I knew where the [Emperor] was. It was part of the summons, I had to know where to go. So I did. Using {Shadow Warp} and stealth, I bypassed their wards and appeared right in front of my father in a room full of his advisors and my brothers.
“Here I am!”
I shouted with a microsecond flare of {Eldritch Aura} at low power just to catch everyone’s attention. I dodged a few projectiles and spells, and more than two weapons were drawn by the people present.
“Whoa, people, what’s the matter? Chill, dudes.”
Yeah, dudes. The Empire didn’t like their women in positions of power. Also, I caught them unprepared. The Seneschal, for example, was examining the wards that should’ve blocked me from entering.
“Percival, my son,” The Emperor said as I put a hand on his shoulder. The compulsion of the summons ended. “We were worried about your wellbeing. Your Palace disappeared and we couldn’t find you.”
That was a lie but I just grinned. Did they wait a year to miss me? Did anyone notice I wasn’t at the hunting grounds last Spring?
“No, everything is fine. I just took the Palace to Raswaria. And we spent the good part of the last year rebuilding the place,” I waved a hand over the table and an illusion model of New Raswaria appeared. It even had tiny people going about their business. “See? Here’s the missing Palace, and here are the merry people that helped me achieve this dream.”
“Where were you when father summoned you, brother?” One of my brothers asked.
I made a red teardrop marker appear over the palace. “Home, of course.”
“Nonsense!” One of my brothers scoffed. “It’s been less than five minutes father summoned you, how could you have crossed thousands of kilometers this fast?”
I wiggled my eyebrows at him, “That’s a secret, dear brother. Father called, I answered. Now, what’s the matter?”
“How did you take a Palace from one place to another?” He pressed.
“I took the Palace, put it in my {Palace Pocket}, then moved north and took it out there,” I answered nonchalantly as if it was the most obvious thing to do.
In 1.6 seconds I’m going to be stabbed on the back. The Emperor sighed, “Percival, the Palace was the property of–“
I dodged the blow and gave the attacker a little push with an invisible set of Force Tongs. The sword continued on its path, striking the person in front of me. [Prince] Valvance’s stealthy backstab went on at the Emperor.
Valvance was one of the “good [Princes]” if one believed they existed. He had a thing for children, for sheltering them, I mean, and was the owner of several orphanages where abandoned children received training to later serve him in a professional capacity. He didn’t tolerate child abuse and was probably angry at me because I removed the street urchins with my black wagons.
The attack would have struck true if one of the [Emperor]’s contingency items hadn’t triggered. A blazing shining shield of Force energy sprung just in time to catch the blade and deflect it to the side. Valvance’s weapon broke against this shield and he was violently pushed back by a wave of blinding energy, slamming his back against the wall and leaving a spiderweb fracture on the mortar. He lost about twenty percent of his HP, a testament to the [Emperor]’s anti-assassination protections.
A ring in my father’s hand crumbled. But chaos took over. Valvance’s attack prompted everyone to try and get a piece of me. I sent a quick message to Leodec telling him to join in the attack and focus on me. So long he appeared to be aiming at me and not slacking off, it was fine.
A wave of possible futures spread on me s {Precognition} showed me the attacks that would land and it changed with every minute movement I made. Time slowed to a crawl as my two hundred points of Mind allowed me to do the Matrix trick and evade most of the attacks while landing one of my own. As I parried a blow with a main gauche in my left hand and fired a {Force Javelin} to finish Valvance, a [Dead Adamantite Thinblade] appeared in my right hand as I sliced one of my slowest brother's neck off.
> > Death Contract
>
> > You struck level 79 Imperial Summoner for 1.4 Billion HP of damage (Base 415 [29d10+8d20+140] x18.25 Attributes x12.3 Skill x1.56 Duelist x1.5 Favored Enemy x1.56 Dual Wield mastery x3 Mana Strike x2 Blood Sacrifice x3 Flash Step x7.6 Assassinate x1.71 Combat Technique x8.1 Cruel Backstab x2.4 Melee Specialist x0.9 Armor [reduced])
>
> > For killing level 65 Imperial Duelist...
>
> > For killing level 79 Imperial Summoner, you gained 3.8 Trillion Exp (base 5,513,322 x10,000 Fast-Learner x7.56 Contract x3.05 Favored Enemy x0.75 Rank x4 Class Rarity)
Poor Albion of Travenia, he had the wrong Class. A summoner was not someone I wanted in the room for my next move. The body vanished, leaving only a few drops of blood on my weapon. Few noticed it, believing I’d just cut someone with my blueish-gray rapier.
I blinked to the other side of the room as several spells and thrown weapons converged on my previous location and blasted the wall, weakening the wards to the point of failure and denting the structure.
“{ENOUGH}!” The [Emperor] bellowed.
> > Contested Charisma test won.
>
> Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The others froze. I sent my weapons to the item box.
“Are you insane? Why are you killing each other?” The man berated his unruly children as he met each of his thirty… three surviving [Princes]’ eyes. My math might be wrong. Oh, right. Leodec had renounced so I was thirty-second in the line of succession right now. But the [Emperor]’s question was purely rhetorical. He knew very well why we were killing each other as he did the same to his brothers several centuries ago.
“Percival,” he continued, “I received a notification from the System telling me Raswaria started producing goods again. We conveyed this meeting to see about taxation, and the issue of your missing Palace came up.”
“No problem, father. You may summon me anytime and I’ll be there,” I answered with a grin and a bow.
Someone snickered something under their breath.
“Where are Albion and Valvance?” Edmund of Icuvelia, the crown prince asked. Another rhetorical question as he knew very well I killed them both. We exchanged a glance but I kept my face neutral. It wasn’t the time for either a smile or a frown.
“Dead,” the [Emperor] replied grimly. “Percival killed them while you attempted to kill my wall,” he pointed at the crumbling structure.
“Then where are the bodies? I can barely see any blood!” Edmund pressed on.
“They are in my {Dead Brother Pocket}, dear still-living brother,” I snickered.
Angered, he slammed the table, causing the minister to his left to flinch. “Do you think you can intimidate me? Are you tired of living? I’m the Crown [Prince]! I served this empire for more than three centuries!”
He wouldn’t look a year over thirty if we were on Earth.
“So what? Serving the Empire for three centuries? Our father took the throne in one. Of course, you’re a lesser man than he is, so I think being a servant is all you’re good at.”
I could see the blood rushing to his veins as he fell for my provocations. Too bad I had to get every single one of them to give up their right to succession before I could get a shot at becoming the [Emperor].
“Father, I’m going to kill this brat,” Edmund grimaced and growled.
“Take it outside,” The [Emperor] replied like a father who didn’t want his living room to be messed up.
To him, this fight was a good thing. He believed he would get to see the two strongest threats to his life fight one another. The only thing keeping him from jumping in and finishing the two of us was that the [Empire] needed a successor. They were all raised on this credo, the belief that it would be worth dying to a strong son. The future of this rotting institution was more important than his life.
But what I said was true. The [Emperor] rose to power in a hundred years. He didn’t kill his own father, though. The previous [Emperor] died fighting a giant invasion from the eastern mountains.
*
*
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*
*
We went to a reinforced arena. Magical wards sprung around us, protecting those watching. As I walked the tunnel to the arena floor, Edmund walked out on the other side. It was like the Roman colosseum, with the [Emperor] sitting on a balcony. I noticed none of my other brothers were with him. Edmund readied his staff and a number of minute spell circles sprung around him, precast spells he could fire with great celerity.
“Today, your murder spree ends, Percival! No longer shall you torment our brothers!” Edmund taunted.
“Spare me the virtue bullshit! You killed more people than me in your experiments. We are peas of a pod, Edmund. If some of our brothers died to my blade, it was because you were too slow to take the throne! You are too soft and unfit to be the next [Emperor].”
“You are a psychopath, Percival! Under your rule, the Empire will be as cold and cruel as you are!”
“Says the guy who kidnaps beautiful women! What do you do with them, Edmund? Kill them after you had your way with them?”
I sensed his surface thoughts as a wave of disgust washed against my suggestion. Shame and a strong rejection of the idea of raping the women. His body also shut down, any signs of arousal, either sexual or battle lust, vanished. His body language said the same.
“Get away from my head!” He roared. “We will kill you, Percival! Someone who drags innocent people into those monstrous carriages just to slake your thirst for blood is not worthy of standing next to us!”
The gate behind me slammed shut but not the one Edmund emerged from. All my other brothers poured out from the tunnel, taking their stand on either side of the crown Prince. All with their weapons and spells ready. I glanced at the balcony. The [Emperor] grinned.
“A true [Emperor] doesn’t pick his enemies!” He answered my silent question. “And they often band together to strike when one least expects! Survive, or die, Percival!”
Another of his stupid tests. I couldn’t sense his mind but I felt he might be tired of ruling for so long. Four hundred years for a human is too long. We just weren’t built to live that long while everyone around us dies. The curse of immortality, or at least a long life.
I knew it very well.
Only by embracing each life and living it could I stave the grief. Today, I was Percival and maybe Raina in private sometimes, but I was not Haru, or Tina, or any of my previous lives. To go back is to grieve the ones I lost. I knew the baggage would one day become too heavy and I would take the [Null and Void] Class Wyxnos set for me. The cold embrace of Oblivion could one day become my only solace.
Lorna’s Game was her way of saving me. To make me look forward to loving someone even if it wasn’t her. I shook the cobwebs and those grim thoughts.
“I understand, father,” I replied to the Emperor. “But will you hear one last plea?”
The man frowned. “Granted. What is your last wish, Percival?”
“Anytime from today to three hundred years in the future, dragons will attack the Empire. Led by their deranged deity, they shall lay waste to the land. We cannot afford to lose so many fourth-rank talents like my brothers. What I ask of you is to allow me to remove them from the Dynasty succession roll by subduing them completely instead of killing.”
Edmund started to laugh. “Weak! You are only begging for your life!”
“Silence, son!” An angered [Emperor] scolded his firstborn. “Is what Edmund said true?”
“I am not asking for my life. They literally cannot kill me,” we were in the morning and the Sun shone strongly. {Solar Indomitability} and {Cyst Hibernation} made me technically unkillable. “I’m asking for theirs. Would you grant me the lives of those I spare today to use as I see fit?”
“He wants to devour our blood!” One of my brothers screamed with disgust.
Ignoring him, I stared at the Emperor, “Live or die, what matters if I spare a defeated [Prince]’s life?”
“Should you defeat all of them without killing, I shall grant your request. Though I cannot remove anyone from the Dynasty, only add, I shall grant you the {Imperial Challenge} Perk.”
> > You were granted the Perk, Imperial Challenge (ultra-rare): You may challenge any Royal and set terms by betting land or titles on the outcome.
>
> > Your Champion’s Duel Perk has combined with Imperial Challenge.
>
> > Champion's Challenge (combined): Issue a challenge. Win a Willpower dispute, the targets can only attack you. if you do not attack targets outside the challenge, you take 40% less damage from outsiders and may spend Energy to deal 3x damage to challenged targets. Targets of your challenge cannot flee unless they win an Ego contest. If the target is Royal, you may bet lands and titles.
It was the one he used on the battlefield near Therian. I didn’t wait to use it.
“To all my brothers. Here’s my {Challenge}. Defeat or kill me and I shall yield my position in the Dynasty succession list. Surrender and you will yield your position in the list instead of dying.”
I got a slew of messages telling me I won all contests regarding the duel part. Leodec promptly accepted to yield and the others were divided. Some did, some did not.
“Are you ready? Then fight!” The [Emperor] shouted.