I Became the First Prince

Finally arrived after a thousand years (1)

The emperor, who repeated the poem several times, suddenly closed his mouth and looked at the door.

… Please step back.

Sir, please just…

There was a commotion outside the door.

Usually, no one would ever be allowed to raise a fuss in front of the emperor’s residence like this.

Bam!

Immediately afterwards, the door was opened roughly and a strange man came crashing through.

That too, was usually impossible, but the emperor was not particularly shaken.

The man flailed around on the ground in an unsightly manner.

The spaces where his arms should have been were empty.

Instead, bluish flames were burning.

The emperor looked behind the strange man.

The pale-faced imperial knights were looking at him, and when their eyes met, they fell flat onto the ground.

“Please kill us!”

“Tsk.”

The emperor clicked his tongue.

The knights trembled like aspen leaves at that insignificant action.

Because they knew the emperor absolutely hated having his time interrupted.

Swoosh.

But instead of punishing the knights, the emperor simply waved them away.

The knights who had been lying flat on their stomachs watching the emperor’s expression jumped up and fled.

Thud.

The door closed.

The emperor’s gaze turned to the floor.

It was then that the strange man who had been groaning and struggling on the floor got up.

“Wh-Whatever you have prepared, whatever you have left.”

The strange man stuttered out.

“He will definitely come to you.”

He rambled like he was possessed, not knowing what he was saying.

“So just wait…”

Wooosh!

The blue flames suddenly burst out and engulfed the strange man’s body.

“For your… f-final day…”

Even though his whole body was engulfed in flames, the strange man squeezed out his voice.

“I-is approaching….”

And then he collapsed.

That was the end.

The man who was born a princeps of the great Empire, who might have risen above all others, died like that and turned to ashes.

“Tsk, I still had some use for him.”

The emperor spoke with seemingly no regret, contrary to his words.

He suddenly raised his hand.

A faint sphere of light rose from the smoky ashes and was sucked into his hand.

The emperor, gazing at the orb of light, opened his mouth.

And then swallowed it.

Gulp.

His throat trembled once.

The emperor closed his eyes and savored the taste.

The souls of the dead, especially of those who had fallen on the battlefield, were a rare and delicious meal.

He loved the taste of the fear and despair they felt on the verge of death.

Moreover, it wasn’t just any soul.

Although his blood was as diluted as could be, he was still a descendant of the first emperor.

And while alive, the princeps had committed unspeakable atrocities and accumulated karma across several battlefields.

There would be a different flavor compared to the other souls of Burgundy that it had tasted so far.

But.

“There’s nothing left but dregs.”

The soul it ingested had no taste.

It felt nothing, not even the evil deeds which the deceased had committed in life, nor the fear and despair that he must have felt at the moment of his death.

Even with the most basic memories of the soul.

All that remained were a tiny number of fragments.

A man’s face appeared in the emperor’s mind.

Blond hair like a lion’s mane, and blue eyes as cold as the North Sea.

[Wait. For your final day is approaching.]

A fierce voice, like the growling of a beast, could be heard in his ear.

The emperor laughed.

“You’ve grown up well.”

It was so nice to see the prince finally grown up and coming closer.

At that moment.

Hwaak.

A vision appeared in the emperor’s mind.

It was a vision of Burgundy’s future that he had never seen in the blurry past thousand years.

He looked around the world which had appeared like a fantasy.

It was bright. The whole world was enveloped in light.

And at the center of it all was a broken sword.

The whole world was brightly lit, only the area around the sword was dark.

The emperor strained his eyes to look at the sword.

But before his gaze could reach.

Paat.

The vision disappeared.

The emperor sat quietly contemplating what he had seen.

The brilliantly shining world must have meant that glorious times would come after the war.

However, he could not understand the meaning of the broken sword lying alone in a dark place.

But one thing was for certain. Nowhere in the brightly lit world did the millennium empire exist.

“Your Majesty!”

Then someone shouted from outside the door.

Very urgently.

“Enter.”

At his words, the door opened and a white-haired old man came in.

Freeze.

The man’s face hardened as he saw the pile of ashes in the middle of the room.

“Clean it up.”

The emperor paid no mind and ordered his knights.

The knights came in and swept up the ashes into a pile.

No one asked.

About what happened to the person who had just entered. And what the pile of ashes were.

They just hesitatingly looked at the emperor’s expression.

The emperor gave the duke a small nod.

The duke, no longer frozen, fell to his knees with a thud.

“T-two of the imperial fortresses have collapsed!”

Despite his scream-like report, the emperor’s expression remained indifferent.

Two of the five fortresses guarding the imperial capital had fallen, and the nearer one was only three days away.

“Adrian Leonberger is coming!”

A powerful enemy who could single handedly destroy fortresses had arrived at the border of the empire, and if things were to continue then the empire was sure to fall.

The emperor remained silent.

“Give me command of the Imperial Guard! Then I will make sure that Adrian Leonberger will never dare to set foot in the capital!”

The loyal old duke shouted resolutely.

“Your Majesty! Please allow me!”

But the emperor still gave no answer, and only the voice of his loyal subject echoed in the emptiness.

The duke seemed to find something strange, so he closed his mouth and raised his head.

And then he froze.

“Y-Your Majesty…?”

The emperor was smiling.

The emperor, who had not been seen since his ascension to the throne, was laughing with his mouth wide open.

His face looked so awkward and alien, so creepy that it made the man feel chills. It was something too horrible to be called a smile.

The emperor’s mouth opened.

“I’m getting hungry.”

The duke’s face turned pale at those unexpected words.

“It’s unbearable.”

The emperor smacked his lips.

The duke jumped up and took a step back.

Stare.

The emperor’s eyes followed the duke’s every move.

The duke continued to back away.

“Duke.”

The emperor said to him.

“Why do you look so scared?”

With a bland tone and expression.

“What are you so afraid of?”

There was no trace of abnormality.

“Come here.”

But the old duke trembled as if he had seen something terrible.

“Am I not your emperor?”

Despite the stern order, the duke was reluctant to step forward.

“So don’t be afraid and come quickly.”

The emperor gently consoled him.

Finally, the duke slowly approached the emperor.

The emperor stared at him.

Step.

When the duke reached him, the emperor gestured.

“Closer.”

The repeated urging frightened the duke, but he did not dare to disobey the emperor’s orders.

The duke stood close to the emperor.

His upper body was leaning back awkwardly.

The emperor suddenly reached out and grabbed the duke’s face.

“Huk!“

At the vicious touch, the old man backed away and gasped, his voice cracking.

The emperor did not let the duke go.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

The duke shouted urgently.

“It’s been a long time. Since I’ve felt this hungry.”

“Please, your hand…!”

“Maybe because this body’s appetite has been whet.”

The duke struggled even more violently.

But that only lasted for a moment.

“Ugh!“

A frustrated groan escaped from the duke’s mouth.

His struggling body began to tremble.

Crunch.

The duke’s body began to shrink with the sound of bones being crushed.

And soon he was reduced to nothing but a husk.

Bam.

The emperor threw away the ugly corpse.

“I can’t stand being so hungry.”

The emperor rose from his seat.

And then he walked.

To go outside, where sheep terrified by the roaring lion that had jumped into their fence were gathered, towards a world where darkness was just beginning to fall.

* * *

Gyaaah!

Wyverns flew across the sky, howling.

“Hiyah!“

Below, a group of riders repeatedly spurred their horses.

“Hurry up!”

The knight leading the group urged them on.

“Right now His Highness is fighting against the empire alone!”

The rider’s feet became rougher as they kicked their horses’ hinds. The dust cloud became thicker. The speed of their gallops became even faster.

The flag, which had no design whatsoever, flapped wildly as if it would tear at any moment.

Dudududu.

Behind the galloping riders, another group of horses followed.

“Wow. There should be a limit to how much a person can change. It’s like he’s a completely different person.”

The young count with a crest of laurels hanging from his lance tilted his head as he watched the riders in front of him.

“What could have happened to make someone like him change overnight…”

“Sir Eli!”

The Steel Knight riding beside him scolded him and his frivolous mouth.

The count closed his mouth, his face stinging.

The Steel Knight looked at him with displeasure, then turned her gaze forward again.

Her eyes, sparkling like stars, looked far into the sky.

The sun should have risen long ago, but the sky was still pitch black.

The sight was so ominous that she kicked the poor horse’s butt.

“Please be safe.”

As she spoke, she and the knights who followed shot forward as they increased their speed.

The plains saw off those who disappeared in silence.

And then quietly welcomed the ones who appeared after them.

“Why are your feet still visible? You’re not running fast enough!”

“Then move aside! Can’t you see the kids in the back are struggling because of you, captain?”

“This is such a pain! Do something about it yourself!”

Rangers wearing black cloaks and armed with longbows and crossbows ran across the plains while grumbling back and forth.

“Damn it. He really has no sense of moderation. And there’s also my father who’s watching from his side. They’re really going to be the death of me. Oh, my life. “

The castle lord kept swearing against the cold wind.

“Don’t fall behind, you slugs!”

Short dwarves ran briskly, carrying packs larger than their bodies,

“… I have to go to my brother quickly.”

A young prince carrying a long bundle by his side urged his horse on.

A fully armed battalion of cavalry followed.

“Why am I so anxious?”

And at the very back, the king, praying earnestly for his son’s safety, rode his horse while glaring at the pitch-black sky.

* * *

I looked far across the plains.

Under the pitch-black sky was a place where an unusual silence prevailed.

The capital of the millennium empire.

Somewhere in that dark castle that was unlit by even a single bonfire, there was the lord who wore the face of a human while sending his own people to their deaths.

“Even though it is the empire’s capital, it should still be a place where people live, and yet I can’t feel a single human presence.”

As I quietly examined the castle walls which were shrouded in darkness, I heard my uncle’s voice come from behind me.

“Why, getting cold feet again? If you want to go back, now is your last chance.”

I looked back and asked. My uncle picked his ears.

“If I had planned on turning back, I wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.”

I turned my gaze towards him as he said he should at least see the emperor’s face since he was already here.

Adelia, with a slightly pale face, stood next to me as if she had been waiting.

I had no choice but to give up on persuading them because their firm expressions conveyed their determination with more force than a thousand words.

“Then prepare yourselves well.”

All I could do was warn them.

“It seems like they were expecting us.”

At that moment.

Krrrrr.

The gates opened with a loud groan.

“Let’s go.”

I walked towards the gaping entryway.

To end this fucking war.

To end this bad karma with the House of Burgundy.

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I Became the First Prince Chapter 300July 16, 2023In "I Became the First Prince"

I Became the First Prince Chapter 320February 14, 2025In "I Became the First Prince"

I Became the First Prince Chapter 311February 25, 2024In "I Became the First Prince"

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