The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 188 – The Underground Throne Room (3)

“What do you mean it’s right under your throne?” Haild asked, curious.

Juan glanced around the surroundings for a moment.

“Looking at the structure, we are right below the Imperial Palace—specifically where my throne used to be. It seems like they flipped the structure and mirrored the audience chamber.”

It was not until the party heard Juan’s words that they looked over the ceiling above their heads. As Juan said, the statues and stairs were built completely upside down on the ceiling. Their mouths widened; they hadn’t been able to find those structures until now, since the light was not bright enough.

Juan slowly walked into the hall.

“What the hell does all this mean?” Sina muttered, confused.

The fact that the facilities commonly used by people were built upside down on the ceiling was considered unpleasant, going far beyond it being bizarre. It felt as if someone was looking down and staring at them from above at this very moment.

“I’m not too sure. Maybe the people who use this place are those who walk around upside down on the ceiling,” Haild said.

“...Was that supposed to be a joke?” Sina asked.

“It was supposed to be a joke, but I guess I can’t really call it a joke, since the upside-down audience chamber is right in front of my eyes,” Haild shrugged.

Sina couldn’t deny Haild’s words.

Feeling displeased at the thought of people walking around upside down on the ceiling, Sina followed Juan.

Shadows would step back in the direction where Juan would move, almost as if they were worshiping him.

“Juan, is that true?”

“What’s true? Are you talking about the stupid thing you and Haild were just talking about? People walking around upside down, huh? No way. It can’t be. It’s nothing but a structure built with the intent to use magic.”

Sina glared at Haild upon hearing Juan’s answer.

Haild could only shrug his shoulders, as if to say ‘how was I supposed to know?’

“Even if people who walk around upside down exist, if you look closely, you should be able to tell that all the objects on the ceiling look new and have no signs of being used. Both these structures and the upside-down audience chamber were all made for a giant magic spell,” Juan explained.

“You can tell just by looking at them?”

“I’m sure you’ve probably seen something similar before.”

“What?” Sina asked back in surprise.

Juan slowly turned back and looked at Sina.

“I’m talking about where Mananen McLeir’s body was enshrined. Although most of the Magic Tower is buried under the ground, it is structured in the same shape both above and below. That place was originally made for Mananen McLeir’s kingdom in the first place.”

Upon pondering, Sina’s thoughts reached a single conclusion. There was something that Juan created using Mananen McLeir’s body.

“The boundary?”

“Yes. I used Mananen McLeir’s body to create the boundary of the empire. This is an exact imitation of it,” Juan spoke with a cold smile on his face. “This structure has been created to extract mana out of my corpse.”

Sina recalled the path she had walked past with a perplexed expression. Although she was unfamiliar with the structure of the Imperial Palace, she had been feeling that some areas were quite similar.

“Then does that mean the rest of the area is meant for deception? It’s kind of like forming a magic circle.”

“This kind of work is very difficult even for the entire Church, let alone individuals. It’s not like knowledge builds up in a short period of time. Even if there is a previous example called the Magic Tower and Mananen McLeir, it is only possible if one meets the extremely difficult condition of researching magic for a very long time, having good ancient knowledge, and having both enough time and budget…”

While muttering to himself, Juan thought of only one person who was able to meet all the listed conditions.

“Dane Dormund.”

“The Grand Magician? Are you saying that he’s involved with the Church? But the Church labeled him as one of the Six Apostates, didn’t they?” Sina asked.

“Dane Dormund can change his appearance. Besides, even most of the magicians from the Magic Tower didn’t even know that the master of the tower was Dane Dormund. Or the act of the Church labeling him as an apostate itself could have been fake.”

Juan couldn’t tell how far Dane Dormund’s plan stretched, but he figured that Dane seemed to have been constantly active within the empire even after being expelled.

Sina looked around the structures and opened her mouth to ask a question.

“Is this place still active?”

“No. It doesn’t work anymore because they took away my corpse. The only thing left in this place is piled up mana that they had been using until now—and the shadows are the parasites that live off of that leftover mana. It seems like they have been using the shadows as their watchmen,” Juan answered.

“Huh? But aren’t the Priests still using Grace?”

“Then there must be another facility like this one somewhere else. And that’s where my body is.”

Juan smiled. It was a gruesome smile that made Sina flinch without even realizing she did so. She felt anxious every time she saw Juan make such an expression, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t understand how Juan felt right now. She thought that she too would feel her blood boiling with anger if she found out that her body was being dragged around to an unknown place and exploited at someone’s will.

Juan stammered around the structure here and there, then suddenly came to a stop in front of one place.

“This is the only part where I can see traces of someone having visited recently.”

Haild approached Juan. Having raided the bases of the Thornbush Priest Organization several times with Juan, he was able to recognize the traces at a single glance.

“It’s a sign of teleportation. If the coordinates still remain here, we might be able to track them to…”

“No. It’s not like any ordinary teleportation. Its scale is much larger and involves a lot of people. Perhaps it’s because they had to move my corpse. Besides, it’s encrypted so that it would be hard for anyone else to recognize even the traces except for those with allowed keys.”

“Would it be impossible to track them down even for Your Majesty?”

“Is that supposed to be a challenge?”

“Um, that’s not what I’m trying to say. But…”

“Let’s give it a try.”

***

The smell of burning herbs gave Helmut a terrible headache. He had asked for incense several times, but his request was only ignored with a warning that his head might explode if he used them recklessly in this place.

The citadel of Dismas, Cabragh, was a fortress city bordered by the mountain range with the territory of the giants to the west and overlooking the western territories of the empire to the East.

It was a desolate and quiet place, but it was a place with only terrible memories for Helmut.

Cabragh was the land where he first began the ‘Red Footprints.’ His first purge was quite immature and difficult, but there was no shortage of blood. Only after completing the ‘Red Footprints’ was Helmut able to place the foundation of the Church. At that time, Helmut even granted the title of Doctrinal General to Dismas, who actively helped Helmut with the purge.

Helmut remembered Dismas kneeling in front of him and declaring his allegiance to the emperor.

‘But now I’m basically half confined and trapped in a tower.’

Helmut looked out the window and thought about how he ended up like this. The first thing that came to his mind was the appearance of the black-haired devil in Tantil. That’s when the former Saintess began to make prophecies and then everything started to get tangled. Then finally, even Torra was taken away by the same devil.

‘No. That’s nothing but an excuse.’

The empire was not weak enough to collapse at the advent of a single individual. The empire established by the emperor was solid and firm to the extent that it would be able to hold out against the emperor himself if he appeared once again.

Helmut wrapped his arm with his hands without realizing it.

‘What if the scaffolding under my feet has been rotting since much longer than I thought? What if the appearance of the black-haired devil wasn’t the cause, but only the catalyst to kick the already rotting scaffold? Since when has the scaffold been rotting? Was it when I experimented with the Templars for my desire to have the physical abilities of the emperor? Was it when I started a purge like the ‘Red Footprints’ in order to consolidate the system? Or was it from the time of the emperor’s assassination? Or the worship of the emperor itself? Maybe it was when I was born as a humble and a lowly being even among humans.’

Helmut shook his head as he grit his teeth. He put strength into his hands and used the power of Grace. He didn’t know where Dismas had brought the holy body of the emperor, but the power of the Grace was still working just fine.

‘As long as I have the power of Grace.’

The emperor’s power was in Helmut’s hands, and he could never let it go. Helmut believed that he could get back on his feet and rebuild the collapsed Church as long as he had the power of Grace.

‘And that is if I can get rid of that black-haired devil and Ivy Isildin, that damned Saintess.’

Helmut gritted his teeth once again.

At that moment, the scenery in front of him cracked with a sudden piercing light. Then someone familiar was seen and heard through the small gap which was the size of a fist.

“Is it actually working? Didn’t you say that it was impossible for anyone except those with the key?”

“That only applies to ordinary people. It's kind of expedient but if I manage to break the door instead of opening it with the key, I can track a remarkable signal from an abstract coordinate to… oh? Who do we have here?”

Helmut opened his mouth wide and looked at the opponent. He thought that he was hallucinating, since the opponent staring at him through the gap in the torn space was definitely Ivy Isildin.

Furthermore, Lenly Loen was glancing at him from behind Ivy Isildin.

“That’s the Pope,” Lenly Loen said.

“This bastard is the Pope?” Ivy scanned Helmut up and down, then pulled up the corners of her mouth. “I remember now.”

At that moment, Helmut slumped to his seat without even realizing it. All his strength was drained out and he couldn’t even put strength into his fingertips. He had never felt like this in his life before.

‘That’s the Saintess? The same girl who once trembled like a squirrel in front of me?’

Then Helmut shook his head.

‘No. If that’s the Saintess, even a rabbit can be the emperor.’

‘That thing’ was something wearing Ivy’s skin—something that was capable of crushing Helmut down at once. Helmut felt as if his skin was being cut just by receiving ‘that thing’s’ gaze.

“What a shame that I can’t kill him right now. No, maybe it's better that way,” ‘that thing’ whispered to Helmut. “Pope, I need you to do me a favor.”

A murderous intent that was blowing from beyond hell tickled Helmut’s neck.

“Please don’t commit suicide.”

That was all. ‘That thing’ left only one ambiguous threat and then disappeared. Both the torn space and Ivy Isildin were gone in a blink of an eye, making Helmut wonder if he had woken up from a dream.

However, he was certain that her existence and what just happened were both true.

And most of all, his body which was still trembling in fear was enough to tell him ‘that thing’s’ warning was quite sincere.

***

Crack!

The flat floor broke with a sharp sound like a piece of glass. Juan clicked his tongue as he realized that this place was no longer suitable to use for teleportation upon confirming that the magic circle was completely destroyed.

“Why did it break?” Haild asked.

“Because I forcibly opened it without a key. Besides, it’s hard to control magic properly in the Saintess’ body anyway. But I don’t think it would have made much difference even if I did it with my own body,” Juan answered.

Haild nodded.

Juan recalled what he had just seen through the torn space and thought about his future direction. Just as he had expected, Helmut was currently located in Cabragh in the west—at the place where Dismas led the Order of Surtr.

.

Juan wanted to deny it until the end, but it seemed true that Dismas had a close relationship with the Pope. Even the rumors said that the west was very loyal to the Pope.

“I’ll have to meet Dismas.”

“Was the Pope in the west, just as we expected?” Lenly asked.

“Yes. It seems like they have escaped using this magic circle. I think this underground structure was designed to be used for that purpose from the very beginning. It must be easy for even ordinary people who aren’t magicians to use because mana from my body is always piled up in here. At least we won’t have to worry about anyone stabbing us from the back now that it’s been destroyed.”

“Then… what do we do now? Do we advance to the west?” Haild asked, concerned.

“It seems like we should. Heretia and Hela won’t be too happy about this though.”

Of course, that was none of Juan’s business. Regardless of whether the two agreed or not, Juan couldn’t become an emperor or anything else unless he finished everything off.

Juan glanced around at the party.

“Take the Saintess out of the underground structure. It would probably be hard for her to move alone. And there seems to be a staircase that directly connects the Imperial Palace and this place, so exit through it. I’ll need to come down here myself.”

“I’m sorry? What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“I’m saying that I’ll need to come down here in my original body.”

Haild hastily nodded as if he realized something. The party had been so used to Juan being in the Saintess’ body that they had forgotten that he had just transferred his spirit.

Juan glanced at the audience chamber and opened his mouth.

“You’d better get out of here quickly. It’s going to get very hot over here.”