He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 79

Thump, thump.

The smell of burning wood, grass, and flesh permeated the air.

“They called this a natural fortress, but in the end, it couldn’t even stop me.”

I had annihilated the elven armies.

The Elven United Kingdom’s forces, devastated by Shadow Blades and Flames of Purification, fought desperately before suffering fatal blows, with only a few managing to retreat.

“They could have retreated sooner, so why didn’t he?”

Before the young World Tree stood an oak throne.

Upon it sat the Spirit King.

The Spirit King greeted me, sitting arrogantly on his throne,

as if those who died for him were nothing.

“Why should I have?”

The Spirit King, leaning back on his throne, retorted.

With an arrogant smirk, he answered my question.

“All subjects belong to the king. It is their duty to protect the king with their lives and fight against the enemy. They merely fulfilled their duty.”

Whoosh, crackle!

Upon hearing those words, I immediately swung my burning Holy Sword.

The blazing flames, carried by the sword’s wind, engulfed him on his throne.

But a blue barrier immediately protected him.

Water spirit magic.

“How dare you spout such nonsense. If only you had stepped forward sooner, those fellows wouldn’t have had to die. Well, they were all my enemies anyway.”

Swish! Swish!

Dozens of Shadow Blades descended upon him.

This time, earth and tree trunks rose to block them.

“Is this king even sane, sending his own subjects to their deaths like dogs?”

“It’s amusing that you of all people would say that.”

The Flames of Purification and shadows clashed against his boundless spirit magic.

My Imperial Soul and his Spirit Realm were vying for power.

“I know about you too. A king who pits nobles against each other and schemes in the shadows. You’re the one who uses civil wars for purges.”

Since flames and shadows alone weren’t enough, I relentlessly charged toward him.

However, winds of blades and sharp wooden thorns constantly emerged, blocking my path.

By the time I cut through them all and reached him, the Spirit King had already moved far away.

“Can you really criticize me? You don’t sympathize with your subjects either.”

Clang!

No matter how much I burned and slashed, the waves of spirit magic kept coming.

Eventually, some of my armor was torn away like paper by the force that could even rip through steel.

“So, you’re saying I’m not qualified to criticize you because I’m a tyrant too? Even so, sending your army to their deaths like that is unacceptable.”

“Their deaths like dogs? I repeat, they served their purpose admirably.”

The Spirit King, floating in the air, pointed at me and continued.

“How much magic and divine power did you expend to kill them, human emperor?”

To reach the Spirit King here, I had to kill tens of thousands of elves.

But it certainly came at a cost.

I had to use a significant amount of the divine power I had accumulated, and my magic was also greatly depleted.

Even with the Imperial Soul enhancing my divine status, my combat power would plummet without readily available divine power.

“The predator first exhausts its prey when hunting.”

“So, do I look exhausted to you?”

“Oh, certainly.”

At his words, all sorts of spirit magic assailed me from all directions.

Frigid cold that seemed to freeze everything in an instant.

Blazing spirit flames that seemed to leave nothing but ash.

Tidal waves of mud that seemed to swallow everything and winds of blades that seemed to cut through anything.

Simple and primal, yet savage and powerful spirit magic poured out endlessly.

“You’ve only grown a little stronger, yet all you can do is withstand my attacks.”

Even when I drew power from the Imperial Soul, he responded with even stronger and more spirit magic.

He had余裕 [leeway/composure], but I had relatively little.

“You’re already exhausted. Can you really defeat me?”

Kwaaaang!

I created an explosion to temporarily nullify his 쏟아지는 [pouring/rushing] spirit magic.

Then, creating some distance, I looked at him and the young World Tree beside him.

He leaned leisurely against the World Tree, continuing to taunt me.

“All of this is the defeat brought about by your foolish arrogance, human emperor. At least it would have been better if you had come with your army.”

“That army is burning down your kingdom and slaughtering your subjects.”

As soon as I replied to his words, the Spirit King laughed derisively.

“Now I see you’re even more foolish. How can you say that after I just told you about the duty of subjects? The kingdom exists because I exist! No matter how many of them die for me, it is a necessary sacrifice!”

The Spirit King mocked my intentions as if their deaths were a matter of course to him.

“Do you understand, human emperor? You are also a king and an emperor. You must know this.”

I couldn’t completely deny his words.

However, I saw a flaw that he wasn’t even aware of so clearly that I couldn’t help but smirk.

“You’re truly a moron as a king, beyond redemption.”

Whoosh.

The Flames of Purification flared up again on the Holy Sword. I spread my wings of light and flew toward him.

“Trying to provoke me is useless, human emperor!”

Numerous tree trunks and ice spears hurtled toward me. I dodged and cut them down.

“Your sword can’t reach me!”

The Spirit King moved away from me again in the meantime.

“Who said I was aiming for you?”

“What?”

As I had said with a mocking tone, I wasn’t even interested in him.

The target of my attack was the young World Tree behind him.

I plunged the burning silver Holy Sword into it.

The silver Holy Sword, still ablaze, dug deep into the tree, and the flames began to consume the inside of the tree.

“Ha, hahaha! Is this the best you can do, resorting to such a desperate measure?”

The Spirit King, as if amused, began to laugh, holding his face with one hand.

“Did you really think that slightly defeating my army, slightly burning my kingdom, and slightly burning that young World Tree would narrow the gap between you and me?”

The Spirit King leisurely manipulated spirit magic, sending me a mocking look as if he was enjoying ridiculing my foolishness.

“All of this is a futile resistance, human emperor. Unless you can defeat me here, what good is any of it?”

Arrows of fire and ice that seemed to fill the sky.

He was poised to unleash them at any moment.

“Yes. You’re right, Spirit King.”

If all those attacks were unleashed, even I would be in danger.

But I laughed at him with 余裕 [composure].

“As you said, that would be the case when you defeat me.”

Pshhh-

Crack-

“……What?”

The flames he had created began to extinguish one by one.

The arrows of ice also melted or shattered powerlessly.

The surging earth was gradually losing its spiritual power and becoming calm.

“This is…… Cough……!”

Eventually, the Spirit King even coughed up blood himself.

“H-How…….”

The Spirit King’s eyes wavered. He asked me with a look of bewilderment and anger.

“How did you…… attack the Spirit Realm!”

Upon hearing his almost desperate words, I gave a cold smile.

“I have the eyes to see the weaknesses of everything.”

[‘Keen Weakness Detection’ effect has been enhanced by the Imperial Soul.]

[You can discern more and more diverse weaknesses in all beings and powers.]

“I even saw the weaknesses you didn’t know you had.”

The silver Holy Sword I had stabbed into the World Tree earlier.

The Flames of Purification attached to that Holy Sword had spread to the Spirit Realm connected to the World Tree.

The flames, which had grown rapidly while burning the Spirit Realm, would now be difficult to extinguish.

“I had already won at that point. You didn’t even realize your fatal weakness.”

“Kuh…….”

As long as he was connected to the Spirit Realm, his power was incredibly vast. Almost infinite.

I couldn’t contend with it with the Imperial Soul that wasn’t fully opened yet.

However, the Spirit Realm, the source of his power, was also his weakness at the same time.

He didn’t seem to know it.

“If you had known, you would have desperately protected the World Tree.”

If he had anticipated that the Flames of Purification would burn the Spirit Realm connected to the World Tree.

But this guy, who had never been taught a lesson, hadn’t prepared for it at all.

He had great power, but his arrogance and foolishness had tripped him up.

“Kuh-uh-uh…….”

“It’s useless. It’s a fire that can’t be extinguished in this place.”

He seemed to be trying to concentrate and extinguish the fire that had spread to the Spirit Realm, but it wasn’t possible while facing me like this.

At least he would have to put in as much effort as it took to create that World Tree to barely put it out.

At this rate, I could kill him.

“But you know what? I’m not going to kill you right now.”

“……Are you trying to mock me? You’ll regret it.”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s not beneficial for me to just mock you.”

I said, walking around him as if teasing him, as he stumbled and fell to the ground.

The Spirit King wanted to attack me, but he couldn’t because of the pain that seemed to be burning from within.

“I’m going to break your crown.”

“What?”

“You said it earlier, didn’t you? You were talking about the duty of subjects. Actually, it’s the same for me.”

I, too, would use all the power of the Empire as much as possible for my purposes.

Whether it was dividing or uniting the Empire, leading the subjects to war, or focusing on governing instead.

“But you know what? I’m definitely different from you. Do you know what’s different?”

“……I don’t know. What’s different about you and me?”

“Of course, there is. Unlike you, I know my place.”

“Know, know my place?”

His expression twisted.

It was understandable, because the words ‘know your place’ would sound too out of place for those of the king or emperor class.

“But the ones who need to know their place more than anyone else are the kings.”

The Spirit King was rapidly weakening. I approached him, looked down at him, and said.

“A king cannot be a king by his own nature.”

The crown you wear.

The throne you sit on.

The silk clothes you wear.

The power and army that protect you.

And the subjects who adore you.

“You can be a king because of those things. Without them, you’re just an ordinary commoner. That goes for me too.”

But you abandoned your army.

You didn’t protect your subjects.

As a result, you’re also losing your power.

“You lightly lost the army that would protect you, and your own power has begun to crumble. And you’ve lost the trust of your subjects?”

No matter how much you wear a crown, wear silk clothes, and sit on the throne, who would serve you as king?

“I wouldn’t take such a gamble. Even if I were to be defeated, I would have insurance that I could remain as emperor.”

That’s the difference between you and me.

“That’s why you’re a hopeless moron as a king. You should have fulfilled your duty as a king before talking about the duty of subjects.”

With those words, I turned away from him.

“You’ve already begun to fall as a king. I’ll slowly watch your downfall.”

“You……!”

The Spirit King showed his anger, but I spread my wings of light and flew away from that spot.

Only his burning throne remained below.