Amidst this chaos, one man is sitting lazily on a throne with a carving of a skeleton, and the upper tip design even has a real dried human skull as decoration. The throne itself is stained with dark marks, unclear whether from age or dried blood. The man sitting there has a bored look, as if he knows that this war is already won by him. His fingers rest loosely on the armrest, tapping slowly in impatience. He has a handsome face, you can even say that it's angelic, but his eyes can't hide his crazed bloodlust. They glow faintly under the dim light. A proof that this man has already claimed countless lives.
An unwanted memory flashed before him.
"P-Please... Your Highness... p-please spare my child... y-you're still his younger brother... at least spare your brother..." A woman groveling on the large palace floor begged in front of him, her hands trembling as they clutched the cold marble, with a terrified look on her face, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
The man holding a bloodied sword laughed maniacally. His tone was unreadable... it was deeply uncomfortable to listen to. His laughter contained anger, hatred, mocking, confusion, and sadness. All those emotions were being shown as he laughed, making it more eerie and unsettling, like an unstable person trying to cry and laugh at the same time.
His laughter finally stopped. "Spare your son?" He asked with a confused look on his face, his eyes still trembling with unstable emotions.
"I beg you, your highness... Please, don't kill my son... Please... Have mercy!!! He's your brother... You share the same blood... Please!!!!" The woman continued to beg again and again, her voice breaking, but the man just stared at her coldly.
"Bring him here." The man ordered a knight to bring his older brother, the one supposed to be the crown prince if not for his father's will.
"THUDD—!" A frail-looking man with similar characteristics to him—blonde hair and red eyes just like his—was thrown onto the floor in front of him by the royal knights.
"M-Mother? B-Brother? What's the meaning of this?" the frail-looking man said after getting up, a confused look on his face as he tried to understand what was happening. Why was his mother groveling in front of his younger brother, who was now the Emperor?
Without explanation, his head rolled across the floor before he even realized what had happened. He died with his eyes still open, his expression frozen in shock.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! MY SONNNNN!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!! AGHHHHHH!!!!! MY SONNNN!!!!" The woman crawled toward her son's corpse, her hands trembling as she hugged his lifeless body.
"Is it painful?" he asked coldly.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! MARCUS!!!! FORGIVE YOUR MOTHER!!! B-BECAUSE OF ME.... AHHHHHH MY SON!!!!" But the woman only continued to cry in madness, her voice breaking as she clutched him tighter after losing her son right before her eyes.
"Do you feel like your world crumbled all of a sudden? Like thousands of knives stabbed your heart again and again? The feeling of helplessness when you realize the person you care about in this world can never be brought back, even if you shout again and again?" He continued to ask calmly, as if it wasn't him who had just beheaded his older brother.
The woman looked at him with pure hatred, her eyes red and trembling.
He suddenly started laughing, as if he had just seen the funniest play in front of him, before returning to his stoic self again.
"That's exactly what I felt when you poisoned my mother. The only person I have left." he said calmly.
"Lock her up in the dungeon and make sure she doesn't die!" he ordered before he left.
That woman was the previous Empress, his father's official wife, and the person responsible for killing his mother.
You might think he was being merciful because of their lingering connection when he said to keep the previous Empress alive, but it's the opposite. He wanted her to continue living as long as she could so she could feel the pain of losing someone every day. The feeling of helplessness and guilt would torment her again and again. To make it worse, he even placed the head of her son in front of the woman's cell.
"How dare she take the life of someone precious to others when she herself isn't even prepared to experience it herself. Now, try savoring your own medicine." the man thought as he started laughing in the middle of purging the lineage of the previous Empress, along with the kingdom she came from.
Back to the present.
The man's face darkened. "Tch!"
One man who noticed this suddenly laughed. "Hiekkekekek!!! You look miserable, Master~ are you now regretting sending the demonic bastards?~ Kiekekekkekehk! Too bad, by now, they've probably already destroyed a few innocent civilians~" The man's laugh, as irritating and eerie as a ghost, earned a few piercing gazes from the people stationed there. These were the higher-ups of the Demonic Cult, of course, and they were furious after hearing him speak like that.
Yes, those two were Lucian and Mo Haryun.
Lucian gave Mo Haryun a warning look. "Shut your trap! I already made up my mind long ago! Nothing can make me waver now!"
At the border of the Righteous Path Alliance and the Demonic Cult territory,
a group of five young martial artists with first- to second-rate martial arts fought against a single peak-realm demonic martial artist.
"HEHEHEHE~ Weaklings of the righteous sects, witness clearly the might of our Cult~ Only our Cult, as the strongest, has the right to exist in this world! Blame your worthless existence for blocking the path of our Divine God~" The demonic martial artist licked the blood of one of the righteous brats he had just killed from his axe.
"Hiekk!! S-senior brother... L-let's run!!! He already killed Hyuna like it was nothing!!! She's at the peak stage of the first rate!!!"
As they began to run, the demonic martial master did not give chase.
"Hmph! This is so boring!"
A laugh from an assassin hiding in the trees could be heard.
"What can we do? We need to prove our strength to the new Divine God, or else we'll get discarded~"
"Right... He's truly the most insane Demonic Cult leader in our history~ what a weird child~" the bulky man said as they continued their advance.
This is the biggest mistake that the Righteous Alliance overlooked. Yes, they have large numbers and might really be stronger if they reunited and purged Lucian's group, but… they didn't take into account the state they are in. They are the righteous faction, while their opponents are demonic cultists who threw away their humanity long ago. They don't hesitate to kill anyone, while among the righteous martial artists, some haven't even taken a life.
So even if they fought demonic masters of similar rank, they would obviously lose. Why? Simple. A moment of hesitation can cost you your life in a battle of life and death—especially when your opponent is bent on killing you.
On the frontlines of the battlefield between the Righteous and the Demonic Cult, many young martial artists had already died. There were those who couldn't bring themselves to kill anyone, and those who lacked experience. They fell before they could even bloom. Truly, the battlefield is such a gruesome and merciless place.
Of course, there were also exceptional people who managed to make a name for themselves after killing many demonic martial artists! Not all in the righteous factions are truly righteous, and this battlefield was a stage for them to finally shine. Lucian also took note of these people and ordered his subordinates not to kill them. To him, they had a lot of potential. He even considered recruiting them immediately—after all, these people didn't belong in the Righteous Path, and their potential would just rot in that kind of environment.
A week ago, in the Iron Serpent Sect, one of the mid-tier sects in the Central Plains, a man left a letter for his sect and his master before running away. This man was determined; he knew that he didn't belong to this sect. He knew he wasn't normal, and being in a normal environment when you're not normal only made him lazy, letting his talent rot and preventing him from advancing at all. So he made a decision—to finally accept who he was, ascend to the heavens, and rule the world.
Back in the present, one of the demonic generals, Han Zhe, brought a sturdy-looking kid, carrying him like a sack, in front of Lucian.
"Master, this kid said he knows you and wants to join our Cult... I brought him since he looks useful." Han Zhe said as he tossed the boy onto the floor in front of him.
I was still sitting on my throne, lazily opening my eyes to look at him.
"Hmm... Who are you?"
Mo Haryun suddenly laughed. "Hiekrkekekk! You forgot already? He's the first guy you fought in the competition... I think his name is Jin Myeon-ryi?"
The man replied, "It's Jin Hyeon-ryu..." as he stood up, adjusting himself.
"Ah... Yes, that's him! Kekekekikekeke!"
I tilted my head, looking at him more closely and finally remembering.
"Ah... The weak brat with potential?"
Of course, that was just based on my standards. As I remembered, Jin Hyeon-ryu was a guy from the Righteous Alliance who challenged me once more, even after knowing I was much stronger than him. I actually took a liking to this guy.
"Alright, let him join." I said plainly.
Jin Hyeon-ryu was actually taken aback by how much I had changed since the competition. It was almost unnatural for him that I was sitting on top of these monsters gathered here. Even he felt choked by the atmosphere, while Lucian—who was younger than him—was the leader of these people. It felt like I was already used to being on top.
Of course, that was just in his eyes. He didn't know me in the first place, nor had I conversed with him when I was still participating in the competition. And above all, he didn't know that I wasn't from this world—though he was right about one thing. I was used to commanding people. After all, I had been an Emperor in my previous life.
"Now that you're one of us, go to the battlefield and prove yourself. Wipe out those people who don't have our banner hanging on their gates." I commanded, shooing him away.
"B-But..." Jin Hyeon-ryu wanted to protest, but I cut him off.
"Are you pitying your previous comrades? Then you're not fit for this place. As a mercy, because I acknowledge you, you may now leave this place." My voice has a hint of disappointment.
But he refuted, almost shouting, "NO!!! T-that's not it... I just want to stand beside you..."
I smiled faintly. Actually, I was quite satisfied. I knew what he meant. "You... are not strong enough to be here. Prove your strength on the battlefield and earn your place to stand here with us." I said before shooing him away.
After all, if he wanted to be among the higher-ups and have the demonic cultists accept him... all he needed to do was prove his strength and make these people acknowledge him. What I meant to say was, if you truly want to be by my side, prove to the world that you deserve it. That you deserve to be on top because of your strength, not your connection to me. This is the Heavenly Demon Cult—connections are useless here. Even Mo Haryun, the reason he's able to stand here right now, is only because he's slightly lower in rank than the four demonic generals.
And that is how the tale of the biggest traitor of the Righteous Alliance started.