He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 92

Clang!

Immediately after our swords clashed, she and I pushed each other away, creating distance between us.

The intense cold I felt upon contact with her lingered like an afterimage even after we had separated.

It was unmistakably a unique power she possessed.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t even asked for your name. What is it?”

I already suspected she was of noble birth, but curiosity led me to ask directly.

“You have too much 余裕 [yoyu, composure] in the middle of battle! Kalibaar!”

However, instead of answering, she simply roared and attacked again.

It was the same high-speed attack as before, when she first attacked.

Clang! Swish! Shaaack!

“Unexpected, I didn’t think you’d be this good?”

Even while blocking and dodging, I was genuinely impressed, as few knights could display such speed.

“But that’s not enough to defeat me.”

Ting!

However, even that was only relatively impressive.

If I were to use my full power, no, even if I just moved a little faster without using my full power, I could easily surpass her skills.

I lightly deflected her sword and moved behind her at an even greater speed.

She tried to dodge immediately, but I was quicker, striking her sword with the flat of my blade.

“That’s one death for you.”

“…You certainly have the skill to be 余裕 [yoyu, composed].”

“Oh, thank you for the compliment. But are you giving up already? Why don’t you try a little harder?”

I honestly wanted to spar more, so I provoked her slightly, but even without saying those words, she didn’t seem to have given up yet.

“I am Igrid, daughter of the Adversary. Who are you?”

“Finally, you reveal your name. I am… Franz. But who are you referring to as the Adversary?”

“I have no obligation to tell you that. I’ll go all out this time.”

Igrid, having revealed herself, gripped her rune sword tightly and focused her mind.

Then, a cold aura began to surround her, and white steam rose around her.

I had seen this power briefly before, but I could see something more than just that.

“Here I come!”

With that shout, she moved at high speed once again, but faster than before.

At the same time, the cold she brought with her intensified.

Clang, Chwaaaaaaa-

Even though I blocked her sword despite her increased speed, the cold still washed over me like an aftereffect.

It wasn’t just cold like before; it actually felt like my body was freezing.

I quickly pushed her away to create distance, but the place where I had been and the path she had run were clearly frozen.

“Suddenly freezing… Is this some kind of shamanistic art of the northern barbarians!”

“Don’t lose to the barbarians, Sir Knight!”

The people gathered around were also surprised by the power she displayed.

But the most impressed person was none other than myself.

“That power is astonishingly similar to the Imperial Soul. How did you obtain it?”

“I have no obligation to answer. If you want to know, ask with your strength.”

Igrid swung her sword at me as if my question wasn’t even worth answering.

As I had asked her, I could feel that the power wasn’t coming solely from her own being each time our swords clashed.

She was drawing power from something very similar to the Imperial Soul.

But it wasn’t the Imperial Soul, not entirely. That made me even more curious about its true nature.

“Then I gladly will.”

Whoosh!

“…! That power is…!”

“Ho, do you feel something too?”

When I unleashed the purifying flames of the Imperial Soul’s power, Igrid’s expression also changed to one of surprise.

Seeing that, I intuitively knew that she recognized the Imperial Soul and felt something similar to me.

“…What is your true identity?”

“I’ll give you the same answer. I have no obligation to answer yet.”

Clack.

“Ask with your strength.”

Tatt!

Returning Igrid’s words, I charged forward with even more sincerity.

Perhaps thinking the same thing, she reacted quickly this time as well.

Strength, speed, and skill were all evenly matched this time, and the mixture of cold and fire created intense gusts of heat and steam.

Cheeeee!

Kagaak!

The battle of ice and fire grew increasingly fierce, with ice trying to extinguish the fire and fire trying to melt and break through the ice walls.

But the balance of the battle was gradually tilting to one side.

Whoosh!

“Keuk!”

Igrid dropped her sword and was engulfed in flames.

The flames quickly died down again, but it wasn’t because she extinguished them herself; I had deliberately put them out.

“It was an amazing potential, but you were still clumsy compared to me.”

“…I lost.”

Igrid was able to fight on par with me for a while, but the difference in overall capabilities was significant.

There was a difference in the skill of handling power similar to the Imperial Soul, but the bigger part was the presence or absence of divinity.

I possessed divinity, so I could synergize with the power of the Imperial Soul, but she didn’t have such a thing.

“Well, don’t blame yourself too much. It was an inevitable result.”

“I have lost, so what do you desire?”

I didn’t remember asking for anything, but Igrid asked first, perhaps due to the northern tradition of respecting the rights of the victor.

“I’d like to say that in a different place. I’ll let you into the city.”

“I lost to you?”

“Well, as you said, I won. And I’m just doing as I please according to the rights of the victor. Surely you don’t dislike that?”

Igrid looked surprised at my answer, but soon shook her head.

“But you must disarm. You know you can’t enter the Imperial Palace armed, right?”

“…That’s true, but does that mean you can take us to the Imperial Palace?”

“Ah, now that I think about it, I haven’t said it yet.”

To Igrid, who still didn’t know my identity, I smirked and finished my introduction indifferently.

“My name is Franz Ludwig von Rosenkrantz. I am the Emperor, the rightful ruler of the Empire. You northern natives are also my subjects.”

Naturally, the expressions of Igrid and everyone around her soon changed to shock.

* * *

The northern natives, often called northern barbarians, are those who have not yet been touched by civilization, just as the name ‘barbarian’ suggests.

It’s quite amazing that they haven’t been assimilated as ‘northerners’ during the Empire’s long history, but it’s not too strange considering the harsh environment of the north.

“To be precise, there are those who have embraced civilization, those who haven’t, and those who are ambiguous.”

In the Imperial Palace’s reception room for honored guests, the Prime Minister naturally spoke about the current situation and culture of the north.

“Then which category does Igrid belong to?”

“After talking with Lady Igrid, it seems she belongs to the third category.”

“Why?”

“That’s because she-”

“I will say it myself.”

Perhaps wanting to reveal herself, Igrid stopped the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also thought it was appropriate, so he bowed and stepped back.

That alone showed that her status was so noble that even the Prime Minister had to be cautious.

“I am of the Frostheart tribe’s lineage and a descendant of the Adversary of Oskiper. Therefore, I am both a leader of the tribe and a noble of the Empire.”

“The Adversary… You certainly said you were the daughter of the Adversary earlier. But just saying the Adversary doesn’t tell us who that is.”

When I pointed that out, Igrid nodded and supplemented her explanation.

“The Adversary is the term our Kalvar people use to refer to the ruler of the north.”

“The ruler of the north… The Grand Duke of the North? Ah. Now that I think about it…”

The name of the Grand Duke of the North was Hector.

Hector Frost von Oskiper.

And the name Hector had the meaning of Adversary.

“So you’re the daughter of the Grand Duke of the North?”

“That’s right. Though I am the daughter of a concubine.”

“A concubine? Ah, the north must have a culture of illegitimate children.”

The Empire, though much smaller than in its heyday, still possessed a vast territory, and in fact, each region had slightly different cultures.

Noble cultures also had some differences, one of which was about concubines, illegitimate children, and bastards.

In the relatively fertile and livable central and southern regions, the survival rate of children was also high.

Therefore, the importance of concubines for the succession of noble families was lower than in the harsh western or northern regions, so there was little concubine culture, and children born outside of marriage were treated as bastards except in special cases.

On the other hand, in the north, while legitimate children were more important, illegitimate children were also recognized as children.

“The Oskiper Grand Duke family has a tradition of taking the daughters of great chieftains as concubines as part of their rule over the barbarian tribes. She seems to be one of those.”

Empress Dowager Selena, who was attending the meeting, provided appropriate supplementary explanations. Igrid nodded slightly, confirming that her words were correct.

“So, in fact, she was a Grand Duchess?”

Of course, she was an illegitimate daughter, but strictly speaking, she was definitely the Grand Duke’s daughter.

The Grand Duke, especially since his title was similar to that of a Duke even if it wasn’t within the framework of the Empire, could be considered the king of a kingdom, so she wasn’t just a simple Duchess, but truly a Princess.

“With such a status, why did you hide your identity and come here? You could have come as a formal envoy.”

Hendrik, who had become the head of the intelligence department, naturally asked a question related to his field of intelligence.

Even though she was a barbarian tribal member, she was strictly a noble, so there must have been a special reason for her to come here hiding her identity.

“Because the situation in the north has become extremely bad.”

“The north? Well, I haven’t been able to pay attention to the north until now.”

Because I had been dealing with the west, east, and then the south.

But the reason I lowered the priority of the north was because I could trust the Grand Duke of the North, who had visited before.

“He wouldn’t have been easily overthrown by a rebellion?”

“Of course, he wasn’t. Even after the civil war broke out, he overwhelmed the barbarian warlords and traitors.”

The barbarian warlords were one of the other elector princes in the northern territory, just like the Grand Duke of the North.

The Grand Duke of the North led those who had become northerners by assimilating into the Imperial civilization, while the barbarian warlords were still the leaders of the traditional natives in the north.

The fact that the barbarian warlords had the title of elector prince was actually one of the policies to assimilate those barbarians.

“Well, even if the northern situation is dire, it would be difficult for a barbarian tribe to win against a properly civilized army, so that must have been the case. But what went wrong?”

I naturally asked while making such assumptions, and then Igrid, who had been calm until now even though her tone was somewhat rough, rarely showed excitement.

“The barbarian warlords brought in demons. They cowardly accepted black magic, corrupting their own souls and the souls of their warriors! And…!”

Having said that far, Igrid swallowed her resentment and continued in a low voice.

“They ambushed the Grand Duke of the North.”

“…! Is he dead?”

“No, he’s not dead. But he can’t wake up due to a curse. And the situation is flowing worse than death.”

After that, Igrid added in more detail the reason why she came.

When the Grand Duke of the North was unable to wake up due to a curse, his subordinates sided with the rebellion.

In fact, the northern territory was a place where the desire for independence was already strong, but the authority of the Grand Duke of the North suppressed it.

But when he fell, he lost control, and his subordinates with separatist tendencies began to riot.

“A very small number are still loyal to the Empire, but they won’t last long. That’s why I came to see the Emperor.”

“So that’s why you came here hiding your identity.”

In such a situation, an official visit would never be possible.

“Your Majesty, the northern territory is also an area of Imperial influence, so we must take swift action. If we lose that place, other Imperial territories will also be in danger.”

Upon hearing Igrid’s message, the Prime Minister gave his opinion first.

But the Captain of the Guard immediately said.

“The Prime Minister’s words are correct, but the problem is that the Central Army still lacks the capacity to move.”

“It hasn’t been long since the Eastern Territory expedition ended, but is that still the case?”

“We have the capacity since then, but if the expedition destination is the north, we need more than twice the preparation.”

Well, the northern expedition was never an easy task compared to other places. The supplies to be packed alone would increase by about twice as much.

“…Then let’s do this. As Emperor, I will not go on an expedition to the north.”

“What! Are you going to give up the north!”

When I said that first, Igrid strongly protested, but I immediately calmed her down.

“Listen to me until the end. It’s only ‘as Emperor.’ I’m thinking of going there as someone else.”

“What does that mean? How can the Emperor go as someone else?”

Igrid showed her bewilderment with all her might, but I slightly raised the corners of my lips and said.

“It seems that the north will have to go similarly to the west.”

“I don’t understand any of what you’re saying.”

“You’ll find out if you follow me quietly.”

I’m going to take Igrid back to the north.

However, I’ll have to go around the west a lot.