Chapter 49: The Deal With the Emperor

Remus turned his head with a series of cracking noises, a provocative grin on his face as he moved his fingers. It was clear he was daring me to come at him with the first blow. Well, if he wanted to go down that path, I wouldn’t hold back.

Gripping my right fist enclosed in an exoskeleton, I rotated my hips and delivered a powerful blow to Remus’ side. Alexander had taught me some combat techniques, including effective striking methods. My fist sank deeply into Remus’ well-trained abdomen.

“Guuh!?”

Remus let out an involuntary sound of pain. Perhaps he had underestimated my strength because I had concealed my power. But it was too late for him to be surprised now. I had no intention of holding back or showing mercy.

With a fluid motion, I attempted to strike with my left fist in a sweeping motion from the side. Remus reacted swiftly, bringing his arm up to defend himself in response.

“Gaah!?”

However, my left strike was a feint. As I drove my left fist in, I simultaneously pulled back my right fist, which then came up from below, striking Remus’s jaw. The clean hit lifted Remus’s body slightly before he fell to the floor on his back.

For me, this could have been the end of it, but Remus got up, clutching his jaw. His eyes burned with hatred as he intensified his fighting spirit, strengthening his body. I thought this could turn into a fight to the death, but no one stepped in to stop it.

As I glanced at the Emperor’s demeanor with one of my compound eyes, he remained relaxed in his chair, stroking his beard. It seemed that he had decided to let this continue.

“You bastard… I’ll kill you!”

No sooner had Remus uttered those words, he charged at me, swinging his fists wildly in a fit of anger. He lacked technique, but his imposing physique and seemingly limitless stamina allowed him to continue thrashing around.

I followed Alexander’s teachings, trying to avoid Remus’s attacks as much as possible, and parrying them when necessary. It was clear that Remus was less skilled than Alexander, especially when there were no moments that required me to defend. I remained calm and waited for the right moment to counterattack.

“Running around! Coward! C’mon!”

Perhaps growing impatient, Remus lowered his posture and lunged at me. If he were to grab hold of me, he might be able to overpower me. To prevent that, I aimed a powerful kick at his lowered face.

However, to my surprise, it seemed that Remus had set a trap right there. Despite my genuine effort in the kick, he quickly shaded his arm to defend while still advancing. Although my kick caused his upper body to tilt slightly to the side, it was clear that he endured it with his inherent toughness, and it wasn’t enough to deter him.

Remus seemed to have foreseen a future where he could knock me down, considering I was standing on one leg. However, there was something he had forgotten. As he put it in his own words, I was a freak… a synthetic beast.

“Ugh…!?”

With a swift motion, I swung my exoskeleton-encased tail from between my legs, the thick whip-like appendage striking Remus on the side of his abdomen. The unexpected attack prevented his intended kick, causing him to stumble and fall to one knee.

Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed his lowered head and delivered a knee strike to his face. I could feel the sensation of his nose breaking against my exoskeleton-covered knee. The quota I had set for this battle was accomplished.

Remus, now with blood flowing from his nose and tears streaming down his eyes, was not crying from pain but rather from the physiological response of having been hit hard on the nose. I knew this from my own experience of shedding tears when I was struck by Alexander’s fist.

Though my multiple compound eyes allowed me to maintain my vision, Remus was not as fortunate. His tears likely distorted his vision. Nevertheless, Remus refused to accept defeat. He tried to punch me with his blood-stained fist…..right then he swung his hand, flinging the blood from his fist onto my face.

“Dieeeee!” 

I stiffened as my face was showered with blood from his fist, and Remus, thinking it was an opening, reached out to grab my shoulder… only to take a direct hit to his groin. With multiple compound eyes, completely obscuring my field of vision would require something to cover my entire head. Getting a few drops of blood on some of my compound eyes wouldn’t make a difference.

My stiffness was an act, a trap to catch Remus off guard. Falling for it perfectly, Remus crumbled again, taking a kick to the chin with the opposite leg this time after taking a kick on the groin. He fell on his back once more.

“Not yet…! I haven’t lost yet…!” 

Remus tried to get up again. So I jumped on top of him and stomped hard on his face. I felt like his nose bone broke again, but Remus was still determined, retaliating by kicking my leg.

Lying on the floor and weakened by the previous attacks, Remus’s strikes were feeble, relying solely on brute strength. His focus was scattered, unable to control his fighting spirit effectively. It seemed that he couldn’t inflict damage through my exoskeleton. Would they still let him fight?

As I stole a glance at the Emperor’s face, he continued to stroke his beard and simply stared at me without saying a word. The others around us seemed restless. I wanted to stop this soon, but I couldn’t defy the Emperor’s wishes.

Should I just stop on my own? I have no weird hobbies of unnecessarily harming people… but it’s not that simple. I’ve received orders from Orvo to hit him harder. The latter seemed to be angry that his own creation was being called a monster and a freak. Well, I have no choice but to continue then.

I moved my legs away from his face and straddled Remus, who was lying on his back with his chest bound by my legs. Even though I had immobilized his legs with my tail, he kept hitting my face with all his strength. The blows to my lower jaw didn’t hurt much. But this time, I swung my fist down towards his face with full force.

He seemed to be enhancing his strength with his fighting spirit, but his concentration was scattered, and he couldn’t fully reinforce himself. I felt the bones in his face crack as soon as my punch landed. Despite that, Remus kept coming at me with punches that were slightly weaker than before, but he still had the intention to fight. He had the guts; I’ll give him that.

As Orvo ordered me not to stop, I struck Remus in the face again. As expected, he retaliated. This exchange repeated itself over twenty times… until Remus finally reached his limit.

“Go…ji…de…” he stammered, reaching out with trembling hands. His fists stopped moving in the air. His chest was heaving up and down, indicating that he was still alive, at least for now. He wasn’t moving anymore, and that should be sufficient.

I turned my compound eyes towards the Emperor behind me, and without changing his expression, he spoke with a slightly parted mouth.

“Now I understand that it’s working well enough. So, what do you seek?” The Emperor asked.

“I would like you to gather capable people who are well versed in battle, as well as a variety of powerful creatures, as many as possible. As there are compatibility issues even in synthesis, ignoring that would…” Orvo went on to explain.

“I am not interested in technical issues. As I said, everything you seek will be provided, as it seems the countries that make art of the coalition army are also willing to provide the neccessary materials,” the Emperor said.

The Emperor asserted that all the necessary materials would be gathered. It was a statement that only someone with absolute power to rule over a great nation could make. It seemed that the Empire also agreed to use creatures like me—synthetic beasts—as part of their military force.

While it saddened me to think that others would suffer the same fate as me, I couldn’t stop Orvo. Even if Orvo were to hesitate or show fear, I cannot stop him now that the coalition army and the Empire have pledged their support. No one could stop the large-scale flow of events involving all of the continent’s nations.

“What’s more important is to ensure the formation of the squad of synthetic beasts using human species… or did you call them demons, as I recall? It needs to be ready before the counterattack planned for autumn,” the Emperor said.

“It will be ready in time. We have already established a method to achieve your plans,” Orvo replied.

“Very well. Prime Minister, prepare a mansion for this individual to use freely. That’s where the project will be completed as soon as possible,” the Emperor ordered.

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“You may leave.”

“I am grateful for the unexpected treatment, Your Majesty.”

Orvo ordered me to return to the cage after saying so. I lightly brushed the blood off my hand before chaining myself and sitting on the chair. It seemed that the audience with the Emperor was over.

As I was being carried away in the cage, I glanced at Remus lying on his back, still unconscious with his eyes closed. He was unable to get up, but he was carried away by the attendants who were waiting by the walls as soon as the audience ended.

The Emperor didn’t even bother to see him off, remaining silent and stroking his beard. He seemed utterly disinterested, despite the fact that his loyal subject, who fought for him at his request, was left half-dead. It was quite heartless.

The cage returned along the same path, covered with cloth, and I was loaded onto Orvo’s carriage. After waiting for a while in that state, the carriage slowly began to move.

I thought the carriage would travel for a long time, but surprisingly, it stopped quickly. When I was unloaded with the other luggage, I saw a tremendously large mansion. It was about one size larger than the young master’s… um, the Marquis’ mansion.

Most likely, this mansion was given to Orvo by the Emperor. To think he would be given such a splendid mansion so easily… Truly, the Emperor is something else. So this is what it means to be in power.

Numerous servants appeared in the magnificent mansion and bowed their heads to Orvo. I thought Orvo would be overjoyed at this sight, but he entered the mansion with a disgruntled expression. I wonder if he has some dissatisfaction even after being given such a splendid mansion and securing a pledge of support?

At any rate, it seems I will be staying in this mansion for a while. Though I still have no freedom, it’s a relief not to have to go to the battlefield. At least I won’t die in combat. I silently expressed gratitude for the probably short-lived peaceful time as I was carried along quietly.