Hero of Darkness

Havi finally reached the end of the story he was reminiscing by himself. To ensure his daughter's safety and avoid a civil war… he had turned into a villain in her eyes while becoming a cold and ruthless ruler to the human race of the empire.

But every step he took was done out of absolute necessity and give him enough time to cement his rule for the sake of his family and his children…

Because although Venessa was a half-human, she had more of his pure bloodline as it was the dominant part of her body.

But the small portion from her mother's side gave her the appearance of a real human and nothing that of a halfbreed or a hybrid between two different species.

But due to that phenomenon, the fireborne bloodline grew stronger and denser as Venessa grew.

At this point… Havi was aware that Venessa had the potential to even surpass him if she ever became an 8th stage saint in the future.

Her being half-human was a curse to her claim to the throne. But it was also the biggest blessing in her journey to strength.

Yet… Venessa's fate even if she became the empress was limited. The bigger threat she became, the more risk of her getting killed rose before she became strong enough to defend herself.

Although she had proved her worth till this point… Venessa hadn't really seen what horrors awaited even if she became the ruler one day.

Because sooner or later… she would have to marry one of the heirs of the fireborne clans to carry the imperial bloodline even if she became the empress.

Marrying some prince of the other empires for the empress was already prohibited if she held that position.

And the one to marry her would naturally have their clan control the fate of the empire unofficially.

The price was too great to pay… something that broke even once a righteous and straightforward man like him to become a ruthless leader who even condemned the entire human race just to keep order and his authority intact even if he didn't inherently hate humans.

And finally… there was only one way he could protect her from the same fate as her mother.

The only way to completely subjugate and restrict the six fireborne clans while keeping the imperial clan as the ruling power even if he went against their leaders to take his revenge. And that was…

Unifying the Imperial Clan and the Church of Hetrax.

Because if these two forces joined hands… even the six pillars of the empire couldn't do anything. Even the smallest kind of retaliation would be treated as treason and Havi could use it as an excuse to punish them.

If his clan and the church worked together, the two fireborne clans couldn't do any significant damage to the empire and naturally, the other four clans would also change their stand to not get eradicated in the process.

Thus, Havi had made an agreement with the Pope, Demiurges Val Arhlem.

That since the chosen Hero they were going to summon after 2 decades would be a human by default like in the past, and if it was a man… then they'd arrange the marriage between that Hero and Venessa.

This deal was made when Venessa was only 10 years old. Havi had already made his moves more than 20 years ago.

This way, she won't get dragged into their political warfare and also help solidify the imperial clan's rule. With church fully backing them while him leading the imperial clan and gaining strength in the years to come…

Havi would get everything he want while also securing the future of the empire without causing millions of innocent deaths.

As for Venessa herself… she would be safe and will have time to grow in the future.

To him… he was ready to accept her hatred and would suffer her anger for the rest of his life as long as he could protect his daughter even if it meant becoming the villain in her eyes.

Because little did anyone know that Strength wasn't always the solution to overcome all of the problems in the world.

Sometimes… one had to even sacrifice themselves for the greater good and maintain peace.

To Havi… this was the bitter truth that he had come to learn the hard way.

To everyone, the emperor was the strongest person in the whole empire… yet in reality, he was the most helpless.

Bound by his duties and his heritage… paying the price of being the emperor at the cost of his sanity and his integrity.

While his daughter hated him… his sons only coveted his position… he was sacrificing his soul.

Despite standing on the summit of the mountain…

He was lonely at the top.

----------------

Meanwhile, there was one particular who was unaware of how many problems his involvement with Venessa had caused as he was fully engrossed with his Artificing training.

Just two days ago, Kahn stopped other doppelgangers and put a pause on his weapons training, combat techniques training with different kinds of weapons.

On the side, the doppelgangers also stopped studying magic and space law. And all of the 15 copies of himself along with the original him… they kept practicing and increasing his efficiency in the study of rune and magic formations.

Just like how Calligraphy needed years of experience and perfect control over one's body, particularly the movement of their hands… Runes and Engravings also demanded profound control and understanding of this craft.

But after the gifts from Brokkr and Eitri along with his hacks called the Doppelgangers… Kahn's mastery rose 15 times than it normally should've in the past one month alone.

He managed to raise most of the skills and his knowledge as well as experience in Runes and Magic formations to SS Rank in such a short time.

And finally… just when the Blacksmithing Duel was only one week away… he heard a notification in his mind.

[Congratulations to the host for becoming a Semi-Saint Artificer!]