Chapter 603: Revenge (3)

"You… C-Claus!? Impossible!" The empress's face turned ashen white. She staggered backward, falling to the ground with an expression of shock.

At the same time, the emperor's eyes opened wide, and his body trembled.

"Y-You… You are Claus…"

"Surprised?" I asked them with a smile. "I bet the two of you were not expecting this, right?"

The emperor and the empress did not reply. No, they were too shocked to reply.

Their minds were moving quickly, trying to process what was happening. For an instant, none of them could understand the situation.

"… Impossible…" The empress murmured softly. "No, it's impossible… It must be a lie… I can't believe it…"

"But you are seeing it with your own eyes, Your Majesty."

"Lies!" The empress screamed. "You can't be him! It's impossible!"

"But it's not." I chuckled. "I was Clark since the start. All this time, I have been playing with you and using you to get my revenge. In fact, using you was part of my revenge. Do you think that I truly would fall in love with you?"

The empress's body shook.

"N-No… I-It c-can't be… N-No… W-Wait! T-Then, the letter… How about Bryan!? What about my son!?"

"Oh? Do you mean my big brother?" I chuckled. "Right, I almost forget about him."

Waving my hand, I connected the alternate space where Bryan was to this room.

Immediately, the image of Bryan being tortured and screaming in pain and despair appeared before the empress and the emperor.

Just listening to the scream of Bryan was enough to fill them with anger, despair, and terror.

"Mm, to be honest, I have tortured him enough. I think I should put him to rest already."

Snapping my fingers, I created a flame and held it in the palm of my hand.

And with a smile, I sent it towards Bryan.

"No!" The empress cried out in panic. However, she could not change anything. In seconds, the flame reached Bryan, making him scream in pain as her body was slowly burned off until nothing but ashes were left.

"Do you understand now, Your Majesty?" I said calmly. "Everything was my plan. I told Hope to take you to the place where you met 'Clark', and I sent the letters telling you that Bryan was alive. Even the sex that we had was on purpose. Everything was for this moment. To make you feel this despair."

"N-No… It can't be real… I can't be…"

"Do you like my revenge, Your Majesty? I went through a long plan to achieve it. I must admit that it was fun, though."

"A lie… It's a lie…"

"Hehe, to think that you slept with your worst enemy. The man that caught, tortured, and murdered your son. You must be feeling very terrible right now."

"Shut up!" The empress screamed and glared at me with eyes full of killing intent. "Shut up, bastard!"

Mana erupted from her body filled with anger, hatred, and despair. It took the shape of a fire lance that flew towards me.

The barrier to the ninth layer, which had stopped the empress from increasing her cultivation for a long time, was broken, allowing her to release the strongest attack she had released in her life.

Even a twelfth-layer practitioner would be careful facing that attack.

But I simply waved my hand, snuffing the fire lance off as though it was nothing more than the flame of a candle.

The strongest attack of the empress was nothing more than that to me.

"It looks like you like the surprise, Your Majesty." I provoked her again.

"AAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"

Scream after scream, spell after spell. For several minutes, the empress attacked me repeatedly, using the strongest power she could release.

Tears flowed out her eyes as she released spell after spell, hoping to destroy with this nightmare. However, it was futile.

I was much stronger than her. The difference was so vast that her small spells did not even tickle.

Finally, after the empress used up her entire mana pool, she collapsed on the ground, crying bitterly.

I looked at her indifferently before turning towards the emperor.

"I'm surprised, you accepted it easier than I expected."

"Really?" The emperor did his best to sound calm.

Unfortunately for him, I could hear the rage, despair, and hatred he was trying to suppress clearly.

To me, he seemed just as outraged as the empress, just that he was better hiding it.

Or perhaps it was because he already screamed enough when he saw the empress betrayal, so he was able to remain calm after knowing my true identity.

"… To think that you will be the one killing me." The emperor's words were filled with hatred, reluctance, and venom. "I should have killed you after you were born."

"Unfortunately, you didn't. What a shame that there is no medicine for regret."

The emperor chuckled. His eyes, however, were filled with intense killing intent.

"Well played, Claus. To think that you hid your true power for so long just for revenge. You did not hesitate to put at risk the existence of the entire empire just for your revenge."

"Oh, about that, you don't need to worry. Dina will be the next emperor. I'm sure she will do a good job. The empire will be in good hands with her."

"Hahaha! Do you truly think that such a thing possible? Father will not allow it! He will not let the killers of his son escape!"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the emperor with an amused expression.

Really, you truly are pitiful.

"Your father? Do you mean Grandma Creig?"

The emperor was startled.

"You... You know about him?"

"Of course I do. Actually, he already knows about this, Your Majesty. In fact, he approved everything since the start."

"… What are you talking about!?"

"Don't you understand? Grandfather knew about my plan and he allowed it. He abandoned you, father."

"That is impossible! Father will not do something like that!"

"But he did." I chuckled and looked at the emperor mockingly. "It's normal, though. Even he could not endure when he saw how useless you were."

The emperor was dazed.

Soon, though, his face turned completely pale.

Finally, he understood everything.

He had been abandoned by everybody. He had been betrayed by everybody.

His wife, his children, his subjects, and even his father. Everybody betrayed him.

When he realized it, the emperor laughed bitterly.

"Hahaha… So that is what happened, huh… Hahaha, I'm an idiot…"

"Yes, you are." I nodded. "I hope you liked my revenge, Your Majesty. Now, it's time to end with this."

Walking towards the emperor and the empress, I put my hands on their foreheads.

Then, I sent a bit of my mana inside their bodies.

And when my mana had invaded every part of their bodies, I detonated it.

Every nerve of the emperor was broken, and his mana pool was destroyed, turning him into a complete cripple unable to even speak. Meanwhile, the empress's memories and consciousness were messed up, turning her into a fool.

When I removed my hands from their foreheads, what remained of the emperor and the empress was nothing more than a cripple and a fool.

The only reason I did not kill them was due to my promise to my grandfather and in consideration to Lena. But in a certain sense, this was worse than death.

With this, my revenge was finally completed.

Revenge tastes the sweeter when it's served cool.

And mine was as sweet as honey.