* * *
Amidst the fierce winds, the Emperor’s enraged voice thundered as the Duke blocked his extended scepter.
“Captain of the Guard! Minister of Finance! High Priest!”
The Emperor, whose body was marred with black spots, desperately called for those he believed should protect him.
But no one answered.
His face contorted in disbelief.
Unable to rise from his throne, the Emperor glared at the Duke.
“This is all your fault! The power of the Golden Dragon that should have come to me! Its blood and its blessings—everything! You took it all, leaving me—!”
The Emperor’s roar, like a beast’s howl, was nothing more than a hollow outcry.
A futile eruption of his own vile inferiority and pathetic resentment, unheard and unheeded by anyone.
“No, this isn’t my fault. It’s entirely because your capacity was too small and insufficient,” the Duke replied coldly.
“Say that again! You treacherous Duke! Now you’re spewing the kind of nonsense even common worms in the marketplace wouldn’t dare to utter?”
Despite the Duke’s precise rebuke, the Emperor’s thoughts lingered only on the perceived lack of deference in his words.
Enraged, the Emperor leaped from his throne.
Even with his power restrained, the Duke had the ability to pierce the Emperor’s heart in a single strike.
However, he couldn’t ignore the political ramifications.
More importantly, he refused to set such an example of violence in front of Ed and the child.
Gripping the lengthened scepter, the Duke pulled it toward himself and spoke deliberately, word by word.
“You must see what you’ve done with your own eyes—the results of your tantrums and the chaos they caused. The imperial palace, the capital, the empire that once thrived under the Golden Dragon’s blessing—look at what they’ve become.”
The Duke, who had awaited the moment when everyone could see the Emperor’s disgrace, continued.
“Open your eyes, Fez Naitren.”
“How dare you utter that sacred name! You, of all people!”
“Look around. What remains in this desolate garden of your greed?”
At the moment he ruined the empire with his own hands, the Emperor ceased to be one.
The Duke raised his hand and pointed to the sky.
“Fez Naitren, do you possess the strength to command that dragon?”
“Do not dare speak my name!”
“Your rotten mind holds no thought for the empire. You’re consumed only with clinging to that throne and crown.”
“Ha!”
“That is why, no matter how loudly you call, no one comes. You silenced loyal counsel, dismissing it as insolence and striking it down in arrogance.”
“And so what? There is no one above me in this empire! If anyone challenges my authority, it is my duty to crush them!”
“And that very thought blinds you to the people trembling in fear beneath that black dragon.”
“Why should I bother with such worms?”
“Then kneel beneath that black dragon yourself and understand their despair.”
Once the throne is stripped away, the crown removed, the scepter gone—what remains of the Emperor is nothing but the hollow shell of Fez Naitren, a pitiful name shrouded in past glory.
No, even with all those things, no one would follow a ruler incapable of handling the black dragon he had summoned himself.
The Emperor was already finished.
The Duke yanked the scepter toward him, glaring coldly.
“You are not the sun of this empire.”
“I am not the empire’s sun?”
The Emperor’s pupils constricted rapidly, his madness igniting like a blazing inferno.
The Duke met that burning gaze with silence, briefly glancing at the tip of the scepter.
‘That was what he used to summon the dragon.’
The sharp, blood-red stone at the scepter’s tip and the black smoke emanating from it confirmed the Duke’s suspicions—it was a tool of destruction.
The Emperor, consumed by dark magic, finally snapped, lunging at the Duke with the scepter.
The Duke, provoking the Emperor with his icy demeanor, even cast aside his own sword, allowing the Emperor to close the distance unimpeded.
“Your Grace!”
Ed’s desperate cry echoed from behind.
At the same moment, the Emperor swung the scepter with all his might.
The Duke raised his shackled hand.
Clang!
A deafening clash of metal resounded, shaking the air.
The overwhelming impact was enough to make onlookers’ hearts skip a beat.
Before the Duke could even register the sting in his wrist, the shackle shattered, releasing a golden brilliance that filled his vision.
Suppressed power erupted, illuminating the area.
“You! You—!”
Enraged, the Emperor charged again.
The Duke nudged his fallen sword with his foot, flipping it into his grasp.
With a sharp clang, he parried the Emperor’s scepter.
The force of their clash tore through the garden.
Staring down the Emperor with a stoic expression, the Duke murmured, his voice low and cutting.
“Once, I hated you.”
The Duke, abandoning even the pretense of respect, whispered so only the Emperor could hear.
“But you weren’t even worth hating.”
As if his words were the final blow he had been waiting to deliver, the Duke pushed the scepter aside.
“……!”
Staggering back, the Emperor fell flat on his back.
A fierce wind roared through the garden, and as he propped himself up, he raised his head.
The black dragon loomed above him and the scepter, growling deeply.
With a thunderous roar, flames shot from the dragon’s mouth, striking the scepter.
It shattered, scattering sharp fragments into the air.
The Emperor let out a pained cry as the jagged shards pierced his eyes, blinding him instantly.
“Why… Why can’t I see?”
Clutching his eyes, the Emperor staggered backward, groping blindly at the red carpet.
The Duke bent down to pick up the discarded scepter, inspecting the broken weapon.
“As expected, a monster core was embedded here.”
With disdain, the Duke hurled the shattered scepter toward the throne.
It struck with a resounding crash, embedding itself deeply into the gilded seat.
Above, the golden dragon coiled its tail tightly around the black dragon’s neck.
At that moment, the Duke raised his now-unshackled hand and traced a magical sigil.
“Ancient Golden Dragon, Luan.”
A brilliant light emanated from his hand, and with a deafening roar, the golden dragon Luan appeared.
[It has been a while, Contractor Asnel Linden.]
The majestic dragon, shrouded in a radiant mist, turned its gaze toward Ed.
[It seems your family has grown in my absence.]
Luan’s eyes softened as they settled on Ed’s stomach, glinting knowingly.
[But congratulations can wait for later.]
When the Grand Duke gave a slight nod, Luan spread his wings wide and soared into the sky.
The Grand Duke watched intently as Luan, now aloft, confronted the black dragon.
The two dragons, inheritors of the golden dragon’s power that laid the foundation of the Empire, cooperated seamlessly without exchanging a single word.
Whenever the young golden dragon managed to pin down the black dragon in its coils, Luan would strike with his powerful claws, leaving wounds both large and small.
In retaliation, the black dragon desperately tried to evade and counterattack, spewing black smoke to obscure vision and launching fiery embers toward the ground.
Meanwhile, the emperor, who had been inching toward the throne, fumbling for the royal scepter, failed to notice the fiery onslaught descending from the black dragon above.
Obsessed with claiming the scepter, he flinched as the flames narrowly missed him, curling into himself in fear.
The Grand Duke briefly regarded the pitiful emperor before turning away.
The emperor was already self-destructing, and the black dragon was left to the golden dragons.
Now, the task at hand was to purify the disoriented masses, who had lost themselves in the chaos.
Though it would have been easier to destroy the restraints had the scepter remained intact, lamenting its destruction by the black dragon’s schemes was pointless.
When the Grand Duke’s gaze met Ed’s, who had been silently observing the unfolding events, the Grand Duke smiled faintly.
His lips moved soundlessly.
“Ed, it won’t take much longer.”
Recalling the healing energy Ed had shared with him earlier, the Grand Duke summoned his magic.
The warmth coursing through him felt like a resonant harmony shared between them.
Harnessing that sensation, the Grand Duke poured his strength into the task ahead.
“Swiftly and precisely—before Ed tries to intervene.”
First, he cast a wide protective barrier to shield the people from the black dragon’s sporadic fiery barrages.
Then, closing his eyes, he focused his mind entirely on purification.
It was then that Ed, who had been closely monitoring the situation, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Your Grace!”
At Ed’s urgent cry, the Grand Duke opened his eyes, sensing a chilling presence behind him.
His brows furrowed as he turned to face it.
* * *
