The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 382

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Chapter 382

Whatever had happened between the Emperor and the Revenants was none of my concern. Regardless, an assassination attempt on Emperor Boscal had taken place within Cascadia territory, and once we were aware of it, we had no choice but to respond.

Because of my remark about there being a lot of bald people, a few of the Revenants glared at us, gripping their weapons tightly as if their anger were about to boil over—but none of them recklessly charged in.

“Are you unharmed, Your Majesty?”

“I am. Thanks to the young lord, my strength is returning.”

“And yet you just barge into a place like this? You should consider our position as well.”

“I owe a debt to the Ducal House of Cascadia. I could not drag you into something so filthy and trivial.”

If we had been on the defensive, they would have attacked Cascadia directly anyway.

“And that’s why things have become this dangerous.”

“You show no restraint in front of the Emperor.”

“So? Does that bother you?”

“No. I like it very much.”

With those words, Emperor Credos raised his sword and fixed his gaze squarely on Quebel, the leader of the Revenants.

Now that the Emperor’s martial power had returned, the balance—previously overwhelmingly in the Revenants’ favor—collapsed in an instant.

“Popcorn.”

“Here.”

After Luna nudged the opening of the popcorn basket toward me, I began watching this thrilling imperial standoff up close.

The Emperor’s side consisted of Sword Masters Kashibel and Droga, the Sixth-Circle Archmage Calliostro, and finally the strongest among them all—Emperor Credos himself.

On the Revenants’ side were numerous high-level experts, four master-class warriors, and one archmage.

Among the masters was Quebel, the Revenant Knight Commander, whose level was comparable to Besival, the senior Sword Master I had subdued previously.

Strictly speaking, in terms of overall combat power, the Emperor and his retainers were stronger.

Even among Sixth-Circle mages, Calliostro outclassed his counterpart, and the Emperor plus two Sword Masters could hold their own even against four master-class Revenants.

That was why they had dared to storm in like this.

They hadn’t anticipated the Emperor suddenly being incapacitated—or a Credos-level monster appearing on the opposing side.

Whether he understood their situation or not, Quebel glared at the Emperor with rage.

Judging by how his body trembled, he was barely holding onto his reason.

“The Boscal Empire is not a place that lowly Revenants may dare to covet.”

At the Emperor’s cold voice, the sound of grinding teeth could be heard from Quebel.

“You were on death’s door, yet your mouth still runs, you patricidal bastard!”

“Silence! Insult His Majesty again and I will take your head!”

The Emperor’s guard knight, Kashibel, stepped forward, igniting his aura blade.

In response, the Revenants also prepared themselves, releasing sword qi and aura blades of their own.

At that point, I handed the popcorn basket to Luna and stood up.

“Now, now. Everyone calm down.”

I casually walked straight into the center of the crushing, turbulent killing intent unleashed by multiple master-class warriors, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Your Majesty, if you fight here, it puts us in a difficult position.”

“...This is a matter I must resolve myself.”

“This is Cascadia, Your Majesty. Please respect Cascadia’s way of doing things.”

Normally, the Emperor was someone who could ignore such things—but he quietly complied with my suggestion.

“And how do you intend to handle it?”

“It’s simple. At present, Your Majesty is a guest of Cascadia. Naturally, protecting your safety is our responsibility. And to be honest, whatever they are, they’re not particularly threatening.”

When I looked indifferently at Quebel, he ground his teeth and flicked his fingers.

A man in black martial garb at his side vanished in a flash and appeared behind me.

A dagger flew toward the back of my neck in an instant—but I didn’t stop speaking.

“We’ll subdue them all on our end, and after negotiations between Boscal and the Bata royal families, we’ll hand them over to Boscal.”

The man who attacked me never completed his strike.

There was no way Luna would allow that.

She stepped forward lightly, appearing in front of him in an instant, clenched her small white hand, and gently—thump!—pushed her fist into his solar plexus.

The motion looked impossibly light.

The result was anything but.

BOOOOM!!!

Space itself seemed to warp from the impact as the man’s body crumpled like a crushed soda can and was flung away.

Everyone gasped.

An expert of the highest tier had been defeated instantly, without even a chance to resist.

And the one who did it was a girl of breathtaking beauty, her presence irresistibly commanding attention.

“If you wanted to assassinate the Emperor, you should have avoided Cascadia at all costs.”

“So it seems… That is correct.”

The Emperor said, staring at Quebel.

“You thought this was your chance when you learned I was coming here.”

“……”

“But you were wrong. If you wished to assassinate me, this was the one place you absolutely should have avoided.”

Believing they would succeed, they had brought all their forces—only to discover they had walked straight into a dragon’s jaws.

“Well then, let’s wrap this up. Meryl, secure that one.”

I gestured toward the transcendent being lying crushed and silent nearby.

Meryl Dyne hesitated briefly, then cautiously dragged the unmoving body away.

“D–Damn it!! Break through and retreat! The plan has failed!”

Quebel—former Imperial Knight Commander and now effectively the head of the Revenants—made his decision instantly.

Turning their backs, the Revenants scattered into the darkness with practiced speed, as if they had prepared escape routes in advance.

“Will you let them escape?”

“We’ll catch them.”

I casually picked up a sword lying on the ground.

“That again… Every time I see it, it defies understanding. Too refined to be heresy, too pure, too noble.”

“I’m simply overlaying the world I created and enforcing its laws.”

Once you reach the level of a Grandmaster, the path of the sword itself becomes irrelevant.

CRACK!!!

I reversed my grip and slammed the sword into the air.

Instantly, the mana across the entire surrounding area fell into violent imbalance.

As long as there is a target to cut—and the will to cut it—all impossibilities arising in the process are forcibly twisted aside.

Flashy techniques, heavy blows, speed—those are secondary.

At its core, it is the will to cut imposing itself upon reality.

This was different from the Mind Master stage, where one simply cut what could not be cut by intent alone.

“AAARGH!!”

Screams erupted from all directions as twisted aura and mana tore through the area.

Sword Masters could endure it to some extent, but experts couldn’t withstand their own aura flowing backward and collapsed on the spot.

Click.

I activated a small artifact in my ear.

“Melissa. We’ll be done cleaning up shortly—send people to collect everyone.”

—Already? Got it. I’ll send the knights and soldiers.

After that, Luna and I moved to pursue Quebel, the master-class warriors, and the lone archmage who had escaped.

* * *

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“Damn it!! Damn it all!!”

CRASH!!

A solid rock wall collapsed, revealing a hidden cavern.

Using natural caves as their base, they had dug escape routes everywhere, like a rabbit warren.

The Emperor was relentless and terrifying.

Despite the Revenants’ considerable strength, they had suffered repeated attacks over the years.

This time, they had thought they would succeed.

They had been so close.

“Damn it! What the hell is that man?!”

“Run!! All the others have already been subdued by him! Damn it… Just one swing of his sword and he forcibly twisted the aura flow across the entire area! That’s…”

At least by their common sense, it was an incomprehensible realm.

“Ugh?!”

“What is this… oppressive pressure…?”

When they emerged from the cave, they were greeted by a sky dyed red with sunset.

If it were merely sunset, it wouldn’t have been surprising—but after being inside the cave, their sense of time was blurred, and the chaos could have dragged on longer than they realized.

“Ugh… bleeghhh!”

The first to react was the fleeing archmage.

He vomited violently and collapsed to his knees.

Blood mixed with bile flowed back up his throat from internal injuries, despair etched clearly across his face.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Quebel shouted as he supported the suffering mage.

“What is this thing?! Explain it—now!”

Wisdom would have dictated running immediately, but the massive surge of mana crushing the entire area made movement impossible.

Step… step…

And that brief hesitation allowed the one responsible for this suffocating space to arrive.

The moment they met the sky-colored eyes of the silent young man approaching them, they felt the terror of standing before a great predator.

Before reason could act, the body reacted first, instinct gnawing away at their sanity and urging them to flee.

“You have the right to an attorney, the right to remain silent, and anything you say may be used against you in court.”

There was nowhere to run.

Quebel gritted his teeth.

“What artifact did you use to create such an impossible phenomenon?!”

Leon seemed to think for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

Amazingly, the red sky surrounding them lost its form in an instant, returning to the normal world.

“Oh. I forgot about that.”

His casual tone—like he’d forgotten an item somewhere—left Quebel speechless.

“Give up, Quebel. No matter how you struggle, this is not a domain you can escape.”

The Emperor appeared behind Leon.

After staring at him in silence, Quebel turned to Leon.

“Stop the pursuit now and open an escape route, monster.”

“What? Is that supposed to be a threat?”

Leon retorted incredulously as Quebel pulled a scroll from his robe and held it high.

“We prepared for every scenario. We intended not to use this unless necessary—but if you continue pursuing us, or if even one more of us dies, we will activate this.”

Leon strode forward.

At the same time, Emperor Credos’ eyes widened as he grabbed Leon’s arm.

“Stop! Young lord! That is—!”

“Yeah. Emperor, you know what it is. You were the one who did it.”

Leon replied flatly.

“I know. An undead summoning scroll. Judging by the necromantic mana leaking from it… low quality, but around two hundred units.”

Everyone froze.

Why does he know that?

And knowing that—was he still planning to move?

Those complicated looks converged on him.

“Is that a problem?”

“That scroll must be linked to preparations within Cascadia territory… If it activates, a massive number of undead could be summoned instantly.”

“Seems so. Even low-tier undead suddenly appearing across the domain would cause a catastrophe.”

Even basic skeletons popping up among civilians would result in countless casualties.

Leon tilted his head, unconcerned.

“Go ahead.”

“What… what did you say?”

“Try it. If you can.”

Enraged by the provocation, Quebel tore the scroll apart.

A sinister flow erupted from it.

Leon tapped the shadow at his feet.

“Baril. Muyeong. Who wants it?”

The shadow surged, and a massive shadow-Revenant wolf emerged in an instant.

Muyeong—the first elite undead, now possessing raw power that far surpassed even Sword Masters.

As everyone stared in shock at the sudden appearance of a banshee-type undead—

—AWOOOOOO!!!

Muyeong roared, and the vast necromantic mana spreading outward was sucked in like dust into a vacuum cleaner.

The trigger for the undead outbreak was completely devoured by another undead.

Quebel stood there, dumbfounded.

“It’s effective, but the structure’s simpler than expected. With a signal system that crude, hijacking it mid-process is easy.”

Necromancy, when poorly secured, is among the easiest magical systems to steal.

The problem was that the man before them was already an ultra-high-tier necromancer.

No matter how powerful a weapon is, it won’t detonate if the switch never flips.

Even a complex summoning device becomes defective junk if its activation signal is blocked.

The only one who could explain this to Quebel—the archmage who was his subordinate—had already been exposed to the massive sunset phenomenon earlier and suffered internal damage while instinctively trying to analyze and control it.

He was now unconscious, slumped over, unable to explain anything.

With his final trump card neutralized, Quebel’s face fell into despair.

He tried to fight on.

CLANG!!

But before his sword could even respond, it shattered. Crimson lightning appeared from nowhere, crackling ominously around him.

At last, he dropped his weapon and surrendered.

“Damn it… I thought coming to Cascadia was our opportunity… To think it’s even more dangerous than the imperial palace…”

In the end, the Revenants’ rebellion was crushed prematurely.

The only one who truly profited from this incident was a single traitor—who secured hair-loss medicine, sold information, and vanished with the spoils.

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