Emperors Wrath

"You killed… everyone!"

Bertram would lay on the floor, unable to move a muscle.

He could feel his body decompose into particles—hoping he would die for the sake of his friends.

But it was all in vain.

He threw away his life, just to have them die in the end.

It was pointless.

The barbarian couldn't help but cry.

Tears streaked his face as he accepted his fate.

"It seems I'll be reuniting with you guys in the afterlife…"

"Reuniting?" The Wraith scoffed, "Didn't you hear what I said from before? Their souls have been erased away from this world. They can never go into the afterlife—I can assure you that much."

"Erased... from existence?"

"Isabella's Divine Gift, Heavens flames." She would chuckle. "It deconstructs the body and soul, preventing anyone from crossing over into the otherworld." She lifted her hand, conjuring blue flames, "It's quite simple, little human."

"How could you? You fucking… bastard!!" Bertram shouted, attempting to stand on his feet, but fell to his knees, "Honora... Archibald, Dorothy!" He squeezed his eyes shut, shedding more tears, "I failed you! I couldn't stop the attack… I was too weak!" Bertram lifted his fist, slamming it into the ground, "I'm too weak to do anything!!!"

"At least you admit your own weakness." Proclaimed the Wraith.

"Indeed, admitting weakness is a sign of strength."

"...?" Bertram lifted his head, facing the unfamiliar voice, "That insignia." The person who approached them was in all black. They wore a hood over their head, with glowing red eyes. Their hair was quite long with a scar on the left side of their face, going over their eye. They had ten individual rings on their fingers, each one being a level infinity item.

Anyone could tell who this person was.

It was obvious.

"I can't believe it..." Muttered Bertram, "Why are you here, Emperor?"

I stopped in the middle of the room, gazing upon the Barbarian Class Player.

I could see his MP was low, and his health bar was at one life point.

He was going to die very soon.

"B-Bertram!" Dorothy shouted behind me, worried.

"I see, so you used Devotion to stand a chance against this Wraith," I said with a grin. "Your body must be dwindling away, is that right?"

"Yes, I am dying," Bertram looked away in shame, "But that doesn't answer my question. Why is someone like you here?"

"It's quite simple." I crossed my arms, glaring at the spirit. "I'm here to save someone precious to me. I'm sure you can understand that much, right?"

"Someone precious… to the likes of you? A tyrannical villain?" Said Bertram in shock.

"A tyrannical villain? Kuhuhu..." I chuckled. "I see how it is. So that's how people address me nowadays?"

Well shit, I guess everyone thinks of Emperor as some oppressive supervillain.

Guess I'll just go with the flow.

"It can't be… it's you!"

The Wraith faced me in terror.

Their eyes were full of dread as they backed away, scared to approach me.

"You're the one who exists outside the laws of this world! You're Maverick Lionheart!"

"Oh? So you know my real name? Have we met?"

How odd, this spirit knows Emperor's real name.

But then again—Emperor has made himself known across this world from his backstory alone.

"There's not a single spirit within the Ethereal Plane who doesn't know of your name! They all fear the Four Great Kings!" Shouted the Wraith.

"The Ethereal Plane?" Bertram looked at us in confusion.

"Indeed," I muttered, glancing at the Barbarian. "The Ethereal Plane is another layer of the Otherworld where spirits originate from. As you may know; spirits are concepts and ideas given form, and can only be birthed inside this realm."

"Emperor…" Dorothy tugged on my cape. "Please save him! Save Bertram!"

I glanced behind me, nodding my head.

"Very well."

"Save me? Is that even possible?"

I lifted my hand, summoning a magic sigil.

"Time, Halt."

Bertram widened his eyes as I stopped him in time.

He wouldn't be dying anytime soon, I made sure of that.

"Y-You stopped his demise?" The Wraith scowled. "I mustn't let my plans end here! I managed to escape the Ethereal Plane with this body, and now I can finally live in the physical world and be free from the chaos!"

"Bwa ha ha," I laughed, "Free from the chaos? Do you truly believe that I'll let you explore this world after what you've done to Dorothy?"

"Dorothy...?" Questioned Bertram (who was still able to think and function in stopped time).

"So that girl belongs to you, does she?" The Wraith frowned, gritting her teeth, "I knew something was off about her! Very well…"

The Wraith seemed to accept her fate—having no choice but to stand her ground.

She manipulated the blue flames inside her hand, creating hundreds of fireballs in the air. They swirled in unison, preparing a mayhem.

"Hoh?"

Standing near them felt like being in the presence of the sun.

They were indeed dangerous.

"Perish."

But with a simple word, the flames would spiral out of control, exploding into one another.

"Gaaaah!" The Wraith flew backward, bouncing on the ground like a tumbleweed, "Tsk… what in the world just happened?!" She looked up, seeing her flames explode into one another, "Impossible."

"I told them to perish, and they perished. It's common sense." I walked forward, scowling, "You stand no chance against me, even with that Divine Gift."

"You foolish Great Kings believe that this world belongs to you while the Absolute is its true Ruler! He will punish you all!!"

"To hell with the Absolute."

She frowned at my comment and stood up. "Hraaaaaahhh!!" The spirit was enraged, running towards me without a strategy.

"You'll pay for your disrespect!!"

They conjured a blade from thin air.

I'm assuming it was a weapon from this Isabella person's hub.

I could easily analyze its information with the Eyes of the Emperor, seeing it was that of an Epic Grade Weapon.

It was powerful in its own right, but against me; it posed no threat.

"What rubbish."

I summoned my own Epic Grade Weapon, clashing with her blade.

The sound of metal clanked against each other, as I stood there, barely trying.

"I'll defeat you, Great King!"

The Wraith used every ounce of her strength to push me back.

"Even if the Gods fear you, I will show no terror! There is nobody in this world that can scare me!!"

"Is that so?" I smirked. "Just a moment ago, you were shaking in your boots." Scoffing at her, I drove the spirit into overdrive.

"Haaaaahh!" She lifted the sword, swinging it towards my neck, but I blocked it.

"Hyaaah!"

She proceeded to twist around, going for my hip, but I blocked that as well.

She kept pursuing me with attacks, but each one was obstructed by my blade.

"Why can't I hit you?"

I could tell that the Wraith was a master swordsman from the way she fought.

Kendo, Martial Arts, Swordplay; she mastered all of it, and it still was no match for me.

Each attack I blocked and parried, eventually forcing them on the defensive.

"D-Damn it!" She stepped back after I started attacking her with a flurry of strikes, "How are you so strong?" She started to lose her focus, failing to block most of my attacks, "Gnghh!" I cut her legs, arms, and ankles, "Gaah..." She dropped her blade, leaving her wide open.

"You were no match." I kicked her into the gut, knocking them back.

"Goah!" She spat out blood, rolling across the floor with bloodshot eyes.

"Was that the best you could do?" I approached them with a dark aura manifesting around my body.

"I can't possibly win. It's like fighting the God of Combat themselves!"

"God of Combat?" I stopped midway, laughing, "Kuhaha! Even Athena, the God of Wisdom and Warfare is but a mere joke to me! So what makes you think you had a chance from the very start?"

"Even... Athena?"

I pointed my blade towards her face, frowning.

"It's about time I show you a glimpse of my true power, spirit."

One of the many rings on my fingers started to glow with an ethereal light.

It was another level infinity item; the Will of Karma.

As its name suggests, it is Karma itself.

Everything has consequences, which is commonly taught in the Principle of Karma. Everything in Karma is a cycle of cause and effect, where a person's actions cause what happens to them; as such, when an attack reaches me, a series of consequences is bestowed upon the enemy, resulting in various chains of events.

Karma can cause my enemies to outright die, gain an incurable status effect, run out of mana, misfire their attack, or lose the ability to regenerate.

It was an impenetrable barrier.

"You will not kill me!!" The Wraith grabbed their blade and attacked me, but it suddenly broke apart, "W-What just happened? What did you do!?" She watched her Epic Grade Weapon shatter—so she tried standing up to face me with her fists, "Daaahh!" She charged at me, but tripped and fell flat on her face, "Ghhh!"

"Everything you do is pointless. This is Karma." She looked up at me, realizing the situation she was in.

Fear engulfed her body.

She knew that she stood no chance.

"I'll be sending you back to where you belong." I towered over her, glaring them in the eyes. "Tell the other spirits to never enter the Physical World unless they're summoned, otherwise, they'll have to face me."

"I… Understand."

She accepted her loss.

"Good."

I raised my hand, tampering with her abstract body.

"Banishment."

Removing the Wraith from Isabella's body, it was sent back into the Ethereal Plane, where it belonged.

("No one in this world can beat him, it's impossible.")

Bertram was in awe.

("He effortlessly countered its every move and resisted Isabella's Divine Gift. He's truly a monster.")

Bertram could only watch, sitting there in bewilderment.

"Now then, where is Emerald and Christopher? It's not like them to be late. This place should've been in ruins moments ago." I looked around, seeing nobody in sight, "The Wraith must've annihilated every player here, but no matter, I already found three, and Angelica is currently interrogating them."

"Three other guild members?" Questioned Bertram, "Who could've survived her attack?"

"I'm uncertain of who they are," I said, storing away my weapon. "One is an injured elf, the other is a Gunner Class Player, and another seems to be an Adventurer Class. They all look to be friends."

"Ah, it's Jacob, Alice, and Legolas." Said Bertram. "So they survived, huh? Well, I'll be damned."

"I'm assuming that means your other friends are dead?"

"Yeah... every last one of them." He lowered his head in shame.

"I see."

How pitiful.

If it wasn't for me being part of Emperor, I would've felt bad.