He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 94

I Became the Unrivaled Crazy Emperor – Chapter 94

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

This is the old Western Ranger Headquarters, now the Western Knights Headquarters.

The fortress that once defended against the Green Skin horde now functions more like a city.

It was practically the capital, but the location wasn’t ideal, so it seemed a change of capital would be needed soon.

“Hey, I want to go back to the Imperial Palace already!”

“All you ever think about is going back to the palace to eat and do nothing?”

Mirror, who had been the face of ‘Shadow’ here, grumbled, seemingly having suffered in her own way.

She probably didn’t do much physical labor here either, but it seemed difficult for her to live in armor in a place more desolate than the Imperial Palace.

“Well, as you wish, you’re returning to the Imperial Palace now.”

“Yay!”

Leaving Mirror, who was as happy as a child, behind, I began a serious discussion with the leaders of the Holy Knights.

“You encountered the people of the old empire beyond the west?”

“Yes, but it was more like witnessing them during a reconnaissance mission rather than actually meeting them.”

“Are they really people from the old empire? Not those who have been captured recently?”

“Judging by their appearance… they were definitely not captured recently.”

Commander Van Horn, who now knew about my identity, added an explanation.

After defeating the Green Skin horde, they had waged an aggressive preventive war centered on the old rangers, forming the Wolf Cavalry.

It seemed like they had encountered them during such an operation.

“You didn’t talk to them or anything like that?”

“No… let alone talking, it seemed like… they were being used as slaves by the Green Skins.”

“Slaves…”

Well, it made sense, since it had been Green Skin territory for a long time after losing the old imperial territories.

“I don’t have an exact number, but there might be more than we think?”

“Using them as slaves means they have labor. Wouldn’t you think so?”

Jurgen agreed with my prediction. It would undoubtedly be a harsh environment, so there would be fewer than when it was a human society, but it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that.

“It’s impossible to save them right now. The chaos in the Western Territory itself hasn’t been resolved, and there’s also the Northern problem. I plan to help the North with the power of the West.”

Even though I felt sorry for the people of the old empire, there were things that couldn’t be done right now.

Jurgen and Van Horn nodded in agreement, seemingly without any objections.

“But if they are there, it’s true that we can solve the population shortage problem in the West. We must reclaim them someday.”

I was thinking of granting the Western Territory autonomy to the level of independence, but that alone wouldn’t solve all the problems.

We needed people to cultivate the rough land, but naturally, not many people would move there, leaving behind good, fertile land.

Even if we encouraged migration as a policy, it would be meaningless unless we forcibly sent prisoners.

So the fact that the people of the old empire remained was a clue to solving that problem.

“But even that is only possible if we quell the current chaos in the Western Territory first.”

“That’s right. But that’s why I sent you here, Jurgen. Do you have a plan for that?”

“For now, I’m thinking of getting help from the Wizard Lord since there are immediate administrative needs.”

“Reaching out to the wizards…”

It wasn’t impossible since we had decided to cooperate with the Wizard Lord Elroyd.

But it would be difficult to entrust the entire Western Territory to them.

“Besides, the wizards are also short-handed, so even if we entrust it to them, it would be difficult to properly resolve the chaos.”

“So I’m also planning to deploy knights through training. If we put in enough time and effort…”

“That would take forever.”

With only such fundamental methods, it would be difficult to stabilize the West even during my reign.

Of course, it would be difficult for Jurgen to come up with a better plan.

“So I’ll propose a plan, Jurgen.”

And I had already thought of a way to solve this problem.

* * *

Knights Headquarters indoor training ground.

With external access restricted for the time being, I called 100 knights, including Van Horn, to the place.

Some of them were old Western Rangers, but there were also imperial loyalist nobles and commoners mixed in, gathered based on their qualities and character, regardless of status.

“Greetings, everyone. As you all know, I am Shadow, the commander of the Western Knights.”

Van Horn, as their representative, knew my identity, but the others knew me as Shadow.

So the armor I was wearing now was also black full-body armor.

“Some of you may have been on the battlefield with me, but conversely, there may be those who are seeing me for the first time. But the reason you are gathered here is the same.”

As I said those words, I drew the Holy Sword. Then, I focused my mind and gathered the Imperial Soul, and spread it.

[Deploying the Soul World.]

[Starting the training of the ‘Emperor’s Legion’.]

As the training ground turned into an infinite world filled with white light, everyone gathered there was overwhelmed by the presence of the Imperial Soul.

“It is to make you true knights of the empire in order to advance this Western Territory and further into the old territories of the empire.”

[The imperial spirits respond to the call of the Imperial Soul.]

[200,000 divine power has been consumed to train the Emperor’s Legion.]

[Those who become the Emperor’s Legion will be connected to your divinity and become your vassals.]

The power I obtained after defeating the pirate duke who became the incarnation of Ktalion last time.

The Emperor’s Legion.

Connecting them to the Imperial Soul, training them with the Imperial Soul, and making them a part of the Imperial Soul.

Not only that, but my goal was to have them also make someone else into the Emperor’s Legion.

“This place will test your limits. But not just the limits of the body.”

The imperial spirits who were called by the Imperial Soul began to temper them, just as the imperial guardian deity and the soul of the first emperor had done to me.

It was a fleeting moment, but in a time like eternity, they tested them and asked endlessly.

“Can you abandon yourselves for the empire?”

The trials given to them were close to selecting those who could say “yes” to that question.

In a time that felt infinite, while competing with the spirits of the empire or even with me, they pushed their minds, bodies, and souls to the limit.

“I ask you. Who are you?”

Those who were truly reborn answered my question.

-The past me is dead, and I am only Imperial Knight So-and-so, who has risen for the sake of the empire.

Only then could a true Imperial Knight be created in the true sense of the word.

* * *

A quiet village in the wasteland of the Western Territory.

It was originally a quiet and simple place, but now it had a desolate atmosphere as if it were dead.

“Damn it! Like the Emperor’s dogs! If it weren’t for those traitorous bastards, it wouldn’t be like this!”

“That’s right, Baron. If not, we wouldn’t be rotting in a place like this.”

The village, which had been cultivating or pioneering the wasteland, was now occupied by remnants of rebels who had turned into bandits.

Even though they were remnants, there was no way the villagers, who only had self-defense forces, could defeat them, who were armed with armor and weapons, and even had knights.

This was not the only place like this, but the current Western Territory had a lot of such lawlessness or lack of security.

“Nobles who turned their backs are one thing, but these lowly things are pathetic too.”

“That’s right. They were loyal to that great emperor, and now they’re in this state, aren’t they?”

The man, who was once a baron and a vassal of a western lord, sneered at his subordinate’s flattery and hugged a village girl.

“Hehe, that’s right. Now that it’s come to this, it might be okay to steal the country by being a thief.”

“That’s right. We’ve already made contact with the Green Skins during the rebellion, so it might not be impossible to get a little foothold on that side.”

“Yes, that’s right! We haven’t lost yet! Drink and eat as much as you want today! You can do whatever you want!”

At the fallen baron’s permission, the outlaws cheered and tried to start their own frenzy of looting.

Whether the villagers resisted or not, there was no way to survive it.

They were destined to disappear like a handful of ashes in history.

“Kyaa, save me!”

“Hehehe, come here- huh?”

In the midst of the night shadows, the looter who was trying to rape the girl saw something that suddenly appeared from the shadows.

*Thwack!*

And that was his last.

“Wh, what!”

The looter’s head flew into the sky, and when that head rolled under the baron’s feet, the atmosphere of the outlaws, who had been heated up by looting, cooled down.

There, a huge man wearing crude black armor was staring at them with eyes filled with intense hatred.

“Rebels, looters, outlaws, enemies of the empire. As the representative of the empire, I will begin your judgment.”

The black knight muttered like a judge pronouncing a sentence on a criminal, and slowly walked towards them.

The baron’s looters were overwhelmed by his pressure, but they gained confidence in the fact that he was alone and surrounded him.

Even if he was a knight wearing armor and trained, he could not overcome the violence of numbers if he was surrounded and stabbed from all sides.

That is, if it was at a normal level.

“Heh, hehe, what kind of guy is this? Did that Shadow guy send him? Guys, take him down!”

The baron confidently gestured, and his subordinates also gained confidence and approached him as he walked.

And-

*Whoo-oong!*

*Kaga Gaga gag!*

When he swung his crude, large sword once.

Several outlaws were instantly cut in half like pieces of wood.

The aura clearly lingering on the greatsword was trembling fiercely with a gruesome blood.

When the comrades in front of them instantly turned into what used to be comrades, they naturally froze as if they were frozen.

“Wh, what are you doing! Charge at once!”

Even the baron, who was urging them, was terrified and just shouted that he wanted to live.

But it was already irreversible.

“The sentence is death for all.”

Immediately, the man as big as a bear began to move so fast that even the eyes could not follow.

With each swing of his sword, three or four bandits died.

Those among the bandits who were knights unleashed their auras and put up some meaningful resistance, but it was useless.

Even their swords and armor were broken and split by his attack, and he continued the mechanical slaughter without getting tired.

Even if he was injured, he only showed an inorganic reaction as if it didn’t matter, so there was no way for them to stop him in the first place.

“Ugh, uaaaaaagh!”

*Chwaaaaaak!*

The baron, who was left alone in an instant, hurriedly tried to escape on his horse, but the black knight, who leaped a long distance at once, cut him and his horse down at once.

“Judgment complete.”

The black knight, who killed the baron last, muttered such words in a low voice and returned to the villagers who were overwhelmed by the thrilling battle.

“Th, thank you, knight. Thanks to you, we all lived.”

“Cooperate with the knight order’s official duties, imperial people.”

They knelt down and expressed their gratitude, but only an inorganic response came back from the black knight.

The villager, who understood that he was a high-ranking person dispatched to this village, even though he didn’t know the whole story, asked while looking at his face.

“Yes, yes, sir. But… would it be okay to ask the name of the benefactor….”

At that question, the knight looked down at him with eyes that seemed to be gleaming through his helmet.

The villagers were frightened by it, but he only answered in a low voice.

“I am just one Imperial Knight.”

Such black knights were the beginning of a legend written in the Western Territory.