He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 227

“Bostok, didn’t you say Darkland was your homeland?”

“Yes, it originally meant the land of the East, and my title, Duke of the East, also originated from here.”

“The land of the East…”

In meaning, it refers to the land where the sun rises, but now it has become a place as dark as pitch. The irony isn’t lost on me.

“It’s a cursed land now. Does anyone even live in a place like this?”

To my question, Bostok smiled bitterly and gave an unexpected answer.

“Every territory has its inhabitants. That holds true even in this land of death.”

“There are living people?”

“Yes, but without life, death also loses its meaning. Of course, they all live lives worse than death.”

“Come to think of it, you spoke of the balance between life and death.”

However, this area seemed far from the balance between life and death that Bostok described.

Swamps constantly spewing out sticky poison, forests filled with thick miasma [a noxious or poisonous atmosphere], beasts revived from death howling, and decaying corpses scattered everywhere.

“This is because it is Pestras’ territory. Each undead lord has a different sense of balance. And Pestras… is a truly terrible person beyond words.”

“Judging by how you say that, he must be quite the character.”

Well, the state of his territory tells you everything you need to know about him.

“So, where do we have to go?”

“The exact location of Lustra hasn’t been confirmed, but since our goal is to defeat Pestras, there is only one place to go.”

Bostok pointed to one side and said.

“Black Castle. It is his base. He is there.”

“Is there any chance he might flee?”

Bostok shook his head at that question.

“Not at all. He believes he can kill us all here.”

“We’ll have to shatter that belief.”

Even if the defending side has the advantage, isn’t he underestimating us too much?

But I soon realized that his confidence was not in vain.

“Your Majesty, we have encountered an undead legion.”

“It must be Pestras’ scouts. We must prepare for battle.”

“Scouts? The number seems to be at least 30,000?”

In comparison, we are only about 3,000 in total.

Of course, they are vampires, legions, and elites, but the numerical difference is too great.

What’s worse is that these aren’t even the main forces.

Swish-

“But there is nothing to fear. We will cut down everything that stands in our way. Be it demons, the dead, or even gods. For the Empire!”

“For the Empire!”

Clatter clatter-

The legions and knights of the Purification Order form a battle line. Behind them, priests chant prayers and unleash divine spells.

Kaaaaaaa!

Undead, led by ghouls, surged towards them like a tidal wave, but they could not break through the barrier of knights standing like an iron wall.

“In the name of the Empire, may you burn all enemies of the Empire.”

Whoosh-

Like a dam holding back water, the flames of purification summoned by the priests’ prayers swept through the undead gathered in the middle.

Kieeeeeet-!

The undead screamed grotesquely as they were engulfed in flames.

Although they were numerous, the flames of purification were an incompatible existence for the undead, possessing both divine power and fire.

“The undead are constantly rushing in!”

“Do not back down! Cut and cut again without rest!”

Thud! Clatter!

Slash!

After the flames swept through, when the cooldown of the divine spell was ending, the legions and knights simultaneously unleashed their sword energy.

Thanks to that, even the undead that were rushing in like a tidal wave were mercilessly turned into chunks of meat in the kill zone they created.

But the undead had a tenacious side.

“They’re coming from the sky!”

“Evil spirits are appearing!”

“They’re appearing from the ground!”

Bizarrely twisted bat-like flying undead dived past the battle line.

Evil spirits such as banshees and wraiths appeared, aiming for the rear of the priests and knights.

Even zombies were appearing from the ground.

They were subtly disrupting the formation and inducing a free-for-all.

“Vampire Legion, release the blood! Take away the false life given to those withered corpses!”

But as if waiting for it, Bostok’s vampires moved.

They bit the flying undead coming from the sky and absorbed their life force.

Even though they were dead undead, when even the small amount of life force animating them was taken away, they crumbled in a withered state.

The evil spirits attacking the priests, on the contrary, converted the life force they had taken into blood energy and detonated it.

The evil spirits within the range of the exploding blood energy disappeared. Strangely, there was no effect on the priests.

“They’re retreating!”

“We won!”

Perhaps because they had rushed in countless times but could not push us back even a little, the undead were retreating.

Bostok and the head of the guard were also catching their breath.

“Not yet.”

But I drew my sword only then.

Thud! Boom!

“Th-there!”

“That’s…!”

From the other side of the forest where the undead had retreated, a giant was walking.

The giant was a patchwork giant made of thousands and millions of undead tangled together.

Not just one, but dozens of such giants were rushing in.

“How many undead are there!”

Someone shouted as if in despair. It was truly a sight that was difficult for humans to handle.

Whoosh, slash!

“Just a good size to cut.”

But I flew towards the giant and cleaved it in two at once.

As the neck was cut off, the countless undead clinging to it fell to the ground in droves.

What was even more bizarre was that they were being mass-produced as if they were splitting, but I left no room for regeneration.

Whoosh!

The flames of purification rose on the severed surface. The flames that had penetrated inside burned them to death, and one giant was immediately subdued.

“Next.”

Gurgle, Pow!

The giants attacked me, who was flying with light as wings, by spitting bile or extending tentacles.

It was not simply flying from one mouth of the giant, but each of the human masses that made up the giant extended them, so it was bizarre and terrifying at the same time.

“Sorry, but I don’t like tentacle stuff.”

Swish, slash, slice!

I cut them all off with my sword and cut down another giant.

Similarly, I cut it in half and burned it with fire.

Then the giants changed their strategy.

Pffffffff!

The giants simultaneously spewed out yellowish toxins from their mouths.

It was clear at a glance that it was a hotbed of terrible diseases.

That was not an attack aimed at me.

It was intended to annihilate the ground forces because it was difficult to kill me.

Surely the poison gas would be fatal even to those with resistance.

“Did you think I’d let you?”

Whoosh-

I took up my sword again and ignited the flames of purification.

[Deploying the form of the Dark Dragon.]

[Amplifying the flames of purification using Dark Blood.]

I took the form of a dragon to enhance the attributes of the flame.

Dark Blood could not add divine power, but it could further strengthen the fire properties of the flames of purification.

Whoosh!

And I scattered the flames all around, with the momentum to burn away all the diseases they were spreading.

Gooooooo!

“Ugh, how vicious…!”

But it wasn’t easy.

The giants had numerical superiority and continued to produce toxins as if the inside was a factory producing toxins.

The flames could not keep up with it.

At this rate, I might be hit by the toxins.

However, I had no intention of backing down even a single step.

-Keep fighting, Emperor.

At that moment, Lustra’s whisper was heard.

The whisper itself was doubling my power.

Whoosh!

The fire inside me grows bigger. The fire that had been eaten away by the toxins has now completely regained its momentum.

[Switching to Sylvathein.]

[Deploying divine power in all directions.]

Pow!

Feeling Lustra’s divinity adding strength to me, I immediately changed from the form of the Dark Dragon to Sylvathein.

Since divinity was overflowing, it was possible to exert divine power additionally.

Light spread out like an explosion in all directions. The light that destroys all impure evil filled the surroundings.

“T-the darkness is receding!”

“The light… has purified this area. Just for a moment…”

The intense light was enough to brighten the surrounding area that had been submerged in darkness.

In the face of the intense divine power, more than half of the undead giants suffered massive damage and disappeared, and the remaining half hurriedly ran away from the light.

We won. But rather than being immersed in the joy of victory, I welcomed the being slowly descending from the sky.

“Lustra.”

“Emperor.”

It was Lustra, the goddess of purification.

“Sorry for being late.”

“It wasn’t that late. You came just in time.”

Honestly, I was able to win just now because Lustra came.

I have divinity and am getting stronger, but the limits of the human body still come quickly.

Even if you have great power, you might face death if you’re not careful.

In fact, it might not be that different even if you become a god.

“Thank you for saying that, but unfortunately, we don’t have much time. This place is beyond the reach of the Empire’s power, so I can’t maintain my strength for long either.”

The Empire’s guardian gods are gods who care for humans, but their power weakens rapidly in places where the Empire’s influence is insignificant.

This Darkland was clearly such a place.

“But we don’t have that little time, do we? If we slowly advance towards Black Castle like this…”

“No. We must go before Pestras prepares further! Before he creates the disease of destruction!”

Seeing Lustra looking anxious, I realized that there was no time to spare.

“Okay, then let’s make a forced march. Is there anything else you can advise me on?”

“You must find his relic before he synthesizes the disease.”

“Relic… right, we needed that guy’s relic to purify the Spring of Life.”

To be exact, it’s not the Spring of Life, but the spring containing the plague he created.

“What exactly is that relic?”

“I haven’t figured that out either. However, I was able to find its location. The top floor of Black Castle, his relic is sleeping there.”

Lustra didn’t seem to know exactly what his relic was either.

But she seems to have found out the location in the meantime, so that’s enough help.

“Lord, then there is no time to deal with his undead one by one. While the detachment deals with his army, we must infiltrate Black Castle with a small number.”

As the head of the guard said, if we deal with that guy’s army one by one, he will synthesize the disease in the meantime.

“Okay, then Head of the Guard, I’ll leave the army to you. Bostok, you and I will infiltrate the castle.”

“Yes, Lord!”

The time attack for the fate of the Empire has begun.