The Billionaire CEO Becomes the Youngest Emperor-Chapter 25 - 24: TENEBROS

One day before Lucian's arrival at the Thirteenth Empire

"Livia, are you kidding me?!"

In the Red family's infirmary, a man with fiery red hair sat, his gaze burning with anger. His expression was as furious as the sun at its peak.

This was Angelos Red.

Before him, his daughter lay on the bed, a bandage wrapped around her head, yet a relaxed smile adorned her face.

"..."

"Do you even understand the consequences of your actions?! The empire is already in a fragile state, and you went off to fight in Fjordale... Do you know how much I had to spend to keep this under wraps?!"

His fists clenched as he struggled to contain his frustration.

"And that's not even mentioning your condition! Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I were?!"

Still smiling, Livia simply replied:

"Sorry, Dad."

"You little—"

Tsk... There's no point in yelling at a patient.

With a resigned sigh, Angelos continued in a calmer tone:

"I won't even ask why you fought Adeline... But tell me, how did you even manage to go up against her? I heard that even before her father's downfall, she had already reached Rank 5 in swordsmanship."

It was absurd.

Livia was only at Rank 3 and had always lost to Adeline back when she was still Rank 4. How could she have competed with her now? It was impossible.

But he had to admit—this Adeline was truly exceptional. Aside from Selene, no one on the continent had reached such a level at her age.

"Because I advanced as well."

Angelos' eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? Advanced? You know that's impossible before a mage turns 18, right? Don't give me that nonsense."

Aura progressed more easily than magic, as it was a derivative of it.

But magic itself required a mage's physical maturity before it could fully bloom.

Unfazed, Livia declared with certainty:

"I had an epiphany during my fight against that lunatic. You can check for yourself if you want."

Rank 5 mages were capable of perceiving all mana flows within an individual. The most skilled among them could even determine another mage's exact level with this ability.

Angelos instantly analyzed the mana within Livia's body.

After a full minute of observation, he placed a hand on his forehead, covering his right eye.

A nervous smile crept onto his face.

How is this possible...?

His thoughts froze. What he had just witnessed was unprecedented in the history of magic. If word got out, it would shake the entire world.

"Dad, you're mistaken about something else too."

Livia still wore that same faint smile.

"W-What?"

"Adeline is no longer Rank 5... Analyze her as well."

Angelos' gaze immediately shifted to the silver-haired girl sitting on the infirmary bed, staring blankly into space.

He extended his perception toward her... and in an instant, he fell off his chair.

"Oh my God..."

His heart pounded violently.

I was about to throw this girl out of here...?

To hell with her blood ties.

---

If I die... will I return to Earth?

Lucian pondered this question as he dangled in midair, his throat gripped by a mysterious man wielding a dagger.

The stranger smirked.

"With this, we've won the war."

In a swift motion, he plunged his dagger toward Lucian's heart.

Lucian felt his breath fading, choked by his attacker's grip.

However...

The blade never reached him.

"YOU REALLY HAVE A TALENT FOR GETTING YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE, MY DEAR!"

Darius tilted his head slightly, puzzled.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Where did that voice come from?

The man with the dagger froze.

A feminine voice—both sensual and terrifying—had just echoed through the air.

A shiver of despair ran through him instantly.

In a surge of absolute panic, he leaped backward, desperately distancing himself from the circle where Lucian lay.

He was so shaken that he crashed straight into a tree.

Huh...?!

At the sight of this, an inexplicable sense of danger seized Darius.

He sprang to his feet, his gaze darting between the panicked man and Lucian.

But the one who reacted the most violently was Chris.

The usually composed and gentlemanly butler was trembling all over, his hands pressed against his head, his face twisted in terror.

He was an upright man, a model servant of the Voldreck family, and yet, at that moment, his expression was pitiful—like that of a child who had just seen a ghost.

Is she... Lucian's ally?

And suddenly—

"AAAAAAAH!!!"

Lucian was lifted into the air, screaming in agony, his voice so shrill that animals fled en masse.

Even the forest itself seemed to tremble.

Darius, unable to withstand the sound, lost consciousness on the spot.

The other two weren't physically affected by the noise, but they remained frozen in shock, still reeling from that unearthly voice.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

A dark energy, taking the shape of a humanoid figure, poured out of Lucian as if his very soul was being ripped from his body.

The pain was vicious, unbearable.

"AAAAAAAH!!!"

Seconds dragged on, punctuated by his screams and the grinding of his teeth.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, the figure completely detached from him.

Lucian collapsed onto all fours, gasping for breath.

The dark and ominous presence then took on a distinct form—

That of a mature woman in her thirties.

I have to run.

I have to run.

I have to run, I have to... run...

The mysterious assailant spun around abruptly and bolted without hesitation.

His speed was beyond comprehension, fleeing like a falcon diving at full speed, desperately trying to escape the inevitable.

---

Ah... it hurts...!

I thought this as an excruciating pain tore through my body.

As if...

As if someone was trying to rip my heart out with their bare hands.

What's happening this time...? I can't even die in peace?

I couldn't lie down, but the pain was so intense that I writhed on the ground, crouched on all fours. At that moment, I must have looked like a newborn. No, I'm almost certain of it. Something sinister was escaping from me.

Ah... so this is my soul leaving my body?!

...

Wait a second. According to a movie I once saw, I'm supposed to see my body from my soul's perspective, right? Not the other way around... Is it different in this world?

The pain was so excruciating it felt almost foreign—like a venomous sensation that didn't truly belong to me.

Then, right before my eyes, the dark energy seeping from my body took human form.

That of a mature woman.

Huh?! Excuse me?! A mature woman...?

I turned my head to the right.

Chris was frozen, his face drained of color, as if he'd just seen a ghost. As for the man who had killed me, his expression twisted into terror before he bolted at full speed. Seeing the specter of the guy he'd just murdered had clearly killed any urge to gloat.

I see... So I'm expected to haunt that bastard, huh?

...Hold on a second. Why did I just say my soul looked like a mature woman, again?

My gaze snapped back to the figure that was supposed to be my ghost and...

Ah...

She's naked!

— "HMMM... to think i was about to step out now..."

When I heard that voice, my heart skipped a beat.

That's... really my ghost? But why a woman?!

The figure turned toward me, and in a panic, I shut my eyes frantically.

Why is my body reacting like this when I'm looking at the "soul" version of myself? Have I lost my mind after dying?

With my eyelids still tightly shut, I heard footsteps.

Footsteps approaching me.

The footsteps of the woman drawing closer.

— "You're quite ordinary for someone who managed to contain me all this time."

... He's blushing? That's kind of cute... she thought.

...

What is she talking about? "Contain" her? What does that even mean?

A sudden scream made me jolt.

By reflex, I opened my eyes.

It was the mysterious man who had fled earlier. Except now... he was in the exact same position he had put me in before.

Suspended in midair.

The female figure held him firmly by the throat.

He couldn't even move an inch. Worse, he looked utterly resigned. Then, with a final breath, he tried to shout:

— "Glory to the Grand Master—"

Before he could finish his sentence, his body vanished. As if he had never existed.

Only his black cloak remained, floating gently before landing in the woman's hand.

...Huh!?

At this point, I was no longer foolish enough to believe this thing was my ghost.

What exactly am I looking at...?

Without a word, the woman slipped into the long black cloak, finally covering her body. Then, slowly, she crouched in front of me.

Staring at me as if I were...

A fascinating little toy.

She had sky-blue hair.

And honestly, I shouldn't have been thinking about this in a situation like that... but her beauty surpassed even that of Astrid Valessia.

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to stay silent.

I had already grasped that I wasn't dead. If I were, I wouldn't be feeling this overwhelming sense of absolute danger since the moment this entity laid eyes on me.

But even so...

I gathered every ounce of courage I had and stammered:

— "W-Who... who are you?"

She stared at me in silence for a long moment. Then, slowly, she straightened up.

— "WHO AM I?"

I swallowed instinctively.

— "SOME CALL ME THE QUEEN OF GODS... OTHERS KNOW ME AS THE DEMON QUEEN."

At that moment, her eyes turned red.

The very atmosphere shifted.

— "BUT AS A REWARD, MY DEAR... FOR YOU, IT SHALL BE..."

She paused, as if savoring the moment. Then, in a breath laden with an unfathomable power, she spoke:

— "MALVERIA TENEBROS."

Lucian had no knowledge of mana. He had never once felt it since arriving in this world.

But the precise moment she uttered her name...

Something changed.

A fundamental law of the world had just been shattered.

And in that instant...

The entire continent knew it was their end.