Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 464

Blood dripped between Ian’s fingers.

The pain of his insides being torn apart was immense. He endlessly poured out something hot, but it showed no sign of stopping. The white marble floor was stained with blood, losing its pure white, and Ian seemed to have completely run out of breath.

The mages, who had not grasped the situation, cried out simultaneously the moment he collapsed forward.

“L-Lord Ian! Blood! Blood!”

“No! Lord Ian! No!”

However, their cries did not reach Ian. A ringing in his ears was scrambling his mind.

Ian barely gasped for breath, his hand on the floor. Great, sublime, and absolute magic seemed to be strangling Ian’s neck in the name of a contract. The whole world was telling him that he was just a human, and that there were no exceptions to a promise once made.

“Haa, haa……”

Why did that bastard Ian willingly enter into a contract with Rutherford? Why did the child hand over his life to Rutherford?

As Ian tried to rise, scraping the slippery floor, Rutherford’s voice was heard.

“Ian.”

It was just calling his name, but as the superior in the contract, the effect was tremendous. Ian completely collapsed from the pain that felt like his heart was being torn to shreds.

Rutherford and his mages, who had retreated to the back, relaxed their guard after confirming that Ian had completely broken down. With each step they took, Ian’s blood splashed.

“Haa, ha, haa……”

“Even if it hurts like you’re dying, I won’t let you die. Don’t worry. I don’t know who you are, but that body is essential to me.”

Rutherford suddenly recalled the contract he had made with the bastard Ian and raised an eyebrow. It was not intentional, but it was fortunate that the contract was made with the body, not the soul.

How could he not have considered that the bastard Ian could be possessed by someone, just as he had possessed another’s body? Perhaps he had known it subconsciously. The body only changes when it dies, but the soul can change at any time.

Rutherford brushed off his crumpled clothes and approached Ian.

“Step back-!”

“How dare you be rude to Lord Rutherford!”

Ziiing! Ziiing!

Chwaaaak!

The imperial mages rushed in, but it was only for a moment. Without Ian, they could not create an overwhelming difference in power. Their best option was to confront Rutherford’s mages and hold their ground.

“Lower the barrier! We need to request support!”

“Raise the barrier! Block the support!”

Rutherford stepped on the child’s head with his blood-soaked foot. It was to check his condition and to vent his anger for being cornered. The imperial mages’ shock was a bonus.

Kkuuk.

“H-How dare he! Is he crazy!?”

“Get your foot off, you bastard! Unless you want to die!”

“Lord Ian! Lord Ian!”

Ziiing! Puh-ung!

The mages’ clash intensified again. The magic of those trying to save him and those blocking them created a fierce wind that enveloped Rutherford and Ian.

Rutherford looked down at Ian’s profile with an indifferent expression. No matter how he looked at it, his eyes were unusual. The gold had faded, but the green eyes were still sparkling with an unknown spirit.

“I know what you’re curious about.”

It seems like you haven’t been possessed for long, have you?

It’s only the beginning.

“You’re wondering why you don’t die even when you die and live in another’s body, and that’s why you’ve cornered me, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t exactly right, but it was a question that was somewhat aligned. Ian focused on trying to twitch his fingertips, which had no strength at all. The impact on his body was considerable, but he could overcome it. As long as he was breathing, he could do it.

Sseuek.

Rutherford lowered his body and whispered in Ian’s ear.

“Congratulations on being cursed by the abyss.”

“……?”

“A curse that prevents you from dying even if you want to, and forces you to continue living. A curse that makes you forget who you were through hundreds, thousands of reincarnations. A curse that dulls the inherent human emotions by constantly feeling the fear of death. At first, there is only confusion. But after eons of time, you will be filled with hatred, as if you exist only to die.”

Ian realized that Rutherford was talking about himself. He was Bandor. Not a forbidden magic, but one who walked into the abyss himself while alive. The price he paid for it was endless death.

Then what about himself? Emperor Ian Verosion, that is.

‘It wasn’t me, but Naum, who used forbidden magic. I have never been to the abyss either.’

Ian’s fingertips twitched very slightly. No. The fact that he was possessed in the body of the bastard Ian was not a curse.

“I was swallowed by the rift under the order of the Great Empire Bariel. But you, why did you become like that?”

Rutherford grabbed Ian’s hair and pulled it. As his head was lifted, blood flowed down his jawline. An unknown emotion was swirling in Rutherford’s blue eyes. Anger? No, pain? That wasn’t it either. That was-

“…You’re despairing.”

“What?”

“After being swallowed by the rift, you despaired.”

“I won’t deny it. But not anymore. Because I can finally end everything. Thanks to Ian, who you’re inhabiting.”

Ian lowered his gaze and organized his thoughts.

From what he could see now, Bandor had clearly entered the rift and encountered the abyss. That must be why he mentioned the ‘curse of the abyss.’

That curse meant that he could not die, and his soul was weathering away. And now, after a long time, he had seized the opportunity to escape with Rutherford’s body, and that was why the bastard Ian was here.

“…I have never been to the abyss.”

And the subtle animosity towards Bariel. From the intervention in the civil war, every move he made was a threat to the empire. It was unknown whether it was necessary to escape the curse, or whether it was something done by a weathered soul seeking solace.

“What?”

“I said I have never been to the abyss. You were cursed, but I got an opportunity.”

Rutherford’s brow furrowed deeply. He had an expression that he could not understand what Ian was saying.

“I’ll ask you one last thing. If you answer, I will tell you the best way to achieve what I can.”

“If it’s not a curse, then how?”

“What happened to the mages who went to the abyss?”

Their questions coincided at the same time.

A moment of silence. It was a question that was necessary for each other, but the weight each of them thought was different. For Rutherford, reincarnation was a curse and the past, but for Ian, reincarnation was an opportunity and related to the future. Rutherford, the one with less, had no choice but to give in first.

“…It’s not much different.”

“What is?”

“Just as I have experienced endless deaths here, those who have fallen into the abyss are also endlessly experiencing the deaths they have experienced. In the shackles of bound time, they experience their miserable end over and over again.”

Ian’s eyes widened. They were trapped in the shackles of time and kept dying?

Then what about Naum? In that underground prison, was he trapped in the moment he told him to run away, endlessly burning? Forever guarding Ian Verosion’s side, dying, dying, and again…….

Kkwaak.

Ian bit the inside of his cheek at the surge of tears. If Naum still had his ego, he would surely be resenting him. He might be regretting that he was paying too high a price for the name of Ian Verosion, which would be faintly erased.

“Now it’s your turn to answer.”

Rutherford felt that Ian was agitated and lightly shook his hair. It was a gesture to urge him to come to his senses and give the answer he wanted.

The green eyes that had faded. Ian slowly turned his gaze and looked at Rutherford.

‘Naum is in the abyss, and in the body of the bastard Ian, I cannot properly confront Rutherford. In the world this man desires, Bariel will surely lose its light.’

At that moment, Ian’s green eyes, which had found the answer, came to life in an instant. Was it an illusion? Rutherford looked into his eyes with suspicion, but he could tell that it was not a simple reflection of light. It was the spirit that flowed out from the solid something inside him.

As Rutherford, who had noticed something strange, tried to let go of his hair, Ian grabbed his wrist tightly.

“Yes. Now it’s my turn to answer.”

Kkwaaak.

“Why, even though it’s not a curse, I woke up in Ian’s body. Actually, I didn’t know either. Until I met you.”

“This-”

It was as if he hadn’t collapsed from spitting blood. Ian grabbed Rutherford’s wrist so tightly that he didn’t know where the strength came from.

“Lord Rutherford! The portal has opened! The coordinates are not certain, but we can leave the Imperial Palace! It would be best to set it to the north as much as possible and get out of Bariel first!”

“The ones who went to the Second Imperial Palace haven’t returned yet.”

“Please give the order! It would be okay to move Ian first. And we can roughly clean up the mages here and reduce their numbers.”

“If we just open the exhibition hall, we don’t really need King Damon, do we? It seems right to retreat before reinforcements come from outside.”

Kkiiiiik! Kwaang!

Rutherford’s mages, who were holding onto the portal inside the exhibition hall, announced at the same time. A doorway to retreat had opened. They didn’t know exactly where it was connected to, but it was much safer than being in the middle of the Imperial Palace.

“Everyone is moving the items. We’ll wait for the Second Imperial Palace personnel for a while.”

“Yes! Hey! Help clean them up!”

Since they had solved the problem of the entrance, everyone seemed relieved. The mages inside the exhibition hall rolled up their sleeves with a more relaxed look.

Ziiing! Ziiing!

The imperial mages were surrounded from the front and back in an instant. The magic barrier had been broken long ago, but Rutherford’s mages continued to maintain the barrier by inheriting its power.

It was to deceive the outside and isolate them at the same time. If additional reinforcements were to rush in, wouldn’t it be difficult to easily move the jewels remaining in the exhibition hall?

“Make sure to take the seal, and that one over there. It’s an imperial treasure, so you can’t leave it behind.”

At the instruction of Rutherford’s mage, the imperial mages jumped into the air as a group. There was a limit to how arrogant they could be. This was not a back alley jewelry store, but the exhibition hall of the Great Empire Bariel’s Imperial Palace. Not only had they invaded this place, but they were going to touch the treasures?

As the mages gritted their teeth and tried to attack, Rutherford’s mages also jumped up at the same time.

Ziiiiing! Puh-ung!

The shadows of the mages stretched out long. Some of them were pierced in the abdomen and flanks, and some were injured in their limbs and fell to the ground.

Ian realized that all of those shadows belonged to the imperial mages. It was because the bands tied around their heads were fluttering.

“Keok!”

“Ugh……”

He heard familiar groans, but Ian tried not to look. He was already at his limit. If he saw his colleagues injured and dying, he might not be able to hold on any longer.

Ziiing. Ziiing.

Ian calmly closed his eyes and sorted out all of his magic power. This was the last time. This was truly the last time…….

“Here we go again.”

Rutherford paused, but that was all. His subordinates were firmly guarding him by his side, and Ian was no longer a threat. All he had to do was tighten his heart again. He would make him spill blood again and again and kill his soul.

Besides, Ian was just pouring out his magic power, and there was no particular change. Rutherford nodded to the mages, telling them to clean up the surroundings.

“He’s struggling.”

“…I couldn’t give you the answer.”

“Okay. Let’s go back and-”

Just as he was about to say that they would go back and listen.

Rutherford witnessed it. The ‘black moon’ rising outside the window. The black moon was getting bigger and bigger, as if it had fallen into this world in response to its master’s call.

Ian smiled and nodded.

“Listen slowly. With me, in the abyss.”