Chapter 4

"Ahh… That felt good."

I stretched, rolling my shoulders as my new form settled. It wasn’t my true body, of course—just a projection, bound to the amulet—but it was as close as I could get. A thousand times better than being trapped inside. My gaze drifted to the boy, his face frozen in shock, realization dawning in his wide eyes. He must have thought that wearing the amulet would control me. Foolish child. He had no idea what he had just unleashed.

For centuries, I had worked to weaken the seals on this cursed relic. I was still bound to it, that much was inevitable. But the strength of the wearer’s mind dictated the extent of their control over me. This boy had none. Even the elves in the room lacked the mental fortitude to command me. Their elders, however… now they would have been a threat. Not that it mattered.

Before anything else, I had to deal with the angel. She was the biggest obstacle. She would undoubtedly try to kill the boy to reclaim the amulet, and the elves would attempt the same. Unlike them, she couldn’t truly die—she would reform in a few hundred years. A temporary nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless.
I turned, spotting her struggling to rise. Time to put an end to this.

In a blink, I teleported across the room and grabbed one of her hideous statues. It had taken her thousands of years to craft these abominations, all while endlessly talking at me. She had never shut up. Never stopped. Smashing one over her head was immensely satisfying. The horror in her eyes—both from the impact and the destruction of her precious artwork—was delightful.

So, naturally, I grabbed another one and shattered it against her skull.

The impact sent her stumbling, but I didn’t stop there. A surge of dark lightning crackled from my fingertips, slamming into her chest and sending her flying across the chamber. She barely had time to register what had happened before I was behind her, seizing her by the neck. With a brutal slam, I drove her face-first into the marble floor. The sickening crunch of breaking bone echoed through the chamber.
That should keep her down for a few minutes.

I turned just in time to see another elf drawing a bow. Again? Their obsession with shooting arrows at the boy was almost impressive. Without hesitation, I plucked the arrow from the air before it could reach him. Rafael stood frozen, staring at the projectile as if it were a viper, while the elves gawked at me.
I sighed and tossed the arrow aside like the useless thing it was.

With the boy safe for now, I turned my attention to the elves. They were going to be a problem. If they had truly opened a portal back to their kingdom, more would come. It would be a long way out of here, and even if they couldn’t pass the corrupted demon lurking outside, they might still overwhelm us with sheer numbers.

No, I had to make an example of them.

I could see it in their eyes—that disdain. That superiority. They looked at humans like they were nothing more than dirt beneath their boots. I had never cared much for elves and their arrogance. That attitude was precisely why their kind needed to be humbled.

"Quick! Attack!" The female elf’s voice rang out, sharp and commanding. "The ghost of the Mad Emperor is weak after killing the angel!"
Mad Emperor.

Ah. So that’s what they call me now.

It wasn’t entirely inaccurate. There was a time when I earned that title—though I doubted these elves knew the truth of what had happened all those years ago. History was always written by the victors. The demons, angels, and fae had no doubt spread their version of events, painting me as some monster.
They weren’t entirely wrong.

Still, I had learned patience during my long imprisonment. Time meant little to me. In the end, who laughed last would remain to be seen. For now, I had one goal: breaking the amulet’s hold on me. That would take time, strength, and planning. The elves weren’t wrong—I was weaker than I once was. But that could change. Would change.

I glanced at Rafael. So far, he had been a useful vessel. No magic in his body, no power to command me. As long as he didn’t realize that I couldn’t harm him or use magic against him, everything would go smoothly.

And then there were the elves. Their portal led outside this prison—the very prison the demons and angels had built to contain me. That meant I had a rare opportunity to set an example. If I wanted Rafael to fear me—to respect my power—I needed to make a statement.

The nice way rarely worked. Fear, however… fear was reliable.

An elf lunged at me, blade flashing in the dim light. Fool. Did he truly think a sword could harm me?
His weapon passed through my chest as if I were nothing but mist. His momentum carried him forward, and before he could react, I snatched his throat in my grip. He gasped, his hands clawing at my fingers. I could have snapped his neck right then and there—ended his life in an instant.

But that would have been too easy.

No, I needed something more memorable. Something that would etch my power into their minds—especially into Rafael’s. I tightened my grip, watching the terror bloom in the elf’s eyes.
He was about to learn what it truly meant to fear the Mad Emperor.

Curses were always a reliable way to instill fear. As I tightened my grip on the elf’s throat, his skin began to wither beneath my touch, turning gray and brittle like dried parchment. His screams filled the chamber, but they meant nothing to me—I had heard them too many times before. With a flick of my wrist, I hurled him aside.

The elves and the boy stared, wide-eyed, as the writhing elf’s body slowly dissolved into a puddle of black sludge. Even after all these years, it was still difficult to make the head and lungs the last to decay, but even rusty, I was skilled. The scent of rotting magic filled the air as I turned my attention to the next one.
Without hesitation, I set another elf ablaze and threw him headfirst against the marble wall. His skull exploded on impact, painting the pristine white stone in a grotesque display of blood and bone. The realization of their doom finally settled in. Some elves stood frozen, too paralyzed by terror to move. Others tried to run.

I let them.

Just long enough to give them hope.

Then, with a simple gesture, I sent a razor-sharp wind blade slicing through the air. It severed their legs clean off, leaving them screaming on the cold stone floor. They wouldn’t be going anywhere now.

"We surrender! Please, tell him to stop!"

The male elf’s voice was desperate as he fell to his knees, pleading with the boy who wore the amulet.

Perfect.

This was the moment to shatter any illusion that the brat had power over me.

"Why," I asked, my voice a silken whisper laced with malice, "are you begging the brat for mercy?"

With a crack, I increased the gravity around the elf, slamming him sideways into the floor like a crushed insect. His body flattened into the marble with a sickening crunch.

The room fell silent.

Fear clung to the air like a thick fog. Even the boy, who had thus far shown a frustrating amount of resolve, was beginning to feel it. His hands trembled. His breath hitched. Good. But I couldn’t push him too far. If his spirit broke entirely, he’d become useless to me. I needed him to function, to move the amulet and follow my orders.

"If you want to live," I said, turning my gaze to the remaining elves, "kneel."

Their bodies collapsed onto the bloodstained floor instantly.

"Beg for forgiveness," I continued, stepping forward, my voice devoid of emotion. "And praise the name of the Immortal Emperor—the first human to ascend beyond mortality."

The elves who could still speak scrambled to obey, their voices shaking as they stammered out half-formed praises. The ones whose screams ruined the mood—I silenced them with a simple spell, siphoning the air from their lungs. Their cries choked out into silence.

"Oh, great one—" The male elf’s voice cracked. "Äh you who are the greatest of all gods and emperors—spare our lives!"

The others echoed his words, including the human who had arrived with the brat.

But the boy himself? He stood unbowed. Maybe if just act like i havent notice noone would?

"I'm not going to bow to anyone," the brat said, his voice steady. "And I'm certainly not going to beg—I don't care how immortal or powerful you are."

Damn.

Did he know I couldn’t harm him?

For a moment, I considered testing him—but no, too risky. If he realized the extent of my bluff, I would lose my leverage.
"Since you were the one to finally take the amulet after so long," I said smoothly, masking my unease, "I’ll let it slide this time."

Better to pretend it was a choice.

I turned back to the elves, who were still pressed to the floor, their heads glued down in forced worship. Their prayers were abysmal. Where was a proper textwriter when you needed one?

"Get us out of this pyramid," the brat said suddenly, "and save everyone on our ship."

He was holding the amulet now, no longer wearing it around his neck.

The command pulsed through my being—but it was weak. Pathetic. My connection to the amulet was already loosened. I crushed the compulsion instantly.

No. This was bad. If he kept giving orders, he’d realize the truth—I was bluffing. I couldn’t do a damn thing to him.

I needed to shut this down.

"Alright," I said quickly. "I’ll let the bowing thing slide, but don’t go thinking you can order me aroun—"
The brat dropped the amulet.

My body vanished instantly.

I was back in the amulet.

Still aware, still watching, but utterly powerless.

Damn. That was humiliating.

Good thing I had a massive ego. I could recover from this.

The brat stared at the amulet in surprise, as if even he hadn’t expected that to work.

Pick it up, I thought furiously. You don’t have a choice. If he didn’t, one of the elves would. And they knew exactly how to seal me away.

He had to pick it up.

And he had to do it fast.

Because while I had been having my fun, the angel’s body had been mending. Her head was almost fully repaired. But the amulet—it was still on the throne steps, out of her reach.

For now.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the angel had sworn an oath never to touch the amulet. Whether she was physically unable to or simply unwilling, I wasn’t about to risk it. Best to eliminate that possibility altogether.

It took a moment for the elves and the other humans to register what had just happened—the brat had dropped the amulet.

The elves reacted instantly, their forms blurring as they unleashed a barrage of telekinetic spells aimed directly at him. Clever. He was defenseless without the amulet in his grasp, and their magic would ensure that he never touched it again.

At least the boy had some sense. Realizing the danger, he lunged forward, fingers closing around the amulet just in time. The spells were fast—too fast to dodge—but the moment his skin made contact with the artifact, I was free to interfere and blocked their influense and with that the spells.

I manifested once again, my form solidifying in the center of the room.

The elves would live—for now. Their presence ensured the brat wouldn’t recklessly discard the amulet again. I didn’t have the same patience for the angel. Without hesitation, I conjured another wind blade above her and sliced her head clean off. It would take time for her to regenerate, and she was far from being one of the stronger angels.

Strangely, the elves didn’t even seem to register my attack. The moment they saw me reappear, they immediately threw themselves to the ground, praising my name once more.

I sighed.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" I asked, turning to the boy with genuine confusion. "How can someone consistently make the worst possible decisions? First, you refuse to praise my name, then you drop the amulet, and now you just pick it up again? Just how stupid are you?"

Maybe fear wasn’t the right tactic. Or maybe this brat wasn’t just a fool—perhaps he had some cognitive illness that made him incapable of remembering what had just happened. That would be… unfortunate. If that were the case, I needed to find a way to transfer the amulet to someone with basic intelligence.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t touch him, not while he was protected by the amulet. Even if I wanted to heal whatever brain deficiency he had, I couldn’t.

"You can't harm me," the brat said, his voice trembling slightly despite his defiant words. "Now stop making them bow, do as I say, and get us out of here."

I gave him a slow, amused smile.

"That’s really not how this works," I said smoothly. "Besides, we have plenty of time to figure this out."
In truth, I was tense. If I weren’t bound by the amulet, I could have simply forged a contract with the boy—one that would bind us both to our words. But that wasn’t an option. He could throw the amulet away at any time, and there would be no consequences for him. That was a problem. One I needed to solve.
"No!" the brat snapped, gripping the amulet tightly. "*You’ll bring us out of here now, and stop making them bow and praise your name—it looks stupid."

Ordinarily, I would agree—forced worship was tedious at best, infuriating at worst. But watching them struggle to come up with proper praise was actually quite entertaining.
Still, the ‘evil emperor’ act clearly wasn’t working.

Should I go for an even more evil emperor? I could start executing his human friend and the elves one by one. That would certainly shake him. He needed the amulet to leave this place—there was no way he could walk past the corrupted demon at the entrance. But maybe there was a better strategy.

"Fine," I said, waving a hand lazily. "The praising stops. But remember those words—you might need them later."

I turned back to the brat,t his was getting interesting.

We needed to strike a deal.

What could this boy want? He also dosent look like a noble? Well going by that guys standard it was properly something totally irrelevant or super stupid to do.

"I want to make peace with the elfs and stop the war before it begins." The brat said and i sighed in dissapointment.

Just how did such a brat managed to get here in the first place?