Chapter 196. Golden King (2)
Azadin was startled by Manza-Zadek’s hideous appearance, but he struggled not to show it on the surface.
“First of all, congratulations on your son, Sky Lord. Haha, to have a grown child come to you on his own and multiply your line, you surely have quite the talent.”
“I am humbled.”
“Yes, so, an audience at such a time, what business is this? I have heard you recently emptied out some of your wealth for the city’s defense, and I am indeed grateful for that.”
As his concubines fed him grapes, Manza-Zadek rolled his eyes. Those yellow pupils, gleaming like a great beast’s glare, instilled even the valiant Azadin with fear, repulsion, and disgust.
So this is Bruma’s Golden King?
Perhaps already accustomed to the Golden King’s shocking appearance, Sky Lord Kazas spoke smoothly.
“It is nothing else, Your Majesty. My foolish child, though clumsy in skill, wishes to devote his loyalty to Your Majesty, so I beg you to appoint him, even to a humble position.”
Even if Azadin gave advice on the city’s defense, there was no reason for the king to heed it. Thus, the Sky Lord of the Blue Sky Order sought to place Azadin directly under Manza-Zadek’s command through this request.
“Let us do away with empty formalities. After all, those here are not loose-lipped.”
Manza-Zadek smiled as he turned toward Azadin.
“I heard you were of the Herald Clan. Raise your head. Speak freely.”
“Yes.”
At Manza-Zadek’s words, knowing of his Herald Clan lineage, Azadin lifted his head.
“So then, where do you stand?”
“Forgive me, but if you ask where….”
“Azadin, your sister must be the traitor Arael, then why approach me through the Blue Sky Order? Does this mean you do not share Arael’s cause? Or do you stand with the Elder Council?”
“……”
Azadin was taken aback by how much Manza-Zadek knew of the Herald Clan. And from the way he spoke, was he not already colluding with Arael?
“So, you already know of my movements. And that you are already in contact with Arael as well.”
“Bruma is a wealthy land. The gold here can command even spirits. Do you think that girl Arael could have rebelled relying solely on her own talent, without backing? There had to be someone funding her. That someone, is me.”
Though he was grotesque now, his flesh sagging, in his youth he must have truly been as beautiful and strong as the portrait that hung before them.
“So, where do you stand? With the Elder Council? Or with the traitor?”
At that moment, a sharp murderous aura poured onto Azadin. The experts hidden within Manza-Zadek’s audience chamber would attack the instant their king spoke a word.
Azadin had already sensed that many such hidden masters lay in wait here, protecting the king’s massive body.
‘Incredible, I thought he was just a madman, but he is sharper than I expected. Truly, the Golden King.’
Impressed by Manza-Zadek’s keen response, Azadin chose to speak honestly of his heart.
“I strive only to lessen the suffering of the people. For that is the Emperor’s law, and the Herald’s mission.”
“Hahaha, what an amusing answer. If that is your true intent, then you are indeed an interesting one.”
At Azadin’s reply, Manza-Zadek suddenly burst into laughter.
“For a Herald Clan that assassinated the Emperor to claim to uphold the Emperor’s law, how entertaining. So, you still keep it hidden from the new recruits of your clan, don’t you?”
“What?”
“If you have a brain, think. Herald fledgling. How could a mighty Emperor, who alone sat upon all eight Quartz Thrones, suddenly perish without an heir? Do you really believe some nonsense that he fell sick and wasted away?”
So saying, Manza-Zadek burst into laughter, then broke into a coughing fit. His concubines rushed with cloths, wiping away the saliva and food scraps that dribbled from his mouth with care.
It was more like grooming livestock than tending to a man, and Azadin was horrified.
Yet Manza-Zadek’s words were far more shocking than his appearance.
“The Emperor was assassinated, by your clan.”
***
The Aragasa, though shackled by the Curse of Service, had always been proud that the Emperor had chosen them as Heralds.
Their martial arts, their wisdom, their ability, all were proof that they surpassed all others. Though the Curse of Service was heavy, they believed the Emperor’s choosing them was an honor. That it was only because the Emperor had unexpectedly perished so swiftly, that their contract of service had become a curse.
That was what they were taught.
But now, was that a lie?
“Oh, my, so you knew nothing. Or perhaps you did not wish to know? Hehe, to enlighten one who resists knowledge is such a delight.”
Seeing the madness in that smile, Azadin suddenly wondered.
“If the assassination of the Emperor was indeed by the Herald Clan’s hands, why has it not been made public? And how is it, Your Majesty, that you know this?”
“To the King’s Church, the Emperor was one who denied the kings’ very existence, yet also one closest to the Yaegas Divine Clan. If such a man were slain by the Divine King Slayers, their impiety and depravity would be revealed, yes, but so too would their competence. I possess many volumes that prove this, but what matters is not the evidence, but whether you choose to believe it, or not.”
Manza-Zadek’s demeanor, and the very ambiguities surrounding the Emperor’s demise, all served to prove that his words were truth.
“You Heralds, who assassinated the Emperor, now exploit a forgotten curse in his name to extort loyalty. So then, why not abandon your clan, and serve under me instead? Many former Heralds already serve me. You need not fear the Curse of Service. As a descendant of the Yaegas Divine Clan, I can block such a thing with ease.”
“First of all, the reason I came here, is because the Naga tribes serving the Nether are soon to attack Bruma, and in that moment, my kinsmen plot to usurp the thrones of this place. Countless people of Bruma will be massacred. I came to prevent that.”
“Hahaha, I thought it a joke, but you are serious. A Herald Clan that truly follows the Emperor’s law!”
The Golden King Manza-Zadek realized Azadin had come here sincerely to protect the people, and burst into laughter.
“You tempt me even more. You, Azadin, serve me.”
“Is that not precisely what I am petitioning for now, to be allowed to serve Your Majesty?”
“No, I mean not merely to aid briefly in the defense of the fortress and vanish thereafter, but to truly serve me. Ah, but first, I must prove that I am a lord worthy of your loyalty. For if one knew nothing, and looked upon me, they would see only a swine bloated with pleasure. Would they not?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Hahaha, you shall be fine seed indeed. To lie plainly when it is needed. But well, so be it. For it cannot be easy, not knowing the circumstances, to see me and yet not feel disdain.”
Manza-Zadek gestured toward his throne. It was crafted from a colossal trunk, large enough for even an elephant to sit upon.
“Beneath this lies a Quartz Throne, the throne of Yaegas. Do you know why I commit such acts upon that sacred throne of Yaegas?”
“As a mere man, I can only assume there is a profound foresight beyond my comprehension… how could I fathom Your Majesty’s deep intent?”
“Because, I strive to strengthen, even a little, the light of the king's virtue. But first, I must speak of why that light of king’s virtue has lately been waning.”
“That, to me, Your Majesty?”
Azadin was astonished, realizing that Manza-Zadek intended to reveal a shocking secret, the secret of the Yaegas Divine Clan.
“Yes. For I must prove myself a master worthy of your service. So wash your ears and listen. I shall tell you the secrets of the Yaegas Divine Clan, and the secret of the Emperor, which I have long studied.”
Drawn in by Manza-Zadek’s words, Azadin listened intently.
***
The Yaegas Divine Clan once possessed bodies of flesh, but one day attained great enlightenment, cast aside their flesh, and transcended into higher spiritual beings.
When they discovered the continent of Hubris, its rulers were Nagas, and mankind suffered under their tyranny, or was ravaged by Nether’s reapers, incomprehensible to mortals.
The Yaegas Divine Clan, moved by their noble ideals, descended to save suffering humanity. Of course, among them were those who, instead of noble ideals, sought to indulge again in the pleasures of flesh they had long abandoned, and so they too descended.
Eight Quartz Thrones were established upon the continent of Hubris, and through them, the Yaegas Divine Clan began a war of salvation for mankind.
And when that war was over, those who had descended for noble ideals alone departed, while those who had come to taste the joys of flesh remained. That was why the descendants of the Yaegas Divine Clan lingered in this land.
But pleasures soon grow stale, and when the gods who had descended here returned once more to their world, those who were left realized they were lesser beings than their forebears.
And their power gradually weakened.
The order established by the Yaegas Divine Clan, the King’s Church, was a church exalting the divine clan that brought the light of king’s virtue.
At first, this order was a faithful tool for royalty. But as divine power waned, the royals and nobles gradually realized this tool was becoming a shackle tightening around their throats.
Their ancestral spirits, the Yaegas Divine Clan, were leaving them, their divine bloodlines that distinguished them from common folk were growing weaker, and the power of darkness was once again rising strong.
Learning the truth, royal families trembled in fear, some committing mass suicide, others going mad. And so, they began to conceal this truth from the succeeding generations of royals, insisting instead that they themselves were divine.
The name “Yaegas Divine Clan” had originally referred only to those who had descended.
But the descendants confused the term to bolster their own authority, while striving to replace the vanishing divine power with every kind of magic and sorcery in this land. Some among them even succumbed to the temptations of the very evil powers that had once been their enemies.
And then, the Emperor Yaeslat was born.
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