He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 245

-A coward… I suppose you could say that. Back then, I was just a fool driven by recklessness.

I had intentionally provoked him, but the Beast King surprisingly admitted it readily.

“You know me well. I regret not settling things back then. But I suppose things are different now?”

-That’s right. I have changed. I have become a different being. This is not just bravado, Emperor.

The hologram showing the Beast King soon changed. The hologram revealed the current state inside the floating island.

“Good heavens… what have you done?”

Seeing what was projected on the hologram, I couldn’t help but utter those words.

Countless demi-humans, seemingly dragged here, were dead in grotesque forms, having been used in the chimeras’ metamorphosis.

The chimeras, grown from them as hosts, were ravenously devouring them, increasing their numbers.

The number was more enormous than I had imagined.

-How is it? My new loyal subordinates?

“Disgusting. Do you have no affection for those you rule?”

-Meaningless words. What a ruler needs is not affection, but fear.

Sounds like ‘The Prince’ [a political treatise by Niccolo Machiavelli]. Such outdated nonsense.

“Usually, the king who says such things is the first to get his head chopped off. So, is that your fear?”

-Oh, hardly. This is just a small fraction of my power that I’m showing you.

The Beast King said with a sly smile.

-You might be able to stop this much. But what about next? And the next? Can your empire never slip up, even once?

“…….”

The Beast King surprisingly hit the nail on the head. The empire, the humans of this world, have no room for error.

With just one mistake, they could lose everything to some suspicious being called the Creator God and regress again.

-If you’re very lucky, you might even win this game of the gods. But even that won’t be the end of the trials for your humanity.

The Beast King pointed at me with his finger.

-You are a house of cards, and your precious empire will collapse if you fall.

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

Even if I defeat the Creator God, humanity could still self-destruct by making the wrong choices.

There were countless such histories even on Earth, where I used to live.

“But it’s not like only destruction awaits.”

But in the end, even that world achieved an era of peace and reason, however imperfect.

Of course, even that might be a fleeting illusion. But so what?

Even if we are destroyed tomorrow, doing our best in every moment is the choice humans can make.

“Even if I disappear, humans will desperately survive. And they will fight back even if enemies like you appear.”

-You overestimate humans.

“You underestimate humans.”

Perhaps he liked that retort. The Beast King smiled slyly again.

-Good. Then I’ll look forward to the day we properly clash.

The Beast King ended the hologram there.

“He threw down the gauntlet [issued a challenge].”

Then it’s only natural to accept the challenge.

* * *

“They’re coming from both sides!”

“Don’t stop. Head straight for the core!”

Soon after, I and the Imperial Guard forces were breaking through the interior of the floating island with unstoppable momentum.

The Beast King had generously filled the floating island with chimeras.

There was no time to deal with them all one by one. If we tried to do that, the floating island would cross the entire sea.

We just needed to reach the core, bring it down, and escape before that happened.

However, they seemed to know that and were desperately attacking.

“We can’t deal with them one by one.”

The swarm of enemies was becoming increasingly dense. It was impossible to cut them down or push them back one by one with a sword, so what was needed was an area-of-effect attack.

We needed a continuous stream of wide-area attacks, and there was a suitable method for that.

I immediately focused the Imperial Soul through Silver Rose.

[Summoning spirits of the spirit realm through the Imperial Soul.]

And I summoned spirits with that Imperial Soul.

After liberating the spirit realm last time, I could now summon spirits as needed.

-Need help? What should I burn?

“Everything in all directions. Burn it all without leaving anything behind.”

-Got it!

Whirr! Boom!

The three or four summoned fire spirits were randomly exploding and burning everything around them.

In terms of pure firepower, it was better than the flames of purification. The flames of purification were actually a bit weak in terms of pure firepower.

Since it was a floating island that would be brought down anyway, there was no attachment to destroying it. It might have been even better if it could be brought down without reaching the core, but unfortunately, the floating island’s durability was quite good.

“That’s the core. But there’s something suspicious in front of it.”

“…That’s a disgustingly large eyeball.”

By the time we reached the core, there was a fixed-type chimera with a large eye embedded near the core that supplied magic power to the floating island.

As the eye looked around, enhanced chimeras appeared. I could intuitively tell that it was commanding the chimeras.

I have to kill that. I could immediately make that judgment.

“Be careful!”

But I had to reflexively throw myself away at the shout of the captain of the guard.

That’s because a powerful beam of murderous light flew from that eye and literally scorched the place where I was standing.

“I thought it would have weak self-defense since it’s a commander type.”

I guess that wasn’t the case.

Zzzzz! Zzz!

That eyeball laser didn’t stop at once and kept flying.

It was harder to avoid than I thought. In the first place, beam attacks weren’t meant to be avoided but defended against, but the firepower was too strong to defend against.

Moreover, it was too accurate, so high-speed movement didn’t work well. In the end, there was only one choice I could make.

“Legion! Block the front for a moment!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The Legion, wearing heavy sealed armor and holding a huge shield, blocked my path.

The laser flew again behind him, but it only sizzled the Legion’s shield.

The shield couldn’t withstand the firepower for long and was gradually melting down, but the Legion didn’t budge at all, as if he would block it himself when the shield was completely melted.

“Prepare Sylvan Cannon.”

[Sylvan Cannon preparation complete]

“Rapid-fire. Keep firing until the target is silenced.”

[Command received.]

Hiding behind the Legion, I transformed into a humanoid type Sylphane and prepared the Sylvan Cannon.

Instead of pouring everything out at once, I used precision rapid-fire this time. Firing high-powered shots in such a confined space could accidentally harm allies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three rapid-fires took place. The Sylvan Cannon was also a laser cannon. The target couldn’t avoid it. In the first place, it was fixed to the ground, so it had no way to avoid it.

Soon, the giant eyeball that was the commander of the chimeras burst like a broken egg.

“I’ve secured the core. Kessil, immediately seize the system.”

-Command received. Seizing the floating island’s system.

I could just destroy the core, but just destroying it wouldn’t stop the island from floating around in the sea.

Instead, I had to seize the system and induce self-destruction. That way, I could wipe out all the chimeras inside.

[Seizure complete. Awaiting orders.]

“Immediately initiate the self-destruct procedure and drop it into the sea. The island must not be allowed to float on the sea.”

[Roger. Overloading each magic power source to induce self-destruction.]

[Self-destruct procedure has begun. We recommend you evacuate immediately.]

“Good, it’s time to leave. Everyone, retreat!”

Without any regrets, I left the floating island with the Imperial Guard. We were able to escape without a single casualty, taking one escape airship that had been prepared in advance.

Thwack! Rumble-

Before long, the floating island collapsed and began to fall into the sea in shattered pieces.

I could see the chimeras falling as well. Even if they could fly and crawl, there would be no way for them to survive falling in the middle of the sea.

“I did something. But is it one step forward and one step back? It’s a stalemate.”

I had originally guessed that it was a trap, but I had calculated that I could get the floating island if I won.

But I didn’t know that the Beast King had created such a ploy. It was impossible to recycle that, and it had to be buried at sea with the chimeras.

Moreover, beyond that, the southern sea was no longer safe.

“I don’t know when those guys will attack from the Southern Continent.”

“Should we go on an expedition to the Southern Continent as well?”

The captain of the guard asked me my intentions. It was more than just asking my opinion, it was asking about the empire’s strategy.

An expedition to the Southern Continent is not an easy task. So, it might be better to not even think about going there and instead attack and defeat the Creator God first.

At least the Demon Realm is not blocked by the sea, so if we can advance there, we can challenge the Creator God.

But could I clearly answer the question of whether I was ready to face the Creator God yet?

“No, it’s still too early.”

The level of power between the Creator God and me is equal if viewed positively. If I think pessimistically, he may be stronger than me.

Of course, the latter possibility is small. If he had the upper hand in power, he would have come to end me long ago.

So, if I assume that we are equal, it is too disadvantageous to go on an expedition. So, I couldn’t gamble.

“First of all, I need to strengthen the naval power.”

“The naval admiral will be happy.”

“I’m also planning to strengthen the airship power, so the captain of the guard doesn’t have to be disappointed.”

To prevent the threat from the Southern Continent, we need not only ships but also airship power. And airships could also support the army in case of emergency.

“I don’t know when the Beast King will move again, but except for the south, the only place left is the northern front.”

“The Northern Territory and the Greenskin Kingdom are the problems.”

“Yes… the Greenskin Kingdom is more urgent of the two…”

Golak lost its capital due to the enemy’s floating island power.

The Greenskin Kingdom, having lost its capital, will have a harder time resisting in an organized manner.

It’s about time to support them. The problem is…

“Rasgar. Is it time to face him?”

Rasgar, one of the green gods of the Greenskins and an apostle of the Creator God.

I might have to face him. Of course, there was intelligence that he preferred demons, so there was no guarantee that I would meet him. But that’s something I can’t know.

“It won’t be an easy fight.”

If we meet, I may have to fight a battle even fiercer than the previous one.

“But I can’t avoid the fight. Now that it’s come to this, I have to lay the groundwork for a counterattack.”

Until now, it was defense, but now it was time to counterattack.

If you only defend, you will eventually wither away.

It was time to put into practice the saying that the best defense is offense.