Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 205: Beloved

Outside the Rift, a portal hovered in the air. It carved from the ground in thick bands of green, forming a door. A woman in a long dress with a blank metal mask on her face stepped forward. She put her face in the air and sniffed before she shook her head.

"I don’t feel anything, Beloved," she said.

She turned toward the portal opening, where it showed a room lit up by the sun and a man sitting on a stone throne.

The man was bulky and muscular, his face flat, but his eyes burned with a zealous light, a feverish heat. He smiled, his voice rumbling.

"You are too weak to feel it now. That old fox must have definitely covered his tracks. But even now, I can tell, a Forbidden Knight was here. The old man was here."

The woman lifted her hand into the air and gathered the winds to herself by gesture, and the winds rushed to her, curling around her limbs and neck.

"Maybe I feel a little."

The man snorted.

"Then there’s a trap waiting inside. You don’t know the old man, do you? He won’t leave anything to track him by. The only reason he would is to screw with you."

The woman turned and listened attentively without saying anything.

"But the question you should be asking is, why is he here? He is imprisoned, and making himself appear wouldn’t be a small task. It would cost him a lot. Now answer me, little queen, what do you think could bring him here?" the man asked.

She thought about it.

"He is here because of another Forbidden Knight? Another has been born?"

This time, there was emotion in her voice, fear, hate, and anger.

The man chuckled.

"Most of the Forbidden Knights born in the Eternal Skies die before they know what hit them. You can thank me for that. But no, none were born. I would know if it were otherwise. I have put precautions in place, and the old man can’t interfere like he used to."

"Then?" the woman asked. She tilted her head to the sky. "I want to get away from this place. The normality makes me want to vomit. The privilege! Those..."

"Now, now, little queen. What have I been telling you? Don’t waste your energy hating. Use it instead to act. Why hate when you can just do something to remove it?"

She took a deep breath and bowed.

"You’re right, Beloved."

He chuckled.

"Of course I am. I’m far older than you. Alright, let’s remove that of another Forbidden Knight, not entirely, but still. The only other thing that could make that fox do something as desperate as this is the artifact."

The woman stilled, her voice tight.

"The artifact, you mean?"

"Yes, yes. It was hidden in a random Rift, and you can’t use magic to search for it. Unless you are lucky enough to step into such a Rift and have the power to detect it. The old man must have known about this place before he was imprisoned."

The woman didn’t reply. She only stared at the Rift.

The man chuckled again.

"Don’t be sad, little queen. We gained something as well. His imprisonment is loosening. We will be ready, and..."

He lifted his hand, and a small stone flew out of the portal and into the ground, blending in with the surroundings.

"I will tell our people to do a sweep and then stick with any important developments here. You never know what might turn up. Alright, little queen, lesson’s over for today!"

The woman turned and bowed again.

"Of course, Beloved... Beloved of the World."

☆☆☆☆☆

Vale woke on the eighth day. The energy surrounding him had slowly decreased in power throughout the days until he was only surrounded by a ruddy glow.

When he opened his eyes, confused green eyes met the surprised ones of Slya, who was yawning when she saw him open them. She leaped to her feet immediately and rushed toward him, only slowing when she got close.

"Vale?" she asked. The area around him wasn’t hot anymore like before, but was now filled with a warm glow.

He blinked.

"Slya?"

His voice came out as a croak. He rubbed his face, swallowed, and asked again.

"Slya? You’re alive?"

She looked at him in shock.

"Wait, you thought I died?"

"What about Tiber?" Vale’s heart was beating fast, and he was almost afraid to know the answer.

It hit him then he had grown to have a soft spot for his two subordinates. At first, he had only let them tag along because he knew, selfishly, that they would be useful.

He didn’t even know when that changed, when he genuinely started seeing them as friends.

’...Honestly, I thought... ah... well... maybe not being in the Clan changed me more than I expected...’

"He’s inside with the Flagbearers. They are thinking of what to do with you if you don’t... well..."

Slya smiled and moved closer. She threw her hands out, and when Vale nodded, she flung herself at him in a tackling hug.

Vale gasped out a laugh in surprise, but he held her weight well and then briefly wrapped his arms around her.

When she pulled back, her face was pulled into a small frown.

"What’s wrong?" Vale asked.

She shook her head.

"You stink."

Vale laughed again, louder this time.

Maybe it was the fact that he had thought everything was over, that they were dead.

Or the fact that he was alive, that his core had healed, that he had advanced into an Errant Knight.

Or maybe it was because he had truly taken a firm step toward his ambition.

He was now truly the Commander of the Athrimir Borderland and had cleared the Rift.

He pushed every other thought aside and just enjoyed it.

Something he hadn’t felt since he was imprisoned.

Maybe clearing the Borderland was more than just his ambition to be Emperor.

Maybe it was also a challenge for himself. To himself.

Something he desperately didn’t even know he needed.

A test, to prove whether he was truly worthy of his ambition to become Emperor.

The Sky.

’...i was sent to the Borderland to die... I didn’t... I made it mine instead...’

Slya looked at him in surprise as he laughed, a deep, from-the-belly laughter. And she joined him, for reasons entirely her own.

And that was how the others found him.