Ch 439: In This Fire, The Bloated, Rotting Empire Shall Be Kindling

“Williams!”

Anyamams’ roar had barely left his mouth when Williams’ blade descended. It’s said his family’s dao are ancestral heirlooms—incredibly sharp. With one strike, Anyamams was completely bewildered.

“You’re still alive?”

Bal looked at Williams with some doubt, cautiously approaching to touch him. As warmth registered on his fingertips, Bal confirmed the man before him was alive, not some ghost.

“I wouldn’t die so easily. As Emperor, I know those nobles’ routines all too well.”

Williams wiped the bloodstains from his long dao, then walked to Kosidomus, who had been reduced to a human stick, and looked down at the old man.

“Oh, old thing, do you recognize me?”

Kosidomus, whose life was maintained by Phia’s magic, widened his eyes. The familiar man before him filled him with fear.

“Wi…Williams!”

“Seems your brain isn’t damaged yet; you still recognize me. That’s good.”

Williams plunged his long dao into the floor, then crouched down, approaching Kosidomus.

“Old man, don’t think that just because you’re a human stick I’ll be merciful. Your time is over.”

“Why…why aren’t you dead…?”

Kosidomus kept repeating this phrase; he seemed to deeply resent Williams being alive.

“Oh? So curious? Then, I, as Emperor, will magnanimously tell you, old man.”

Williams stood up, looking at Bal and the others.

“Before that, you should go back. The siege should be ending soon, and angry citizens will surely storm in. If they find me with you, they’ll be suspicious.”

“And you?”

Ems asked Williams. For the first time in front of Bal and the others, Williams showed a kind smile. It turned out that even the Emperor’s smile was like that of an ordinary person.

“I’ll have a little chat with Kosidomus here. He wants to know some things, and if I don’t tell him, I’m afraid he’ll haunt my dreams. Let’s just give him the full story. Go ahead, I’ll disguise myself as a commoner and meet you later.”

“Good.”

The others approached Phia, who immediately unfolded a teleportation formation at their feet. As the familiar white light engulfed them, Ems and Grey seemed to remember something; they turned sharply to look at Williams, but only saw him standing there, mouthing his farewell.

After seeing them off, Williams walked to the throne and activated a magic item, then returned to Kosidomus and sat on the ground.

“Old man, let me tell you. Remember you sent someone to hide in a painting to assassinate me? You think your petty tricks would escape me? I killed that assassin, but I didn’t hand the body over to anyone. I hid it—didn’t expect that, did you? Later, other assassins you sent were discovered by me while I was chatting with Phia. I sent Phia away and pretended to sleep. I have to say your subordinates are truly useless. The assassin, seeing me pretending to be asleep, boldly appeared beside me. You should know what happened next. Since I was faking sleep, of course, I killed him. I changed into the assassin’s clothes and placed the prepared corpse on the bed, using a mask to disguise myself as me. That’s how my feigned death succeeded.”

Having said this, Williams stood up, walked to a pillar with a lit oil lamp, took it down, and placed it by the Great Hall’s window. The lamp quickly ignited the curtains; flames erupted instantly. Seeing the flames, Williams sat back down beside Kosidomus.

“Later, I pretended to be the assassin and reported my death to you. To be honest, telling them I was dead felt strange. But for the plan’s success, it didn’t matter. You, old fool, were genuinely happy to hear of my death. What? My life interfered with your wealth and power? It seems so. Then, fine. After that, I’ve been lurking by your side, recording everything you and your incompetent lackeys did, which I gave to Marquez, the owner of the Underground Newspaper. Once this war is over, your crimes will be exposed to everyone in the country; your accomplices will be in trouble.”

The flames spread rapidly. While Williams spoke, the initial spark had engulfed the entire Great Hall.

“Old man, are you satisfied?”

Williams looked at Kosidomus, whose eyes were full of regret—after all, he was about to die.

“Do you know what this fire means?”

“……What?”

“It means the bloated and corrupt Empire will become fuel in this fire. After this fire burns out, a new country belonging to the people will be rebuilt on these wicked ruins. They will cleanse this nation of corruption, illuminating all its darkness; then they will establish an honest and upright government belonging to the people. This country will no longer have nobles oppressing the people, no more shadows.”

The fire burned stronger, soon enveloping both men. Williams showed no concern for the heat or poisonous smoke; the sharpness in his eyes was gone, replaced by hope for the future.

“My death here means you didn’t bury me, which will expose all your evils. I am an emperor of the old era, unfit for a nation belonging to the people. Therefore, I must die here, leaving with everything of the past.”

Williams pulled out the long dao from the ground. The handle was burning hot, but Williams felt no pain. He raised the long dao high, piercing Kosidomus’ heart with the sharp blade, piercing the old era and the nobles along with it.

After killing Kosidomus, Williams sat back down. The lack of oxygen from the fire clouded his vision.

“I really… I really wanted to see tomorrow’s… sunrise… the new country… it will surely… be like that rising sun… unfortunately… I don’t have the right… to see the sun again…”

The fire consumed everything.

————

After being teleported back to the tent by Phia, Ems and Grey frantically demanded she take them back.

“Phia, teleport us back! Williams is going to kill himself!”

“What?”

“No time to explain, hurry!”

“Oh, okay!”

Phia deployed the teleportation formation again; the white light engulfed them, but the next second they were back in the same place.

“What happened?!”

Ems looked around in terror, then questioningly at Phia. Phia had never encountered this before. After a moment’s thought, she reached a conclusion.

“The Royal Palace is protected by a powerful barrier; I can’t teleport inside!”

“What?!”

Ems ran out of the tent without hesitation, running towards the Imperial Capital’s Royal Palace. Grey, Bal, and Phia followed, Phia using anti-gravity magic to fly them towards the palace.

“Faster! Faster!”

Ems urged Phia anxiously, but she was already depleted from using so much magic; her magic could only maintain their current speed.

“I can’t go any faster.”

“Damn it!”

Then, Grey pointed towards the palace; flames were erupting from the Great Hall.

“Water! Use water to put out the fire!”

“Tsk… let’s do this! Bal, lend me your magic!”

Phia pressed her hand against Bal’s heart, absorbing his magic. Soon, she had enough to create a rain-summoning spell. Omitting all chanting, a rain cloud formed above the Great Hall, and a torrential downpour immediately engulfed the entire palace. But…

“There’s a barrier! The rain can’t put out the fire!”

“Damn it… damn it!”

Ems landed on a rooftop, kneeling and pounding the ground with his fists.

“You… incompetent brother!”

————

The siege was over; the rebellion succeeded. But Ems had forever lost an important family member, someone most precious to him.