Crash!

"Your Majesty…"

"Hush."

The servants and Butler Xiwen stood outside Guren's room, looking in in state of nervousness and complexity. The door was wide open, giving them a clear view of the chaos inside.

Almost all the vases were shattered, and the curtains were ripped. The entire room was in disarray, with everything looking like it had been destroyed.

"Hoh."

Guren sat on the edge of his bed, his posture slumped and defeated. His chest rose and fell with deep, laboured breaths while his head hung low, casting shadows across his face. His body swayed slightly as if the moment's weight was too much.

Blood trickled from his feet, leaving small crimson pools on the floor where he had stepped on broken shards of a mirror. The glass pieces scattered around him, gleaming in the dim light.

With trembling fingers, Guren reached down and picked up one of the sharp shards. He stared into the jagged reflection, the fragmented glass distorting his face.

The shard glinted dangerously in his hand, a stark reminder of the fragile line between his fractured reality and the darkness he teetered on.

Viridian eyes cold and without light, gleaming in depravity.

"It just won't stop."

Guren muttered.

"Your Majesty, I beseech you. Control yourself, or else you'll accidentally harm yourself."

Butler Xiwen pleaded.

The Emperor wasn't like this before.

Just a while ago, after finishing dealing with the affairs in the court, Guren tiredly went to bed and slept. There are times that he could sleep peacefully and times when he looks like he is more tired than when he is asleep.

Right now, the young Emperor looks like he could kill. His eyes, which were usually apathetic, became more severe.

His irritatedness could be seen by his furrowed eyebrows and the way he clenched his teeth as if frustrated and angry at the same time.

There were maids on standby, lining up behind Xiwen.

Seeing the strangeness of how Guren clenched his quivering hands, Butler Xiwen cried out to the servants, "Leave! All of you, leave us this instant!"

Butler Xiwen has a bad feeling about this.

"Gahhh! Just stop it already!"

Guren shouted, his voice raw and filled with anguish, echoing through the room as if he were losing his mind.

His cry was wild, almost primal, a release of the turmoil that had been building inside him.

Suddenly, frantic, he reached for the sword resting on his nightstand. His hand gripped the hilt tightly, his knuckles white with the force of his grip.

Guren's eyes, now bloodshot and filled with a dangerous mix of rage and despair, darted around the room, searching for something—anything—to focus his torment on.

The sword's blade gleamed menacingly in the dim light, a tangible symbol of the darkness consuming him.

Again.

The dreams he had a while ago had become more intense. It doesn't feel like a dream anymore. It was so vivid. He could even feel the wind.

The screams and the clashing of swords against the shields. The sound of swords hitting the flesh of the bodies of the soldiers.

Guren's vision was back to the river of blood.

"Ah…"

Why is he back in this battleground?

Didn't he kill them all? Why are there some left? He was at his palace, right? Why is he here? Why are there still some of those despicable enemy soldiers left? They were killed; he made sure of it.

"Pest."

Then he'll get rid of them again.

Swish!

"Ha-ack! Please have mer--!!"

Again and again, he will kill them until they perish away from his sight and never would he see them for the rest of his ruling.

"No! No! I don't want to die!"

They're all escaping. No, he couldn't let them escape. They'll have to die here.

"Ahh!"

"Heuk!"

"Stop!"

Bothersome, extremely bothersome. Why are they still alive? These abominable cretins.

Guren didn't care about anything; blood splattered his face, but he didn't care. He kept swinging his sword. There was blood everywhere.

Thousands of bodies piled up on the entire battlefield. The stench of blood permeated the air like a blooming flower after the tree died.

"Enough!"

"No."

It's not enough. Not until he kills this last person standing.

"Trizar, you'll die by my hands."

Guren swings his sword swiftly, thrusting in expertise and aiming for the vital part: to kill him in one go.

Trizar skillfully dodged, evading his attack and deflecting his blows as he protected his comrades.

"Such futility."

Hah. Guren will kill them all!

Yes, he just needs to kill Trizar; then he can rest, and this restless feeling will disappear.

This three-year war shouldn't be prolonged anymore. Many of the Adiand soldiers died. They are too weak against the enemy's soldiers, yet they can only move forward. This chance, he won't let it slip by so quickly.

There's only one way: he'll fight him to death!

Bam.

"Ugh."

He hit the ground.

Guren hated this.

"Tsk."

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How he hates being a child. This is too disadvantageous to fight someone different from your size, height, and strength.

He gritted his teeth and attacked again. He'll use his speed for the lack his strength to make another strike that could kill him. One move that he'll use with all his might to make him drop dead.

"Your Majesty, please come to your senses!"

Splurt.

"Gahgh!"

Cough. Cough.

The bloody battleground faded. When Guren blinked, the face of Butler Xiwen, who had his shoulder pierced, became more and more evident in his eyes. Deep wounds could be seen in his body as his clothes were torn.

Trizar and his men were nowhere to be found. The once imposing mountains of corpses had vanished as if they were never there. Guren blinked, his surroundings shifting in a surreal haze. He was no longer on the battlefield but twisted into a nightmare in his palace.

As Guren's gaze travelled around the room, he was struck by the unusual scene that shouldn't be in this wing.

Blood stained the ornate rug and splattered across the walls, turning the once regal setting into a chamber of horrors.

The maids, who had once served him faithfully, now lay in grotesque disarray. Some were covered in blood, while others had their heads severed and lying in directions opposite to their bodies.

Torn stomachs, twisted limbs, lifeless eyes—all painted a macabre picture of slaughter.

Guren looked down at his hand as it gripped the sword he always carried into battle. The blade, slick with fresh blood, was still warm to the touch.

A deep, cold stillness as it always remained in his chest as he realized the carnage surrounding him was not some distant horror but something intimately tied to his own actions.

"Haha."

"Your Majesty…"

Butler Xiwen held a lamp stand in his hand. He used this to defend himself.

Guren silently stared at Xiwen. To think he thought he was that bastard Trizar.

"Butler, you survived."

It sounded empty. Nonchalant as Guren always speaks.

Butler Xiwen smiled. "Indeed."

Indeed, he survived. Unrightfully so.

Most of the wounds were deep but not enough to get him killed.

"Go treat yourself."

"You."

"Your Ma-Majesty…"

It was the only maid you hadn't been slaughtered.

"Take him out and be treated."

"Ye-yes."

"Do it for your life."

"…"

"Scram."

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty!"

Guren didn't even glance the second time around the carcasses he had just slaughtered going in another direction deep in the palace ground.

"Bring me to the prisoners."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The two knights answered.

Opening the cage revealed the spies that had been discovered and were now tied for interrogation.

"Hah! If it isn't the child emperor!"

"The tyrannical monster showed his presence, huh?

"Despicable child."

Guren silently looked at them and waited until their insults all faded from his stare.

"Impertinent fools."

He uttered drily.

Slash.

"Hik---"

The first spy had his bowels open.

"You!"

"On whose order?"

"…"

"You drats won't say?"

Guren raised his sword again; this time, he struck the second person on his toes.

"Ahhh! Hurts! It hurts!"

"Order."

"I don't know!"

"Hm."

Akan didn't say anything more and pierced the man's head.

"Next."

"…"

"What's the use of being loyal?"

Stab.

Thud.

"You'll die; they're still living. Isn't it unfair?"

Thwack. Crack.

"Kghhh!"

"You're feeling pain; they're still in the brothel."

Thud.

"You'll die by the hands of our Emperor!"

"I'll wait belatedly."

Thud.

"What say you?"

"None for the likes of you!"

"Alright."

"Knights burn his eyes; it's irritating. Then burn him wholly."

"Hahahaha! You'll truly end the Adiand Empire with your doing."

"Yes, good answer."

Guren pointed at the other man, "Let him speak his speech freely on the Ordeal of Water."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I am innocent! Haha!"

"Tell me,"

Guren raised his sword to the remaining person out of the ten.

"Is there life truly worth dying for?"

"Money and death, your reward will be as peaceful and swift compared to your companions. If you want to live, let me weigh your words impartially."

The last remaining man gritted his teeth.

All the life in his eyes was full of only one emotion: hope.

Indeed, what is he thinking about?

He can't escape now. If there's a chance to live, even if he is a slave, then he will. His life is more precious than the order he was given. His comrades all died, they all suffered, yet their higher-ups are living.

A hermit-like them at the bottom of the soles of their feet, can't they live as well? It's hard to earn money cleanly, but is this worth it?

He gave up and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, I will tell you everything just let me live."

Guren said, "Do you know why I left you last?"

"Your...Your Majesty..."

"You seem to love your life more than the rest."

"..."

The man could only bow his head low.

"Look up."

"I, I dare not."

"Look. At. Me."

Halfway, before the man could even raise his head to Guren, the glint of the sword slashed his head. Even in death, his eyes had a look of shock.

Thud.

"You're not the only one."

Guren muttered, wiping the blood of his sword on the man's headless body.

"Not enough."

Headache, it lessened, but he still has a headache.

Guren yawned.

These were all imprisoned by Akan and deprived of any food but water. It seems he can't let them confess their secrets anymore.

Not like he needs it nor does Akan.

He already had a hint and that crazy advisor that's always with the Empress Dowager just let them live for his amusement.

"Ugh."

Guren gritted his teeth as he pinched the bridge of his nose and walked out of the cell. He glanced at the guard who was watching them.

The guard respectfully bowed.

Shuukk.

Gasp.

"Your...Your..."

Thud.

One of the soldiers had also fallen on his sword.

"I got it dirtied again. You,"

The knight who was about to drag his comrade flustered stumbled before he properly kneeled, "Your Majesty!"

"Fool, he's one of them."

Thud.

"You're Majesty, this knight is blind! Grant me death as well!"

Yes, it was not enough.

But, "Tired."

His eyes returned back to being apathetic; however, the dark circles in his eyes had worsened.

Guren dragged his sword behind him, the blade scraping across the floor with a harsh, grating sound.

Each step he took amplified the noise, creating a sharp, irritating screech that echoed through the blood-soaked halls. The sword's tip carved shallow grooves into the ground, the sound relentless.

"Ah."

His headache is beating less loudly anymore.