He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 198

“The attacks came from this point onward. Now, spread out.”

As soon as we arrived at a suitable location, I gave the order to the mercenaries.

The mercenaries swallowed nervously and nodded.

Thankfully, none of them tried to run. Though if they did, Conrad would kill them anyway.

Whoosh-

“Incoming! Get down!”

“……!”

Before long, blades came flying. Maybe it was because I was at the front, but they were aimed right at me.

I couldn’t see them, but I could sense the faint sound of the air being cut, so I was able to warn them. I quickly dodged to the side as well.

“H-heck! It went right over my head!”

“You’re not dead, so it’s fine! Get up now! Run!”

“E-everyone, run!”

The mercenaries immediately scattered and started running.

Wooong- Woooong-

“Get down!”

Even while running, I warned them about the blades flying several times.

The mercenaries dropped to the ground each time, and most of them managed to avoid the blades.

“Ugh, aaaaack!”

“Hanson!”

“Don’t go! You’ll die too!”

Not everyone could be lucky. Some had their legs or necks cut off.

However, the number of deaths was significantly lower compared to the advance party.

The barrier cores couldn’t concentrate their attacks as the targets were dispersed.

Swish!

“First, one down!”

Thwack!

In the meantime, I quickly ran and slashed one of the barrier cores.

That barrier core was busy throwing blades at another mercenary and couldn’t throw any at me.

Whoosh!

But blades soon came flying from another barrier core.

[Neural Acceleration Amplification Rate 200%]

[High-Speed Movement Deployed]

It was a difficult attack to avoid since I couldn’t see it, but I used neural acceleration to buy myself some reaction time.

My senses sped up, and time seemed to slow down, allowing me to barely dodge.

After dodging a few times, the target shifted back to the mercenaries.

That’s because I had instructed the mercenaries to approach and threaten the barrier cores whenever they had the chance.

“Now’s the time!”

Shwip-

I sped up again. The mercenaries were doing a good job of drawing attention, so approaching the second barrier core wasn’t too difficult.

Thwack!

“Three left.”

Kiiiiing-

As soon as I removed two barrier cores, the remaining cores suddenly glowed red.

They were easier to see now that they had turned red from their transparent state, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Shu-shu-shu-shwip!

“Crap! Is this their full power now?”

At first, they didn’t send them flying so often, even though I couldn’t see them. But now, they were firing rapidly in bursts, though they were glowing red and easy to see.

“Ugh, aaaah! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Just lie down, that’s the best we can do!”

The other mercenaries were lying on the ground, unable to move any further.

I couldn’t expect them to draw attention any longer, so I decided to quickly eliminate one more.

Shwip! Shwip!

Blades flew at me relentlessly as I ran, but I could see them now, so I moved nimbly to avoid them.

Thwack! Crash!

Soon, the third and fourth barrier cores were also destroyed.

Shwa-pa-pa-pa-pat!

The last remaining barrier core gave up on firing at the mercenaries altogether and began to concentrate its fire on me.

The firepower was tremendous, making it impossible to approach and destroy it.

“In that case-”

I had no choice but to attack from a distance!

I took a deep breath and threw Silver Rose with all my might.

Shwaaaaaat! Clang!

Kiiiiiiing!

Soon, Silver Rose flew in a straight line and pierced the last barrier core.

Then, it shattered with the sound of breaking glass.

“It’s over.”

“H-huh, heok… Lord! You’re amazing!”

“Yes. How many survived on your side?”

“Seven died. But thanks to you, the rest of us lived. Thank you so much.”

The mercenary had a gloomy expression because the damage was worse than expected, but he still expressed his gratitude.

“Well, there’s no need to be too grateful. I used you because I needed you. But… what are you going to do now? Are you still going to be with Conrad?”

“… Honestly, I don’t want to, but will he let us go? We don’t know what will happen in the future…”

The mercenaries didn’t seem to be greedy for money anymore.

Well, they weren’t trying to get an artifact like me, so they wouldn’t want to risk their lives any further.

“Conrad will definitely not let you go. And… in fact, he probably won’t even reward you.”

“… Do you think so?”

“He’s the type to do that. So… why don’t you join hands with me?”

At my secret suggestion, the mercenary’s eyes changed.

“What do you want, Lord?”

“He’s trying to get a special artifact here. I want to take it away or at least destroy it.”

“Are you saying we just need to help you with that? But…”

“Yes, the Duke has quite a few followers. But there are quite a few who aren’t, right? Like you guys…”

“There are also those who haven’t decided which side to take.”

“That’s right.”

The first thing I needed the mercenaries to do was to persuade them to join my side.

“I can try to persuade them… but to be honest, you have to be able to give them what they want. Especially the knights…”

“I’m actually from the Imperial Family.”

“… Yes?”

“You guys don’t seem to know, but Conrad is a traitor. The artifact he’s trying to get here is also to rebel against the Empire.”

I thought it was the right time to reveal the truth, so I told the mercenary part of my identity.

The mercenaries were extremely embarrassed, but they were still far from Conrad’s side. Everyone remained calm.

“Sh-shoot. Things are getting bigger. I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Conrad’s followers are all in cahoots [conspiring together], so they probably knew. You have to be careful of them. Can you do it?”

“If we succeed, we’ll be guaranteed money, honor, and success, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then it’s not difficult. That’s what wandering knights want.”

Knowing my identity, the mercenary showed confidence. It seemed to be even more so after seeing my performance just now.

“Good, then let’s go back pretending we don’t know anything for now.”

The mercenaries nodded and returned to Conrad with me.

“Shadow! You were amazing! I only saw it from a distance, but it was an amazing feat!”

“It was nothing, Duke. More importantly, this area will be safe now. But I don’t know if this is the end.”

“It probably won’t be the end. But I don’t think there will be the same trap. Look there, the barrier was broken with that just now.”

Conrad pointed to the transparent barrier that the barrier core had been hiding.

Perhaps because the barrier cores were all destroyed, it collapsed like a broken glass window, revealing itself as semi-transparent.

“I doubt they’ve created such traps inside. Probably not. Even if they did…”

Conrad looked at the returning mercenaries with cruel eyes.

“… There are plenty of expendable items to push in. Isn’t that why we’ve been saving them until now? You’ve figured out how to dismantle them, so you can solve it next time without having to step in yourself.”

“That’s true.”

It was an unpleasantly cold remark, but I nodded without showing much reaction.

“Then let’s move forward. You’ve done a great job, so I’ll take the lead this time.”

Perhaps he was conscious of the other members of the Special Task Force, but he volunteered to take the lead.

“Please do.”

I didn’t care. It meant that he would have to deal with anything that happened.

“Now, move forward! There’s no time to delay!”

Conrad urged us to move forward as if his motivation had increased. The mercenaries, who had been told in advance, began to follow, watching the situation and acting like they were grumbling.

At the same time, they were seen approaching some of the knights without Conrad’s knowledge.

“This place… the space-time is a mess.”

“There’s no day or night. It’s like time has really stopped.”

The battlefield was really wide. I couldn’t see the end of it even after walking all day.

Eventually, we had to camp several times along the way. While camping, some soldiers were lured into walking somewhere on the battlefield and disappeared.

It was a creepy thing, but we continued to move towards the center of the battlefield.

“Duke! Look there!”

“Oh… that’s…!”

That’s when it happened.

After walking for a long time across the ashen battlefield, we were finally able to find something shining with a brilliant golden light in the middle of the battlefield.

“Is that the Dice of the Gods?”

“It doesn’t look like a dice.”

Conrad’s Special Task Force members muttered. That’s because the artifact shining with golden light didn’t look like a cube at all.

Rather, it was closer to a round sphere. It was also very large, visible even from a distance.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t look like something you could hold in your hand and throw.

Such a thing was floating in the middle of the battlefield, emitting a strange golden magic.

“It looks dangerous…”

I wondered if it was okay to get close.

“The high ground is right in front of us! Keep going!”

Of course, Conrad didn’t seem to want to stop.

I wondered if I should hit Conrad around this point, but I decided it wasn’t time yet.

So I gestured to the mercenaries and expedition members who were asking for my opinion to wait.

That’s how the expedition continued to advance.

-Stop.

“…!”

“Someone’s… whispering in my head!”

Sure enough, something strange began to happen.

A deep voice was heard in my head.

“There! There’s someone there!”

I don’t know when they appeared, but there was someone near the Dice of the Gods.

It was a skeleton wearing armor and clothes that were so faded and worn that it was hard to imagine what they originally looked like.

The fact that he was wearing a faded crown on his head only told us that his status in life was at least a king.

-Those who are not qualified are not allowed to go any further here.

“Specter! Does a mere specter mention qualifications to me!”

Conrad stepped forward and answered the specter.

The specter looked at him with empty eye sockets where ghostly flames flickered.

-Arrogant one. Do you think you are qualified?

“Yes! I have obtained divinity from a great being! I am qualified to handle the Dice of the Gods!”

-……A minion of the Creator God. I cannot allow the Dice of the Gods to fall into the hands of a foolish person again.

Swish-

The ghost king took out a chipped, rusty sword.

-Did you say you were qualified? Then prove it.

Woo-woo-woo-woo……!

“Ugh, Undead!”

“The undead are rising!”

Those who died on the battlefield were being resurrected as undead from all directions.

Some of them were even trapped in time, appearing as they were when they died, and pointing their swords at us.

-Those who fail to prove themselves will join us as spirits.

“Damn it, they’re coming!”

Conrad’s army hastily prepared for battle against the undead that were swarming from all directions.

“Now is the time, Legion. Prepare for battle.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Meanwhile, Legion, the mercenaries who had decided to join forces, and the expedition members who were on the same boat as me, moved away and prepared for battle separately from Conrad’s army.

The battle surrounding the Dice of the Gods had begun.