Three kings were discussing the fate of the world, and behind them, an uninvited guest watched the scene with a pounding heart.
Ahmuge.
She was flipping through the last pages of notes she had on former history, which was becoming increasingly impossible to trust.
‘The Great Calamity of La Grange. According to the records, the Emperor and the Enemy of the World conspired behind the scenes to bring about this disaster.’
The emperor who desired the end.
Sungchul, the bringer of the end.
Their collusion was considered an obvious truth.
Sure enough, Sungchul walked towards the emperor.
Sungchul stood directly before the emperor.
Though they had shared life and death as comrades and close friends for decades, it was only now that they were finally facing each other face to face.
Sungchul’s steadfast gaze seemed to penetrate the wavering eyes of the emperor.
It was an unimaginable turn of events.
Though a close friend, the emperor was Sungchul’s spiritual pillar and the only sovereign he truly acknowledged.
Yet, now the situation seemed reversed.
The emperor, taller and clad in gleaming armor with a ceremonial headdress, now appeared smaller than Sungchul.
At least, that’s what Ahmuge thought.
No words were exchanged between them.
There was no magical interaction either.
Moments passed as if they lasted an eternity.
“You have the same face as back then.”
A bittersmile appeared on Sungchul’s lips.
“Back then?”
The Emperor paused and asked.
Turning around, Sungchul replied with a lighter tone.
“I’ll leave it up to your imagination for what I mean.”
Sungchul turned away from the Emperor and walked to the midpoint between the two opposing forces, the Emperor and the Wandering King.
He then declared,
“I will now announce my decision.”
The moment to determine the fate of the world had arrived.
Ahmuge held her breath and watched him intently.
Finally, Sungchul began.
“My decision is to not make a decision.”
Ahmuge doubted her ears.
Not make a decision?
What nonsense was this?
Sungchul continued.
“Instead, as the chairman of the World Parliament… No, as the One King, I command thee. The Emperor of the Human Empire and the King of the Holy Kingdom of Rutheginea. You two are hereby to end your feud and come join under my banner.”
Sungchul motioned strongly to point towards the north.
The Barbarians were storming across the barren plains.
“I will make my decision after they are defeated. And I will not permit any excuses or arguments to the contrary. Though, you are free to go ahead and try if you so please.”
Fal Garaz appeared in his hands.
“That is, if you wish to make an enemy of me.”
Sungchul’s choice was not to choose.
It is not a matter of indecision.
It is a decision that could change the course of the world’s fate.
How could such a significant decision be made based solely on fragmented information and momentary emotions?
It was true that this could directly cause some problems down the line.
However, that, too, was simply but another item to address among a long list of problems to solve anyhow.
There was an order of priority in which things must be resolved.
And the current order of business was to band together to overcome the immediate threat before them.
Choosing one side or another was a matter to decide at a later time.
That is Sungchul’s true intention.
[You are a mere tool. You should know your place.]
He could hear an inner voice cursing him as he walked forward.
Onward towards the battlefield that awaited him.
The Emperor stepped back and gestured to his subordinates, who had been silently lurking in the palace,
“Prepare for battle. The full power of the Human Empire’s Imperial army shall be mobilized to assist the Chairman of the World Parliament in defeating the Barbarians of the north.”
The Emperor had now placed himself under Sungchul’s military command.
What remained was the Wandering King.
“…”
His face was hidden, unseen behind a helmet that revealed nothing inside.
However, Ahmuge could still hear it—the faint sigh emanating from within the helmet.
Behind the Wandering King, black smoke rose, and a ghastly lich draped in tattered robes appeared.
“Your Majesty, what is your decision?”
To this, the Wandering King replied in his original, weary and exhausted voice,
“Lead the Soldiers of Salvation under that man’s banner. I will also join with the fleet of the Floating Archipelago.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Akun Gandharva bowed respectfully, then vanished with the black smoke. The Wandering King also disappeared after watching Sungchul for a while longer.
After a long silence, the gloomy city covered in dark clouds was suddenly filled with the resounding blast of a trumpet for the first time in a while.
The fleet of the Empire, long hidden within the clouds, finally revealed its grandeur.
Ahmuge gazed at the back of the man standing at the edge of the floating palace.
He was the one who had created it.
He had unified humans who couldn’t ever be united.
Although it was temporary and influenced by external factors, Sungchul, who had achieved this, was truly worthy of being called the one king.
A slight movement occurred inside the pocket of the man’s shirt. It was Bertelgia.
“Hey, when you say ‘that time,’ what exactly were you referring to?”
She suddenly asked the question.
Sungchul cast Fly, plummeting below the floating palace.
“Ah? That? When was it?”
Balancing in midair, Sungchul scratched his head.
Soon, a vision of unrepeatable past flashed before his eyes.
“It was then, during our starving days in the rebellion, when he couldn’t bear his hunger and got caught red-handed stealing a sweet potato.”
“What? I thought you were referring to something grand. It was just that?”
Bertelgia shivered.
Sungchul’s eyes suddenly sparkled as he remembered something else.
“There’s another time.”
“When? When he stand the hunger and stole a potato this time?”
“No,”
Sungchul shook his head.
“Before the final battle in front of this city, Emperor William had that same expression.”
“Hmm?”
“He’s bad at lying.”
“Really?”
“Just like me.”
“That’s not true.”
Feeling a pleasant breeze brushing through his wet hair, Sungchul wore a faint smile.
The clouds that had long shrouded La Grange were starting to clear.
Finally, the rains over La Grange had stopped pouring.
*
Upon returning to his camp, Sungchul immediately ordered his entire army to march for La Grange.
The many kings and their representatives were stunned by the development of events.
The Human Empire that had closed its borders for so long in isolation suddenly joined the anti-barbarian coalition.
The Imperial Armada which used to rule the skies of the continent, despite all sorts of rumors surrounding its state, seemed intact and took up one portion of the battle line with all of its glorious battleships
Furthermore, the hidden armies of the Wandering King finally revealed itself to the world for the first time under the banner of the World Parliament.
The bizarre figure of the misshapen Soldiers of Salvation finally left the rumors and myths and stepped under the light of day, bringing great shock and surprise to the many people who got to see them for the first time.
The expeditionary fleet from the mysterious Floating Archipelago was no less awe inspiring as the Soldiers of Salvation.
Though they did not have nearly as many ships as the Imperial Armada, the Airships of the Floating Archipelago were made of some unknown construction and technologies. Their characteristic swan-like form greatly boosted the allied morale with their glorious appearance.
This was the moment when the splintered forces of Humanity finally gathered together under one banner and one mission.
Though the One King was not yet officially chosen, the armies of the old generation humans had higher morale than ever before.
Despite some still casting skeptical and critical eyes towards the Human Empire, the Emperor volunteered to take the front lines himself, striving to dispel the surrounding distrust.
At the heart of it all, Sungchul could feel the hope of the people rising.
‘Win this battle and crown someone as the One King.’
Sungchul was not merely preparing for battle.
He was relying on McRaed to uncover the identity of the leader of the Order of Extinction.
He had recently discovered that messengers from the Order of Extinction had visited not only the Dwarven Kingdom but also the Elvan Confederation of Kingdoms and the Ancient Kingdom, and all other major states outside the Empire.
The prince, who attended as the commander of the elvan forces in place of their king, honestly admitted that they had intended to negotiate with the Order of Extinction.
However, the conditions set by the Order of Extinction inevitably required the consumption and sacrifice of the most outstanding and noble talents in the kingdom, so they were refused.
Arcanite of the Ancient Kingdom initially denied any dealings with the Order of Extinction until he finally admitted to the same story as the Elvan Prince.
“Once you get to my age, You can start to tell the difference between those who are offering help to take advantage of you, and those who are not.”
Sungchul came to know that among the representatives of the Order of Extinction were not only Sarasa Xero, but also Althugius Xero as well, the teacher who had taught Sungchul the magic of Cosmomancy.
‘So even a man of such caliber was lured into their fold. Just what is the Order of Extinction?’
The Emperor and the Wandering King each accused each other of being the leader of the Order of Extinction.
The truth was not yet clear, but Sungchul was hopeful that there was a way to verify the truth of the matter.
“Schnellmerker. The vice leader of the Order of Extinction has been spotted hiding near the border of the Ancient Kingdom.”
Arcanite had made a significant discovery. He was someone with a cunning and cautious character, and had been thoroughly wary of the Order of Extinction from the start. Yet he pretended to cooperate without revealing his true intentions, managing to gather various pieces of concrete information.
The vice-leader of the Order of Extinction, Schnellmerker.
If Schnellmerker could be captured, then the identity of the leader of the Order of Extinction might be possible to figure out.
The Emperor and the Wandering King.
He didn’t have to pick either one until after he found out who was the leader after all.
Sungchul ended his thoughts there and prepared for battle.
The scouts reported on the seemingly endless reinforcements of the Barbarian forces. And with each report, the estimated numbers of enemies on the status board sharply increased.
Three days after the horn of the Barbarians first echoed over the walls of La Grange, their numbers had swelled to thirty thousand.
Facing them were about one hundred thousand troops of the Human Coalition forces.
Though this number was woefully insufficient in facing the Barbarians directly, the humans’ arsenal of war machines, mobile fortresses, and Soldiers of Salvation were expected to balance the scales of power.
And most importantly, among the coalition forces stood a warrior wielding a silver colored hammer.
Positioned at the forefront under the human empire’s war airship, Sungchul held aloft his symbol, the Fal Garaz, standing tall.
‘This battle will decide the future of humanity.’
The merciless and brutal Barbarians were of such a threat to the continued existence of humanity that it forced the Emperor and the Wandering King, which were like oil and water, to mix and stand together under one banner.
Sungchul was the Enemy of the World, but the Barbarians were the Enemy of Humanity.
The Barbarians were now mustering every last available force at their disposal to strike at the heart of the Human Empire, La Grange.
If they were to be defeated here, everything would have been for naught.
If the humanity were to lose here, the Barbarians would likely spread to the rest of the world, bringing down the hammer of wrath from their gods down upon the human survivors, down to the last person.
That is why they couldn’t lose here.
Fortunately, the location of what is presumably the leader of the Barbarians had been identified.
Experience has shown that the Barbarians forces’ cohesion rapidly unraveled once their leader is defeated.
If the leader could be defeated while most of the Barbarians in the world were gathered here, then not only could La Grange be protected from the Barbarians, it could also give the coalition forces a chance to wipe out most of the Barbarians in return.
And that would result in the salvation of mankind.
“…”
Sungchul did not typically pray to the gods or pray for good fortune before the battle.
But today was different. Today, he gripped Fal Garaz and closed his eyes as if lost in a prayer.
Sungchul was trying to brainwash himself.
‘I am no tool.’
Sungchul opened his eyes to the sound of war drums erupting from all sides.
God-like strength flowed through the body of the warrior.
Thank you!
Totally worth waiting two weeks for, but I’m looking forward to the next batch of chapters even more.
thank you for the chapters!