Chapter 26: The Most Bizarre Game of Tag
It was the most bizarre and ridiculous game of tag the world had ever seen.
The self-proclaimed Emperor of the Empire was fleeing his own capital, desperate to escape from just one man.
“Your Majesty, Count Kylo has surrendered to him and opened the gates!”
“What?! That traitor dares to—”
“And that’s not all! The lords of the imperial territories bordering the revolutionaries are surrendering one by one…”
“These treacherous scoundrels!”
The endless stream of bad news was relentless, and the fact that the Emperor was abandoning the capital offered no hope. From the start, it was only a matter of time before the revolution toppled the Emperor.
Yet, it wasn’t the revolutionaries who truly threatened Emperor Wilhelm of the Ninth Empire and brought the Empire to its knees.
Even they, like the Empire, stood in the man’s path and paid a bone-chilling price.
In the face of this man, nothing held meaning.
The God of Meaninglessness advanced, reducing everything that stood in his way to nothingness.
To those who blocked his path, death felt like mercy, and to those who knelt and offered a handful of earth, forgiveness.
The fortress that even the revolutionaries couldn’t conquer, and the imperial capital itself, fell to the hands of just one man. The tale of the monstrous giant he built from the ruins and corpses spread across the continent.
The great magical empire, which should have vanished into history, was reborn, and its magical emperor, the Lord of Black Gold, was moving to dominate the world once more.
Alone, without a single follower.
At first, it was dismissed as the fanciful gossip of idle chatterers. But as castles and fortresses fell one by one to the man’s hand, and countless armies became mountains of corpses, no one in the Empire could laugh it off as mere nonsense.
Thus, to escape from just one man, Emperor Wilhelm of Brandenburg desperately began his retreat southward.
Each time, the man cut through the heart of the Ninth Empire, swallowing the lands that lay between him and the Emperor.
Lords knelt, pledging loyalty with a handful of earth, and one by one, the nobles of the Ninth Empire swore fealty to the Lord of Black Gold.
And each time, a blue butterfly took flight, scattering webs of blue across the lands Dale had conquered.
“You incompetent fools!”
Soon after, when the monstrous giant symbolizing the Lord of Black Gold appeared on the horizon.
“If even this duchy falls into his hands, what will become of my Empire?!”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Hiding in the Duchy of Muir, Emperor Wilhelm shouted shamelessly, and Duke Muir chuckled bitterly.
How could this fool claim to be the Emperor of the Ninth Empire and lead this nation? There was only one reason.
The continent’s mightiest sword, the Crimson and White Knight, stood by his side.
Sir Michael.
And when he chose to stand alone against the Lord of Black Gold, the outcome was all too predictable.
The apocalyptic mushroom cloud that filled the sky, its heat consuming the capital, and the belief that even the Lord of Black Gold couldn’t escape that annihilation.
Mutual destruction. Sir Michael’s final gambit, the Empire’s greatest knight.
Yet, even the storm of the apocalypse couldn’t stop the man. Thus began the most ridiculous game of tag the world had ever seen.
The so-called Emperor of the Empire fled with his tail between his legs, and one man pursued him. Nobles and knights of the Empire erected walls of castles and fortresses between them, but in the face of the man, it was all meaningless.
In the end, they reached the southernmost edge of the Empire, the Duchy of Muir.
There was nowhere left to run. The Emperor’s escape ended here, and the Lord of Black Gold would soon come to swallow his lands.
In the face of that man, nothing held meaning. Not the latest armor boasted by the revolutionaries, nor the Empire’s greatest knight, not even the apocalyptic storm at the world’s end.
“What are you doing, Duke Muir?! Gather the troops and devise a plan to face him immediately!”
Emperor Wilhelm shouted, and Duke Muir burst into laughter, incredulous.
“What is so funny?!”
“A plan, you say.”
After laughing, Duke Muir asked.
“Do you still not understand the situation?”
“What…?”
“Duke Muir, how dare you speak like that in front of His Majesty!”
For a moment, the royal guards escorting the Emperor tightened their grips on their sword hilts. But they had no chance to draw them. Duke Muir’s knights were faster.
Swords swung, and blood splattered.
“Emperor Wilhelm, there may never have been a more incompetent ruler in the history of this Empire.”
“You, you dare betray…!”
Swords clashed, and as if waiting for it, arrows rained down. Thunk! Arrows pierced the golden-armored knights meant to protect the Emperor. Arrows struck the joints of their armor, the gaps in their helmets, and blood splattered.
“Arrest the Emperor.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Duke Muir…! You dare betray the Empire and your Emperor?!”
“What else am I to do?”
Wilhelm shouted, and Duke Muir asked in return.
“Am I to gather the people of my lands, form an infantry, summon knights, and fire cannons to fight that being?”
After asking, Duke Muir let out a hollow laugh. As if it were absurd, while simultaneously suppressing the fear writhing deep in his chest.
“What do you think could possibly stop that being? Natural fortresses and cannons? Thousands of cavalry? Muskets and black powder? Do you think any of those would hold meaning before that being?”
“Duke, Duke Muir…!”
“The Lord of Black Gold? The Magical Emperor? An ancient monster? How can we possibly describe that being? Do you think mere words can help us understand it? Of course not.”
Duke Muir asked.
“Do you still not understand that?”
“What, what do you mean?!”
“That is… a demon god.”
Duke Muir answered.
“To that being, we are nothing more than insects crawling on the ground. No matter how much Your Majesty struggles before it, it’s nothing more than the thrashing of an ant.”
“You dare…!”
“Look, Your Majesty. How do you, who cannot even handle a single ant, plan to escape the grasp of that god?”
With those words, Duke Muir sneered coldly.
A man in a raven-black robe was making his way toward the Duchy of Muir. As he took his first step into the territory, a group awaited him.
Knights clad in armor, a few mages, and the noble retainers of the duchy stood ready to meet him.
At their forefront, a man in a richly embroidered velvet coat knelt without hesitation.
“Duke Muir humbly greets our Emperor.”
His followers held their breath at the act, but it did not lead to confusion. Even if they possessed the mightiest force in the Empire, nothing would hold meaning before that being.
“And this is my token of loyalty to Your Majesty.”
Kneeling, Duke Muir gestured. Several knights dragged the bound Emperor Wilhelm, the so-called ruler of the Ninth Empire, and threw him before the man.
“Let me go! You cursed traitors…!”
”…”
“How dare you treat me, the descendant of the great holy swordmaster and Wilhelm of the Brandenburg family, like this…”
Emperor Wilhelm struggled desperately, and the man in the raven-black robe silently looked down at him. Wilhelm’s voice came to an abrupt halt.
The darkness beneath the hood watched him silently. An inexplicable chill and dread settled over the area.
A suffocating cold swept through, as if they had been cast naked into the winter sea.
Emperor Wilhelm, and all those watching from the Muir duchy, were no exception. It wasn’t that the air temperature had dropped or that actual cold was spreading.
“A descendant of the great holy swordmaster. How nostalgic.”
After a long silence, the man in the raven-black robe, Dale, sneered coldly. Now, even that name felt like a distant, pleasant memory.
The sensation of the blade that once pierced his chest, the hatred, even the desire for revenge, had all faded.
“Who would have thought the Brandenburg family would ascend to the throne in the wheel of history? Your ancestors must be quite pleased.”
”…”
“With the bloodline of gold and claiming the title of the Lord of Shadows… in a way, calling him the Lord of Black Gold wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”
Emperor Wilhelm couldn’t possibly grasp the meaning of those words. Dale, too, chose not to elaborate further and simply turned his head away.
“Duke Muir, your loyalty will be rewarded.”
“Th-thank you, Your Majesty!”
At that moment, blue butterflies fluttered up from behind the man, their wings carrying them to Duke Muir’s side.
A web of blue threads wrapped around his body.
This web was the foundation of the system that allowed Dale to maintain his empire, monitoring everything the duke saw, heard, and felt.
“However, your vassals must also kneel and offer their allegiance before me.”
“I will obey your command…!”
With those words, Duke Muir gestured once more.
Clang!
Without exception, the knights, nobles, and even the common soldiers in the vicinity all fell to their knees.
From the northernmost reaches to the southern ends, Dale’s journey across the Ninth Empire concluded there. He turned his gaze toward the captured emperor of the old regime.
“It would be absurd for the emperor of the old empire to live on in the new one.”
“H-huh!”
At those words, the former Emperor Wilhelm lost his composure and swallowed hard.
“Yet, out of old sentiment, I shall show you mercy.”
“Old sentiment…?”
Dale continued, his voice steady, recalling the countless times he had clashed with and defeated the former heads of the Brandenburg family, whom he had personally brought down.
“I will grant you a castle and lands.”
“Is… is that true…?!”
Wilhelm gasped at the unexpected offer. He could never comprehend Dale’s actions.
“So that you may live out your remaining days without want, I will graciously extend my mercy.”
”…!”
“This is your last chance. Kneel before me.”
Upon hearing this, Wilhelm did not hesitate.
“I humbly greet the new emperor!”
He knelt before the man, bowing his head to accept his mercy. After all, he wasn’t so foolish as to misunderstand the gravity of the situation.
He recalled the former heads of the Brandenburg family, who had suffered humiliating defeats and pain during the days of the “Black Prince.” The retribution for their bitter suffering had finally manifested here, as the wheel of history turned once more.
It was, indeed, thanks to his ancestors.