The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

The Emperor continued laughing.

Even so, the knights held the swords tightly in their hands, prepared to kill the children if and when the Emperor gave the order.

But that didn’t happen.

The retainers and advisors held their tongues in case it upset the Emperor. The Emperor then continued his conversation with Karen.

“You want me, the Emperor of Montra, to die?”

“You asked me for what I wanted…”

“I did. But I am curious… Why? Why do you want me to die?”

The man was the Emperor of Montra, the Sun Empire.

He believed that he was an emperor loved by all of his citizens. And in reality, he was.

There were more people who loved him than hated him, as he only thought about the Empire and kept corruption, lust, and extravagance far away.

Simply put, there was no one who disliked him.

“I don’t care about Montra… I wish it was destroyed.”

“Th-that..!”

“Who dares! Who dares interrupt the Emperor’s conversation?!”

“Shh. The conversation would obviously halt if you speak louder than the child, no?”

“I apologize! But…”

“From this point on, I will punish anyone who interrupts my conversation with the child.”

Those who had opened their mouths responded to the Emperor one last time before the Emperor once again focused on his conversation with Karen.

“Why Montra? The Empire protects the continent’s vulnerable within its embrace.”

“You don’t know. You don’t know hunger or cold.”

“You’re right, I don’t know. Because before I could even learn such a thing, I have been sitting down on this throne.”

“If it wasn’t for the Empire… our town… hrgh…”

The town of elves that Karen and Karuna lived in was crushed by the Empire’s army. And the two young twins who used to live there began their lives as slaves before even receiving their own names.

That was their story.

The Emperor, after hearing that, narrowed his brows.

“A town of elves? Ah, you must be talking about what happened during our territorial dispute with Ungid.”

Montra, a human empire, shared borders with an empire of trolls called Ungid, and were constantly at odds with each other. And of course, many victims were created during those disputes.

“Haha… If it’s like this, I guess I have no choice but to listen to your request.”

“......”

“Alright, I’ll grant you your wish.”

Since the Emperor promised that whoever interrupted would be punished, they all simply waited in silence for the Emperor to finish talking. However, if the Emperor really planned on killing himself, they would rush in to stop him even if it meant punishment.

But luckily, the Emperor simply continued to laugh and said, “However, now isn’t the time.”

“Now… isn’t the time?”

“Don’t you think it’s too unfair? So, I’ll think about it if you can become the strongest knight in the Empire.”

“...Knight?”

“Yes, and when that time comes, I’ll gladly give you my life. I’ll give you the opportunity to bring down the Empire with your own two hands.”

“But slaves can’t become knights.”

“From the moment you stood before me, you were no longer slaves. Now, I will remove anything that may get in your way. Whether it’s status, money, institutions, perception, or even your daily lives… I will prove my generosity to the two of you now.”

It was a shocking statement.

The Emperor was giving his full support to a pair of slaves.

“Why?”

“But in return, you two also need to prove yourselves. You need to prove to me that you can bear the weight of your words.”

“...Okay.”

“Sir Marcus!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“I want you to take care of these children.”

“Absolutely, Your Majesty.”

Fwoooosh…

Crackle…

The scenery that Seol and Karuna were watching became distorted again. Every time this happened, Seol grew more and more worried.

It was almost like with each memory that Karuna remembered, it was also disappearing into the dust.

“Karuna, what was that?”

“I think it was my past. Surprisingly, I’m starting to remember everything now.”

“How…?”

“It seems like we’ve entered the mind of someone who I share a past with.”

Rather, it was Karuna who was calm.

Seol, seeing that, was relieved and calmed himself as well.

* * *

Crackle…

The next scene was even bigger than the scenery they had just seen.

“Woaaaaaah!”

“Sir Karen!”

“Sir Karuna! Please look over here!”

Karen and Karuna’s childish looks had disappeared. Both were now fully grown up and wearing pure white armor.

And on top of a platform, standing high so the public had to look up to them, were the Emperor and eight knights.

These eight human weapons were called the guardians of the imperial family and they were also the symbol of the Empire’s strength.

Not only was eight a holy number in Montra, the Sun Empire, but it also meant a large deal. Ever since the birth of Montra as an empire, the number of guardians has never changed.

But now, something unthinkable was about to happen.

The emperor approached Karen and Karuna, who were both taking a knee.

Karen and Karuna’s beauty were so unrivaled that even calling their appearances ‘heavenly’ would be appropriate.

Well, the Emperor still being as handsome as ever despite appearing like a considerable amount of time had passed was also strange, as he did not look any older at all.

The Emperor then opened his mouth.

“Do you remember that day fifteen years ago?”

“I do.”

“You told me that you wanted to kill me. Has your mind changed since then?”

“It hasn’t.”

The crowd started to murmur.

“Wh-what?!”

“How disrespectful!”

“Pull her down!”

“Silence!” shouted one of the eight guardians. The crowd was silenced.

They held back their words as if they were deemed disrespectful, their lives could be forfeit.

“I made a promise to a child that day.”

“I remember it.”

“I promised to give my head to you if you became the strongest knight in the Empire.”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe you have such qualifications?”

“I do not have them yet,” answered Karen.

In addition, Karen eventually came to understand the contradictions in the Empire.

The Emperor was not a god. He was incapable of perfectly ruling this massive empire.

Perfect may have been an understatement to describe him as a human, but he was still lacking as an emperor.

No, this would have been the same for anyone if they had become the Emperor. But even so, he earnestly tried his best. To become closer to perfection.

Karen, before she realized it, came to understand him.

“Even though I gave you all that time… What a shame. I’m worried that I’ll die of old age before the day you can keep your promise comes.”

“I swear… I swear, I will do my best to keep that promise.”

“Even so, time will not wait for you. As ever, many massive threats threaten the Empire. This is an era where my head could roll on the floor at any time without it being strange at all.”

“......”

"Karen and Karuna.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“Become my knights so that you may keep your promise of killing me someday.”

To kill him, they had to protect him.

A contradictory era, a contradictory world.

And these two twins accepted the contradictions.

“I accept.” said Karen

“I accept.” said Karuna

“Vow to me.”

Karen and Karuna.

The two then spoke perfectly in sync, saying the same words together.

“Karen and Karuna will become the knights of Jin Audem Montra, the Emperor of the Montra Empire. We vow this to the sun and the stars.”

“You are now guardians of the imperial family. Do your best so that the Empire may prosper.”

Dong… Dong…

The massive bell’s sound filled the empire’s capital.

However, an even louder cheer drowned out the sound of the bell.

The two had become the Emperor’s knights to kill the Emperor.

They also destroyed the tradition of the Emperor having eight guardians and became the first ninth and tenth guardians.

It was a historic moment in the great Empire’s history.

Karuna, who stood next to Seol, quietly spoke, “It’s true, I was a knight of Montra.”

“Montra…”

Unfortunately, Seol had no clue where Montra was or what kind of prowess they had.

‘Montra, as a nation, does not exist in Pandea anymore, though?’

It required a large amount of territory to be called an empire. However, Seol only knew of two empires on the continent.

And both of the empires did not have Montra in any of their names.

‘So what happened?’

Fwoooosh…

Crackle…

The scenery distorted again.

Now, Karen and Karuna were fighting one another.

“Are you really going to leave, Karuna?”

“I told you already. I want to travel the world. I want to confirm for myself if what Jin showed us really is all there is to the world.”

“...Alright.”

“I’m sorry, Karen. I’m sorry we weren’t able to be together till the end.”

“But you do know that a promise is a promise, right? People from the Montra Empire have to keep a promise, no matter how long it takes! Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t.”

A promise.

Before Karen and Karuna parted ways, they made a promise to each other.

“I’ll return to Montra if you ever need me.”

“And you can’t be late!”

“Okay.”

“Make sure you keep your promise.”

“When are you going to let me go?”

“Now.”

Karen had held tightly onto Karuna’s two hands. The gesture showed that she still had lingering feelings.

Karen then spoke, unable to make eye contact with him.

“You have to stay healthy, stay well. We went through so much together.”

“...Yeah.”

“You damned bastard, leave already!”

Crackle…

The scenery changed again.

This time, it was only the Emperor and Karen in the throne room.

No one else was there.

“Is it from Karuna?”

“Yeah, Jin.”

“How impudent. When will you address me in a way that reflects your loyalty…”

“Hehe… let me off the hook, alright? I already know that you dislike stuff like that more than me.”

“How long has it been since he sent a letter?”

“I don’t know, three years?”

“Karuna’s quite cold.”

“It just means he was just that busy.”

“It also means… that the world is just that big.”

Jin, Montra’s Emperor, watched the night view through his window with longing eyes.

“Jin…”

“Even though I rule over this massive empire, I can count the number of times I left the capital with my own hands. Isn’t that incredible?”

“Oh no! Do you want me to sympathize with you? Do you need it?”

“Haha, aren’t you the one who needs someone to sympathize with them? You’ve been crying every night ever since Karuna left.”

“Shut up! You want me to keep that promise now?”

“Even though Lain, the Sun Knight, is still left?”

“Urgh… yeah, that’s true.”

“Still, there’s not that much left. Old man Lain even said something about you two.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that you might even be better than him in a decade,” said Jin as if it were no big deal.

“Really? That stubborn old man really said that?”

“Because old man Lain’s only going to get older in the next ten years, but your ten years are going to be different.”

“Hehe… I guess the day really will come.”

The two became silent for some reason.

Karen then asked Jin a question while scratching the back of her head.

“Jin.”

“What?”

“Why did you take us in? Mercy? Curiosity? Or just a desire to collect things?”

“Because you two were special.”

“What?”

“Twin elves who have the power of the moon and the power of flames. Even if it wasn’t me, someone would have taken you in. Well, you would’ve eventually come to my side in the end regardless.”

“Why do you think I was born with this power?”

“I don’t know… but old man Lain said something like this before. By chance, by some small chance, if you two were in the Empire at a time when he didn’t exist, the vanguard of the guardians would’ve been you, Karen.”

“That’s an incredible compliment.”

The Vanguard of the Sun.

It was the most prestigious position in Montra, an empire that admired the sun.

“So, how did Karuna’s letter get here?”

“It’s because I sent a letter to him a while ago.”

“Why?”

“What! Why ‘Why’? It’s because I wanted to see him. Can’t siblings want to see each other, huh? You fucking emperor?”

“Who said anything like that? Are you getting embarrassed?”

“Shut up!”

“Hahaha! And?”

Karen scratched her head and laughed as she spoke.

“He said he’s coming back. It was a promise after all.”

“How long has it been… I want to see Karuna too.”

Fwoooosh…

Crackle…

The scene changed again.

Seol then noticed Karuna’s breath getting heavier and heavier.

“Karuna?”

“Haah… Haah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I…”

The next scene that followed was not as beautiful as the scenes that came up before.

Blaaaaaze!

“It’s an usurpation! An usurpation!”

“Kyaaaaa!”

“S-Save me…”

Fwoooosh…

The Empire’s capital was a sea of flames.

The scorching heat made the sunkissed Empire shiver.

“Old man Lain!”

“Karen! Be careful! There’s a traitor amongst the guardians!”

A traitor.

The blade of betrayal always struck from the closest place.

“Do not let those wicked bastards into the palace!”

“Haah… Haah…”

Clang! Claaang!

Stab!

The sound of swords clashing with each other rang throughout the capital, but the screams were louder.

Karen was physically, and mentally reaching her limit.

Bite…

She ignored the blood in her mouth and swung her blazing sword.

Burn!

“You vile usurpers! You will not enter the palace as long as I am here!”

“Karen, open the door.”

“...Leona, it was you.”

She was the woman who wore a mystical crown while advising Jin by his side.

And she was also trying to enter the palace under the protection of the traitors around her.

“It’s over for Montra. Today, Jin will be taken down from the throne. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“...Don’t mess with me.”

Burn!

Karen drew a line on the ground using her sword.

“I’ll kill you if you cross this line, you sick wolves.”

“And what gives you the confidence to make that statement?”

“...Karuna will come. He told me he’d come.”

The group of usurpers all shared shocked glances with each other.

It was because Karen and Karuna had a unique characteristic that allowed them to become multiple times stronger when around each other.

It was difficult enough trying to invade the palace while facing Karen alone, if Karuna showed up as well, it would be a huge problem.

Despite that, Leona laughed at Karen’s words.

“He won’t come. Give up already, Karen.”

“Shut up! He’s coming! He said he’d come! He said he’d come back!”

“Drag her away. You can kill her.”

“AAAAAAAARGH!”

BOOOOOOOM!

As if something had detonated, Karen’s body burst into flames.

Her red armor and flowing red hair turned gray like ash.

Stab… Stab…

“Keke… Kekeke…”

“This monster…”

Karen had cut down countless foes. And she had burned down even more.

Even so, it wasn’t enough.

Karen laid on the ground, her neck twisted as she looked off into the distance. While she watched the usurpers pass by her into the palace, she spoke.

“You… promised me…”

Crackle…

“...that you’d come back…”

Crackle…

Distort… Distort…

A crack had formed into the world Seol and Karuna were staying at.

“I didn’t go. I… I…” said Karuna absentmindedly.

“Karuna!”

Step…

In the black space, a gray shadow appeared.

Slowly, very slowly… it was approaching Seol and Karuna.

“Why…”

Step. Step.

Crackle…

“It’s dangerous!” shouted Seol.

And when he did, the ashen woman spoke.

Betrayal.

“Did you break your promise?”

CRAAAAAAAACK!

And finally, the world was destroyed.

[Crystal of Death Pronouncement activates its effect.]

[You are pulled out of the corpse’s mind.]

[Rewards are being arranged.]

[The Linked Adventure continues.]

[You can only collect your rewards after all of the Adventures have been cleared.]