Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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Grey was standing in System 225's System Space and couldn't hear anything around him. He felt this overwhelming grief after he had died such an annoying death that could have been avoided.
He probably failed the mission so he would have to do a similar ranking world, but what about God System? Wouldn't his husband just keep going while he was stuck in the same place?
[Grey, I know how you are feeling right now, but it isn't over just yet.]
Grey quickly snapped out of it before looking over at System 225. Behind System 225 were Arisa and System 505 who were looking over at him worried.
"System, what do you mean?"
[Let me pull up the screen that I usually look at when you are in a world. We can see the events unfold after your death too. As long as Prince Cecil becomes the Emperor, regardless of your death, you can complete the mission. Only then can we determine if you truly failed or not. You haven't died before seeing the mission get complete, so it's not something you would know I can do.]
"I didn't know you had this function. Please pull it up then!"
System 225 nodded before taking out a big screen for everyone to watch.
****
Prince Cecil held on to Number 18's cold body, unable to hear or process anything around him.
The only thing he could hear was Number 18's last words. 18 wanted him to be Emperor. To become the Emperor. Well, he also said to save the Empire, but he mostly heard that 18 wanted him to become the Emperor. Was it because he wanted to stay by his side? Regardless of 18's reason, he decided that he was going to be the Emperor. If 18 wanted him to take over the whole world, he would. He would give everything to 18 even if it meant that his life would have to pay the price.
He looked up at the audience who were shell-shocked at the events that happened in less than 5 minutes.
"Guards, lock down the Palace and the capital," Prince Cecil, whose eyes were red from anger and grief, commanded, "No one gets to leave until we find every single intruder and spy from the Liyas Empire!"
Meanwhile, Number 1, who had witnessed the death of his only family member, released his Aura in rage before lunging over at the men who killed his little brother. He mercilessly stabbed each of the men six times in the chest to show how many arrows they used to kill 18 before cutting their heads off. Even after all that, he couldn't contain his anger, so he kicked Prince Levi a couple of times before going to find the others to kill.
Emperor Emeron, who quickly snapped out of his stunned state, unsheathed the sword he kept by his side and looked down at the fake Prince Levi. "Guards, take this body and stuff him in a box. Once we cleanse our Uferna Empire, we will be sending this box to the Liyas Empire!"
The knights and soldiers around him cheered at his call. They were more determined to get rid of the Liyas Empire from their home when they had both the Emperor and the Knight Commander on their side!
Afterward, the Emperor joined Prince Cecil as well as Hero Blaine and found all the intruders. Emperor Emeron was once the Commander of the battlefield when he was pulling the Empire out of the dirt. Though it's been a while since he had battled, he still did his training, making him a force to be reckoned with.
After this incident, historians would call the start of this movement, the Cleansing. Throughout the continent, anyone who was from the Liyas Empire was killed and shipped to their motherland. Battle after battle, it took the father-son duo a year to flush the continent of the "invaders."
(A/N: Aka, this would be an ethnic cleansing… Please do not condone this as this is actually horrible.)
When peace finally came upon them, Emperor Emeron, or former Emperor, gave his crown to his son, Prince Cecil, and retreated into the background. He finally met his real first-born son, Prince Levi, who changed his name officially to Larson, and they enjoyed getting to know one another.
Prince Larson, the head of the Association, made the Association become the Secret Intelligence Force for the Empire that teamed up with the Shadow Guards. However, after a couple of years, he became the Emperor because Emperor Cecil rebuilt and reformed the Empire for 2 years before retiring.
On the other hand, somewhere down the line, Blaine fell in love and married Prince Zachary. He also became the next Knight Commander and always found the time to come home to his husband, enjoying the many years protecting his homeland with Prince Zachary. Prince Zachary also trained in the art of the sword and still painted. Many believed that he painted with the blood of his enemies.
Princess Serah, the former female protagonist, married a Duke and had a somewhat normal life. She and Lillian, the woman who was supposed to marry the fake Prince Levi, were soon forgotten about.
Former Emperor Cecil was found dead at the grave of his lover and Shadow Guard, Number 18, after completing his goal to become Emperor. In his will, he urged that he must be buried with 18. No one knew how he died. Some speculated that he had killed himself with poison, and some said he died due to heartache. Whatever it was, the man who had the shortest time as Emperor was seen as a wise, powerful, and faithful man.
But most importantly, he was known as the most tragic Emperor.
As for Number 1, he could not handle the grief of losing Number 18. Even after getting his revenge, it was not enough. He could not bring Number 18 back from the dead, so he disappeared after resigning as a Shadow Guard. No one else knew where he went, only he and System 225 knew. System 225 let Grey know that Number 1 ended up dying shortly after retiring. Just like God System, he too, died of grief.
[Grey, congratulations on completing the Main Mission: Make the Second Prince Emperor.]
"Idiot... I didn't mean to become Emperor like that and just die afterward." Grey felt his heart shatter as he watched the scene of Cecil being buried right next to him.
[I will go process the energy. Please, take your time and try to relax your mind. As we go further and further, the worlds will become difficult. You must rest to perform your best.]
"Thank you, System..." He couldn't help but replay the scene where Prince Cecil was found dead before finally getting System 225 to turn it off.
Grey collapsed onto the ground where he stood and felt tears at the corner of his eyes. He really messed up this time. The other worlds were so easy that he forgot to keep up his guard.
Arisa, who watched everything that had just happened, walked over to him and sat down next to him. She didn't say anything and patted Grey's back. She didn't have any words to say to him, but she wanted him to know that she was there for him.
During the time that Grey left, she stayed in the System Space to rest or went to easy worlds. She also watched with System 225 about what was going on while Grey was in that world. It was shocking to see him die like that. She had always thought that Grey was this perfect man who couldn't do anything wrong, but she realized how stupid she was for thinking that. No one was perfect. She could see that Grey gave his all and never complained about training or work. It was mostly hard work and determination that got him that far.
Arisa wanted to go to the next world when Grey came back. Even though they weren't able to contribute to getting energy from the worlds, they were able to heal her soul and others to get ready for reincarnation. That was all she could do for the moment.
He was thankful for the comfort, but he still wanted to see God System. They didn't even get to go on their Hot Springs trip...
"In the next world, I will definitely make sure we go on a Hot Springs trip with each other..." Grey mumbled to himself.
'I'm sorry, God System. Please wait for me to come and find you again.'