The emperor looked at the bishops, his eyes showed some confusion, but it vanished in a few seconds. He started walking, slowly descending from his raised stage.
He came down to the same level as the bishops, his hands behind his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“The empire is the driving force of humanity. While you and the Holy Kingdom seek out peace and stability, we have sought out war for generations.
There will be no progress until the day that we have destroyed those vermin. Even if it means us putting our arms into things we should not,” he said, his tone righteous.
“So you indeed touched things you are not supposed to. Tell us, what is it?” one of the bishops asked. He rose to his feet and walked close to the emperor, but he kept his distance.
“Hmmm, normally I would not tell you what it is, but because you come under the name of His Holiness, and our mistake has cost us the life of a hero candidate, I’ll show you.
But before I show you, I’ll tell you a bit about it, so sit down,” the emperor said. The bishop nodded and walked to his seat. He sat down and folded his arms, leaning back into the chair, while the other bishop leaned forward, eager to hear what the emperor had to say.
The emperor took a long, dramatic pose. He drew in a breath and then let it out, his eyes turning to the bishops.
“Over ten years ago, that was when it started. A man would appear in my dreams. He had white hair and blue eyes. He stood tall with a sword in hand, and in front of him was an army of thousands of demons, all ready to attack, all ready to take down this man.
And this man fought them all. He raged through their ranks and brought them all to their knees. He was a beautiful contrast against a blood-stained world.
I had that dream for many days, and then one day, it stopped. I never thought about it again, but on one of my journeys, this person met me. He offered me something, and he told me this:
(This is the key to your victory.)
I didn’t think he was real and that I was dreaming, but it was not a dream, and what he gave me was not a dream.
He handed me something that he called demon blood—the blood of a true demon. After that, he vanished, and I never saw him again. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire
I brought that blood back to the empire, and soon after, tests began. But the blood was unlike anything we had ever seen.
The potency of the blood could melt metal, and when it got into the body of a human, they raged and turned into wild, grotesque abominations before they melted into liquid.
That was what happened when we first used the blood,” the emperor said. He took a pause and started walking back to his throne. He sat down and looked at the bishops.
“Any questions so far?”
The bishop who had stood up before spoke. “That man—why did you not search for him? You simply took what he held and allowed him to go.”
“Can a man touch a god?” the emperor asked.
“No, that’s not possible. But what does that have to do with what I am asking you?” the bishop asked, his tone slightly hostile.
“You will watch your tone, Bishop. Don’t forget that I am only entertaining you for now. I have no respect for anyone aside from the Pope,” the emperor said, his eyes narrowing to slits.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to offend you,” the bishop apologized quickly.
“Good. Now, back to why I said a human can’t touch a god. That was because as I sat beside this man, it was like I stared into power—boundless power.
I have lived a very long life, and I know what power looks like. I control some of the most powerful people in this world. Yet, as I sat beside this man, I felt powerless.
It was like I sat beside a mighty mountain, and I was nothing but an ant. It was not my will, but involuntary. I was forced to listen to him, I was forced to obey him.
It shocked me that in this world, there was someone capable of making me feel this way. I felt small. All these factors made me trust this man and the blood that he gave.
We worked with that blood, doing our best to try and harness the little that he gave us and make it into more. We also wanted to create a stable one that we could use to make our soldiers better.
We created this for ten years, slowly cultivating and testing, pushing and trying. Many lives were lost in the process to get the results we wanted.
Nothing really changed until a few months back. The breakthrough was fast—we started getting closer to the truth we wanted. And as we got close, we also came to the realization that we can end this war.
We can finally defeat those demons. I finally understood what the man meant when he said it would be the key.” The emperor paused, waiting for the bishops to ask their questions.
The second bishop stood up. He thought for a bit before he asked,
“Answer me this, Emperor. You mean to say that the empire has been in touch with true demon blood for ten years, and in those ten years, you have managed to keep it hidden from the Holy Kingdom and the heroes?”
“You see, there are a lot of things you can’t understand at your rank. If you were at least archbishops, you would have been privy to certain information that others would never get.
I can tell you for a fact that your thoughts on this matter are wrongly placed. But if I told you about who and why they knew about the blood, I would need to kill you, and no one wants that, right?” the emperor said.