While the Dragon World was in dire straits, the Bardi capital, which was just a wall away from the Dragon World, which had existed for countless years, fell into silence. Or, perhaps it should be said that it was being purged.
Unlike the silence of the past, after the Dragon World lost the eastern battlefront, the royal Knight in the capital began to act on a large scale. The entire city was under martial law and curfew. The princes who tried to take advantage of the situation were all dragged to the streets and executed in public. The "Venomous Scorpion Emperor" Orloss the Thirteenth, who seemed to have transformed into a nice guy, once again showed the world his viciousness.
"Halent shall become the new emperor."
When the eastern battlefront was lost and a storm was brewing, the old emperor resisted all the pressure and reiterated his opinion to the Bardi citizens and domain lords.
Directly opposing? Kill.
Talk behind their backs? Kill.
A prince colluding with a domain lord? Kill.
Only complaining to his servants and friends in his own residence? Same, kill.
The old emperor who always had a smile on his face, a kind old man who was even able to smile when he was being assassinated, was currently sipping tea in his study, smiling as he said "kill" one after another. The royal Knight, who was just as crazy, also silently carried out the killing missions, even if it meant hanging children who weren't even ten years old yet on the city walls, even if it meant crushing a Knight's honor and spirit.
"Anyone who doubts Halent's succession will be executed without question, regardless of status, age, or achievements."
This was Emperor Orloss's will, and the royal knights silently carried out his will. Even if the Bardi people couldn't understand Emperor Orloss's sudden and insane actions, they were unable to directly look at the sudden slaughter, especially when the major domain lords' hostages had recently been slaughtered because they had colluded with the prince. This caused the major nobles at the border to be enraged.
If this continued, the Bardi Empire would have internal strife before the Holy War's allied armies and the Undead Empire attacked. Just what was the wise old emperor doing? Was he destroying the empire that he had spent his entire life building?
Even the Dragon Knight who had always remained neutral by Halent's side was unable to understand the old emperor's sudden madness. However, due to the Knight's spirit of loyalty, he was unable to stop the old emperor. But everyone knew that this wasn't normal, and it wouldn't last long.
Perhaps if things continued like this, even if Halent succeeded in inheriting the throne, as long as the old emperor died, the berserk massacres and oppression would cause Halent to suffer a tragic end.
Miracle Hand's death caused everyone to sigh in amazement, sorrow, and helplessness, but it also greatly helped Halent and Bardi.
The Holy Light's unstoppable will was stopped. Even if it was only for a short instant, Estrada had sacrificed himself to obtain victory for the mortals. Bardi had also lost the threat of Estrada's sharp sword, which had been so close to Bardi.
"… This should calm the old emperor down."
However, there were some things that exceeded everyone's expectations. Not only did the old emperor not stop, he even intensified his actions.
Those who take advantage of the crisis to drive up prices and hoard? Kill.
Someone who has a close relationship with the nobles and is related by blood? Kill.
He didn't do anything, but he had a high position of authority and might affect Halent's succession in the future? Kill.
Emperor Orloss had a kind expression on his face as he watched his adopted sons kill each other for twenty years. Yet, he still smiled and said the word "kill" as he watched the capital flow with rivers of blood.
Even when Halent, the other person involved in this incident, went over to argue with him, Orloss didn't change at all. Instead, Halent locked himself in his room and refused to leave.
"… If the future Bardi wants to survive, only Halent can inherit the throne. As for how Halent came to inherit the throne, that's not important at all. As for myself … Heh heh, just wait and see. "
In the entire Bardi Empire, only a few people were allowed to enter Orloss's study and listen to him slowly explain his thoughts.
Right now, the old emperor was currently listening to the reports of the leader of the secret agents and the leader of the Knight Order.
"… Based on the information our spies have gathered, Duke Kafe and Count Bolan have both temporarily stopped gathering their private troops because they're unable to figure out your current goal. It seems that they're worried that you'll treat them as your primary target if they stand out. But some things are no different from what we predicted. As long as you … you 'leave,' they'll definitely rebel. They're only temporarily stopping their actions."
"Ha, those old fellows. Forget it. How's the daily trade situation in the Bardi Empire? The prices of goods are still around twice what they were before. "
"Not bad. After a bunch of those unscrupulous merchants died, the prices of goods have become much more stable. The prices of goods have dropped from 25 times what they were before to 1.3 times what they were before. Not to mention, with your high-pressure policies and His Highness Halent's personally written promise, most of them have already secretly pledged their loyalty to His Highness. As long as you remove their claws and teeth, the merchants who don't have much status to begin with won't be able to do anything. At the very least, it won't be a problem for the time being. "
"What about those useless brats of mine?"
"Those who might be a threat have all been executed. The rest have all announced that they're no longer related to the Bardi royal family. All the princes are currently under surveillance. But in contrast to this, your reputation … some commoners are already calling you the White Dragon. "
"White Dragon?"
"… A child-eating White Dragon."
Orloss nodded but didn't ask any more questions. In fact, he didn't even look at the report as he lowered his head and sipped on his tea. For someone like him who had already given up on everything, such slander was nothing to him. What he was about to do next would be even more outrageous. Perhaps he would become the number one tyrant and idiot in all of Bardi's history. But for the sake of his "grand plan", what did it matter if outsiders couldn't understand or slander him?
The elderly man slowly closed his eyes and didn't ask anything else. Everyone else understood and left. When the study returned to silence, three people walked out from the secret room. From a certain standpoint, these three people were the true core members of the entire Bardi Empire.
Pope Amoya the First of the Southern Church had once been the head administrator of the Bardi Empire's royal court. He was Orloss's sworn brother, and Amoya was also Orloss's most trusted individual. Amoya controlled the entire Southern Church and the Bardi Empire's religious power.
"… You've worked hard."
"Heh heh, it's already better than I expected. I'll have to trouble you with the Southern Church, thanks to Miracle Hand's sacrifice."
Currently, Pope Amoya had an exhausted expression. The Southern Church had placed so much hope on the Bardi Empire, but they had suffered such a heavy blow in the first battle. If it wasn't for Estrada's sacrifice, which stabilized the Southern Church's morale, it was likely that the Southern Church would have faced major problems.
Another elderly mage who wore a purple Roland cloak was called "The Fool". He was also the Bardi Mage Guild leader, but he was unusually low-key. Very few people had seen his true appearance. Now, he finally revealed his true appearance, but he was a silver-haired old man who didn't seem special at all. But if the Holy Church's heretical judges saw him, it was likely that all the rabid dogs in the Bardi Empire would come out in full force.
But if Roland had been here, there would have been much more room for discussion with him. That's right, he was Seylius, the mad mage Seylius, the Fool who "knew too much yet still dared to say it."
"I'm afraid that I'll have to trouble you to deal with the Mage Guild and the Mage Country. We made you break your oath and come back, and …"
"I know. There's no need to say more. Some things are fated and cannot be avoided. Since all of you are willing to gamble, how can this old man back down? But … it's a pity. Back then, when Estrada forced me to swear to live in seclusion, I never thought that this day would come. "
The old mage who was treated as a lunatic had a head full of neat and shiny silver hair. His extravagant robe was also neat and tidy, which was rare for a mage. However, at this moment, when Seylius thought about his old friend ending up in such a state, he shook his head with a pained expression.
"What a pity, what a pity."
In the end, he could only make such an evaluation.
"Teacher, my condolences. We're all the same. In a sense, he's just a step ahead of us. This is something to be happy about …"
Perhaps very few people knew that Orloss had studied in the Cloud Tower when he was young. In fact, he had even become the disciple of the reclusive archmage Seylius with the help of some people.
"… Emperor Orloss."
The final person who got closer wasn't someone from Bardi at all. It was …
"Time's up."
The originally dazzling emerald on Lilith Milan's arm was beginning to lose its brilliance. The cracks on the emerald gradually expanded. Soon, this Gemini Cat's Eye Emerald, which was worth tens of thousands of gold coins, would become worthless scraps.
This unique magical gemstone was a pair of twin gemstones. If one was destroyed, the other would also be destroyed. This was an incredibly rare and precious communication device. The final product would require an astronomical amount of gold coins to create half a Knight squadron. The fact that such a one-time-use communication device could be used spoke volumes about the severity of this situation.
There was only one possibility for this emerald to become scraps. Roland, who was in Dragon World, had crushed the other emerald. The entire "grand scheme" had been activated by Orloss.
The current Lilith Milan wasn't only the representative of Roland and the Church of Law. Her familiar extravagant court attire and royal insignia doubtlessly indicated one thing — she had already returned to the Bardi royalty!
"Lilith … Sister, I'll have to trouble you. As one of the only two pure-blooded members of the Bardi royalty, please temporarily act as regent for Halent before he truly matures."
Lilith Milan … no, it should be said that Crown Princess Lilith, who was also the regent, nodded. If it was possible, she didn't want to get involved in such trouble at all. However, this person before her had used his own ideals and sacrifices to convince her. She felt that if she didn't do something at this time, she would be letting down her deceased family members.
The old emperor looked around and sighed. He knew that this would probably be the last time he would see this study and his friends again.
"… I never expected that after enduring for my entire life, I would still have to endure in the end. Tell me, I'm not a good emperor. "
"Of course, Your Majesty. Without you, there wouldn't be the Bardi Empire of today. Perhaps the night will be long, and perhaps countless mad dogs will come out to tear at your corpse. However, dark clouds will never be able to block out the sun forever. In the end, your reputation for wisdom will once again spread throughout this land. "
Pope Orloss, the former butler of the Bardi Empire, bowed slightly. His squinted eyes were filled with tears.
"Orloss, why be troubled by the opinions of those fools? I've always been proud of you."
Seylius, who wasn't good with words, paused for a moment before nodding in a certain tone.
"I know that you don't care about such empty reputations. But I do feel that you're amazing, even more amazing than I am."
The old emperor smiled in delight at receiving the affirmation of his teacher and old friend. Perhaps the world wouldn't understand his choice, but it was enough to have one true friend in life. Wasn't it enough for him to have these two family members who understood him?
"… That's enough. For the sake of the mortal world, allow me to destroy all the Dragon World Portals."
Dragon World Portals? That's right, the Dimensional Door leading to Dragon World. If all the Dimensional Doors and dimensional coordinates leading to another dimension were lost, that dimension would also disappear from the mortal plane's view. And if all the Dimensional Doors leading to Dragon World were destroyed, that would mean that the dragons would lose their three main gathering grounds. That would also mean that the entire mortal plane would lose its connection to that dimension.
This wouldn't have been possible in any ordinary plane. After all, there were countless random connections between the two planes. But the dragons just happened to be in control of this plane, so they also maintained all the dimensional gates and teleportation points. And these three teleportation points were all located in the Bardi Empire! They were guarded by the Dragons and Dragons … That's right, Evelyn was one of the guards, as well as the strongest guard. And, it was obvious that the Dragons had chosen the wrong person.
Establishing a connection to another dimension would require a large amount of time, at least two or three years. And, the Titan Giants were about to revive. Once the Dragons lost their reinforcements, that would mean that all the Dragons in Dragon World would be doomed. This was far beyond the Dragons' expectations. The dragons' wrath would definitely descend upon the Bardi Empire. And, perhaps the reason why they chose Halent as the next emperor was far simpler than expected. It was simply because he had a half-dragon Bloodline, and it was possible that the Dragons would accept him and protect this country.
As for Halent, who had committed such an incomprehensible crime, he would naturally become the Dragons' target for revenge. In fact, due to the "missing Roland and the Absolute Gentlemen Alliance mercenary group," the Northlands countries would also become enemies with Bardi. And, the most dangerous part was that the Dragons would be furious at being betrayed. If they weren't satisfied with just using Orloss to vent their anger, then the entire Bardi Empire might meet its end.
Orloss and Bardi wouldn't receive any benefits by risking the imminent destruction of Dragon World and committing such an evil deed. In fact, the Dragons, who were supposed to be allies, would become mortal enemies, while the Northlands countries, who were supposed to be allies, would become "mortal enemies," at least on the surface. In that case, just what was Orloss doing? Was it all for the sake of turning Dragon World into the Titan Giants' hunting grounds so that Bardi could get rid of this ticking time bomb? How foolish and short-sighted was this? Orloss would become the most foolish emperor in all of history.
"The Fool? Ha, that's quite a fitting name. Teacher, perhaps I'll become the 'Foolish Emperor' in the future. "
"No, others think that I'm wise. I just want to remind myself that I'm just an idiot who thinks that he's smart. But you, you've seen too clearly and too far ahead. That's why even fools will view you as an idiot. This is actually proof of your wisdom. "
Perhaps for someone with ulterior motives, letting a foolish scheme fail in broad daylight and hanging himself on the gallows was only to hide an even more hidden scheme.
"The world of mortals. It's a pity that I won't be able to see him in person."
As Orloss muttered to himself, he couldn't help but recall a long conversation he had with Roland. Back then, the old emperor had said something like this.
"Roland, to be honest, I've always liked what you said in the Southern Sect's teachings. 'This world belongs to mortals, and those high and mighty Gods are nothing but a bunch of hypocritical fanatics' …"
Once one side made their stance clear and opened their hearts, it would be much easier for both sides to communicate. Even Roland himself was astonished at Orloss's abilities and goals. That was why he immediately formed a Bloodline Alliance with Orloss.
After a secret conversation that lasted the entire night, Orloss gave Roland the scheme that he had prepared for more than ten years. Meanwhile, Roland further improved upon Orloss's plan. Finally, the so-called "grand scheme" was created.
"Grand scheme? As expected of the strongest schemer in Bardi's history in the last three hundred years. How daring of him. But if this scheme really succeeds, it wouldn't be wrong to call him the wisest emperor in the last one thousand years. "
This was Roland's evaluation of Orloss at the time. Now, it was unknown if the wisest emperor in the last one thousand years still existed. But Orloss, who had destroyed his own reputation step by step and handed his neck over to the guillotine, didn't hesitate, regret, or cowardly at all.
"… Everything, for the sake of the mortal world. Everything, for the sake of true … Heaven and Hell!"
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