He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 218

Became the Greatest Crazy Emperor – Episode 218

A secluded location in the Southern Territory.

“Hurry, are you sure we weren’t followed?”

“We weren’t.”

Four or so individuals, formerly Imperials, were leaving a city in the Southern Territory, heading towards their designated ‘rendezvous point.’

Strictly speaking, they were no longer Imperials, having been swayed from their allegiance.

“The Emperor’s eyes are everywhere. We must never lower our guard. We must deliver this information to them.”

They were people who had been ‘enlightened’ by the Celestials – brainwashed individuals who fervently believed they had seen the heavenly light and awakened to a higher truth.

Although the Dark Knights were actively tracking them down to reverse the brainwashing, many such individuals were still operating in the shadows.

“Of course. But… are the Celestials really descending? They’re not even nearby…”

“Fool, did you really think we’d only meet near the island? The Empire is naturally wary of that area.”

“Then how do we meet?”

“Just follow me, and you’ll see.”

The middle-aged believer answered the young man, or rather, the young believer’s question.

Soon, they arrived at the rendezvous point.

“We’re here. Now, I’ll call them.”

“Call them?”

“Just watch.”

The middle-aged believer placed a rosary on the ground and began reciting a prayer.

“O light of the heavens, guide us who have been enlightened. Your humble servant desires the truth of the heavens.”

Whoaaaaa-

Then, the rosary began to glow brilliantly.

The light shot skyward, and a portal of light opened from above.

“C, Celestials…”

“Ah… they are descending.”

“Oh, light of the heavens…”

As the Celestial beings revealed themselves through the light, the brainwashed believers exclaimed in admiration and praise.

Unfortunately, the Celestials bore a striking resemblance to Justia, the goddess of justice among the Empire’s five guardian deities, making it even easier to deceive the followers.

“Have you summoned us, beings of the earth?”

“Yes, we have brought what you commanded.”

The middle-aged believer knelt and offered a piece of parchment.

The Celestial knight arrogantly accepted it and read its contents.

“The betrayers have gone under the Empire’s control? Hmph, those guys have no pride.”

The parchment contained news of the Dark Knights’ defection, information that was still not widely known and treated as semi-classified.

In addition, there was minor military intelligence, all gathered from those brainwashed by the Celestials operating within the Empire.

“Good. This information is quite useful.”

“T, thank you, Celestial!”

“Well then, I must give you a reward.”

“R, reward?”

“That’s right. I will… ascend you to the heavens.”

The Celestial spoke with a benevolent expression, though it held a hint of mockery.

Of course, the brainwashed individuals before him did not notice it.

“A, ascension! Is it true?”

“Yes, you will now be free from the constraints of the flesh and live forever in the heavens.”

As he spoke, the Celestial knight placed his hand on the middle-aged believer’s head.

Then, his body turned into light and flew into the portal in the sky.

“Oh… the Celestial is guiding us to heaven!”

“With this, there is no need to suffer anymore…”

The lives of the Imperials had improved compared to the past, but not everyone could find happiness. Those who were weary remained weary. Frankly, constant conflicts on the ground made true happiness seem distant.

They longed for heaven, and the light shown by the Celestials seemed to offer them the afterlife they desired.

“Heh heh, you fools.”

“To think they’re just being used as fuel for us. This is why the beings of the earth are so foolish.”

The Celestials mocked them.

Simply because they ‘looked holy,’ the beings of the earth readily revered them.

Whenever they encountered ‘primitive’ civilizations in various dimensions that displayed such behavior, they always felt a twisted sense of superiority.

And they used and played with them. It was an indispensable pleasure for the Celestials.

“Now, who will ascend next?”

“I will!”

“Please, let it be me next!”

Mocking the foolish people who believed that the disappearance of existence before their eyes was ascension, the Celestials sought to erase the traces of their spies.

They used the brainwashed as spies, converted them into energy, and erased their traces along with their existence. It was their primary method.

“So that’s how it was. No wonder it wasn’t easy to catch their traces.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

At that moment, the young believer spoke. That is, I spoke, disguised as a young believer.

Then, one of the Celestials, suspicious of me, spoke.

“What do you mean? You’re all dead now.”

Sreung- Chwaak!

“Keuhuk?!”

In an instant, I slashed one of the Celestials with Silver Rose, which I had summoned.

“Attack!”

“Fire all at once!”

Shushuk! Shushushuk!

At that moment, the Rangers, who had been lying in ambush around the rendezvous point, began to fire.

The bolts, aimed precisely at the vitals and wings, threatened the Celestials one by one.

“Keuk! Everyone, retreat! It was a trap!”

“You think I’ll let you escape?”

[Shadow Blade Barrage Deployment]

The Celestials, realizing they had fallen into a trap, immediately tried to fly into the sky and escape, but the shadow blades quickly pursued them.

Chwaak!

“Kyak, my wings!”

The Celestials whose wings were severed by the shadow blades fell from the sky.

“Magic Bullet Barrage! Don’t let a single one escape!”

In addition to the shadow blades, the magic bullet barrage from the Rangers blocked even those who were trying to escape.

“Iik! I’m not just going to sit here and take it!”

Realizing that escape was impossible, they immediately attempted to counterattack.

They lunged forward, wielding lightning-imbued spears and swords.

Kaang!

“No!”

“Long time no see, brothers.”

But there were those who stood in their way.

The Dark Knights. They blocked the Celestials who were aiming for the Rangers and me.

“Kuek! You wingless bastards!”

The Celestials were flustered by their appearance, but they tried to create distance using their wings.

“No, not anymore. We have found new wings.”

“What!”

However, because it was a dark night, they couldn’t properly see the black wings they now possessed.

Because of that, they couldn’t properly react even when the Dark Knights quickly flew after them and cut off their necks.

Chwaak!

“That last one was the last.”

“Good. The Dark Knights and Doppelgangers [shapeshifters] should immediately begin disguising themselves. Rangers, arrest the prisoners.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was an opportunity seized after some time of lurking.

The portal was still open in the sky.

The plan was to disguise ourselves as Celestials and sneak into their base.

The Dark Knights, who were once Celestials themselves, could not be distinguished from the Celestials if they changed their clothes and simply bleached their wings using special measures.

Of course, in addition to them, I was planning to infiltrate a large number of Doppelgangers, so I quickly killed the Celestials and transformed the ‘dolls’ I had brought in advance into their appearances.

Now, the dolls had reached the stage of imitating ‘existence’ like Doppelgangers, freely changing their appearance.

I also disguised myself as a Celestial.

“Good. Now, shall we fly into the sky?”

I was curious about what the city of those who lived in the sky would look like.

To satisfy that curiosity, I flew into the sky with the Dark Knights and Doppelgangers who had finished disguising themselves.

Soon, everyone passed through the portal of light.

“Ugh, it’s blinding. Is this the city of the heavens?”

Even though it was a complete night, the city on the floating island was as bright as day. This was because the city itself shone like a light source.

“Come to think of it, the floating island looked bright even at night around the floating island.”

“The light of the heavens connected to the floating island never turns off. This is because energy is constantly supplied from the Celestial dimension.”

Caliel added. I nodded and looked around.

This place where the city was visible was a little far from that city of the heavens.

Now was the time to infiltrate that place. The problem was whether we would succeed in infiltrating….

“I’m not worried about the Doppelgangers, but I’m worried about you guys.”

The Doppelgangers stole the existence of those they killed, so they imitated even their memories and were unlikely to be caught.

But I was worried about the Dark Knights. There was a possibility that they would be caught at a checkpoint.

“There will be no checkpoints. They won’t even think we’ll infiltrate.”

“That would be fortunate, but….”

So, I replaced those who looked like high-ranking officers with Doppelgangers as much as possible.

The Doppelgangers didn’t seem to feel any problems in the stolen memories, so I had to hope that would be the case.

And fortunately, it was as Caliel said.

“The security is really lax. They don’t even do basic checks….”

If they had checked military records when entering the city, it would have been difficult for the Dark Knights to avoid being discovered, but there wasn’t even such a check.

Well, it was fortunate for me. However, the scenery of the floating island was very different from what I had imagined.

The city was so beautiful that it was mesmerizing, so much so that you could feel ‘holiness’ just by looking at it.

But that was very paradoxical.

“Where did they kidnap all of them from? Humans, beastmen, elves… they don’t discriminate.”

There were not only Celestials in the city. The Celestials walked around like noble angels, but the slaves kidnapped from the ground were in a miserable state.

Their pupils seemed empty and had lost their light, and they were only moving mechanically.

They were all brainwashed.

“It seems to be a structure that runs on slaves. Did you guys live like that once?”

“…To make excuses, it wasn’t like that when we were there.”

“Let’s hear more about that later. So, where do we have to go?”

The Dark Knights said that they had to find the bloodline left by the Celestial royal family.

They said that if they found them, they could build a resistance force.

“They won’t be on this floating island right now. However, there is a place where we can get information.”

“Information? Where?”

Could there be an underworld like an information-selling organization in the city of the heavens?

“The Order.”

“What?”

“To be exact… the underground Order. They must be in the lowest level of the Celestial dimension.”

“Are they your comrades?”

Caliel smiled bitterly at that question.

“Rather than comrades… they are true heretics.”

“Do you really have heretics among you? Then what heresy did they commit to be like that?”

“They….”

Caliel carefully looked at me and said.

“They taught the beings of the earth how to handle divine power.”

“…Ha, that’s funny.”

Is it like a fantasy version of Prometheus?

“Anyway, they have been oppressed since before, but they have not been exiled like us. If there is anyone who knows the location of the usurped bloodline, it will only be them.”

“Then let’s move quickly. The guys won’t be fools either, so they might be tracking us.”

The Doppelgangers would avoid being tracked, but what’s more dangerous is us.

Moreover, to enter the Celestial dimension, we had to pass through the Celestial Gate that led there.

We decided to stay on the floating island for a while and look for an opportunity to infiltrate.