Children of the Holy Emperor

[Didn’t I tell you not to get into trouble like this? Just where do you think your sense of danger has gone, acting so recklessly…]

[No, Father, your holy majesty. I may have died suddenly, but at least I protected Delcross from the threat of the demon world!]

The son pouted his lips, looking rather aggrieved. Nate couldn’t even say half of what he wanted to say, yet now that his son had grown a little, the latter even knew how to argue against his father’s scolding.

Just as he was about to say something else, a scene suddenly flashed across Nate’s mind.

It was a sight of the outskirts of the capital of Delcross, shrouded in black smoke. Some residential areas were completely destroyed, and occasional casualties were noticeable. He could see the paladins of the St. Gratzia carrying out rescue work.

On one side, the paladins of St. Marcias and St. Aurelion were fighting against monstrous creatures that resembled gigantic moths. While the odds were in their favor, the paladins weren’t without their losses.

And far in the sky, there was an ominous hole wrapped in a black swirl of clouds. From the gaping black hole, an enormous number of moths kept flying out.

The vision ended in a blink of an eye.

This was a brief vision created by Nate’s premonition. A disaster that would have definitely occurred had his son not intervened. Aware of the anomaly, Nate would have eventually returned to close that gate, but the damage that would have been done in the meantime was something he couldn’t ignore.

In the end, he could only say with a shaken expression, “You… you did well.”

Hmph. Seeing his son’s face instantly changed into one of smug satisfaction, Nate realized that he had completely lost the timing to scold him.

The sight of a small soul held by his son entered his slightly disappointed eyes. Though it is now insignificant and petty, that ominous red light flickering was definitely one of those troublesome things, probably what lured his son this time.

But just as he did initially, Nate decided to leave this annoying thing alone this time as well.

He remembered when his son first came back from the virtual world, having just recovered from a fever. The moment he saw his son, Nate had a feeling. That insignificant entity would accompany his son far into the future.

—Don’t blindly believe in your premonitions.

While having said so, Cornsheim, the old man, would never understand.

Some of those premonitions were not just simple foresights, but events that were bound to happen in the future. That boy’s course will continue to harbor those troublesome things.

[Can you tell me what my soul looks like now? How did you know that I suddenly died?]

With an innocent face, his own son, oblivious to Nate’s inner turmoil, threw a difficult question. This naive boy.

Moreover, they had been lingering at the boundary of dimensions for too long. Feeling a scrutinizing gaze from somewhere, Nate quickly cast a barrier on his son’s soul.

It seemed to have attracted the attention of one of those unsettling beings that occasionally peered from other worlds.

Since the two connected worlds separated and the walls of dimensions weakened, they occasionally stared this way with greedy eyes, like looking at extremely appetizing food. However, those seemingly ready to pounce anytime merely poked around the border a few times before quietly retreating.

Perhaps they were just waiting for Nate, who was on guard against them, to die. Their concept of time was hard for him, a human, to fathom.

Anyway, first, he needed to send his son back.

[Don’t worry Masain too much. Go now.]

I’m sure that child is undoubtedly blaming himself again. That honest guy shouldn’t be too shocked.

Nate reminded his son once again of the location to return to in his soul.

[Go back, Morres.]

And you, you little rascal, deserve a smack. There’s a limit to making people worry.

With that in mind, he gave his son’s forehead a flick.

Thwack.

With a squeak, his son’s soul instantly disappeared towards Delcross.

Watching the direction in which his son had flown for a moment, Nate soon drew a Nutcracker1 in his right hand and waited quietly. One by one, the intense gazes coming from afar were increasing, with one moving at high speed towards the border.

The pressure coming against his soul was growing stronger.

In no time, something akin to black smoke began to seep around Nate’s soul. Or rather, given its sticky and heavy texture, it was closer to mud. It gradually increased in volume on its own, soon starting to fill the empty border as if pouring out in bursts.

Grrrrrrrrr.

A bizarre moan, or perhaps a sigh, shook the boundary. For some unfathomable reason, the fiend was in the process of marching here, having even dragged a part of the hell in which he dwelled.

Nate pushed back the surrounding sludge by spreading the light enveloping his soul a little further. A gurgling laugh, as if in mockery, echoed in response. Guhahahahaha.

The landscape before his eyes changed in an instant. The surroundings had turned into a vast and deep pit, encircled by black walls. In that endless colossal space, Nate’s soul appeared merely as a single point of light.

The black walls were twitching with minuscule, hair-like figures. Upon closer inspection, each one was a soul desperately famished, shriveled up to the point of horror. They were a part of the hell that he’d dragged along.

The fiend was a vassal of [Starvation].

Soon, a part of the wall in front of Nate split open, revealing a grotesque entity akin to a black octopus laden with countless protrusions. It writhed its deformities of a thousand legs, the sight of which was so hideously repugnant that just looking at it was enough to strike the soul.

Guhahahahaha.

The deformed octopus let out another round of laughter, causing the growths covering his body to shudder.

[Are you the king of this place? I’ve always been curious, as you’ve been particularly noticed by Him. But aren’t you still not quite human, despite having the status of a king?]

Indeed, it seemed like he was worth a look after all. The boundary of dimensions was ambiguous even in its application of causality, making it easy to drag the true body here. That’s why he gleefully raced over here, not as an ethereal spirit, but in his true form.

He was a bit worn out from aligning his soul with the rules of the macrocosm for the past few days and then breaking free from them again. But it’s not like he’s weakened to the point of being looked down upon by a creature like this.

Nate smirked, holding his Nutcracker. However, his face hardened instantly at the fiend’s continued words.

[What was that soul just now? It’s a shame that you scared it away so hurriedly. Wasn’t it a young soul that looked quite delicious?]

Slurp. The sound of the fiend savoring his anticipation was relayed without any filtering.

Nate’s eyes grew cold. It reminded him of Kaien, whom he had left on the Western mountain range.

He had been thinking of extending some casual courtesy to this guest who intruded into someone else’s home, but now, he no longer wanted to send him off nicely.

When he pointed his sword straight at him, the fiend let out a light chuckle, as if finding it absurd. Of course, that light laughter caused the walls of hell to shake and the bound souls to let out a blood-curdling scream. Guhhhhhhh.

[You dare to challenge me with merely an ethereal form, not your true body! And on top of that, your spirit hasn’t even discarded the petty habits of humans, swinging around a piece of iron! How hilariously pathetic!]

The octopus-like fiend stretched hundreds of his thousand legs toward the wall, dragging his bulky body outward while sneering.

Without his true body, as the fiend said, it was challenging to use aura, which could be considered Nate’s strongest weapon.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible to pull the aura here if he set his mind to it, but he was currently too far from Delcross. If he drew power from there, the entire continent would rapidly fall into a state of aura depletion.

However, without his body, there were other options available to Nate.

He was near the boundary of dimensions. Even if he borrowed an unfamiliar power to cause a bit of a ruckus, the effect on the main world would be negligible at best.

Once the decision was made, the execution was simple. A small red dot appeared at the tip of his sword, gradually growing to envelop the Nutcracker. As it turned into a menacingly glowing red sword, it extended its length to several tens of meters.

[…!?]

He didn’t know.

For Nate, swordsmanship was not an insurmountable human limit, but merely the most efficient way to wield power.

Wicked. The quietly swinging Nutcracker traced a red line in the air. A long line crossing the hellish wall he was opening, including his numerous legs.

Kuaaaang!

Then the aftershock came. The fiend’s severed legs flung everywhere, and souls were pushed out to both sides of the line for dozens of meters, momentarily creating a void in the hellish wall.

[Wha… What?]

The octopus-like creature looked bewildered, staring at his severed tentacles. It seemed like he never imagined a power that could so easily dismiss his own strength and penetrate him.

Seeing the fiend’s stunned expression, Nate unwittingly chuckled, recalling the reaction of Balthazar, the commander of the Royal Guard, when he first showed this technique. The ever-dignified man had stuttered, his eyes wide as saucers.

Back then, the paladins who focused solely on increasing the intensity and range of their slashes were astonished at the idea of sending out a blade of aura and causing it to explode. In some ways, an exploding aura signified a lack of control.

Now, even the inexperienced Masain could mimic the technique in the imperial palace, though it was still a novel idea.

Regardless, just now was wasteful. Perhaps because the attribute of the power itself was destructive, I could afford to hold back a little more even when using Aura Blade. Maybe I should try reducing the breadth even more.

Whoosh. The consecutively swung red light thinned down to about the thickness of a finger. Instead, its length became much longer than before, reaching up to a hundred meters.

Kuaaaang!

Long wounds appeared on the fiend’s body, and the hideous bumps sitting in the warp exploded all at once. A single slash had caused the entire side of hell’s wall to split, creating a crevice.

Starved souls began to pour out through the opened gap, screaming in agony. Ackkk.

The malformed octopus seemed to finally grasp the gravity of the situation. Hastily, he shot out his remaining tentacles towards Nate and yelled.

[Why? Why do you wield the [Calamity] of a lost world?]

[I’m just borrowing it for a while.]

I had to get authority because separating dimensions isn’t something that can be done barehanded.

Hundreds of formidable limbs lashed out towards Nate. A simple graze would be enough to completely crush any soul, an overwhelming power. But to him, it looked entirely inefficient and self-destructive.

Indeed, the creature’s limbs were smashing the very hell he summoned. More souls were disappearing from being hit by his own attacks than by Nate’s.

Had those tentacles each swung like a trained swordsman’s blade, even Nate would not have been able to handle him this easily.

Anyway, since he’s wasting his power, let’s save a little more on my side. Maybe I should make it as thin as a thread.

A thread-thin line of [Calamity] appeared. This time, it was an incredibly long several hundred meters.

If it exploded as is, the power wouldn’t be very satisfying, but for a sword to swing around, there couldn’t be a more efficient form. Nate swung the thin, long sword as he pleased. The approaching limbs were all cut off, and the wall of hell began to shatter along the trajectory of the sword.

Soon, the malformed octopus lost all its energy and collapsed. The passage to hell that he had opened was already heavily damaged with most souls having been re-summoned,. Only fragments of the wall remained, supporting the fiend’s body.

The starving souls attached to the hell wall were directly exposed to the harsh boundary of dimensions, unable to withstand the intense cold and soon began to crumble one by one.

The octopus looked miserable. Most of his tentacles had been cut off, and the surface bumps had all burst, oozing fluid like a rotten pumpkin. What was thought to be a large bump turned out to be an eye that blinked and started to weep a tear-like pus.

Should I finish him off? Nate pondered for a moment, gripping the Nutcracker.

What made him hesitate were the many gazes watching him from the other side, especially the gaze of [Famine], who had sent his spawn for fun and was now just watching.

Eyes waiting for something to happen. Was he hoping that Nate would bring more [Calamity] and lose his balance? Or was there another trap?

Just then, a scene swept before Nate’s eyes.

The sky was red as blood, and the earth was a black plain covered in mud. Amidst the thousands of tentacles pouring down like rain, a dark flame suddenly burst up.

Growing within the terrifying storm of power that engulfed everything around, the flame took the form of a giant sword and then exploded.

The malformed octopus’s tentacles and numerous bumps could not withstand the heat and exploded abruptly.

Even Nate was truly taken aback this time.

It wasn’t Nate who ultimately finished this fiend off.