He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 32

I Became the Unrivaled Crazy Emperor – Episode 32

As soon as I saw Stella being taken, I immediately chased after him with high-speed movement.

Thanks to the faint glow of Stella’s divine magic, I could still make him out in the darkness.

His transformation was even more advanced than the half-werewolf monsters we’d already faced.

“I won’t let you get away!”

I aimed for his thick, grotesquely transformed arm, hoping to make him drop Stella.

The skin on his arm was tougher than any monster I had faced before, but by momentarily amplifying my aura, I managed to cut deeply into his arm.

-Kruk!

Unfortunately, I didn’t sever it completely, but the cut was deep enough that the flesh was almost completely separated, forcing him to release Stella.

-Krrrrrr…….

Or, to be more precise, he deliberately abandoned Stella.

It was proof that he wasn’t just driven by instinct but was capable of cunning, survival-driven actions.

Shuuuuuu…….

But before he completely disappeared into the darkness, I saw his half-severed arm regenerating at an incredible speed.

It was a stark contrast to the monsters I had fought before.

It seemed my guess was right: he was the last survivor and had absorbed all the power of the other monsters.

“Stella, wake up.”

But Stella was the immediate problem.

Whether it was from the initial attack or the rough handling when she was captured, she was bleeding profusely.

“Ugh…….”

Stella was already fading in and out of consciousness and couldn’t cast healing spells on herself.

I immediately opened the status window and searched for a healing divine spell that I could use.

[You have used a lower-level healing spell.]

[Your understanding of healing spells is low, so the effect is greatly reduced.]

[Increase your understanding of the system or gain additional favor from ‘Lustra of Purification’.]

[The healing target is currently poisoned, which reduces the healing effect.]

But I couldn’t effectively heal the injury with my limited power.

In fact, her condition would briefly improve, only to quickly worsen again.

-Kwaaaaak!

“Be careful, Your Majesty!”

While I was briefly tending to Stella, the super-entity attacked me from behind.

The Captain of the Guard intercepted him just in time.

The Captain, having blocked the monster’s attack with his sword, immediately swung his blade in a counterattack.

But the creature had already stealthily melted back into the darkness.

“Captain of the Guard, take Stella to Priest Thomas immediately.”

There was someone else among our group who could effectively use healing spells besides Stella.

It was the priest, a close aide she had brought with her. He’s currently holding off the enemies at the entrance on the second floor with Hendrick.

If I get her to him, he will be able to save her.

“But what about Your Majesty……?”

“I’ll deal with him here.”

I needed someone to buy time for the Captain of the Guard to retreat with Stella.

Even if that weren’t the case, I had to catch him anyway; I had to eliminate all the monsters without leaving a single one alive.

“No, I’d rather stay and face him myself.”

“It’s an order. Disobedience is not allowed.”

As I said that, I simply handed Stella over to him.

“Trust me, Captain of the Guard, just like you always have.”

“……After entrusting her to treatment, I will return immediately.”

“I’ll finish this before then.”

The Captain of the Guard, realizing he couldn’t sway my decision, eventually took Stella and quickly retreated the way we came.

“Now, it’s a one-on-one fight.”

I muttered to myself, peering into the darkness.

The super-entity was surprisingly adept at evading the Watcher’s Web [a technique that uses aura to detect movement].

Even the elven assassins, who were formidable opponents, couldn’t avoid it.

“Is he really sensing the aura itself?”

It’s not uncommon to sense aura. I’m an aura user myself, and all aura users know how to sense it.

But clearly seeing or feeling it and then avoiding or deceiving it is a different matter entirely.

The fact that he was evading the web meant that he could clearly perceive it.

“Then I’ll just make it denser.”

[Mana Heart output rapidly increasing]

[Current Mana Heart output: 140%]

Output exceeding 100%.

I was pushing my output far beyond my usual limits, more than doubling it.

It was a risky method, but it was a way to temporarily amplify my aura beyond my normal capabilities.

Naturally, the effectiveness of the Watcher’s Web was also enhanced.

Now, my surroundings were almost completely saturated with a web of aura, making it impossible to approach me unnoticed.

Whoosh!

“There!”

I immediately sensed movement to the right.

I moved at high speed towards that side and slashed at the moving object with my sword.

“A corpse?”

But it wasn’t the super-monster entity.

It was someone’s corpse that he had thrown as a decoy.

-Kyaooo!

Immediately, a surprise attack from behind.

The monster’s honed, sharp claws raked across my back.

“Kugh!”

I felt a sharp pain and sustained a fairly deep wound, but I shifted at the moment of the attack to prevent it from becoming a serious injury.

[You have been poisoned.]

[Bleeding will not stop easily.]

Just like when I tried to heal Stella, his claws were coated in poison.

Moreover, he vanished back into the darkness before I could even counterattack.

“A cunning bastard.”

Even the other monsters showed some degree of cunning, but this super-entity displayed far superior intelligence.

Perhaps that was also a result of evolving into a super-entity.

-Krurung!

Kaang!

He continued his hit-and-run tactics, ambushing me from the shadows.

Since he could evade my detection, he held the initiative.

Fortunately, I could react slightly faster just before each ambush.

-Kyaaaa!

Kagagak!

-Krrrrrrrr!

But the gap was rapidly closing.

The more he fought, the more he learned, and the more cunning and dangerous his attacks became.

“At this rate, I’ll be the one to get hurt first.”

The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable.

Above all, the fact that he was evading my detection was a major disadvantage.

I have to find a way to counter that.

There weren’t many opportunities.

The only way to win was to find and attack him before he attacked me.

To do that, I closed my eyes in the darkness.

* * *

The monster hidden in the darkness was once human.

But the monster no longer possessed any memories or emotions from his human life.

Having been subjected to all sorts of experiments by the cultists, both his body and mind were irrevocably altered.

So, as soon as he was released from the bars, he rampaged according to instinct, just like the other monsters.

-Krrrrrrrr…….

At first, all the cultists died.

Then all the humans imprisoned in the prison were murdered.

Soon, the monsters began killing each other.

-Kirik, Kruk, Krrrrrrrr……

Each time, the monster grew stronger.

His skin became tougher, his claws sharper, and he soon learned to spit poison and blend skillfully into the darkness.

He even began to sense aura, something he had no talent for when he was human.

When he killed all the monsters and monopolized their power, he could see the aura clearly.

-Kiiiiii…….

But it wasn’t enough.

A flicker of intelligence, born from his instincts, told him:

Take more power, become stronger.

Survive, and now it’s time to lead others of your kind.

To do that, he had to escape from here, to a place with more prey.

-Khehehehe…….

Just imagining it made his mouth water.

But he couldn’t leave right now.

Because of the silver-haired man chasing him in the darkness.

He was strong.

His instincts told him that.

But he was more advantageous.

He was scattering thin threads of aura in all directions, trying to find him, but the monster, who could see those threads clearly, could easily avoid them.

Thanks to that, the man couldn’t find the monster in the darkness.

-Kyaaaaa!

Chaeng! Chwaak!

A head-on fight was impossible.

But he could use hit-and-run tactics to strike and retreat.

The monster, who had even learned how to learn, was able to make the next ambush even sharper each time the ambush succeeded.

On the other hand, the silver-haired man was accumulating wounds.

He could win.

He could also take his power.

Surely, if he caught and devoured him, he would become unbelievably strong.

Then the monster became even more greedy.

He could have shaken him off and secretly escaped to the upper floor, but the monster was determined to hunt him down.

Chyuraaaak!

“Keuk!”

But he never acted hastily.

He had gained intelligence that gave him cunning, even though he had no reason to, having evolved by devouring others.

He threw a corpse to confuse him.

He also briefly disoriented him with a long tongue he had created through evolution.

He minimized injuries by using his powerful regeneration ability and induced a war of attrition [a prolonged conflict where each side seeks to gradually wear down the other].

He didn’t try to inflict great damage at once but continued to accumulate damage by using poison.

-Kekekeke…….

The monster grinned hideously in the darkness.

Even though things continued to turn unfavorable for him, the prey did not flee.

If he had tried to escape when he was a little more fresh, the monster might have given up hunting him and focused on escaping.

But the prey didn’t run away, perhaps because he was determined to catch the monster.

Now, it would be difficult to escape because the damage had accumulated.

-Kheeeee…….

The monster now thought it was time to deliver the final blow.

That prey certainly had other companions.

He was left alone after injuring one, but if too much time passed, they might return.

If that happened, he might miss the prey he had already caught.

Since the prey was tired enough, it was now time to aim for a bold finishing blow.

-Keuheuh?

Just as he was about to move, the silver-haired man the monster was facing closed his eyes in the darkness.

At first glance, it looked like he had given up.

But the monster could tell that wasn’t the case.

Because countless threads of aura were emanating from his body with his eyes closed.

-Keuheuheuh…….

Was he trying to deceive him?

But it’s useless since he’s seeing everything.

The monster grinned hideously and skillfully avoided the web of aura in the darkness.

Although it stretched densely in all directions, the thin threads of aura, which could be called a web, had a limit to their density.

It was so dense around the man that there was no room to squeeze in, but there were many gaps in the structure even if the distance was a little further.

If those threads were invisible, it would be difficult to avoid them, but those who could see them could hide and avoid them as much as they wanted.

-Krrrrrrr…….

Thanks to that, even when the monster was almost close enough to touch his back, the man didn’t seem to know the monster was approaching.

The monster grinned and tried to cut off his breath with sharpened claws.

But at that very moment-

Shuuuk, Chwaak!

-Kruk?!

The blade of a black shadow, hidden in the darkness, brushed past him.

“Got you.”

The man was already staring at the monster hidden in the darkness with icy cold eyes.