Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 476

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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 476
Fire. Shadow
Dignity. That was Rutherford’s first impression of the platinum-haired young man before him.
Was it the radiant cascade of his hair, or the gaze that seemed deeper than the abyss itself? Despite the palpable killing intent, there was something sacred in his presence that rendered all resistance futile.
In that singular moment when their eyes met, Rutherford understood with absolute clarity that Ian’s momentum was far from ordinary.
“Rutherford!”
Whoosh!
Zing!
Ah, this time I’m truly going to die.
There was no opportunity for the Mages to intervene. I was already at close range with Ian, and the golden mana surging upward had already reached just beneath my throat.
I’m dying, dying, this time I’m truly dying.
After passing through hundreds of deaths, I believed fear of this would no longer touch me. But I was wrong. Humanity can never escape the shadow of death. They say that as attachment grows heavy and life becomes burdensome, the shadow deepens all the more.
If I miss this ‘now,’ I cannot fathom when the next ‘then’ will come.
My body capable of alchemy, Ian the Mage whom God himself taught, a world swept into war. And Bariel where only the young Prince exists. I had barely managed to create a situation where each existed independently as a miracle, yet I’m being swept away into death so meaninglessly.
“Rutherford!”
“No!”
Boom! Boom!
Crash!
Fierce winds rushed into the Sea of the Abyss, that mysterious space, without a single gap.
Ian breathed heavily as he looked down at his hands. The mana that had erupted hotly and moved coolly remained vivid. Even the sensation of shattering the moon, and even the sensation of tearing through Rutherford’s flesh.
But why did it feel like this?
“Haa, haa….”
It was a sense of loss felt instinctively.
I looked around at the chaos of black moon fragments and unknown impurities. Where was Rutherford? Where did his body fragments go? Or was it even torn to shreds? How strange.
As my gaze swept about, I discovered the Gypsy spinning in circles above.
“…?”
Like a bird of prey detecting an anomaly, she traced a flawless orbit, spinning in one place endlessly.
I didn’t know her intent, but it seemed she was trying to tell me something. Thus, I maintained my guard and kept my mana active.
Whoooosh!
“…!”
My sharp senses detected a change occurring in the Sea of the Abyss. The impurities and moon fragments were drawn by an invisible force, creating a current.
Transparent water formed a shape, and the fragments gathered to make that form more visible.
The Mages’ eyes widened in shock as they belatedly realized this. That was, undoubtedly—
“Gasp!”
“A, a face.”
Massive in size, like a mountain rising abruptly. A human head with clearly defined features.
Was this also a phantom of the abyss? The Mages were consumed by fear, unable to move a single fingertip, while only I faced it calmly.
“Ian.”
Its voice was deep and heavy, resonating greatly through the Sea of the Abyss. The sound swept past, ruffling my hair.
“What, what is that?”
“Rutherford! Where have you gone? You… you haven’t abandoned us, have you? You didn’t leave us behind, did you? Please answer!”
“Save us! Please, save us!”
As the Mages cried out in desperation, it exhaled softly. The waters churned violently.
Rutherford, half-submerged within. His entire body was covered in wounds from my attack, yet he showed no signs of mortal injury. Had he lost consciousness? Blood dripped steadily from his limp form.
“Ian.”
Zzzzzing.
I forged a blade of pure mana and gripped it firmly in both hands. I didn’t know exactly what that thing was, but as Emperor Ian, I could not allow it to speak my name so carelessly.
“…Did you save Rutherford?”
“I did.”
“Not only do you speak my name without respect, but your conduct is equally insolent.”
Rutherford was an existence I should cut down. Since it had saved him, it too must be severed. As I lowered my stance, it laughed loudly.
“You are the insolent one, Ian. Daring to stand before God.”
God? My brow twitched, and in that same moment, the Mages watching Rutherford erupted in jubilation.
Rutherford was one who communed with God and harmonized the world. The faith they had followed was bearing fruit. God had descended, and surely He would save them. They would escape the Sea of the Abyss, inherit His will, and complete their great work!
“….”
Meanwhile, I rested the mana blade on my shoulder with exasperation. For it to invoke that name before me, who had just faced ‘God’ myself.
I immediately recognized that ‘thing’ as the ‘Shadow’ God had spoken of. A foolish creature that sought to become God.
“Convenient that I need not travel far.”
Zzzing!
I murmured softly, biting my lip.
Rutherford was there, and the Shadow was there as well. Rather than leave the Abyss to pursue it, I would end this here. If I did, Naum’s suffering would end swiftly too.
It pained me not to see Berik and Romandro, Jin, Sia, and all the Mages of the Magic Division, but this was the path I was meant to walk.
…Truly, it was fine.
“From the beginning of time, I have drawn God’s will, yet a single human dares to rampage without understanding his place. My children. Kill that insignificant, petty thing. Kill it and offer its flesh to me. Then I shall show you the path from my Sea of the Abyss to Gaia itself.”
Uuung, the Shadow’s voice carried a wave as it swept past the Mages.
The Mages slowly turned their heads to regard me. The difference in power was clear. But so too was God’s command.
Zzzing!
As the Mages began to release their mana one by one, I furrowed my brow in puzzlement. The form was wondrous, but did they truly believe it was God based on that alone? My God was far warmer and more compassionate.
I rebuked the Mages.
“Foolish. You believe it to be God simply because it saved Rutherford? The error lies from the very beginning.”
“Silence! ‘It’? You dare challenge divine power, even though you are a Mage yourself?”
“Kneel now and beg forgiveness. How can you resist the will of God that binds us all as one!”
I realized something was wrong with the Mages’ state of mind. They were irrational, illogical.
This was the Sea of the Abyss. It existed beneath the cracks where monsters were spawned, so anything strange emerging would be natural. Yet they believed it to be God simply because it revealed its form?
‘…Mind control.’
It was like the Arcen incident. The creature’s voice had burrowed into them, rendering rational thought impossible. In Bandor’s case, having faced it in a desolate state, he had fallen far deeper and more firmly under its spell.
I understood why God had chosen me. As a Mage blessed by the Imperial House, I could not be swayed by the Shadow and could gaze upon God alone.
“Kill Ian at once. Kill him and bring his body to me. Then you shall live. I will liberate you from this infinite cycle of eternal life and death.”
Zzzing!
Thwack! Craaaash!
At its urging, the Mages gritted their teeth and lunged at me. I witnessed the overwhelming disparity in power, and though their strength was depleted, they could still obey since God had commanded it.
As those with golden eyes split left and right, ascending into the air, I unfurled a protective barrier and effortlessly held them back.
Boom!
Crash!
“Doubt and think. If that truly is God, then we are of His origin. He would instantly replenish your exhausted mana. Without bothering to command you to kill me, a single call would twist my neck.”
“Silence! That thing, where did it—!”
“Ahhhhh! Die!”
I had poured everything into the Imperial Palace, yet behold my complete self. Behold me, who was healed of all things in the Sea of the Abyss called hell. I had kindly explained this to them, but it did not reach the Mages consumed by the Shadow.
I shook my head lightly as if helpless, then carved through their midst.
Slash!
Each time I wielded my mana, blood sprayed upward and the Mages’ cries erupted. Once, twice, thrice. With each simple count, the Mages fell helplessly.
The veins of sensation that exist through the power called mana. I frowned, as if displeased at severing them. Perhaps it was because I had realized their actions were the Shadow’s brainwashing.
“Hahahaha!”
Soon, as I severed everything and stood alone, the Shadow laughed with utter satisfaction.
The corpses of the Mages drifted about. It drew a deep breath and greedily devoured the Mages’ bodies.
“Indeed, a delicacy! Hahaha!”
So many ways to borrow the power of God. I furrowed my brow and wiped away the sweat trickling down my chin.
The Mages were those closest to God. Their power was no different from God’s power, so by consuming them, the Shadow was acquiring and maintaining its own authority.
“…Will those you just consumed also fall under the Abyss’s curse like Bandor? An eternal cycle of death?”
“Why call it the Abyss’s curse? That is a blessing I bestowed upon Bandor.”
In a situation where flesh and soul would crumble, Bandor was chosen. For he was the first Mage the Shadow encountered.
Just as God had put me forward, the Shadow likewise sought to advance Bandor to fulfill its will. There was only the arduous process of dying again and again to reach an appropriate point in time.
“I stole only his strength and revived him, freeing him from death, which humans fear most. Where could such a blessing be found?”
Now there is only you and I here, I said honestly, leveling my mana blade.
“Is it true you coveted the body of the Bastard Ian? That body is the flesh through which God manifested as Gaia. It seems quite fitting for a creature crawling underground like you to desire it.”
My meeting with Rutherford is the destined intersection where ‘God’ and ‘Shadow’ collide. Yet one mystery remains: why did Rutherford only forge a contract spell and send the Bastard Ian back?
Of course, God would have arranged it so that the Bastard Ian’s freedom would create room for intervention in history, but from the Shadow’s perspective, there must have been a compelling reason for it to do the same.
“It is difficult to call it your arrangement; I can only conclude there was an unavoidable circumstance.”
‘Arrangement’ is something done only in God’s name. For that creature, it was merely some ‘circumstance’ it could not avoid.
The Shadow slowly extended its neck and thrust its head toward me. Its enormity was truly overwhelming.
“What difference is there between God and me, that you treat me so?”
“…What?”
“God existed everywhere, and I too existed everywhere. As long as God does not disappear, neither shall I.”
“God—”
“God is a being that lives by faith. Now I too live by faith. Since God and I are no different, why do you speak as if we are?”
A mysterious God existing beneath the earth of Gaia. At those words—that it was gaining faith—I let out an exclamation of understanding.
When the Bastard Ian was young, even if that creature obtained a body, it could not use it. According to its words, human faith must have been negligible then.
“…You are an Underground God.”
A heretical new religion that began in Tooluun and left the deepest mark in history. The Shadow, which fed on faith and deepened its roots there, gradually sought to approach Bariel, and in that process, Burgos came to stand.
The Shadow released a thick laugh. As if mocking, as if I had finally guessed the answer.
“The Underground God. It’s merely one of the countless names humans call me.”

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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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