I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 73 : Necessary Evil (4)

Necessary Evil (4)

The church in this world is not merely a religious group that worships a god.

Called the Holy Nation, it is a country in its own right, and its scale rivals that of the Empire.

The Holy Nation's military force also in no way falls behind that of the Imperial Army, so it's effectively the size of a nation unto itself.

Even the Emperor of the Empire cannot ignore the voice of such a massive organization.

Because both sides stand on equal footing, neither can easily make demands of the other.

However, the Holy Nation always has only one purpose in its requests.

Their doctrine, which worships the Main God, is the extermination of demonkin and monsters.

As long as they properly fulfill only that—so simple a task—the relationship remains straightforward.

If they fail even that one thing, cracks in trust are inevitable.

Therefore, in the present situation, the Holy Nation could only be furious.

The figure known as the Empire's Crown Prince failed to uphold even this simple matter.

"As you all know, I, as the Emperor of the Empire, am not in an entirely proud position. Though it was the Crown Prince who committed the deeds, as his father, I cannot say I am without responsibility."

The Holy Nation strictly demanded that the Emperor be held accountable.

Simply blaming the Crown Prince would undermine the Empire's dignity.

Given the Holy Nation's sensitivity toward demonkin, it was only natural for them to question the Empire's reliability.

They even suspected whether the Emperor himself was currently brainwashed, and had no choice but to summon him directly.

"Therefore, I entered into a pact with them. Should there be even the slightest sign of collusion with demonkin, I agreed to relinquish everything immediately."

This became the alternative meant to reassure the Holy Nation.

He himself needed to engrave a sense of vigilance to ensure such a thing would never happen again.

But truly, it was an unfair affair, no matter how you looked at it.

Not only did he unjustly suffer because of his child's blunder, he even had to endure humiliation.

The true victim of this incident was the Emperor.

However, because of his rank, there were almost none who sympathized with him.

In fact, he only heard rebukes as to why, being in such a position, he had failed to manage things properly.

"Then, Your Majesty, doesn't that mean you are in a position where you must pressure us even more? You already know all about our squad."

Louis was certainly the benefactor who saved the Emperor.

If not for him, the Emperor would never have been freed from the Great Devil's brainwashing.

But, having made a pact with the Holy Nation, the Emperor could not associate closely with Louis.

The same applied to Louis's squad members.

"Of course I know. One soldier manipulates an ominous aura that controls blood, and another has become a dark mage after absorbing the power of the Great Devil you hunted."

Similar signs appeared in the other soldiers as well.

In the end, the squad's members only possessed powers far removed from those the Holy Nation desired.

As for Louis, who was like their leader... there was no need to even mention it.

"Simply by conversing with you like this, I am already as good as violating the pact with the Holy Nation."

That was why this meeting was taking place in complete secrecy.

It now made sense why, when Louis first had an audience with the Emperor, the courtiers and knights had tried to behead him on the spot.

The very act of contact between Louis and the Emperor could break the pact.

"Knowing all this, did you still insist on meeting me?"

"It's not as if I could simply abandon you. And that's not just due to the favor I owe you."

A true Emperor must be willing to abandon what ought to be abandoned.

Achieving a lofty rank inevitably means being forced into utilitarian choices from time to time.

Sacrificing the few for the many.

If saving the greater number meant casting aside the very favor one had received, it would not be strange.

"I heard one more piece of bad news from Legion Commander Paulo. The prophesied Hero has died, hasn't he?"

"..."

At those words, Louis's face filled with worry.

The Emperor too had nearly fainted when he first heard the news.

"The one who was supposed to save this world someday has vanished. If the Holy Nation were to learn of this, they would become desperate and fall into a rampage."

It was tragic news for both the Holy Nation and the Empire.

The Emperor agonized over it, as it was something that should not be revealed if possible.

After much contemplation, he made the decision he had now reached.

"However, even though the Hero is gone, there yet remains someone with even greater potential."

That very person stood before the Emperor right now.

Realizing that this meant himself, Louis twitched his eyebrow and spoke.

"Are you perhaps asking me to play the role of the Hero instead?"

"I have no intention of forcing you, of course. All I wish is for you to live. Even in the Hero's stead."

Originally, the proper thing would have been to execute Louis and all his squad.

To spare these ominous seeds—so contrary to the Hero—would be foolish in these times.

But with the 'Savior' gone, a replacement had to be found.

"So, in the end, you're saying you want me as your close asset."

"... That's not wrong. But in truth, it's impossible. We can't control you."

The fact that even torture spells did not work rendered further explanations needless.

If they tried to force compliance, the resulting damage would be beyond reckoning.

Watching the Emperor, Louis thought: No wonder he's the Emperor.

"Therefore, I will grant you whatever you desire, or at least not interfere with your actions."

"If the higher-ups in the Holy Nation heard this, I'm sure they'd clutch their necks and faint."

To Louis's sardonic remark, the Emperor replied:

"Sometimes, there comes a time when one must accept evil. Didn't I say it earlier?"

A necessary evil.

A measure forced by unavoidable circumstances—a sort of lesser evil.

Utilitarianism, which entails sacrifice, also falls into this category.

"To the Holy Nation and even to ordinary citizens, you will never seem righteous. But in the Hero's absence, a replacement is necessary."

In a situation where borrowing power tantamount to evil was the only option,

And in fact, this necessary evil had already been in place for a long time.

"Just look at your 7th Legion. Even knowing it's unsavory, do you know why I don't abolish it?"

Who would defend the demon realm if not for the 7th Legion?

Who else would stop the monsters pouring out from the demon realm?

This too was a case of permitting evil out of necessity.

"That's why I will accept you."

"In what way, exactly?"

Although a pact with the Holy Nation had been signed, they could not be openly acknowledged.

However, the Holy Nation did not object to the Empire maintaining the 7th Legion.

Even the Holy Nation agreed it was a necessary evil.

"Coincidentally, Saber, the so-called Shield of the Royal Family, disappeared with the Crown Prince. Because of that, the Imperial Court has lost a significant part of its military strength."

The disaster caused by the Crown Prince had not yet been resolved.

With commander forces gone, defenses had weakened considerably.

Even the fact that demonkin managed to sneak into the palace this time proved it.

"Incidentally, do you know what rights were granted to the Saber unit?"

The unit that protected the royal family held overwhelming authority, too.

"Anything spoken from their lips was equivalent to the word of the royal family."

With Saber now gone, who was to inherit that absolute authority?

It was already decided.

****

With the audience over, Louis and Klein went to meet their squad members.

As soon as they saw Louis, who had endured the suffocating atmosphere of the reception hall, the squad members felt a rush of relief.

"Young master! I really thought I was going to die!"

"Thank you so much for coming so quickly!"

"I...those old men were so scary! They look like orcs and the only thing they seem capable of is scowling!"

At Simon's last comment, a knight's face flushed red and he moved to draw his sword.

Silia bowed to the knight in apology, as Victor asked Louis,

"So, how did it go? Are we free now?"

At that, all the squad members turned to Louis.

With their anticipation-filled gazes upon him, Louis paused for a moment.

"I'll explain everything, so listen closely."

Louis began explaining the content of his discussion with the Emperor.

He started with the Emperor's apology to them, then explained the pact between the Holy Nation and the Emperor.

"If the Holy Nation demanded that, what does it mean for us?"

Victor asked anxiously.

A pact dictating that anything or anyone related to demonkin or demons must not be spared.

They themselves fell within that scope, so of course, they were terrified.

"Pram uses dark magic right in the open. And as for me..."

Victor's arm transformed into the shape of a monster, and the knights, seeing this, readied their swords, wary.

"I'm a monster taker."

Like Rio, Victor also had a unique constitution.

He could absorb monsters and make their power his own.

Since the Holy Nation did not tolerate anything related to monsters, Victor himself was at risk.

"Are we all going to die?"

"Calm down and listen to the end."

At that moment, Ferus, who was with the squad, calmed them.

Louis then continued his explanation, guiding the squad somewhere.

Relieved that the Emperor would not dispose of them, they relaxed.

Naturally—after all, the Emperor had been freed from brainwashing thanks to them.

"Are we going to be rewarded, then?"

"You'll see when you get there, rookies."

When Pram asked, Klein, walking beside her, chimed in playfully.

"And one more thing—the Emperor has decided to keep you all in the 7th Legion."

"... What?"

At the sudden shocking news, the squad was left speechless.

He said they'd be spared—so what did this mean?

Were they going to be thrown back into that demon realm again?

The squad members protested, claiming this was a betrayal of their good deed.

"What exactly is going on?"

Even Silia voiced her doubts, wondering if this was really a good thing, and Klein replied,

"You guys should count yourselves lucky."

Still shackled to the 7th Legion, what was lucky about that?

The squad's minds spun in confusion at Klein's cryptic remark.

"So, where are we going now?"

Simon, worried they might be heading to their graves, asked.

Louis, a wry smile on his face, responded:

"We're going to change your stigma."

What in the world did that mean? Did he mean the 7th Legion emblem engraved on their bodies?

"Hm... So that's what they're going to do, after all."

Paulo seemed to catch on and murmured to himself.

Soon, the place Louis led them to had the Emperor and his guard knights standing there.

Seeing them, the squad fell silent, holding their breath.

"These are all your squad members?"

"Yes."

"Then follow me."

This time, the squad was led by the Emperor himself.

As they walked, the Emperor suddenly looked at an empty wall and placed his palm on it.

A massive door formed in the once-blank wall and opened a passage within.

At the end of the passage was a vast cavern.

Standing at its center, the Emperor sliced his hand with a sword, letting a drop of blood fall to the ground.

Immediately, a huge magic array formed on the floor and the surface began to tremble violently.

"Whoaaa!"

The squad was startled as the floor suddenly shifted.

Losing their balance, Rio and Pram fell down.

"Eek!"

"What is this?"

"It's probably elevation magitechnology. I've never seen it in person either,"

Silia said, helping the two up.

Hearing that, Louis recalled the elevators from his original world.

Why go to the trouble of bringing them to such a concealed place, using such advanced magitechnology?

What had Louis and His Majesty discussed?

At that moment, the descending floor came to a stop.

A new door appeared in front, and the Emperor began walking toward it.

Following the Emperor, they found themselves in a chamber where several items were displayed.

The items on display were wrecked weapons, all of which seemed out of place for a royal family to be storing.

"Tsk. Orbel. Looks like he took a few after all."

Muttering briefly as he looked at the damaged weapons, the Emperor then turned to face the squad.

"If you're from the 7th Legion, you must know about torture spells."

To the Emperor's question, the squad only nodded in silent affirmation.

But why was he bringing this up?

"Regrettably, your stigma, once engraved, cannot be erased. Not for now, at least."

It was a despairing fact, and the squad members' faces darkened.

"But you can change the stigma to something else."

The stigma etched on their bodies had originally been made from prototype artifacts.

Because the officers possessed the spell of those flawed artifacts, they could inflict pain onto soldiers.

In other words, if the stigma were changed to one based on a non-prototype artifact, the officers would no longer be able to torture them.

"If you use the fragments of these original artifacts here."

Erasing the stigma was impossible; it had been designed that way from the start.

Thus, swapping it out for a different one was the alternative.

A stigma that ordinary officers could not control.

"Though you'll remain in the 7th Legion, I'll grant you a special rank."

Unlike Saber, which could function openly, the 7th Legion could not.

Thus, a covert special unit needed to be established.

"From today, I appoint you to the special task force."

A unit wielding a power branded as evil by the world, yet possessing authority equal to that of the royal family.

Thus, the 7th Legion Special Task Force was born.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Unlike other emperors, this one is pretty nice...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】