Chapter 116:
As he entered the tomb, his heart sank to his stomach as he realized that all the standing stone statues had been destroyed.
Please, just not that part.
Like a madman.
No, rather, a half-crazed Argonne rushed all the way to the tomb.
A treasure trove that was bare and empty.
And an equally barren armory.
Ah.
At the sight of the scorched remains of something, Argonne stopped dead in his tracks.
He didnt need to see it to know what it was, burned beyond recognition.
Em, Empress! Emmpprresss!
Argonne fell down on his knees and crawled, stopping at the now charred remains of Beatrice.
Then he let loose a strangled cry.
Arrrgghhhhh!!! Uuuuuuuuu!! Huhuhuhu!
The Great Emperor Argonne recalled a moment from the past.
Though I may not be able to grant you the Empress in this life, it will be different in the distant future. When we meet again, I will surely promise you the Empresss seat. So close your eyes in peace, for we will meet again soon.
I will wait with faith.
Until the moment Beatrice closed her eyes, she couldnt become the empress and closed her eyes as the empress consort.
Having ascended to the throne in a coup dtat, Argonne the Great did not have a strong base of support.
He sought to stabilize his regime through arranged marriages with various families.
In particular, the Empresss family played a crucial role.
The Empress was from a very noble and powerful family, and abdicating her would have put even the Emperor, Argonne the Great, in a political crisis.
He could not afford to let his hard-earned empire fall into the maelstrom of civil war, so he had to leave Beatrice alone as his consort.
For life.
So he arranged for her to be resurrected through black magic.
He then arranged for the Empresss body to be switched with Beatrices.
This way, when Beatrice died, she would be buried as Empress, not as a mere consort.
Now, hundreds of years later, the Great Argonne has also been reincarnated.
He came here to reunite with Beatrice, hoping to forge a marriage that had failed in the past.
But its all for naught.
Little did he know, the woman he was supposed to reunite with would turn out to be reduced to nothing more than a pile of charred remains
I tried so hard to keep my promise Hng Why are you in this state now Hweeeeek.
For what seemed like hours, Argonne held Beatrices body more of a wreck, really and raged.
I will definitely avenge you. I will repay them, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.
Argonne had barely recovered his senses, gnashing his teeth as he vowed to avenge Beatrice.
But he was outraged by more than that.
What What the!!!
Argonne the Great shook with rage as he saw the white skeleton in his coffin to his left, smashed to pieces.
The skull was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the bones had been reduced to near-powder.
That wasnt all.
The drenched shroud was stained yellow and reeked of a foul odor, as if someone had pissed on it.Findd new stories at novelhall.com
The Heart of the Empire and the Golden Greatsword were nowhere to be seen.
What kind of bastards would do this to.
At that moment.
*Squish!*
Even though it was a fantasy world, it felt like a real ghost was approaching, and his heart sank.
Did you say Otto?
Oh, yeah.
It may take a while, but rest assured, theres no chance of the ritual failing.
Thank you for your hard work.
What hard work. Hahaha. Its a good thing I have something to do at this age, hehehe.
Hahaha.
I only have a few months left to live, and Im glad to be able to help out with some of the bad relationships of the past.
You dont have much longer to live, youve developed a way to extend your life.
Its a concept of using life wisely, not eternal life, and Ive lived long enough to have no regrets, so its time to rest, Hahaha.
But you should live a long, long time.
Hahaha. Thats it, boy. To live longer is an insult at my age. Hehehe.
Elder Alphondal didnt seem to have any fear of death.
Well. Long life isnt always good.
As Otto thought about it, he subtly asked him a question.
I wonder if
What?
What you said the other day.
Otto asked cautiously, remembering his first meeting with Elder Alphondal.
If youre Otto de Scuderia, Ill take your life with my hands.
Something about those words struck a chord with Otto, because he knew that in those cataracted eyes he could see a glimpse of the souls essence.
He had a nagging suspicion that Alphondal might have seen through Ottos true identity.
You said to me that if I were Otto de Scuderia, youd take my life with your hand.
Ah.
Alphondals head snapped up as if hed just remembered. He nodded.
I remember, yes, thats what I said.
Why did you say that.
I dont know.
What?
I only said it because your souls seemed foreign to my eyes.
You said they were foreign.
I dont know how to describe it I feel like your soul and body dont align but now that I see it, maybe I see it wrong?
Difficult, I suppose. I cant quite put a word to it.
That, I see.
Well, if I were a dragon, Id be able to look at it with precision. Hahaha.
What? A dragon?
Thats what it says in the ancient texts. The eye of the dragon. It says that a dragons eye can see right through the essence of a soul. But whats the point? Dragons have been extinct for over a thousand years. Its just this old man spitting out some nonsense because his eyes are glazed over, so dont take it too much to heart.
However, Alphondals next words did not reach Ottos ears.
Dragons are extinct?
They were on the verge of extinction, but wasnt there still one last one left?
Right next to him.
Who What???
Of course, he had the fatal disadvantage of suffering from dementia.