He was fucked. Utterly and thoroughly fucked.

Basingr knew that much.

He could feel his body getting weaker. The cuts and stabs in his stomach were not too severe, but black blood continued to flow from the wounds, making him feel dizzy from lack of blood.

Gripping his severus sword in his right hand, he stopped then leaned against one of the trees of the sacred forest of Alepis. There was no point in resting like this. His time in this world had come to an end.

The thin dagger that was used to pierce his stomach was covered in extremely poisonous Nymph blood. That's why his blood turned into black, not the usual deep blue color.

The poison had entered his bloodstream and there's no way to retract the poison.

But Nymph blood was supposed to be already extinct.

'How embarrassing, to die from such shallow wounds,' he thought absentmindedly.

The breeze and the rustling sounds of the trees in Alepis Forest made him feel calmer even though his anger was still vivid in his heart.

Basingr never thought that man would betray him.

Ludoph was his right hand, a half brother whom he loved dearly. Ludoph was also known as someone wise and loved by the Volkarians.

Wise and loved were two things that Basingr lacked since he ascended the throne two hundred years ago.

A deep frown marred his face when he stared at his trembling hands. His skin color was the same as other Volkarians; the darkest shade of green. They were people that Basingr had led for the last two centuries.

Volkarians were known for their beauty with dark green skin, jet black hair, and a pair of red ruby eyes that almost glow in the dark.

And of course, they were also known as ruthless fighters.

A Volkarian could run up to sixty miles per hour and slaughter nearly anything with their claw-like nails that can be retracted when they weren't fighting. They could fight with or without a weapon. Their greatest ability was their speed and you could kill almost anything if you whack them fast enough.

Basingr was no ordinary Volkarian, he had tremendous power that ran in his blood. Only the direct reincarnation of Volkarian's Emperor could hold that power.

He could absorb the essence of every enemy that he had slain.

For two hundred years, he had collected every essence of his victims. Slowly and meticulously. But in the end, all his efforts were turned to dust. Ludoph's betrayal felt more painful than the stab wound on his stomach.

Pathetic.

Who knew he would die from mere wounds and Nymph blood.

'Where did Ludoph get that blood anyway?' He scowled to himself.

Balthazar touched his chest, feeling his own thrumming heartbeat through his tunic. That burning sensation in his chest felt strange. The proud and mighty Emperor rarely felt this kind of dejected feeling.

His breath began to falter.

'There is no time,' he thought before collapsing under the shade of a tree. Basingr clenched his jaw angrily. He removed an ruby ring from one of his fingers. Only the Emperor of Volkas could have it.

As long as Ludoph and his followers couldn't find this ring, no one could fill the throne seat. The ancient magic that enveloped the throne recognized only the person who had this ring on his finger.

And there was another reason...

"Well, I might as well throw Severus along with my ring," he croaked and then grimaced because blood started to trickle from the corners of his lips.

Ludoph's rebellion wasn't that surprising. Basingr was a cruel Emperor and feared by his people. There was no mercy for those who had wronged him, and no one ever dared go against his orders. His hobby of going into wars with other races also burdened his people greatly.

Many died in vain to fulfil Basingr's ambition to collect every strong essence of his enemies and conquer other regions.

But it turned out all that essences and power he accumulated so far were still not enough to protect him from betrayal.

Dying from Nymph's blood... that's pretty pathetic.

"To hell with Ludoph," he cursed bitterly before throwing the ring with all his might. The ring flew, sparkled every time it caught the sunlight and then vanished into the cliff. His dear Severus sword followed after that, but he threw it in the other direction of the cliff.

"I hope those bastards will never find it," he muttered with a sadistic smile. He got back up and walked away from the cliff to get rid of any traces. He must die in a place far from where the ring was.

Basingr hobbled along while his sensitive ears caught the roar of several Volkarians from afar. Ludoph and his followers must have found his trails.

With great struggle, he climbed a higher hill. Blood was still dripping from the wound, but he ignored it.

Basingr finally gave up in the middle of the hill. He sat under a lush tree then looked up at the top of the hill, which seemed too far for him. His eyes caught a faint neon green light glowing from the top.

'How strange, what is that?' he thought half-conscious. His hand that was pressing his wound fell to the ground. Accompanied by the calming breeze from Alepis forest, he closed his red eyes slowly.

He would have his revenge.

And then he would kill them all slowly and skewer their corpse on the gate of his palace.

He would—

Five minutes later, the great Emperor of Volkarians breathed his final breath. Resentment and hatred were the last things he felt burning deep in his heart.

His body was found an hour later by one of Ludoph's followers. They removed his battle armor and mutilated the Emperor's body, keeping the head as a trophy, the rest were burned to ashes and left behind.

Of course, no one managed to find Basingr's ruby ring. Either his deep resentment had turned out as his desire, or the sacred forest of Alepis had helped the Emperor to hide his ring.

In the end, the death of the cruel Emperor was celebrated for seven days and seven nights by the Vokarians.

Ludoph succeeded in ascending the throne though not officially because he could not occupy Volkorya Palace. But at least he got Basingr's Severus sword. The blade, which had been smeared with hundreds of thousands of its victims' blood, was also proof that Ludoph had defeated the Emperor.

Surprisingly, the people who found the Emperor's body could not see the faint green light shining from the hill's top. No one could see it but Basingr.

Basingr didn't know that the faint fluorescent green light he saw earlier was a parallel door that had just appeared. A new monolith had appeared in the human world at the same time. But that door wouldn't be open in thirty years.

The monolith was the link between the two worlds and a door that would bridge the destruction of the human race in the future.

The short story of the cruel Emperor of Volkarians had ended in the sacred forest of Alepis.

May he rest in peace.

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