His flesh was being torn apart brutally. Even his eyes collapsed inward, and everyone lost their sight.
The corpses had it even worse. Without magic protecting their bodies, they were like people smashed into the ground by an invisible giant hammer, all of them losing human form and turning into piles of unrecognizable meat paste.
In an instant, the hall that was already covered in corpses turned into a hell of flesh and blood mixed together in a way too disgusting to describe. The smell in the air was enough to make people sick.
———
Whether it was the screams bursting from everyone's mouths, the blood spraying out like fountains when the gravity was lifted, or the piles of crushed flesh everywhere, none of it drew even the slightest interest from Ash.
But this sudden extra blow made even Lowe, whose body was the toughest among all the shadow warriors present, feel as though all the air in his lungs had been emptied in an instant when the force slammed down. The pain was so intense he couldn't say a word.
But he was not like ordinary people. As Ash stepped across the meat paste and slowly approached, he suddenly flipped himself back onto his feet and, with astonishing force, swung once more at Ash's neck.
His sword moved so fast it had long surpassed the limit of human sight, but, Ash did not even bother picking up the sword he had dropped. He only raised a hand coldly, accurately caught the path of the attack, and lightly flicked the blade.
That alone released a force Lowe could not resist. He could no longer hold onto his beloved sword, and the moment it flew from his hand, it exploded with a "Bang!", turning into countless metal fragments that shot backward and embedded themselves into the wall.
Even a longsword reinforced with enormous amounts of magic had no strength to resist this extreme repulsive force.
"!"
Lowe's wrist had already been broken earlier when he refused to let go of the sword under the repulsive force. Seeing this scene, his pupils shrank. Instinctively, he wanted to retreat and widen the distance, hoping to find some other chance to win... or at least survive.
But Ash's figure appeared in front of him again like a shadow following him. He slowly raised a hand and, as gently as a caress, touched Lowe's forehead with his fingertip.
There was clearly no force behind it, yet Lowe felt as though he had been struck by a siege hammer.
The invisible pressure even shook the air itself, producing a loud ringing sound. His body flew backward in a twisted posture, head first.
The back of his head slammed heavily into the wall behind him, making his vision blur instantly, and his consciousness grew hazy from the impact.
"I may have gotten weaker, but that doesn't mean you've gotten stronger. You want to defeat me? You're still not qualified," In his blurred vision, Ash's figure appeared before him again as he spoke coldly, extending a finger once more.
"And what was that about poison humans absolutely can't resist? As you can see, I'm not human. Why should I care whether humans can resist it or not? As for your level... you're so shallow I don't even need to test you. One finger is enough to crush you. Like... this."
At the end of his words, Ash's fingertip pressed against his forehead again.
At that moment, Lowe felt the whole world go quiet. He could clearly hear his own rapid breathing and violent heartbeat.
That sound also felt like... the countdown to death.
"Ah—GAHHH!!"
Lowe never even got the chance to say anything else. Just as Ash had said, the invisible gravity from his fingertip pressed him into the wall.
And with that light touch, real death was forced into his body.
Under the invisible pressure, his body began to deform. His bones let out horrifying cracking sounds.
His vision gradually blurred further, and Ash's figure before him twisted apart. He wanted to shout, but realized he could no longer make a sound, and finally...
BANG!
Lowe's body, starting from the head, was completely crushed out of shape and turned into a mass of meat paste embedded into the dented wall.
That brief scream from earlier became the final sound Lowe ever made.
———
One trump card after another had been used, yet all of them vanished like stones sinking into the sea, unable to create even the slightest ripple of hope.
The failure of the ancient mages only made this hopeless situation worse. Even though the timing of using the ancient mages had not been ideal, with the situation at the scene, there had been no other choice.
The death of the Empire's strongest warrior rang like a bell announcing the arrival of the end, striking heavily against everyone's hearts.
On the magic tool screen was still the cold gaze Ash cast upward after killing Lowe.
That alone made despair flood everyone's chests like a tide, leaving everyone in the audience hall cold from head to toe as though they had fallen into an ice cave.
The Emperor collapsed back onto his throne. His body was trembling uncontrollably, and the dignity and authority he once possessed had completely disappeared.
The Crown Prince had also lost his usual composure. His legs went weak, and if not for the noble attendant beside him barely supporting him, he would already have collapsed onto the floor.
The ministers looked at each other, panic and unease filling their eyes.
Inside the silent audience hall, the sound of heavy breathing rose and fell one after another. Finally, the Prime Minister broke the silence. His voice was hoarse and shaking.
"Your Majesty, there is no way to turn this around anymore. If this continues... all of us will die with you."
The Emperor froze for a moment after hearing this, then understood what he meant. He widened his eyes and glared furiously at his loyal Prime Minister.
"I have never treated you poorly, and now, in this moment of crisis, you dare say such treasonous words?"
Under normal circumstances, everyone would have dropped to their knees the moment he spoke like this.
However, his anger now did not make the ministers back down.
One military officer stepped forward, looked up at the Emperor on the platform, and shouted back, "Your Majesty, at a time like this, you still can't see the situation clearly? The Empire is finished. We have to find a way to survive ourselves!"
"Stop arguing already! If we drag this out any longer, none of us will live! Tie up His Majesty and the princes and hand them over to that de—ah, the reports said his name was Ash, right? Hand His Majesty and the princes over to Lord Ash, and maybe we'll still have a chance to live."
One anxious minister shouted desperately with a red face, causing many others to quickly agree.
"A-a chance to live? This is treason!", The Emperor shook with rage and pointed at the Prime Minister below, "Men! Execute all these traitors immediately!"
"Yes!", Several of his personal guard knights responded and drew the swords at their waists, charging toward the ministers.
But the military nobles had already been prepared for this. They rushed forward immediately and fought the knights head-on.
Although the knights were highly skilled, the military nobles were all nobles who enjoyed the Empire's best resources from birth. Despite fighting barehanded, after only a few exchanges, the knights were all beaten down beneath the nobles.
Watching his own knights get killed instead, the Emperor's eyes filled with disbelief and fear.
During the chaos, several nobles who had originally sworn loyalty to him, or whose fates were tied to his, were also attacked from behind.
As for the rest, they directly rushed up and tried to tie him up.
"You... you... you traitors! Filth worse than pigs and dogs! I am the Emperor! I am the ruler of the Empire!"
The Emperor, now deeply regretting why he had sent all his men away, screamed curses madly. But several military officers swarmed him at once, ignoring the struggles and resistance of the Emperor and princes as they forcibly tied them up.
Even the Crown Prince, who had once stood high above others, could not help but cry out, "You bastards! Are you still subjects of my Empire? He's a demon! Do you think he'll spare you?"
"Your Highness, surviving comes first now. His Majesty's stubbornness has already dragged the Empire into the abyss. We cannot die with him. Besides, demons are not impossible to negotiate with. At least from the information we gathered, he behaves no differently from humans, and he also has some strange connection with the Kingdom. Since that's the case, then he can be reasoned with."
The Prime Minister used respectful-sounding words to directly shut the Crown Prince down.
At first, the Prime Minister still had some concerns about taking these actions. But since things had already reached this point, he no longer cared.
The Emperor's face was filled with grief and fury. Looking at the ministers who once flattered him endlessly, now pushing him into ruin like wolves, then looking at the few ministers still standing on his side who were hacked to death with picked-up knight swords, all that remained in his heart was despair and sorrow.
———
After killing the group of ancient mages and shadow warriors, the fleeing defeated soldiers never appeared again, and the path ahead became completely unobstructed.
By the time he arrived at the grand audience hall, Ash had originally prepared himself for a final desperate resistance. He had planned to slaughter some knights and nobles who didn't know when to quit, but...
The doors of the audience hall stood open, and rows of nobles and ministers were kneeling neatly on the floor. Behind them were a group of men in luxurious clothes tied up tightly.
On the gorgeous red carpet, more than twenty people had been chopped to death with blades. Their original appearances were nearly impossible to identify. They looked like officials and knights.
As an expert in battle, Ash could naturally tell that many wounds on those corpses had been added afterward with swords and blades... clearly done by these rebels to unify their side and show him their sincerity.
The audience hall that once held glory and authority had now turned into a place of betrayal and despair. The vows of loyalty from the past had been shattered easily by the desire to survive, leaving behind only the cold scene of everyone turning against one another. Even Ash could not help sighing a little at it.
The Prime Minister quickly ran over, then dropped to his knees with a thud. His knees hit the floor with a heavy sound, and his forehead pressed tightly against the cold tiles as his trembling, sharp voice rang out, "L-Lord Ash! We are willing to serve you with complete loyalty! The foolish tyrant of the Empire has long made our lives unbearable. He even dared arrange the assassination of the Mother of the Empire's Sage. It was completely idiotic and absurd. That is why we have always been waiting for a powerful figure like you to appear and save us from suffering."
A tall, thin minister beside him hurriedly agreed, "Yes, we have always been loyal to the Empire, but His Majesty kept acting recklessly, leaving us no choice! We could only abandon darkness and turn toward the light. Now you are our hope. As long as you give the order, we are willing to go through fire and water without hesitation!"
Another military officer bent forward on the ground, clasping his fists together respectfully against his chest as he said in a flattering tone, "We know the Empire's treasury and secrets completely. We will tell you everything we know. We only ask that you spare our lives, spare our families, and give us a chance to redeem ourselves through service. We will definitely prove our value!"
As he spoke, he kept bowing repeatedly, his eyes filled with pleading.
The other ministers also crowded around, shouting one after another about their surrender.
Some had flushed faces and were so excited they could barely control themselves. Others spoke with choked voices, as though crying about the "helplessness" they once suffered.
Inside the entire audience hall, the ministers displayed every ugly side of themselves. The loyalty they once showed toward the Emperor had already been thrown away. Driven by survival and personal benefit, they all desperately begged for favor from Ash.
As for the tied-up Emperor and princes, they looked at these traitors with eyes full of anger, grief, and despair, yet they could do nothing.
"...."
'Good grief, these people really think they have no responsibility at all and can throw everything onto the Emperor? Though this Emperor definitely isn't a good man either. So this counts as dogs biting each other?', Faced with everyone's flattery, Ash looked around once before finally stopping his gaze on the Emperor, whose mouth was still half-blocked.
Although he had seen portraits of the Emperor in the reports before, now that he saw him in person for the first time, the man looked miserable with messy hair, which actually made Ash feel a little sympathetic.
"Forget it. I'm not some bloodthirsty person. Let's stop here for today," As he spoke, he walked forward and brushed his fingertip across the Emperor's crown.
Seeing this, the Emperor, who had watched Ash casually turn people into meat paste with a touch, shook violently in fear, suddenly closed his eyes, and waited for death.
The princes all cried desperately too. Unfortunately, their mouths were blocked, so only muffled "Wuu! Wuuu!" sounds came out.
But in reality, the princes, who could not bear to watch, did not see flesh flying everywhere. The ministers who instinctively looked away also did not hear the sound of someone being crushed.
Ash really only lightly brushed over the Emperor's head and read through his memories, roughly learning about the situation here.
In truth, his attack had come a bit too suddenly, and the planned assassinations were still going to happen.
There were still quite a few loyal shadow warriors scattered throughout the country. The magic special operations unit, another direct force that obeyed only the Emperor, also had not yet been recalled. However, orders had already been given, and many magic operatives and shadow warriors would arrive in the imperial capital in a few days to participate in the assassination of Serie.
As for the Holy Wand Court, which existed parallel to those two organizations... for some unknown reason, its actions had suddenly become strange. They had not rebelled, but they also showed signs of obeying orders without truly following commands, making the Emperor plan to deal with them later.
The Emperor himself did not know the reason. But after seeing the controller of the Holy Wand Court in the Emperor's memories, Ash roughly understood why.
He also understood more clearly why many mechanisms the Emperor expected to function inside the imperial palace had somehow failed to activate.
The Emperor and ministers thought the devices had simply become ineffective due to age, but in reality, perhaps it was because...
"Mili."
Hearing footsteps, he snapped out of the memories and subconsciously looked behind him.
Walking slowly from the back was a tall short-haired elf woman with the air of an older beauty, though her chest was somewhat flat.
And this woman was someone he had met in the elf village a thousand years ago, one of his friends and also a drinking buddy he got along with quite well.
She was also Frieren's friend, the elf girl whose full name was "Milliarde."
Mili smiled when she saw him and raised a hand in greeting.
"Long time no see~ Ash. I really didn't expect we'd meet again here. How long has it been since we last saw each other?"
"A thousand years, I guess? I seriously never thought the mysterious ruler behind the Holy Wand Court would turn out to be a drunk like you..."
"Haha!"
"Yeah, you really did surprise me," Ash looked at the approaching Mili and shook his head helplessly.
The elf girl walked lightly to his side. A faint smile hung on her face, though her eyes looked somewhat unfocused. With both hands behind her back, she tilted her head slightly and said, "I helped you a lot, you know~ There were plenty of mechanisms and magic traps in the imperial palace, and my people destroyed them. How are you planning to thank me? Even if we hadn't destroyed them, they probably still couldn't stop you, but you would've gotten badly hurt, right?"
Her tone carried a bit of wanting credit, but the smiling look on her face also made it seem like she didn't care that much.
Ash could not help sighing, "Forget that... how did a drunk like you get involved in all this? Honestly, I thought you'd stay out of it."
"What are you talking about," Mili blinked, then said seriously, "Aren't we friends?"
"And?"
"Mmm," She pressed a slender finger against her chin and thought for a moment, "I also don't think they could kill Serie. Humans have limits after all. I don't want to go to hell together with certain people's ridiculous ideas."
The Emperor, who had originally been waiting for death, slowly opened his eyes after hearing their conversation.
Mili's words filled his eyes with shock and rage. He struggled violently on the floor while making muffled sounds nonstop.
Noticing the Emperor's reaction, Mili crouched in front of him and smiled.
"Your Majesty, sorry about this~ Even though I wanted to help you, I couldn't do anything about it. On one side is my friend, and on the other is a tyrant. Doesn't that mean I could only choose my friend?"
"Wuu! Wuuu!", The Emperor twisted his body desperately and glared at Mili with wide-open eyes. If looks could kill, Mili would probably already have been cut into thousands of pieces.
But Mili did not care at all. She stood up and clapped her hands, then looked back at Ash with a smile.
"You already successfully took down the Emperor and accomplished something no one has managed in a thousand years. Next, let's go get a drink together to celebrate!"
"You're saying that in this atmosphere?"
"Honestly, even though I act like this, I'm a little sad too. But these Emperors die every few years anyway. There have been so many generations I don't even remember their names anymore. Earlier or later doesn't really matter. Life goes on either way~ Maybe the Empire after this will even be better?"
As she spoke, she circled around Ash while swaying her head around as though she were making perfect sense.
But the actual content of her words left people speechless.