The chancellor jumped in fright and finally regained his senses. Stammering, he said, "Y-Your Majesty… th-this… this may be an unforeseen development. The intruder's strength might be far beyond what we expected."
"Beyond expectations? That was Flamme's arrangement! Wasn't it said to be able to handle even a mage from the mythic era like Serie?"
The emperor glared at the chancellor, then shifted his gaze to the gap in the castle shown on the screen. The officials all lowered their heads and avoided meeting his eyes.
The entire audience hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the emperor's heavy breathing clearly audible.
Beneath that silence was deep fear of the unknown enemy and endless worry about the empire's future.
They only had one last reliance left. If that also failed, then everyone would likely only be waiting for death.
But the emperor still had another final card. He suddenly strode toward the back of the audience hall and, without waiting for anyone's confusion, pressed on an inconspicuous brick.
Immediately, with the sound of stone grinding and the astonished looks of the crowd, the wall behind the throne retracted upward, revealing an open space no one had ever seen before.
The crown prince immediately understood. The emperor had only ever told him alone about the empire's final trump card, past generations of imperial strongmen who had been willingly sealed away.
"Father! Absolutely not! That demon is already in the city and has blocked the exit! Even if they wake up now—", the crown prince tried to stop him on instinct, but the emperor cut him off with a furious shout, "Shut up! You fool! If Flamme cannot be relied on, then only they can help the empire through this crisis. A strong enemy is right in front of us! If we die here, the empire is truly finished!"
It was the first time the emperor had openly shouted in anger in front of others. After that outburst, the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone only watched with curiosity and expectation as the emperor walked toward the back, toward twelve stone figures that had been continuously sealed until today. But all of them without exception… were elderly men.
Because the empire, whose territory had been steadily shrinking, simply had no spare capacity to seal its strongest warriors in their prime or peak years. Warriors were needed to keep everything running.
By the time they were close to death, sealing them was pointless anyway. There was little value in it. It was better to use active warriors from the current era instead. Those old warriors near death could simply be used at that time instead.
More importantly… what about their families if someone was sealed during their prime? If they ended up having no attachments and resenting the empire for separating them from their families, what if they turned on it later?
On the other hand, mages became more valuable with age. Before their lifespan ended, sealing them in advance meant they could still provide great help at a critical moment in the future.
These elderly stone figures had been kept in the deepest part of the palace all along, hidden in the audience hall.
They should have been brought out earlier, but now, when they were finally taken out, the exit had already been blocked. The situation had become troublesome.
mages were meant to fight in open terrain, not inside a fortress-like interior. To leave here, they would still have to pass through the now-destroyed anti-magic hall, but the enemy was already blocking that path.
Even if they tried to break through the walls, these walls were not something that could be destroyed easily. Otherwise, how could emperors across generations sleep peacefully?
But if they were not brought out now, the empire would fall apart. At least the emperor did not believe that if they all died here, the other regional princes who had been granted fiefs could still form a complete empire. There was only one choice: a desperate gamble.
It was somewhat regrettable. Flamme, the strongest of them, had been properly laid to rest. But there was no helping it, Flamme's reputation was too great. It had almost become a threat to imperial authority. She absolutely could not be left for the future, or the empire would not know who it belonged to.
Even if Flamme likely had no ill intent, she only wanted to prevent humanity from being destroyed by demons and did everything she could to support the empire, but how could an emperor trust someone from outside the royal line whose authority had grown too large, to the point she was almost the embodiment of the empire itself? Someone whose merit overshadowed the ruler?
After all, the empire's founding day celebrations were praising Flamme, not the founding monarch.
———
After breaking through the obstruction of the anti-magic hall, Ash returned from his fully transformed state to the form he usually showed in front of others.
He did not want too many people to discover his true form. And, he could also feel the magic watching him from outside the anti-magic hall.
After completely destroying that hall, he resumed a human-like body and continued along the planned route, intending to eliminate them all now.
"It cost a bit of power, but at this level, in the end, they're just slightly stronger trash. Still, all these layered schemes do fit Flamme's style."
Ash walked forward slowly toward the depths of the imperial capital, muttering to himself.
"But can't this empire try something new? After all these years, they're still relying on people sealed from a thousand years ago? Living off old foundations for so long, there should be some progress. Then again, if there was progress, they wouldn't be left with only this much territory."
At the end, he could not help but laugh lightly.
Of course, it was probably not complete decline. Some areas had regressed, some had progressed; both likely existed. But overall, they were still relying on past foundations. Otherwise, they would not have kept shrinking from a unified empire to just the core region.
After laughing, he continued forward calmly with a relaxing gait.
Compared to before, the soldiers now all looked pale. Fear filled their eyes as they kept retreating. They no longer had any courage to fight.
In truth, during the earlier battle, they had already been driven into terror. But military orders were absolute, so they had no choice but to keep forcing themselves forward to their deaths.
"This is fine too. I don't actually like killing people," His voice echoed faintly in the space filled with blood and death.
His steps were steady and did not stop.
Each step forward pushed the soldiers back another step, like startled birds. The enchanted weapons in their hands trembled violently, and the sound of metal clashing—"Clink! Clink!"—kept ringing out, as if those weapons were not tools for killing but burdens dragging them toward an abyss.
Hearing Ash's words, the soldiers felt as if they were hearing something absurd.
At this moment, Ash was covered in a thick, almost nauseating smell of blood. His clothes were soaked through, and his expression was cold and sharp. It was hard to believe the truth of what he had just said.
As they kept retreating, they soon reached another sealed hall with nowhere left to go.
Normally this place was just a passage, but both sides were lined with obstacles for archers and mages to use as cover. It was also their last hope.
Twelve elderly mages stood in a row, wearing mage robes and holding staffs. They were the strongest mages from different eras of the empire's thousand-year history, now fully prepared.
The ceiling of the hall was extremely high. The walls were embedded with faintly glowing magic crystals, providing weak light for the battle.
A huge and complex magic circle had already been drawn on the ground, its patterns faintly circulated with magic power. Groups of knights and soldiers stood in front of it, acting as human shields for the mages who lacked close-range advantage.
Even palace mages stood tightly in front of them, staffs glowing, clearly prepared to use their own bodies to buy time for the ancient strongmen to cast powerful spells against this demon-like enemy.
The entire hall was filled with tension and pressure. It seemed a large-scale battle was about to begin here.
The moment Ash stepped into the hall, he could feel the dense magic in the air. When his gaze swept across the twelve, he showed a slightly surprised expression.
"Feels like… I've seen some familiar faces? Am I dreaming?"
"Fall back! Evil one!", The twelve mages stood in formation, locking their gazes on him. The leading elderly noble mage stepped forward, "Do you know who stands before you? The strongest from every era of humanity! Legendary mages! Against us… you have no chance of survival!"
"Stop bluffing. Fighting mages in this kind of terrain? And a group of old relics at that?", Ash could not help but laugh after hearing this.
From what they said, he had already guessed it.
These people were imperial mages sealed from different eras, preserved for moments of crisis to save the empire.
Under normal circumstances, it would indeed work. It was just that the timing… was clearly wrong.
His provocation enraged the old noble, but before he could speak, an elderly woman in the crowd studied Ash carefully and suddenly widened her eyes.
"You… could you be Lord Ash?"
"What? An acquaintance?"
"I'm Joanna!", the old woman said excitedly, clearly happy to see someone from the past after a thousand years.
"Joanna… somewhat familiar? Or maybe not?", Ash looked at the white-haired, bent-over old woman and could not quite recognize her.
"Think carefully! I was the twenty-sixth disciple of Lady Flamme! Didn't you once sit next to me and attend classes together?"
"She really had a lot of disciples," Ash now recalled a bit after hearing that.
Flamme's disciples had been numerous. Joanna had been one of the more talented ones, surpassing Frieren in her middle years.
They were not particularly close, but they did know each other.
Even so, Ash was genuinely surprised to see someone from a thousand years ago still alive in this way. Still, he let out a slow breath and said, spreading his hands, "And then? You understand my position, right? Do you think you can stop me? Or, are you planning to end your old age in misfortune? I would rather avoid that."
Joanna's eyes flickered with hesitation, but it quickly turned into determination.
"Lord Ash, the empire has been kind to me. Lady Flamme also once ordered me to protect the empire. I don't know why you are doing this, but I cannot let you pass. However, I can promise that if you leave now, I will not pursue you."
"I'll say the same. If you leave, I won't chase you either."
"I cannot leave."
"Then there is nothing more to say. As a courtesy to an old acquaintance, I'll send you to see Flamme using magic."
Since she would not step aside, there was no reason for him to retreat. His eyes turned cold instantly, and five black-purple light spheres appeared around him.
This scene made the palace mages quickly raise defensive spells. The leader shouted: "Everyone! This is killing magic! It has extreme piercing properties! Quickly—"
Before he could finish, five dark beams poured out from the spheres and slammed straight into the semi-transparent blue barriers raised by the palace mages.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted. The impact point burst into blinding light, as if two stars had collided.
At the moment the beams hit the barrier, waves spread across its surface like a stone thrown into still water.
The dark beams kept striking the barrier, wave after wave like a storm.
Dozens of palace mages felt the completely different force compared to normal attacks or killing magic, but could only grit their teeth, veins bulging on their foreheads, doing everything they could to maintain the barrier.
More than thirty palace mages joined forces, focusing entirely on defense. Even so, the barrier kept breaking apart at an astonishing speed under continuous impact. Their expressions changed drastically.
"This… this isn't! This is not killing magic! His killing magic clearly—"
Before one of them could finish, the leading palace mage widened his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Enough talking! Increase mana output! Quickly! Layer more defensive spells!"
His voice trembled. Fear at the edge of life and death distorted his tone.
The other mages also shouted meaninglessly, trying to bolster morale, but their voices were clearly panicked.
Crackling sounds of shattering filled the hall. The defensive barriers broke apart like glass, turning into scattered blue light. In just a few breaths, more than ten layered shields were completely pierced.
The remaining force of the beams did not weaken. They rushed forward like wild horses breaking free.
The ancient mages reacted quickly and immediately cast their strongest defenses.
Some raised massive stone walls. Some used wind magic to deflect the beams. Others shaped elemental constructs to block them.
However, killing magic was already an advanced form, and its upgraded version not only countered defensive magic but also had even stronger penetration power.
Several-meter-thick stone walls were pierced like paper and turned to dust. Lava beasts and ice giants created by elemental magic barely managed to withstand it due to their massive mana, but were still held down by a single beam.
Strong winds carrying huge amounts of mana could only slightly shift its direction, unable to stop its path. A sudden flame pillar tried to resist briefly.
Ash narrowed his eyes slightly. The beam suddenly expanded, breaking through all obstacles instantly, like the roar of death itself. The knights holding shields and the palace mages standing in front of the ancient mages let out sharp screams.
But they could only watch as the beam erased them.
Their cries twisted midair as if their throats were suddenly seized.
Painful screams mixed with the sound of bodies being consumed by magic power filled the air, chilling to the bone.
Among those erased by the beam were not only palace mages and knights, but also four ancient mages who failed to dodge in time.
Soldiers and knights nearby rushed forward, but another beam swept across them immediately.
Their terrified screams rose and then stopped halfway.
Most of their bodies, those touched by the beam, vanished as if melted away.
———
The beams swept ruthlessly through the hall. Wherever they passed, soldiers were torn apart like fragile straw figures. Blood splattered across the floor.
Some tried to block with weapons, but swords and shields, no matter what enchantments they carried, were pierced just like their bodies.
A single sweep cut down more than a hundred soldiers. The hall, filled with overlapping magic light, echoed with screams, blood, and scattered remains.
And all of it unfolded under Ash's casual control, as if directed by a slight movement of his fingers.
Joanna looked at the scene and felt despair rising within herself.
Even so, she still stood with the two beside her, raising their staffs together. A huge magic vortex formed in front of them, trying to absorb the beams.
Two of the beams aimed at them were indeed drawn in, but the vortex continued to be pressured, slowing its rotation and showing signs of collapse.
The three of them gritted their teeth and held on, fully aware they likely would not last long.
Ash watched all of this expressionlessly. He raised his hands slightly and added three more light spheres, continuing the attack.
His gaze was cold. There was no mercy in it. At least in his view, those blocking him were not worth sympathy.
As time passed, more soldiers fell. The mages gradually ran out of strength. The entire hall descended into chaos and despair.
Under the sweep of the killing magic beams, bodies turned directly into powder. Remaining limbs and blood pooled on the ground in scattered patches, mixed with broken fragments, making it hard to believe this was anything other than a place of slaughter.
The ancient mages once again combined their efforts and summoned a stronger lava demon than before, wrapped in dark red hellfire as it charged forward.
Ash moved instantly, appearing in front of it. With black lightning in his hand, he pressed his palm onto its head and slammed it down, then followed with a single step.
The lava demon exploded, scattering molten fragments across the ground.
The remaining counterattacks from other mages struck Ash, but he did not even bother defending. They were erased before reaching him by the invisible barrier of overwhelming magic power.