Through the World Gate (2/2)

The emperor, as well as everyone around the sealed pavilion, feel an intsense pressure on their spirits weigh on them once Haalfrin releases his Aura. Most of them peel pack in terror, while the emperor himself has an even more exaggerated reaction.

The old emperor's knees lose their strength, and he falls to the ground while screaming, "No, noooo!"

Apathetically, Haalfrin looks at the prone emperor and mutters loudly, "Huh. I suppose the leader of the known world would be more afraid of death than most. You've lived for so long in the lap of power and luxury that you're afraid to lose it all."

The tone which Haalfrin used made it sound like he was passing judgement on the emperor… though that can't be right… right?

One of the people with a less dramatic reaction is Princess Emilia herself. Of course, she's still scared of Haalfrin's Aura too, but being this young and spoiled all her life, death has always been the farthest thing from her mind. She still has her whole life ahead of her, so she's not THAT afraid.

Having most of her wits about her, Emilia looks up at Haalfrin, and she notices a trace look of disappointment in his eyes while looking at the emperor.

Indeed, the emperor is a 4th Gate mage. He was the emperor for countless generations, even before Haalfrin was born. The dragon slayer grew up with stories of the emperor's heroic service in the Threshold, and his strong, uncontested rule.

Now, seeing the very man cowering on the ground – desperately trying to look away from the fate common to all mortals, Haalfrin does feel like his expectations weren't met.

Sighing, Haalfrin releases his Aura, and he says, "Frankly, I couldn't care less about you, your majesty." He cocks his thumb over his shoulder – pointing at the World Gate, and he says, "My Fate lies over there. Just release the barrier over me, and you'll never see me again. You can just go back to ruling and living the good life."

The emperor catches his breath, and he's helped to his feet by the 2 bodyguards beside him. The bodyguards are glaring daggers at Haalfrin, yet the emperor only has a lost look on his face.

"…What?" Haalfrin questions, "You're not going to answer?"

Shaking his head, the emperor says, "You're far too dangerous, and your personality is too volatile. What guarantee do I have that you won't kill us all once you get what you want?"

Haalfrin laughs at this. "A fair question!" He turns and gestures to the Gate, "This Gate is important to you, right? With the Gate blocked off by me, no one will be able to go in or out of the Gate. You'll have to release it SOMETIME."

The old emperor shakes his head, "No. You have nothing to eat in there."

Hearing this, Haalfrin puts his hands on his hips and laughs even harder, "You have Prella in there with you, right?"

Seeing him hostile like this has brought back some past trauma, so Prella was busy shaking in fear – just out of view behind the carriage curtains. Now, hearing her name called, she hesitantly pokes her head out the window and looks at Haalfrin.

"You!" Haalfrin commands, "Get over here."

Prella gingerly opens the carriage and walks over, then stands beside Princess Emilia.

"So, Prella," Haalfrin says, "Why don't you tell them about how I survived for so long without food on Floor B33?"

Lady Prella looks down and says softly, "He was space locked over a mile underground. He had no way of getting food, so after a few weeks, I thought he starved to death. After a few hundred years, I nearly forgot about him… I… don't know how he did it."

"That's right," Haalfrin says, "I was actually being helped by the Death gods. You see, they're not restricted by spatial barriers, so they'd come visit me all the time with food and gifts." He looks at the new spatial barrier. "I can literally be here until I age to death. Can you afford to wait for so long?"

The emperor sighs, "Sir… Even without supplies, Commander Fisco would be able to sustain himself and his men. It might be harder, in the case of a prolonged siege, but he can do it." He narrows his eyes. "We do trade a lot of valuable goods with the Rehkin clans, but my country can afford to go without that for a while if it means being safe."

"Hmm…," Haalfrin mutters, "you have a point." He starts tapping his foot as he thinks of a solution.

Before anyone can say anything else, Princess Emilia calls for her father. He bends over, and she whispers in his ear. After a few moments, the monarch smiles, and he stands up straight again. "Sir Haalfrin," he suggests nervously, "I think the only way we can guarantee our own safety and your freedom is for you to wear a slave collar."

"And what?" Haalfrin spits, "Put my life in your hands? Is that supposed to be freedom?"

This time, it's Prella's turn to whisper in the emperor's ear. Upon hearing what she has to say, the emperor adds, "I know you're looking for a way to die. I promise, if you serve my empire in the Threshold, that you will get your wish."

"Oh?" Haalfrin crosses his arms again, "I've had a similar offer before, but that man lied to me. How do I know you're any different?"

Hearing these words, the emperor is actually relieved. Since the dragon slayer asked for more details on his offer, that means he's at least interested.

So, the old man quickly replies, "You're far too dangerous to keep close. You're also far too prideful to serve a coward like me. I also don't like the idea of you being under General Fisco's command for long. In all ways, it's better for you to just die. That's why I'll guarantee you get the most dangerous jobs."

Haalfrin looks down and thinks, 'If the slave collar kills people upon disobedience, then the emperor will probably just use it on me immediately. If it is more advanced, and it takes away free will (to a certain extent), then he'll probably try to keep me alive and milk all the use he can out of me…'

'Aha!' Haalfrin thinks, 'I have an idea. I can see if I can sabotage the slave collar enchantment, then pretend to wear it just long enough for the emperor to release me.'

So, Haalfrin holds out his hand, "Give it to me. I'll take a look at it."

The emperor turns around and barks a few orders. Some servants scurry off to fetch the nearest slave collar, and everyone is left to wait.

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Within a few minutes, one of the servants comes with an assortment of materials. "Sire," the bodyguard says while offering the goods on bended knee, "This isn't a market, so there aren't any collars around. However, we all know that you're the best enchanter in the empire. These are all the necessary things to make a slave collar."

The emperor takes them all and has them float in the air with a spell. "Hmph," he says, "It's better this way. I want this thing to have no loopholes."

And so, the emperor uses a spatial transmission spell to move all the materials into the sealed pavilion. Then, he uses his telekinesis to remotely manipulate the materials in the air – crafting with them from a distance.

Then, the old one starts using a technique Haalfrin himself has never seen before. 'Huh,' Haalfrin mumbles, 'I didn't know you could enchant things from a distance.'

From what Haalfrin has been taught, you have to enchant things by inscribing letters in Soul Script, then imbuing a spell into it. The thing is, is that you have to be able to touch the object first!

Well, every lineage of teacher and disciple certainly has their own unique tricks, so it really shouldn't surprise Haalfrin.

During the whole crafting process, Lady Prella takes Princess Emilia to the carriage, since this could take a while. There, they watch from the open carriage window as his majesty does the rare act of performing his craft in front of others.

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Normally, making a simple slave collar would have taken a few minutes at most. However, the emperor is extremely wary of Haalfrin; nothing less than perfection would be good enough. Thus, it takes nearly an hour for the thing to be completed.

Finally, once it's ready, Haalfrin walks up to the floating collar and holds it in his hands. For a little bit, he stares blankly at the collar while everyone warily watches – wondering if he'll actually put it on.

While Haalfrin is looking at it, he hears Dakka's voice in his head, 'Bro, is the collar too strong? Dude, I hope you don't actually become this weakling's subordinate. That would be so humiliating.'

'No,' Haalfrin replies telepathically, 'It's enchanted to squeeze tighter and suffocate me, so long as the emperor gives the word. It's also enchanted to nullify magic around my neck, so I can't protect my neck with any spells. It's also set to go off the moment the enchantments are disturbed in any way.'

'Huh… I dunno what to tell you, bro,' Dakka admits.

'Don't worry. I've already gotten it figured out.' He looks at Dakka. 'A dragon's body is tough enough to resist most spells without using any magic on your own, right?'

'Yeah…? Oh!'

'Yes,' Haalfrin barely resists the urge to smirk, 'My Name Powers aren't spells. They're a part of my body and soul, which means this collar can't restrict them. I can just use my Dra Name to toughen my body so much that the collar will fail to kill me.'

He looks one last time at the emperor. 'Plus, the collar has no external mana source, which means it can only be fully activated once. The moment the emperor tries to do anything with it, I can just let it try to kill me; then, I'll just tear it off and be done with this farce.'

With this in mind, Haalfrin slowly wraps the black collar around his throat and clasps it on the other end.

"So," Haalfrin extends his hand, "It's a deal?"

The emperor finally lets out a heavy sigh of relief. "Yes. It's a deal." He turns to the others, "Lower the barrier. This man goes free!"

The first thing Haalfrin says once the barrier is down is, "I'm going through the Gate now."

Seeing the emperor almost protest, Haalfrin growls, "My Fate is on the other side of the Gate. I AM going there. If you want to kill me now with the collar, then go ahead. I'd rather die now than continue living in a world full of cowards too weak to actually kill me."

Not even stopping to see the emperor's reaction, Haalfrin pivots on his heel, then strides towards the World Gate – completely unhindered.

The emperor watches with a complicated expression as Haalfrin completely disappears from view.