Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 389

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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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Chapter 389
Fire. The Weight of Suffering Accumulated in Life
It was overwhelming. Looking back, my life had always been overwhelming.
Born for the sake of my family alone, without affection, my very beginning was hardship. I possessed everything yet remained incomplete, and I lived that way.
I relied solely on Chroni’s words and strived ceaselessly to hide my identity as a Mage, and from the moment I resolved to become Emperor, I worked to sever the chains that Chroni had bound me with.
What came after? As Emperor, I threw my entire being into Bariel’s cause, yet in the end, I barely survived by sacrificing my dear friend.
It was overwhelming. Sometimes I wanted to abandon everything and descend into the abyss of death, and sometimes I wished to vanish like the wind.
‘My beloved stone.’
I felt my heart tremble anew at Philia’s tender whisper. If it was the illegitimate Ian who had held Philia, then it was Bariel itself that held Emperor Ian.
The laughter of the Citizens, the dawn breaking anew, roads moving in harmony, those dreaming of tomorrow, clouds drifting peacefully, and all those who had been with me.
Boom! Boom!
“Lord Ian!”
Akorelra’s piercing cry swept away my reverie. The world grew distant and distorted.
The Mage Disciples standing behind squeezed their eyes shut in fear, and it was the same for the Ruswena Mages. They embraced one another and cowered at the roar and explosions. Only I remained unbent, standing against that force.
I turned to look behind me. I saw those who had promised to be my back, who said they would throw themselves forward if things grew hard or stand firm alongside me if I wished to endure. I wiped the blood dripping from my chin with the back of my hand and muttered.
“…I’m going.”
Around the Elder, black aura grew increasingly dense. The Flame Spirit continued its assault, yet gradually its power felt as though it was being held back.
Thinking calmly, the answer came. Though I had received aid from amplifiers and the Mage Disciples, I was still the illegitimate Ian, and my body had not fully recovered.
Meanwhile, they would grow stronger with each passing moment due to the forbidden magic. Controlling time was controlling victory. I pushed off from the sky and drew my sword.
Whoosh!
If the Flame Spirit could not reach, I would have to pierce the Elder’s heart directly. Since this sword was forged from Mana Sealing Stones, even forbidden magic could not stand against it.
“Lord Ian!”
“Grandmother!”
As I rushed forward, the Mages from each faction charged as well. They exchanged relentless attacks and defenses to protect their respective leaders.
Whoosh! Boom! Bang!
A Mana Orb aimed at my left arm. Akorelra blocked it instead and split it in half, and I drew closer to the Elder alongside the Flame Spirit.
It continued this way. Those who tried to stop me were all intercepted by the Mage Disciples, allowing my advance to never falter.
A festival of light erupting in the sky. Those watching from below could not distinguish who was who.
Boom!
Whoosh!
Then, black wings sprouted from the Elder’s shoulder blades. They were like my Huirok, yet their color was dark and murky. If mine were flames just beginning to blaze, theirs were the ashen traces left after consuming everything.
The colossal Flame Spirit stretched as if its seal had been broken and rose to its feet.
“This is the power of the forbidden.”
The Elder reached out in wonder, gauging their own strength. As my power and the Elder’s locked together, a tense equilibrium formed. A distance so close yet scarcely narrowing.
I asked.
“…How does it feel?”
“…Sorrowful.”
After pursuing truth and striving for ages to reach the seat of divinity, could I transcend my limits so easily? How sweet it is. Destroying oneself was always sweet. The Elder swept their hand widely, and ashen winds blew, surrounding my Flame Spirit.
Whoosh!
Zing. Zing.
“If you fall into the abyss, you will grieve eternally. Why then do you rush so desperately?”
Screeeech!
Yet I severed the threads of forbidden magic with graceful swordplay, gritting my teeth and pouring every ounce of strength into the blow. The sensation of blood flowing had long since faded. My heart thundered violently, my consciousness growing distant—the entire world seemed to freeze in that moment.
「Bitter River」
I had never attempted to cast two advanced-tier spells simultaneously. But having never tried was no reason I couldn’t succeed.
“…You!”
The Elder’s eyes widened in shock. Tears fell in the same instant.
Iza seemed to possess only Huirok as his limit, so I had followed suit. How could I be wielding magic beyond that? Was the Mage Minister of Bariel truly this powerful? How could this young boy possibly cast such magic?
Akorelra froze in astonishment as well. She questioned whether her ears had truly heard correctly.
‘Bitter River? Did Lord Ian just cast that spell?’
Bitter River was a mental-type spell that fused all the suffering accumulated throughout the lives of both caster and target, tearing apart the spiritual realm in an instant. The more arduous the path walked and the longer its history, the greater its depth and effectiveness in destroying the opponent—but the caster bore a severe mental burden, forced to recall every pain they had forgotten.
“Lord Ian! Have you lost your mind!?”
Akorelra cried out, but I seemed unable to hear her as I grappled with the Elder. And she realized it then—all my anguish had flooded into my mind.
Tears streamed down my face. Just as they did the Elder’s.
Booooom!
The Elder convulsed as though lightning had struck his heart. He struck his chest, screaming for me to stop, but I did not relent. The Flame Spirit’s fire intensified, and from my hand gripping the Elder’s shoulder, violet light erupted ceaselessly.
“Stop, stop! Aaaahhh!”
That violet light was my agony and his agony. All the hardship accumulated over long years poured forth in a single moment, and the Elder writhed unbearably under the torment.
“The abyss will be far worse than this!”
“You wretch! You monster!”
His mind reeled in chaos, lost and helpless. I seized him with one hand while driving my mana blade through his heart with the other. The Bitter River that had been squeezing his heart burst forth together, spraying violet light.
The Ruswena Mages gasped in horror, covering their mouths, and someone shielded Zaira’s eyes.
“Uuuaaahhh!”
The Elder’s death cry shook heaven and earth. The bones on the back of my hand gripping the sword hilt protruded, and I soon met the dying Elder’s gaze, drenched in sweat and blood.
A moment of shared suffering. You too have lived no easy life. A pity akin to compassion flickered through me. Only for an instant.
“Lord Ian! We can endure!”
“Yes! Please, hold firm!”
Zing. Zing!
The Mage Disciples squeezed out their final strength and transferred it to me, then fell. They had not even reserved the power to fly.
Seeing the Mages plummeting from the sky, Prince Noah cried out.
“Catch them! They are Mages!”
“The Mages are falling! Bariel’s Mages!”
“We must secure them!”
At the same moment, the Commanders of Clifford, Burgos, and Ruswena shouted. Though the Mages had exhausted themselves, they remained Mages nonetheless. Securing them was the path to victory in this war.
Berik ignored the soldiers rushing forward, his gaze fixed entirely on me.
“Iaaaan!”
He wished he could share his strength as the Mages had done, but bound to the earth as he was, he could only look upward helplessly. It was pathetic.
He could cry out again and again, but I could not hear him. Look at those hollow, vacant eyes. Though the tears were reflexive, there was no room for Berik’s voice to penetrate my consciousness.
“How… how…”
What should I do? What can I do? As Berik muttered in despair, Hasha grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him away.
“Stop standing idle! Do something to help Count Ian! Go secure the Mages!”
Boom! Crash!
At that moment, the Elder’s heart burst completely, and a violent gale swept through. The ash-gray Flame Spirit vanished into the wind, while the Elder plummeted with his chest torn open.
Now standing alone in the sky was Ian, breathing heavily.
“Gasp… gasp…”
Unaware that I was weeping, I watched the Elder fall while drawing ragged breaths. Empty, hollow eyes. All the suffering of a lifetime tasted in death’s final moment had torn her apart completely.
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, staggering under the phantom voices that ravaged my mind.
‘Uncle Ian. You must hide your mana. Do you wish to enter the commoners’ quarters? The deceased Count will lament and resent Uncle Ian. How shameful, how shameful!’
‘Ian, Emperor? Do you truly believe you’re worthy of it? I don’t. If you ascend to that position, Bariel will crumble under the wails of the citizens. I guarantee it. You don’t belong in that seat.’
‘It’s rebellion! Your Highness! Chroni—!’
‘Ian, watch carefully. All those you cherished died because of you. You died because you forgot your place and coveted the Emperor’s throne. I told you, didn’t I? That seat doesn’t suit you.’
‘Naum!’
‘Master Ian!’
‘Kill them all! Everyone! And tell them this last thing! They died because Ian became Emperor!’
I shrank back. Chroni’s voice came through far too clearly. My heart ached as badly as the dead Elder’s—I couldn’t breathe properly.
I lost my strength, and like the Mages, I fell from the sky.
“Iaaaaan!”
“The Minister of Magic is falling!”
“Ian Hielo has collapsed too!”
Tap tap tap!
Berik, watching from below, fixed his gaze and rushed forward like a madman toward Ian. Since he couldn’t help when Ian struggled, he wanted at least to catch him safely as he fell.
Berik and the three nations all reached out to claim Ian.
“Get out of the way, you bastards!”
Zing! Zing!
Whoosh!
Berik roared and swung his blade, and the Soldiers before him tumbled helplessly to the ground. Berik cast aside even his own black sword and threw himself forward.
Thud!
And barely managed to catch Ian with his body. Ian’s eyes were closed, his head tilted back as if unconscious.
Was he dead? Berik panicked and pressed his ear to Ian’s chest, but—his heartbeat was abnormal. Thump thump thump. It was as if his heart might burst like the Elder’s.
“Prince Noah!”
Berik called for help, and Noah immediately nodded.
“We retreat shortly! Secure all the Mages safely and move them inside the barrier!”
“Protect the Mages!”
“This is our chance! All the Mages are down! We can’t miss this opportunity! Push forward!”
“Charge!”
A few Mages including Heil still remained in the palace. If we brought them here and shared mana, recovery would be entirely possible.
Clifford tried to protect the Mages, while Burgos and Ruswena desperately threw themselves forward to kill or seize them.
Eriponi, watching from the hillside, cried out while clutching her bleeding cheek.
“Eldetr! Where are the black-armored troops?!”
“Yes! I’ll deploy them immediately! They should be arriving soon!”
“This is our chance! Kill them all, or take them prisoner!”
The Ruswena forces stirred into frantic motion. Behind those who had arrived first with the Mages’ support, soldiers clad in black armor had finally arrived.
Eriponi laughed, sensing victory within reach. Though the Ruswena Mages had lost their will to fight and their strength, with these black-armored warriors alone, she could crush those pathetic Clifford soldiers like ants beneath her heel.
She pointed forward with her bowstring-snapped bow and issued her command.
“Advance!”
Then she felt a small pang of regret. She should have added more—to advance and utterly devastate the enemy lines. Those words should have come too….
That moment.
BOOM!
A presence stirred on the hill where Maxim Tweller had stood, and a small unit came into view. Eriponi recognized him instantly.
“Damn it.”
Jairot. The Commander of the Imperial Guards and his subordinates. The Mage Knights who stood at the pinnacle of power in Bariel. Jairot quickly assessed the battlefield, drew a deep breath, and shouted.
“We are the Imperial Guards of Bariel! The main forces of Bariel are coming to provide support, and we shall lend our strength until they arrive! Anyone who lays a hand on Minister Ian Hielo of the Mage Division will have their head severed!”
CRASH!
His voice thundered across the sky like lightning.
Berik, who had been running while carrying Ian, turned to look back, and in that moment, he beheld countless Mage Knights rising into the air.

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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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