A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Page 142

They were indeed bound by magic; it was Ruby's doing. She felt these unrelated people were too noisy and that she should just shut up, watch quietly, and be a witness.

Witness the fall of the old emperor and the rise of the new one.

"If this isn't my position, whose is it?"

Ruby ignored him completely and continued walking as she pleased.

"Are you leaving me with those weak and inactive brothers and sisters who inherited your peace ideals?"

She knew she could never gain her father's understanding; the old emperor would never give her the position of heir.

Since she can't be understood and can't inherit the position she wants, then she might as well just take it by force.

She believed she was capable of both governing the country and leading troops into battle.

“I don’t need your money or charity, because I am also a person with royal blood. If you can be the emperor, so can I.”

Ruby utterly despised the old emperor's philosophy of peace; she found it utterly hypocritical. Moreover, if it weren't for the old emperor's interference, the Toran Empire would have long since become a more prosperous and powerful nation.

“War will not win the hearts of the people, my daughter…”

"Popular support? When I was in prison, how many people remembered that I had shed blood for them, fought for them, and defended their homeland? None... Now in the Toran Empire, who remembers Princess Ruby, besides my soldiers?"

Ruby's words were like daggers to the heart; those who had joined her in the rebellion were none other than the very soldiers she had once served.

Some retired due to age, but many more were expelled from the army by the old emperor who wanted to undermine Ruby's influence, without even ensuring their pensions were paid.

"Besides, do you think I'll still listen to you? I am your daughter, your sword, yet after you used this sharp sword to kill people, you casually threw it into the junkyard. For more than ten years, this sword has never seen the light of day again because the executioner wanted to retire from the life of a criminal, and it has been abandoned."

Do you expect me to continue obeying you and repeat what I did more than a decade ago? Let me tell you, the same thing will absolutely not happen a second time; there's no way it will.

She gritted her teeth and made a firm decision.

“Have you ever thought that I am not just a cold, hard sword? I am also made of flesh and blood. My heart was once warm; it beat for this country. But now, it is wounded and scarred, filled only with hatred. It was you, old man, who personally forged me into a sword!”

She drew closer and closer to the throne.

The old emperor was speechless. No matter what he did for the peace of the country, he was ultimately not a good father.

Moreover, Ruby now has complete control over the situation; she is far more powerful than she was a decade or so ago.

Without him even realizing it, his daughter had far surpassed him. At least, that was true in terms of swordsmanship and magical talent.

“Old man, stand up from your throne and fight me. If you win, I will withdraw my troops and have no further ambitions for the emperor’s position.”

Black light was already emanating from her palm.

That was black magic, the bitter fruit sown by the old emperor himself.

"I'm sorry, Ruby... but I have to crush you again."

He raised his bowed head, and the old emperor's body rose with it.

His skin was wrinkled all over, a sign of an old man's frail body, but his arms, exposed outside his clothes, still showed traces of his former muscle definition.

He picked up the scepter beside him; it was the emperor's scepter, and also a staff used for casting spells.

"I don't need you to apologize, and I will never forgive you. You're only saying it now; I don't need your guilt anymore. Keep that cheap apology to yourself."

Ruby remained completely unmoved; her resistance to apologies reached its maximum.

"Restraint!"

Green vines shot up from the ground, breaking through the palace tiles and rushing directly towards the old emperor.

If Saint Karina were here, she would recognize this vine as the one that had previously appeared in the square and various corners of the city, causing unrest.

"Enhance! Super Enhance! Slash!"

The old emperor used a body-strengthening skill, and his previously loose muscle tissue became firmer, and his muscle lines became clearer.

The elderly's bodies are strengthened and empowered, becoming strong and vigorous.

"Wind Blade!"

He wielded the scepter with the force of a sword, revealing that he was a demon swordsman in his youth.

Only those who are proficient in both magic and swordsmanship can employ this melee mage fighting style.

"Boom——"

The wind blades and vines collided, producing a deafening sound.

A mysterious airflow surrounded the cyan wind blade, attempting to sever the thick green vines. However, it merely knocked the vines aside, causing them to slam heavily against the wall, without cutting them off.

The palace wall collapsed, smashing a huge gap in the wall.

"Swish, swish—"

The dust shook violently as if it were free, and then the vines stood up again.

It looked like a living thing; the previous attacks had only made it a little dizzy.

The fake-alcohol-like action lasted only a few seconds before the vines rushed towards the old emperor again.

"Boom."

This time, the vines crashed hard into the metal scepter.

The scepter was of good quality, but it was bent slightly by the force of the impact.

“Old man, you’re old. Look, even my simplest magic, which is just summoning creatures to attack, you can’t withstand it. Look how weak and powerless you are now, how pitiful and pathetic you are. You’re old, it’s time for you to retire, why do you still insist on sitting in that position?”

Ruby smiled smugly. The man who was once unapproachable could now only be bullied by young people like a real old man, unable to fight back.

The vines didn't just have roots, so, after Ruby finished speaking, she unceremoniously slapped the old emperor with her roots.

"puff--"

A sweet taste filled his throat, and the old emperor immediately spat out a large amount of bright red blood. The blood, like a mist, sprayed into the air.

The intoxicating red particles made Ruby even more excited.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Some of the continuous slaps were blocked by the old emperor, but most landed squarely on his aged body.

At the age of sixty-six, his injuries are no longer as minor as they were when he was younger, where he could recover simply by resting and recuperating.

Without a healing mage, he would only succumb to his injuries and die soon.

In fact, the difference in their fighting abilities was obvious. The situation was almost entirely one-sided, tilting in Ruby's favor, but she didn't end the fight immediately. Instead, she toyed with it like a predator, or perhaps she was deliberately trying to embarrass the old emperor in front of his court.

She prolonged the pace of the battle, leisurely enjoying everything.

242. The King Killer

"Alright, this game should end now. I'm tired of it and don't want to play anymore."

Ruby finally used the vines to slam the old emperor to the ground.

He is now dizzy and in pain all over his body, covered in bruises. In fact, besides the superficial injuries, he may also have a fracture.

"Ruby...cough cough..."

He coughed up blood more and more frequently, and his internal organs suffered irreversible damage.

His aged, cloudy eyes were filled with pain, not only from the pain of his injury, but also from the pain of failing to educate his daughter.

"Is it painful, old man?"

Ruby walked step by step toward the old emperor.

"What do you think I'm thinking? I'm thinking, you who were once so high and mighty, judging me, have finally met your match. The way you look so pathetic now is truly ridiculous."

"farewell……"

A sharp blade appeared in her palm, a magically formed blade, its black light piercing the old emperor's chest.

Everything was over. Bright red blood stained his clothes, and large splatters of blood gushed from his back onto the ground.

Her expression remained unchanged, still quietly watching the old emperor, but it became ferocious and crazed.

She couldn't describe the feeling of killing her own father with her own hands.

"Ruby..."

The old emperor looked at his daughter's face, which was gradually becoming unfamiliar due to hatred, and raised his hand with trembling hands.

He felt his body getting cold, his limbs becoming numb, and he was losing more and more sensation and control over his body.

He knew his time was coming to an end, and he would likely die here today. Suddenly, he felt a sense of relief, because the pain in his heart was simply punishment for him.

“My daughter, you’ve grown up… although I’m a failed father.”

His hand touched Ruby's face.

Ruby could have dodged or slapped his hand away, but she didn't, for reasons she wasn't quite sure herself.

The hand was quite old, with wrinkled skin, scars from battles in its youth, and calluses from years of gripping weapons.

He was certainly not a good father, neither to Ruby, Curtis, nor to his other children. But he was a good king; during his reign, the people did not suffer the ravages of the demons, and they lived in peace and prosperity.

He traded war for more than a decade of peace, and the peace should have lasted even longer.

"I know you won't forgive me, and I won't ask you to call me father again, but... I want to ask you to grant me one request: after you become emperor, treat your other brothers and sisters kindly..."

"I don't really enjoy killing."

Ruby has no interest in playing the mouse-hunting game unless someone jumps out to rebel against her.

"Thanks……"

After the old emperor finished speaking, his hand slipped down, leaving a bloody mark on Ruby's face.

He knew that his daughter was unlike him; she didn't like to lie.

He was too tired, he closed his eyes, and never spoke again.

The old emperor fell into a pool of blood and died completely.

"Old man, after killing you, I didn't feel any relief. Instead, I felt a mix of emotions. Although I really wanted to ask you why and let you get up and sleep again, I know that's impossible."

Dark magic can indeed bring the dead back to life. However, the person resurrected is not the same person they were in life; they are merely a corpse with memories of their previous existence.

This resurrection is different from Saint Karina's rebirth after death. Hers was a genuine resurrection; she had flesh and blood, her blood was warm, and her heart was beating.

The resurrection through black magic is, at best, a manipulation of memory and the body. Only a god could truly bring the dead back to life.

"What a joke! You murdered your own father, a regicide! Who would acknowledge you?"

"We will never recognize you as the new emperor. You are no longer a member of the royal family and have no right to be the heir!"

"So cruel, so cold-blooded! I would rather resign and return to my hometown than work for you!"

……

After the magical shackles were broken, the courtiers who witnessed this scene hurled insults such as "demon," "executioner," and "ruthless."

They witnessed the old emperor's fate, and while they felt fear, they were even more filled with anger.

This woman killed their monarch right before their eyes, deliberately putting their dignity on the ground and trampling on it at will.

And if she allows such a person to be emperor, what kind of emperor can she be? A tyrant? What good end can a tyrant's subjects possibly have?

"It's really noisy."

Hearing these people's curses, Ruby finally realized what the emptiness in her heart was.

She gained the country, sat on the throne, and killed those she hated, but had no one to share her victory with.

Subordinates won't do; she must maintain her authority in front of them, and she wants to find someone close to her.

"Don't want to pledge allegiance to me? Haha, that's ridiculous. Do you really think I need people that old man has used? I don't use secondhand goods."

He clenched his fist so tightly that the heads of all the court officials exploded.

She had already planted the seeds in these people, and Ruby had no intention of leaving any survivors after the play ended.

She wasn't afraid of what was happening here getting out; that didn't matter to her at all. She just wanted the country to be in more chaos, for the existing political institutions to collapse completely—that was what she wanted to see.

Only when the country is in chaos can she more easily ascend to the throne.

Those warmongers had already colluded with her; they were hawks. The doves that these old men liked were just obstacles in their way, so killing them was no big deal.

"By the way, Curtis... I still have my sister. Once I find her, there will be someone to share my joy, right?"