Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 162 – Horn and Fire (5)

Juan was puzzled by Barth’s words; he wondered if it had really been necessary for Barth to take a short break and let his breath be stabilized just to say that.

In fact, Juan was the one who would be at an advantage after taking a short break rather than Barth; after all, while Barth’s recovery speed was far beyond a human’s, his recovery speed was nowhere close to Juan’s.

“Fine. If you’re still alive after this, that means I win and…”

Barth kicked off the ground and jumped even before Juan could finish speaking. For a moment, Barth disappeared from Juan’s sight.

Juan inadvertently turned his head toward the sky; he had become accustomed to Barth’s attack pattern of pressing down on him from above.

The very next moment, a heavy blow struck Juan’s body. Barth had lowered his body, almost as if to lie flat on the ground and then slammed Juan with the horns on his head. Barth’s horns, which were usually high enough to pierce the sky, penetrated Juan’s stomach and protruded all the way to his back.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Barth vigorously shook his head like an angry cow, scattering Juan’s blood in all directions.

As the wounds from their previous battle were further aggravated, blood spewed out of Juan’s mouth. He bit his lips as he belatedly realized what had just happened.

Barth had been pushing for this situation for a long time. Due to their previous battles, Juan had become used to looking up, since he was so much smaller than Barth. The fact that Barth kept approaching him from above also helped with making Juan become accustomed to such an attack pattern—so Juan missed it when Barth lowered his body all the way to the ground and charged at him from below.

Barth had been gathering strength for this final charge at the risk of letting Juan recover from his injuries.

“Keuk…!”

Juan opened his eyes wide and tightly grabbed Barth’s horns that were digging through his wounds. This attack was fatal, since the magic restraining property of the horns of Hornsluine were hindering his recovery. He was bound to really die at this rate.

“Keuk, ugh… Ahhhhhhhh!”

At that moment, Juan grabbed Barth’s horns and pushed them deeper into his stomach. Only then was he able to wrap his legs around Barth’s neck.

Meanwhile, Barth continued to shake his head with all his might, but Juan refused to let go of his horns.

Juan knew that due to his exhausted state he would only be ruthlessly trampled to death once he fell off.

Crack! Crunch!

Juan tightly held on to Barth’s horns and began to twist them to the side. Doing this also meant that he was digging through his own wounds, but Barth’s head slowly started to turn to the side. Juan intended to twist Barth’s neck, since his desire to hear Barth’s answer or his desire to win had left his mind a long time ago.

The only desire controlling Juan right now was his desire to survive.

“Arghhhhhhhhhhh!”

Barth grabbed Juan’s head and tried to forcibly tear it off when his own neck began to turn.

However, the moment they were both trying their best to completely end each other’s lives, Juan felt as if he heard a voice inside his head.

‘Wear the crown.’

‘Bring out the primal fire.’

‘Show this arrogant man the power of the king.’

Upon hearing the voices that were trying to mess up his head, Juan screamed—it almost looked like he was convulsing.

“Fuck offfffffff!”

Crack!

.

At that moment, Juan was thrown into the air with a loud and grotesque noise. He rolled around for a while and barely managed to stop himself after spraying blood all over the ground.

After that, Juan staggered to his feet with difficulty.

Both of Barth Baltic’s broken horns were clasped inside Juan’s pale hands. He looked at majestic crown-like horns that symbolized the Hornsluines, and then he looked up at Barth.

Meanwhile, Barth was staring at Juan with an expressionless face.

‘I failed.’

Juan had tried to break Barth’s neck, but his attempt had only allowed him to break Barth’s horns. Juan no longer had any strength left.

He knew that he would have been able to make a comeback if he had decided to use the power of the flame crown. However, he had decided not to use magic or other kinds of sorcery before he started fighting Barth.

If Juan used the power of the flame crown now, there would be no meaning in his victory over Barth.

“You won…”

At that moment, Barth suddenly stumbled and collapsed to the side.

A loud roar rang throughout the plains. The three hundred thousand Imperial troops sprang to their feet as they witnessed their Regent falling. The knights from the Order of the Capital, including Pavan, clenched their fists in astonishment.

While everyone was holding their breath, Juan blankly stared at Barth and stood up to approach him.

“Are you dead?”

Barth did not answer, but Juan could see that Barth’s body was still moving faintly. Juan once again looked at Barth’s horns that were held in his hand. Juan didn’t know what these horns meant to the Hornsluines, but it didn’t seem like Barth was dead yet.

Juan recalled the fact that animals with horns would feel an enormous amount of pain when their horns were recklessly cut or broken, since they were connected to the skulls.

But that wasn’t important.

The important thing was that Barth had collapsed while Juan was still standing on his feet.

Juan lifted up Barth’s broken horns. At that moment, loud cheers came from the Magic Tower, while heavy silence engulfed the Imperial army.

At the same time, Juan slowly collapsed to the ground while thinking that it was fortunate that Barth was still alive.

***

As soon as the battle was over, people rushed out from both sides.

The Imperial Army’s line fluctuated—it looked like they were ready to charge at any moment when people came out of the magic tower, but soon came to a stop as if they were given a command.

Five knights, including Pavan, then rode their horse to approach Barth from the Imperial Army’s side.

At the same time, the first ones to come out of the Magic Tower were Hela, Horhell, Sina, and Haild.

Both sides maintained a brief period of silence, then agreed to remain peaceful for the time being.

Pavan hurriedly examined Barth Baltic’s condition and came to the conclusion that he was still alive and had not suffered any fatal wounds. The five knights then hastily carried Barth onto the cart they had brought with them.

“Your Majesty, are you all right?”

Hela examined Juan’s condition, but got no response from him. Anyone could tell at just a glance that Juan’s injuries were very severe; after all, the hole in his stomach was as big as Hela’s palm.

“Don’t worry. His Majesty won’t die from a wound like this one. I’ve seen him recover from even worse injuries,” Haild whispered from beside Hela.

Hearing this, people sighed in relief.

However, Sina grabbed Juan’s wrist and then shook her head with a pale face.

“His body temperature is too low. I’ve never seen Juan’s body get this cold before…”

Juan’s body temperature only ever grew hotter when he was injured, never colder before.

Sina’s words caused agitation to spread quickly, but Juan could not be left as he was. Horhell hurriedly wrapped Juan’s wound with a cloak that he was wearing around his shoulder and then carried Juan on his back.

When Sina was just about to quickly follow Horhell, she found Barth Baltic’s horns rolling around on the ground near where Juan had been. She picked them up and put them inside her pockets just in case.

“Contact the Magic Tower right now and tell them to send everyone who has the ability to treat injuries!”

***

“Someone is coming.”

The sun had once again risen after the passage of the strange night.

When he heard the report from the guards, Pavan looked at the person running toward them from the Magic Tower. Although he had expected someone from the emperor’s side to visit him, he frowned upon seeing that it was the person he wanted to avoid the most.

Hela Henna was riding a horse while holding a flag with the sun in her hand—the sun was the symbol of the emperor. She then stopped right in front of the Imperial Army’s line. She had come alone, almost as if she was confident that no one here could harm her. She was facing three hundred thousand Imperial soldiers all by herself, but she showed no signs of despondency.

It was not long before the Imperial soldiers quietly opened a path for her.

Then, Hela got off her horse and walked forward without hesitation.

Seeing the old commander of the East, some of the people had complicated emotions in their eyes. Some knights from the Order of the Capital avoided eye contact with her with a guilty look on their faces, while some of them glared at her as if they wanted to kill her. Those who were avoiding eye contact with Hela were the ones who had once been trained to become a knight in the East under her patronage.

However, Hela didn’t even bother to take a glance at them.

When Hela arrived at Barth Baltic’s tent, Pavan quickly stood in her way to stop her. He then politely greeted Hela with a bitter smile on his face.

“Master.”

Hela smiled, revealing her teeth.

“Long time no see, Pavan. It’s my first time seeing you after what happened at the Yult Mountains, huh?”

Pavan knew that Hela was purposely acting like she had forgotten about their brief encounter last night. What she wanted to say was already clear anyway.

“I’m glad that you look healthy. Is your injured leg okay?” Pavan asked.

“Ah, yes. In fact, it will only get stronger as long as it isn’t chopped off. Thanks to you, I feel like my neck has gotten stronger and thicker as well.”

“Please don’t say that. You know that I had not meant to hurt you. I was just trying to escort you, since I was worried that you might get in trouble.”

“You’re getting better and better at talking bullshit day by day. You should tell Barth Baltic to stop feeding you greasy food. I’m gonna slip on your tongue and fall to my death before I have a heart attack.”

Pavan smiled bitterly and tried to lead Hela to a different place other than Barth’s tent.

However, Hela stood still and refused to move.

“Barth Baltic!” Hela shouted at the top of her lungs.

When the loud voice echoed throughout the silent Imperial Army tents, dumbfounded eyes of the troops turned toward Hela in an instant. At the same time, Pavan’s face turned pale.

“Don’t play tricks with me and come on out! You know that we have unfinished business!”

“Master, let’s not make such a fuss here. How about we go to my tent for a cup of tea and…”

“Master, my ass. Since when have you ever treated me like your master anyway? You only call me your master when you need to. Do you have a death wish? Have you ever been slapped by someone with a single arm before?”

Pavan backed away with a perplexed look when Hela pushed on his chest with her short left arm.

Hela’s arrogant and eccentric actions were all calculated—she knew that Pavan and the Imperial Army would be against using violence against her.

“Barth Baltic! Did you go deaf when your horns broke? If you continue to keep quiet like that, I will…”

“What’s going on?”

The question came from behind Hela’s back rather than from inside Barth’s tent.

When Hela turned back, she saw Barth there standing shirtless, with only a towel wrapped around his neck; it looked like he had just washed his face.

His torn and scorched beard had been cleanly shaved, and his exposed skin was full of scars and bruises. Above all, his arms which suffered from the fierce battle had been tightly wrapped with a thick bandage. His horns, which symbolized his identity, were broken off disproportionately.

Barth immediately noticed what was going on upon seeing the faces of Hela and Pavan.

“Are you a messenger sent here by the emperor? You came earlier than I thought you would. I had to clean up a little because of the messy fight we had yesterday. After all, I couldn’t greet an envoy looking like that. Give me a second while I get dressed.”

Barth quietly disappeared into the tent.

At the same time, Pavan bit his lips.

***

After having a brief conversation with Barth, Hela smiled derisively at Pavan and returned to the Magic Tower.

Pavan felt quite anxious upon seeing Hela’s smile.

When Pavan walked into the tent, he found Barth sitting still while rubbing his forehead.

“Regent.”

“Yes, Pavan. I was just about to call you in.”

Pavan’s eyes shook nervously. Barth’s strangely calm appearance after his defeat last night made Pavan utterly anxious.

“Do you have any orders?”

“Command the Imperial Army to go back to the home base. Tell them that I appreciate their hard work, but it’s all over. As for the nobles, I will talk to them myself. And… get ready to head back to Torra.”