He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 22

“This is a life-or-death game of tag.”

The tagger is me, and you have to run away from me to survive.

“Hiding poorly won’t cut it, you know?”

Swish!

“Ugh! H-How……”

He was an assassin who had turned invisible using stealth, but he was caught without a chance by my Watcher’s Web [a tracking technique using Aura].

I immediately rushed over and slashed him. The assassin looked surprised, not knowing how he had been discovered.

“Is that three already?”

One when I first ran away, and then two more after that.

“Come to think of it, this might actually be my first time killing someone.”

When I think about it carefully, it seems like this is the first time I’ve killed a ‘person’ since becoming emperor in this world.

I wonder if goblins, monsters, and demi-humans should be considered people, but at least these are the first ones that look like people.

But my feelings about killing them are surprisingly indifferent. I feel almost no guilt, just a little unpleasantness?

“It would be strange to feel guilty now anyway.”

Killing is just another form of taking life.

It would be ridiculous if I, who started getting blood on my sword in the Demon Realm, started crying just because the target changed to people.

I’ve already killed over 400 goblins alone, right?

Of course, you could say it’s different from someone in the slaughtering industry committing murder…….

“It’s different from that. This is…… yeah, it’s just too natural in this world.”

The rules and values are just different from the modern society I lived in.

This is a harsh world where you can’t react sensitively to every instance of killing.

Hesitating to kill the enemy on the battlefield is just as foolish in modern society.

“So, there’s no need to act like a moralist for no reason.”

I decided to live the way I want anyway, right? If I really want to, I just need to brace myself.

I didn’t want to be swayed by outdated conscience that wasn’t worth a single grain of wheat.

Shuuk! Shuuk!

Clang! Clang!

Perhaps because they saw two of their comrades get caught while hiding, they’re now throwing daggers and shooting arrows.

“It’s admirable that you’ve changed your tactics, but this just makes it easier to reveal your location.”

Thwack!

After cutting down the guy who threw the dagger, I immediately picked up his sword and threw it in the direction where more arrows were coming from.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

It was my first time using throwing in combat, but I hit my target in one go.

It wasn’t that difficult for me, who has the Innate Martial Talent trait.

“Did they hide again? I’ll just find them again, though.”

As two more were caught in that way, the assassins desperately hid again.

The game of tag with death seemed like it would continue for a while.

* * *

“How the hell is he finding us?”

The leader of the assassins was burning inside as he watched his fellow assassins get taken down helplessly.

Against the emperor who suddenly intruded, it was impossible to escape or kill him.

And even if they hid, he somehow found them and killed them.

For them, who even used stealth techniques to make themselves invisible, it was like a ghost story.

“At least it seems like it takes him longer to find us if we stay still…….”

But that didn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be discovered.

That’s because they saw fellow assassins who were hiding while erasing their presence get discovered and killed first.

“You’re over here?”

“Aaaagh!”

Just now, another one was taken down. Now, only the leader of the assassins was left.

But the leader of the assassins calmly began to analyze the situation.

“He definitely found us faster when we moved.”

Even if he killed them when they stayed still, he reacted faster to moving targets in terms of frequency and speed.

He thought about various possibilities based on the clue that he reacted faster to moving targets.

“Wait, could it be?”

Then, he came up with one of the most likely guesses.

A tracking technique that is generally rare and considered extremely incompatible for those who specialize in stealth.

“How is that guy using something that only rangers use?”

But as far as he knew, that technique nicknamed ‘Watcher’s Web’ was only passed down among the Helmart Rangers.

It was not only a secret technique passed down among them, but it was also not easy to learn the Aura application method.

“No, it doesn’t matter how he learned it.”

However the emperor in front of him learned it, he just had to deal with that Watcher’s Web now.

The leader of the assassins immediately focused his mind.

He used Aura to make his senses more sensitive and sensed the Aura around him.

He could vaguely feel the threads of Aura spread in all directions.

“Crazy, how much did he spread?”

The leader of the assassins was momentarily horrified by the sheer number of threads.

Even those who were reasonably skilled in Aura wouldn’t be able to spread so many strands so precisely and simultaneously.

“Anyway, I can roughly sense them, even if it’s not clear.”

The principle was that the threads were constantly moving, so they would be discovered sooner or later even if they stayed still.

Even if they just hid now, they would be discovered because there was no place to avoid.

Then, there was only one way.

“Come out, Earth Spirit.”

Swish.

He placed his hand on the ground and unleashed the Earth Spirit technique [a magic to create earth constructs].

An earth doll made with Earth Spirit magic stood up in a place as far away as possible.

Thwack!

“What, it’s bait?”

As expected.

As soon as the bait was detected, the emperor immediately targeted it.

It meant that the Watcher’s Web didn’t have the ability to distinguish even bait.

The leader of the assassins, who had found a way, made several more dummies.

“You’re finally using your head a bit, huh?”

The emperor, who had destroyed several more dummies, nodded and said.

The leader of the assassins was very angry at that arrogant attitude, but he didn’t act rashly.

Here, he had to choose.

Whether to try to escape using the dummies, or to try to kill him in reverse.

“Both have risks.”

Escaping wasn’t necessarily less dangerous.

He could deceive the emperor with the dummies, but he would be discovered as soon as he started to escape.

The emperor was not only excellent at tracking, but also incredibly fast.

All the dead assassins were able to move at high speed using Aura, but they died without even being able to use their skills.

The leader of the assassins also had no confidence in shaking him off.

“I have to fight after all.”

To ensure 100% safety, that was the only way.

Moreover, even if he managed to hide from the web somehow, it was almost time for the emperor’s reinforcements to arrive.

Then, he would be physically discovered and killed, regardless of tracking skills.

Time was not on his side.

“Fortunately, fighting is more feasible.”

It wasn’t a perfect method, but he had figured out how to deceive the enemy’s senses.

There wouldn’t be many opportunities, but he could create a gap.

Rather than fleeing defenselessly, it was more likely to kill him by exploiting a gap.

“Okay, then I’ll make another dummy…….”

First, he deceives the emperor’s attention once again.

This time as well, the emperor killed the dummy at lightning speed.

The leader of the assassins aimed for that exact moment.

An arrow filled with bluish Aura was already nocked in his bow.

The arrow flew and aimed for the emperor’s heart.

Clang!

“Tch, did I miss a little?”

The arrow pierced through the armor.

The ‘Steel Piercing Arrow’ almost hit his heart.

Unfortunately, it went slightly off course. But it would have damaged his ribs or diaphragm with a high probability.

That alone would be a serious injury in general, but he didn’t let his guard down as a veteran assassin.

“I won’t miss next time.”

Whether it’s his heart or his head, he will kill the emperor with the next shot.

He was excited because he thought he would be making a contribution, not running away.

Although he wasn’t the original target, assassinating the emperor of the empire would not only avoid punishment but also earn him great rewards and fame.

The leader of the assassins swallowed hard and began to concentrate all his nerves.

* * *

“He’s not going down easily, is he?”

He’s probably the last one left.

The resistance is quite fierce.

No, it wasn’t just fierce, it was quite surprising.

Surprisingly, he was even deceiving the ‘Watcher’s Web’.

Whoosh! Clang!

Another arrow flew.

It was an arrow imbued with Aura that could pierce even ordinary steel.

I managed to deflect the ones that flew several times like this time, but the shooting was becoming more and more skillful.

It wasn’t just flying in a straight line, but also adding a curving pattern.

Perhaps the next one would be difficult to block easily.

“What should I do? Should I back down like this?”

That’s the right thing to do if I think about safety.

But then I can’t accomplish the secondary objective.

Why would I deliberately attract assassins without warning Stella in advance?

It was to kill all these guys and get the reward.

Backing down here was an ambiguous decision.

“And it doesn’t suit my personality.”

Being a defeated dog was something I experienced enough in my past life.

Here, I didn’t want to run away or compromise, even if it meant dying in battle.

Thinking that way, I felt my blood boiling instead.

“And it’s not like I don’t have a way to deal with him.”

Rather, I was already at an advantage in terms of tracking and sensing.

He seemed to have figured out how to deceive the Watcher’s Web, but there were limits to his methods.

He can deceive me with dummies, but his location is bound to be revealed honestly when he attacks.

I just need to find the guy in that location and kill him, but the problem is that he now has an advantage in ranged attacks.

“That guy’s shooting is fierce, indeed.”

No matter how fast I run, I can’t prevent his arrows from flying.

There will be a delay whether I block it or dodge it.

And in the meantime, he changed his location and hid.

I can find him again with the Watcher’s Web, but it takes time to find him, so the same pattern is repeated in the meantime.

Unless I break this flow, the initiative is with that guy.

“The point is that I’m falling behind in ranged attack methods.”

I could try throwing like before, but it’s difficult to hit a guy who’s properly hidden with that.

Unless I had a special technique specialized in throwing, I don’t have anything like that right now.

Besides, to find out his location, I have to aim for the moment he attacks, but it would be difficult to hit him in time with throwing.

“I need a means to hit him accurately while also having a fast reaction speed.”

The general solution would be to use the same shooting skills as that guy, but no matter how much of a genius trait I have, I couldn’t perfectly imitate shooting right now.

While my ideas were blocked like this, an idea suddenly came to mind.

“The Watcher’s Web itself isn’t blocked, is it?”

That guy has figured out the characteristics of the Watcher’s Web and is dealing with it, but it’s not blocked itself.

He’s just buying time and doing simple tricks.

He couldn’t stop me from spreading those Aura threads everywhere.

Then there was a reverse idea I could try.

“What if I could attack directly with that Aura…….”

If I had a means to attack with not just extending the threads, but with tangible Aura.

I could perfectly counter that guy’s response.

The problem is whether that’s realistically possible.

It comes down to the question of whether I can apply physical force to Aura without the medium of a sword.

“But clearly, the Aura I’ve seen so far can be applied in countless ways.”

The Lion’s Roar of the Royal Guard Captain, which subdued the gangsters with just his voice.

The troll’s blow that caused a small earthquake was also clearly an application of Aura.

I guessed that all of those were changing the nature of Aura.

Then, is there really no way to exert physical force on the nature of that Aura itself?

No.

The Aura Blade that is infused into the sword is already a way to change the Aura into a sharp and sharp property.

The fact that I can create that property has already been proven possible.

“I just have to do it without the medium of a sword.”

Also, from a distance, making it into a force that extends far and pierces or cuts the located enemy.

It was an impossible-seeming idea, but it wasn’t impossible for me.

[The ‘Genius’ trait concretely implements your idea.]

[The ‘Innate Martial Talent’ trait has identified the senses necessary for enlightenment.]

[Skill Acquisition Clue, ‘Shadow Blade’]

[Implement ‘Shadow Blade’ to acquire the skill.]

With a moment’s enlightenment, I became even stronger.