Barbarian in a Failed Game

“Oh, this?”

Neria laughed lightly, as if it were nothing.

“Lady Skadi said it would help with my future responsibilities…”

“Skadi did?”

“Yes. From now on, elves will no longer identify as part of Paradise. They will live as elves, and the six houses have been dissolved.”

Khan listened to what had transpired while he was absorbing the giant’s blood.

“…They’re planning to advance to the continent?”

“She said that staying isolated in a closed place like Paradise would only make things worse.”

“Well, she’s not wrong.”

Drawing from her old memories, Khan could easily guess her true intentions. On the surface, it appeared she had forced the proud ones into submission and applied a shock therapy by placing the half-elf Neria at the head of their society.

The elves, who once looked down on half-elves, now had Neria holding the fate of their race. It seemed like a fitting punishment for their arrogance during her parasitic host days. But her true purpose lay elsewhere.

‘Is she trying to achieve it now?’

She always wanted a sanctuary for the elves somewhere on the continent. Despite Prince Karyan’s opposition during his crown prince days, it was a dream she stubbornly held on to.

“Haha… I don’t know how much I can do in that process, though.”

“No, I think you will do quite a lot.”

Neria blinked her crimson eyes, which were unusual for an elf. It was as if her expression asked, ‘Really?’ Khan nodded.

“As a half-elf from a remote kingdom and a veteran mercenary, your selection can send a strong signal that Paradise is genuinely trying to change. It’s a radical choice. Of course, it’s a slim possibility, but…”

“Will that really make a difference…”

“From the Imperial Household’s perspective, Paradise must seem like a festering boil. Changing the leadership is the best way to revamp its image. The Imperial House will have to come to the negotiation table, if only to see the new leader of the elves.”

Neria looked dazed at the prolonged explanation.

“Um… Just a moment. I was already overwhelmed during the interim committee, but the scale of this… It’s a bit overwhelming…”

It seemed more like she couldn’t have imagined there was such a background to her being selected as a High Elf, rather than being confused by the difficult words.

“Don’t overthink it too much.”

Khan offered his thoughts calmly to encourage her.

More precisely, “No matter how difficult the Imperial Household may be, they won’t want the Empire to split up now.”

“Huh? Why would the Empire split up all of a sudden?”

“Do you remember what I yelled desperately on Sea Dragon Island? About being a descendant of the ancient empire’s crown prince and a warrior bearing the mark, making a loud fuss about it.”

“Well…”

“I intend to make use of that.”

concealing his true intentions of binding the two devastated races to him as a force.

“I will personally negotiate with the Emperor. We will establish a land for the various races – elves, dwarves, the furballs from the south, and even half-breeds like you, Neria.”

Although Khan’s gaze was fixed on Neria as he spoke, his thoughts were directed towards someone else entirely.

‘First, you told me to head to the end of the world.’

That meant to see the end of this world. Of course, many things had already changed with Khan’s intervention.

The original main quests had to be altered or deleted due to the early departure of key characters, and antagonists who should have been enemies had become allies, while non-key characters had risen to prominence.

Despite this, Khan was confident. The ultimate objective had not changed.

‘The Great Demonic Realm.’

The place where a great demon from hell would descend in the far future, and one of the few inescapable prisons where the continent’s transcendents had imprisoned themselves.

The answer lay there.

“But the residents of that land must promise me one thing.”

“A promise?”

“If a world-ending war breaks out, they must help.”

Khan planned to prepare more thoroughly to deliver a perfect solution.

“Set aside distinctions between human and non-human. Fight merely to survive.”

In the original history, the weakened Empire, fragmented and divided, made one last desperate attempt to subdue the Great Demonic Realm. This time, it would be the exact opposite.

An Empire that had succeeded in internal consolidation, retaining its peak power.

The allied non-human races that were nearly decimated after a major conflict with the Empire.

They would unite to sweep away the Great Demonic Realm.

***

After his conversation with Neria, Khan immediately summoned the two dwarves. He intended to offer land to the dwarves who had survived by sheer luck outside of Gigantis while engaging in piracy.

“Here, give me your hand.”

Unable to refuse the sudden request from the dwarven king and William, Khan reluctantly extended his hand and asked,

“What is it? You two, who usually hated each other, what’s going on?”

“…I’ve finished talking with this damned fool. And we’ve concluded that both the Leonora dynasty and he himself are hopeless scoundrels.”

“Who are you calling a scoundrel? Given the circumstances, you should be thanking me a hundred, a thousand times over…!”

“I’m an ant’s height taller than you! You wretched pirate king!”

“What?! Don’t talk nonsense! I’m the tallest among dwarves!”

To sum up the unnecessary chatter, it essentially meant that the two had reconciled well.

Having learned that the Leonora dynasty had intended to abandon the dwarves without his knowledge, William forgot the very reason for his anger.

“So, why do you need my hand?”

“What else? What do dwarves look at a warrior’s hand for?”

Explaining the circumstances and engaging in an intense debate about who was taller, William huffed.

“Your weapon broke, didn’t it?”

“It looked like one of our ancestors’ weapons. No wonder it couldn’t withstand such brutish fighting.”

“This damned king is right. We’re going to make you a new one—one that will never break before its master does.”

“We’ve got plenty of materials. We confiscated a lot of rare metals from the Paradise folk.”

“We can also use the remnants of Gigantis. If you have any special materials, we can incorporate those too.”

The conversation between the two dwarves about the new weapon seemed almost like an attempt to forget about their race’s grim future.

Khan thought it wouldn’t be hard to persuade them. In fact, the dwarven king accepted Khan’s proposal without hesitation. Actually, he had no choice but to accept.

“Damn it. With Gigantis crashed into Paradise, do we have any other options? We’ve got to do what we’re told.”

Without Gigantis, and with only a few hundred surviving kin, their future looked bleak. While there might be a few dwarves hiding on the continent, tiring of sea life, they were far too few. Continuing as pirates was no longer feasible.

“I’ll accept the conditions. But, demanding us to mass-produce garbage is out of the question. That’s impossible for us, even physically. Even if we could do it, you wouldn’t get quality products.”

The dwarven king was indeed capable.

He proved why he had overthrown the dominant dynasty in dwarven history and was recognized as the new king. Simplifying the terms of the negotiation on the spot, he suddenly asked offhandedly,

“We or the elves might accept if land is offered. But what about them?”

“Those guys.”

Those who were the indirect cause of the dwarves’ exile to the sea.

“The Southern tribes. Those furballs won’t be swayed by this kind of persuasion. They’ve already consumed most of the southern continent. And most importantly…they aren’t ones for conversation or persuasion.”

Bipedal furballs with innate physical abilities, animal instincts, and sharp teeth and claws.

The Beastmen.

The dwarven king’s face was considerably hardened, as if recalling some unpleasant memories related to them.

“Neither money, rare equipment, elixirs, nor even the logic of power… None of it works on them. They’re just beasts running on two legs.”

But contrary to the dwarven king’s serious tone, the person who had to engage the beastmen, Khan, was quite unconcerned.

And for good reason—

“I’d prefer the new weapon to be an axe.”

“Why are you suddenly talking about axes while discussing the beastmen…? What about the hammer you used?”

“An axe is the most effective.”

Khan knew that if force didn’t work, it was simply a matter of not having enough force.

‘Why this sudden chill…?’

Just then, the sight of Khan’s slowly curling lips caused the dwarven king to shiver.

“Once an axe is embedded in their skulls, we’ll find out whether they’re truly beasts or humans pretending to be beasts.”

***

The old emperor, friedrick III, looked down coldly at the man who had been forced to kneel by the knights.

“Are you still planning to keep silent, Chief Administrator?”

“……”

“Your organization is already finished. We’ve rooted out 90% of the agents within the Empire, and the rest have slunk into the shadows abroad to evade surveillance. It’s impossible for you to exert influence behind the scenes as you used to.”

Tap- tap- tap-

The emperor’s fingers drummed with force on the desk.

“And still, you refuse to speak. Are you trying to maintain some shred of pride? Or do you really believe there’s hope for your organization?”

“……”

“Well! You’ve always maintained your composure, but I didn’t realize you were this tenacious. It couldn’t have been easy enduring the torture with such a frail body.”

Seeing that the man remained silent despite the emperor’s interrogation, the half-human, half-dragon knight Conrad stepped forward, seemingly trying to change the atmosphere.

“A mage known for cold rationality wouldn’t be keeping silent just to protect his pride. What do you truly want, Chief Administrator? There’s no escape for you. Even if you’re planning an ambush, it’s useless. As long as I guard His Majesty’s chambers.”

“Heh heh heh…”

For the first time, the Saboteur broke his silence.

Mocking Conrad’s assertion of absolutes, the Saboteur laughed.

“Absolute? Absolute…! Your Majesty, and Conrad! You’re both under a hilarious misconception!”

“What’s this now?”

For the first time since his capture, the Saboteur’s emotions were on full display.

He was sneering. Sneering at the emperor and Conrad’s confidence, regarding them as mice who had trapped themselves. Sneering at their foolishness in believing the Followers of Truth were finished.

“Your Majesty! Although you are indeed a great emperor, I must make this clear! The foundation of the Empire is not you. It’s the fertile lands, the choicest on the continent, and the unwavering belief of its people in the Empire’s invincibility! That’s what sustains and drives this empire!”

“This guy, how dare he speak like that in the presence of the emperor…”

“Look carefully! Your Majesty, and Conrad! Your stupidity in acting as if this narrow chamber is the entire world will bring about the downfall of the Empire—!”

Before he could finish, Conrad knocked the Saboteur unconscious and had him returned to the underground prison. While Friedrick III was cautious of the Saboteur’s words, he did not take them too seriously.

The power base of the Followers of Truth had already been dismantled. Most seekers and followers were either dead or imprisoned in the royal underground dungeons.

Even if their leader, the Apostle, were to rise—

‘They can no longer change the tide.’

But.

It didn’t take long for him to realize his mistake. Around the time Khan encountered Mortalia atop the Tree of Memories. The seekers and followers imprisoned in the underground dungeon simultaneously died suddenly.

─Tooot-toooot-tooooot!!

From the distant Land of Warriors, the war horn sounded.

“Gordy Khan…”

Announcing the birth of a new king of warriors who had ended the long internal strife among the greenskins.

““To our god, we offer…!”…!”