Chapter: 49. Dark New Star (4K)
The bombardment from the Magic Cannon had stopped.
Far deep in the forest, the Magic Cannon barrel had burned red from overloaded magic and could no longer function.
The cannon fire did not shatter the sky as anticipated; the Knight Corps had already reached the scorched high platform, escorting all members of the royal family down safely.
Second Prince Mi Erhe had just awakened from a brief unconsciousness caused by a magic storm.
He turned around and saw the royal family being escorted away from the battlefield, while in front of him stood the silent and bowing figure of Philex.
His heart skipped a beat; Mi Erhe scrambled over to Philex, lifting his head only to be startled again.
— The two Demon Princesses and the brave of the kingdom were right across from them, seemingly ready to strike!
“Philex…! What do we do now… You must have a plan, right… I know you have plenty of tricks! Quickly tell me, what should we do now! Father and the others have begun to retreat; this is our only chance; we absolutely cannot let them escape…! Especially that Livra… she must die! You definitely have a backup plan, right! You…”
“Can you stop yelling? It’s disgusting, like a lost dog.”
“You…! What did you say?!”
“Oh, I misspoke… ‘lost dog’ should refer to myself, shouldn’t it?”
The gray sky hung overhead.
Philex looked up.
In this oppressive atmosphere, his thoughts clouded, it had started to drizzle lightly.
He couldn’t be bothered to tell the incapable prince behind him — we are out of options.
Just look at the high platform where His Holiness the Pope was.
He had left at some point, leaving the empty platform without a care for Philex’s fate.
There was no need for resentment.
After all, the Pope, high and mighty, didn’t have to care about a dog’s life; his departure was to be expected.
The Pope had left behind a magic amplification crystal on the ground, accompanied by a muffled voice echoing throughout the Gladiatorial Arena; the Church State’s experts scattered, seizing the opportunity to quickly withdraw from combat.
They knew it was no longer time to stay here.
There was no meaning in remaining.
【We hereby inform all citizens of the Corea Church State, whether you have come here voluntarily or have been deceived by the traitor Philex, please evacuate the territory of Aulus Kingdom. As long as you are a Corea believer, you should heed my command; those who defy it shall never set foot in Corea’s territory again for life.】
As the situation calmed, the royal family withdrew to safety, while the Knight Corps focused their efforts on dispersing the crowd.
The grand event concluded, hurriedly and dramatically.
Princess Xue Fei expanded her vision through [Visual Magic] to a distant point; it seemed the Pope had set up [Teleportation Magic] outside Aulus Territory in advance, and upon realizing the situation was failing, had made a swift retreat.
Originally, Princess Xue Fei had no patience to continue chatting with this traitor.
But as she watched the increasingly desolate night sky, and the vacant gaze of Philex looking up at the heavens…
She held her hands up, signaling Xiya and Belis to temporarily cease their assault.
No need to rush to kill him.
What Philex did today had already sealed his fate.
The dark clouds and drizzle had proclaimed his death.
But there was no need to haste in this fleeting moment.
Killing was never a matter worth being anxious about.
“It seems you’ve been abandoned by your Pope.” Princess Xue Fei sneered at the amplification crystal’s repeated hypocritical announcement, “And you’ve become the Pope’s complete scapegoat. Well… although you aren’t a good dog, the Church’s method of shedding responsibility is indeed clever; aren’t you going to defend yourself? Though defending yourself would still lead to death.”
“Heh… Your Highness, you jest. The Pope has always been this way; power struggles have always been like this.”
“Do you hate me?”
“No, it’s my own folly.”
Xiya and Belis exchanged glances, seemingly not fully understanding the exchange.
No, it was only Xiya who didn’t understand.
Belis looked at her purely to mock her foolishness.
The Queen Sister was executing the last mercy before the slaughter…
The Queen Sister was powerful and cold-blooded.
She was also gentle and fragile.
A butterfly flapping its wings can knock off dew from flowers, yet it once looked back to see if the tiny droplet was crying.
Unfortunately, the droplet is like tears, unable to show joy or sorrow.
Even so… the Queen Sister still wanted every being that died because of her to fall with a resounding thud.
Philex sat down, bitterly smiling as he sighed heavily, a glimmer of gratitude surprisingly flashing in his eyes.
The power of the Demon Princess far exceeded his expectations, but his failure was not due to that.
His defeat had already been predetermined.
Since when did it start…?
Too long ago, so long that he could hardly remember.
He only remembered a great fire and blood everywhere.
Philex’s family was a great noble house of Corea, safeguarding the Church’s power, flourishing at one time, carrying out the Pope’s commands, basking in glory.
But such an apparently impeccable family could still suffer complete destruction over a small matter.
Just because they encountered a minor error in providing wartime supplies for the kingdom, the Pope ordered the extermination of Philex’s family under the charge of embezzlement, leaving only the then twenty-something Philex and a few of his brothers.
Everyone knew that such a small problem shouldn’t lead to the family’s ruin.
Yet they also all knew that the Pope’s order was absolutely not because of the supply issue itself.
It was because their family’s rapid growth posed a potential threat to the Pope’s authority, which needed to be solved with blood.
On that night of slaughter, Philex stood dazed among the severed heads on the ground; for the first time, beyond the delight of power, he realized one thing.
Above power, there is absolute power.
Absolute power can, with a single command, create rivers of blood.
And the blood is all family; tears are only left for oneself.
From that day on, Philex changed.
He became deep and calculating, learned to endure — and also became insatiably greedy.
He sought forgiveness as the son of a traitor, once again pleading for the Pope’s favor, assuring he could risk infiltrating Aulus Kingdom, offering useful intel at the cost of his life for unimaginable wealth.
At first, the Pope didn’t understand his intentions and even suspected he wanted to use this method for revenge.
But it wasn’t until Philex revealed his ultimate goal that the Pope completely understood this young man’s thoughts.
— He wanted to take the throne of Aulus Kingdom.
The Church’s authority is like a towering tree, too firmly rooted to be shaken.
But in recent years, Aulus Kingdom had been wavering in tumult.
Philex craved the pinnacle of power.
He loathed the absolute authority at the peak of power, yet simultaneously, his desire to reach that place was uncontrollable.
Loathing and desire, while seemingly contradictory, are a true reflection of many people’s inner hearts.
For this, Philex became less like himself; his uncontrollable greed had driven him mad.
To reach the pinnacle, he was willing to do anything.
Betrayal, deception, rebellion, even being called a dog of the Church, none of it mattered.
Because once he reached that point… all voices would fall silent; no one would dare throw the heads of loved ones before him again; he could sleep soundly until every dawn and not see the raging flames.
Yet…
This was ultimately a futile dream.
Raindrops fell on his face and the ground, making no sound, turning to dust.
Perhaps… he should have just been an ordinary person, hidden in the city, far from power; that would have been quite good.
But he would not do that.
Today he fell to the power of the Demon Princess.
But yesterday, he fell to his endless greed.
The day before that, his desire to become the very thing he loathed was the root of all evil.
Philex sat cross-legged on the ground, half-turning to look at the frantic and desperate Mi Erhe, who was patting his shoulder.
He let out a cold laugh.
“Heh… Born into the royal family, Prince Mi Erhe… why do you not know the blessings you are in and insist on rebelling? Look at this, isn’t it funny that you’ve thrown yourself in too?”
“What are you talking about…! You scum… do you have any way out left?! Speak! Don’t you want power?! Don’t you want to kill me once I take the throne and take my place?! Now you have no way out, huh?! Useless thing!”
“Oh? You actually know? I thought you were truly stupid.”
“When I sit on the throne, the first person I want to kill is you!”
“Ha… hahahaha!”
Look!
This is power.
This is the power I’ve coveted all my life!
So murky, so maddening.
But if you ask Philex, if there’s still a chance now, does he still want the throne?
The answer is — of course.
Because he planned to kill Mi Erhe after usurping the throne.
It’s all the same, no difference.
No escape, no regret; he had known the filth of power decades ago, and even knowing, he still stepped onto the irreversible path.
Who made power the poison… that one can’t quit.
Mi Erhe’s face showed terror.
Not far behind him, the royal guards led by Ecklight were galloping in, shouting the rallying cry of “Arrest the Rebel!”
They were getting closer.
Mi Erhe was drifting further away from his ambition.
The Second Prince of the kingdom had ultimately gone mad.
His eyes bloodshot, he shakily searched for the remaining magic crystals on him.
“There’s still… still…! If I can’t have it… none of you can…! You all must die… all must accompany me to the grave!!”
Philex couldn’t be bothered to respond to him; however, if it had been years ago, he would probably have been in the same state as him.
Well then.
Philex gathered two magic blades in his hands.
Xiya and Belis simultaneously raised their weapons warily, preparing for the possibility of mutual destruction.
However, Philex merely smiled relievedly.
The two long blades drew two dazzling blood streaks in the air.
“Guh…! Phile…x… you… you… dog…!”
“Yeah… who says otherwise… it was always…”
This long, endless journey had already become too long… too long.
The two long blades pierced the hearts of two individuals.
One was Mi Erhe.
The other was Philex himself.
In reality.
Philex killed…
One was his present self.
And the other was his past self.
Which self no longer mattered.
Anyway, now… he finally became “himself” in life.
“Your Highness… thank you for your mercy…”
“……”
The scattered magic crystals mingled with the blood, narrating a tale of greed.
Philex was already dead.
But perhaps he wanted to leave a chance for his “younger self,” as the blade that pierced Mi Erhe’s heart had slightly deviated from the heart, allowing Mi Erhe to linger a little longer.
However, a person who couldn’t even see himself through the fog wouldn’t know where the opportunity lay.
Gagging up blood, Mi Erhe’s gaze filled with hatred fixated on the three before him.
“Die… die… die for me…!!”
He still held a magic crystal tightly in his hand.
With his feeble grip, the final Magic Cannon was activated.
— It raced towards Belis.
Perhaps Mi Erhe assessed Belis as the weakest of the three, which led him to this attack.
Until the end, his instincts still craved slaughter.
However…
Princess Xue Fei was already annoyed.
— And when she saw the Magic Cannon heading for Belis…
A glimmer of killing intent resurfaced in Xue Fei’s eyes.
God does not save people.
Neither do I.
The audience had already evacuated.
The convoy led by Ecklight still had some distance to cover.
Princess Xue Fei took a shallow breath.
In an instant, all things fell silent.
The intense white light of the Magic Cannon had just appeared but was covered and repelled back by a beam of condensed light a hundred times stronger.
It could even swallow the light of the dark night, letting out a silent roar that disintegrated Philex and Mi Erhe’s bodies, instantly turning them to dust.
The light continued to rise, reaching the peak of the sky.
On this day.
No matter where in the territory of Aulus Kingdom, one could see that light turning the night into day.
The light that Philex had mentioned piercing the heavens had indeed manifested.
Only… it remains unknown whether he foresaw…
That the light would become the flood that buried him.
— [Dark New Star].
