The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 25 – Covered by Fog (2)

Juan’s head felt hot; he felt hatred for someone he had never seen before, along with resentment for something he had never experienced. His body was burning up with all the world’s rage and hatred. Thirst for blood consumed him. A normal person would have lost themselves facing this intense madness, but Juan maintained his sanity.

He enjoyed this madness.

‘Talter, it’s time to hunt.’

Juan let the madness control his body, as if he was a hunting dog being commanded. Talter’s blood spread throughout Juan’s body as Juan felt his body become hot.

Juan stepped harder onto the head of the golem underneath his foot. A crack appeared in the golem’s head, and little pieces of stones flew out.

The golem struggled harder than before, realizing that Juan was the real threat. The golem’s body turned 360 degrees, flinging Juan away. Juan’s body flew up into the air and then plunged back towards the golem. Talter’s short sword dug into the golem.

In the split second that the golem took to react, Juan stabbed his short sword repeatedly, sending pieces of stone scattering everywhere. The sharp pieces of stone scratched Juan’s cheek and the blood that came out burned, turning into red smoke before disappearing.

The golem attacked once again, but was unable to even touch Juan. Even when the golem tried to throw him off, Juan was able to regain control of his movement, flinging his body back and kicking against the walls. He resembled a swarm of wasps that kept flying back to attack after being swatted away multiple times.

The golem seemed to be flailing its arms and legs from fear.

Whenever Juan was swatted away, he pounced back and damaged the golem. This cycle continued over and over, simply too fast for the human eye to catch.

The golem moved the Ash Tower as its last resort, trying to limit the space in which Juan could move. But that also restricted its own movements. It tried to crush Juan as it pushed its own body against the wall, but it looked like it was impossible. Huxle almost felt pity for the golem as he watched this happen.

“My goodness, what is that...”

“...Is that really a human, Boss?”

Huxle had no confidence that he could give them a satisfying answer. What they saw was neither god nor human; maybe ‘demon’ would be more fitting. He recalled that Juan was often dubbed the ‘demon of Tantil.’ He was now certain that the rumors were indeed about Juan.

“That boy... What is he trying to do?” Anya muttered beside him.

Huxle then realized that Juan was not attacking randomly. He hadn’t realized it because of Juan’s quick movements, but all of Juan’s attacks were concentrated on the top of the golem’s head, as if Juan’s thought-out movements were all meant to achieve one purpose. The golem knew this, but could not stop it.

“...Could he be performing surgery maybe?” Huxle asked. He had heard that there were mages who did such things. It was a way to preserve themselves, given that the Church severely limited the usage of magic, but it was said to be very complicated and delicate work. Juan was performing surgery on the golem.

He was making an incision, picking off and cracking the top of the golem’s head. Just then, Juan’s world turned red. The second batch of Talter’s blood had been used up.

Juan had changed Talter’s mana into blood and then divided it into ten. He had never used it freely before, so he felt anxious; fortunately, its effects turned out to be much better than he had expected. Juan’s physical abilities were receiving a greater boost as compared to when he used his own mana.

‘It’s about three minutes per use. These would be useful for emergencies.’?

Juan turned his focus back to the golem’s head. He slipped between the golem’s fingers that continued coming for him, while at the same time stabbing at the golem which was trying to defend itself by gathering pieces of stones. In between the falling stone pieces, Juan could see the bright blue rune that he had been aiming for. As soon as Juan laid his eyes on the rune, he felt the urge to rip it out of the golem. But just at that moment, the golem’s hand appeared above Juan—it had created a third hand to attack Juan upon realizing that he was a difficult target.

As the rocks crashed and crumbled, Juan vanished in the midst of the falling dust. Huxle’s group screamed in shock as they saw many broken rocks falling like rain. Those were the golem’s fingers.

Juan stood atop the golem’s head, covered in dust. He looked down with an annoyed face. ‘I got too excited.’?

Juan had gotten hot-headed as soon as he found his target. Although Talter’s blood awakened his hunting instincts, it also suppressed his logical side. Thankfully, he still managed to destroy the golem’s fingers with the second portion of Talter’s blood, and also cleared his hot-headed mind.

‘At least I’ve achieved my goal.’

The golem tried to attack Juan again after it failed. All three of its hands reached for its head, while Juan hacked away at the golem’s head repeatedly. He secured the blue rune and poured his mana into it.

“Stop,” Juan ordered the golem.

At that moment, a sound akin to rocks grinding against each other emanated. When the movements of the golem that were strong enough to shake the tower stopped, a frightening silence descended.

Juan whispered again, “Get up.”

The golem followed Juan’s command with a deep groan. The Ash Tower, which looked as if it were about to fall any moment, stopped shaking.

Juan had made a connection with the core, as the golem was unable to detect his mana. The golem would not attack him further, now that Juan had properly established himself as its commander.

The golem was being powered with the mana from Grunbalde’s relic. Thus, Juan had been worried that it might have contaminated the golem, but the golem obeyed as soon as it recognized Juan as the emperor. It obeyed Juan’s commands completely, just like in the old days. Juan felt his heart bleed that he had hurt such an obedient golem.

“H-hey! Are you okay?”

Juan smiled as he heard Huxle’s voice coming from below.

“Get rid of the intruders,” Juan commanded.

The golem raised its arms and swung them down to the ground in response to Juan’s command. Huxle’s group screamed as they rolled to the side, avoiding the attacks. The golem continued to move its arms, sweeping them across the ground and crushing everything in its way. It left just enough space for Huxle’s group to stand in.

Huxle’s group stood there, panting; they could only watch as the golem destroyed everything within reach. Gray blood splattered across as the fog demons were hit by the golem’s arms with no chance to hide or escape.

“Having a golem is sufficient to protect the Ash Tower,” mumbled Juan. “There is no need for these insects.” He felt happy and refreshed as he watched the fog demons get slaughtered.

Most intruders were killed by the fog demons, but there were some who had managed to save themselves. Huxle’s group was most likely the only ones to survive their encounter with the golem. They soon realized that Juan was controlling the golem.

“Just what is he...” Anya blurted at the unexpected sight. Of the group, only Anya watched Juan as her eyes shone.

***

Juan used the golem to get to the top of the Ash Tower after it got rid of all the fog demons. The top of the Ash Tower was a room filled with fog, unlike the lower floors. The fog leaked out through the space between the window and the wall. In fact, this fog-filled room was the source of the tower’s mana and the golem’s base of operations; it was what made the Ash Tower what it was.

In the center was the thing that caused the fog. Juan slowly made his way through the fog. His vision was soon blocked. There was an unpleasant humidity accompanied by the smell of wet ashes.

Juan closed his eyes. He recalled the foggy city as he smelled the thick fog—the city that was engulfed by fog, moss and vines that had grown by sucking the moisture of the fog.

Humans resembled ghosts as they were one with the fog and moved around like shadows. Their bony feet dragged their shoes, the sound of their weightless footsteps echoing.

In the city square, there sat an old man in a chair.

‘Seems like I can’t run anymore.’

‘...’?

‘I should’ve at least tried to fight back… I was gonna eat you once you got tired, but I guess you were waiting to expose me to the sun.’

‘...’?

‘I suppose you’re a powerful man of little words. It’s hard to come across such an outstanding young man nowadays. I like you, but I assume you don’t care either way.’?

‘...’?

‘A handshake’s purpose is not for one to break the other person’s hand. Young man, be thankful that I don’t possess a physical body. You don’t seem like you’ve learned your manners, but I guess being rude is part of the charms of being young.’?

‘...’?

‘I’ve heard the rumors about you being a god-devouring monster. I wouldn’t have expected a monster like that to be a human. If only you appeared a bit earlier...’ the old man trailed off. ‘It’s fine. I couldn’t have avoided death anyway, but I do want to offer a bet.’?

‘...’?

‘I already lost the game of hide and seek, so we’ll do it like this. Can you become a great king?’?

‘...’?

‘I was a foolish king. I thought that if I sold all my people and everything I had for power, I would be able to protect more humans by becoming a new kind of being. However, all I have left are these ruins. Do you think you’d be any different?’?

‘...’

‘You seem to believe that you’ll only leave behind what is great, perfect and eternal. We’ll make a bet based on that. The loser will be the winner’s slave.’?

Juan didn’t need an old slave. The old man laughed all the while he was dragged away, even when he was scattered around as ashes. His laughter rang throughout the entire city. When the fog cleared away, the dried-out city went up in flames like dried timber. Having had a foolish king that fell to the tricks of a demon, the city disappeared without a trace. As Juan reached out his hand to crush the king’s ashes, something softly wrapped around his hand.

Juan opened his eyes, the heavy fog slowly being swept away. In his hand was a dark gray cloak instead of the ashes of the old man. He could feel the great power that had once dominated the tower along with the evil intent within. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he deserved to wear this cloak. Maybe it was actually him that lost the bet against the old man? But he didn’t hesitate for long. The old man was dead anyway, and Juan never agreed to that idiotic bet. The winner was the one that remained alive. He had no reason to agree to a foolish king’s bet that sold his citizens over to a demon. Besides, Juan still had a chance to make things right.

“I didn’t lose, Grunbalde. I didn’t lose my territory, and I... am still alive,” Juan muttered as he put on the cloak. The fog moved around with Juan in its center.

“The loser should now serve as the slave.”