391 391. An Emperor’s End

Baiyi already felt like his head was going to explode, and now, the Fairy Walker had gone out of her way to do something like this! Just thinking about how sticky the situation was becoming made his head spin.

Fortunately, the Fairy Walker was quick to play her preferred role as his 'understanding wife'. She nudged his chest gently and cooed, "Darling, I know you're busy. Don't worry about things here. You can rely on me."

'Ummmmm, I'm not saying you're the most reliable person here, but it does not seem like I have a choice.' Baiyi nodded. He gently pulled Mia from his lap and gave a few orders before soaring into the air, then he zoomed in the direction of the Capital City of the Fairy Kingdom.

That ugly fairy from before, whose name he had already forgotten, had informed him that the Wise Mad King was still in his palace, awaiting his fate, and the ugly fairy did not seem like the lying type. The Wise Mad King had turned sullen when Baiyi ruined his latest plan. However, for someone as cunning as the Wise Mad King, the longer he spent waiting for his demise, the higher the chance that he may reacquire hope and choose to escape, with the intent of furthering his ambitions at a later date.

No. The Wise Mad King had to be stopped, as soon as possible.

The palace was very far from where the great battle had taken place, so despite flying at full speed, Baiyi arrived at his destination when the sun was about to set. As Baiyi flew, he saw the damage that had befallen the once-tranquil land, and this made him feel guilty, even though most of the damage was done by the enemy.

The great battle had not only affected the traditionalist fairies living in the Eternal Tree Ocean. The secularist fairies had also felt the impact of the battle. After Godsfall chased away the wild beasts living in the Eternal Tree Ocean, stampedes erupted within different fairy cities as the animals rushed to take shelter there. The great battle had filled the fairies living in the cities with fear and anxiety. These fairies had been just as afraid as those who witnessed the great battle.

As Baiyi flew towards the capital, he passed by many cities that had sustained a lot of damage. The loss the Fairy Kingdom suffered this time was beyond monetary evaluation.

Even the capital was in a dire state! Its streets were filled with panicked commoners. There were a lot of soldiers parading the streets, too. However, they were not there to protect the people and curb panic; instead, following General Gru's order, they broke into every house they could find, looking for Godsfall cultists. It was a brutal scourge — one that was bound to leave even more scars on the unfortunate kingdom.

It was inevitable, seeing as the Kingdom feared Baiyi's wrath more than the scars it was inflicting on its people. However, there was no better time than the present to weed out Godsfall cult. Hence, the fairies' suffering could only be considered a short-termed one, which could be resolved in the future.

Now, Baiyi had borne witness to the fall of yet another dynasty. Nevertheless, he kept his cool, flying to the palace as fast as he could. At the front door of the palace, a man wearing a black robe waited in anticipation.

"Mr. Hope, yes? Please, follow me. His Majesty has been waiting for you," said the man respectfully and in a dignified manner.

Baiyi studied the man for a bit before saying, "They let you off the hook?"

"They respect me as the Principal Advisor of the Kingdom," the man replied calmly. His look suggested that he understood his fate.

The palace was in much better order than the streets, but the faces of its maidservants still belied the amount of shock and sorrow they felt. They watched the ugly armor set, who was being led by the Royal Principal Advisor, with complex gazes. Some looked curious, while some looked hopeful.

Alas, Baiyi was not here as their savior, but as an assassin, who had come to commit regicide. Hence, Baiyi being respectfully led into the palace, despite knowledge of his intent to kill, was a strange sight.

A short while later, Baiyi was led to the Wise Mad King's secret study. There, he found the king, who had been anticipating his arrival. The Wise Mad King was someone who had aspired to surpass his predecessors; not only had he wished to become the greatest ruler the Kingdom had ever had, but he had also wished to claim the title of 'Emperor'. He stood in front of a large oblong mirror, and his expression was not one of defeat. He had on an expression of arrogance, uncharacteristic of someone who had just failed miserably. It was as though the mirror had absorbed the negative emotions in his heart.

The Mad King slowly turned towards the Fifth Walker and said, "And so it goes… We finally meet each other… under these circumstances."

Baiyi did not reply. Instead, he scanned the room with his psychic energy. The man in front of him was the Wise Mad King, not the strange murder of crows the cult had been so fond of. Just as Gru had said, the Wise Mad King had remained in his study, waiting for Baiyi.

The Royal Principal Advisor walked passed Baiyi and knelt before the Wise Mad King. "Your Majesty, this concludes my service. My mission is over."

Saying so, the Royal Principal Advisor produced a sharp dagger and plunged it into his own chest.

Before the Royal Principal Advisor quietly hit the floor, he had died. Blood spurted out the injury and spread across the rug. Baiyi took two steps to the side and sighed. "I never expected someone like you to command such a loyal subject." 

"I value his loyalty immensely," the Mad King said. It was quite rare for him to praise others. "So, shall we have a chat? I've always been curious about you. For a while, I have dreamed of having a conversation with you, but I never expected the chance to come true."

"You — a supreme force from the Void! You people do exist, and here I was thinking that you lot were the product of the imagination of writers and poets. I never expected to make an enemy out of someone like you," said the Wise Mad King. "I cannot help but wonder why you would work for a world that does not welcome you, for people who call you and your kind unforgivable sinners, for the Church who has never once seen you and your kind as anything but diabolical heretics? Why would you even see us as enemies?"

"Well, how about because you guys started it," Baiyi replied, a little amused. 'Don't tell me that this fella has forgotten how this all began!'

If the Godsfall Cult did not do anything to Little Mia's hometown back then, would they have had a feud with Baiyi?

The Wise Mad King was stunned. He had always imagined that Baiyi would answer this question with a virtue-extolling, philosophical speech, which was expected of hypocrites who delighted in grandstanding. He never expected Baiyi's answer to be this simple.

The king threw his head back and laughed hard, causing his face to spasm.

When he finally stopped laughing and wiped tears from his eyes, he said, "Oh, of course. The plan failed because of a trivial reason."

"Your plan has ruined your people and your kingdom. Was it really worth it?" Baiyi asked.

"Had it actually worked, I don't see why not!" The Mad King spread his arms wide. "Only with the Law-filled Marionette can the eminence of the fairies be restored!"

With that, he launched into an unreserved exposé of his own plan. He had used every ounce of the Kingdom's resources to push his plan forward; this was out of frustration at the slump the Kingdom had fallen into. Although outsiders considered the Fairy Kingdom mighty, in truth, it had fallen into a slump, in terms of territorial expansion, population, production, and even influence.

All these prevented the Wise Mad King from surpassing his predecessors. All he could do was expand the Fairy Kingdom a bit more, but that was not enough to make him better than the previous kings. 

To him, the only way to surpass them was to do something that had never been done before, such as conquering the twin realms. It was at that moment that the Wise Mad King realized something important: the reason why the fairies had hit their limit so soon was because they were, by nature, weak.

The fairies had tried to practice the magic and combat chi — arts tailored strictly for humans — and performed woefully. This was because the human cultivation system was not compatible with the fairies. It only stood to reason that it would be difficult to perfectly use the system of species quite different from one's own.

If Godsfall had not employed sinister magic, the Fairy Kingdom would not have had any Demigod-level beings. Most fairies could not even reach the Holy-level. Too many low-ranked soldiers of the kingdom were horrible at controlling combat chi, unlike humans. With these many concerns, how would the fairies manage to fight against elite armies, like an army of sorcerers?

That was the reason why the Wise Mad King agreed to the cult's mission. The Law-filled Marionette would render enemies incapable of using power, but this would not apply to his men. With this, he would not have to worry about power gaps between his fairy army and other elite armies.

To achieve this goal, he had willingly worked with the demons.

Everyone knew how that turned out. The demons betrayed him, and Baiyi arrived to put a stop to the plan. The Wise Mad King had lost everything.

Baiyi patiently listened to the fairy's tale, without interrupting him. When the king finished, Baiyi said, "Do you think it's fun to rule the world?"

"Everyone has their convictions, and this was mine. It continually motivated me and allowed me to strive. I'm not surprised that you don't understand it, just as I don't understand why someone with as much power as you would choose to observe from the side," the Mad King replied, a gloomy expression on his face.

"Simple. We want a world that is peaceful, and calm — just as it has always been — not a post-apocalyptic world that has been ravaged and burned," Baiyi solemnly replied.

"Heh heh. The Church is a house of lying snakes, aren't they? They banished people like you into the Void, and for all this time, they have cajoled the world to point fingers at you, yet you people still want to be good to them. I think I'm talking to a saint, am I not?" The Mad King scornfully said. "As you said "we", not "I", I guess the Void has many more formidable fighters within. Are you sure they share your beliefs?"

Baiyi shook his head. "When you have lived long enough, many things that you once found desirable may become less deserving of your pursuit, just as many facts of life you once eluded may become clearer. We don't want to be saints; we just want to be regular people. Furthermore, you don't have to worry about us. Those who do not share the same beliefs we do… would not have joined us."

It sounded as though Baiyi had given the others a choice, but the truth was far from that. Those who did not agree with his views would be exposed in the corrosive and chaotic environment of the Void situated beyond his area of protection. No one was able to survive there for long.

If an innumerable number of people had been banished to the Void for millennia, for what other reason would there be only thirty-three Voidwalkers right now?

"Alright, I think that is all. Are you gonna tell me more of the cult's juicy secrets? 'Cause if you're not, then we can just stop right here," Baiyi said, and black flames appeared above his palm.

The flames looked very similar to the fire the cult had used. However, a physical resemblance was the only similarity both flames had with each other. The cult had used magic to make its flames, while Baiyi had used Void Energy to make his. The two had their differences.

It seemed quite fitting for the Wise Mad King to meet his end at the hands of a flame that resembled the flames Godsfall had used to dispose of its pawns.

"The demons betrayed the organization, and the Director of the cult — the God of Nature — has been heavily injured and banished. Now, Godsfall is seen by all and sundry as a heretical organization. What more is there to say to you? Just get on with it!" The Mad King replied. He did not flinch, staring at Baiyi nonchalantly, as though he was unconcerned with death. 

"Is that so? I'm fine with it. But, I still want to know why a real god, like the Nature God, willingly lowered himself to join hands with mortals like you?"

"Who knows? It's been like this since I joined." The Mad King shrugged, failing to give a direct answer.

Black flames erupted and engulfed the Wise Mad King, and moments later, all that was left of him was a pile of ashes.

The Fairy King — who had sworn to usher in a new era for his Kingdom, only to bring endless calamity — had died. It had been so abrupt, many did not know it had happened.

The only one to witness it was Baiyi, who quickly retracted his Void Energy. He cocked his head and sighed. "We killed a powerful enemy today, but the price we paid was heavy. The enemies of tomorrow… will be far more difficult to resolve."

What Baiyi meant was obvious. He had expended so much Void Energy today, and most had seen it, including the War God. If the War God had noticed, what more could be said about other gods?

"Must we, who give everything we have for the wellbeing of the public, be the enemy of the world?" Baiyi asked helplessly in the Void.

"There's no need to worry; we'll just wait and see. Just as someone on Earth once said, "'The truth will always be the truth, even if there exists a lack of understanding, disbelief, and ignorance.' People will soon make the correct judgment," the Archmage replied.

As Baiyi flew back to his students, he was lost in thought.