Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 473

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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 473
Fire. The Sea of the Abyss
Emperor Ian Verosion had sworn an oath to Bariel.
Before windows where dawn broke through, beneath fresh leaves, upon a platform where the day’s heat faded away, he vowed to give everything of himself for Bariel alone, always and forever.
He would offer a handful of breath and fading happiness, tears that flowed in silence, and begged that Bariel would graciously accept this devotion, exist in wholeness, and stand firm as eternity itself.
Emperor Ian Verosion wished to be God’s will. He desired not to be among those who cried out in unison that he was insufficient and unworthy of the throne, but rather to be God’s messenger himself. And thus he prayed that all he did would align with Bariel’s path.
Crash—!
The skulls of those who had died merely for standing by his side rolled mercilessly across the floor.
Beneath the crimson carpet, blood soaked through abundantly, and Emperor Ian Verosion thrashed about with his weakened body, crying out in resistance.
Stop. Stop this.
Why do you do this? Stop.
The more he pleaded, the more gleefully the rebels severed Emperor Ian Verosion’s limbs.
The agony of hands and feet being cut away. Some died calling out Emperor Ian Verosion’s name, while others died with only a single, anguished scream.
Whether they wailed or remained composed, none could escape death—save for him alone. The death that Emperor Ian Verosion brought spared only himself, staining everything around him crimson.
“Your Majesty.”
A familiar voice. Ian Verosion gazed quietly at Naum, who had suddenly appeared before him. His soft brown hair was neatly tied back as he looked upon the Emperor.
Had it all been a dream? Chroni’s rebellion, Naum’s death, and the journey to Bariel a hundred years past? Naum, who had been staring at him intently, shook his head with a slight smile.
“Your Majesty. It was not a dream. You have been abandoned by Bariel. Because of that, everyone died, I died, and you too have died in this manner.”
Naum slowly extended his hand and strangled Ian Verosion’s neck. As the pressure tightened gradually, Ian Verosion ceased his struggling and instead gazed upon the weeping Naum.
Yes, as I thought—you resent me. Because of my insufficiency, your life was cut short, and your sorrow weighs heavy. If my death brings you even a moment of relief, I go willingly.
“Die! Die! Disappear as though you never existed! Only then can you atone to Bariel—!”
For Bariel, and for you.
My friend, just as you die for me, so too shall I die for you. Ian Verosion nodded and released all the strength from his body.
In that instant—
Crash—!
Something seized his collar and pulled, and his body lifted into the air. Naum, wailing and pursuing to kill him, transformed—platinum hair became golden, and eyes that had been blue-green shifted to a verdant green.
Ian realized the one who was pulling him through the current felt strangely familiar.
“Young Emperor.”
“You are…?”
A Gypsy who devours secrets. The gills carved into the old woman’s cheeks fluttered, and cloth that billowed without legs resembled fins.
Suddenly, Ian became aware that he had arrived in a most peculiar place. Though there was buoyancy similar to being underwater, breathing posed no difficulty, and all around was darkness. Only he and the Gypsy, glimmering faintly, were visible.
The Gypsy swam gently and laughed.
“Welcome to the Sea of the Abyss.”
Beneath the fissure lies another world. Where the universe’s secrets slumber, and where those who recklessly wielded divine power are imprisoned—a hell.
Ian slowly surveyed his surroundings. There was no path. Up and down were ambiguous, left and right blended together in this unknown space.
“How did you come to arrive here?”
“And how do you yourself exist in this place?”
“Being one who feeds upon secrets, I could not help but seek this place where the universe’s secrets sleep.”
Whoosh—
As the Gypsy moved ahead, a cool breeze brushed past Ian’s hair without his noticing.
Just moments ago, I bore the visage of Ian Verosion, yet now I wore the form of the bastard Ian. This place defied not merely spatial concepts, but the very notion of existence itself.
“Then perhaps your form too may not be real.”
The old woman merely smiled without answering. Silence was affirmation. I understood that was her response.
“So, what will you do now?”
“…There is someone I must meet.”
“In the abyss.”
“And so I shall depart with him.”
As I declared this with resolve, the old woman faltered before bursting into laughter. Bubbles rising from her gills scattered in all directions.
“Isn’t that the very man? The one with brown hair who sought to kill you.”
“Naum Obia.”
“Yes, that one. From what I perceive, he is one sealed in the abyss by forbidden magic, yet your circumstances differ. You walked in of your own volition, while he fell. To take him with you would be to drag the abyss itself up into Gaia.”
My heart trembled softly, thump-thump. I wanted to speak with confidence, to say that in my world, saving Naum was possible, yet my throat constricted and I could not answer.
The old woman circled around me, offering her warning.
“The sea of the abyss contains all things. Your rage, your fear, your pain, your despair, your loss. Every negativity born from each moment of your existence shall overwhelm you. Just as before.”
She spoke of the inner dread that Naum might resent me, might even curse me. For the Naum I had just encountered was merely a phantom and reflection of my own making.
I grasped the hem of the old woman’s garment, seeking aid.
“What must I do?”
“How does man overcome the sea? There is no way but to surrender yourself to the current. Pushed and pulled by the waves, you can only pray that someday you reach an island.”
The old woman glanced down at my hand and spoke. Release this, and fall into the sea. Thus ride the waters that surge each moment, and swim through the pain.
Understanding her meaning, I released the hem.
Whoosh.
Slowly, the old woman receded.
Downward, ever downward, toward the depths of the abyss I sank, while the old woman watched from above.
Tens of thousands of arms stretched from the darkness, crying out that they desired me. In an instant, I would experience more than a single death. Assimilated without knowing it was but foam passing through the abyss, I would become pierced with despair.
“What a pity.”
An Emperor who harbored such delicious secrets. Meaningful merely by existing, yet soon to lose himself. The old woman lingered, unable to depart, gazing downward for a long while.
How much time had passed?
Flicker—
From the place where I had sunk, a very faint, small light glimmered. The old woman’s gills bubbled as she tilted her head in puzzlement, and soon, overcome by curiosity, she dove.
* * *
The term “sea of the abyss” was most fitting.
Pain surged like waves, relentless and suffocating. It was both physical agony—flesh flayed, lungs twisted—and spiritual torment—heart aching as the world crumbled.
…How much time had passed?
Ian Verosion died countless times by Naum’s hand. Berik was torn asunder by the black armor and never rose again, and Jin could not escape Arcen’s machinations, taking his own life.
Thus the Empire’s prosperity was severed, the earth split asunder, and the citizens reviled themselves as those who denied their own existence. Romandro and the Magic Ministry gazed with resentful eyes, and my parents wailed that I should never have been born.
‘Is it over? Ah, it begins anew.’
When the illusions commenced, I became completely absorbed, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Only in the fleeting moments between illusions, when I recognized my fall into the abyss, could I exist as Ian Verosion in full.
But now I approached my limit. My mind weathered and crumbled, leaving only the moment of collapse. I could not know that this time, which felt like eons, was in truth but a brief moment before the old woman had even departed.
Whoosh.
Then, gentle hands embraced me from behind. The touch, devoid of killing intent, was strange and bewildering. I carefully turned, grasping the arms that held me.
What greeted me was a beautiful boy with golden hair and green eyes—Ian. He smiled brightly and nestled into my embrace.
“Ian!”
The illegitimate Ian. He looked exactly as he had when I first saw him at Count Derga’s residence. His emaciated frame, the dark circles beneath his eyes worn by exhaustion, and his complexion somehow haggard. Yet his smile, brimming with joy, shone with such radiance it was dazzling.
Ian Verosion stood bewildered, simply gazing down at the boy’s face.
“Ian, thank you for coming all this way.”
“The illegitimate Ian? Why are you here?”
Instead of answering, the boy buried his head in Ian Verosion’s chest and exhaled a breath of relief.
I couldn’t comprehend it at all. I had wondered where the spirit of the vanished illegitimate Ian had gone, but I never imagined it would be here.
Could this also be an illusion?
Yet this illusion brings me no pain whatsoever?
Ian Verosion gently separated the boy from his body and bent down. The boy, seeing Ian Verosion’s startled expression, giggled with a bright smile. A transparent, pure laughter that seemed incongruous with the abyss of the sea.
“…You know who I am.”
Ian Verosion murmured hesitantly. The boy seemed to know. Who he was, and moreover, that he had entered the boy’s body, and all the journey that had led him here.
“Naum Obia asked me if there was a way to save you. So I willingly offered my body. Like a river flowing toward an inevitable end, I was meant to guide the course of history correctly. But I judged that you would be more than capable of fulfilling that role in my stead.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You seem to keep wondering about it.”
The boy embraced Ian Verosion once more, as if unable to bear his affection any longer.
Ian Verosion felt awkward, yet the gesture didn’t displease him at all. Rather, in that moment, his body and spirit, worn down by suffering, felt healed. For a brief time, he could even escape from the illusions.
“What is it you think I’m wondering about?”
“Whether you exist by divine will, and thus whether you are the right choice for Bariel.”
“I am—”
“Don’t worry. Simply exist. You defied time by my will, came here, and will walk only the righteous path from now on.”
A glimmer. The boy extended his palm. Upon it, an amber-colored jewel bloomed softly—Idgal. As the boy gestured for me to take it, Ian Verosion flinched.
“That means…”
The Idgal that touched Ian’s hand began to emit a brilliant light. The boy smiled brightly, as if pleased by the sight. Ian Verosion watched his form gradually fade and asked.
“…Does that mean you are a god?”

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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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