The Emperor Has Returned - Chapter 175. The Holy City of Torra (2)

Helmut repeated the question over and over again while his head continued to bob, almost as if he was convulsing. It was clear that his condition was quite bad.

Pavan could instantly see that Helmut had been seriously injured when he tried to control Telgramm, despite it being beyond his ability. No matter how perfectly he could make use of the emperor’s powers, Helmut’s body was still that of an ordinary human. It was already quite surprising that he was able to imitate a fraction of the emperor’s ability with his body which had undergone the Templars’ physical strengthening procedure.

“We were able to find a few of the officials who participated in the treason, but we have yet to find the Saintess,” Pavan answered.

“Then why are you here?”

Pavan let out an exhausted sigh.

Meanwhile, Helmut stammered around his seat even before Pavan gave him an answer. Then, he soon found some incense and lit it up. This prompted Helmut’s hands to stop trembling—he made a comfortable expression as the scent of the incense filled the room. However, his head was still bobbing around constantly.

“There is a terribly strong smell of blood. It’s so disgusting that I almost want to vomit… Pavan, did you kill someone on your way here?”

Pavan replied with a puzzled expression on his face, “No, Your Holiness. I didn’t even unsheath my sword today.”

“…I see.”

Helmut nodded and then stared elsewhere blankly.

Pavan inadvertently recalled the intelligence report he had heard about Helmut suffering from olfactory hallucinations ever since the former Saintess bit her own tongue and sprayed blood all over his face. Ever since then, Helmut had started to rely on the use of incense, but it looked like his symptoms had gotten worse.

Pavan had to wonder whether it was okay to burn narcotic incense in the sacred place where the emperor’s body was enshrined. However, the sacredness of the Imperial Palace was nowhere to be found at the moment, and it had already become the den of madmen.

‘And from the look of it, the most insane of them all is this rat.’

Of course, Pavan only kept his thoughts to himself, and did not do anything stupid like showing them on the outside. After all, this insane rat was the supreme commander of the empire right now.

“Your Holiness, the most complicated issue that must be dealt with right now is sorting out the command system. Do you plan to set up the Imperial Palace as the central base of operations in Torra?” Pavan asked.

“The Vatican has collapsed, so we need to rely on His Majesty’s shoulders for protection, given that the current situation is as bad as it is. I’m sure His Majesty will protect us now that we are here in the Imperial Palace. His grace is still with us, Pavan.”

In Pavan’s view, it looked like the Pope was the only person who still believed those words. After all, everyone in the city of Torra had witnessed what Helmut had done. The picture of the evil Templars who drenched themselves in the blood of the innocent, as well as the Pope who burned all of Torra won’t easily be forgotten.

Torra, which once shone brilliantly as the center of the empire, had now turned into a terrible hell. The power bestowed by the emperor was used on a scale greater than ever, but his grace was nowhere to be found.

“Damn it, my headache is getting worse…”

Helmut shoved a whole pack of incense into the ashtray and lit them all up at once. A heavy and suffocating scent that clouded one’s mind rose, causing Pavan to take a step back while covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve.

As someone who had multiple experiences of wiping out dens of drug dealers, Pavan could immediately recognize that Helmut was already severely addicted.

“This terrible smell of blood won’t go away until I tear apart that bitch, Ivy, and kill her. We need to find her as soon as possible. Then we must show everyone that His Majesty’s justice still exists in this land and stand strong against the fake emperor who is on his way to invade this land…”

“About that fake emperor,” Pavan spoke with great difficulty. “I understand that he is already close enough to Torra to reach us in a day. But the Imperial Army is still busy with searching for the rebels rather than preparing for the war. We also need to help with disaster recovery in order for Torra to be able to properly withstand the enemy’s attack. But in our current state, Torra is…”

“What do we even have to worry about when we have the Great Walls?”

Pavan clenched his teeth. According to the legends, the Great Walls surrounding the city of Torra were built by the emperor in a single night. It was only natural that such a legend existed, since the Great Walls were so elaborate and huge that it was nigh impossible to believe that they were built by humans.

Since it was a fortress prepared for the sake of war, and since it had never been attacked, many people believed the legend that it was built by the emperor. Hence, it was obvious to assume that rebels without any decent siege equipment would never be able to break through the Great Walls.

However, the enemy this time was not an ordinary army—this time, it was the army of the emperor.

“If the Great Walls were enough to protect us, there would have been no need for the Imperial Army to go through all the hard training and buy expensive weapons and armors. The enemy is someone who managed to beat the Regent, someone who was thought to be invincible. I think it would be right to be wary of them.” Pavan said, thinking that it was the last warning he could give Helmut.

Pavan had no reason to be loyal to Helmut, nor did he want to. The only reason he was giving a warning to Helmut was due to his responsibility as the military commander—a position that was passed on to him after Barth Baltic’s dismissal and the betrayal of the Captain of the Order of the Gold Lion.

“Please, Your Holiness. I implore you to command the army to focus only on the enemy at our doorstep at such a time.”

However, the only answer Pavan got for his pleas was a growl.

“If that bitch escapes, your neck will be the next thing rolling outside the Great Walls.”

“…Yes, Your Holiness.”

It looked like Helmut hadn’t even listened to Pavan’s warning properly. Instead, he was focused solely on inhaling the scent of the incense.

Pavan stared into Helmut’s dimming eyes and then turned around to leave.

***

The gathered clouds that couldn’t disperse were hovering ominously in the sky. It did not rain. The dreary and wet wind made everyone’s hearts flutter strangely in anxiety.

Sina looked at the city in front of her while feeling uncomfortable and uneasy.

“…That’s Torra,” Sina murmured in a whisper.

Before all of this happened, there was no city that could make her heart flutter as much as the holy city of Torra; after all, Sina wished to become a Templar.

Torra was a city where the history carved at the hands of the emperor was engraved everywhere, and where living heroes resided—it was a city overlooked by His Majesty himself, as he looked down from his Eternal Throne. Such was the public perception of Torra, and the same used to be Sina’s perception.

“I used to think that Torra was the most beautiful city in the world, but I’m not sure if I still think so.”

“…I don’t think it’s just due to the time that has passed.” Hela clicked her tongue and replied while standing beside Sina.

Flames and smoke were soaring throughout the vast city, while corpses were scattered everywhere. Ashes, rainwater, and blood were mixed with the mud, while the people were all looking around them with empty eyes.

In the center of all this devastation, one could see the Great Walls of Torra surrounding the Vatican and the Imperial Palace. The Great Walls themselves boasted a huge size that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. They were built like an elaborate puzzle, and showed no gaps that an enemy could dig through—its surface was so smooth that it was impossible to climb above it.

“I’ve never thought of targeting Torra before, but I can tell it’s happening for real now. Yet I still can’t think of any way to attack Torra. How the heck are we going to climb that wall?” Sina muttered with a fed-up expression as she looked at the Great Walls of Torra.

In response Hela looked at Juan, who was standing at the forefront of the army, with her mouth tightly closed.

Juan was calmly approaching the Great Walls without even contemplating stopping or slowing down, even with Torra right in front of his eyes.

“Wouldn’t he be able to use a secret passage since the Great Walls were built by him?” Hela asked.

“I don’t know much about Torra, but as far as I know, there is no secret passage leading into the Great Walls as far as I know.” Nienna approached them before anyone knew it and joined the conversation.

“Besides, there is no way that His Majesty would crawl through a drain or a rat hole to get in there.”

“I’ve never liked saying this, but I guess all I can say at this moment is ‘His Majesty must have a plan.’”

“Why do you hate saying that, Hela?” Nienna asked Hela with a soft smile.

Hela frowned and opened her mouth.

“His Majesty did not give us peace and freedom for free—instead, he helped us win them. I don’t think what His Majesty did was wrong, since humans are not babies that His Majesty should have to feed forever.”

“Then what if His Majesty tells you to charge right through the Great Walls?”

“While I do not want to be a baby, neither do I want to become an egg thrown against a rock. We just want to be His Majesty’s loyal army—similarly, His Majesty should also be our emperor.”

Nienna laughed in a low voice at Hela’s answer, and then she kicked her horse to take the lead.

“You worry too much, Hela. But I want you to think from a slightly different angle. His Majesty waged wars killed gods not because he hated them—he did that for the sake of humans.”

“…I know.”

“But this war is different. It’s not a war for the sake of humans, but for convicting sinners. One could say that it’s just revenge, but in a way, it’s very personal. Why would His Majesty borrow someone else’s hands when he is dealing with his personal vengeance?”

Hela frowned. She didn’t doubt the emperor’s omnipotence; she just didn’t want to rely on it too much. But Nienna was speaking almost as if the emperor was going to attack the Great Walls all by himself.

“If that was possible, why would His Majesty even call for such an army?”

“Who knows?” Nienna shrugged and answered.

“Maybe he brought us here just to catch the guys running away from him.”

***

Soon after, they reached close enough to Torra that the gate of the Great Walls could be seen. They were still quite some distance away, but they just had to lift their heads up to look at the Great Walls.

When Juan stepped on the long slope leading toward the gate of the Great Walls, the gate suddenly began to open. The army stopped all at once when Juan came to a stop.

Then, a man walked out of the gate and took a long time to approach Juan. The person who arrived in front of Juan was none other than Pavan Peltere, the Captain of the Order of the Capital.

“Your Majesty.”

Pavan got off his horse and saluted Juan. The army behind Juan looked at Pavan with a shocked expression, since the fact that the Captain of the Order of the Capital called Juan ‘His Majesty’ was not something that could be taken lightly.

“I am Pavan Peltere, the Captain of the Order of the Capital. First of all, I would like to thank you for making the long journey to return.”

Juan stared at Pavan for a while and then opened his mouth.

“I don’t need your greetings or your gratitude. I have just come to take back what is mine from a thief.”

Pavan smiled bitterly.

“With all due respect, that ‘thief’ is now the one ruling the empire. The House of Peers has already acknowledged the Church’s reign, and the citizens have long since been tolerating it. There is no doubt that His Majesty is the true owner of the empire, but Your Majesty’s actions now may set a bad precedent.”

Basically, Pavan was suggesting that Juan could grasp the power without doing anything, and just stepping aside.

Juan laughed, almost as if he was dumbfounded at Pavan’s attitude.

“You are still going to fight even when you know that I’m the emperor?”

“This is the reality of the army. You can’t just surrender because you know that you will lose. I’ve already lost enough self-respect by changing the subject of my loyalty once.”

Juan felt strange upon hearing Pavan’s words. He was speaking like Barth Baltic, but he was using a subtle tone to change the subject. Juan already knew that Pavan was more of a politician than a soldier. There was no reason for Pavan to be forcibly attached to a force that would soon collapse.

“However, the army would naturally stand by Your Majesty if Your Majesty showed the people that you are the true emperor without a doubt, and if you make them realize that the true owner of the empire has returned.”

Juan laughed once again. He had been wondering what Pavan wanted, but then realized that Pavan was suggesting that ‘the army would stand on your side if you prove that you are the true emperor.’

Pavan, who had already been betrayed by Barth Baltic, seemed like he wanted to choose the safe path even if he had to die.

“I don’t like to be tested,” Juan said.

“I’m sorry if I sounded rude, Your Majesty. But I…”

“However, I think this test will be necessary to do what I was planning to do anyway. So forget about what you said and go back to your original station. I will soon let you know that you were one of the people under me even before you held a sword in your hand.”

Pavan was taken aback by Juan’s words.

“But since you came all the way out here at the risk of your life, I’ll give you a small reward. Go and get your army off the walls,” Juan said coldly.

“I’m sorry? Your Majesty, that is…”

“That’s all I have to say.”

Pavan felt a sharp pain in his heart when his eyes met Juan’s eyes.

Shortly after, Pavan was running toward the gate. He ran like crazy, even abandoning his horse. Pavan gasped and looked around while holding his chest, almost as if his heart was about to burst. The soldiers were looking at him with surprised looks on their faces.

Pavan didn’t even know how he managed to come back.

The knights who had been anxiously waiting for Pavan’s return from atop the walls quickly approached Pavan.

“Captain! Are you okay? What happened?”

All Pavan could remember was the look in Juan’s eyes, as well as his last order.

“Get the soldiers off of the walls right now.”

“Pardon me?”

“I said get the soldiers off of the walls! Now!” Pavan screamed.

It was a cry filled with fear and desperation.