Promise!
Azkar came back with lots of food and served all of them on the dining table. He chose foods like Crispy Chicken, Loaded Fries, and a Burger. For drinks, he chose Coffee and wine. He also chose some fruits like banana and apple. It cost him a total of 210 cosmic points. This is absurd because, using this many points, he can totally break any rules of this reality; he can even revive a dead person. However, he used these points for food.
"..."
Seeing all of the otherworldly food, Princess Alena's eyes widened from surprise, and all of the food Azkar served seemed like it came straight from the kitchen.
"Did you make this? I've never seen this kind of food," Alena was honestly surprised because she never thought that Azkar could even cook. But seeing everything, she decided not to ask about it.
"Don't be surprised; this is something I liked to enjoy in my hometown. This food was from my empire," Azkar said while he explained every food in front of him to Alena.
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After they finished their food, Azkar cleaned everything. He then dressed himself properly, wearing black pants, a white shirt, a long black coat, and a white full-face mask.
"Let's go. First, I need to meet His Highness, then I'll deal with the other situation," Azkar said as he looked at Alena, who was wearing her black clothes. She looked beautiful, her white hair waving in the wind. Her innocent and icy face held a pure smile that could capture anyone's heart.
[Author Note: Alena's concept reference art in the comment section, click here to see it.]
"We need to go to the holy land. I know the way; please follow me," Alena said, noticing Azkar's gaze. She smiled softly, finding it not too bad.
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Azkar saw a colossal tree that covered everything inside the holy land. Under the tree, there was a large holy palace made entirely of white marble, giving him a pure ancient feeling. The design of the holy palace resembled the church from his previous world. This was the place where only the royal family was allowed to enter. He felt that the mana concentration in this space was much higher than outside.
"This is the holy palace, and that's the holy tree protecting this place all the time. Without royal blood, no one can enter. But you're truly unique, Mr. Astrophel. You came here, and the tree didn't stop you. I wanted to give you the Emperor Ring because it's the only way for an outsider to enter," Alena said to Azkar, pretending to be calm, but anyone could see from her face that she was shocked beyond words.
"This is nothing; let's go," Azkar said as he waited for Alena to lead the way.
On the way, Azkar didn't find any other people. When both of them entered the room where Emperor Rudas Zenith was resting, or you could say taking his last breath.
The first thing Azkar saw was Veldora, and his situation didn't look good. He had lost one eye, one hand, and had a curse mark placed on him by the crown prince. He was alive because the crown prince decided to spare his life.
Then Azkar's eyes focused on Emperor Rudas. His condition was much more dire than Veldora's. His whole body had now turned black, and he was alive because of a single reason—his pure will.
"Alena, my child, come here," Rudas smiled and asked her.
"Father, don't worry. I brought Mr. Vance with me; everything is going to be okay," Alena couldn't contain her tears anymore. She started crying because, after her mother died, the only person who loved her was her father. She knew this already, but seeing her father in this state made her want to help, even though she felt helpless. However, a while ago, she received news from her shadow guardian that Mr. Astrophel had returned. So, she decided to do anything to save her father and went to meet him.
"Ahhhu Ahhu... You don't need to do this, my little princess. If I don't survive, please take care of yourself. Now go outside; I want to talk to Mr. Astrophel personally," Rudas said while giving her a hug.
Alena and Veldora went outside the room, leaving only Azkar and Emperor Rudas inside.
"Sit here, please, Mr. Astrophel. I hope we can talk openly now. Tell me, Mr. Astrophel, what do you truly desire from my empire? There is nothing free in this world. Why did you agree to help Alena?" Rudas Zenith asked.
"Hahaha, you're truly a great emperor to be able to see the world clearly. But there is something you got wrong. There is nothing in this empire that can be even the slightest amount of help to me. You see, I have everything I hope for. If there's something I don't have, I make it for myself. But to answer your question, you can say I just did it for your daughter," Azkar said, everything while wearing a smile on his face.
"Do you want my daughter?" he asked, his face losing its luster because he truly loved his daughter, and he didn't want to make her a bargaining chip.
"Don't get the wrong idea. No, I don't want your daughter. I said I'll help her because she is my friend... Yes, she is my friend," Azkar didn't know what to say. He thought, "We are friends, right? Can this be considered a friend? I'm sure that there is nothing else other than this."
"Hahaha, you truly don't know how to lie, Mr. Astrophel. I honestly don't want my daughter to suffer for everything, but talking to you lifted a heavy weight from my heart. Thank you for everything you've done for my family. I want you to promise me that you'll take care of her," Emperor Rudas said, smiling because now he could die without regret.
"Hey, old man, why don't you protect her yourself? If I let you die right now, I'm sure she's not going to let me live," Azkar accepted the request made by Emperor Rudas.
"Hahahaha, you really care for my daughter. Ahhhu...ahhu...." Emperor Rudas wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Don't be in a hurry. Let me fix you first, then we can talk properly," Azkar said, looking at the person in front of him, who had no fear of death or any regret.
"What can I live after being poisoned by the 'Venomshade'?!" He was shocked because nothing in this world could cure this poison; there was no antidote to it.
"Also, call me Vance, and this is nothing; let me treat you first," Azkar said while looking at the shocked face of Emperor Rudas.
"Atomic Heal," Azkar said, and a multi-colored light covered Emperor Rudas.
Multi-colored light covered him, taking the shape of a cocoon. Emperor Rudas's entire body disintegrated, and everything began to reconstruct from the atomic level. When this process completed, Emperor Rudas, who looked like a middle-aged man before, now appeared as a person in his twenties.
In this Atomic Heal process, Azkar used some cosmic points as a sacrifice to protect Emperor Rudas's soul. After destroying his body to the atomic level, he reconstructed it. This process was simple for Azkar because he had an infinite amount of computing power, and his system handled everything.
"You... are..." Everything happened so fast that Emperor Rudas didn't even react. But in a fraction of a second, he became much younger, and his body gave him a completely new feeling.
Of course, it felt completely new because it was a new body. Emperor Rudas obtained it after evolution, and he became a Domain Rank expert. Everyone before the Domain Rank expert has to go through evolution to reach that stage. Emperor Rudas thought Azkar accelerated his evolution, but in reality, Azkar did something completely different. He created a new body for Emperor Rudas, and in the process, he went through evolution, ending up becoming a Domain Rank expert.
"..."
Seeing this, Azkar decided not to explain anything about how he recreated Emperor Rudas's body after destroying it. He didn't have to explain any reasons behind the process.
"It's just a healing spell that can help the evolution process. You were able to survive because you're lucky old man, that you didn't go through evolution before," Azkar decided to use this as an excuse.
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[ Author Note : If you enjoy my novel, save it to your collection, and you can support me by using power stones.
40 power stones = 2 extra chapters
These will be uploaded at the end of the week on Sunday. ]