“Ah!”
It happened in an instant.
Leon, who was about to express his refusal to the popes who had just arrived, was bewildered when he saw a message appearing in front of his eyes.
Ding!
[Attempting to connect with administrator authority. The player will enter a coma state during the connection.]
‘Administrator?’
Whoosh!
Leon, who was about to say something, felt his consciousness fading away and panicked.
It was different from losing consciousness.
His mind felt like it was floating and detaching from his body.
‘This is!’
Leon felt the danger and tried desperately to regain his senses. But that was his last resistance.
His consciousness was pushed to a corner of his body by some irresistible force.
Aaaah!
“Ooh…”
“We, the humble servants, bow before the new god.”
“…”
The last thing he saw in his fading consciousness was the two popes kneeling and shedding tears.
***
During the week that Eurius was unconscious, a surprising upheaval occurred in the empire. First, there was a decree posted in the capital.
[Deposition of Crown Prince Eurius]
[Charges: Treason, Collusion with Enemy State]
Buzz buzz.
The decree posted all over the capital brought a huge shock to the citizens and nobles.
“How could this happen to His Highness the Crown Prince? He has been doing great deeds for the empire for years. How did he end up like this?”
“Could it be a slander? There was a similar incident before.”
“Shh! You fool! Are you saying that the Holy Kingdom is lying? Be careful what you say, they might hear you at the temple.”
“Hmm… That’s true.”
People were puzzled but cautious about judging the truth.
According to the decree, the one who accused Eurius of his crimes was none other than the Holy Kingdom!
Eurius had tried to plunge the continent into war by carrying the evil forces of the Southern Desert on his back.
And the one who knew and stopped it in advance was Leonhardt, the second prince of the empire!
He was acting as a regent for the emperor who had collapsed from shock.
Of course, there was no way that such a big event would not have any repercussions in the empire.
“We have completed arresting all the bureaucrats who sided with the first prince. They resisted more fiercely than expected.”
“Tsk tsk… They are so stubborn…”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? We can fill their vacancies with our priests from the Holy Kingdom.”
“Besides, some of the nobles and knights in the provinces are still skeptical. We have to bring them up to the capital and make them swear allegiance to the new god!”
The three popes who surrounded the throne discussed with their tongues clicking.
They had taken over this palace ten days ago and were gradually taking control of every aspect of the empire’s internal affairs.
But there were some people who resisted in the meantime.
The leader of them was Mareus and his bureaucrats.
The second were the knights who stayed in the palace.
“How dare you interfere with the empire’s internal affairs even if you are from the Holy Kingdom! Unless His Majesty or His Highness say something themselves!”
But what they got in return was ruthless suppression and arrest.
“How can this be? This is clearly treason!”
“Sob! You will regret this when His Highness Eurius returns.”
Clang!
Since then, the palace’s underground prison, which was rarely used, was filled with people from Eurius’ faction.
The power of the Holy Kingdom that took over the palace was so strong. But how did they manage to take over the palace by force as foreigners?
The reason was thanks to the person sitting on the throne.
The three popes asked him cautiously.
“This is what we think. What do you think, new god?”
“…”
The person who received the question put his hand on his chin and seemed to think for a moment.
He had a young face that looked no older than twenty, but his actions and speech were like an old man who had lived several times longer.
He was Leonhardt, the second prince.
No, to be precise, he was someone who borrowed Leon’s body.
The reason why no other empire’s army or power could move even though the palace was taken over by another country was because of this reason.
If it was simply an invasion by another country, then the whole empire would do everything they could to stop them. But if Leon, a royal family member, got involved, then it became a power struggle within the empire.
And there was no emperor to sort things out, and it was hard to ignore that the Holy Kingdom claimed Eurius’ crimes.
“Hmm…”
After a while, Lee Chengwen, who borrowed Leon’s body, opened his mouth.
“As I said before, you can handle trivial matters yourself.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The three popes bowed their heads in unison and exchanged glances.
‘The new god is not interested in worldly affairs. We have to deal with them.’
‘Of course, we can’t bother the great one!’
“Since the new god has given us permission, we will proceed as planned.”
Their plan was to completely take over the empire.
And they had already decided what to do with that power.
“Once the empire is unified under the name of the new god, we must drive out the evil god’s forces from the desert.”
“And we must also punish those vile ones who deceived us, including that crown prince!”
Their goal was surprisingly continental unification.
Just like Scharnos the Great and the players had conquered the continent, they also wanted to do something similar under the name of Lee Cheongmun, who had descended.
In the Holy Kingdom, there had been a prophecy that a new god, or a player, would come down to the world again.
‘I never thought it would be fulfilled in our era!’
‘This is all thanks to the grace of the great one.’The popes trembled with emotion and bowed their heads in front of Lee Cheongmun.
“Then I will come back to report again.”
“I see.”
With a brief answer, the popes withdrew. Lee Cheongmun sat on the throne and sighed softly.
“Phew… I wish this would end soon. I don’t get along well with politics and military stuff.”
He was the one who planned all this, but he sighed as if he was annoyed.
The reason was as follows.
‘I just want to stay in this world for a long time and practice. But they won’t leave me alone, so I have no choice!’
That was why he had participated in the virtual reality project, and why he didn’t go back to his original world even after knowing it was another world.
It was because of his desire to see the end of nothingness. But his desire had twisted over hundreds of years of living, and it had developed into a craving for immortality.
“The path of nothingness is too high and deep! It’s impossible to glimpse the end with one person’s life. I need a better body with more talent, and more time.”
It seemed like he had already confused his means and ends, but he thought so.
That’s why he wanted to wipe out all the forces that tried to stop him.
He had failed repeatedly because of Sharnos the Great’s interference, but this time it was different.
By various coincidences, he had obtained a system that could exercise god-like powers in this world.
If only a few troublemakers disappeared, he could rule this world forever.
The troublemakers came to his mind. Sharnos the Great, who came to this world with him, and Eurius, a new character who appeared.
‘Well, they must have their own tricks too. I wonder what they are.’
***
Eurius asked with a dumbfounded face.
“Wait, then why can’t you just suppress him and I’ll finish him off?”
“Sigh… Do you think I can do that if you just land the final blow?”
The first question Eurius asked after receiving the quest was why the Great didn’t intervene himself.
Hadn’t he defeated Lee Cheongmun in various ways several times?
“I can’t attack him. Do you think a player can stand up to an operator?”
“Oh…”
Eurius understood right away.
What Lee Cheongmun had obtained was a system that connected this world and the other side!
The Great was also ultimately a being belonging to that system.
He could intervene by using other forces, but he couldn’t directly attack a being who controlled the system.
Hmm!
Here, Yellow Dragon opened his mouth for the first time in a long time.
[The power of God in this world is the power of faith. If there are few believers, there is less power available.]
“Ugh…”
Eurius groaned.
According to Yellow Dragon’s explanation, God’s power was determined by people’s faith. The true god Heimdall, who had been pushed to the desert corner of the continent by the system for over a hundred years, had little power left.
[He even used up all his power to grant you strength and turn back time.]
“…!?”
Here, Eurius opened his eyes wide and looked back and forth between the Great and Yellow Dragon.
“So you’re saying you can’t help me with your power?”
“That’s right. At least I can’t touch those who are related to the system.”
“…”
“Sorry. I originally planned to just deal with the Holy Kingdom, but I got stuck with this annoying bonus called the empire.”
“…”
‘Well then what do you want me to do.’
Eurius’s face twisted mercilessly. That meant he had to get through this on his own.
‘But how? He looks at least a few steps ahead of me.’
But he already knew it well because he had been hit by Lee Cheongmun’s blow and wandered on death’s door. Wouldn’t it be a similar result if he tried again?
‘And there’s no guarantee that he’ll accept the challenge.’
To make matters worse, he was already being treated like a public enemy of the continent.
Lee Cheongmun, who had taken the form of Leon, had taken over the empire’s internal affairs.
At this rate, could he even approach him, let alone one-on-one?
Many questions tangled up in Eurius’s head.
Soon his head was filled with worry and anxiety. In fact, he had been trying to forget it, but his situation was getting worse by the minute.
‘Do I have a chance? Does the Great have any other means? What happened to my people in the empire? They weren’t all executed, were they?’
Eurius’s face darkened noticeably. But as he was pondering, he suddenly had a flash of insight.
‘Wait a minute?’
He remembered something.
‘Why do I feel like I’ve had this thought before?’
The crisis of being captured and executed upon returning to the empire.
And the enemy being much stronger than him. Wasn’t this a familiar situation?
“Ah!”
Eurius exclaimed out of the blue.
He finally realized the identity of this familiar feeling.
‘That’s right, this situation is similar to my previous life.’
Indeed! Although the timing and details were different, the current situation was similar to what Eurius had faced before his regression.
His loyal servants were all dead or executed.
Eurius himself was beheaded in the capital’s square.
It was a nightmare he didn’t want to recall. He felt suffocated for the first time in a long time.
“Haha…”
A dry laugh escaped his lips.
‘It’s a funny situation, isn’t it? So much has changed, but the outcome is similar.’
Eurius unconsciously compared the past and the present.
And then, the next moment.
“Huh?”
He made a bizarre expression.
‘Come to think of it, what did I have before my regression?’
Looking back, he had nothing.
Compared to then, Eurius had so much more now.Even though he was wanted by the empire.
It was a change of perspective. Eurius began to think of what he had rather than what he had lost.
‘I still have trustworthy servants. I have reliable friends like Nuada. And lastly, my abilities are incomparable to before.’
He still had many people who would help him.
The followers he gained from the east, the knights and servants who came with him from the empire, and friends like Nuada!
And most importantly, Eurius had abilities that he acquired after his regression.
The ability to see stats as a player, and the skills that Eurius learned through training and various quests.
‘I was too pessimistic.’
Eurius sighed inwardly as he checked what he had now.
‘This is not as hopeless as before. As long as I have cards in my hand, I haven’t lost yet.’
As he reached a conclusion, Eurius’s eyes became very deep.
What means did he have now?
And how could he use them to overcome this situation?
Countless thoughts sprang up in his head.
***
The emperor watched Eurius with a slightly anxious look, though he didn’t show it outwardly.
The expression on Eurius’s face changed constantly.
From surprise to worry, and finally to satisfaction, as if he had conquered the world. It was natural that he was curious.
‘Did he go crazy from accepting too many facts?’
It was possible in this situation, so the emperor cautiously approached him.
“Hey…”
“That’s too much.”
“Uh!”
The emperor was startled.
Eurius’s mouth opened with a serious expression.
“What?”
“Your goal is to defeat Lee Cheongmun and get out of this world, right?”
“So what?”
Eurius frowned.
“Don’t you think that’s too shameless? You didn’t tell me anything until now and suddenly you ask me for this.”
“Hmm…”
The emperor looked embarrassed.
He realized that Eurius never agreed to help him.
“And do you think we have a chance? It looks like hitting a rock with an egg.”
“Hey! That’s because I…”
The emperor tried to explain hastily. He wasn’t stupid.
Did he expect Eurius to die by charging headfirst? But before he could finish his explanation, Eurius interrupted him again.
“I see two problems that we face here.”
“What?”
The emperor blinked at Eurius’s incomprehensible words.
“But if you follow my instructions without question, I think we can solve this situation to some extent.”
“…!?”
‘Has he really gone mad?’
But despite the emperor’s doubtful look, Eurius was very serious.
He had obtained an opportunity to make up for his past mistakes.
‘I was executed without knowing why in my previous life, right? But what about now?’
“What are those problems?”
Emperor Scharnos scratched the back of his head and asked.
“Of course, it’s the Empire. I’m currently wanted, so I have no way to approach Lee Cheongmun, right?”
“Hmm…”
Emperor Scharnos nodded.
He was bound by the system, so he couldn’t touch Lee Cheongmun or any other characters from the Holy Kingdom.
And if Eurius went alone, it would be nothing but a ‘please arrest me!’ situation.
“So, to increase our chances a little bit, we have to drag him into a one-on-one duel.”
“Your logic makes sense, but do you have a way to do that?”
Emperor Scharnos looked at Eurius with a skeptical expression.
He had a reason to be doubtful, as Lee Cheongmun and the Holy Kingdom had taken over the Empire.
It was hard to challenge them directly, since they had the pretext of the Holy Kingdom and Leonhardt.
‘Lee Cheongmun would be wary of such a challenge, wouldn’t he?’
To make the one-on-one condition possible, they had to make their enemy give up the many forces he had at his disposal. But was that feasible?
“Why don’t you just follow my words and see what happens?”
“Huh?”
It was a natural concern for Emperor Scharnos, but Eurius smiled instead.
‘I’m sure it would be useless to go to the palace and claim my innocence.’
But he had another way to oppose the palace. It would have been impossible in his previous life, but it was possible now.
His eyes became sharp.
To be honest, he was not happy about being betrayed in his previous life and now.
He felt that the Holy Kingdom had underestimated him too much.
Did they think that they could deal with him by simply branding him as a traitor?
It was time for him to strike back. It was time for him to show what he had been secretly building up all this time.
‘He seems to have something in mind.’
Emperor Scharnos also became interested.
He had observed Eurius for a while and knew that he was not one to bluff about such things.
“So what do I have to do for you?”
“It’s simple.”
Emperor Scharnos tilted his head after hearing Eurius’s answer.
“Is that really all it takes?”
The request was surprisingly simple.
It was hard to believe that it could turn the situation around.
But Eurius looked so confident that Emperor Scharnos decided to trust him once.
“Okay, then where do we have to go first?”
“First of all, the palace. That’s the most urgent place.”