Soday, it was bound to happen.
Until now, the people’s anger was quelled by bringing forth heroes, but mostly it was by presenting aningless achievents as their main excuse.
At so point, the “hero uselessness theory” began to spread among the people, which, coupled with increasing exploitation, led to riots.
“Emperor Orion, co out and explain!”
“Why are you neglecting state affairs?! Imdiately behead the incompetent swines!”
A massive number of citizens gathered in front of the Imperial Palace.
Even if they only had torches and farming tools, their overwhelming numbers ant that the elite soldiers guarding the palace would be limited in their effectiveness.
But now, with the subjugation for the succession ceremony underway, it was difficult to recall external forces.
“We oppose any further investnt in aningless hero summoning!”
“Why are we doing sothing like pioneering in these tis! My hotown is still occupied by demons!”
“When will my son, conscripted as a soldier, return?! Tell if he is alive!”
“Reveal where our wealth has been spent! Cough it all up imdiately!”
While their advance was blocked by shields and barricades, so of the crowd were determined to risk their lives to break into the palace.
If they advanced any further, it could escalate beyond suppression to a bloodbath.
“Stop them from entering the palace!”
“Ah, we can’t! There are too many of them!”
“Damn it, how do we calm this down…?”
“Isn’t it simple?”
At that mont, a woman in black clothes brushed past the troubled commander.
Then, gathering magic in the hand that brushed through her blonde hair, she shot it towards the crowd.
-Bzzzzz!
The artifact’s imnse magic, combined with its inherent ability, resulted in explosive electricity.
When the citizen hit by the attack turned into a pile of ash, the crowd watching him erupted in horror.
“Eek! She killed soone!”
“M-Monster! That monster!!”
“Aah~ Monster, huh? There’s nothing they won’t say to a hero~”
Pzzz, pzzz. The crowd tensed and retreated as electricity crackled from her hand.
Seeing this, the hero Yuseulhae burst into laughter and frowned at the frozen soldiers.
“So, how is it? Burn one guy, and it goes quiet right away, right? If it gets too noisy, instead of clumsily blocking them, just decapitate a few, and they’ll shut up~”
“Hah, but, Hero, that will only make them angrier.”
“Pff, so what if they get angrier? There are pigs and dogs in abundance anyway~”
“Pigs and dogs…”
“If they were born dumb and unlucky, then that’s their fate, and they should just bow down and live. They have nowhere else to go anyway, and just seeing them gather here and demand money shows their level of intelligence~”
Words one would never expect from a hero who should understand honor and nobility.
Yet Yuseulhae was confident.
Having spent a long ti mingling with the upper echelons, she eventually regarded herself as a blessed being, looking down on those who couldn’t beco heroes.
“Or what, are you the sa?”
Such arrogance only grew when she spilled blood, as long as it didn’t directly harm her.
She found that attitude desirable, and with electricity crackling from her hand, she laughed confidently.
“I thought you’d be smarter since you live off taxes, but you’re not one of those pigs over there, are you?”
Treating the enraged populace like livestock.
To people like her, does even this intense riot not feel real?
-Pzzz.
But soldiers and citizens alike had no choice but to bow to overwhelming power.
As the soldiers finally fell silent and began to turn away, a man in the crowd raised a spear and shouted.
“Ugh! I can’t live like this! Prepare yourself, you damned hero! Let show you the power of the magical weapon I invested all my wealth in!!”
A shabby appearance and an insignificant look.
Judging the thrown spear as equally insignificant, Yuseulhae snorted and snapped her fingers to deploy a magical shield.
As expected, the spear should be blocked by the shield, followed by a discharge of electricity to incinerate him.
-Fwoosh!
But the spearhead pierced through the shield and embedded itself in her chest.
“Gah, urgh…”
A painful groan escaped her lips.
Simultaneously, her eyes rolled back, and her body fell to the ground, twitching, as the man who threw the spear began to cheer.
“Hahaha! How does it taste?! That’s the power of a spear focused solely on penetration!”
Even though it was a single, all-out attack, it was enough to finish off the careless hero.
Standing before the lifeless corpse, the man began to rally the terrified crowd.
“Everyone, look closely! Even heroes die if you stab their vital points! They may be strong, but they’re just like us in the end!”
“Are we going to keep pouring money into summoning these useless peopl?! Rise up, everyone!”
“Drag the Emperor off the throne!!!!”
Even heroes who overwheld them had weaknesses and could be killed.
This realization led to the people’s enlightennt, strengthening their resolve to storm the palace.
“Damn it! There’s no choice now! Anyone who steps into the palace is a rebel; shoot them all!”
“Suppress them first! Think later! Bring more heroes!”
The soldiers were ready to take extre asures against the rampaging crowd.
The chaos around the palace caused by their clash was limited to the ground.
Even amidst the turmoil, the sky remained free, and anyone navigating it could reach their destination unimpeded.
“Oh my~ What on earth is happening~”
A maid caught a bat that landed on the palace window, listening to its cries with an amused smile.
“I wondered when they’d return, but I never thought this would happen… I must relay this good news to the Prince~”
Scheherazade the Pilgrim.
For her, who believed that asceticism was a necessary virtue for the noble, the news brought by the bat that escaped from the sanctuary was very welco.
Her fellow kin, having fallen prey to the demon’s plot and faced annihilation, was a situation fitting for her ascetic ideals.
“The Prince is currently with His Majesty in the annex.”
Though riots were raging outside, the palace interior remained undisturbed.
Scheherazade calmly followed the maids’ guidance and entered the annex where Prince Seis was.
“Your Highness~ I have good news…”
“……”
“Oh my, is this not a good ti?”
Despite noticing her presence, Prince Seis remained silent.
As she watched silently, the Emperor lying before Seis began to speak with a strained voice.
“Rember, my son…”
Having been tornted by societal parasites all his life, he was now weak and nearing death.
Therefore, his will to impart his realizations would be all the more earnest.
“We all cannot survive unless we beco soone’s slaves… In a world like this, people like us… must rely on those who are stronger.”
It wouldn’t be strange to dismiss these words as the ramblings of a senile old man.
Nevertheless, Seis quietly listened to the words that had been repeated before him several tis.
“Rember, my son. Always humble yourself and find with your own hands the one you must follow. I have left everything you need, so follow it…”
With that, the old Emperor’s strength was exhausted, and he dropped his head.
It was when his eyes were completely closed that Scheherazade approached him and whispered.
“Has he passed away?”
“If you suck his blood here, then yes.”
Was the dull look in his eyes directed at her one of hostility?
Regardless, for her, who desired asceticism, harming the one before her would be a significant loss.
“Don’t worry. There’s no need to worry about that now.”
She genuinely anticipated what would happen after her news was delivered.
“…I see.”
However, the Prince who road the palace after leaving the annex rely brushed off all the news from the sanctuary with his usual calm deanor.
“Oh my, why are you so calm?”
For Scheherazade, this reaction was unexpected.
The damn power figures who squeezed the empire dry had been wiped out by a plot orchestrated by one of their own.
“It’s true that their absence indicates a problem in the sanctuary, but the source of this information is questionable.”
But despite this news, the Prince remained composed.
It wasn’t just a front. Realizing this, Seis began to probe further into Scheherazade, who was becoming sullen.
“The sanctuary is geographically isolated and ticulously managed, so I, too, would have difficulty confirming the news without a ssenger. But given your nature, you wouldn’t have put them under surveillance, right?”
“Of course~ I wouldn’t follow them en masse just to drink so virgin’s blood, would I?”
As a vampire, it would be more heretical to sit on the ground and eat dog food, wouldn’t it?
Suppressing such thoughts, she waited for an answer, and Scheherazade quietly spoke with a sorrowful expression.
“…The one who gave the news is soone I served long ago. He must have been sure that I would be the only one left here.”
“Long ago?”
“Before humans killed humans, before races waged war against each other… A king who ruled the most prosperous paradise in a primitive era where there was nothing to rely on.”
A serious attitude and a bitter smile.
Despite always having a sly smile, at this nostalgic mont, a hint of pity could be seen on her face.
“Under him, all races lived equally and faithfully fulfilled their roles. They regarded the at that descended from the sky as a heavenly blessing and held banquets with representatives of each race, until…”
“…The event that led to your obsession with ‘foreign gods’?”
“Each gained power and couldn’t be satisfied with the small, peaceful enclosure, leading their races into war. Eventually, they judged their inherent power unmatched by their kind, and ultimately abandoned their own, proclaiming themselves the most noble beings.”
Intoxicated by their own power, they abandoned their kind and disappeared, ultimately degenerating into societal parasites.
But their disappearance did not stop the wars.
“They not only neglected their kind but also obsessed over the source of their blood, pursuing purity… How do you think that appeared to him?”
He must have felt disgusted.
Especially since he dread of a world where everyone lived equally.
“Does your perverse nature have sothing to do with that?”
But what was more concerning was her reaction after witnessing the fate of the man she called her ‘forr master’.
“It’s not perverse; it’s sophisticated and elegant. That’s what aesthetics are.”
Scheherazade laughed awkwardly and raised a finger to her lips at the question filled with such curiosity.
“And I’ll stay silent on that question. It’s not at all sophisticated to talk about it.”
“…That’s unusual. You, staying silent.”
“There’s a more important matter right now.”
Then she asked sharply.
“So, what will you do now?”
The wicked beings that disturbed humanity from behind the scenes were all gone.
Does this an that freedom and salvation will co to humanity?
“…Nothing will change.”
Seis denied it.
Without a hint of hesitation. By his own will.
“The reason my grandfather bowed to you was to unite humanity, scattered by war.”
If they didn’t at least unify the remaining humanity, the species might disappear.
Even if they planned to use and discard humanity, it was their role to manage things behind the scenes to maintain society until then.
The riots happening now were due to their prolonged absence, which prevented tily managent.
“But even with external threats still present, the current mbers of the empire are ready to use their newfound freedom to destroy their own foundations.”
Yes, even if one problem was solved, the issues that had been covered up wouldn’t disappear.
Disasters would still strike this world, and the chaos they cause would stir the masses and hinder the establishnt of a solid foundation.
Even if there were leaders who could be central figures, if their definitions of justice differed, they would clash and divide, as history had shown.
“Do you think soone else, like the great lord you ntioned, could resolve this situation?”
“Yes, it would be the sa no matter who it is besides you.”
Whether any race won or there was an exceptionally great hero among them, hoping for everyone to be happy in this world would just be a luxurious delusion.
Realizing this point, Scheherazade asked with half-open eyes.
“Does that an the plan will proceed unchanged?”
A chaotic era brought about by successive disasters beyond the age of war.
The plan to usher in the ‘Era of Nihilism’ that would put an end to it.
“The assembly will be held soon, so be prepared.”
To Prince Seis, who revealed that the plan was nearing its end, the only remaining being with ‘pure foreign blood’ bowed and answered.
“I will obey, my lord.”
She felt no resistance.
The one before her was soon to rise as an unprecedented tyrant.
The Pilgrim firmly believed that by following him, her wish would co true.
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