I Became the Father of a Degenerate Emperor

Episode 30. I need your help now.

Episode 30. I need your help now.

The Imperial Palace gymnasium where only the quiet moonlight was cast.

There, someone was brandishing a large sword alone with his shirt off.

His identity is Max Crawford. He was the leader of the Imperial Knights of the Kratus Empire.

Wheek! Boooung-

The power of the wield was so strong that the roar of the fierce gongs could be heard like the screams of frightened air.

The massive sword body that broke through the limits of speed looked as if it had multiple blades.

Blood was oozing from the pure white bandage that was wrapped around the abdomen.

But that scar was not the root cause of the pensiveness on his face.

Perhaps it was anxiety created by multiple causes.

It was because there were more than one concern in my heart.

One of them was the security issue of the imperial palace, which had become a mess.

The number of guards was sorely lacking, and even they were busy dozing off at night.

While he was imprisoned in the dungeon, the imperial family’s discipline had literally turned to dog sh*t.

The absence of the head of the Guard was also one of the items that needed to be dealt with quickly.

But that wasn’t such a big deal to Max.

If you’re a person, you just have to pick them up again, and if you’re disciplined, you’re going to catch them right away as soon as the day dawns.

Even before coming to the gymnasium, I was on my way to go around the imperial palace in preparation for any unexpected accidents.

The guards were firmly threatened that if they fell asleep, they would die.

I was still anxious, so I had all the imperial knights stationed throughout the palace, so I should be relieved tonight.

Sasasasak-

Max seems to be engrossed in training, moving his feet quickly and wielding his greatsword more and more fiercely.

Perhaps it’s because of the sword-mura spreading out under the moonlight, it looked so exciting and cool.

The heavy blade of the sword, which moved quickly, sparkled in the moonlight, scattering blue curves in all directions.

So it was as if he was cutting through the darkness.

Briskly moving footprints were also ardently showing off their agility as they smoked dust.

But if the Sword Master saw him now, he couldn’t help but notice the hesitation that crept into every move.

It was because various thoughts that did not leave his mind were constantly tormenting Max’s mind.

The most intense among them was the end of Domtar.

In fact, the moment Max met him, he could clearly understand.

‘You are definitely stronger than me. If you stick, you will definitely lose. It goes on though. It’s over the limit!’

He was the one who calmed down his trembling thoughts and tightly gripped the handle of his great sword.

Of course, it didn’t take long for his determination to risk his life to fade.

Before he could do anything, it was because Domtar’s head exploded all at once.

Just before the pointless death of a formidable enemy, Max sensed a strange feeling.

Something like an arrow that pierced his own aura.

Because the density of the aura wasn’t that high, it shouldn’t have been difficult to pierce it.

However, it was truly unbelievable that the speed did not decrease at all while flying through it.

Moreover, he couldn’t get rid of the feeling of being strange because he couldn’t see it and couldn’t hear it at all.

Retracing the trajectory of the flight, the emperor was standing with a bow without a string.

At the time, I didn’t feel anything because I didn’t have a sense of reality.

But now, belatedly, the events of that moment kept coming back to me.

Perhaps it was something that didn’t really feel real, so it took some time to sort it out.

Anyway, those thoughts kept popping up, and at the same time, anxiety began to creep in.

The scene of the emperor being strangled in the dungeon naturally came to mind, and the harsh words spoken to him came to mind as well.

‘If Lux had at least kept the incident in his heart… ….’

With such a strange bow, you never know if he will snip at you anytime, anywhere.

Of course, now that I think about it, I thought it was a bit excessive.

However, it seemed plausible enough for him, who was betrayed by the emperor overnight and spent five years in prison.

Hook!

After driving the huge blade deep into the ground, Max spoke to himself with an uneasy look on his face.

“Ah, but it’s the emperor, are you sure you want to come and kill me now? Has mine done such a terrible thing? Besides, he swore an oath of allegiance again, and stood in the vanguard to drive out the barbarians. So there’s no way you’re going to be petty with things from the past.”

When that conclusion was reached, the hardened expression slightly softened.

“Rather than that, where the hell did all those things come from all of a sudden?”

A bow without a string and a thick book from which objects can be taken out.

I didn’t show it, but it was so mysterious that I wanted to take a look at it just once.

“Besides, what about that strange snake?”

The snake he mentioned was referring to the Slayer Temple.

Certainly not an ordinary snake.

Just by facing it, the instinct as a knight fiercely awakened the senses of the whole body.

At any moment, rush in and do your best to kill them.

What was more unbelievable than the truth was the battle with the barbarians.

Max led his entire army and continued to push forward, wiping out the barbarians.

Then, when he reached the rear of the savages, he saw numerous corpses covering the ground.

I couldn’t even fathom how many there were.

That’s why so many people died without even knowing mice or birds.

The corpses were scattered randomly, each with a terrified face as if they had seen something they couldn’t see.

All of them had a hole in the left chest.

So at that time, I wondered if I was attacked by a group of heart-eating monsters.

But to raid savages of that level, you would have had to assemble a fairly large group, but I had never heard of such a thing before.

In any case, the logic of the battlefield was that the enemy of an enemy was no different from a friend.

Thanks that the unknown enemy did not attack his allies, Max hastened to return.

“I can’t believe that I came out of the dungeon after 5 years. Could it be that it wasn’t all a dream?”

After a while, Max let out a sigh and drew his greatsword again, his face turning displeased.

It was because of the pain I felt in my stomach.

“The injury has no sign of getting better, so that’s a big deal.”

It was a wound inflicted by a man who was quite the emperor and close friend.

It was such an injury that the feeling of betrayal tearing my heart was more painful than the pain of having my bones and flesh ripped out.

Max put his greatsword over his shoulder and carefully touched his abdomen.

My fingertips were moistened by the blood that seeped out.

Of course, he was well aware of the cause of the wound not healing.

‘Perhaps it’s because Lux’s aura permeated the wound. So as long as I don’t get over him, it will never get better.’

Max slowly turned his head to look east.

“The Lux I know will try to attack the Kingdom of Marinene before long.”

Even right before he went mad, the emperor was planning to conquer the Kingdom of Marine.

The kingdom of Marinene.

It was a kingdom located to the east of the Kratus Empire.

In the eastern part of the empire, there was a type of Mediterranean called the Pasus Sea.

It was also called the ‘God’s Footprint’ because the ‘Colossus Emantar’ was created by stepping on the edge of the continent.

Large and small kingdoms were clustered around the vast sea area, but the Marine Kingdom was the one closest to the Empire.

In addition, it had a very large territory for a kingdom and even possessed a powerful navy.

Especially at the entrance of the sea area, the Empire was blocking the advance of the sea, and because of that, it was a place that was especially regarded as a thorn in the eye.

Even if we can reach the Pasus Sea, the empire will be able to resume trade through sea routes.

So, if the emperor was in his right mind, he would have tried to solve that problem first.

But again, it wasn’t that easy.

The Kingdom of Marine was the loser of Pasus, who practically ruled the entire Pasus Sea area based on its very strong naval power.

That’s why the amount of money earned from maritime trade is beyond imagination.

They hired mercenaries based on their enormous financial power, or made deals by lowering tariffs to move other countries’ armies.

It was the same when the Kratus Empire invaded the Kingdom of Marine in the past.

At that time, it was not enough that Marinene hired several sword masters, and it received enormous military aid from almost all neighboring countries.

At that time, Kratus’ power was only the emperor Kratus III, the crown prince Lux, the imperial knights, and 20,000 elite soldiers.

Of course, there were several sword masters, so even that alone was on a scale that a normal kingdom could never stop.

However, the level of troops prepared by the Kingdom of Marine was beyond imagination.

Three hundred thousand.

It was fifteen times as large. Perhaps in Marine, he would have paid an exorbitant amount of money.

The Imperial Army, who did not expect such a large army at all, tried to end the war quickly, but was eventually surrounded and on the brink of annihilation.

The memory of that time was still vivid in Max’s mind.

Everywhere on the battlefield, corpses were piled up layer by layer, and the thick smell of blood and terrifying groans shook the heavens and earth.

Blood splattered every time I took a step, and no matter how many times I cut, the enemy soldiers continued to come.

The sword masters employed by Marine were kept at a distance behind the soldiers being pulverized.

I was waiting for the Imperial Sword Masters to run out of mana.

In the end, the war ended in a devastating defeat, and as a result, Kratus III and the Imperial Knight Commander passed away.

The two sacrificed their lives for the future of Kratus.

At that time, when I thought of that moment, Max was still angry.

“If His Majesty and the Knight Commander hadn’t made a decision, Lux and I would both have died.”

After the first defeat of his life.

His friend, who had been depressed after the death of his father, ascended to the throne after long deliberation.

It was probably around that time that Lux and Estill started to use respectful words for each other.

Anyway, the priority now was to recover from the body as quickly as possible.

It was because they did not know when the emperor would set out for Marine.

I was sure to hurry.

That’s because the trade blockade was an urgent task to be solved.

Anyway, what he had to do was to become the emperor’s sharpest sword in a moment of crisis.

That’s why Max continued to swing his sword until dawn broke.

In order to overcome Lux’s aura that burrowed into the wound, it was because there was no other answer but to move forward.

Extreme pain came over me with every swing.

But all human potential was only sharpened when faced with hardships.

Only pain and patience can raise the level.

So I swung my sword nonstop until I fell into a trance.

Then, at some point, I felt someone’s presence, so I looked back and saw the emperor approaching from afar.

The Emperor’s appearance up close was unbelievably changed.

“The Commander of the Knights.”

The way he walks, his voice, and even his expression.

Everything has changed.

Moreover, even though it was insignificant, I could feel the energy of mana.

“Lux?”

I even tried calling him by name to see if it was someone he really knew.

The emperor looks at himself with a gentle face.

It was exactly the same atmosphere as my close friend on the verge of going crazy.

“Your Majesty. Has the paralysis been completely detoxified?”

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a big improvement.”

“I see.”

Uplifted by the unexpected news, Max smiled brightly.

“It is very fortunate, Your Majesty!”

Max was genuinely happy.

“By the way, why did you come here?”

“I found it by chance while passing by. Also, I have a few favors to ask of you.”

“Please tell me.”

At that moment, the emperor’s gaze turned to Max’s abdomen.

I found a bloody bandage.

“Nothing to worry about. Please get down quickly.”

The emperor, who had been inactive for a long time, carefully took his luck.

“I want you to run a difficult errand.”

Max replied with bright eyes as if he would do anything.

“Just say the word.”

“Go to Quinodon and tell the Dragon Lord some words.”

Hearing that, Max’s expression instantly turned into shock and confusion.

“Quinodon…… Besides, Dragon Lord…….”

Quinodon.

That was the name of a steep rocky mountain.

It was also a place where close to a thousand dragons lived, and it was a rough terrain where no one except dragons was allowed to approach.

In the past, a sword master once set foot there to test his might.

Breath and magic baptism rained down on his face as he boasted, and the proud man turned to ashes on the spot.

It was a very famous anecdote that everyone across the continent did not know about.

So, telling them to go there was no different than telling them to commit suicide.

In fact, at the bar, excited mercenaries exchanged such words instead of swear words.

– A bastard who will walk into quinodon with his feet.

It was like that.

Tears welled up in Max’s eyes before he knew it.

“Why are you giving such an order? I am ready to give my life for you. But to throw away one’s life in a place that is not even a battlefield is unacceptable.”

Was it this?

Was facing such an empty death the price of pledging allegiance once again?

I felt very unfair because of that thought, and that is why tears came out.

At that moment, the incident in the dungeon came to Max’s mind.

As soon as I discovered and sensed the other person’s stupidity, the short tongue also came out.

“No way, are you doing this with what happened in the dungeon? Are you going to avenge that? How can you be so petty? Are you really the Lux I know?”

Max’s eyes were full of resentment as he looked at the emperor. It was because he felt that he had been betrayed not once, but twice.

I sure did.

The next moment, Max couldn’t help but be surprised again.

It was because the emperor smiled brightly.

It looked like it wasn’t much different from when he was in the academy.

It was exactly the same expression when he reached out to Jin himself in Dalian.

The words that followed were even more unbelievable.

“Max, I plan to conquer the kingdom of Marinene soon. Asking you is absolutely necessary for him, and it is difficult to find a more suitable person than you in the Empire. So will you please help me?”