He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 141

“It was empty again?”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. Even the few remaining defenders seemed to be prisoners.”

“What about the supplies?”

“That too…”

The general trailed off, answering the Spirit King’s question.

I knew the answer without needing to hear the rest.

They either didn’t leave anything behind this time, or they burned it all.

“That’s the third time already.”

*Crack*

The Spirit King gritted his teeth.

This was the third time they’d used this deceptive tactic.

No matter how much the Spirit King tried to launch a surprise attack and engage in battle, the Empire didn’t respond at all.

They retreated and withdrew unconditionally, maliciously forcing collateral damage.

They had raided their positions several times, but the only gains they could achieve were killing a few bait troops conscripted from prisoners.

But it would have been fortunate if it had ended there.

“Your Majesty, that’s not all… The Dark Elves attacked the empty positions again this time.”

“Fortunately, we left a large number of defensive troops this time, so the damage was minimal, but they persistently set fires and left…”

Every time they made an unreasonable expedition, Dark Elf raiding parties invariably attacked the positions they had vacated.

It was as if they were enemies with the military provisions; they would set fires no matter the cost to themselves.

Originally, they would have calmly repelled them, but with the elves’ lifeline, the military provisions, hanging by a thread, they had to focus on preventing arson before defense.

“Your Majesty, we must make a decision. We must mobilize all our forces and somehow fight…”

“Hey, if we empty the positions, those black-eared bastards will come again! If the military provisions disappear, we’re done for!”

“We have to fight because we’re done for! At this rate, we’ll just wither away!”

“You’re just a reckless adventurer!”

“What? Do you have a better plan!”

In the war council, the generals argued with each other even in front of the Spirit King.

It would be one thing if they could come up with an answer by arguing, but even they couldn’t come up with a proper solution.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know the solution. It was just that the generals couldn’t bring themselves to suggest negotiating with the Empire.

Perhaps their arguing in front of the Spirit King was a subtle demonstration to pressure him to negotiate.

“Enough.”

So, did the Spirit King want to negotiate?

No, there was no way he would.

“What is the current state of the military?”

“As you know, the military provisions are at a critical level, but more than that, morale is terrible.”

“The High Elf knights and soldiers are somewhat better, but the Wood Elf auxiliary soldiers and veterans are unreliable. Desertions are rampant.”

It was clear as day.

The Elven Kingdom army was collapsing on its own, and at this rate, they would be defeated without even exchanging a single sword with the Imperial army.

The Imperial army knew this, so they were sticking to such tactics.

But the Spirit King was someone with considerable insight.

“Just once. Just one battle is enough. The Imperial army will want that one time too.”

No matter how much they were using deceptive tactics, such tactics weren’t free.

So, doing it a few more times would be the limit, or they would have to do it while accepting real losses.

The Spirit King had to have that one chance.

“Your Majesty… I am sorry to say…”

“…In the current state, we are guaranteed to lose if we fight.”

“Before we fight, emptying the positions is too dangerous.”

The generals, who had been arguing until just now, answered uniformly as if it had been a lie.

At their answers, the Spirit King closed his eyes and trembled.

But soon, something other than anger came first.

It was an emotion close to resignation.

“I understand. If that is the case, we will return.”

“Yes? Are you saying… that we will retreat to the capital?”

“That is correct.”

When the Spirit King made such a decision, the generals rolled their eyes and looked at each other.

Had he finally changed his mind? To negotiate with the Empire?

“I am sorry to report… then you are going to negotiate… aren’t yo- urgh!”

*Crack*

It was the moment when one of the generals mentioned negotiation.

The Spirit King, with bloodshot eyes, reached out his hand towards that general.

Then, the telekinesis he wielded with spirit magic strangled the general’s neck.

“I told you not to dare mention negotiation.”

“I, I’m sorry… Yo, Your Majesty…”

*Thud*

The general, who had apologized just before losing consciousness, was thrown to the ground as the telekinesis was barely released.

He would have died if he hadn’t been of High Elf descent.

“I am not going to negotiate. I plan to entrench myself in the capital and fight the final battle.”

The place that the Empire had set as a strategic goal was clearly the capital or the Spirit King himself.

If they entrenched themselves in the capital, they wouldn’t be able to continue avoiding the fight.

That was the Spirit King’s calculation.

“But, but the military provisions are too scarce.”

“Due to unreasonable conscription and tax increases, the public sentiment in the capital is very bad. A rebellion will surely break out from within!”

“Above all, if we are besieged, there is no way…”

But the generals naturally offered negative observations.

“I know. But there is a solution.”

“What is it?”

“The World Tree.”

“…?”

At the Spirit King’s answer, the generals all wore puzzled expressions.

Clearly, there was a Mother World Tree in the capital, Elvengrad.

But now, that World Tree was in a state of forced hibernation.

It had consumed so much affinity that it was forced to hibernate to avoid withering.

Borrowing the power of the World Tree was impossible unless it recovered its affinity.

But the Spirit King had a creative solution that went beyond the generals’ way of thinking.

“The rebels, we will offer them all as nourishment to the World Tree.”

“Yo, Your Majesty? Re, rebels, you mean…”

“Isn’t it obvious that I mean the Dark Elves and Wood Elves?”

“Hu, Heok!”

The generals gasped and groaned.

The Spirit King’s words meant that he would massacre all the Dark Elves and Wood Elves in Elvengrad.

Even though they were commoners and lower class, to remove them all at once?

“We must also purge the military. We will weed out all but the High Elves we can trust.”

“Yo, Your Majesty! Please reconsider! The backlash… no, putting the backlash aside, the side effects will be extreme!”

Even in Elven society, it was difficult to condone the massacre of even the Wood Elves, who were part of the common people, let alone the Dark Elves.

It was obvious what would happen if this fact became known, but the Spirit King was unyielding.

*Bang!*

“I will not say it twice. Obey my orders.”

He was already blinded by victory.

If he could defeat the Empire, the Emperor of the Empire, he was prepared to do anything.

* * *

“They’re not budging… It seems they’re reaching their limit.”

In the first place, it was a battle that could be won by sitting still if they absolutely refused to fight.

I had simply added some more malicious and cute pranks to it.

By adding the deception of using prisoners who had been conscripted in advance and the Dark Elves’ superior reconnaissance and burglary, the Elven Kingdom army was fainting as if they were about to die.

They probably couldn’t even go on an expedition now even if they wanted to.

“Then it’s time to finish things off.”

However, in order to destroy the Spirit King’s authority, a noticeable victory was needed.

So, it was time to hit them properly.

“Commander of the Imperial Guard, we’re going to war.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Commander of the Imperial Guard, the Legions, and the commanders and knights were excited by the order to go to war.

Although it was a tactically overwhelming situation, it must not have been easy to just avoid fighting.

They couldn’t help but grin at the thought of finally smashing the elves they hated so much.

“Your Majesty! Scouts have reported suspicious activity!”

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

It was the moment when I was about to strike the smoothly crippled elves. But I heard an unexpected report.

“The elves have all retreated. It seems they have retreated to the capital…”

“Is that so? Are they trying to entrench themselves? That would be the worst possible move.”

Just because they returned to the capital didn’t mean that they would have more food.

Of course, they could conscript the food stored in the capital or even the remaining food, but that would be a self-destructive move that would accelerate their destruction.

Just when I thought the Spirit King was that desperate, the messenger continued with a sullen expression.

“Th, there are more strange reports.”

“What is it?”

“We captured the elves who deserted… but it seems they killed each other.”

“What?”

Killed each other? What was that about?

Neither I nor the Commander of the Imperial Guard could know the reason, so we headed to the elves’ position.

As the scouts reported, their position was empty.

“The corpses… they really fought each other.”

What happened? Did a military rebellion suddenly break out? If so, why? Because of the lack of military provisions?

It was difficult to guess the reason easily, but I, with the ‘Genius’ trait, could quickly identify some characteristics.

“This… most of the dead elves are Wood Elves.”

“That’s right, judging from their attire, most of them are Wood Elf auxiliary soldiers.”

Stella, who had often fought elves in the east, added as if to confirm.

“Looking at the traces, it seems the Wood Elves were ambushed. They resisted, but most of them were helplessly subdued and… dragged away.”

“So it wasn’t a rebellion? Then why did they attack them, and why didn’t they kill them?”

Naturally, questions like the ones Stella asked arose.

But I was putting the puzzle pieces together one by one.

“According to the scouts’ report, they clearly retreated to the capital, right?”

“Yes, judging from the traces of the march, they clearly headed to the capital.”

“…Then I think I know.”

Soon, all the puzzle pieces were put together. And the answer to the completed puzzle was terrible.

“The Spirit King, he’s really gone mad.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That guy is planning to offer everyone as sacrifices. To the World Tree. As a last resort.”

“Th, that can’t be!”

The reason why they captured the Wood Elf soldiers was to secure even one more sacrifice.

If they went to the capital, they would probably carry out a mass slaughter.

“He’s really a terrible guy.”

“As Your Majesty said, he’s really a terrible tyrant. To treat his own people like that… But Your Majesty, isn’t this a good thing for us?”

The Commander of the Imperial Guard cursed the Spirit King as if he were chewing him up, but said that his tyranny was not beneficial to us.

I nodded at those words.

“That’s right. The more crazy he gets, the more helpful it is to us.”

Of course, I don’t know what he will do with the power of the World Tree, but I wasn’t afraid to face it.

“Rather, we should take this as an opportunity.”

The Spirit King seemed to think of this as his last resort, but it was giving me even more opportunities.

If he really did such a thing, the Spirit King’s authority would be shattered, not just broken, but completely plunged into hell.

It might be an opportunity for the elves to create a ‘pro-Empire’ force.

Of course, in order to do that, the elves really had to be mass slaughtered by the Spirit King. I have to stand by and watch that.

But can I be held morally responsible for standing by and watching that?

They should have had a good king if they didn’t like it.