Crack Boom
Lightning from the black thunderclouds struck the lightning rod atop the Floating Palace.
The flashing light temporarily blinded the three men who had taken the stage. A heavy silence persisted amidst the pouring rain.
It was the Emperor who broke the seemingly endless silence.
“…It seems uninvited guests are making a mess of my garden.”
His voice carried its usual authority, but there was a hint of weariness.
The Wandering King responded immediately.
He lifted his head towards the Emperor, his tone arrogant and tinged with displeasure.
“La Grange is my city, one I have planned and built. Thus, this garden is mine as well. William Quinton Marlboro, you have no right to claim this place as your own.”
The Emperor merely responded with a bitter sneer.
The Wandering King and the Emperor.
The intangible clash between two men caused invisible sparks to fly between them.
Sungchul watched the confrontation between the two kings from a bystander’s perspective, still undecided about his own part in this conflict.
Then, the moment came.
[The sword is in your hands. The time to make your choice has arrived.]
An irresistible voice echoed within Sungchul. Suddenly, he felt a dizzying vertigo. His senses faded—sound, sight, and even touch.
‘What is this sensation?’
Within the numbness, only a tingling tightness around his heart could be distinctly felt.
The strange sign was first sensed by Bertelgia, who was closest to his heart.
“Are you okay?”
At her worried question, Sungchul felt his senses, which had momentarily drifted away, returning as he shook his head from side to side.
“…There’s no problem.”
Still feeling a foreign sensation, Sungchul clenched and then unclenched his hand as he caught sight of the emperor and the wandering king.
The rain intensified.
The first to move was the emperor.
“Kromgard. It’s time to put an end to this wretched relationship.”
Whether out of a deliberate intention or burning with fierce anger, the emperor was fixated solely on the Wandering King, not sparing Sungchul a single glance.
As if he were not present at all.
Such behavior from the emperor was enough to stir unpleasant feelings in Sungchul.
While his faith in the Emperor gradually waned, Sungchul saw the opaque helmet turn towards him.
The Wandering King said to Sungchul,
“Do you see? Destroyer? The pathetic sight of someone incapable of living with shame and embarrassment who lives solely to take revenge against me out of spite and hatred in his heart and mind?”
This one utterance was enough to force Sungchul, an unwilling participant and observer, out to the forefront of this rainy stage.
The Emperor, who had been solely fixated on the Wanderer King, finally turned his head to gaze upon Sungchul with an indifferent look.
Due to the distance, Sungchul could not discern exactly what the Emperor was thinking. However, one thing was clear.
The Emperor was wary of him at the moment.
The Emperor’s interest, as the Wanderer King had said, was solely in Kromgard alone.
After briefly glancing at Sungchul, the Emperor tilted his head back to glare at the Wanderer King.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself Kromgard? Trying to involve a third party who has nothing to do with the issue between us?”
Kromgard merely snorted in response.
He continued speaking while looking at Sungchul.
“Then try asking Destroyer yourself. To leave us alone here.”
Thump.
The heartbeat of the Ancient God was heard in everyone’s ears.
A faint anger appeared and then vanished from the Emperor’s face.
And then he turned his head back to Sungchul while Sungchul was still watching.
“Will you not step aside, my friend? This is a matter between me and Kromgard.”
With that, the Emperor had nothing more to say.
There was no explanation, no reason given.
Apart from the polite tone, it was no different from a simple command.
The already wavering faith began to break down even more.
‘Why won’t you tell me anything?’
The reason why Sungchul left behind the coalition forces he gathered with such great difficulty was so that he could come here to hear any kind of explanations from the Emperor about what was going on.
However, even now the Emperor wanted Sungchul to know nothing.
Despite Sungchul’s sincere gaze, the Emperor ignored him utterly.
Thinking about it logically, ever since the day the Holy Kingdom of Rutheginea surrendered, the Emperor had not shared any information of value with Sungchul.
That was fine.
In the final days of Sungchul’s tenure as the Imperial Commander in Chief, when the daily clashes and arguments about the oncoming calamity were driving them apart, the Emperor could have told Sungchul.
Just bare mimimum information necessary to understand the current situation and the reason for delaying the resolution of the calamities.
But in the end, the Emperor simply refused to share any information with Sungchul and thus Sungchul was forced to live in utter isolation as the Enemy of the World.
The real irony occurred afterward.
While Sungchul was running all over the world fighting the Demon Army and subjucating the Seven Heroes and bringing an end to the first and second Calamities, the leaders of the world doubled down on keeping everything a secret while plotting ridiculous game of backstab and betrayals in the background.
Thump.
The sound of an Ancient God’s heart was unbearably loud in his ears.
‘What shall I choose?’
A deep sigh escaped from Sungchul’s nose and mouth.
White breath rose into the sky and dispersed.
After a brief, heavy silence, Sungchul finally opened his mouth to speak.
“I will stay here.”
In Sungchul’s hand appeared the Fal Garaz, speckled with the blue blood of the Evil God.
A torrential downpour washed the blue blood from the Fal Garaz into the mud.
Boom!
The storm clouds erupted with another flash of lightning, illuminating the figures of three on the stage.
The center of confrontation shifted from an emperor and a wandering king to the emperor and Sungchul.
It was a situation on the verge of explosion.
Then, a weak clap penetrated the tense silence, echoing emotionlessly.
The Wandering King clapped three times with exaggerated gestures.
The intense gazes of Sungchul and the Emperor shifted back to the Wandering King.
“What is there to gain from us humans of the old era fighting amongst ourselves? The humans of the new era are on their way to come destroy us all as we speak.”
The voice of the Wandering King had changed.
Gone was the weary and faint mumbling of the King of Inaction; now, from within his opaque helmet, flowed a powerful, clear, and persuasive voice, even hinting at the charisma of an orator.
“I have a proposal, Emperor,”
Said the Wandering King.
“…I will return your empire to you.”
A faint change crossed the Emperor’s face.
The Wandering King continued,
“And I don’t mean only on paper. The lords who are loyal to me shall follow me to the Floating Archipelago. Whom you appoint as the new lords in the empty lands is a problem for you to figure out.”
“…”
The Emperor remained silent, merely listening to the Wandering King. Seeing this, the Wandering King continued to speak.
“And I too will depart for the Floating Archipelago, to spend the rest of my remaining days there.”
“For what in return?”
The emperor asked sharply, his voice tense.
The Wandering King paused for a moment before answering solemnly.
“You must give up two things.”
“And those two things are?”
“One is the crown above your head.”
The Emperor snorted in derision, waiting for the next words.
“The other is this city.”
“What an unreasonable demand, Kromgard.”
The Emperor sneered.
“Can’t you see that I am the one who has stirred the heart of the Ancient God? Why should I hand it over to someone like you, harboring such dark ambitions?”
Wrath was evident in the Emperor’s voice.
The Emperor was getting agitated, which was a rare sight to behold.
“It’s not about handing it over to me.”
The Wandering King raised his voice as he spoke.
While saying this, the Wandering King raised his hand and pointed at Sungchul.
“The heart of the Ancient God lies dormant in this city of La Grange. A city worthy of becoming the capital city of the Chairman of the New World Parliament and future king, don’t you think?”
The Wandering King was saying that Sungchul should be selected as the One King as the Calamity demands and to relinquish the control of the city of La Grange to Sungchul.
Sungchul was not a part of any faction and had long been walking the heroic path focused solely on the resolution of the Calamities. Leaving the control and management of such a dangerous city was a rather logical choice, and in some ways, ideal.
“The heart of the Ancient God is a dangerous object, to both you and to me. Only the Destroyer has the right to control and manage it,” declared the Wandering King in a clear and compelling voice.
It was now up to the Emperor and Sungchul to respond.
Although Sungchul had no intention of becoming a king, he believed that the responsibility of managing the dangerous heart of the Ancient God was something that should be left to his discretion and control as well.
Emperor began to look anxious and defeated. He seemed to be aware that he was being pushed to a corner.
“He cannot be forgiven.”
The Emperor suddenly said to Sungchul in a trembling voice.
A hollow echo. Sungchul looked at the Emperor with an indifferent expression.
The Emperor continued.
“Did you know that he is the leader of the Order of Extinction?”
“The Wandering King?”
“Yes. He is the leader of the Order of Extinction, who desires the destruction of the world!”
At this, the Wandering King burst into derisive laughter.
“How unsightly. Summoned. Do you even have a basis for your claims?”
“No basis is needed. The truth speaks for itself.”
At that moment, another thunderstorm shook the heavens and the earth.
From the downtown below, updrafts twisted the rain into spirals as they soared into the sky.
“You are free to believe whatever you wish. But o’ dear emperor, do you not think you are shameless?”
The Wandering King replied to him mockingly.
“To start with known facts, the Order of Extinction originated right here in La Grange and rapidly expanded its influence centered around the empire. This brings me to an inevitable question. How could a baseless cult with no tradition or history become popular in this city, which is divided into districts under iron-fisted rule and home to the inquisitorial headquarters of both the Horasan and Mura Orders, tasked with monitoring and eradicating heresy?”[MK1]
The Wandering King accused the Emperor with a nonchalant demeanor.
But the Emperor was no easy opponent. He stood still, like a statue, and countered with a dignified voice.
“Your sophistry is plausible, Kromgard. But the underground levels of this city are not under my control, are they?”
“Below, there are but a few Soldiers of Salvation and a single servant of mine. What could these Soldiers, with intelligence lesser than that of monkeys, possibly achieve? Unless they can convert others, they are but creatures that cannot even distinguish between a follower and food. Their purpose is solely to protect the heart of the Ancient God.”
The argument seemed like it could drag on.
Sungchul began to feel stifled and bored.
It was clear that the Emperor was at a disadvantage.
His words were baseless, weak, and flailing. The Wandering King continued his accusations.
“Do not muddy the point. Our most critical objective right now is the resolution of the Calamity itself. Answer me, Emperor. Are you willing to willingly relinquish your crown? And hand over this city to the one king?”
The Wandering King was gradually backing the Emperor into a corner.
Sungchul could see it in the Emperor’s eyes.
He had no intention of giving up the crown, nor of handing over the city.
With his lips tightly sealed, the Emperor’s stubborn demeanor reminded Sungchul of typical of those in seats of power. Like the other kings such as Daincraft and Arcanite, and even selfish individuals like Martin Breggas.
‘Emperor. Why do you…’
It was then that a sound of horn could be heard from afar
The terrible echoing sounds of the war horn carried far and wide across the open fields.
It was the horn of the Barbarians.
Sungchul immediately turned his head northward.
The Barbarians were coming.
Their forces, last reported to be three days’ march away, had covered the vast distance in just one and were now within view of the capital city.
Seeing the Barbarian forces, the Wandering King mockingly stated,
“The heartbeats of the Ancient Gods have drawn them here. Their false god must have commanded them to destroy this city and shatter the heart immediately.”
There was no time left anymore.
It was time to end this boring story.
Chuck.
Sungchul finally stepped forward.
He heard a voice the moment he stepped forward.
[Now, make your choice. Either choice will lead to a hopeless future, but you are but a mere tool that must now choose.]
It was a voice that he couldn’t quite defy. Though it was strange and quite impossible for him to hear such voice, at the moments he hears them, Sungchul found that he was compelled to think that the voice was natural and accept its presence.
When had he first become aware of this voice?
Sungchul suddenly began to question what was going on inside of him.
Was it when he became the Enemy of the World?
When he first stood on the stair way to God?
When he defeated the Demon King and the Seven Heroes?
Or when he gained Transcendent Senses?
None of these seemed right.
Amidst the myriad echoes of the past that brushed past him, Sungchul recalled the steel wheel spinning atop his palm.
‘Is it the Steel Heart? Or perhaps it’s due to heightened willpower?’
It was impossible to guess the exact reason.
But for reasons unknown, he became able to hear an inner voice. A vile voice that moved him without his awareness.
But astonishingly, any doubts he had about the voice evaporated as quickly as ethanol.
Why could this be?
Perhaps it was a waste of time for him to be thinking about this at this moment.
The important thing was that there was some will trying to move him, and that Sungchul strongly disliked it.
Sungchul closed his eyes.
He then took a step back and assessed the situation.
The last admonition of a dying warrior suddenly flashed through his mind.
1 more chapter is out!
Thank you!
When did he start hearing that voice, does anyone know the right chapter?