I was too complacent.
I thought leading the whole world was the last goal of being the Supreme Magic Emperor, the pinnacle one could receive from being alive.
But I was wrong.
There's so much more about this world I don't know about.
"Supreme Magic Emperor. You shouldn't have stuck your nose where it didn't belong to. Now, you're paying for what you did,"
The figure on my front reminded me of my mistake again.
There's not even a trace of respect from his manner of speech.
"Oh really?"
I'm not feeling confident now.
Even if I tried to hide it, somewhere deep inside me feared being killed by a mysterious force that controlled the world in its shadows.
How stupid am I to not realize it sooner?
Looking down at where my blood-soaked hands were touching my bleeding abdomen, I gritted my teeth.
"You should've just stayed where you are, Emperor Vance. Everyone warned you not to mess with The Order from different people yet your curiosity will be the reason for your death. I guess that's what makes mages interesting. They just wanted to pry deeper into the secrets they shouldn't have looked upon,"
I wanted to deny those words coming out of his filthy mouth so badly.
But he was right.
I should've waited... waited for the right chance to mess up with these fuckers.
I was really impatient.
Clicking my tongue, I retorted, "What can I even do? I guess this is just the nature of the greatest sorcerer humankind has given. To quench my curiosity in exchange for some forbidden knowledge?"
The figure chuckled.
"Very narcissistic reply. Very much like you Emperor Vance."
The figure then stopped having any emotions on his face at all.
"Your death will be a meaningless one, something that we aren't even considering doing. You wouldn't believe how many plans we have for you but I guess it has to stop now. The existence of The Order from an unknown party shall be remain unknown."
The figure paused, "And you've already known too much."
God fucking damn it...
'I couldn't even lift up my knees or properly channel a single amount of mana within me... I supposed it's natural if I was fighting their kind for a whole year nonstop.'
I lost too much blood already. My head felt like it would explode at any moment. The pain had become too unbearable and this guy whom I didn't know his name would just be finishing up his task.
'I was careless,'
Once again, I tried to remember the killer's face which is the last thing I could do at this point.
Finally, I put my attention to the figure ahead
"May I at least know your name?"
The figure shook his head.
"We Orders do not have names,"
I see...
This is the end of me...
"If that's the case..."
I will bring you down with me as well.
"Humph!"
Since properly channeling my mana was out of the choices a few minutes ago, I had to take a desperate approach to deal with this situation.
I will force myself to channel it and suicide.
"You...!"
I could hear the figure's voice snapping in a deranged tone.
He and his henchmen tried very hard to stop me from what I was doing.
Their desperation even amused me for a brief moment.
"Haha..."
Racing both my middle fingers to point at them, a huge smug plastered on my face.
"Noooo! You keep being a problem to us, Emperor Vance! STOP IT!"
The figure wailed.
It sounded angels whispering to my ears.
"Eat shit!"
Boooooooooooom!
A supernova happened in that one desperate attempt to bring down my supposed killers.
Even if I had to force myself to channel mana, my limits still had no bounds.
It was desperate.
But I liked it.
Instead of being killed by somebody, the one thing that killed the Supreme Magic Emperor was himself.
It has a nice ring to it.
"The Order, huh."
Man, fuck them.
Whatever they want to do now is no longer my concern.
I'm officially dead.
It's not just something that I did once in a while to give heart attacks to my vassals and underlings where I would pretend to disappear and make it look like I died for real.
'My fucking empire... all gone to waste.'
If there is one thing that I truly regret about dying alone while seeing the regret on my enemy's faces, then it is not being able to drink for the last time as I watch them vanish with me.
Haha... now I'm missing the booze.
"Fuck it... I really wished I could've handled that situation much more carefully."
Letting out a short sigh, I began to assess the situation I was in.
First of all, how the fuck am I still being able to talk and think?
This question that lingered on my mind for a brief moment showed its answer.
Alone in this dark expanse, there was a flickering light hovering above me.
The light looked to be dying, dangerously wavering.
It was pulsating in a weird way as if to follow my steps in death.
It was weirdly familiar as well.
This flickering light went closer to me since I was unable to reach it. As soon as it'S right on front of me, a heavy sense of familiarity dawned upon my mind.
"Arcane?"
'Arcane' seemed to have given an answer by giving a much fainter glow.
'It's communicating with me?'
There is a bit of a misconception regarding my title as the Magic Emperor.
That's what everyone thought of me when I was at my peak, and still is until I died.
However, since I reached the pinnacle of being a mage, the way my magic works also became different.
I didn't use Sorcery or Magistry.
Arcane, it is my power.
I made it, kept it a secret, and used it to attain the highest knowledge one can attain when studying magic.
Now this knowledge that only I knew will disappear.
But why am I able to see my power?
And how could I understand how it felt?
'Just what the hell is happening now?'
Soon, 'Arcane' slowly wrapped around me, giving me warmth and hope in this dark expanse.
It was as if telling me everything was going to be all right.
The last thing I knew, I became the light in this dark expanse.
"There's nothing in here…"
Alone, afraid, and forsaken, my adventure in this dark expanse was all nothing.
'Wait, how long has it been?'
I don't really know.
I couldn't remember the time 'Arcane' talked to me but I knew it happened.
I also remembered the time I took matters into my own hands and suicide.
Yet how long has it really been?
Thinking it was going to be like this for another day about nothing, I noticed something different about the dark expanse.
It seemed to have changed.
Whoosh!
Suddenly it appeared like I was being forced out of this nothingness, pulling me from it.
'What the fuck!'
Plop!
Tears dropped down my cheeks, and I couldn't seem to control it.
Rustle!
In the first place, why am I crying... and how do I feel someone carrying my back?!
'What is this?!'
"Uwahh!"
'What the hell is going on?!'
"Uwahh"
Almost immediately, I heard a voice from somewhere that made me realize what was actually going on.
"Congratulations! It's a boy!"
'What the fuck!!'
"Uwah!"