Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 147

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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147
Black clouds swirled through the breach in the Imperial Palace’s sky.
“Oh!! Divine one!”
Emperor Joshua fell to his knees, spreading both arms wide as he cried out.
“I am no god. I am a demon.”
“What?”
At my words, the Emperor’s eyes widened.
A small child wearing overalls descended from within the clouds.
“Gaff, are you planning to stay in that form now?”
“Yeah. I’ve grown fond of it.”
The child’s appearance was identical to what I had seen before, yet here, unbound by the constraints that existed on Earth, the presence radiating from him was several times more overwhelming.

“You vanished so suddenly—why are you here?”
“To take him with me.”
Gaff pointed toward the Emperor.
“So it was you all along?”
“Are you my god? Please… show me the future!”
The Emperor crawled toward Gaff.
“It took long enough. What a deliciously tempting soul this is.”
Gaff gazed at the Emperor as though beholding a rare delicacy.
“I’m amazed that merely showing fragments of the future could corrupt him so thoroughly. I didn’t expect it myself.”
“What… are you saying?”
“Humans always fall to corruption when shown the future. Of course, I’ve never seen one corrupted quite like you. Among all the seeds I’ve sown, you grew the largest.”
The Emperor stared at Gaff and me with a vacant expression for a long moment.
“Then I… fell into a demon’s scheme?”
The Emperor’s eyes trembled violently. Overwhelmed by despair and confusion, he could not muster any response.
“Yes. Now I’ll claim your soul. As a final gift, I’ll show you something.”
The Emperor’s eyes turned white, and his body aged dramatically in an instant. He stared through those whitened eyes at something unseen.
The Emperor’s eyes returned to their murky yellow hue.
“Ah… all my struggles were meaningless. Now you must bear the responsibility.”
The Emperor looked at me and spoke, then his body crumbled to dust.
“Tch… at least tell me what you saw before dying…”
He left me in suspense and perished.
The Emperor’s soul, torn from his body, was sucked into Gaff’s mouth.
“Mmm!!! I simply cannot resist the taste of corrupting humans!”
Gaff’s body trembled with delight.
“…Do you have any idea how many humans have died because of you?”
Murderous intent surged within me.
“No—thanks to me, fewer died.”
“What?”
“If she hadn’t unified the continent, far more would have died. The Gate wouldn’t have lasted a moment either, would it? Well, that worked out in its own way, but I’m telling you this because you value life so dearly.”
I couldn’t tell how much of Gaff’s words were truth and how much were lies.
“See you next time~”
As Gaff stepped into the black vortex of clouds, the whirlwind scattered and vanished.
“Joshua….”
The Imperial Army soldiers, who had only been watching, never expecting him to fall, stood frozen in shock.
“Who’s second in command after the Emperor in the Empire?”
“…”
All eyes converged on a single figure.
An Imperial Noble in refined clothing, appearing to be around sixty years old, stood before us.
“So it’s finally over….”
“And you are?”
“I am the Prime Minister of the Empire—Count Unterbelthheim, Alexius Theobald Ignatius Bernardorf von Rheinstadt Unterbelthheim.”
“… Okay. Alex.”
“No, my name is….”
“Alex, disable the communication jamming spell immediately.”
Because of the Eastern Continent’s interference, I couldn’t locate Bae Na-young’s position.
“…Understood.”
Alex surprisingly complied without further protest.
“Count! You mustn’t cooperate with such a person! We must avenge His Majesty at once….”
Crash!
I silenced the knight’s outburst with a side kick, sending his breastplate flying.
The imprint of my sole was etched into the thick armor as he slammed against the wall, blood pouring from his mouth before he lost consciousness.
“Everyone, stand down! How do you expect to handle someone who defeated Joshua? The Empire is finished. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. Don’t resist or cause trouble.”
Everyone gritted their teeth and lowered their eyes. On the Count’s face, relief that everything had ended was far more visible than anger at the Empire’s fall.
The Count retrieved a fist-sized communication device from his pocket.
“This is Count Unterbelthheim. Immediately disable the communication jamming spell and order all forces to retreat to safe positions.”
[Sir? If we do that, we’ll suffer severe casualties from the Western Continental Alliance’s attacks.]
“No, that won’t happen. I have a plan—just follow my orders.”
[…Yes…. Your Excellency.]
“You seem like someone who wanted the Empire to fall.”
“I wanted the war to end. Too much innocent blood has been spilled.”
“Yet you stood with the Empire, didn’t you?”
“… That’s not wrong.”
Alex seemed to be hiding something. Meanwhile, the communication device I’d received to contact Bae Na-young responded.
“Bae Na-young! Where are you?”
[I’m sorry—I’m not the person you’re looking for.]
“…I was given this to contact Bae Na-young. Who are you?”
[Nella. I’m the one who shot the arrow at the Emperor.]
“Ah, thank you for your support just now. But I don’t have time for a long conversation right now.”
“We can locate your lover. There should be an Imperial bureaucrat there—hand over the communication device and they’ll open the Gate for you.”
Alex approached and extended his hand, speaking as though he’d already coordinated with Nella.
Nella provided Alex with the coordinates, and the Imperial mages opened the Gate.
A soldier emerged first from the opened Gate.
“All clear!”
After reporting through the communication device, a tall blonde elf woman walked through. A longbow was slung across her back.
“…What’s your relationship to Helen?”
Her face was identical to Helen’s—the one who’d committed terrorism on Earth.
“Ah, so you’re the one who killed Helen. She was my younger sister.”
“…”
“I hold no resentment. Relax your fists. I’ve known for some time that she’d chosen a twisted path. I’m actually grateful you ended her life before she could accumulate further sins.”
“I see. Then… where is Bae Na-young?”
At my question, Nella glanced at the Allied soldier who’d come through earlier.
“I’ll check immediately.”
He manipulated the communication device to contact units within the Empire.
“By the way, was it you who sniped the Emperor from the Western Continent earlier?”
“Yes. I can attack across spatial boundaries.”

“If someone like you existed, why did the war take so long?”
“It’s not as convenient as it sounds. The restrictions are severe. My role wasn’t to assassinate the Emperor, but to keep Joshua pinned here. However, thanks to you, now that both the Emperor and Joshua are dead, the Western Continent has lost its anchor and can no longer act recklessly.”
“The balance of power will now shift toward the Western Continent. Be careful not to abuse that power yourselves, unless you want to make more enemies.”
“Is that a threat right after the war ends?”
“It’s common for those who gain power to forget their original purpose.”
“Hmm… I’ll need to manage the Imperial people carefully.”
“Do as you see fit. I’m taking Bae Na-young back to Earth.”
“That won’t work.”
“What?”
“You told me not to abuse power, but do you think there’s anyone in the Allied Forces who hasn’t lost comrades or family to the Western Continent? The moment they cross over here, blood will flow.”
“Isn’t it your job as the Grand Master to manage that?”
“My rage matches theirs—how am I supposed to stop them?”
“…”
“So you take responsibility.”
“What?”
“You killed Joshua and the Emperor, didn’t you? You manage this place.”
“… Are you insane? I’m from Earth. I never wanted to be deeply involved in Telus affairs from the start.”
“I don’t care either way. Either you take charge, or we do—and you stop worrying about what happens here.”
“… Damn it.”
“We’ve located Bae Na-young’s coordinates! Opening the Gate!”
The communication officer found the coordinates and relayed them to the mage. The Gate opened.
“Big brother!!”
Bae Na-young burst through the Gate and threw herself into my arms.
“Thank goodness you’re safe….”
“I was worried sick about you too. Na-young, I told you to wait if something like this happened. Why did you cross over alone again?”
“I waited several days. And I didn’t come alone either.”
“Ugh….”
“That’s right, King Slayer. What are you going to do?”
“You?!”
I caught Bae Na-young’s wrist as she raised her staff toward Nella.
“She’s my twin sister. Nella, the Grand Master of the Western Continent.”
“But wait—King Slayer? Brother, you?”
I gave her a brief account of everything that had transpired and Nella’s proposal.
“… I want to go to Earth with you, brother.”
“Really?”
“But when I came to the Empire searching for you, I saw the people here. Ordinary citizens caught in the war, suffering. If we leave after dragging them into another conflict, I don’t think I could live with myself.”
“I knew you’d say something like that. But can we really help so many people across this vast land? Especially when we’re not even from this world?”
“That’s precisely why it’s possible. If the Eastern Continent’s people occupy us, the Western Continent won’t stay idle. Conversely, if we try to occupy them, do you think the Eastern Continent will just sit back and watch?”
Nella turned her gaze toward Alex. Looking at his expression, I could tell he understood it was inevitable.
“We’ve taken far too many lives from each other. That resentment won’t fade easily. They’ll certainly fight to the bitter end. However, you’ve killed almost no Imperial soldiers besides the Emperor and Joshua. So the Eastern Continent’s resistance will be minimal. Besides, the Eastern Continent is a place where strength rules. If you govern them after killing Joshua, no one will complain.”
“But what about the Western Continent? Will the Western Continent people really give up their spoils of victory?”
“A little war compensation will keep them quiet. We didn’t start this war for conquest—our purpose was peace. I’ll suppress anyone greedy enough to overreach. As long as you don’t make enemies of two Grand Masters, there won’t be serious resistance. The rest is up to you—just keep the Eastern Continent calm.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Anyway, rest now. We’ll handle the details.”
Nella had Alex and the Empire’s executives restrained and made them contact various locations to orchestrate a complete surrender.
Alex persuaded the Imperial Army forces scattered across the land to surrender peacefully without resistance.
Nella and Alex clearly knew each other from before. Since they didn’t seem to want people knowing that now, I’d have to ask about their relationship later.
Of course, there were resistance units within the Empire, but since we’d seized control of communications and the Gate, we rapidly repositioned forces to crush the rebellious units. We cut off supplies and reinforcements to any holdouts.
A nation that had been run under the Emperor’s iron grip and the puppet Masters he’d created lost its power once the Emperor disappeared.
The puppet Masters were only good at pushing forward and couldn’t think independently, so they mounted no serious resistance.
Thus, the long war ended almost anticlimactically.
The Empire, which had wielded the greatest influence over Telus under the rule of a powerful Emperor, vanished from history.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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