.”
Veila, who closed her eyes at Zion’s short answer,
-ŒØŦþøĦ
He uttered spells in a language that human vocal cords cannot pronounce.
Whoa!
A translucent contract that rises in front of Zion with him.
“ Just drop a drop of blood on it and you’re done.”
At Beila’s words, Shion dropped a drop of his own blood on the contract without hesitation, at that moment, aaW!
With a light so bright that I couldn’t open my eyes, the contract that was split into two sheets permeated Zion’s body and Veila’s body, respectively.
How much time has passed
When the contract completely penetrated into the body and the light that filled the surroundings almost disappeared,
“ Congratulations, Your Majesty Zion.”
Veila, who had closed her eyes, spread her arms wide and opened her mouth while spinning around in place.
“ Now, all the weapons here belong to His Majesty.”
Everything that existed in the Agnes Empire belonged to the emperor, and the weapons in the ‘Dream of the Stars’ did not escape the category.
Therefore, the emperors who ascended to the throne have possessed weapons through this registration ceremony until now.
Of course, whether or not he could receive the recognition of the Armed Forces was another matter, though.
“ Yeah? So, does that mean I can do everything I want here?”
Did he feel something when he saw Shion looking around with a smirk?
“ Yes? yes… … That’s right, but why are you asking all of a sudden? … .”
Baila asked, looking into Shion’s eyes with a worried face.
And Zion’s answer that followed showed that her sense was right.
“ Then let me take all the weapons here.”
a moment of silence.
and,
“ Yeah, hey?”
Veila, whose eyes widened to the point where it could no longer grow, shouted at Zion, losing even the composure she had maintained for hundreds of years.
“ Gee, what does that mean? Are you taking it?”
“ Literally. I’m going to bring everything here to the ground.”
“ Uh, what… … !”
As if he would not accept any differences, Shion immediately turned around.
It was something I had been thinking about since I first came to the dream of the stars.
It was a very detrimental thing to have all of these excellent weapons not shining and being buried here.
It will definitely be of great help in improving power.
“ Oh, and when you bring your weapons, make sure you come along too.”
Finally, as she turned her head and sat down on the floor, Shion who said that to Veila, who was muttering, ‘Heuk-heuk, I’m ruined,’ escaped the dream of the stars.
A mist of magical powers that immediately obscured the field of vision and filled the room.
In the fog, Shion moved slowly.
‘ Is this this way?’
Since the registration ceremony was over, it was right to go up to the ground again, but the direction of Zion’s steps was far from the ground.
Zion is heading deeper and deeper into the people’s palace.
Still, Zion’s eyes were as calm as the first.
Because I had come down to the basement for this from the beginning.
The registration ceremony was only an incidental goal.
Veila, the warehousekeeper of ‘Dream of the Stars’, was a homunculus made with dragon magic .
If so, where is the dragon that created her?
The answer was surprisingly close.
‘The basement of the same people’s palace.’
A place where Zion decided to deal with this place later when he first visited it and turned around.
There was a guy who created Veila.
‘ Do you want to have the same personality as before?’
And even if it wasn’t a chronicle, Shion already knew the identity of the guy.
It’s because he was the guy he had put himself here in the past when he was aeons.
When I visited before, I didn’t know if it was the same existence, but now I’m sure.
‘ After the war breaks out, it’s a pain in the ass, so it’s probably better to subdue it now.’
There was also something I wanted to ask.
how far did you walk
It was the moment when the new type of Zion, who was moving rapidly, finally entered the ‘realm’ of existence.
[ Entering the ordeal of the Eternal Age]
In Zion’s ears, the mechanical voice he had heard from the old tower of causality resounded.