He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 255

“The key that seals the Great Demon? Hmm, that is certainly passed down within our clan.”

When I asked about the key that could unlock the Great Demon’s seal, Lizelda replied, amused.

“Really? That’s good. If you have the key, there’s no chance it will fall into their hands, right?”

According to Balthazar, the key was never in their possession to begin with.

So, if the key doesn’t fall into their hands, it means the Great Demons won’t be released easily.

What, so there was nothing to worry about?

“Hmm, I said it’s passed down, not that I have it.”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense is that?

“Isn’t it obvious? The Great Demon’s seal should never be broken again. The key isn’t really something that needs to exist.”

“Then….”

“A long time ago, it was shattered into pieces, and each piece was secretly sealed away. And even the seals were made so they could only be tracked with fragmented clues.”

“…So, is the seal safe?”

“It might be safe, or it might not be. Because….”

Lizelda added with a grin.

“The ones who helped break the key into pieces were the ancestors of the demons attached to the Creator God. They know the locations.”

“Good heavens.”

Then it’s not safe at all.

“It’s not like that. It will take them time to get their hands on all the seals of the key fragments, and furthermore…”

“The key can’t be used at all unless they get all the pieces.”

I guess there’s still something fortunate about it.

“But that’s not something to be relieved about either. No matter what that key is, if they get even a part of it, they might be able to replicate it.”

The opponent is the Creator God. Considering the power of creation that he possesses, replicating a part of the key wouldn’t be impossible.

“The key was made using the Great Demon’s horn, so it’s originally not easy to replicate… but certainly, with the Creator God, you never know.”

“Anyway, to prevent that, we need to move right away. Where are those key fragments located?”

Lizelda smiled, amused, at my question.

“In the most dangerous place in hell: the Labyrinth of Hellfire. It’s a place where, once you enter, your mind is captivated by the maze.”

She said they hid them throughout the maze. Even demons are reluctant to go there.

“Things have gotten really twisted.”

For some reason, I had a bad feeling.

* * *

I already knew, but the hardline demons also knew the location of the key.

“They’ve already arrived. It looks like they’re sending demons into the maze?”

“They’re not demons; they’re prisoners of hell. Sometimes souls who have committed sins come to hell. They’re sending them in instead. Probably… they won’t be coming back.”

They know the key fragments are in the maze, but they don’t know where in the maze the key fragments are.

“But we know. The Succubus Queen clan is the one that knows their locations.”

That means we at least don’t have to worry about getting lost in the maze.

“But the maze itself is a dangerous place. Even the strongest can be killed by the monsters in the maze or have their minds stolen.”

“Then we can’t bring in the army. After defeating them, I’ll go in myself.”

“Oh, so you won’t push your people into a death trap even if you die? How touching.”

I lightly brushed off Balthazar’s sarcasm.

“I will stand at the vanguard to strike them, Father!”

“Hmm….”

More than that, Kyle was very motivated. I pondered for a moment, looking at him, and then said.

“Alright, give it a try.”

“Oh, you’re allowing it?”

“Yes. I’ll be watching you.”

I decided to entrust this battle to Kyle.

‘The Emperor is Leon, internal affairs are handled by Daphne, and the military is managed by Kyle… it would be good to balance it like this.’

However, if Kyle is entrusted with the empire’s military power, his skills, as well as his loyalty to the empire, must be trustworthy.

In the future, once the Creator God is defeated, there won’t be many enemies left for the empire, but even then, the Demon Realm will remain a potential threat.

Perhaps one or two rebellions will occur? Even if we become complacent with peace and reduce the military, we need someone with the military talent to govern it.

That would be Kyle’s role as the king of the north, rather than Crown Prince Leon’s.

“Do your best. You know what that means, right?”

“Of course. I will definitely win!”

“Winning isn’t the only important thing, son.”

You must cherish the soldiers who follow you and give them faith.

“Follow me! I will stand at the vanguard!”

…He seemed to already know that, even without me having to say it.

He instantly captivated the soldiers with a thunderous roar and took the lead with the vanguard.

“I will escort the prince.”

“Good, Lizelda. Prove your loyalty to the empire.”

“It’s loyalty to the prince.”

The army advancing towards the demons also had demons mixed in.

“Are these guys really on our side this time?”

“Yes. Be careful of friendly fire.”

“I understand. But I can’t really tell them apart….”

The soldiers were quite confused. The Northern Army was less confused, but the soldiers belonging to the Imperial Army, who were unfamiliar with demons themselves, had difficulty distinguishing friend from foe.

“Don’t let our allied demons enter our own lines of fire at all. Detour separately and engage the enemy.”

Kyle solved the problem by utilizing the demons as a mobile unit.

By not joining the main force and moving with mobility, there were no incidents of being hit by friendly fire.

The fact that most demons can fly, giving them an advantage in mobility, also acted as a good choice.

“Large demons are leading the way! Even the firepower of machine guns can’t easily bring them down!”

“Deploy the knights! No, I’ll go myself!”

Kyle meticulously controlled every part of the battlefield.

Sometimes he jumped in himself to defeat large demon species that absorbed firepower.

“Die!”

*Jjeo jjeo jjeok-*

Kyle’s weapon is a Frost Rune Sword, the same as his mother Igrid’s.

The demon frozen by the frost of the Rune Sword was cut in half by the sword.

“Charge! Coordinate with the knights! Eliminate the demons!”

That didn’t mean he neglected command.

At a time when the miniaturization of machine guns had not yet been achieved, machine guns were quite defensive weapons.

Their usefulness quickly diminished during an offensive like now, but Kyle appropriately mixed knights and riflemen to charge, adequately responding to the offensive of medium-sized demons that could withstand rifle fire.

Conversely, small demons, who pushed with numerical superiority, were quickly eliminated by the superior firepower of the riflemen.

“We won!”

“They’re running away!”

“Good riddance, you demons!”

The soldiers cheered as the demons began to flee.

From afar, Kyle was seen shouting a victory cry and receiving praise from the soldiers.

“I have one good news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Meanwhile, Balthazar said to me.

“Let’s hear the good news first.”

“The good news is that their army has been defeated, as you can see.”

“Then what’s the bad news?”

“The direction they’re retreating is where the Great Demon’s seal is located.”

“Don’t tell me they’ve collected all the key fragments in the meantime?”

To my question, Balthazar shook his head.

“That’s not likely. But what we feared is likely to happen.”

“You mean replicating the missing key parts.”

“That’s a possibility. It’s no coincidence that they’re retreating there.”

This is a big problem. Then what should we do? It doesn’t seem like we have the luxury of finding key fragments here.

“My opinion is that we should find the remaining keys as soon as possible.”

“Why? That key is useless to us. If they’re going to replicate it, shouldn’t we physically stop them as soon as possible?”

The original goal was to make them have as few key fragments as possible.

However, if they have collected enough key fragments to replicate, that goal becomes meaningless.

“That’s not true, Your Majesty. The key itself has value.”

“Why?”

“Because the key is also a catalyst that weakens the power of the Great Demons.”

The key is made by processing the horns of the Great Demons.

It seemed that the key was imbued with the power to weaken the Great Demons.

“Our ancestors didn’t have the power to kill the Great Demon even with that. So they sealed it. And they left the artifact containing that power as a key.”

“That’s why it became the key.”

It wasn’t a key to unlock the seal, but a key to unlock the seal and kill the root of the problem inside.

“Your Majesty, on behalf of the demons of hell, I ask you: please defeat the long-time tyrants of hell.”

“If you do that, our loyalty will be entirely yours, Emperor.”

Lizelda and Balthazar each said.

“A demon’s oath of allegiance—I’m getting to receive something like that as I live.”

The oath of allegiance they were talking about this time wasn’t just about the north. It was a vow truly made to me, or to the empire.

If we get rid of the Great Demon according to their wishes, the potential threat remaining in hell will completely disappear.

The remaining variable is… only the Creator God’s interference.

“Alright. I will kill the Great Demon.”

I decided to break through head-on this time as well. Kill the Great Demon and pacify hell.

And increase the empire’s alliances to face a greater enemy.

“Then we should go get the key.”

“Wait, Father. I will go with you too.”

“You too? Aren’t you tired from fighting?”

“No. I’m not tired at all, Father.”

“Still….”

I didn’t want to take Kyle to the dangerous maze, even though I allowed him to fight.

“It would be good to take even one more person who can withstand the maze.”

“In the maze of illusions, you need someone to watch over each other. I think it would be a great help if the prince accompanies us.”

“Hmm….”

Balthazar and Lizelda recommended Kyle accompany us.

What they said wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t help but hesitate a little.

“Four is better than three. Alright, Kyle, you come along too, but you have to keep your wits about you.”

“Yes, Father!”

The people who would enter the maze were me, Balthazar, Lizelda, and Kyle—four people.

I ordered the rest to wait outside, as they were likely to have their minds stolen as soon as they entered the maze.

“Then please follow me. Never get lost in what you see in the maze.”

With Lizelda’s warning, we entered the maze of illusions, which looked like a pyramid.

“This is….”

What I saw inside was-

“It’s a unique shape. The maze is made to resemble the inside of the intruder’s mind… this is my first time seeing a place like this.”

“I guess so.”

The inside of the maze looked like the Earth I lived on.