Unsealing Emptiness

He was unaware of the extent of his own abilities, so he didn’t know if he was just lacking or the old man might actually be different from other Mages.

When the old man said that he had something to discuss with him, Ozul wasn’t so keen on following him.

After thinking for a while, he nodded his head and decided to follow along since he was the only lead to his questions as of now.

He also wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible because he had created quite a commotion earlier while fighting with the ancestor of the Silverbird family.

Rufus, along with all of his subordinates maintained a distance from Ozul and the old man.

“D-don’t approach them at any cost!” Rufus even shouted to his soldiers. He, as a peak Rank-8 Mage still had his legs shaking as he had witnessed the previous events.

.....

‘I... thought he was strong, but...’ Rufus pursed his lips as he thought about his earlier evaluation of Ozul.

Times and times again, this strange kid had exceeded his expectations but the events in front of him had just blown his mind.

He didn’t know who that crazy-looking old person was who fought with Ozul, but from the corner of his eyes, he had noticed the Empress’ expressions who also witnessed these events from above the Palace.

Her terrified expressions showed that whoever that old man was, his death brought negative consequences to the Silverbird family.

Even then, his shaking legs wouldn’t take a step forward to approach those ‘monsters’.

Meanwhile, Ozul ignored whoever observed them from afar. Finally, he was strong enough that he need not care about the consequences of his action.

Those who had witnessed this event could spread it everywhere they wanted to because now he had enough strength to even contend against Rank-10 Mages!

Ozul had also noticed the woman and a group of people hidden in the shadows behind her, all of peak Rank-8 radiating negative emotions directed at him. But he also ignored them as he could understand that their ancestor was killed right before them, so they would inevitably be furious at him.

He still had to test all of his improvements, but it wasn’t a place for that so began to follow behind the old man who had already started to leisurely walk away, occasionally chuckling to himself.

Ozul had only taken a few steps when both he and the old man stopped to look in a certain direction.

The old man chuckled again and looked back at Ozul, “I have a feeling you have business with him?”

Ozul calmly nodded his head and said, “I do.”

“Heh heh,” the old man tittered and decided to calmly watch the show, “Don’t take too much time though.”

“... I won’t,” Ozul replied after thinking for a moment. This old man hadn’t shown even a speck of negative feelings, but he was still on guard against him.

If he couldn’t sense his cultivation base, there could very well be methods that the old man might have been able to use to hide his emotions as well.

Shaking those thoughts outside his mind, Ozul stared at the small dot far in the sky gradually becoming clearer and increasing in size.

He noticed that Emperor Luthien was actually a lot faster than any Rank-9 Mage could have gotten on their own. Even he wasn’t as fast as him before obtaining his left arm back.

‘These are the advantages of using artifacts?’ Ozul contemplated without any change in his facial expression.

If the ancestor had gotten serious from the start or also used such artifacts, he guessed that he wouldn’t have had any chance against him at all.

A few moments later, Emperor Luthien appeared on the site and glared at Ozul from above.

His eyes constantly moved between Ozul, the half-destroyed Royal Palace in the background, and his wife’s worried expressions.

Luthien could already make out what had happened here as he unconsciously clenched his fists.

“You! How dare you!” Emperor Luthien shouted while pointing his finger at Ozul.

As of yet, he hadn’t noticed the corpse of an old man between all the debris. So he didn’t know exactly what had happened here.

Hearing his words, Ozul remained silent but squinted his eyes at the blonde-haired man wearing lofty clothes and looking down at him.

On one hand, the old man again chuckled but the Empress witnessing this scene from afar got even more worried.

Unlike Emperor Luthien, she was well aware of what had happened just now!

Before she could warn her husband, Ozul spoke first, “Why shouldn’t I dare?”

Normally, he wouldn’t go out of his way and talk shit with his enemies, but getting his arm back hadn’t made him forget the reason for all those years of suffering was precisely this arrogant Emperor in front of him.

“You! Good! Good! You think becoming a Rank-9 would allow you to act so presumptuously before my Silverbird family?! Heh! Do you even-” Emperor Luthien had yet to finish his words when he noticed something that caused him to pause.

Ozul repeatedly closed and opened his fist to get the hang of his new arm, and when Luthien realized that it was the same arm that was in their custody, his anger couldn’t help but rise to another level.

But there was an even greater question inside his mind, ‘Wasn’t father protecting that ominous arm!? How could he let it get snatched by that brat?!’

“Haha! I love his expressions!” the old man suddenly laughed as he pointed at the face of Emperor Luthien which repeatedly changed colors.

Not being able to take it anymore, he pointed towards the corpse of the old ancestor, “If you are looking for a crazy old disrespectful fellow, there he is.”

When Emperor Luthien moved his eyes towards the direction in which the old man was pointing his finger, he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

‘No! How!? Father was almost a Rank-10 Mage! How is it possible?!’

For a few seconds, it was as if Emperor Luthien had almost forgotten to breathe as he stared motionlessly at his father’s corpse from afar.

Getting out of his stupor, he dashed towards the corpse to check and he almost stumbled back as he confirmed that it was indeed his father.

He could not understand what was going on, but it was not hard to make a general guess.

Although Emperor Luthien had a sky-high pride and wouldn’t bow his head in front of anyone, he realized that if Ozul could even kill his father and still look perfectly fine, he stood no chance at all.

Just like his father, Emperor Luthien was about to make some fawning comments, but he didn’t get a chance to speak when Ozul slowly approached him.

“I will give you a chance,” he spoke with a light voice. However, because of the still surroundings, even Rufus who stood almost a hundred meters away was able to hear him.

An invisible aura was released from Ozul’s body that enveloped the Emperor, making him tremble in fear.

Emperor Luthien could still not believe whatever was happening, but he now understood that his only chance to survive was to do whatever was demanded of him.

“I-”

Before he could even express his agreement, Ozul started speaking again, “I will give you a chance to keep your dignity in death.”

His words caused Emperor Luthien to widen his eyes and his words were stuck in his mouth, “You!!”

From Ozul’s earlier words, he had thought that he would be able to escape alive this time and have a chance of revenge later. However, this demon was planning to kill him!

Even the chance he had offered was only for him to keep his dignity in death.

“B-but! I... I wouldn’t pursue whatever happened here at all! I personally never wanted to go against you either. It was all because my father had forced me. I had no choice...” Emperor Luthien stated while feigning sadness as if he was helpless against his father’s wishes.

But Ozul wasn’t taking any of his nonsense. Not only was he aware that Luthien was lying, but it wouldn’t have mattered either way.

“Listen here, I will not repeat,” Ozul grabbed Luthien’s head and stared at him directly in the eyes before continuing,

“I will ask you questions. If you do not answer or lie, I will give you death while cutting you into a hundred pieces. In case you cooperate, it will be a clean death. It is your choice.”

Luthien listened to his words and could not help but gulp a mouthful of saliva with his breathing getting heavier.

Ozul’s cold voice made him understand that his death was certainly inevitable!

When the realization finally hit him, Luthien’s body could not help but shake involuntarily. A moment passed and he started shouting with a choking voice,

“N-no! I don’t wanna die! Pl-please! I-... no... I would become your subordinate! I really will!”

Whatever he said didn’t have any effect on Ozul. Not a ripple formed in his eyes as he continued to coldly stare down at the Emperor who had nothing Emperor-like left on him now.

Being the target of that stare, it took Luthien a few minutes before he lost any hope in living past today. His body kept shaking because of the fear of death, but he had realized that any struggle or pleading was hopeless.

The thought of trying to run away didn’t even cross his mind because of Ozul’s pressure.