Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 408

Damon remembered the cold blade at his neck. That final sensation he felt in his previous life, when he lived as a prince, not King Damon, and brought that life to an end.

Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion. His subordinates and soldiers looking at him, and the continuous explosions, all stretched out slowly, stirring his memories.

-Brother, I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.

-Wait, just wait!

-It’s an unavoidable choice for the sake of the Vergos Kingdom, so please close your eyes in peace.

-Do you think you’re the only prince for the country! I am also a prince of Vergos, how can you!

-Everything is God’s will.

-Don’t be ridiculous! It was always like this. You were always like this. You, my younger brother, took everything from me, and you were never satisfied with that. I don’t know what you want me to do! God? Fine. Let’s go ask God. Let’s ask together, what is the true choice for Vergos!

Damon cried out and drew his sword. Those who supported his younger brother, Daon, stepped forward to confront him, but Damon’s younger brother foolishly and confidently stopped them.

In the middle of the palace, dozens of exchanges took place to take each other’s breath, and in the end, they died. Both Damon and Daon.

Damon chuckled as he watched Daon’s blood soak the marble floor. The fool, if he hadn’t stepped forward, he would have taken complete victory!

-Your Highness!

While everyone rushed to Daon, Damon died alone, watching that scene for the last time. And looking at the yellow sky caused by desertification, he vowed. He would be reborn. In the next life, he would rebuild Vergos with the dignity of the true first prince.

His younger brother’s words, that it was God’s will, were not entirely wrong. He had thus gained a second life, and was even finding a way to secure the next one.

It was almost done, he couldn’t die like this. He couldn’t stop here again.

“…Did you ask what would happen to me?”

Damon whispered with a chuckle. Because the blade was deeply threatening him, blood trickled out whenever Damon’s Adam’s apple moved.

Laughter that didn’t fit the situation. Ian looked down at him and laughed along. His blood-soaked golden hair fell down, creating a shadow.

“I won’t die. I’ll live a third life again.”

A small voice, only audible to Ian amidst the commotion. Ian’s face changed slightly. It was because of the tone that was certain of a third chance after the second. Why? What on earth did he believe in?

“Kill me. You’ll be there next time. I didn’t know before, but now I know. So next time, you’ll be on the ground with your head buried, dying like me. I swear on everything I have. By dying, I’ll take a step forward.”

The grip of Ian’s hand holding Damon’s hair tightened even more. The generals and soldiers of Vergos flinched, paying close attention to every move Ian made.

It was a truly precarious situation. If Ian twisted his arm even slightly, the head of the King of Vergos would roll on the ground. This meant defeat, and furthermore, their own deaths.

“A third life?”

“……!”

Crack.

Damon frowned at Ian’s rough touch. Damon, who was living his second life, and himself, who had come to the past transcending time and space. Though the paths were different, weren’t their roots the same?

If he knew the secret to this, he might get a clue about his own situation. Back to the body of Emperor Ian, back a hundred years to his own Bariel, and to some point where he could grasp everything before failing.

“Tell me in detail.”

“Why? Do you also want to live twice? Why? You are the Empire’s mage, a young minister whom everyone looks up to. What do you lack?”

“I don’t want to waste time with pointless talk. Even as we speak, many are dying. A third life after death? Do as you please. But, it won’t be easy.”

You, you cut off Selena’s head. I’ll do the same to you. However, instead of the death you desire, I’ll only allow you to go to the brink of death. Ian grabbed Damon’s left hand and twisted it backward, then forcefully bent it the other way.

Snap!

“Ughhh!”

Unlike the calm and cold Ian, Damon couldn’t overcome the sudden pain and screamed. Everyone flinched and took a step back. Ian, who had pinned Damon down by pressing his knee into his back, gestured to them.

“You’ve lost your minds. Are you still holding weapons?”

Surrender. Otherwise, your king will die. At Ian’s warning, the general subtly lowered his weapon.

At the same time, swords and spears were thrown forward in a heap. The soldiers knelt down, raised both hands, and then prostrated themselves, vowing to surrender.

Whoosh!

Boom! Bang!

At that moment, an attack flew towards Ian.

It was an arrow, vividly imbued with magic, cutting through the air in a dark red hue. It seemed to have come from the Eripone side, but the direction was the opposite. It originated from the slope where the Atan tribe had descended.

Ian reflexively created a shield with his left hand to break the attack. A long-haired man held a bow and arrow made of light in his hands. He was someone who could convert magic into weapons, like a magic swordsman.

“You’ve brought some pretty good reinforcements. Damon.”

“Damn it!”

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape Ian’s grasp. Attacks continued to pour in. Unlike the Vergos army, which had lost its will to fight, the Atan tribe was still rampaging across the battlefield.

Their only goal was to cause a rift in Clifford, and ‘Vergos’ was the one that fit that purpose. It was a natural and simple conclusion.

“Those bastards are out of line! What’s going to change if the king dies?”

“It will change.”

“There’s the next king. Everyone, pick up your weapons and fight! How did we come down from the north!?”

“I heard that when the enemy leader is captured, the war ends.”

“Bullshit. War only ends when everyone dies.”

“We’ll consider those who don’t have weapons as enemies and cut them down too! We warned you?”

“We set up a stage, and if it ends like this, it’s not fair! Let’s get a good taste of blood!”

Whoosh!

The Atan tribe shouted irritably and swung their swords. The statement that they would be considered enemies if they didn’t proceed was not a lie. Several Vergos soldiers, along with Clifford soldiers, fell under their attacks.

In the moment Ian turned his head towards the commotion, the general noticed that Damon was still reaching out with one hand. What was he doing? Upon closer inspection, a small Idgal necklace was lying at the end of it. The general quickly picked it up and threw it towards Damon.

“Your Highness!”

Thud!

What was it? Damon reached out with all his might, but Ian was faster. Ian grabbed the pendant with the string with one hand, and soon the Idgal that came into contact with him began to glow.

Zzzing. Zzzing!

Numerous concentric magic circles leaked out through his fingers. The intertwined patterns swirled around Ian along with formulas. Ian was flustered, but soon realized that the energy of the magic was not unfamiliar.

‘…It’s Ian’s.’

To be precise, it was the magic of the illegitimate son, Ian. Some kind of magic that had started with the illegitimate son, Ian.

The mages in the sky were startled and tried to approach, but Ian raised his hand to stop them. He felt like his strength was draining away. It was a feeling like the sand in his whole body was tilting and pouring to one side, something he didn’t even know he had.

Thud!

Ian quickly threw the pendant away, but the magic circle surrounding him did not disappear. Rather, as if it had been waiting for the seal to be broken, it shone brightly and enveloped Ian. His surroundings were all filled with light. So much so that his golden hair looked white.

As Ian frowned at the bright light, the mages in the sky shouted.

“Lord Ian! Are you alright?!”

“What’s going on?”

“Please tell us! Please!”

“We’ve safely moved Tommy, Yen, and Kanchi. There are currently three of us, but we can do anything! Give us your orders!”

Damon watched the scene closely from under Ian’s knees.

The pendant given by Rutherford. He had said it would indicate the standard for when a rift would occur, and that it would be of some help in case of a problem, but he didn’t know such a device was hidden. To be precise, even now, as he was watching it unfold before his eyes, he didn’t know what was happening.

Ian grabbed Damon’s left arm and asked.

“Damon, did you have direct contact with Rutherford?”

“Why? Are you curious? Something seems to be going a little wrong?”

“It’s not wise to answer a question with a question.”

Crack!

Damon’s left arm, which had already been broken once, was twisted back the other way. Even in the midst of this, Ian’s magic continued to flow out. It was as if an invisible hole had been created.

Ian looked at the pendant he had thrown away, sweating profusely. The Idgal was glowing golden as if it were about to burst into flames.

Clang!

It soon shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the heat. Only Damon knew what this meant. It meant that enough power had been applied to cause a rift.

A faint smile appeared on Damon’s lips as he writhed in pain, and Ian staggered for a moment, feeling dizzy.

‘Is this an opportunity?’

The general and soldiers tried to grab their weapons again, but the mages did not allow it.

Bang! Boom!

“Everyone, don’t move.”

Despite Ian’s order not to come closer, they carefully descended, not letting their guard down. Ian touched the ground with his pale face.

The leaders of the two forces were entangled and collapsed, so it was unclear how the situation was unfolding. Damon tried to crawl away from Ian with his good right arm, but-

Thwack!

“Ughhh!”

Ian’s dagger pierced his Achilles tendon. Regardless of the activation of the Idgal pendant and his own magic leaking out, war was war. He had drawn blood from the enemy leader, so the result was as good as decided.

“Lord Ian!”

“Secure Damon first.”

“Are you alright? You look terrible.”

“…I’m fine. Just a little, a little dizzy.”

As Ian staggered to regain his senses, he noticed something dripping down. It was blood. In war, he, of all people, could not shed blood, but fortunately, it was mixed with the blood of others, so it wasn’t very noticeable.

“Shall we give you some magic? If you do this again, we’ll really…”

“No. Right now, it’s like pouring water into a bottomless pit.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell you when we return to the camp. First, get the white flag from the Vergos side and hang it high so that Luswena can see it easily.”

“Well, Luswena aside, what about the Atan tribe? Those guys seem completely unable to communicate. Their actions are not unfamiliar.”

“It’s Beric. Beric.”

“Ah!”

The two mages bound King Damon and floated him into the sky, while the others supported Ian. Even though the battle was subsiding, the Atan tribe was still noisy and seemed to want the war to continue.

Ian pressed his throbbing temples and said.

“Send a message to the chieftain named Efdiram.”

“It seems they don’t understand that the war ends when the leader is captured.”

“Tell them that we now have the initiative regarding the rift, that is, the supply of monsters, so let’s discuss our opinions over a meal. Also, announce the capture of King Damon so that everyone nearby can hear it.”

“Yes. Understood. Um, Lord Ian. Can you walk?”

“I need to ride a horse…”

“A horse! Bring a horse!”

It meant that he was in no condition to fly.

Ian closed his eyes, looking at the Idgal pendant that had been completely shattered into dust. It felt as if the shackles of the illegitimate son, Ian, were tightening around his neck, transcending time and space.