When did it all start?

He remembered the man who had come to the palace he could never escape. He was the same man who tempted him with promises to change his world.

“Do you not wish to become Emperor of Clyde?”

Chancellor Morse had said. A high-ranking member of the Evil Order, one of the top three among the Nine Hell Bishops, a madman whose motives no one could comprehend. Even young Nex had understood he was not someone to be trusted.

And yet, Nex accepted his proposal. He had no other choice.

There wasn’t a single ally he could rely on, and across the entire continent, there were only two factions capable of raising a blade against the absolute ruler of the Clyde Empire: the Holy Church and the Evil Order.

However, the Holy Church knew nothing of his existence, and they would never lend their strength for a petty vendetta in the first place. Not a single temple existed in the imperial capital of Calelum, so Nex had no way to contact them, anyway.

“Do you not resent the world that let your mother die? Do you not want to change this unjust world?”

Nex had never received a proper education. His personality had been formed almost entirely from the tragic memories he had from the age of three. Morse’s sweet words slipped into his unguarded mind, corrupting every corner of it and staining the bottom of his soul.

Unfortunately, Nex had been far too intelligent for his own good. With only the neglected books left in the side palace and the voices he overheard, he managed to form complete language skills. He had even developed the logical ability to understand how his tragic childhood had come to be.

A resolve to destroy the caste system. A desire to build a fair and just world.

Carrying all of that, Nex took Morse’s outstretched hand and immediately realized something was terribly wrong.

I was on the wrong path from the very start. No matter how hard I struggled, I was bound to drown in the mud. I was a blind fool.

A little leak will eventually make a great ship sink. Just like that, the Evil Order slowly contaminated his mind.

Seeing through Nex’s ideals, Morse used honeyed words to amplify his hatred of nobles and the social hierarchy. Even challenges that could have been solved peacefully were steered into brutally violent solutions.

In the name of redistributing wealth, countless noble families were burned to ash. Even those whose crimes were unclear were slaughtered as beneficiaries of injustice. The loyalists who had supported the late emperor were crushed through the Evil Order’s cooperation, their families taken hostage to force obedience.

“Cut away the rot. Show no mercy to parasites who’ve enjoyed everything without ever giving anything.”

Reason, which should have remained cold and steady, was eroded by childhood trauma and Morse’s rhetoric, painted over entirely with hatred. Just as Morse had foretold, righteousness corrupted by ego became tyranny, and tyranny became evil.

As days passed, Nex lost himself deeper into madness until his original self was unrecognizable. The moment he crossed the final line was when Morse took him into the underground chamber beneath the White Peak Palace and transformed him into the Death King.

Nex, now lying defeated, thought, Swallowing slaves, peasants, nobles alike so that they become ‘part of me’—absolute equality, was it? What absurd nonsense.

Even though he had been the one saying it, he laughed at the stupidity. Only after the madness was torn away were his eyes finally opened.

His soul had melted once and been rebuilt, wiping away decades of accumulated insanity. And that was what made it hurt even more.

Had he remained mad, he could have ignored it. But with his humanity returned to him, he could feel the weight of every sin overflowing from his hands.

It would have been better to disappear at the Hero’s sword.

Was it the goddess’s design or karmic punishment? At the moment, he was struck by Five Star Chariot, his ectoplasmic body shattered, and Nex’s identity separated from Morse’s.

Of course, the damage was catastrophic. The only reason he was still breathing was that the blow had been shared among thousands of souls. His body, however, was collapsing. Even at best, he wouldn’t last an hour.

Footsteps approached through the haze of fading senses.

The Hero...?

He remembered everything—his time as the Mad Emperor and the Death King. As he recalled the young man who had driven a platinum sword through his body, Nex forced his eyelids open.

The night sky glittered overhead. Around him stood several figures, gazing down at him. Among them, he spotted one—and gave a bitter smile.

“Come to send me off, little brother?”

Lyon Cailum Gladius Pon Clyde and Nex Imperium Gladius Pon Clyde.

The rightful heir to the throne and the usurper who stole it now faced each other. One lay below while the other stood above.

***

Leaving Morse’s shattered remains behind, Leon followed everyone’s gaze. Then, he froze in shock. It was the only natural reaction.

He wondered, How is he still alive?!

It was quite easy to recognize Nex. Golden hair, blue eyes, sharply defined features—he looked far too much like Lyon. And Leon had seen his face before, distorted in the colossal form of the Death King.

El-Cid answered his silent question.

—Even though he borrowed power from exolaw, he’s still a vessel capable of holding hundreds of thousands of souls. When he got separated from Morse, his deeper consciousness likely resurfaced.

So he’s back to being the Mad Emperor...

—Maybe. Maybe not. Your strike could have knocked the madness out of him. Ectoplasm is materialized soul. Whatever is experienced in that state directly alters the wielder.

In other words, Nex had been hit by the Holy Sword’s purification from point-blank range. If madness had been imposed on him by someone else’s manipulation, then it wasn’t impossible for him to return to sanity. Leon accepted that explanation and called the others over.

He also summoned the one person who was perhaps the most concerned: Lyon.

“Come to send me off, little brother?”

The moment Nex opened his eyes and mocked Lyon, Leon knew El-Cid had been right.

There was none of that unsettling insanity anymore. The bitterness in his self-deprecating smile and the faint, exhausted blue in his gaze contained not a trace of madness. Whatever Nex’s true nature was, the one lying before them was neither the Mad Emperor nor the Death King.

“Leon,” Lyon said quietly.

He had more reason than anyone to speak to Nex, but Lyon hadn’t even been part of the final battle. He could not be the one to lead this moment.

Even with both eyes bloodshot with anger, Lyon kept his composure and ceded the right to speak to Leon. Anyone could see Nex’s condition clearly. His half-transparent body was disintegrating bit by bit—proof that even if left untouched, he had only minutes left.

So, Leon got straight to the point.

“Nex, it seems you remember who you are.”

“The Hero.” Recognizing him, Nex spoke honestly. “Of course. I remember everything. I would rather forget most of it, but I will not lie before you.”

“Do you regret it?”

“How could I not? I do not regret executing the late emperor and taking his place. But allowing my resolve to purge injustice from this land to be tainted by evil—that is a sin I could not atone for even if I died a hundred times.”

Even if he had fallen victim to the Evil Order’s schemes, it had been he who first took their hand. His choices had been limited, but Nex was not so petty as to use that as an excuse.

Leon looked down at him and let out a long breath. If Morse had not twisted his fate, this man might never have become an enemy. He might have even become a force for immense good in the world. Even from only a few exchanged words, he could feel it clearly.

Unfortunately, his ending had already been decided as a tragedy.

“I’ll ask you some questions. Nex, if you feel any responsibility for your actions, then answer without a single lie.”

“Very well.”

Shedding all personal emotion, Leon’s expression became cold and stern—he spoke now as a Hero, addressing matters he could not overlook.

When did he first ally with the Evil Order? What exactly had Morse done to him? Where were the remaining Evil Order hideouts within the Empire? Was there a way to banish the Apophis still wandering beneath the capital?

Nex answered everything without hesitation.

“Four sites on the outskirts of the capital hold the summoning engines that maintain that monster’s existence. Destroy them all, and without its anchor, the thing will be forcibly dismissed within minutes.”

“Elahan,” Leon called.

Elahan answered, “I’ll send the Inquisitors.”

The Holy Iron Inquisitors, who had not participated directly in the final battle, still retained some strength. Under Geoff’s lead, a dozen Inquisitors immediately leaped into action. Most of the evil spirits that flooded the capital had vanished after Morse’s death, so nothing stood in their way.

Leon watched them leave, then turned back to Nex.

“That was all the information I needed from you. If you have anything else to say, I’ll hear it.”

“In that case, I shall offer one piece of advice.”

“Advice...?”

At the unpleasant implication, Elahan and the two cardinals shot sharp glances at Nex. Even as he lay dying, the pressure made him flinch, but he soon steadied himself and smiled faintly.

“Yes. Advice. I was nothing but a puppet, dancing on Morse’s strings—but perhaps because of that, he said more than he should have.”

Nex was hinting at information that only he, as Mad Emperor, had heard. Leon’s ears sharpened at once, and so did everyone else’s, including Lyon, who had taken a step back.

With all attention on him, Nex began.

“Morse told me this: the Evil Order was created by the Archbishop alone, and the Bishops are merely his pawns. Everything that happened here in Clyde was nothing more than Morse’s personal deviation. A ‘very small disturbance,’ he said, meant to draw the Archbishop into acting.”

“Small...?” Leon said, in shock.

“He meant it. Truly. Perhaps he worshipped the Archbishop as an actual god.” While the shocking claim left the air still, Nex continued, “The Bishops are nothing but chess pieces—whether following the Archbishop’s will or merely left unattended. While you fight the Bishops, Hero, the Archbishop may be preparing something else entirely.”

“That’s too vague. Do you have anything more specific?” Leon asked.

“I do have one more thing.”

“What is it?”

Nex didn’t answer immediately. He looked up at the night sky, struggling to form the words—a memory that even during his madness had barely registered, but now resurfaced as something unbelievable.

“The Archbishop of the Evil Order is not human.”

He wasn’t talking about personality or morality. This was information that even Morse—who believed Nex would never escape him—had revealed only once.

The Archbishop was not human. He had been active since the days of Rodrick, taking part in tragedies across centuries. Even if he had prolonged his life with exolaw or dark magic, his lifespan was far too long to be natural. If he belonged to a long-lived race like elves, the mystery would be resolved easily.

Even El-Cid muttered, unable to fully hide his curiosity.

—Interesting. Even I’ve never seen his face. Who would’ve thought I’d learn his identity after so many centuries?

Leon felt the same.

“If he’s not human, then what is he? Elf? Dwarf? Some other race? A highly evolved monster?”

“None of them,” Nex denied it immediately.

He then spoke the truth that he failed to get out on the first few attempts.

“Morse said the Archbishop has the ability to freely open and close Demon Realms.”

“What...?”

“That it is not exolaw or magic, but an innate racial ability. He said the Archbishop was the one who sealed the Titan race inside the Titan Mountains.” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The revelation sent a chill through the group. Demon Realms were rifts leading directly into outer dimensions.

Not even the goddess could completely seal them, which was why Titans and other servants had been needed to guard them.

To freely open and close them? Even transcendents who reached the level of Grandmaster could not do such a thing.

—No. One possibility remains. If what that bastard said is true—if it is a racial ability...

As El-Cid’s voice grew heavy, Nex delivered the conclusion.

“The Archbishop of the Evil Order—he is...”

A race that had vanished in the current age. A race that once shook the world even when gods and demons walked it. Arbiters who valued the balance and order of all things. A race no one had forgotten.

The transcendent beings who watched the world from the heavens.

“...a dragon.”