Chapter 235: Chapter 235

Ian had assigned separate tasks to the First Imperial Princess, the Second Imperial Prince, and his older sister, the First Royal Princess. Now, he was on his way to meet the Emperor.

“His Highness, the Seventh Prince of Kaistein, is entering!”

Everyone bowed deeply before him. It was hard to believe he was merely the prince of Kaistein, a vassal state under Cantum’s rule, given such treatment. But there was a clear reason for it.

“Hohoho. Over here, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Chief Eunuch.”

“Compared to the help you gave Sang, this is nothing. Besides, aren’t you the hero who will save this country?”

“Is that so? Then I’ll gladly accept your praise.”

Sang was now Ian’s subordinate. And the Chief Eunuch — Sang’s half-brother — was by Ian’s side, assisting him. Thanks to that connection, every door within the Imperial Palace was wide open for Ian. The imperial guards, attendants, and even the maids bowed their heads respectfully whenever he passed.

Leonic ground his teeth at the sight.

“Betrayal? That’s quite a funny joke you’re telling.”

“Have you forgotten? It was you who brought ruin upon our family.”

Leonic’s eyes widened in shock. It was only now that he realized the Chief Eunuch was Sang’s brother. But what truly unsettled him was the fact that the Chief Eunuch knew a secret that had been buried so carefully.

The Chief Eunuch continued, his eyes sharp.

“Unlike Sang, I’m suspicious of everything. Thanks to that, I uncovered your schemes earlier than you thought.”

“But… until now, you’ve cooperated with me. Why?”

“Because my younger brother, Sang, was deceived by you. I couldn’t abandon him. However…”

The Chief Eunuch’s gaze turned colder. “…the moment you ascended the throne, I intended to sever your head.”

Leonic was left speechless. Ignoring him, the Chief Eunuch turned to Ian and smiled pleasantly.

“This is the Emperor’s palace.”

Before them stood a massive door adorned with a dragon motif. Leonic, sensing his impending doom, clung to Ian in desperation.

“They will be coming soon.”

It was clear he already knew about Leon and his hidden forces within Cantum and across the continent. Thus, he offered:

“The Emperor possesses a special power, but it can only be activated if he holds both the throne and the imperial seal. Help me ascend the throne, and I will use that power for you.”

Of course, the Emperor — now unconscious due to Leonic and Leon’s schemes — was in no condition to activate anything. It was Leonic’s own doing. Yet Ian merely smirked.

“Really? You think you’re in any position to help?”

“Honestly, you seem like the type who would stab me in the back the moment you got the chance.”

Leonic’s face twisted in shock, but Ian was completely serious.

“Why would I trust someone who has betrayed me over and over again? I’d rather trust an unconscious Emperor than you.”

“Ha… but didn’t you promise to give me the throne?”

“I did promise. But not right now.”

The Emperor, before falling into this state because of Leonic and Leon’s schemes, had been a wise ruler beloved and trusted by the people. So Ian continued:

“So keep your mouth shut and stay quiet. There’s another reason I brought you here.”

Leonic remained silent with a stern expression. Around him were Ian’s knights, guarding him tightly. Even in a place full of eunuchs and imperial soldiers, he had no chance of escaping. Ian smirked.

‘Still, he’s impressive. Even in this situation, he managed to dig into Leon’s secrets.’

Leonic trusted no one. That’s why he relentlessly investigated everyone he worked with. Especially Leon, he constantly pried into his forces.

‘I didn’t expect him to know about the Seven Sins hidden throughout Cantum, or Leon’s experiments.’

Ian had already captured many of Leon’s subordinates. Among them, the most important was Ceres. Using Leonic’s information, Ian had interrogated Ceres and uncovered key details.

[Fury] / [Jealousy] / [Lust] / [Greed] / [Sloth] / [Gluttony]

Information on six of the Seven Sins, excluding Pride.

‘Lust and Greed were absorbed directly by Leon. But the others are just fragments.’

It seemed that Gluttony had already been turned into a complete form — an “Original Sin” — and kept close by Leon. However, because its nature conflicted with Leon’s powers, absorbing it could lead to him losing control. Therefore, he entrusted it to someone he deemed reliable. Still, the fact that Leon couldn’t even trust someone as close as Ceres…

‘That’s just like him.’

Meticulous and ruthless, as Ian expected. In any case, Leon planned to awaken the fragments during the war. Once the majority of the Seven Sins were awakened and gathered into one body, Pride—the leader of the Seven Sins—would finally reveal itself. And if Leon succeeded in absorbing Pride…

‘The constraint that split one continent into two is broken? Truly the work of the First King.’

The helmet nodded. After all, the root of all the problems was the Seven Sins.

[The First King must have desperately tried to divide the power of the Seven Sins. Splitting their forces across two continents. Most people wouldn’t even think of uniting them.]

‘Is that so? But from the looks of it, the Seven Sins are already trying to merge again.’

‘Moreover, concerning the Kingdom of Magicians, it seems it has already been unified, right? Isn’t that a mistake of the First King? Maybe he should have just destroyed them outright.’

Ian’s words left the helmet speechless. This was mainly due to the vast information obtained from Ceres, who was considered Leon’s aide.

The situation in the land split by the First King was nothing short of disastrous. Humans and soldiers had been enslaved under the grim rule of the magicians. And now, those very magicians had set their sights on this land.

‘The Great Master. Isn’t he the most prominent figure even in the Kingdom of Magicians? They say he’s the owner of the Magic Tower who unified the Kingdom of Magicians.’

[That’s right. And he was also a subordinate of the First King.]

Their goal was one: To eliminate the constraints that divided the continent and to reunite it. Thus, they intended to create new slaves. Many magicians were already following the Great Master and were secretly active in the Kingdom of Swordsmen.

‘They are coming. And we must stop them here, in Cantum.’

Ian opened the doors to the Emperor’s Palace wide. There, he saw a man sitting on the throne.

It was the Emperor. He had lost all motivation due to Sloth and was simply sitting there. He looked lifeless, like a powerless patient with his mouth agape.

“So this is the Emperor of Cantum?”

He looked somewhat different from when Ian had first seen him in the great hall. The Chief Eunuch quietly whispered to him.

“We’ve been giving him special herbs to wake him whenever necessary. But now, those herbs no longer seem to work.”

This decline had begun after Leon absorbed Greed and Lust. As the powers of the Seven Sins merged, it appeared that the influence of Sloth had only intensified.

Ian spoke quietly, “I want to somehow talk to the Emperor. Is there no way?”

“We’ll do our best,” the Chief Eunuch replied.

The eunuchs, led by the Chief, rushed to the Emperor’s side, desperately using various medicinal herbs and magical tools to awaken him. However, nothing seemed to work, and they couldn’t even move him from the throne.

“This throne is a legacy left by the Dragon. Only the Emperor’s own will can allow him to rise from it.”

This was instinctive for the Emperor. Even in a state dominated by Sloth, he instinctively knew that he must remain seated here to survive. In reality, he hardly consumed any food provided by the eunuchs or attendants and was surviving mostly on water. Yet, the Emperor was still alive.

‘It’s the effects of Sloth and the throne.’

Ironically, thanks to the powers of both, he remained alive. That was why Leonic was so frustrated. He desperately wanted to sit on the throne himself, but he simply couldn’t.

With a tremendous sound, the ground shook. A eunuch rushed in urgently from outside.

“Th-this is bad. A massive army has gathered outside.”

These were no ordinary soldiers. They were monsters attacking in droves.

They were undoubtedly the failed creations of the Seven Sins that Ceres had spoken of. The ones hidden throughout the continent had already arrived. No, they were likely the ones hidden near Cantum. Ian twitched his eyebrows.

“Step aside. Looks like I’ll have to use the last resort.”

“W-What do you mean by that…?”

Ian grabbed Leonic by the neck and dragged him in front of the Emperor.

“It’s time to wake up, Your Majesty.”

Outside the Imperial City of Cantum, a vast horde of monsters was rushing towards the massive walls.

From giants with nothing but massive mouths to creatures flying in the sky and spewing fire, to strange humans carrying bizarre equipment on their backs, the sight of them alone was terrifying. The soldiers were confused, unsure of how to respond.

“S… Shoot the arrows! I mean, shoot the cannons!”

The soldiers fired cannons in an attempt to fight back, but the monsters were replenishing their ranks faster than they could be killed.

The monsters were drawing nearer to the castle walls. The soldiers urgently called for the Second Prince.

“Y-Your Highness! What should we do? Issue orders!”

“Quickly, give us a command!”

“Please, give orders!”

But even the Second Prince was at a loss for what to do.

“T-this isn’t how it was supposed to go…”

He had set up several devices around the Imperial City at Ian’s request, and quickly made a decision.

‘The enemies are coming? Then I must lead the charge at the forefront.’

However, he never anticipated monsters would come in such overwhelming numbers.

‘I… I just wanted to accomplish something here. I wanted to stop Leon and gain recognition for my achievements.’

He had hoped that, if things went well, he would receive a larger share of land. But this wasn’t what he had expected. Now, there was only one thing left for him to do.

“W-What are you all doing?! Attack! Attack them now!”

As he ordered the soldiers to attack, he secretly began to withdraw. His main priority was to save himself.

‘As long as I survive, I might gain my land, and if I’m lucky, I could even aim for the Emperor’s position.’

His knights had already noticed the Second Prince’s actions and were retreating as well. They had no intention of joining the battle.

“Y-Your Highness! Where are you going?”

“Are you trying to flee?!”

As the soldiers shouted, the Second Prince responded louder.

“Nonsense! I’m going to bring reinforcements! Hold out until then! If necessary, sacrifice your wretched lives to buy time!”

“Even the knights… please, let the knights fight with us!”

“The knights must protect me. You all need to hold the walls!”

The soldiers’ faces hardened. They couldn’t believe their commander would abandon them. In a situation where even the knights were missing, only deep despair remained on their faces. Just then—

A giant’s massive fist slammed down toward the walls.

An unimaginable, thunderous sound erupted as the fist collided with the wall. Fortunately, the wall held.

Thanks to the Dragon’s Tear barrier Ian had set up, the defense remained intact, but it wouldn’t hold for long.

“The barrier is breaking!”

“Everyone, fall back!”

Cracks began to spread through the barrier as the giant relentlessly attacked. Finally, one of the giant’s hands broke through, grabbing onto the wall. It became clear that they couldn’t hold out much longer. Even if the regular soldiers retreated and only Cantum’s elite troops remained, it wouldn’t be enough.

“We need to retreat. Even the Second Prince has fled.”

The soldiers’ morale collapsed instantly. Before the massive giants and monsters, they lost the will to fight. Just then, a woman stepped forward.

“Soldiers of Kaistein! Raise your weapons! Annihilate the enemies!”

It was the First Princess, Irene Kaistein. At her rallying cry, 50,000 elite soldiers from Kaistein raised their weapons and charged. In an instant, as Kaistein launched their attack, the giant trying to climb the walls was struck by arrows and fell.

The soldiers of Cantum stood dumbfounded, unsure how to respond.

“Why is Kaistein helping us?”

“This isn’t even their land!”

To this, the First Royal Princess replied fiercely.

“Do you need a reason to fight monsters?! If this place falls, it’s your people—your brothers, your families—that will die!”

“Stand up and raise your weapons! Soldiers of Cantum! Protect your loved ones with your own hands!”

Although their commander, the Second Prince, had fled, the soldiers were shocked to see a foreign princess fighting to protect them. But Princess Irene didn’t stop there.

“Men of Cantum! Will you stand by and watch while a foreign woman fights alone? If you do, how can you call yourselves men?”

In response to Princess Irene’s words, the soldiers of Cantum gripped their weapons once again. With fiery determination, they shouted:

“Soldiers of Cantum! Show them the will of Cantum!”

“Do not be outdone by a foreign princess! This is our land — we must defend it ourselves!”

In an instant, the morale that had once plummeted surged back fiercely. But not all of Cantum’s royals had fled. At that moment, a figure appeared atop the castle wall.

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She was the First Imperial Princess. Following behind Irene Kaistein, she now stood proudly atop the wall, waving a massive flag of Cantum—one so large it seemed bigger than herself.

“Cantum! We will never fall!”

Not one, but two goddesses of victory stood by their side. The soldiers no longer felt fear. Cantum and Kaistein’s soldiers united to fight the monsters. Princess Irene shouted:

A tremendous explosion erupted from the cannons.

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