502 The Emperor's Anxiety

When Baiyi finally returned to Aegir with the unconscious young man — who had shown amazing bravery — on his shoulders, he was met with thunderous applause and cheers.

Little did the rejoicing townfolk know that several miles away from their location, several figures had appeared in the sky, surveying the ghastly ruins below.

The man with the chiseled face frowned. He raised his head, and his subjects, as though on cue, swooped down to the scorched earth below.

They began to search, intent on leaving no stone unturned for clues. As Baiyi had been in a hurry to leave, he did not destroy clues that could lead back to him.

The men had on metal armors that were similar to Baiyi's, but their armors were more refined in craftsmanship. Furthermore, the armors were gilded from head to toe, and each helmet had antler-like protrusions sticking out from their sides. As the men searched, their sharp eyes were visible through the fine slits of the helmets they had worn, which covered every inch of their face.

Each man held onto a weapon that looked like a cross between a magic staff and a lance. It was an ancient Rohlserlian hybrid weapon called Gambanteinn. It was known for its versatility in spell-casting and close combat. Gambanteinns were fortified to withstand physical attacks, while their tops were spearheads that resembled a polearm.

The men were members of the Royal Praetorian Sorcerers and were called the "Empire's Most Elite" and "His Majesty's Unbreakable Shield". The Praetorian Sorcerers were trained in the art of quarterstaff combat, so they were physically fit, unlike other mages. Their melee training allowed them to keep fighting if their mana runs out, or if they are hit with a Silence hex. Contemporary historians compared them with the Molocchian War Druids.

The difference between the Royal Praetorian Sorcerers and the Molocchian War Druids was that the sorcerers mainly attacked using magic; physical combat was treated as a last resort. War Druids, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten that they were spell-casters; they seemed to prioritize physical attacks.

The presence of the Royal Praetorian Sorcerers heralded the arrival of the Rohlserlian Emperor. The chiseled-faced man with the majestic disposition was Emperor Rohlserl the Nineteenth. This was before he gained the renowned Sage-Emperor of the Magi title. This man was Baiyi's master, in his youth, and the last person Biayi wanted to see right now.

Most of the Praetorian Sorcerers that accompanied the Emperor had landed to investigate the site of the recent massacre; only the Emperor and two sorcerers remained in the air. One sorcerer had a magnificent sorcerers' robe on, and the other sorcerer had donned a standard Praetorian Sorcerer armor. Their exemption from the Emperor's directive implied that they were of higher authority than the others.

The sorcerers said nothing to the Emperor, but they could not hide the curiosity in the gazes that they directed at him.

The Emperor, who had noticed this, cast a soundproof barrier around them and answered their unasked question with a low voice.

"The fool vying for the Book of Servitude was here."

His remark had sounded casual as though the "fool" was a nuisance, but the sorcerers beside him, who understood the gravity of the statement, was shocked.

Those words were by no means simple. The nicest interpretation of that statement was that someone had tried to steal the divine weapon that served as the foundation of the Rohlserlian Empire, in its entirety. The Book of Servitude — which was the scepter currently in the Emperor's possession — was a symbol of the Emperor's indisputable right to rule; to vie for it was to vie for the throne and the crown. This was the sort of news that could make a man burst into tears and a woman to silently bite her lips.

The two sorcerers reacted differently.

"How is that possible? The Book of Servitude only answers the calls of the ruler of the great Rohlserlian Empire. It is a symbol of the emperor's indisputable right to rule! Who could possibly have eyed it?"

"Who was it?"

The contrasting outbursts made the Emperor amused. The sorcerer that had the magnificent robe on was Ben Taurus. His exquisite robe was befitting for his position as the Empire's principal sorcerer. Not only was he the leader of the renowned Sorcerers Corp, but he was also the nation's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The armored sorcerer, whose face was hidden behind a mask, was Captain Aegis — the newly-appointed leader of the Royal Praetorian Sorcerers. Aegis had been orphaned by war at a very young age, and his displays of valiance and fealty were what helped him come this far. His magical prowess was not remarkable for someone that occupied such a high position. He was much weaker than Ben Taurus, the Master Sorcerer.

Their backgrounds and life experience had greatly affected their reactions to the Emperor's words.

The Emperor did not say anymore, though. His gaze shifted to the forest below as he waited for a report. When Captain Aegis realized that the Emperor would not reply, he, too, looked down as he pondered in silence.

Ben Taurus's psychic energy surged and encompassed the area below. "It seemed we have a powerful but sadistic magician on our hands, Your Majesty. He clearly possesses enough power to wipe out his enemy in one swoop, yet he took pleasure to kill them one by one. Such needless cruelty is beyond normal! I imagine the deviant enjoyed the rush of trampling the weak as they cried for mercy, which they never received. He might have even laughed out loud as he massacred these people!"

Fortunately for Emperor Rohlserl the Twentieth — Baiyi — he was not there to listen to Ben Taurus' exaggerated retelling of the event. He would have been stunned speechless. It seemed that nobles — of the past and of the present — had always favored drama and exaggerated stories.

The Emperor remained silent, waiting for an official report of the findings.

Finally, after some time had passed, a Praetorian Sorcerers flew back up and humbly hovered before the Emperor. "Your Majesty, we inspected the scene thoroughly, but we did not find any clues that could lead to the murderer. We were able to identify the slain, however: they were outlaws, from different tribes. They seemed to have gathered here after fleeing our borders."

"Are there any survivors?" The Emperor calmly asked.

"There is only one, Your Majesty, but…"

"Bring him to me."

After he had said that, the Emperor slowly descended to the forest. A few minutes later, the lone survivor, who had escape Baiyi's wrath by hiding underneath the corpses of his friends, was dragged before the Emperor.

The event the survivor had witnessed had dealt a great blow to his sanity. His face was swollen, and he had tears running down his cheeks and snot running down his nose. His speech was incoherent. The sorcerers had interrogated him, but they could not get a meaningful answer from him. The survivor could only say, "It was the devil… It was the devil…"

The surviving outlaw was spooked greatly by the presence of the Praetorian Sorcerers. After more incoherent mumbles, he distanced himself from the sorcerers and began to whimper. He remained frightened and continued to speak of the devil. No one knew what had gotten him so scared.

"I'm afraid there's no meaning in interrogating a hopeless nutcase, Your Majesty; I sincerely doubt that his memory will be of any use. Be that as it may, his memory may help uncover leads that could help our case, yes?" Ben Taurus the Master Sorcerer said, seeking the Emperor's permission.

The Emperor nodded.

A large magical formation appeared on Ben Taurus's hand. It shot out and struck the outlaw's face almost immediately, causing him to have a seizure. After a few seconds of severe twitching, the outlaw's knees gave out, and the man fell to the ground.

The rise and fall of the outlaw's chest were still visible, but he remained motionless. After a cruel extraction of his memories, the outlaw was left braindead.

Ben Taurus the Master Sorcerer pulled back his hand and began to chant an incantation in a low voice. The formation on the motionless outlaw's face soared into the air and expanded in size, forming a large pane of light. The outlaw's most recent encounter began to unfold on the hovering pane of light.

A black silhouette could be seen hovering in the sky. A black mist obscured the man's appearance. Terrifying arcs of lightning tore through the thick clouds floating above the man, and below him was a burning forest that resembled a sea of fire. The obscured man cast spell after spell with wild abandon, killing every fleeing outlaw below in a single strike.

The scene was a harrowing one. It could be confused for a scene of the apocalypse or the coming of the Devil.

"This offers nothing," said the Emperor, who looked unbothered.

"His sanity has suffered greatly, Your Majesty. The distortion of some parts of his memory was not unexpected," said Ben Taurus the Master Sorcerer, who had flushed a little in embarrassment. "We did manage to catch a glimpse of the suspect; did we not? I could make out a figure in a pitch-black armor. His magic power is impressive."

"That's basically everyone on our most-wanted list," Captain Aegis suddenly cut in.

The Ancient Rohlserlian Empire was not a utopia. Crime thrived, and sometimes, the perpetrators were outlanders, whose homes had been destroyed or annexed by the empire. There were too many people on the Empire's most-wanted list, and as Aegis pointed out, the features of the murderer in the outlaw's memory were obscured. They had not gotten enough to begin narrowing the scope of their search.

"The perpetrator may not have worked alone," said a Praetorian Sorcerer that had also watched the memory replay. "We found a corpse that had been struck by a physical attack, not a magical one. The skull was pierced by this sharp blade."

The sorcerer brought out a small bundle of white linen, which he proceeded to unwrap, revealing a broken dagger blade. This blade was covered with a red and white liquid that made it glisten.

The Emperor only glanced at it momentarily before dismissing it. His gaze shifted to his subjects as he said, "Seal this area and bring in more men. I want every inch of this place thoroughly examined, and I want every settlement in close proximity inspected. Do not leave any stone unturned."

A magical formation appeared below the Emperor, and below anyone could blink, he had disappeared. He reappeared instantly in his Magus Lab in the Imperial Capital. The Emperor was no longer in a celebratory mood.

Baiyi had always wondered the Archmage preferred using slow coaches to transport himself. The man had clearly set up teleportation formations, which would instantly take him home, beforehand, so why would waste time moving slowly alongside the army?

When Baiyi had asked the Archmage — who, in Baiyi's mind, had been demoted from a bona fide badass to a genuine bad a*s — about this, his master laughed and said, "Meh, you'll get it once you become the emperor."

In the Magus Lab, this Emperor was no longer in the mood to enjoy a slow ride, though. He picked up the Royal Scepter and stared at it. The longer he stared at it, the graver his expression became. Soon, his expression had turned even more serious than his sorcerers had been.

A few seconds later, the Emperor — whose next words could kickstart a panic, if heard by anyone other than himself — whispered, "Why? Why have you decided to sleep? Am I not the emperor? Am I not here by your side? Why do you ignore my commands now?"

"Is there someone else out there who you have deemed more worthy of you?" The Emperor stared hard at the scepter, unable to contain his anxiety. "Have you found someone that deserves you even more?"

The Book of Servitude, which had taken the form of a scepter, was there in his grasp, yet it felt out of reach to the Emperor. It did not hearken to his call or commands.

Such a thing had never happened before. It all started when he sensed a stranger calling out to the book.