The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 81
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 81
Central Continent.
The Emperor of the Empire was a man of strong sense of responsibility.
Trevallion had observed the Emperor since his childhood days.
So he found nothing strange about that fellow becoming Emperor.
After all, he was born to become Emperor.
Therefore, it was only natural that he would ascend to the throne.
But.
“Am I truly fit to become Emperor?”
The fellow who had actually become Emperor
found the fact of his own ascension deeply awkward.
“Then who else would you prefer to become Emperor?”
At first, I thought it was merely a ridiculous jest.
So I attempted to parry it lightly with a response.
“Does the Archmage hold no interest in the Imperial throne?”
“What? Why would I bother with such a tedious burden?”
The Emperor was sincere.
Only then did Trevallion realize the situation was unfolding in a troubling direction.
As Trevallion regarded the Emperor quietly,
he fell silent and gazed back at Trevallion with the same intensity.
And he spoke.
“I trust you, but it seems others do not share that sentiment.”
“…That’s possible.”
The human heart is truly fickle.
The Hero Party that had vanquished the Demon King who once ruled through absolute terror.
The protagonist of that tale, now a legend, no longer existed in this world.
As for the Priest among them, he had always been distant from power, and now spent his days frail and ailing with age.
Naturally, the Dwarf King and the High Elf were never even considerations.
Then who remained?
After the theatrical stage had ended,
what becomes of the one who lingers upon it?
“Sigh… these troublesome fools.”
After the Demon King vanished,
what troubled Trevallion most was precisely this.
A man capable of burning the entire Empire to ash if he so desired.
Power far too excessive for any single individual to possess.
The Archmage Trevallion.
God and creator of magic itself.
Dragon Slayer.
Such titles filled the Emperor with unease.
Or more precisely, it unsettled those closest to the Emperor who governed the Empire.
“If Your Majesty desired the throne, I would surrender it at any moment. I merely beseech you to refrain from bloodshed.”
“Ha… I’ve said this ad nauseam, but I have no interest in such things. Stop spouting nonsense.”
“It is merely a hypothetical, sir.”
“There is no such hypothetical, so cease your worrying. If I elevated your kingdom to an empire, shouldn’t you be grateful and stop pestering me? Why must you all be so tiresome?”
“How could mere mortals comprehend your intentions, sir?”
“And you can?”
“At least I understand that you harbor no ambition for the throne. You have demonstrated this same disposition since my childhood.”
“Indeed. I am grateful that at least you believe in me.”
Yet regardless of Trevallion’s resolve.
He was condemned to endure endless suspicion for as long as he lived.
Some, so zealously loyal to the Emperor, even commissioned assassins to end Trevallion’s life.
“And still, I bore it all to the very end. You understand?”
“Of course.”
The Emperor.
Even as he aged and approached death, he gazed upon Trevallion with a sorrowful expression.
The Emperor had believed in him steadfastly throughout his life without doubt.
Yet those beneath him never did.
Though Trevallion publicly denied his interest in the throne countless times, the people of the Empire remained suspicious.
After the Emperor’s death.
Even as the next Emperor led the Empire to its golden age.
Trevallion never stepped into the foreground.
And yet.
Still, people refused to believe in Trevallion’s sincerity.
“The throne is simply such a position.”
Everyone desires it, everyone covets it.
A seat that breeds suspicion in all who encounter it.
For the throne was the very pinnacle of all human desire.
Having lived this way.
Trevallion understood how to navigate such matters better than anyone.
* * *
Deflecting the surprise thrust of the slender saber to the side.
Ilhyang looked down upon the diminutive Hwagyeong Master.
“I was clearly minding my own business. You all initiated this confrontation.”
A middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a Court Official, garbed in violet silk, answered with an indignant expression.
“Silence your tongue! For daring to defy His Majesty’s will, death is your only fate! You! You shall not leave this place alive!”
“Sigh… Wherever one goes, there are always zealots like you.”
“Die!”
As another thrust came hurtling toward him.
Ilhyang abruptly shoved the Emperor’s body forward as a shield.
“Ugh!”
The Court Official.
Byeok Gonggong, the First Sword of the Inner Palace, gritted his teeth and pivoted the tip of his blade to the side.
Simultaneously, he extended his opposite hand to seize the Emperor’s body.
He had made the rescue of the hostage Emperor his absolute priority.
But Ilhyang pulled the Emperor’s body back and pressed his palm against the Court Official’s ribs as he closed the distance, then withdrew it.
An extraordinarily light motion.
Yet the consequence was anything but light.
“Cough—hack!”
Spewing blood as though emptying a bucket, Byeok Gonggong collapsed to his knees on the ground like a condemned criminal.
“Your organs must have ruptured. You resisted admirably, but that’s the end of it.”
“Hgh—ugh….”
He bore the epithet of the Purple Sovereign Blood King.
Byeok Nan-seok, the Court Official and one of the Twenty-Three Stars of Divine Realm, rose to his feet with difficulty, enduring the agony.
With an expression of shock and fury, he glared at the daytime assailant and opened his mouth.
“A mere martial artist dares commit such an act and hope to survive? Surrender yourself now and accept imperial judgment! That is your only path to life.”
“How amusing. Who here could possibly kill me? Surely not that old man lurking behind, watching for an opening? Could he truly end me?”
Saengsa Yeom-wang Na In-geol.
He furrowed his brow, not daring to move.
Two of the Twenty-Three Stars of Divine Realm within the Imperial Palace.
Both present in this very place.
Yet they could not act rashly against a bolt from the blue.
The moment the Emperor became a hostage.
All their freedom of action had been utterly constrained.
Ilhyang gazed upon the officials watching his every move and spoke with deliberate slowness.
“Very well. If I kill everyone here, will you then leave me untouched?”
“You wretch! Do not jest! No matter where you hide beneath the heavens, I shall find you and tear your body to shreds, feeding your remains to the beasts!”
The Court Official Byeok Gonggong.
With blood glistening on his lips, he bellowed and shrieked without restraint.
Blood vessels burst in his eyes, tears of blood streaming down his face.
Though his bearing and expression radiated fierce momentum, Ilhyang felt no fear whatsoever.
Instead, he smiled with genuine interest and spoke.
“Excellent. Your spirit is formidable. I choose you.”
Ilhyang extended his hand.
Byeok Gonggong, a master of Hwagyeong, resisted fiercely against the mysterious force suddenly pulling at his body.
It was utterly futile.
Captured beside the Emperor with such ease, he struggled desperately to move his body.
But his opponent was far too formidable.
“You and the Emperor shall be examples.”
A dull sound—
That was the end of it.
Byeok Gonggong, the Hwagyeong Master.
The greatest contributor who played the most decisive role in creating the current Emperor.
The Emperor’s right hand.
An absolute being who wielded power without limit had his neck broken far too easily and died.
The Emperor, watching from right beside him, only then realized something had gone terribly wrong.
Thump—
Byeok Gonggong fell lifelessly to the ground.
So this was the end of an absolute being who had shaped an entire era.
‘What in the world is happening?’
Emperor Yu Woo-jae.
His face began draining of all color.
Finally, his body, consumed by terror, betrayed his will and trembled like a patient caught in a gale.
Ilhyang, observing him calmly, slowly turned the Emperor’s face and lifted it high so that every official in Taihe Hall could see.
The Emperor who had radiated majesty within the great hall mere hours ago was no longer present in that moment.
Splatter—splash—!
A stream of urine ran down the Emperor’s ornate silk robes and began soaking the floor.
Ilhyang displayed that entire spectacle of the Emperor losing control like a common man without filter to the officials and court attendants as he spoke.
“Let me be clear. This is merely a warning. If I return here next time, I will burn the entire Imperial Palace to the ground.”
Crack—
Saengsa Yeom-wang Na In-geol, who had been waiting for an opening to strike at Ilhyang, shut his eyes tight at the sound of bones dislocating.
“Gasp!”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
“To actually assassinate His Majesty!”
“What is the world coming to…”
Saengsa Yeom-wang Na In-geol trembled as he kept his hand on his sword hilt, clenching his teeth hard.
‘Where in the world did such a monster come from…’
In broad daylight, an unknown ruffian had entered the Imperial Court Hall and openly assassinated the Emperor.
This was an unprecedented event in all of history.
‘No, this isn’t even an assassination.’
An assassination was supposed to be hidden and undetected, but this was simply a public execution.
And in the cruelest manner at that.
The Emperor’s authority had collapsed in an instant.
Now only overwhelming terror dominated this place.
‘It’s finished.’
Only now had the rebellion of the imperial princes finally subsided.
The Fifth Prince Yu Woo-jae, who had already been treated as Emperor, had been on the throne for barely more than two weeks.
Yet that Emperor was now dead.
Simply to eliminate someone who had been a nuisance, for the sole reason of having hired assassins.
‘The surviving imperial grandson…’
Regardless of the circumstances, the surviving officials had no choice but to clean up this mess.
By a curious twist of fate, everyone present shared the same thought.
Who should be placed on the throne as the next Emperor.
They began to contemplate in their minds who would benefit them most if elevated to that position.
‘Clinging to such a position for mere survival.’
Ilhyang brushed off his hands and hurled the Emperor’s corpse away.
Thud—
Taihe Hall.
The Imperial Court Hall where the ministers and Emperor conducted their affairs.
The Emperor’s lifeless body sprawled across the floor like a puppet with its strings severed.
“I trust there will be no further disturbances. Should I return to this place again, I will not overlook matters so quietly next time. Remember that you will all meet the same fate as him then.”
“….”
Ilhyang regarded the officials with their exhausted expressions for a moment.
Then he immediately used teleportation.
Believing this would serve as sufficient warning.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————