Episode 120. The End of the Road
It seemed that when people were so dumbfounded, they would lose their words.
Lyone stared blankly at Bercheria and Groovy, her lips parted.
If she wasn't careful, she could be accused of the Empress's murder and locked in a dungeon.
Yet, her lips wouldn't part easily. She couldn't bring herself to declare that the child she'd abandoned was the culprit.
The slightest bit of conscience within her wouldn't allow her lips to part.
"I..."
At that moment, the nearby knights suddenly swarmed around Lyone.
It was their duty to apprehend the Empress's murderer.
When they grabbed Lyone's arms from both sides, she flailed in confusion.
Just then,
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Gerard's voice rang out.
The knights surrounding the Empress suddenly split apart.
Just moments ago, he had been absentmindedly absentmindedly, but now he was staggering toward Bercheria.
“He killed him! I saw it all!”
Gerard’s fingertips were pointing precisely between Groovy and Bercheria.
It wasn’t Lyone, of course.
“What are you doing! Why don’t you arrest them quickly!”
Gerard shouted, and the knights flinched.
They looked at each other, wondering what to do.
The situation before their eyes was pointing to Lyone as the culprit, but the Emperor suddenly ordered them to arrest Bercheria and Groovy, leaving them confused.
“Do these bastards want to die for disobeying orders?”
Gerard shook one of the knights by the hair, and they timidly approached Bercheria.
Bercheria took in the whole scene with a blank expression.
Rumble.
The full moon that had illuminated them now shone faintly, obscured by the gathering dark clouds.
A misty rain began to fall on the shoulders of the royal guards.
Just as they were about to capture Bercheria,
"I think that's enough."
A low voice rang out, and long shadows clung to the knights' backs.
They were Lacrahan and the Knights of the North.
Lacrahan stepped through the fog and approached Gerard.
He looked imposing, almost intimidating.
His knights were no different.
Some were in pajamas, others scantily clad, but their presence was such that even the full-dressed knights could not dare approach them.
"I can't stand your ridiculous antics anymore."
Lacrahan approached Gerard and, without hesitation, placed his long sword against his throat.
"What the...what are you doing!"
Gerard's eyes, which had never experienced such humiliation before, gaped open.
A single vein burst from his bloodshot eyes, staining them red.
Lacrahan held his sword to Gerard's throat, staring down at him with an indifferent gaze.
The arrogant gaze made the tendons in Gerard's neck bulge.
"Do you know who I am to do this? This is treason, you foolish northerner!"
Lacrahan didn't react to the loud voice.
He let Gerard babble for a moment, then spoke in a slow, steady voice.
"Wasn't the war already started?"
"...!"
"In a war, aiming for the enemy general's head is the most basic of basics, Emperor Gerard."
"You, you crazy bastard!"
"You don't need me to tell you that the most natural progression is to immediately execute once you've aimed."
With a sharp snap, Lacrahan's sword flipped to the side, sharpening its edge.
Gerard's shoulders flinched as the cold blade pierced deeper into his neck.
He raised both hands in a hurry.
"Now, wait!"
Gerard, breathing heavily as if he couldn't breathe, was relieved that the sword had stopped.
He then raised his eyes and looked at Lacrahan.
"I have a wish before I die."
Lacrahan lifted his chin as if to ask him to speak.
Suddenly, Gerard's lips curled into a smile.
"I want the Supreme Being right now."
Gerard pulled out the last card he had hidden.
He raised both hands wide, reaching toward the sky.
“Supreme Being! Come to your senses and save me!”
The Emperor’s actions brought a deathly silence to the surroundings.
Everyone looked ahead of Gerard, as if they had made a pact.
“...”
Still, when the Supreme Being didn’t come to his senses, Gerard shouted again in a loud voice.
“Supreme Being! Come!”
Amidst the silence, so quiet that even a single pin drop could be heard, a snicker could be heard.
Gerard looked around with bloodshot eyes, trying to pinpoint the person who had laughed at him.
He didn’t have to search for it.
Bercheria took a step forward and looked at Gerard.
“You still don’t believe it, even with your own eyes.”
Perhaps Gerard was in denial.
“Emperor Gerard. You have failed.”
Gerard shouted, his parched lips trembling, as if in a fit of convulsion.
“What are you saying! Have you lost your mind?”
Bercheria’s gaze slowly scanned the scenery surrounding them.
The Northern Knights, intent on inciting war and trampling upon him, already surrounded their royal guards with victorious expressions.
“This is...”
And in the midst of this chaos, Lacrahan stood there, watching him.
Without doing anything special, he already seemed like an Emperor. His broad shoulders seemed more than capable of carrying the entire empire, and his long legs, firmly planted on the ground, seemed to reflect Lacrahan’s unwavering and upright character.
“That bastard...”
Gerard finally realized clearly.
“Anyway... I can’t win.”
Even if he sacrificed Groovy and sent all his royal guards into the portal, this was a war he could never win.
Gerard felt it deeply, deep in his heart.
“The Supreme Being.”
He had fallen for the enticements of the Supreme Being, who had lost his power, and had willingly entered hellfire.
He had believed he could win if the Supreme Being were on his side.
But that was Gerard’s delusion.
The Supreme Being had merely sought to use Gerard for his own victory.
Just as he had tried to use Groovy.
And that plan failed before it could even be attempted.
“It’s over.”
Gerard closed his eyes, giving up everything.
There was nothing he could accomplish with the helpless knights.
Gerard gritted his teeth and craned his neck.
Then, he turned back to Bercheria, not Lacrahan.
A regret he couldn’t hold onto until the very end.
If he were to die, he wanted to die by Bercheria’s hand, not Lacrahan’s.
He wanted those pale hands to cut off his head.
The mere thought of dying by Lacrahan’s hand was a blow to his pride.
Perhaps he would shine with the same fantastical image he’d seen in books as a child.
“Haa, haa.”
Gerard fixed his eyes on Bercheria, his eyes sparkling with the desire he couldn’t let go of until the very end.
“Bercheria. Kill me. I will die here with honor.”
Bercheria stared at Gerard indifferently, then turned her head with a blank expression.
She wasn’t looking at him, but at Lacrahan.
"No. No! Look at me! Look at me. Bercheria!"
As he began to struggle, the blade Lacrahan had been holding dug deeper.
"Ugh!"
Gerard froze in pain.
The pressure he felt from Lacrahan was making his jaw tremble.
"Damn it."
Hold on.
Yes, it's over anyway. Just hold on for a moment, and this humiliating moment will disappear.
Gerard closed his eyes and watched the past flash by like a kaleidoscope.
Come to think of it, his life wasn't so bad. In fact, it was more than he deserved.
Aside from Bercheria, was there anything he hadn't grasped?
Come to think of it, the pain of death was short compared to what he had gained.
Honestly, it didn't matter who cursed him after death.
That alone gave him a sense of liberation.
A former emperor couldn't continue his miserable life under someone's criticism.
Gerard shouted at the knights of the royal guard staring at him and the people who had gathered before him.
Among them were nobles who treated him like a dog, and there were also a few members of the royal family mixed in.
“Listen carefully! I was the greatest man in the empire, the pinnacle of power! So, let everyone engrave my honorable death deep in their hearts!”
With that final cry, like a will, Gerard closed his eyes.
He spread his arms wide, awaiting his imminent death, but for some reason, he felt nothing.
Had the true god, who felt pity for him, even taken away his pain?
When he lifted his eyelids slightly, Gerard was startled.
Lacrahan was standing there, staring at him, his sword lowered.
“What, what are you doing! What more do you want? Kill me quickly!”
Lacrahan replied with a pitiful sigh.
“For what?”
Gerard’s face crumpled into a grimace.
“What?”
Gerard felt a fear even greater than when he had been told to kill him.
“Ugh, don’t be ridiculous! Kill me quickly, you punk!”
As he leaped to his feet and attempted to lunge at Lacrahan, the Northern Knights rushed forward, binding his arms from both sides.
Lacrahan looked pitifully at Gerard, who was raging, his neck bloodshot, and replied,
"Emperor Gerard. You are not worth killing."
With those words, Gerard felt everything he had built shatter.
"Ugh!"
It was a gruesome ending.
Lacrahan turned his head to face Bercheria.
His black eyes, usually cold and refined, were now fixed on her with warmth.
He threw his sword to the floor and whispered in a relaxed voice,
"Come here, Bercheria."
He raised his hand, and Bercheria's one leg, frozen in place, moved.
For hundreds of years, the two had been unable to bridge this gap, enduring countless trials.
Because of the Supreme Being, Lyone, and countless others, including Gerard, who had intervened between them.
The sacrifices they had to make were too great to live solely on love.
But the two of them did not give up.
Yet, they knew they were perfect for each other.
"Lacrahan."
From the moment she took her first step, she stopped walking. She ran in one stride, leaping into Lacrahan's arms.
It seemed that when people were so dumbfounded, they would lose their words.
Lyone stared blankly at Bercheria and Groovy, her lips parted.
If she wasn't careful, she could be accused of the Empress's murder and locked in a dungeon.
Yet, her lips wouldn't part easily. She couldn't bring herself to declare that the child she'd abandoned was the culprit.
The slightest bit of conscience within her wouldn't allow her lips to part.
"I..."
At that moment, the nearby knights suddenly swarmed around Lyone.
It was their duty to apprehend the Empress's murderer.
When they grabbed Lyone's arms from both sides, she flailed in confusion.
Just then,
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Gerard's voice rang out.
The knights surrounding the Empress suddenly split apart.
Just moments ago, he had been absentmindedly absentmindedly, but now he was staggering toward Bercheria.
“He killed him! I saw it all!”
Gerard’s fingertips were pointing precisely between Groovy and Bercheria.
It wasn’t Lyone, of course.
“What are you doing! Why don’t you arrest them quickly!”
Gerard shouted, and the knights flinched.
They looked at each other, wondering what to do.
The situation before their eyes was pointing to Lyone as the culprit, but the Emperor suddenly ordered them to arrest Bercheria and Groovy, leaving them confused.
“Do these bastards want to die for disobeying orders?”
Gerard shook one of the knights by the hair, and they timidly approached Bercheria.
Bercheria took in the whole scene with a blank expression.
Rumble.
The full moon that had illuminated them now shone faintly, obscured by the gathering dark clouds.
A misty rain began to fall on the shoulders of the royal guards.
Just as they were about to capture Bercheria,
"I think that's enough."
A low voice rang out, and long shadows clung to the knights' backs.
They were Lacrahan and the Knights of the North.
Lacrahan stepped through the fog and approached Gerard.
He looked imposing, almost intimidating.
His knights were no different.
Some were in pajamas, others scantily clad, but their presence was such that even the full-dressed knights could not dare approach them.
"I can't stand your ridiculous antics anymore."
Lacrahan approached Gerard and, without hesitation, placed his long sword against his throat.
"What the...what are you doing!"
Gerard's eyes, which had never experienced such humiliation before, gaped open.
A single vein burst from his bloodshot eyes, staining them red.
Lacrahan held his sword to Gerard's throat, staring down at him with an indifferent gaze.
The arrogant gaze made the tendons in Gerard's neck bulge.
"Do you know who I am to do this? This is treason, you foolish northerner!"
Lacrahan didn't react to the loud voice.
He let Gerard babble for a moment, then spoke in a slow, steady voice.
"Wasn't the war already started?"
"...!"
"In a war, aiming for the enemy general's head is the most basic of basics, Emperor Gerard."
"You, you crazy bastard!"
"You don't need me to tell you that the most natural progression is to immediately execute once you've aimed."
With a sharp snap, Lacrahan's sword flipped to the side, sharpening its edge.
Gerard's shoulders flinched as the cold blade pierced deeper into his neck.
He raised both hands in a hurry.
"Now, wait!"
Gerard, breathing heavily as if he couldn't breathe, was relieved that the sword had stopped.
He then raised his eyes and looked at Lacrahan.
"I have a wish before I die."
Lacrahan lifted his chin as if to ask him to speak.
Suddenly, Gerard's lips curled into a smile.
"I want the Supreme Being right now."
Gerard pulled out the last card he had hidden.
He raised both hands wide, reaching toward the sky.
“Supreme Being! Come to your senses and save me!”
The Emperor’s actions brought a deathly silence to the surroundings.
Everyone looked ahead of Gerard, as if they had made a pact.
“...”
Still, when the Supreme Being didn’t come to his senses, Gerard shouted again in a loud voice.
“Supreme Being! Come!”
Amidst the silence, so quiet that even a single pin drop could be heard, a snicker could be heard.
Gerard looked around with bloodshot eyes, trying to pinpoint the person who had laughed at him.
He didn’t have to search for it.
Bercheria took a step forward and looked at Gerard.
“You still don’t believe it, even with your own eyes.”
Perhaps Gerard was in denial.
“Emperor Gerard. You have failed.”
Gerard shouted, his parched lips trembling, as if in a fit of convulsion.
“What are you saying! Have you lost your mind?”
Bercheria’s gaze slowly scanned the scenery surrounding them.
The Northern Knights, intent on inciting war and trampling upon him, already surrounded their royal guards with victorious expressions.
“This is...”
And in the midst of this chaos, Lacrahan stood there, watching him.
Without doing anything special, he already seemed like an Emperor. His broad shoulders seemed more than capable of carrying the entire empire, and his long legs, firmly planted on the ground, seemed to reflect Lacrahan’s unwavering and upright character.
“That bastard...”
Gerard finally realized clearly.
“Anyway... I can’t win.”
Even if he sacrificed Groovy and sent all his royal guards into the portal, this was a war he could never win.
Gerard felt it deeply, deep in his heart.
“The Supreme Being.”
He had fallen for the enticements of the Supreme Being, who had lost his power, and had willingly entered hellfire.
He had believed he could win if the Supreme Being were on his side.
But that was Gerard’s delusion.
The Supreme Being had merely sought to use Gerard for his own victory.
Just as he had tried to use Groovy.
And that plan failed before it could even be attempted.
“It’s over.”
Gerard closed his eyes, giving up everything.
There was nothing he could accomplish with the helpless knights.
Gerard gritted his teeth and craned his neck.
Then, he turned back to Bercheria, not Lacrahan.
A regret he couldn’t hold onto until the very end.
If he were to die, he wanted to die by Bercheria’s hand, not Lacrahan’s.
He wanted those pale hands to cut off his head.
The mere thought of dying by Lacrahan’s hand was a blow to his pride.
Perhaps he would shine with the same fantastical image he’d seen in books as a child.
“Haa, haa.”
Gerard fixed his eyes on Bercheria, his eyes sparkling with the desire he couldn’t let go of until the very end.
“Bercheria. Kill me. I will die here with honor.”
Bercheria stared at Gerard indifferently, then turned her head with a blank expression.
She wasn’t looking at him, but at Lacrahan.
"No. No! Look at me! Look at me. Bercheria!"
As he began to struggle, the blade Lacrahan had been holding dug deeper.
"Ugh!"
Gerard froze in pain.
The pressure he felt from Lacrahan was making his jaw tremble.
"Damn it."
Hold on.
Yes, it's over anyway. Just hold on for a moment, and this humiliating moment will disappear.
Gerard closed his eyes and watched the past flash by like a kaleidoscope.
Come to think of it, his life wasn't so bad. In fact, it was more than he deserved.
Aside from Bercheria, was there anything he hadn't grasped?
Come to think of it, the pain of death was short compared to what he had gained.
Honestly, it didn't matter who cursed him after death.
That alone gave him a sense of liberation.
A former emperor couldn't continue his miserable life under someone's criticism.
Gerard shouted at the knights of the royal guard staring at him and the people who had gathered before him.
Among them were nobles who treated him like a dog, and there were also a few members of the royal family mixed in.
“Listen carefully! I was the greatest man in the empire, the pinnacle of power! So, let everyone engrave my honorable death deep in their hearts!”
With that final cry, like a will, Gerard closed his eyes.
He spread his arms wide, awaiting his imminent death, but for some reason, he felt nothing.
Had the true god, who felt pity for him, even taken away his pain?
When he lifted his eyelids slightly, Gerard was startled.
Lacrahan was standing there, staring at him, his sword lowered.
“What, what are you doing! What more do you want? Kill me quickly!”
Lacrahan replied with a pitiful sigh.
“For what?”
Gerard’s face crumpled into a grimace.
“What?”
Gerard felt a fear even greater than when he had been told to kill him.
“Ugh, don’t be ridiculous! Kill me quickly, you punk!”
As he leaped to his feet and attempted to lunge at Lacrahan, the Northern Knights rushed forward, binding his arms from both sides.
Lacrahan looked pitifully at Gerard, who was raging, his neck bloodshot, and replied,
"Emperor Gerard. You are not worth killing."
With those words, Gerard felt everything he had built shatter.
"Ugh!"
It was a gruesome ending.
Lacrahan turned his head to face Bercheria.
His black eyes, usually cold and refined, were now fixed on her with warmth.
He threw his sword to the floor and whispered in a relaxed voice,
"Come here, Bercheria."
He raised his hand, and Bercheria's one leg, frozen in place, moved.
For hundreds of years, the two had been unable to bridge this gap, enduring countless trials.
Because of the Supreme Being, Lyone, and countless others, including Gerard, who had intervened between them.
The sacrifices they had to make were too great to live solely on love.
But the two of them did not give up.
Yet, they knew they were perfect for each other.
"Lacrahan."
From the moment she took her first step, she stopped walking. She ran in one stride, leaping into Lacrahan's arms.
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