He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 271

“So that’s what happened… truly, you never know what might happen in this world.”

Back in the Empire, I summoned Stella and Vostok to explain everything that had occurred.

They were taken aback by the story but didn’t deny that it could be an opportunity.

“That’s right. But it’s not something to be entirely happy about. Unless we intervene, they won’t collapse on their own.”

“Indeed, Stella. Even if a significant number of Undead regain their will, the Death Lords themselves won’t fall. They’ll just be suppressed helplessly.”

As they said, it wasn’t a time for optimism. Having seen it firsthand, I knew better. The Undead under the Lords’ control were far more elite than those who had regained their will.

They must have put a lot of effort into those guys to keep them under control even in this situation.

Physically eliminating them all was impossible due to their sheer numbers, and unless the Lords were taken out, they would just keep recreating them.

“Besides, they’re after the Spring of Life. Even if we don’t let them take it, it means they’ll keep targeting it.”

If that happened, the front lines would become entrenched. Even if the Undead’s firepower was inferior to ours, their numbers were vast and couldn’t be ignored.

They would pressure us like rain soaking clothes, and if left unchecked, it could eventually turn into a major threat.

“So, is there a solution? According to them, the Spring of Life can purify that cursed land.”

“Certainly… the Spring’s power might be able to do that. However, as you know, the Spring of Life we have was created by Pestras, so it’s incomplete.”

When the Spring is normal, there’s no problem, but if we overuse its essence and its divine power starts to deplete, it will instead spew out plague and despair.

“So, even if we try to purify the land, its power will run out, and we won’t get the result we want.”

“Stella, does that mean there’s no way?”

“Well… in cases like this, we usually look for ways to replenish the divine power from outside. Of course, the amount of divine power needed is considerable, so it’s far beyond what a person can provide. So, we usually look for a sacred place to be used as a sanctuary….”

The problem was that the place we were trying to purify was the Darklands.

Could there really be a place worthy of being called a sanctuary in that cursed land?

“…There is one place.”

Vostok spoke up in response to that question.

“I only recently learned about it myself… but according to Pestras, there’s only one place left. It’s the old Spring of Life that used to be in the Darklands. Now, only the site remains, though.”

“But that Spring is gone now. Didn’t it spew out a curse at the end?”

Vostok nodded at my words but turned the topic to Stella.

“That’s probably what happened. But it must have been a sanctuary, and if we can restore the depleted essence to the Spring, the curse will subside.”

“So… you’re saying we can replenish that essence with the Spring of Life we have, Vostok?”

“Exactly, Lady Stella. That’s probably something the priests of the Purification Order can do.”

Vostok’s words gave us a clue to solving this problem. If things went as he predicted, we might be able to purify the Darklands.

“However, we can’t do it right away. As long as they’re targeting the Spring, we can’t leave the Empire unguarded.”

Moving the Spring’s essence would require a lot of manpower. It’s not something I can’t do alone.

Moreover, the Undead would surely try to interfere. So, we needed to eliminate the Undead forces that had crossed into the Empire first.

“But they’re currently sweeping across the southern part of the Eastern Territory. It will take time to eliminate them all, won’t it?”

“We don’t need to eliminate them all. Or rather, we don’t need to go looking for them.”

At first, we didn’t know what they were after, so we just thought they were conducting a widespread blitzkrieg.

But now that we knew exactly what they were targeting, we could use that strategically.

“They’re after the Spring. In other words, their tactical objective is there, so we can lure them there.”

“In that case…….”

“We’ll withdraw the troops and set up a defensive line near the Spring.”

They would flock there.

And then we would annihilate them all.

* * *

“More digging again? You suddenly retreated, and now you’re digging trenches here too…….”

“Just dig without complaining. We move according to orders.”

The Imperial soldiers who had retreated to the vicinity of the Spring of Life began digging trenches like mad.

Even though they had retreated, the enemies were heading there, so time wasn’t unlimited.

One trench wasn’t enough, so they were digging them in double and triple layers, and the Imperial soldiers were digging with the determination to die.

“The priests of the Spring have begun the ritual. They’ll seal the essence of the Spring within 48 hours.”

“The enemies will come within that time too. It will be a battle of whether we can hold out or not.”

All the heavy and light artillery were being prepared. That wasn’t enough, so airships and floating islands were brought in as well.

In fact, with this much firepower, they were confident that they couldn’t be breached, but…….

“The Undead are coming. The problem is that they’re surprisingly heavily armed.”

The problem was that the Undead seemed to have come prepared this time as well.

The infantry were armed with machine guns, and giant flesh golems made of stitched-together corpses were carrying cannons.

And there was even aerial power that we never expected. They were giant Undead bat monsters with a rotten stench.

“They’ve become well-equipped in the short time I haven’t seen them. It’s obvious who’s behind this.”

The Creator God.

There was no one else who would do such a thing.

Thanks to that, things had become troublesome, but now that we had decided to fight, there was no thought of backing down.

“We were going to kill them all here anyway. Don’t be afraid, and stand against them. I am with you.”

Tudududududut-

Bang! Kwakwang!

Soon, the battle began on the front lines.

“Don’t retreat a single step! His Majesty the Emperor is with us!”

“Long live the Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

Machine guns and artillery spewed fire. This time, the opposing side also returned fire, but the deeply dug trenches protected them.

If necessary, the priests of the Purification Order deployed on the scene also created barriers.

From the sky, aerial support was coming from propeller planes, airships, and floating islands.

The soldiers fighting with the best support didn’t lose their morale even amidst the hail of attacks.

“Now, I’ll sortie too.”

[Silvatein Mechanic Type Deployed]

Chuck, chuk, clank-

The true form of Silvatein was deployed from Silverose.

The Mechanic Type, not the humanoid type, was literally a robot, or rather, a machina as it should be called here, with a magnificent appearance.

[Shadow Blade Storm Ready]

Silvatein’s armaments were diverse, but basically, Silverose with its Aura Blade always activated was its main weapon.

The shadow of the Dark Dragon frosted over that Silverose, generating intense dark energy.

Now that it could use other energy sources without transforming its form, the power that Silvatein could unleash had also become diverse.

[Shadow Blade Storm Deployed]

Shashashashak! Seokeok! Chwaak!

Immediately after flying into the battlefield, shadow blades danced in the middle of the enemies.

The Undead’s fire and artillery were concentrated for a moment, but I avoided them without difficulty using my neural acceleration ability. In the first place, they were attacks that couldn’t easily penetrate Silvatein’s armor.

Therefore, only the Undead were unilaterally swept away by the shadow blades.

-Kyaaaaaaak!

After suppressing a considerable number of Undead on the ground, the bats in the air swarmed in.

As flying creatures, they were too agile and easily avoided the shadow blades.

Their numbers were also large, so they could easily put pressure on me through numerical superiority.

“Then I have no choice but to increase my numbers too.”

[Tactical Combat Drones Summoned]

Chwararararak-

Drones that had been prepared in advance were summoned using Silverose as a medium.

The drones were divided into models imbued with divine power, darkness, and elemental spirits.

They moved on their own, chasing and shooting down the bats in all directions.

-Hwareureureureuk!

-Kyaaaaak!

They were quickly suppressing the bats. In addition to the drones, propeller planes also flew in and began dogfights with them.

Tutatatatatatat!

It’s on my tail! Shake it off!

They keep coming! Sweep them away!

The Undead’s losses were increasing exponentially, but they were constantly sending in troops.

Because of that, we had to fight endlessly as well.

Only after a day had passed, and almost two days had passed, when we were about to collapse, did they finally retreat after piling up a mountain of corpses.

* * *

“We won! They’re retreating!”

“Long live the Empire!”

The sky and the earth were stained with blood.

Underneath it, the soldiers who had barely survived were cheering.

The battlefield after the battle was a horrific sight. Even though I had taken the lead and played an active role, it was impossible to avoid friendly casualties in the face of an overwhelmingly large number of enemies.

Fallen comrades, destroyed fortifications, and crashed planes were seen everywhere on the battlefield.

As I looked at those scenes, I turned my gaze to Vostok, who was also covered in blood and dust.

“We’ve bought ourselves some time.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“You too. But the work isn’t over, is it?”

This was just the beginning. But looking at the number of Undead we had just ground down, it seemed like it would take time for the Death Lords of the Darklands to replenish them, no matter how many they had.

“That’s right. Undead are infinitely produced in that land due to the curse, but the creation itself takes time.”

“We can restore the old spring water before that happens. Purifying the Darklands won’t be difficult.”

“However, it’s useless if we can’t eliminate the Death Lords.”

That was true. Even if we purified the Darklands with the spring water, they could be corrupted again as long as the Death Lords were there.

Of course, we had to eliminate them. Unless we were planning to offer them the revived old Spring of Life.

“We must be careful. Their numbers are not all there is to it.”

“That’s right. Above all, the Creator God is behind them. There’s no telling what kind of tricks he’s played.”

In the first place, it was highly likely that the Creator God had made the Death Lords decide to attack.

If so, there was no way the Creator God wouldn’t have given them a means of defense.

They must have become stronger in some way, so it was better to be prepared.

“But that’s my job to take care of… more than that, Vostok, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“When this is over, the Darklands will be purified. I don’t know what will happen to the people there… the Undead. So, we need someone to rule that place.”

And there was only one person who could do that.

“Vostok, I will appoint you as king.”

“Your Majesty, I…….”

“I will refuse any refusal. If you are loyal to me, be prepared to rule that place as king.”

At my firm words, Vostok stopped trying to decline and bowed.

“I shall obey your command.”