The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG99.53%

Chapter 206: Laugh And Smile

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Caesar chased Claudius as he fell from the skies with a massive wound that went through one of his shoulders all the way to his chest and even hips; blood and innards could be seen, most of his ribs broken.

His healing golden aura encompassed his body, but the wounds were infected by an energy that couldn't be purified by the light, an internal energy within Caesar that he had left to rot his brother's wounds.

A form of Curse-type Ki that Dark Sorcerers and Poison Masters of Murim used, which Bing Xue had taught him to conjure on every one of his attacks.

"The worlds of the Tower are vast; if there's something I've noticed is that everyone and their mother have regeneration abilities, it's Murim all over again, but worse. Therefore, you must learn to infect their wounds with a dark, muddy essence that'll get in the way of their regeneration. It's a nasty tactic, yes. But you would prefer that than fighting the same enemy again after you've inflicted an apparently lethal wound on them, right?"

After having learned how to use this power and also Mastering the First Stage of the Soul Blade Arts Bing Xue had taught him, Caesar had become a new man altogether, his Body already Cultivating to the level of an Immortal in a matter of weeks.

"Kuugh…! Y-You bastard, what did you put into my body?! A curse? Impossible, it should have already been cleansed!" Claudius screamed, blood coming out of his mouth constantly.

He was over the ruins left behind by the castle golem being slowly destroyed; he was unable to move, and his golden aura was weakening, wrapping around him defensively.

Caesar slowly walked towards him, facing his brother with his blade on hand, his eyes filled… a slight amount of regret, perhaps even of sorrow.

"Why do things have to be this way, Claudius?"

"What?!"

Claudius glared at Caesar with an angry face, unbefitting of his beautiful face.

"Why do we have to fight so fervently? To kill each other for power and territory? We are siblings; we are related by blood. Don't you remember our childhood?"

"Hah… Hahahah…"

Claudius only laughed at Caesar's words, his golden eyes mocking his younger brother.

"Childhood? Did you think I cared for you, Caesar?"

"You didn't? Despite how genuine I remember these feelings, these memories."

"You…"

These feelings that Caesar felt for his family, especially for his older brother Claudius, the feelings of warmth and love of the many times Claudius took care of him, cooked him meals, taught him fencing, and more.

"You're getting almost there, little brother, but your fencing is still way too wild; you've got to focus a little more on your target instead of charging like a little wolf."

"Okay, big brother… I will do my best…!"

His carefree laughter and smile, and of the many gifts he gave to him.

"Happy birthday, Caesar! I brought you a little gift—your first sword!"

"Wooow! My first real sword?! No way! Thank you, brother!"

Those memories they had as family—what happened to them?

"What do you want to do when you grow up, Caesar?"

"I want to become a swordsman and protect the kingdom Papa gives to me…!"

"I see…"

Of the many memories they had as a family, siblings and their various mothers—even their cold father—gathered together sometimes.

To have a picnic in the Empire's beautiful grasslands.

"You can't catch me, hahaha!"

"It's not fair, brother! You're flying with your magic!"

And of the last memories they had together.

"I'm going then; Father has called me for me to accomplish my duties, Caesar. I will conquer land, give it to him, and become a King myself."

"G-Good luck, brother… I hope one day we can meet again!"

"Of course we'll do! And you'll be old enough for us to drink together, haha! So keep working hard, little brother."

"Y-Yes…!"

These memories, these scenes, all these words.

Did they mean nothing now?

Was it all just worthless?

Was their childhood, their friendship, and family bonds…

Just nothing?

Claudius' eyes widened, noticing that Caesar's ruthless eyes were now replaced by those full of sorrow, regret, and pity.

"You can't be serious… After getting to this point, you're…?!"

"I'm no monster, brother. I am not a machine either… I am a human like you."

"Hah… You're ridiculous."

"I am not ridiculous… I am just being myself! Why do you pretend to be someone you aren't?!"

"That's where you're wrong, little brother…"

Claudius slowly stood up, barely, his Aura overflowing with light.

His soldiers quickly descended, protecting him with shields and weapons pointed at Caesar.

"I am not pretending. I've decided to walk this path on my own accord. And I will… not hesitate nor regret my decisions. It's a promise I made to myself."

"So that's… how it is… All for power, huh…"

"Indeed. All for power. Because being born in this family is nothing but a curse. A curse I'm willing to devour! I'm going to eat everything, Caesar…! Until nothing remains other than me!"

"You're insane…"

"Insane?! You can call me whatever you want! Now Atticus, come and protect me, you traitorous dog."

RUMBLE!

A giant with long black hair and sharp emerald eyes descended from the skies, falling in front of Claudius and pointing his spear at his former lord.

"Yes, my lord."

"Atticus!"

Caesar was once more shaken by what he was seeing, taking a step back. The knight that had helped him and raised him since he was a child was in front of him, having betrayed him to fight for his brother and for him.

"You swore you would be by my side until your death," Caesar muttered, his face distorting in both grief and anger. "That you were my knight! Why, Atticus, why?!"

"Because… You stopped being the lord I wanted to protect!" Atticus rushed forward, attacking Caesar.

The Golden Aura given to him by Claudius made him powerful and fast; his attacks released shockwaves of holy light; his spear became quicker and more dexterous, as Caesar was pushed back the more he tried not to fight.

"I stopped being the person I always was?! What in the world are you talking about?!"

Caesar roared like a furious dragon, his aura surging tremendously as he swung his sword forward, clashing against Atticus and pushing him away with an explosion of conflicting energies.

CRAAASH!

"Ugh…!"

Atticus grasped the floor with his spear, managing not to fall on his own face, as he quickly stood back up again, his Aura growing stronger to face his lord.

"You've become softer than ever before. You let that woman defeat you and take away all your pride! You lowered yourself to become her disciple!"

"You're talking about Bing Xue? I would've died if it wasn't for her mercy. I have a wife, a daughter, and a country to protect. Did you expect me to kill myself in shame rather than swallow my pride and live for those I love?! The only one that has changed here is you, Atticus!"

"T-That's…!"

Atticus suddenly felt a strange sensation inside his head—a small fuzzy feeling that hurt him a bit.

"That's not right!"

He quickly faced Caesar again, blade and spear clashing against one another. He rapidly sneaked several blows at Caesar, aiming for his neck and face the most.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

However, his former King moved dexterously as well, using his giant blade as a shield to protect his vital areas while also stepping forward, using the pressure of his Aura to push his foe back.

"That wasn't everything, you…! You became so lenient, so passive, so meek! Even when I went to ask you to allow me to use more of our forces to take down these otherworldly villains wreaking havoc around the country, the only thing you did was tell me that we had no right to hurt those from other worlds."

"Wha…?"

Caesar was shocked. As Atticus' spear came towards his left eye, the King evaded it by a hair before infusing energies into his right fist and...

BAAAM!

Punching his retainer in the face, sending him flying into the air, and then making him fall right into the ground once more.

"Ungh…! The powers of that witch have made you stronger, my… my former lord," Atticus gasped for air, slowly standing up once more. "But at the cost of everything that made you who you were before…"

"You're talking nonsense, lies!" Caesar said. "I never said any of the things you just said before, Atticus!"

"What? Have you fallen to the point where you're denying your own words?! You sure have lost all your shame!" Atticus roared furiously.

"What in the world are you talking about?!" Caesar asked, his aura and his voice becoming louder and mightier. "You never came to me to ask me anything these last days! The villains that appeared from the Gray Gates are being hunted in cooperation with Bing Xue's Sect members. I never said that they didn't deserve to be killed or anything like that! You're now putting words in my mouth?! Atticus! You've grown insane!"

"W-What?! No…! I am sure that I asked you that!" Atticus roared furiously. "Y-You're trying to deny it?! How dare you! There's no shame in you! No pride!"

"Silence!" Caesar had enough, rushing towards Atticus and punching his face again several times in a row.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

The other soldiers were only watched by Claudius orders; even Claudius himself watched the scene with a slight amount of disbelief; he didn't even know what they were even talking about.

"Who is in the right or wrong?" he wondered. "This is both entertaining and ridiculous, but it's giving me time to recover."

Caesar took away the spear from Atticus and threw it away, lifting his former retainer from the neck, his face completely swollen from all the punches.

"W-Why are you… lying…?" Atticus muttered, barely breathing.

"I never lied, and I promise you that I didn't," said Caesar. "There's something wrong with your head. We never talked about those subjects before! Why don't you believe me?! Tell me now, what happened before you supposedly went to talk with me? Did you meet someone suspicious?"

"I-I…!" Atticus coughed blood as his memories of that time became fuzzier, stranger. "I… I don't… Uh… Why are my memories- Ugh!"

Atticus suddenly dropped to the floor, grabbing his head in agony.

"Aaargh!"

"Atticus?!"

As Atticus screamed, Caesar quickly tried to heal him using an elixir, however…

"I killed someone…"

"Huh?"

"One of those… psychopaths…! A clown—no, a jester! A jester with… a mask."

"What? A jester with a mask? You killed someone like this and then your memories…?"

"I think there's… something wrong with me! I… What happened to my head?! Ugh…!"

Atticus started crying as he felt his very memories twist and warp around, rapidly deteriorating.

"Aaaaggh…! Aaahh…! Haaahh….!"

"Atticus!"

The King quickly tried using an elixir on him, only for a flying golden sword from Claudius to hit his hand, making the elixir fall into the ground and splatter into the dirt.

"Claudius, you bastard!"

"I'm sorry, little brother, but I can't let you heal him now… Whatever that jester did to him, he's helping me so…"

"Hahahah…"

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

The two siblings suddenly heard a weird laughter—a very high-pitched laughter.

And it came from…

"A-Atticus?"

"Ahahaha…"

The man he called his retainer was laughing while crying.

"Heheh… Hahahaha!"

And he continued laughing, loudly and loudly!

"What's wrong with him?!"

Claudius glared at Atticus, his head suddenly beginning to spin.

"Ugh…!"

Caesar stepped back, feeling that there was something wrong with Atticus.

Something very wrong.

"Heheheh… HAHAHAHAHA!"

Atticus continued laughing, slowly standing up, glaring at Caesar with a big, wide smile.

His face was suddenly painted white.

"A-Atticus…?"

Caesar's eyebrows twitched; he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Atticus' nose had become a big red nose, his lips were painted red up to his ears, and his eyes were painted blue.

"Heheheheh… HAHAHAHA!"

And as he laughed, his tongue became longer, and there were even as sharp fangs as his teeth!

"He's transforming? Ugh! What is this pain in my head?!"

"You feel it too?"

Claudius glared at Caesar; both brothers were completely flabbergasted.

And then…

"Hehehe…"

"Hahaha…"

"Ohohoho!"

Their eyes quickly were directed to Claudius soldiers; all of them started to laugh.

It was a very contagious laughter; those unable to resist, like Caesar and Claudius, succumbed to the laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

"Gahahahaha!"

"Eheheheheh!"

"Guaahahahah!"

Suddenly, dozens of men, both from each party, started to laugh like maniacs.

And the laughter simply never ended.

"What is wrong with all of you bastards?! Get your shit together!" Claudius roared furiously, swinging his sword at his soldiers. "Or else I'll—Ugh?!"

Before he could stop them, however, the laughter stopped.

And his own soldiers, whose faces had been painted like those of clowns, glared at him as well.

With eyes constantly spinning around.

"GYAHAHAH!"

They laughed manically, rushing towards Claudius and pointing their weapons at their lord!

"Claudius!"

Caesar rushed to help his brother, as he saw his own soldiers attacking him from every angle.

His Golden Divine Aura protected him, but the attacks were rapidly weakening it.

"What…! What kind of strategy is this, Caesar?!"

Claudius thought it was Caesar's plot.

However…

Caesar was also being attacked by his own men!

"I am not doing this! Something's wrong with everyone, with Atticus! He… he somehow infected everyone with laughter, and they turned into… clowns?!"

"This is ridiculous! And my head keeps hurting! It's some kind of mental attack, something strange that magic cannot exactly stop!"

"We have to get out of here, brother!"

"What?! We were just fighting to the death!"

"But this is a problem that goes beyond our battle!"

"Dammit, you bastard…! Don't look down on me!"

Claudius used his blade, cutting through his own soldiers and slicing them to pieces.

"You think I'll fall for your trick?!" He screamed angrily. "I'll kill you; this territory shall be mine!"

"Stop it already, Claudius!" Caesar clashed against his brother, even as they were being surrounded by crazed soldiers aiming for their lives.

Atticus stood there, glancing from afar, drooling, as if he had become nothing but a mindless drone.

And through his spinning eyes, someone else was glancing at the scene.

Giggling.

"Hehehe… HAHAHAHA!" A masked jester giggled. "This is hilarious! I can't believe it! It works so well! So this is the power of Skills! Incredible! Hehehe! Now spread more! More! Everyone has to laugh! This way, the world will become a better place! SMILE!"