Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 466

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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 466
Fire. With a Painting Between Them
The mages remaining in the Magic Division of the Secondary Imperial Palace all froze simultaneously. Connected through their sixth sense, they instinctively detected the tempestuous vortex erupting somewhere within the palace.
The mages slowly set down their pens and turned toward Captain Heil with visible displeasure.
“Captain.”
Rutherford had infiltrated the palace. An existence that threatened mages by manufacturing Idgal, and the very cause that corroded Bariel’s foundation and drove Ian from the palace.
They yearned to rush to the scene immediately, seize those wicked creatures, and force Rutherford to kneel before the esteemed one—to secure eternal peace for Bariel.
Yet due to the Imperial Defense Ministry’s request, they had no choice but to defend the Magic Division thoroughly. More precisely, they were guarding King Damon, who was imprisoned within it.
“Wait. Do not waver.”
“Did you not feel that just now? This is no ordinary matter.”
“An intruder has breached the palace—of course it is not ordinary. Stop spouting nonsense and finish your reports.”
“Captain Heil! Why not transfer King Damon to the Imperial Defense Ministry and let us go support them! They already took the Burgos Delegation, and now they want us to handle King Damon too!”
“Yes, that’s right. This depth of resonance can only be Ian’s mana. You know better than anyone how much synergy we achieve when we bond, Captain. You’re the one fighting on the front lines!”
“No one knows if there are means to restrain Idgal and the other mages. I am a mage, but Minister Tweller is a warrior. In matters of combat, he thinks deeper than we do, so I respect and follow his judgment.”
“Ugh, seriously! Captain!”
“Shut it, you fool. Do you think I enjoy being here?”
“Then let’s go! When did the captain start listening so obediently to superiors?”
Heil chewed his cigarette and sighed heavily. Through the window of the detention cell across the way, he could see Damon’s back. The way he stood motionless for so long, lost in thought, troubled him.
He gestured to the mages to stop talking and get back to work, then approached the window. Thanks to the mages’ protective barrier, that space was completely sealed off.
Knock, knock.
When Heil tapped the window, Damon turned his head. His expression was serene, almost indifferent. He examined the space behind Heil, confirmed nothing was amiss, and merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Are you uncomfortable in any way?”
A small nod. Damon’s head moved slightly. His tongue had been severed. Heil pondered for a moment, then leaned against the window and furrowed his brow.
“Did you anticipate that Rutherford would infiltrate the palace?”
“….”
“This is an interrogation, so answer. Whether it is Rutherford or his grandfather, the presence of intruders changes nothing. This is the imperial palace, and they cannot bring down Bariel.”
Damon laughed as though Heil’s words were truly fascinating. Then he pressed close to the window and breathed against it, revealing the vivid cross-section of his severed tongue within the mist.
A faint mark appeared.
-We possess an opportunity you do not have.
A brief message written in breath upon the glass. What some deemed a curse, others saw as opportunity. A life with existence beyond death.
Though he hated to admit it, Damon had been defeated in the “present.” Yet as long as he did not die, was that defeat truly a final ending? Knowing he possessed a third life, knowing Rutherford stood behind him to orchestrate gods and world alike, he harbored no fear. He believed in his inevitable victory—so what could possibly shake him?
Since only Ian and Jin knew of Damon’s reincarnation, Heil merely frowned, thinking it nonsense.
A sharp, piercing sound.
Then, a tremendously powerful force resonated through the back of their necks. Heil and the mages reacted once more. Strangely, something both familiar and foreign blended together simultaneously. This signified two distinct forces.
The familiar one—
“…The moon has risen.”
The black moon. The massive, dark moon that Ian had summoned, descending toward the far edge of the First Imperial Palace.
The unfamiliar one—
“Intruder! An intruder has arrived!”
The presence of an intruder approaching to secure Damon—a subordinate of Rutherford.
Captain Heil drew his sword, and the mages rushed outside, reinforcing their defensive positions. Where was he? Where had he hidden? He was nowhere to be seen.
“Hold your assigned positions!”
“Kill them! Damn bastards.”
“If we catch you, we’ll tear you apart! Do you have any idea how much hell you’ve put us through? Why did Idgal create you!?”
“Yeah. And what’s your connection to Ian?”
“Have you heard of Mama-yeon? Huh?”
The mages shouted into the empty air, targeting the intruders they could hear somewhere. In that instant, a pillar of light flashed down. Captain Heil reflexively rushed toward it, unleashing his mana, and a figure in a black hood was revealed.
Zing! Boom!
Just one person? The moment that question crossed Heil’s mind, a deafening explosion erupted from behind. It was where Damon was being held.
The mages spread their mana like a net, constructing a wall so that no unauthorized person could advance even a single step.
Crash! Bang!
Two more intruders in black hoods appeared. As the mages stretched their hands wide to cast spells, another figure fell from the ceiling like a meteor.
The world brightened and darkened with each exchange of blows. It wasn’t long before cracks appeared in the tense, seemingly endless battle.
“…?”
The intruders sensed something and simultaneously froze, turning to look in one direction. Toward the First Imperial Palace, where a black moon hung. They furrowed their brows, unable to hide their bewilderment.
“Tigmore, what do we do?”
“Did Rutherford abandon us and leave?”
“What? What happened to Rutherford?”
“Hah, hah, you bastards. We’re losing ground, so shut your mouths.”
“Keep fighting, you damn fools!”
The mages, drenched in sweat, flailed their red headbands as they tried to rush at the intruders. Just as those enemies sensed something strange, they themselves showed no hesitation.
“…What?”
“Why….”
Why had the mana overflowing from the First Imperial Palace vanished without a trace? The mages slowly looked up at the clear sky where the black moon had disappeared.
* * *
For me, it was undoubtedly the right choice.
I had already died under the name of Berothion, and because of that, I could not walk the same timeline with the people I had met here.
If I could deal with Rutherford and enter the abyss to meet Naum, if I could speak even one word to Naum who was dying in endless suffering, if by God’s grace I could bring him out into the world—then any choice would be right. Certainly.
Zing!
“Rutherford!”
My coughing of blood was endless. It was the trace of burning everything, thinking this was the end.
Rutherford and the mages stumbled backward to escape from me, but who could evade a moon falling from the sky, and how? All would be consumed. All would seep into that darkness, pass through the rift, and awaken in the abyss.
「Ten Thousand Leaves」.
Screeeech!
The World Tree spread like wings from my back.
Rutherford and his mages could not believe what was happening. Their entrails were being torn by the contract magic, their hearts crushed in agony. In such a condition, not only was I opening a portal alone, but Ten Thousand Leaves?
The portal would likely connect to Cliffford’s rift. That would be closer than the north.
Crash!
“Rutherford! This won’t do! We must leave the building! There’s no end to this!”
The mages continuously struck down the World Tree, but they instinctively realized there was nothing they could do unless I died.
Seizing the opportunity, a thick tree trunk climbed up Rutherford’s ankle. It wound around his thigh, passed his waist, and in an instant, it seized his throat. Rutherford thrashed with all his might and screamed.
“You, I-!”
Ian! Ian! Ian!
Rutherford invoked Ian’s name repeatedly in his mind, crying out for the dignity of the contract magic. The faint response emanating from below his chest made it clear that the power continued to activate.
But why wouldn’t he fall?
But why wouldn’t he kneel again?
“Master Ian!”
“He’s… heading into the Abyss…”
The wounded mages limped forward calling to Ian, but he didn’t turn his gaze even slightly. He was drawing all his strength to maintain the portal and wield the World Tree. It felt as though the slightest distraction would reduce everything to nothing.
Ian was crumbling with such desperation. Only something as thin and fragile as a thread seemed to be holding him up alone. He couldn’t know what it was—whether it was the serenity of accepting his own fate, or perhaps his love for Bariel. Even contemplating such thoughts was a luxury for him.
Whoooosh!
“Ugh!”
Connected by an unknown force, Ian and Rutherford were bound by the World Tree. Ian pulling toward the black moon, Rutherford resisting. Blood stained the fingertips trying to tear away the trunk.
Then, among the mages who watched in stunned silence, a hand extended forward.
Crack.
It was Akorelra. She crawled down the corridor and grasped Ian’s World Tree. Just as it seemed she might stop him, the mages realized she was pouring her remaining power into Ian. Her blood-soaked face twisted as she shouted.
“You idiots! The master is busy saving himself, and we’re just standing here watching?”
“C-Captain! But-”
“But what, but what!?”
“Master Ian is going into the Abyss…”
“Abyss or hell! It’s Master Ian’s judgment and decision. Who are you to question the captain’s decision? Get your heads straight! Prince Jin is outside!”
If we fail to deal with Rutherford here and leave behind future trouble, can you take responsibility? Since it’s a matter Master Ian has decided, we must trust and follow him completely.
Akorelra shouted while transferring her mana. Ian wasn’t looking this way, but he would be able to hear her voice.
“Master Ian! I don’t know about anything else, but please survive!”
“Captain, please! This really can’t happen!”
“If you live, we can see each other again! Thank you for the Luronstone. And, well. Please take care of yourself.”
“Captain, I don’t want this. I can’t do this. It feels like we’re pushing Master Ian into the Abyss-”
“Master Ian! Come back! We will wait!”
“Please! Don’t! No!”
Opinion was divided among the mages. Some helped Akorelra, pouring all their remaining power forward, while others couldn’t bring themselves to do even that.
Whoooooosh!
The World Tree, empowered by the mages’ strength, surged even more ferociously. Ian stared only at Rutherford, never looking back. His choice was certainly right. Examining it from every angle, it was the right choice without a single flaw.
But why did one corner of his heart ache so much? Ian threw himself toward the black moon, unaware that he was crying.
Slowly, his surroundings faded away.
The mages, the chandelier-
The painting on the wall…
‘Ah.’
The massive painting that reached the ceiling lingered particularly long in Ian’s gaze. A painting of an angel blessing Bariel. The eyes within that frame were so delicate that they seemed to move as if alive. Lost in them, Ian suddenly realized.
‘Jin is beyond that painting.’
A truly appropriate refuge. Like the Emperor before him, Gera had been watching over everything from behind the painting.
I smiled faintly and pulled the World Tree into a tight embrace. The sensation of sinking into a sea of silence. And somewhere far, far away, Rutherford’s screams seemed to drift into the distance.

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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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