He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 211

“The defenses are formidable, just as Vostok said.”

Lure out the Death Lord and strike the Sanctuary alone in that opening.

That was the crux of this diversionary tactic. And it succeeded admirably.

However, the defenses of the city where the ‘Sanctuary of Bones’ was built exceeded my expectations.

Phew-phew-phew! Phew-phew!

“They’re persistent with their shooting.”

Clang! Clang-clang!

Even when diving towards the city, bone arrows flew, but now, after landing, they came from all directions.

Strangely shaped bone arrow launchers were firing arrows like machines.

Such machines were laid out as if wallpapered, so I was busy deflecting the arrows pouring down like a torrential rain.

“So, that’s how you want to play it!”

If you’re going to pour out a barrage, I’ll just return the favor in kind.

During a brief lull, I extended Silver Rose, shining with Imperial Soul, towards the sky.

Woo-woo-woo-woong— Fwoooom!

The divine power gathered in Silver Rose rose into the sky and burst like fireworks.

Immediately, meteors of divine power fell from the sky in all directions.

They were relentlessly bombarding the bone arrow launchers.

Kaboom! Boom-boom-boom!

The structures made of bone and necromancy were mercilessly destroyed by the explosion of divine power.

That alone was enough to stop the bone arrows from flying.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Creak— Cree-eeak—

“Ho, so this is the main game?”

Although the defensive structures were destroyed, the broken bones were reconstructing themselves.

The reconstructed bones took on various forms.

Some were sharp bone spears that seemed capable of piercing anything, while others were giant bone wheels that seemed capable of crushing everything in their path.

Surprisingly, there were no ‘troops’ like skeletons. The reason was somewhat predictable.

“They’re pushing with numbers and mass, so there’s no need to create soldiers.”

There’s no need to fight steadily with a limited number of troop resources, as in a war.

They just need to eliminate me alone by mobilizing a relatively large amount.

So, they’ve wallpapered everything with those things.

Creak-creak-creak-

Pshoo-shoo-shoo-shoo!

Soon, giant bone spears with power incomparable to the previous arrow rain came flying.

As long as those things are there, flying into the sky would be a bad move. They’ll probably chase me to the ends of hell unless the threat to the Sanctuary disappears.

“Alright, then come at me! I’ll take it all!”

[Dark Blood Unleashed!]

[Switch to Black Rose]

[Shadow Blade Sweep Deployed!]

I immediately switched Silver Rose to Black Rose and decided to break through the flying bone spears head-on.

Blocking with divine power wasn’t a good choice. The capacity that could be deployed as a barrier at once was limited.

In that case, it was a better decision to use Dark Blood, which was more suitable for wide-area attacks.

Swish! Crackle! Crackle!

Every time a Shadow Blade swept, the bone spears were mercilessly shattered.

Even so, more bone spears flew in, but I created a series of Shadow Blades and pinpointed their interception.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-

Whoosh!

Countless bone spears were shattered. They tried to reorganize, but flames of purification struck them.

The finely broken bones burned vulnerably even in the flames.

“I’m glad I can use the flames of purification even in the Dark Blood state.”

Of course, the firepower is a bit weaker than in the Imperial Soul state, but it was enough to prevent the destroyed bone fragments from reconstructing.

Coo-roo-roo-roong-

Eventually, judging that bone spears alone were not enough, the giant bone wheels finally rolled in.

Since I couldn’t fly into the sky with so many bone spears still remaining, I had to avoid them on the ground.

Or face them head-on and destroy them.

“Switch to Silver Rose.”

[The Holy Sword is switched to Silver Rose state.]

Wide-area attacks are not necessary when dealing with a single, massive entity.

Immediately switching to Silver Rose, I quickly moved towards the bone wheels to prevent the bone spears from interfering.

Woo-woo-woo-woong-

Divine power and aura mixed and gathered in Silver Rose.

The properties given to the aura were explosion and destruction.

I deliberately excluded the cutting that I usually use.

It was inappropriate when dealing with rolling giant bone wheels.

Soon, the fiercely rolling bone wheels and Silver Rose collided with full force.

Clang!

Crash!

Explosion and destructive impact.

Naturally, the bone wheels were the ones that were shattered.

At the same time, I burned the shattered bones to ashes.

Coo-roo-roo!

“Yeah, keep coming! I’ll destroy them all!”

Perhaps they thought one wasn’t enough, as the bone wheels rolled in relentlessly. They didn’t even seem to care about the slight damage accumulating as they collided with each other.

“I can’t deal with them one by one.”

It’s also troublesome to drag it out too long. The enemy lord might be hesitating because of our forces, but he could return.

Of course, if he returns to the Sanctuary, that would mean the operation was a success, but I needed to wrap things up here a bit faster.

“Silvan Cannon, prepare.”

[Command received.]

[Silvatein Humanoid Form Conversion]

[Silvan Cannon Ready]

Whiiir-

I immediately aimed the Silvan Cannon, which Silver Rose had transformed into.

The divine energies created by the Imperial Soul were rapidly condensed.

Soon, I unleashed the divine plasma cannon charged to its limit.

Kwahhhh-!

The divine plasma bombardment stretched out in a straight line.

The defensive structures within a certain radius disappeared cleanly.

Even the surrounding piles of bones that had been creating those defensive structures were cleared away, so they could no longer create things like bone spears or bone wheels.

“That must be the Sanctuary of Bones.”

However, there was one place that was covered in piles of bones as if shielded, blocking the divine power.

As the bones poured down, an altar made of bones appeared.

“A necropolis, not a sanctuary.”

The sanctuary was none other than a necropolis [a burial ground or cemetery] where urns containing bones were gathered.

Well, if it’s called the Sanctuary of Bones, that’s exactly the kind of image it would have.

“It doesn’t look that special…”

-Those are urns containing the bones of the beginning. As a mortal, you wouldn’t know their value.

“… !”

Papapap!

Bone spikes rose from under my feet. I barely managed to avoid them.

If I hadn’t avoided them, I would have been pierced and killed.

-Your reaction is quite something. Well, that’s why you came up with such a scheme.

“Ha, did you come back to catch me? Then I can assure you, your army will be annihilated.”

The Imperial Army is by no means weak. With Vostok’s army joining them, the undead legion not commanded by the Death Lord is just numerous.

-It doesn’t matter. I can just raise them again. However…

Thuck-

-Killing you here would be invaluable, human emperor.

“Save those words for after you kill me.”

At the same time as those words, I swung my sword. A sword strike imbued with divine power exploded on him.

Fwoom!

“Hmm?”

-It’s useless.

Surprisingly, shields of bone orbited around him and defended against the divine power.

Originally, it should have pierced through and struck him, but even if the bone shields were destroyed, there was no impact.

And the broken bones were restored much faster than the defensive mechanisms of the Sanctuary just now.

Chwa-ra-ra-rack-

The bones that repeatedly reconstruct in all directions dance.

This time, more diverse things appeared.

This time, they weren’t just defensive objects.

From sturdy-looking skeleton guards to giant skull worms digging through the ground, skeleton knights preparing to charge on skeleton horses, and skull wyverns appeared in the sky.

It was a strong force for something hastily assembled. It seemed to have drawn on the magic of the Sanctuary.

He said, shining with overflowing dark magic, as if enjoying it.

“The first undead were skeleton soldiers. A humble skeleton rose from the cursed edge of death. And now he stands before you.”

“For someone like that, you don’t seem very strong?”

“The terror of death lies not in strength but in eternity and equality, foolish one.”

No one can escape death. And death is eternal.

“You too will not be able to escape death. And I will personally corrupt your soul.”

“Say those words after you achieve it, you fool.”

[Switch to Black Rose]

[Dark Dragon Form Deployed]

It changed from Silvatein to the form of a Dark Dragon. Transformed into the form of a dragon, I emitted dark energy and flew into the sky.

“The power of darkness? Wielding that power at the same time is interesting but foolish. Why give up divine power against the undead?”

“Because I’ve figured out your weakness.”

I replied briefly, then spread my wings and extended Dark Blood towards his Sanctuary.

“Let me guess, Skull Lord. No, First Skeleton. That’s not actually a Sanctuary. It’s your relic. Isn’t it?”

“… !”

The relic of darkness that the Death Lords possess.

But does that relic necessarily have to function only as a relic?

I didn’t think so. For Skull Lord, the Sanctuary was his relic.

“You look like you’re wondering how I knew. Too bad, but I have a keen sense. I recognize similar things right away.”

The blood-red chalice that Vostok had shown me. I felt an aura structurally similar to that.

Thanks to that, I could easily guess that it was not only a Sanctuary but also a relic.

‘Also, the fact that he came to protect the Sanctuary was like that. There was an option to just run away.’

He hadn’t anticipated my choice to attack the city alone, so he was caught in a bad dilemma.

But if he chose to flee from there, there was a good chance that we would miss him.

Nevertheless, the fact that he came to protect the Sanctuary meant that it was not simply a Sanctuary created for revival, as Vostok had anticipated.

“… Indeed. Insight worthy of the emperor of humans. But what does that matter? Are you going to destroy the Sanctuary, no, the Urn of the Beginning? Then go ahead and try.”

“Judging by your confidence, there’s more than one urn?”

Also, there was no guarantee that there was only one relic. To be precise, there could be relics made up of multiples, like this urn.

Vostok didn’t know exactly what relics the other Death Lords had.

So, whether that is destroyed or not, Skull Lord is confident. He will be resurrected somewhere.

Certainly, the undead legion was not an easy opponent.

“But you were careless, Skull Lord. I’m not going to destroy this. I’m going to make it mine.”

“What?”

[Dark Blood and Imperial Soul infiltrate the Relic of Darkness, the Urn of the Beginning.]

[The enemy undead are thrown into chaos.]

“This is… !”

A gray aura settled on the urn, which had only emitted a dark aura. A pure soul force, neither divine nor dark, settled in the urn, affecting the undead connected to it.

[The Urn of the Beginning is now yours by the Imperial Soul.]

[The undead belonging to the urn now follow your commands.]

“Was this it, what Vostok succumbed to… a very warm light…”

“Vostok chose to follow that light. Will you do the same?”

“No, I will not.”

Skull Lord was also affected by the urn, and the light of the Imperial Soul was blooming from within.

Because of that light, he was gradually disappearing.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such warmth. I’m content to rest like this.”

“… Is that so? Then have your way.”

I pointed Silver Rose at him. The light of the Imperial Soul shone on him even more, and he quickly disappeared.

“Thank you, Emperor…”

Thus, he found rest.