Kays Translations

Chapter 117: Nightmare

―― Four years later.

“Lucius, Crane is calling you.”

Lucius was called by Shaolia, the brigade leader.

“Got it.”

At 18 years old, Lucius’ body was covered in countless scars, a testament to the life he had led.

Walking through a dense forest, he arrived at a few tents in the shade of the trees.

Inside the central tent were several humans and dwarves. He spoke to a particularly busy man.

“Commander Karan. What’s the target?”

“You never change, do you? I’m no longer a commander, just another member of the resistance. And you’re the leader now.”

“I know.”

That day.

After the battle later known as the War of Falling Light, the kingdom was changed forever.

In just one week, three of the four provinces, excluding the western region, fell to the Empire.

The Western nobility, specifically the West-Windsor family, collaborated with the Empire, agreeing to become its vassal state.

However, Dion, the head of the family, was replaced by the Empire within two years, and Adelaide, who had been dethroned, was quickly assassinated by people related to the western nobles whom she had abandoned.

The western nobles who sided with Adelaide couldn’t keep up with the Empire’s brutal meritocracy, and most were sent to the mines. They mistook the benefits of their positions and power for their own abilities.

Now, they are nothing but fools who were manipulated by the War Emperor.

According to Karan, it’s likely that the south also aligned with the Empire but was betrayed at the last minute.

Lucius wasn’t the only one who lost everything—family, friends, acquaintances, and home. Everyone here had suffered the same fate.

Crane of the Orléans family, who was intently studying a map, had survived the Empire’s invasion thanks to his father, Rathos, who sacrificed himself.

But his wife, Fagra, was captured by the Empire, as he tearfully recounted.

“Lucius, we’ve decoded the message. The breeding facility where the women taken from the north are held is Breeding Facility No. 43.”

“Finally.”

He pointed to a spot far from the Imperial capital, in a place surrounded by mountains and forests—ideal for stealth operations.

His mother and sister were likely taken there.

Initially, they conducted guerrilla attacks on the Imperial forces but soon abandoned this approach due to dwindling numbers.

The disparity in power was too great. Only a handful of elite survived.

They gave up on reclaiming the kingdom from the Empire and shifted their focus to rescuing comrades taken as breeding stock for the beast soldiers.

As they were poring over the map, the tent’s door burst open. Paul, his childhood friend, came running in.

“Lucius nii-chan! Big trouble!”

Paul’s twin, Kiel, who had miraculously survived the capital, was no longer with them. Two years ago, Kiel died sacrificing himself to help Lucius escape from the Imperial soldiers.

Since then, Paul began seeing his brother in Lucius, calling him “Big Brother Lucius.” Despite being told to stop, Paul stubbornly continued.

“What happened?”

Paul’s face was pale.

“The Pandora Federation… they’ve completed the Typhon-class.”

Crane and Lucius exchanged glances.

“They’ve completed the Typhon, following the Hecatoncheires and Titan classes. The legendary King Xenon’s weapon. They’ve finally shared their secret techniques.”

“The Empire’s pressure must have been intense enough to force the country to unite. Unlike our kingdom, they managed to do it. The Republic is also rigorously sealing its borders.”

Lucius looked at the map with a self-mocking smile.

“We’re heading out now.”

“Now!?”

Commander Karan exclaimed in surprise.

“If Pandora has mobilized its forces, the War Emperor and the main troops, including the Three Generals, must be heading out. They might leave a few to defend the capital, but the breeding facility is far from the capital. Now is our chance.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Departure in ten minutes. Time is of the essence.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

Lucius left the tent, designated as the operations base, and entered a small tent nearby.

“Lucius?”

Lauren, who spoke up, had both her eyes covered with an eyepatch. On that day, she was blinded by the Imperial soldiers.

“Yes, Lauren. I’m going a bit far.”

“…I see.”

Lauren’s voice was tinged with sadness, and her belly was large with their child.

During their life on the run, Lucius married Lauren, who had always been by his side. The wedding was a small affair in an abandoned village, but he still remembered her joyful smile.

The northern chief’s daughter, Olivia, had been missing since that day. She probably fought to the end and died.

“Lucius, please come back soon. For this child and me.”

“Yes, I promise. No matter what happens, I will return. To you and our child.”

Lucius kissed Lauren.

Two days later, Lucius and about 20 infiltrators were inside the Empire.

“There it is.”

Through the trees, they saw a massive structure made of something like concrete, typical of the Empire. Shaolia, standing beside him, looked tense.

“The guards are indeed few.”

Only the four-member execution team was there: Lucius, Shaolia, Crane, and Karan. They exchanged glances.

“Let’s go.”

The four of them crept towards the building under the cover of dusk, cutting down a few guards along the way, and entered.

“…This is horrible.”

It was a place far removed from humanity. Numerous women were placed in glass cases, naked and floating in liquid.

They were lined up on shelves that reached the high ceiling, like warehouse goods.

“…Let’s move on.”

Hiding in the shadows, they explored the interior and found a glowing monitor, likely an operating terminal.

As they approached, researchers appeared.

“Discard numbers 347 to 492.”

“Again?”

“It can’t be helped. Producing large species like trolls wears them out quickly, unlike goblins.”

“But we can’t meet the frontline demand.”

“Stop whining. Think about how we can serve His Majesty.”

“True.”

Lucius clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

“Calm down.”

Crane placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry.”

Once the researchers left, Crane rushed to the terminal and began operating it.

“Can you do it?”

“Probably. Most of this equipment is reused relics.”

After some time, Crane froze.

“They’re… in Sector 8…”

Tears streamed down Crane’s face.

“Fagra… it’s too late… ugh.”

Lucius hugged his sobbing friend.

“I’m sorry. I was too late.”

Crane, crying, could only shake his head. But they couldn’t stay like this forever.

“Let’s go…”

Supporting Crane, Lucius and the others quickly ascended the stairs and entered the 8th section. The internal structure was all too familiar.

Where are they?

There were only labels, no names. To the Empire, these were no longer considered people.

The desire to find them and the dread of witnessing the horrific sights ahead both weighed heavily on Lucius.

At that moment, red hair drifted within one of the glass containers.

“Iris…”

The once hopeful eyes were now vacant, devoid of consciousness.

Lucius immediately used his treasured sword to shatter the glass. As the fluid poured out, he forcefully tore off the attached tubes.

“Iris! Iris! It’s me, your brother Lucius! Do you recognize me!?”

Iris’s eyes stared blankly into the void.

Four years—it was too long. The prolonged torment had shattered her mind.

As Lucius held Iris, he scanned the surroundings.

Familiar faces appeared.

His mother and the maid Matilda, now unrecognizable. His once cheerful mother, and kind Matilda…

“Agh… Ahhh…”

Lucius suppressed a scream.

It had all been taken away.

If only the Empire hadn’t come, if only the West hadn’t betrayed them.

Above all…

If only I had been stronger…

They would still be smiling.

Even now.

Lucius pounded the ground repeatedly.

He continued until his hands bled.

There was no other way to release his overwhelming emotions.

“Let’s go.”

Shaolia gently stopped Lucius’s bloodied hand.

“…Yes.”

He wanted to save everyone here.

But he didn’t know how to heal them. This mission was primarily about securing samples. Lucius’s connection to the individuals led them to be prioritized.

Carrying the three who had lost their sanity, Lucius, Shaolia, Crane, and Karan exited the building.

Night had fully fallen, and the area was bathed in moonlight.

“We need to rendezvous with the infiltration team waiting outside.”

Leaving the entrance, they quickly blended into the darkness and headed deep into the forest.

The seven of them made their way deeper, hiding among the trees.

“Something’s wrong. The scouting team should be here.”

“I’ll go ahead and check.”

Karan, the only one not carrying anyone, ventured into the forest alone.

About 30 minutes after Karan disappeared into the night, a scream echoed through the forest.

“No! Lucius! Don’t come here!”

It was Karan’s voice.

Carrying Iris, Lucius ran towards the source of the voice.

Towards the grassland where the 20-member infiltration team was supposed to be waiting.

He burst through the thicket, revealing a scene of devastation.

The entire infiltration team had been annihilated.

Flames rose from the tents, and comrades lay sprawled everywhere.

Among them was his childhood friend Paul.

Only Karan remained alive.

But a sword was deeply embedded in his chest, making it clear it was too late.

Before Karan, holding the sword, stood a man with golden eyes and golden hair, a figure straight out of a heroic painting.

“The War Emperor… why are you here…”

The War Emperor Benedict casually swung his bloodstained sword, sending Karan flying.

It was an unusual weapon.

A twin-blade, a massive sword with blades on both sides.

“Lucius. I’ve come to get you.”

Lucius, while glancing at the fallen Karan and Paul, faced the War Emperor, shielding Shaolia and Crane.

“…It was a trap. The story about Pandora creating Typhon-class units.”

“No, it’s true. But I didn’t go. I stayed in the Empire waiting for you.”

“Are you saying you guys can defeat Pandora without you, the War Emperor?”

Lucius gently laid the lifeless Iris on the ground.

“I never intended to defeat Pandora. My goal was to get them to create the Typhon-class.”

“……”

Manifesting Chiyou, Lucius immediately struck.

The War Emperor blocked the blow with his sword.

In their past encounter in the East, Lucius’s strikes hadn’t even grazed him, but now the War Emperor had to parry.

“Your swordsmanship has improved.”

For four years, he had endured and endured.

Next, Lucius created a magic spear and swung with his left hand.

The War Emperor blocked it with the other side of his twin-blade.

“Your spear skills are impressive too.”

“You… what do you want!?”

The War Emperor kept his smile.

“You will soon understand. Everyone in this world will remember who the true master of this ephemeral realm is.”

Determined not to be swayed by the War Emperor’s words, Lucius raised his right hand.

“Come, Andras!”

A black eagle emerged from the shadows behind the War Emperor. As it attempted to engulf him, the War Emperor sliced the eagle in two with his sword.

“Come, Anara!”

At Lucius’s command, a magic circle formed behind him, and flames erupted, filling the area.

“Your spellcraft has improved. Quite significantly.”

The War Emperor’s voice came from within the flames.

“But that is all.”

A slashing attack from within the flames deeply cut into Lucius’s right thigh.

His leg gave out, and he fell to the ground.

Looking up immediately, he saw the War Emperor already preparing for the next strike.

—There’s no way to dodge

He quickly covered his face with his sword.

The sound of flesh being torn and the sight of blood splattering followed.

“Brigade…. Commander… Shaolia…?”

Shaolia had taken the blow meant for Lucius, the War Emperor’s blade buried deep in her chest. Even the White Demon could not withstand such a wound.

“You are… hope…”

Shaolia, smiling, lost all vitality.

“You intended to replace the lost evil dragon with fire and darkness, but hastily contracting with a first-class gun monster and an incantation spirit is no different from having nothing.”

The War Emperor readied his sword again. At that moment, a loud voice rang out.

“Run! If you die, Lucius, it’s all over!”

A spherical magic projectile thrown by Crane exploded.

“Crane! Stop!”

Ignoring Lucius’s words, Crane continued to throw magic projectiles. The War Emperor’s expression didn’t change as he swiftly approached and cut down Crane.

Crane lay on the ground, his mouth moving silently.

“Before coming here, I eliminated the entire main force of the resistance… You are the only survivor.”

Lauren’s face, carrying his child, flashed before Lucius’s eyes.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump

His chest hurt.

His heart pounded so fast it felt like it would burst.

“Ugh, ugh, gah…”

Lucius vomited everything in his stomach.

Drool dripping from his mouth, he glared at the War Emperor.

“War Emperor! You, I will never forgive you!”

“I never expected forgiveness. No matter how many sins I bear, no matter how much future generations scorn me, it matters not. It’s all for the sake of humanity.”

“For humanity? Don’t make me laugh!”

Dragging his immobile leg, Lucius gripped his sword tightly.

At that moment, the sky cracked.

Not metaphorically.

Literally, the sky split.

A part of the sky peeled away.

It was a massive rock.

“The end of this illusion-filled paradise has come.”

Through the hole created by the collapse, a sun could be seen.

“The sun…”

Despite it being night, there was a sun.

Suddenly, the sun was obscured, and darkness covered the world once more. Through the rift in the sky, something massive and red moved across.

—What is that red thing

For a brief moment, sunlight shone through, then it was blocked again.

There it was.

A giant eye peered into the world.

It was a curious and sadistic eye, like a child observing a fish tank.

The pressure of magic power was unlike anything Lucius had ever felt.

It was cold, hot, and intense, far beyond the power of the evil dragon or Chiyou.

“That… is”

“The master of the world has arrived.”

The War Emperor glanced at Lucius.

“That day, I saw potential in you. The potential to surpass me, to rise to the highest heights and defeat the master of the world. But—”

The War Emperor pointed his sword at Lucius.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed. You cling only to what you see and ignore the world. Thus, you are left behind.”

Lucius couldn’t understand any of it.

“Even so, you are still an exceptional talent. A talent who can endure any mental pain. With the essence of you, a quadruple choral grand magician, I will face the master of the world.”

Lucius and the War Emperor locked eyes.

“So, die.”

The War Emperor’s blade pierced Lucius’s heart.

Everything was engulfed in darkness.

—How did it come to this?

I wanted the people around me to be happy. And I wanted to be happy too.

To be called by name, to be needed by someone.

I only wanted a life where I could hold such simple happiness.

To break free from my past life.

But.

What awaited at the end of this life was the reality that I couldn’t save a single person.

—Because I was… too weak.

I thought I sought power. In my own way.

I crossed the line of death many times and kept training.

But the dimension the War Emperor perceived was different.

The power to defeat monsters that appeared on the outskirts of the village and the power to defeat monsters that could swallow the world were incomparable.

Strategy, tactics, combat skills.

I was outmatched in everything.

If there’s another life.

—I want power.

No matter how much I have to sacrifice myself.

The power to regain everything I’ve lost.

—I want power!!

Suddenly, Lucius’s pitch-black vision was filled with a red light.

Then, the body he thought he had lost began to send intense pulses to his brain through his nerves.

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”

Sweat poured from his entire body.

“What’s wrong? All of a sudden?”

Turning to the familiar voice, he saw Melania and the people of Kyrgyzstan behind him. He wondered why the girl, who should have been dead, was there.

The ground around him was heated by magma.

“Is this… the tower…?”

It was a terribly nostalgic place. He had visited several times to break the seal of the evil dragon, but the strict security had kept him away. He felt the presence of knights driving them away from behind. He knew this situation. There was no way he could forget.

—Have I returned… to four years ago?

Or could it be that everything I saw until now was an illusion?

“No… that can’t be.”

He remembered clearly.

All the painful memories, all the happy ones.

His father Robel’s death.

The vacant eyes of his rescued mother Emily and the others.

The feel of Lauren’s lips against his.

And the movement of their child growing in her womb.

He could remember everything.

“Master… has returned.”

The puppet Sol rubbed against Lucius.

‘To return on the first try, unexpected.’

The red light flickered in his eyes, and as he looked ahead, he saw the Fairy King smiling.

There was no doubt.

The nightmare was shown by the red fairy in front of him.

A radiant being with twelve wings.

“What are you? Are you not the Fairy King?”

“I am the pinnacle of all gun monsters. I am the king of the fairy race and the sovereign of all gun monster species.’

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