<So what if you are the Emperor? (3)>

Honestly speaking, Cale had seen a lot of terrible sights during his time as Kim Rok Soo.

He had experienced a lot as Cale as well.

‘But this truly is miserable.’

Looking past the size or the number of victims, focusing just on the fragmentary sight that he could see right now, there had been nothing more terrible than the inside of this pit.

Each and every one of the Beast people inside looked like mummies that were burnt while full of despair.

‘I’m sure they are all Beast people.’

Cale closed his eyes.

The sight that was already recorded in his mind was clearly visible.

Similar to Koukan, who had not properly gone berserk, whether it was an ear, tail, hand, or foot… All of these corpses had the visible traits of Beast people.

‘They are basically all predatory beasts.’

Wolves, Lions, Tigers, etc…

Most of these corpses were that of predatory beasts.

– This black swamp has no choice but to be different from the black despair.

He heard the cheapskate’s calm voice. However, Cale could also sense the deep wrath within it.

– As you already know, black despair is created by the despair and negative feelings that remain in a corpse after death.

The large piles of bones in the basement of the Mogoru Empire’s Alchemists’ Bell Tower…

Those bones had turned into the black despair.

– As for this, the only thing I can guess is that they were thrown into this swamp while still alive and killed within the despair. Otherwise, the corpses would not become dyed black like this. 𝔯АΝօ𐌱ĚꞨ

They looked as if they were burnt to death, but that was not the case.

They were more like a dried tree as all of their nutrients were sucked out after touching the dead mana.

– Ha.

The cheapskate scoffed.

– This is making me so angry.

His low mumbling voice was like a volcano right before eruption, boiling but calm at the same time.

– Cale.

The Super Rock commented in a calm voice.

– I think it would be best to ask the parts related to a god to either the God of Death or Deputy Chief Priest Cotton.

Cale was thinking the same thing.

Ryan. He planned on causing chaos at what that Dragon bastard was planning, but…

He needed to have these questions answered before that.

‘They called the Blue Wolf a forgotten god.’

If he could call that god to Aipotu, the Beast people would be able to go berserk properly and he would gain some significant allies.

But unrelated to that, to taint a god and make them fall?

‘Is that even possible?’

This black swamp was definitely terrible, but it wasn’t dirtying the main body of a god. Could polluting a divine item be enough to taint a god?

‘Something seems off.’

Cale had some questions but he did not have the time to continue his thoughts.

“Then I will be on my way now, sir.”

The old mage said goodbye to Letao and leisurely walked away.

‘Should I head out now too?

No. We still need to look around this area.’

However, he could not just let this mage go.

“Hey Freedom.”

‘… Liberation, Freedom… Wrath!’

He asked the Wind Elemental for help.

“Follow behind that mage.”

‘Make it so you can hear still?’

“I’d be very thankful if you could do that.”

‘Will do! …Chaos… Cheering you on!’

He then headed toward the mage with a swoosh.

Screeeech.

The door closed.

‘Mm.’

Now only the Dragon and Cale’s group were left here.

‘Is it okay to leave this Dragon alone?

Should I have the kids retreat while getting a closer look at the black swamp and the divine item?’

‘……Freedom!’

Cale debated for a moment before hearing the Elemental’s shout. The old mage’s voice started to be carried to him by the wind.

Even tightly closed glass doors were bound to have gaps that wind could get through.

Of course, it also helped that the Wind Elemental made it so that the door slowly closed and did not close all the way.

‘The magic circle will completely close the door soon. I will deliver the things I’ve heard before that happens! This sounds important!’

The Wind Elemental spoke sanely before Cale heard the old mage’s mumblings.

He sounded jovial but spoke very quietly.

“Hoo hoo. When that bastard comes, the final feast will be completely ready. He is going to come without knowing that he himself is an ingredient for the feast. How foolish. Pfft.”

‘Huh?’

“But at least he will be happy that he will go with his daughter. I am very curious to see how his face will look while full of despair. Hoho.”

‘…Wow.’

Cale blankly stood there for a moment while thinking about what the mage had said.

– Human, the magic circle on the door is activating!

The door seemed to have closed completely.

He no longer heard the Wind Elemental’s voice nor the old man’s voice.

‘Wow.’

He was still in disbelief.

‘These fuckers are completely crazy.

Basically, they are planning on using this Dragon, Letao, as a sacrifice on the final feast?

His daughter as well?

Then two Dragons will be sacrificed?’

He could easily imagine the two father and daughter Dragons dying while full of despair.

‘Then there is the divine item they have polluted by offering the lives of numerous Beast people as sacrifices.’

Cale subconsciously mumbled to himself.

This was not a divine item-

“It’s going to be a dreadful disaster.”

It would be a heinous existence.

– Human, what did you hear? Human, your face right now is the one you have when you want to destroy everything! I am curious about the reason!

“Meeeeeow!”

Hong and Raon were curious while On quietly looked up at Cale.

It was at that moment.

– Hmm?

Raon flinched.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

Cale felt a strand of wind.

“!”

He then flinched.

He lifted his head up.

A breeze was intentionally being blown toward them.

– This wind has mana in it!

That meant-

– We’ve been spotted!

Letao. That Dragon has noticed us.

– Since when?

– Human, that Dragon seems to have noticed my magic! He would need to be around Goldie gramp’s level to notice it!

Raon became flustered.

Cale could see Letao looking toward their direction.

“As I expected.”

Letao calmly commented.

“There is something over there.”

Raon reacted to that statement.

– He must not be able to see us! He must have just felt our presence!

Even that much meant that Letao was extremely skilled in magic.

Furthermore, Cale realized one more thing.

‘He pretended not to know until the mage left?’

He then started to smile.

The mage had not noticed Cale’s group at all. That must be why he spouted such nonsense.

On the other hand, Letao had felt something but had feigned ignorance.

“Raon.”

– Human, what should we do?!

Cale spoke to the anxious Raon.

“Release the spell.”

– Hmm? I, is that really okay?

Cale looked around.

Only that Dragon and Cale’s group were here.

There was nobody on the other side of the glass wall.

“Yeah. It is. But only remove the invisibility for me.”

The moment Cale said that…

– I got it!

Raon’s mana that was covering him disappeared.

The spell was released.

Swooooooosh-

The Sound of the Wind gathered by the tips of Cale’s feet.

Tap.

Cale lightly kicked off the ground, easily flew over the pit, and landed on Letao’s side.

Cale gently landed before making eye contact with Letao who was only a bit away from him now.

“Who dares to be in this place?!”

Letao then released his Dragon Fear.

He also did not lower his guard.

‘Since when has this person been here?’

The wind that had faintly blown by while he was chatting with the old mage…

He would not have spotted this person at all had he not noticed that wind.

However, he had not shown any signs of knowing about this outsider while the mage was here.

He felt as if that was what he should do.

‘…The wind was refreshing.’

The wind had been too refreshing and clear for something that originated in this dreadful place.

It was more of a faint flow of air than a wind, but Letao was able to notice that small change because he spent most of his time here.

“Answer me now!”

Letao strengthened his Dragon Fear to suppress the person.

‘He’s human.’

He was sure that this was a human.

‘Who is he?

Who is he that he is able to do this?’

As chaos started to fill his mind…

“Who knows?”

The red-haired man opened his mouth.

A twisted smile was on his face.

“Is there a need to introduce myself to someone who will end up as a sacrifice at the last celebration?”

‘What?

What did that guy just say?’

As Letao’s eyes looked chaotic…

“Huuuff.”

He took in a deep breath.

Boom.

It felt as if his heart was sinking.

Oooooo-

The air rumbled.

This man…

The red-haired man released a formidable aura.

It was an aura that completely pushed away Letao’s Dragon Fear and suppressed everything he had.

‘H, how is this-’

He couldn’t even open his mouth.

If he had the leisure to do that, he would rather pay attention to maintaining his posture properly. He did his best not to kneel or land on the ground.

He felt as if he would kneel in front of this man if he relaxed even a bit.

‘…Domination.’

Would this be how he felt if he met the individual who dominated everything?

Letao had not felt something like this even when he saw Ryan.

Ryan, the God of Domination.

He had not felt such a sense of helplessness even when he met the Dragon whose attribute was domination.

‘Would the Dragon Lord be like this?’

He didn’t know because he had never met the lord, but Letao felt suffocated.

Plop.

He had no choice but to kneel on one knee.

“Huff, huff!”

The formidable pressure surrounding him disappeared.

He could not even look away from the red-haired man until that moment. This man did not give him permission to do so.

“Huff, huff…… Huff.”

He placed both hands on the ground, lowered his head, and tried to catch his breath.

He could feel the man walking toward him despite having his head down. However, he couldn’t even raise his head.

‘How could a human be like this? No, is he not human? Who is this guy?

What is going on right now? What is about to happen?’

His mind was chaotic but he could not even think.

An aura that dominated everything was approaching him.

…….’

He could see the man’s feet.

Letao could not raise his head.

‘Fuck!

He then clenched his eyes shut.

‘How-

How did I end up in a situation like this?’

A sense of despair and helplessness filled his heart.

Around two hundred years ago…

‘The cataclysmic period.

That was when his daughter came out of her egg.

It made Letao hide away from the chaotic world to raise his daughter.

Even when the Dragons broke into factions and fought until the Dragon Lord’s side had the absolute majority and was victorious… He had been hiding.

He knew that siding with the Dragon Lord would get him the foundation of this world so that he could be stronger than normal, but… He didn’t want that.

‘I need to raise my daughter in stability.’

Nothing was more important to him than his daughter, especially with his wife missing.

He also didn’t want his daughter eating the foundation of this world.

‘That is not something a Dragon is normally supposed to eat.’

No matter how strong she could get from it, how could he give something so dangerous, something that he had no idea how it would affect her future?

It forced Letao and his daughter to hide themselves even more until one day, his daughter was playing with her Beast friends, who were also living in hiding, but were captured by Ryan.

Letao had hidden a horde of Beast people near his secret lair. He didn’t want his daughter to grow up alone and he had sympathy for the Beast people.

“…Ha……”

He couldn’t help but sigh.

“Letao.”

He heard the man’s voice at that moment.

Cale looked down at Letao, who couldn’t even look at him.

‘He’s definitely much weaker than Cisco.’

The God of Fighting, Cisco, was said to rank in the upper half of the ten Dragon gods.

For Cale, who could even suppress her with his aura, a Dragon like Letao who had not consumed the foundation of this world was an easy opponent.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

“Just like the Beast people you have killed until now, you will be sacrificed during the final execution.”

“No-!”

Letao jerked his head up before making eye contact with Cale and flinching. But he still managed to open his mouth.

“I did not kill the Beast-”

However, his voice lost strength.

“No. I am the same as those bastards.”

Cale recalled the conversation he heard earlier.

‘Thanks to the mana you provided, Letao-nim, we were able to successfully complete all of the executions until now. We are finally able to reach the last stage.’

He thought about what the old mage had said before speaking.

“What did you do with your mana? What have you done?”

“…Huuuuuu.”

Letao let out a deep sigh before opening his mouth.

Of course, it was not simply because he was suppressed by this red-haired man’s power.

‘I am the sacrifice for the final execution?’

He could not ignore those words.

‘Then what about my daughter?’

He needed to continue this conversation.

The way to do that was to answer the man’s question.

“During the execution, there is a time when the divine item causes significant backlash. I have been suppressing that with my mana. And, as you probably know, regular people cannot stand guard here.”

“And why is that?”

“Most individuals struggled to stay longer than a day in this place. In severe cases, they assimilated with the despair released by this black swamp and voluntarily jumped in.”

Cale suddenly thought about Choi Han, who seemed to struggle while facing the black despair. He overcame that despair to grow stronger, but that had been an extremely difficult process.

“Is that why a Dragon is protecting this place?”

“That’s right.”

‘Hmm.’

Cale looked at Letao, who was not avoiding his gaze, and started to think.

‘How ambiguous.’

This guy had done something bad, but it was not enough to necessarily call him an enemy.

And-

‘They said the enemy of an enemy is a friend.’

Letao. This Dragon’s greatest enemy was Ryan.

That was why there was a chance he would work with Cale.

More importantly, he had no choice but to do so.

“Letao.”

Cale crouched down and got to Letao’s eye level.

“I plan on blocking the final execution in a week and destroying the God of Domination.”

“!”

He could not say the name Ryan. Ryan might hear him. However, it wasn’t that he was scared of Ryan.

“The God of Domination will lose everything in a week.”

Cale’s voice was calm.

He was more worried about how to tell Lock about this later than the thing he was saying right now. As such, his voice flowed out without any hesitation.

“Because I will make it happen.”

Letao’s mouth subconsciously opened.

“W, what unbelievable-”

However, he could not finish his sentence.

“During the final execution, your daughter will also be a sacrifice.”

It was at that moment.

Boom!

The area shook violently.

Letao’s Dragon Fear had reached its maximum level.

Of course, it couldn’t reach Cale and the invisible children averaging ten-years-old, but it contained a deep wrath that could not compare to what he released before.

“…M, my daughter as well?”

Letao’s voice was shaking.

Cale looked into Letao’s eyes that had instantly turned bloodshot and opened his mouth.

“Yes. Your daughter as well.”

Cale extended his hand out to him.

“Letao. What will you do?”

The red-haired man saying that not just him but his daughter will also be sacrificed.

Letao needed to confirm the veridity of this statement…

But if it was the truth-

If it really was true-

‘Ryan is a bastard who would do something like that.’

Letao’s heart was telling him that there was no need to confirm as Ryan was a bastard who would easily do something like that.

The red-haired man spoke by his ear.

“Instead of turning your world into hell, don’t you want to turn the world of the bastard who wishes to become a god into hell?”

This man who had an intense aura that was stronger than Ryan’s…

Letao extended his hand.

Ryan’s world-

“…I wish to do so.”

He wanted to turn it into hell.

Letao could see the man smiling gently.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Cale.”

He introduced himself.

Letao grabbed this man’s hand with both hands.

It was as if it was his lifeline.

* * *

Next day, Cale stood in front of a teleportation magic circle.

“Human, are you going to meet the Emperor?”

“Yeah.”

It was now time to go meet the Emperor.

—

Translator’s Comments

How will he scam the Emperor?

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