The Billionaire CEO Becomes the Youngest Emperor-Chapter 22 - 21: Magic Headbutt

The lumberjack camp was nothing more than a massive crater surrounded by flames.

The damage from Adeline and Livia's battle was considerable. All the nearby inhabitants had already evacuated.

Under normal circumstances, the Imperial Knights would have intervened swiftly to stop the two young women. But the Empire's forces, led by Chris, were scattered across the territory, preoccupied with various crises caused by both nobles and commoners.

Lucian's declaration had sent shockwaves through the entire Empire.

— Haha... ha...

Her laughter was uncertain, teetering between amusement and breathlessness. Perhaps both at once.

Livia stood at the edge of the devastated camp, a smile on her lips. Her official white mage uniform was stained and torn in places—a testament to the fierce battle she had just fought.

— I thought I had the advantage by keeping my distance...

She raised her head slightly, frustration flashing in her eyes.

— But... does it even make sense to use an aura blade right after reaching that stage?

The aura blade was an advanced technique, allowing one to shape energy into a razor-sharp extension of their weapon.

Across the ruined battlefield, Adeline remained motionless. Burns covered her body, and her once-lustrous silver hair was now barely recognizable, charred in several places.

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Livia narrowed her eyes and bit her lip.

— I thought you were strong, but you were just arrogant... So what? Are you going to throw away everything you've built because of your father's mistake?

Her voice rose, laced with anger.

— Is that really the best you could come up with? Becoming a murderer and getting yourself banished, just like him?

— Don't mess with me!

Adeline remained frozen, her gaze empty.

Livia exhaled sharply, then spoke again, her tone bitter:

— And after all that, you still dare to blame Lucian... The one you've scorned all these years.

She recalled Adeline's whispers from earlier.

"When you said you loved me... Was that a lie too?"

But Adeline showed no reaction, her eyes lost in the void.

Livia clenched her fists, then declared coldly:

— I was wrong to consider trash like you my rival.

Her eyes ignited, burning a deep, incandescent red.

It was Fire On, the secret technique of her family, capable of generating a massive fireball, like a meteorite.

But using it in such a situation was madness.

Adeline was aware of this, but not a trace of fear appeared on her face. She knew that casting Fire On took a full minute. A long enough time for a swordsman to kill Livia a hundred times over.

— I'LL GRANT YOU THIS END YOU DES—

— YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!! AND YOU NEVER WILL!

Adeline's scream cut through the air like a blade, interrupting Livia sharply.

The burning energy emanating from the white mage weakened slightly when she heard the rage in Adeline's voice.

— How can you speak like that when you know nothing?

Her voice trembled, not from fear, but from anger.

— Do you know what it feels like to learn that your only family, your only goal, was nothing but a treacherous rat?

The silence lingered for a moment.

— Tell me... do you know what it feels like to be despised overnight by those who, just yesterday, would have done anything for a single glance from you?

— Do you know what it feels like to fall from being the Empire's young prodigy, a respected noble... to worse than a beggar? To be abandoned by everyone... even by the Academy that used to praise me every day?

The tears she thought she could no longer shed rolled down her cheeks. Her gray aura crackled around her, pulsing in rhythm with her grief and rage.

— You know nothing about any of this...

Adeline looked at her, impassive.

— You're right, I know nothing. I can't understand. So I only speak based on what I see... If everything you showed us wasn't a comedy, like your ex-fiancé, then you have enough strength to rise from this situation.

An imperceptible shiver ran through Adeline.

The heat on the battlefield spiked suddenly, and Livia's eyes flared with an incandescent red.

— But that Adeline died with her name... what a shame.

Adeline's aura spread out in turn, shielding her from the suffocating heat.

— As you said... she died with her name. Sorry, Livia, but you shouldn't have come.

Her smile was sad, distant.

She tightened her grip on her axe, calm. She knew Livia's attack would take forever to launch.

But she was wrong.

— Huh?!

Livia charged at her with lightning speed.

Adeline could have dodged. But the surprise was so great that she froze, her eyes wide.

She hadn't expected a mage, whose entire strategy was based on distance, to charge in close combat. And she was sure Fire On was still in its incantation phase...

— The old Adeline was strong. Which means the new one must be even stronger.

Livia grabbed her shoulders firmly.

— Huh? What are you—

Adeline furrowed her brows, confused.

Livia had concentrated a quarter of Fire On on her own forehead, reducing the activation time to almost nothing.

It was something that no member of the Red... no magician would have thought possible. It was only possible because, at that very moment, she had surpassed a milestone in her mastery of magic—she had just reached rank 4.

Then, like a football player ready to score with a header, she brought her fiery skull down on Adeline.

The impact was titanic.

The fire instantly devoured Adeline's protective aura.

Her eyes turned white. Semi-conscious, she staggered.

Ah... that hurts... she thought, dazed.

Then, in an almost unconscious voice, she murmured:

— A mage shouldn't... deliver a headbutt like that...

She collapsed to the ground, her eyes empty, but a smile on her lips.

— It's common sense, Livia...

Bam.

She crashed onto her back, completely unconscious.

Livia staggered as well, her eyes all white.

In her last breath, she murmured with a smile:

— A swordsman should use a sword... not an axe...

— It's common sense...

Then she collapsed too.

The two young women lay there, unconscious, in the midst of the chaos.

Smiles on their lips.

____

— How long until we arrive? Lucian asked from his imperial carriage, addressing a guard posted outside, on horseback.

— We're twenty minutes from the territory, Your Highness.

Lucian raised an eyebrow slightly.

This path seems... different from the one we initially took.

But so be it.

They had left the Fifth Empire the day before. The situation with the fainted Saint had been a real thorn in his side. Fortunately, she had woken up just before he had to explain things to the panicked priests.

In the end, everything had worked out. He had met Azrael Itharion, forged a connection with the Eleventh Empire, and even managed to negotiate a 90% reimbursement of the funds paid to the portal administration — a sum of one billion that he had initially given for his journey.

[Lucian – Now Public Enemy #1 of the Portals]

Soon, Boris Zand would bring him good news. Lucian had no way of verifying it, but he knew that Gaius Niketas was listening carefully to everything his advisor told him.

He had escaped death at Selene's hands.

He had laid the foundations for the new empire he intended to build.

Everything was under control.

— I think I've taken care of the political side of things... I'll finally be able to focus on my creations... Hahaha, my fantasies will soon become reality!

Like a child, he couldn't hide his excitement.

***

I'm almost sure we've passed the twenty minutes, haven't we?

Leaning back in his carriage, his cheek resting on his hand, Lucian spoke nonchalantly. But a hint of annoyance was audible in his voice.

He looked at the guard riding beside him.

— I really underestimated the nobles, huh?

At these words, a mischievous smile appeared on the soldier's face.

— So it's true... All this time, you were pretending to be dumb, huh? You figured it out right away.

Lucian narrowed his eyes slightly.

Well, look at that...

One of the guards then said loudly:

— We've arrived. Take him down.

Someone grabbed my arm roughly and threw me out of the carriage.

— Ugh!

A searing pain shot through my foot. Damn... I'm really too fragile...

I took a deep breath and slowly opened my eyes.

Around me, tall trees stood, the grass stretched under my fingers, and some birds sang in the distance. A forest... at least, that's what I thought at first.

Because where I was, there was no vegetation. Just bare ground, forming a perfect circle. All around, strange symbols were etched, almost hypnotic.

Then, at the edge of this circle, I saw them.

Twelve people, standing, watching me in silence.

I recognized them immediately.

A smile curled my lips.

— A rebellion?

The nobles.

It was hard to match a name to each face, but there was no doubt that they were the instigators of this farce.

Two figures stood slightly apart from the group.

One of them, sitting with an exasperating nonchalance, was sipping tea, a small table placed in front of him as if this entire situation were nothing more than a casual afternoon tea. The other stood rigidly at his side, hands clasped behind his back, motionless.

I squinted.

Well, well... If I were to imagine what I'd look like later, it would probably be this...

The man drinking his tea had my features. No surprise there.

— Darius?

Darius Voldrek.

My brother.

The nobles murmured among themselves, clearly delighted by the situation.

Darius, still seated at his table, raised his cup to his lips before responding in a detached tone:

— Yes, little brother, did you call me?

An amused smile spread across my face as I slowly got up.

Look at that dirty son of a... Well, at least we have the same mother.

I watched him for a moment before declaring:

— So, it's you who orchestrated all this? ... What a stupid move on your part.

Darius didn't respond. He simply continued drinking his tea with exasperating elegance.

I squinted.

— Aren't you afraid of retaliation?

He didn't flinch. His calmness disturbed me.

In the novel, he was described as an angry, unstable, and pathetic guy. But the man in front of me... he was different.

Then he gave a slight smile.

— Interesting... You really think Selene is still a problem for me at this point?

I felt an unpleasant chill.

What is he talking about...?

He was saying that Selene was no longer a threat? What was this ridiculous bluff?

— What... what do you mean?

Darius gently set his cup down on the table.

— Get rid of them.

It was a clear order. But who was he addressing? And more importantly... who was he referring to?

A heavy silence fell over the gathering.

The nobles, who had been exulting only moments ago, suddenly froze. Some began to panic, mistakenly thinking they were the targets of this decree.

— Hey, Darius... what are you—? one of them tried.

Darius interrupted him, still with that same smile.

— Don't worry. I promised I'd take good care of those who were with me.

Suddenly, a strange black aura engulfed one of the knights who had accompanied me.

What...?

His eyes went blank, and without a word, he drew his sword.

In the blink of an eye, he struck down his remaining comrades.

The other knights didn't react. They stood motionless, as if all will had been ripped from them.

I felt my

blood run cold.

— ...Mind control? I whispered, my eyes wide.

So they had been controlled ... But since when?

I slowly raised my eyes to Darius.

Of course, things wouldn't always go in my favor.

But I had anticipated this kind of scenario...

—

It was a serious mistake for Lucian to think that.