“It healed. No matter how many times it was cut down, it healed again, and again. As if it were some undying beast, its flesh closed up, its body grew back endlessly.”

The words echoed through the great audience hall.

“Then how did you kill it?”

“I burned it. With fire.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Not to kill… but to burn. That is purification.”

The Emperor stirred in the shadows behind the veil.

“Burn it…?”

“Yes. Burn it again and again, until even the filth is reduced to ash. So that it cannot spread elsewhere.”

The Emperor’s voice dropped, colder than before.

“More cruel words. So in the end, you insist on your way, no matter what.”

His displeasure was evident. The Eleventh Prince had disregarded the warning. Had refused to abandon that violent will. He didn’t like it. That merciless disposition, he found it repulsive.

Under other circumstances, the prince would’ve been dismissed and placed under restriction immediately. But this time… the deed had been significant.

Even the Emperor had taken interest. The title of “demon worshipper” was not one spoken lightly. And for that, he held back.

“Prince Aziel. Answer. Will you cling to your cruel nature and continue to kill?”

Even the Emperor’s heavy authority didn’t shake him.

“I will burn them.”

“How dare you…”

“I will burn the filth. Again and again. Anything that stands against the Empire’s prosperity, I will burn it. No regard for status. High or low, it will burn.”

The chamber trembled.

“Are you saying… you intend to burn the entire Empire in your wildfire?! Prince Aziel! Is this how you mask your brutality, with idealism?! Is that what you came to say?!”

“This is not an ideal, Your Majesty. It is reality. Let me be the flame that burns the Empire’s filth. Let me purify it, so something new can grow.”

Even in the face of imperial fury, the prince spoke with unnerving composure, a flame to purge the rot.

And then, from the ruins, something cleaner, something brighter. For a brief moment, something long buried stirred within the Emperor.

A quiet, unspeakable wish.

To rule unburdened by the unnecessary. To cast off the bloated limbs of politics and favoritism and command with true will. But he had already become Emperor.

Too many things now weighed on him. Politics. Economy. Public will. Every step he took was heavy with consequences.

Yet this prince…

“A prince consumed by madness,” a voice murmured beside the throne. “Even if his actions are violent, none can deny the results. Your Majesty, where better to find one suited for cutting away the excess?”

“You’re mad…”

The Emperor clenched the arms of the throne. The prince proposed to weaponize his madness. To burn down corruption and rebuild, It was lunacy. 

This wasn’t how royalty should speak.

“Only madness can allow such words to be spoken.”

Silence fell. Not from fear, but from thought.

Madness… yet reason.

A kind of truth the Emperor himself had never had the steel to act on. Azielhad guessed it. The Emperor’s mercy had held the Empire together. But it was also that very softness that made him sway. And so, he was swayed again.

“…Very well,” the Emperor exhaled. “Do as you wish, Prince Aziel.”

He had not defeated the prince, but only failed to resist him.

Again.

The long silence broke. The prince bowed in acknowledgment.

“I shall grant full authority to Prince Aziel regarding the current matter. In addition, for capturing the demon worshipper, and for uncovering the assassin previously, he shall receive his due reward.”

But the reward didn’t stop there.

More came. Unexpectedly.

“You may enter the Royal Vault. Choose one item to take as your own. However, the deeper vaults are restricted. Select something reasonable from the outer zones.”

The Royal Vault, “Bigo”. A treasure trove of the Empire’s riches. Even with limits, the outer layers alone held artifacts beyond imagination. For most, they were scraps.

But Aziel knew better, he knew what lay hidden at the edges was priceless and, overlooked.

“Let the scribes record this decree. Prince Aziel, you are dismissed.”

“Eternally grateful, Your Majesty.”

He bowed low at the Emperor’s final words, then slowly retreated from the throne room…The choice had been made.

The Empress had whispered her will. But the prince’s voice had carried more weight.

As he reached the threshold, 

“Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do not let the fire grow too fierce. Remember, it can be extinguished.”

“As you command.”

“That is all.”

The Emperor had not given full trust. The quiet warning made that clear. And yet, the prince stepped free of the suffocating walls of Hwangjegung.

[Lesser Fates devoured: Ridicule, Disdain, Hatred, Incompetence. Evolution points earned!]
[Major Fate devoured: Patricide. Large amount of evolution points earned!]
[Major fate moment: Imperial Audience – You have chosen Madness and Flame.]
[A new fate is awakening! You have twisted another’s fate. Your choice was justified and optimal. Predator abilities strengthened.]
[You may now invest evolution points into objects to change their fate.]

The results of the imperial audience flickered to life, vivid as fire. A resounding success.

But, 

[You have twisted surrounding fates. The fates of hostile forces now distort. Malice toward you deepens.]
[A being with a powerful fate has declared you its enemy. The threat grows stronger.]
[Small schemes stir beneath the surface. Left unchecked, they will become fate, and bind you.]

Enemies bloomed in the shadows, thick as thorns…It didn’t matter.That was what came with the path of a tyrant.

No retreat; No fear; Only fire, carving a road forward.

At the gates, Alfred waited.

“You’ve returned, Your Highness. How did it go?”

“As expected. A father and son meeting rarely ends with fireworks.”

“Shall we return to the Prince’s Palace?”

“No. The Vault.”

“So it wasn’t that uneventful.”

“Let’s just say I made a few enemies. Not somewhere I’d care to visit often.”

They climbed into the carriage. Aziel leaned back as they rolled toward Bigo.

“We’ve received word. Which section shall you enter?”

“The armory.”

A brief command to the presiding mage, massive stone blocks shifted, forming towering walls.

“Access is permitted from the entry zone to the first segment of the mid-layer.” “That will suffice. I’ll go in alone.”

What lay beyond was different from the archive vaults. Here, weapons stretched endlessly, each a masterpiece. Further in, beyond craftsmanship, lay relics, treasures bordering the divine. Some were so bizarre their purpose couldn’t be guessed.One sword looked perfect for Andre’s hands.

But this visit allowed for only one choice.

“If a commoner earns a reward, perhaps that blade would suit.”

He left it behind, for now.

Walking the halls like a wandering collector, he passed through the vault for quite some time. Eventually, he returned to the entrance.

Still empty-handed, he hadn’t come to choose yet. Only to observe what might serve others later, and then, his gaze drifted downward.

Just beside the entrance, nestled almost invisibly, sat a protruding handle, an object known among the vault keepers as the “Key of the Armory.”

No one knew its purpose, and no one ever touched it. It was abandoned, disregarded and forgotten in the shallowest of shallow corners.

But to him, it was something else.

“The Divine Sword.”

[Lesser Fate: Fire surges violently! The Mystic Flame Heart resonates with a powerful fate.]

His hand reached out and grasped the sword. Flames danced along his fingers as he fed it fire.

“RUMBLE!” The blade shook violently in its sheath.

He drew it slowly , as the flames erupted, wild and untamed.

And at last, 

“Breaker”, the beloved blade of the former tyrant, began to reveal its true form once again.