Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 154: The Power of the Imperial Family

Leonhardt sat on a splendid throne with a bored expression on his face.

‘I wonder when I will be able to see the emperor of this damned empire.’

It had been more than a week since the delegation arrived. 

They had not had much contact for a long time, but they could not ignore the envoy of the Scharnos Empire.

Leonhardt and his delegation were smoothly guided to the capital of the Hwan Empire, Jang-an. But the problem started from there.

“When will we be able to meet His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Hehe. His Majesty is currently unwell. If you wait a few more days, I will surely guide you.”

“Hmm…”

Leonhardt still looked at the man in front of him with a strange gaze. 

He looked like a middle-aged man, but he had a clean face without a beard.

‘There are all kinds of weirdos in the East Continent.’

He might have thought he had a handsome face, but he had another reason to be annoyed. It was because of the man’s voice.

“Hehe… Then I will take my leave. I hope you rest well.”

“Go ahead.”

Leonhardt sent him off with a nervous expression and grumbled inwardly.

‘What kind of man has a voice like that?’

He looked like a middle-aged man, but his voice was high-pitched and squeaky like a boy who had not gone through puberty. 

He was called a Crown Prince, which was a position, but it was his first time seeing him in person, so he couldn’t help but find him odd.

‘Anyway, I don’t like anything here.’

And so he was trapped in the imperial palace in a semi-imprisoned state.

***

‘Hmm…’

A while later, Eurius finished his reminiscence and looked at the woman kneeling before him with a blank stare. 

He checked her condition and found that she was not lying.

‘The White Tiger Clan was destroyed by a force suspected to be the Dark Sect, right? They must have gone through something similar.’

Soon his mouth opened.

“So you are from the Yellow Star Intelligence, the secret organization of the Hwan Empire’s imperial family. I also heard that it includes the masters of the Jujak Clan.”

“That is correct.”

“But why are you in the Dark Sect?”

“…”

Iceflame Sword Demon… no, Gung jeok-yeong, who revealed her name, shivered for a moment and then raised her head with a bitter tone.

“I apologize, but I have something to ask you before that.”

“What is it?”

“By seeing that you have mastered three types of Four Divine Beast, you must be one of the successors of Ichungmun(One Pillar Gate). I also have an idea why you came here.”

Her face became sharp at this point.

“But this secret about Black Tortoise is very hard to obtain even for the Dark Sect. How did you get this information?”

This question seemed trivial, but it had a lot of implications. 

First of all, Eurius was a person from the far West Continent. 

Even if he had learned Ichungmun’s martial arts, he wouldn’t get information out of thin air.

“Player.”

“…”

But with Eurius’s casual word, she was also speechless. 

And then he took something out of his chest.

“But if you were part of the imperial family’s information organization, maybe you would recognize this?”

“What is this?”

What Eurius took out was a small jade seal with an inscription on it. 

It seemed to be no ordinary thing as it emitted a faint golden light.

“…”

She fixed her gaze on the jade seal for a while and then opened her mouth.

“I understand what you mean.”

“You recognize it?”

“A martial artist might not know, but that is the seal of the West Continent’s imperial family.”

That jade bird was the symbol of the crown prince of the Scharnos Empire. 

Of course, Gung Jeok-yeong didn’t know that, but as someone who worked in the palace, she could read the engraved characters on it.

And at a glance, it was obvious that it had an extraordinary divine power, so she could roughly guess Eurius’s identity as well.

‘I’ve heard that the royal family of the Western Continent has the bloodline of players. Then it’s not impossible for him to know the location of this secret place.’

At this point, player was a word that could mean anything. Her doubts melted like snow and she bowed her head deeply again.

“I apologize for being rude to a noble person from the Western Continent. May I ask your status?”

After making a decision, she politely asked him. 

Eurius shook his head. 

He still didn’t know who she was for sure, so it wasn’t time to reveal his exact identity.

“Before that, don’t you have something to tell me?”

“What do you want to know?”

“What happened to White Tiger Clan? And also tell me about the current situation of the Hwan Empire’s royal family.”

How could a person who could be called a close aide of the emperor be in the Dark Sect? 

She must have been one of the top talents in the palace, considering her martial arts skills.

“Sigh… I’ll explain.”

She let out a sigh and started to talk about the secrets of the royal family.

“It all started when a man named Yeosang became the leader of Eastern Depot twenty years ago.”

“Eastern Depot?”

“It’s a faction of the emperor’s close aides run by Crown Prince. They also belong to Vermilion Bird Sect.”

“Crown Prince? You mean…”

“As you know, Fire Spirit Divine Skill is a martial art that normal men can’t learn.”

“…!?”

[That’s true.]

Yellow Dragon also briefly explained.

Fire Spirit Divine Skill was a martial art that had an extreme yang nature, so normal men couldn’t handle its energy and would lose their lives due to yang energy explosion.

“So Vermilion Bird Sect’s leader has always been a woman or a Great Eunuch.”

Of course, Great Eunuch meant exactly that. 

Eurius sweated slightly and nodded.

“I’ve heard about it before. It means men who have been castrated, right?”

“That’s right. The emperor’s guards are all composed of Crown Prince.”

Hearing that, Eurius asked Yellow Dragon in his mind.

‘Don’t tell me I have to do that too.’

[You idiot! Do you think Black Tortoise gave you his power for nothing?]

‘Ah!’

As Yellow Dragon said, Vermilion Bird Sect’s Fire Spirit Divine Skill and Black Tortoise Sect Vajra Water Skill were originally a pair of martial arts. Just like Fire Spirit Divine Skill, Vajra Water Skill was a martial art that would freeze and kill women who learned it due to yin energy explosion.

But if they learned both of them together, there would be no such side effects. But Eurius had a question in his mind.

‘But didn’t you say that only players can learn Four Divine Beast?’

[There are some cases where people with unusual bodies can learn two kinds of martial arts like her.]

‘Unusual body?’

[Ask her yourself.]

Yellow Dragon answered curtly and Eurius opened his mouth to her who was still kneeling.

“By the way, is the reason you came here because of your body?”

“You knew it.”

Gung Jeok-yeong looked at Eurius with admiration in her eyes. 

According to her, she had a rare constitution called Yin-Yang Harmony, which was born once in a hundred years.

“Hmm…”

“Yin-Yang Harmony can learn martial arts that are biased towards extreme yin or yang without any problems. Not only that, but they can also use two kinds of martial arts at the same time. Of course, it’s nothing compared to you who are Four Divine Beast Body, the legendary Four Divine God Beast…”

“That’s enough, we’ve gone off topic. Tell me more about the royal family.”

“Ah! Right.”

Gung Jeok-yeong moved on to talk about the royal family.

“As I said before, Yeo-sang is not only the best master produced by Vermilion Bird Sect in a hundred years, but also has a keen insight and earned the deep trust of the emperor.”

“But?”

She gritted her teeth.

“However, he soon showed his true colors. He wielded his power as he pleased, with the full trust of His Majesty the Emperor on his back.”

Behind Yeosang, there was a strong support group besides the Emperor. 

It was the Eastern Wall.

“The leader of the Eastern Wall and I were originally equal confidants of His Majesty, but after he monopolized the power, we could hardly see His Majesty’s face.”

“So? It was a power struggle within the imperial court, then?”

Eurius looked grim. 

Wasn’t that a common occurrence in such power games?

But Gung jeok-yeong shook her head.

“If he had used his power for His Majesty and the empire, we could have endured it. But Yeosang turned His Majesty into a puppet.”

“Hmm…”

According to her, Yeosang was practically ruling the Hwan Empire right now.

“We, the Imperial Star Sect, tried to drive him out with the help of the generals of the Golden Army, but we failed. Instead, we were arrested for treason and executed.”

At this point, Eurius’s eyes sparkled. 

The Golden Army was where White Tiger Sect belonged, right?

“Was White Tiger Sect’s destruction also related to him?”

“Yes. They couldn’t stand his hostility either.”

“Then there’s only one suspect behind him?”

Gung jeok-yeong also nodded with a determined expression. 

She and Eurius uttered one word at the same time.

“The Dark Sect!”

A moment later, after hearing more details from Gung jeok-yeong, Eurius looked at her with a sour expression.

“So you’re saying that everyone in the Imperial Star Sect was executed except for you?”

“Yes. I joined the Dark Sect since then. For revenge against Yeosang and his backers.”

Fortunately, there were few people in the martial world who knew of her existence, so she was able to enter the Dark Sect smoothly and grow her skills. Besides, the Dark Sect was a place where only the strong survived! They didn’t care about one’s background or gender as long as one had talent.

And finally, she became a deputy leader, a high-ranking position that allowed her to access many of the plans that were being carried out within the Dark Sect.

“One of them is collecting the Four Divine Artifacts.”

As Eurius had experienced with his Intangible Divine Armor, each of the Four Divine Artifacts had immense power. She didn’t know where they got the information from, but the Dark Sect was obsessed with collecting them.

“What is their purpose for finding the artifacts?”

She shook her head at Eurius’s question.

“Only the leader and his close aides know that. I had limited access to information because I wasn’t born in the sect.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Eurius agreed and then locked eyes with Gung jeok-yeong.

“So do you resent me? The artifact was originally what you were aiming for, wasn’t it?”

“Not at all!”

She denied vehemently. 

The artifact was what she wanted to get for her revenge! But she couldn’t possibly face the powerful Dark Sect alone even if she got it.

“But if you appeared, it would be a different story!”

She looked at Eurius with hopeful eyes.

‘You see me as a problem solver, huh? Well, I guess it’s not far from the truth.’

Eurius smiled as if amused.

“What if I don’t help you with your revenge? Will you still follow me? As you can guess, I’m from the Western Continent.”

“…!?”

She thought for a moment and then shook her head vigorously.

“It is my duty to follow you as an investigator of Vermilion Bird Sect. I can’t make my own decision!”

In other words, she would pledge unconditional loyalty to him. 

Confirming that, Eurius nodded.

“Can you swear your loyalty to me?”

Thud!

She slammed her head on the floor again and shouted.

“Even if my revenge is not fulfilled, I will obey your orders, my lord!”

Eurius chuckled here. 

In fact, apart from Jeong Do-maeng, he could hardly consider anyone else as his ally. But unexpectedly, he had gained a master who could be a good force.

“Raise your head.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Then I’ll tell you what you have to do from now on.”

***

“Namu Amitabul… It seems to be finally over.”

Master Jiwoo made a bitter expression as he withdrew his fist. 

It had been several hours since Eurius and Iceflame Sword Demon disappeared into the water. 

They had to fight fiercely with the Yin-Yang Twin Horsemen who blocked their way.

Their individual abilities were of course inferior to the core masters of Jeong Do-maeng, such as Namgung Ilcheon or Master Jiwoo, but they were very tricky opponents because they divided into pairs and used the Harmonious Art, which collided the energies of yin and yang like Iceflame Sword Demon.

“As expected, the evilness of Magyo is well-known. Fortunately, if that Iceflame Sword Demon bastard hadn’t disappeared, it wouldn’t have ended with this much sacrifice.”

Namgung Ilcheon also looked exhausted as he sheathed his sword, having used up most of his energy.

“But what should we do now?”

At that moment, Gu Cheon-geol opened his mouth.

“What do you mean?”

“Tsk! I’m talking about those monsters who jumped into the water.”

“Hehe…”

“Namu Amitabul…”

The masters of Righteous Alliance had no choice but to worry.

 They didn’t know why they jumped into the water after fighting well.

“In my opinion, it seems like they went in to find something inside?”

“Do you mean the treasure of Black Tortoise?”

“Yeah, maybe. If they came all the way here and only found a three-headed snake, that would be more suspicious!”

Gu Cheon-geol’s words were reasonable. 

There must be some reward for such a deep and dangerous Black Tortoise, but they came to the end of the road and got nothing.

“Then shall we enter the water?”

Gu Cheon-geol frowned at Namgung Ilcheon’s suggestion.

“Are you crazy? Those monsters jumped in because they were confident, but we don’t even know what’s in there. If we go into the water, we won’t survive even if we have ten lives.”

The expert Gu Cheon-geol’s judgment was cautious. 

In fact, they had almost no damage in breaking through Black Tortoise thanks to Eurius’s help. 

Without him, it would be risky to advance rashly.

“Ahem…”

The dilemma deepened. But they couldn’t just wait here forever, could they?

But at that moment!

Shuaak!

A black object sprang up from below the cliff. 

The masters of Righteous Alliance were startled and looked that way.

Koong!

“Krrrrr!”

“Kyaaaa!”

“Damn it!”

Namgung Ilcheon’s face turned pale. 

The thing that just jumped out of the water was the Three-headed Dragon that they had fought before.

‘Does that mean Eurius Daehyup and Iceflame Sword Demon are both dead? No way…’

He assumed the worst situation and drew his sword.

“I’ll hold it off, so retreat to the passage first…”

“I’m back.”

“…!?”

Namgung Ilcheon looked at the Three-headed Dragon with a bewildered expression as if he had heard something wrong. 

The other masters also stared at it as if they were bewitched.

They were looking at the most ferocious-looking middle head among the three heads of the Three-headed Dragon.

“Huh!”

“Huh!”

“How can this be…”

They all made incredulous expressions. 

Gu Cheon-geol was the first to regain his senses and stuttered.

“This is… how… how did this happen…?”

“As you can see, I came back riding this guy. He surprisingly listens well.” 

Eurius said with a grin, patting the dragon’s scaly neck. 

He then jumped down to the ground and looked around at the astonished faces of his friends.