Chapter 1

. Prologue

“Kill Cain!”

“Whoever brings back Cain’s head shall be granted the title of Duke and the Imperial Family’s surname!”

“Waaah!”

The Imperial Palace was burning.

The entire area around the imperial capital had been engulfed in flames.

Knights clad in white armor were moving from place to place, slaughtering soldiers.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

A man was urgently searching for me.

It was Duke Aslan.

The man who had always guarded my side as Emperor, ensuring that no one could come near me.

The reason he was searching for me so desperately was simple: there was very little time left before we had to leave.

My empire had… though it was difficult to admit… fallen.

My empire, Zergard, which had once flourished as the greatest nation on the continent, had been defeated by an alliance of countries led by the Holy Empire.

Why? Why had I not known?

I had never noticed anything until now.

I had never imagined that the men I believed to be loyal subjects serving me would so casually fall for the enemy’s schemes and sell out their own country.

But now that things had come this far, whom could I blame?

I had no other means of overcoming this crisis head-on.

The enemy’s power was simply too great.

That was why I had chosen to cast an ancient secret spell of the Magocracy.

No one could guarantee whether it would succeed or fail, but I decided to place what little hope I had in it.

The method was simple.

First, a massive magic circle with a radius of twenty meters had to be drawn around an altar made from the hearts of one hundred black mages.

Then, black mana stones were embedded in the four directions and at the center of the circle, and a magic scroll inscribed with ancient words was placed on top.

After that, I had to position myself inside the magic circle.

The moment the scroll was set on fire, the magic circle would activate.

This magic circle was designed to make the people within it disappear from this world.

Depending on the circumstances, they might be torn apart and killed in some unknown dimension. Or they might travel to the past—or even the future.

No one could say for certain.

But one thing was certain: I would be able to escape reality.

2

The place Duke Aslan and I reached while fleeing the flames was a secret altar prepared beneath the Imperial Palace.

I had built this place in case something went wrong.

It had been constructed temporarily, as a precaution against truly unforeseen circumstances. Even most of the people gathered here now were learning of the altar’s existence for the first time.

At my side were Duke Aslan, a Master-level mage, Duke Forn, a seventh-circle black mage, twenty-five knights, and twenty-five black mages.

And at the center of the altar lay the hearts of black mages, their blood not yet even dry.

“Ah…”

Tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.

Those hearts represented the loyalty of the black mages who had sacrificed their lives for this altar. They represented the devotion of those who had offered their own hearts without hesitation for the sake of this arrogant emperor.

But I quickly regained my composure.

Everything had already become part of the past.

What remained was for me to survive and restore the reputation of the Magocracy, Zergard, once more.

If I could not accomplish that now…

Then I would accomplish it in whatever world I found myself in next.

“Your Majesty, then…”

Duke Forn’s voice trailed off.

He was about to activate the magic circle.

Once it was activated, I would be transported to some point in either the future or the past.

What kind of world would unfold before me?

Would I see my empire before it had been reduced to ruins?

Or would I see its future, after it had fallen into ruin and everything had changed?

The uncertainty of what lay ahead left my thoughts in turmoil.

3

Everything had happened far too quickly.

The military teleportation device had been completely destroyed in advance by someone, and the Imperial Palace had been thoroughly surrounded. This place was the only remaining means of escape.

The massive white magic circle surrounding the entire Imperial Palace interfered with the routes of teleportation, making it impossible to teleport away.

Unaware of this, countless black mages who attempted to teleport were torn apart in midair, becoming chunks of flesh that scattered in every direction.

When had it all begun?

When had the people surrounding me become my enemies?

I would never be able to forget what happened today.

O power of darkness, guide us to a new world. We entrust all our lives to you.

Fwaaash—!

A flash of black light erupted.

In an instant, an intense chill swept through my entire body.

The surrounding space warped and gradually darkened, spreading like black ink. My entire body grew colder and stiffer, hardening like ice.

Within that darkness, I engraved countless names into my heart.

Especially the names of those who had betrayed me, as well as the knights, mages, and emperors who had contributed to the annihilation of my empire…

And so, everything gradually began to fade.

As my body grew colder, it felt as though my heart was stopping, too.

I could see nothing, and even my thoughts—my awareness that I could see nothing—began to slow.

My final memory came to an end in the burning Imperial Palace of the capital.

“Black magic…”

My lips uttered one last word.

And then…

Everything transformed into a pure-white world of nothingness.