How to Live as a Tyrant’s Bastard Brother

I walked calmly down the hallway on the sixth floor.

The sword dangled as if no longer intending to swing.

My steps moved leisurely as if I were walking along a carefully drawn line like a top model from a costume shop.

Dozens of pairs of eyes, stained with anxiety, awe, and fear, were watching me.

I occasionally looked at them indifferently and, at times, ignored them with a relaxed pace.

The important thing was to continue to instill an overwhelming feeling that they could never break me.

I heard slightly hurried footsteps approaching.

Sererassie, holding a chip bag and wearing a mage’s conical hat with a dark blue cloak billowing, followed.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll cause a ruckus and blow everything away.”

“When that time comes, I’ll ask you to do just that. For now, smile.”

I muttered softly enough for only her to hear and walked toward the stairs in the middle of the closest hallway.

“Can I let you go down?”

“Are you really going to take on such a risk? Didn’t you see those who burnt to death just now?”

“There were only two. If we charge at once, won’t we manage somehow?”

“Shut up. I don’t want to die like that.”

“What if that guy calls the knights?”

“I’ll escape to the slums. No matter how many knights there are, they probably won’t follow me all the way there.”

I listened to their small voices.

I had exhausted all my mana during my clash with Sererassie and setting flames, making walking itself a struggle.

I sincerely hoped that no one would dare to show courage.

At that moment, I saw a devotee trembling in front of the stairs.

The instant he tightened his grip on a dagger, I swiftly approached and slapped his cheek hard.

Crack!

Exhausted as I was, there remained an insurmountable gap between me, a Sword Expert, and the casino devotee.

The guy whose brain was rattled flipped his eyes back and fell like a broken doll.

“I said I would forgive you.”

I kicked him, speaking coldly as if I were disappointed.

The devotees beside us averted their gazes and pressed themselves against the wall.

We successfully reached the front of the stairs.

Now I just had to go down.

If things got difficult halfway, I felt confident I could jump from the third floor.

“Stop right there.”

I heard the voice of the squad leader.

That was the last thing I wanted to hear.

I squeezed my eyes shut before opening them again.

Without looking back, I responded in a disinterested voice.

“Lowly creature, raise your voice.”

No response came back.

The only sound that reached me was the loud footsteps crossing the hallway.

I refused to turn back.

Taking a light breath, I tightened my grip on the sword.

The longsword, which weighed just over 2 kg, felt incredibly heavy.

I sent Sererassie forward and raised my sword in front of my chest.

The moment the wooden floor echoed loudly, I took a large step back with my right foot and rotated my upper body to thrust the sword.

In that split second, I saw confusion and horror in the devotee’s eyes.

My sword plunged into his neck, and a lingering sound followed.

I clenched my wrist and shoulder as I absorbed the force of his charge.

The squad leader of the ‘Future’ convulsed, spewing blood from his mouth.

The mace he had raised above his head fell to the ground with a clatter.

The devotees who were about to grab their daggers or clubs hesitated and lowered their hands.

I walked down the central staircase pretending to be nonchalant.

Reaching the fourth floor with trembling legs, I found four devotees blocking the way to the third floor.

Sererassie nudged me in the side and whispered.

“What about them?”

“……”

People grow stronger together.

To tear that bond apart, I spread the fear that ‘only I would suffer.’

This method had the advantage of shredding the cohesion of hostile organizations and turning fearful individuals into mere fragments.

“Who are you!”

“The Golden Nightmare?!”

“Capture them!”

For those who hadn’t tasted that atmosphere, it was utterly ineffective.

Damn it.

“How dare you pests block my path! You maggots who will be dragged to hell on Judgment Day and fried in sulfurous flames!”

I explosively unleashed curses and profanity.

Leaping from the middle of the stairs, I delivered a flying kick to the face of the leading devotee.

The sound of a nose breaking echoed clearly.

I glanced to confirm he was collapsing.

Then, twisting my body mid-air, I landed and swung my sword, deeply cutting into the thigh of the second devotee.

Just as the third devotee charged at me with a snarl.

“Stop.”

The voice echoed down the hallway on the fourth floor.

A well-groomed man with a short beard was holding a broadsword.

His exotic-looking coat was impressive, and right behind him, there seemed to be thirty to forty devotees following.

“White-haired man. We do not wish to see your blood. Please turn back from the nightmare.”

He spoke in a tone as if he were extending some grand mercy.

…In fact, it was great mercy.

My mana was depleted, and I was in a situation where I could not utilize any of the imperial swordsmanship techniques.

While I could handle six or so in a scuffle, I had no strength left to face dozens in a narrow corridor with no escape.

That was me.

“Valenciaunos.”

A calm voice rang out.

“I’m listening.”

“Can you truly save me? Will you recommend me to the Emperor?”

I answered before an awkward silence could settle in.

It was time to offer reassurance.

“Of course. Letting go of a mage like you would be a loss for the Empire.”

“If I’m a mage chosen by His Majesty, it should be fine to blow away a casino hotel on the red-light street, right?”

What the hell, I shrugged my shoulders irresponsibly.

I nodded without hesitation.

Sererassie smiled faintly as if relieved and passed by me.

“You’ve thought well. ‘Nightmare.’ There’s no need to involve innocent bystanders…”

“I disliked you all.”

The man wielding the broadsword scowled at the abrupt critique.

Yet, Sererassie continued.

“I disliked gambling, and I disliked gamblers. I hated the brats rolling on the street, and I despised those who fell under them. Frankly, I disliked drugs and alcohol, too.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“I took chips while gathering leaves and drank and took drugs. Yet, that did nothing to fill the emptiness in my heart. So I disliked myself.”

The devotees raised their steel clubs.

Seeing their orderly actions, they must have thought this was a last will.

As if unaffected by the clubs, Sererassie continued speaking flatly.

“I wanted to read books in a sunlit room. I wanted to grow beautiful vine plants and keep an orange cat. I always loved magic and served a learned master. One day, I wanted to have a mischievous disciple.”

I saw her shoulders trembling slightly.

“Why did you lie to me?”

The man wielding the broadsword clicked his tongue.

“You’re insane. I’ll make sure you pass without pain.”

“You said I could forget everything?!”

“Hit her.”

“I thought you said I could forget everything?!”

Sererassie’s dark blue hair shot straight up into the air.

Crackle!

Blue currents erupted chaotically, blasting holes into the walls and floors.

“You broke your promise. I believed your words that I could forget my painful and sorrowful past! I thought I could forget magic and dreams and become nothing but a gambler obsessed with money, money, and money!”

The charging devotees screamed and dropped their weapons.

It was thanks to the steel clubs being drawn in by the current.

“Why can’t I be like the brats down there who got wrapped up in gambling and lost their parents, wives, and children?”

‘Sererassie.’

‘I’m glad to be your friend.’

“Why do the memories of the people in the Ivory Tower only grow clearer while others succumb to amnesia and die from drugs?”

‘Sererassie!’

‘Let’s go see the end of magic together.’

The man wielding the broadsword looked indignant.

Bam!

Sererassie clenched her fist and spat.

“His Majesty the Emperor shattered my most precious time with just one word. He said I can never return to that time. Yet you promised to make me forget that pain.”

“I never…”

“So, this is all your fault for breaking the promise.”

She stretched her arms forward, opening her fist.

The confined current roared menacingly and consumed the space.

Like a dam bursting, the current surged forth.

Unlike the common image people have, electric magic unfolds in a very brief moment.

Flash!

It felt as if the lights had turned off and back on.

The devotees standing were halved.

The few who managed to hold out dropped their weapons or twisted their faces in pain.

Flash!

The daggers and steel clubs that had fallen to the floor trembled as they were swept up by the electromagnetic force.

Some devotees couldn’t even drop their weapons due to the contraction of their muscles.

Flash!

The squad leader with the broadsword approached step by step, enduring the pain of his burning beard.

Even as smoke billowed from his head and shoulders, his gaze remained intense.

“Damn.”

Sererassie made a face that showed her displeasure.

She raised her left hand and drew complex shapes in the air.

Although I wasn’t very familiar with electric magic, it was clear something was going wrong.

“I need my staff. I must have my staff.”

She shouted in a voice full of frustration.

It was a voice tinged with self-loathing.

Once again, a blue light flickered brightly, and the broadsword-wielding man dropped to one knee on the floor.

At the same time, Sererassie stumbled, blood gushing from her right hand, which was casting the spell.

Her nails were raised, and the veins on her hand looked like they were about to burst.

I quickly ran to support her.

“Are you planning to burn all your talent away here? You’re going to hurt your magic circuits. Quickly gather your mana and get ready to run.”

“Let go. If I don’t burn these bastards to death…”

“There’s no time!”

That was a phrase imbued with more power than any spell.

Sererassie murmured in a voice that trembled with concentration while scattering the currents.

However, with powerful spells comes a powerful price.

“Stop right there!”

“If you miss this, we’ll all go bankrupt! We can’t even pay your wages!”

Angry shouts echoed from the other end of the hallway.

Loud noises rumbled from the upper stairs.

Dozens of devotees were coming down from above, while another dozens were pouring from either side of the fourth-floor hallway.

“Run.”

I grabbed Sererassie’s hand and dashed downward.

As we descended from the third floor to the second, we encountered a group.

“Found you!”

“Quick, call for backup!”

I gritted my teeth and raised my sword, but the devotees blocking my path displayed a reaction I had never seen before.

They raised one hand as if to signal their intent to converse or crossed their arms and stepped back.

“What are you doing?”

Sererassie asked, perplexed.

Then, from the left corridor on the second floor, a man wielding two short swords emerged.

“Come this way!”

“Are you planning to stab us from behind?”

I wasn’t one to accept needless goodwill without question.

“I am on the same side as the noble lady of the enemy mask.”

“Do you have proof?”

The man wore an expression caught off guard.

“Yes, I do.”

He then rushed past us, running up the stairs.

“Ah! Ah!”

“You! You!”

“Betrayal!”

Screams echoed from above.

“Is this enough for you?”

The man wielding the short sword came down, tossing two corpses down the stairs.

In the process, his uniform had been torn, and blood was flowing from his temple.

“Kill them!”

An even angrier crowd of devotees followed behind.

“Good. That’s enough.”

I chased after the short sword-wielding man, running down the left corridor.

“Help is coming!”

The followers of the short sword man piled up furniture they had carried from the hotel room in the hallway.

While it only held the enemies for a few steps, it was enough.

“Can you take Sererassie with you to ‘Hope’?”

“Absolutely. Your Excellency.”

“Thank you.”

Sererassie sharply asked.

“What will you do?”

“It doesn’t suit my nature to run away after being beaten. I need to give that manager a piece of my mind.”

“Then I’m coming too. Do you think I’m not that kind of person?”

Our eyes met for a moment.

Her golden eyes blazed with intensity, while her blue eyes were ice-cold.

“It’s just once. I’ll hit them once and then flee immediately to ‘Hope.’ And don’t push yourself too hard. You’re in worse shape than I thought.”

“Got it.”

The short sword man said as he gripped his sword.

“I’ll secure the escape route.”

“Sorry for dragging you into my personal vendetta.”

“It’s fine. I’ve never liked those ‘Future’ bastards anyway, Your Excellency.”

Hearing that, I raised my eyebrows.

Though I was a fool oblivious to my identity, it was the first time someone brazenly acted as if they knew me.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

I headed for the first floor with Sererassie.

In a spacious hall filled with gambling tables, several dozen devotees and around a dozen managers were gathered.

When the manager of ‘Hope’ saw us descending, his face filled with panic.

“How?”

That one word was laden with many emotions.

The surrounding managers hastily fled while the devotees hunched down.

I held onto the railing of the stairs and stepped down slowly.

The manager of ‘Hope’ stepped back, his face turning pale.

At that moment, I heard a murmuring voice beside me.

I also saw hand movements drawing a complicated shape in the air.

“Follow and follow again, my lightning.”

I recognized that spell.

Even the genius Sererassie still had to combine incantation and gestures to this degree for such a complex magic.

“Sister. Wait a moment…”

“Annihilate all my enemies.”

Flash!

The electric current branched out, sweeping across the entire wide hall.

Like light reflected in a mirror, it moved around and melted all metal and set all wood on fire.

Dozens of wooden tables exploded simultaneously, sending sharp fragments flying.

I hurriedly swung my sword to deflect the debris, so Sererassie wouldn’t get hit.

Devotees fell like puppets with their strings cut, and managers were flung away like kicked balls.

The manager of ‘Hope’ trembled like a quaking aspen, convulsing in fear.

“This is how life should be.”

Sererassie whispered, wearing a euphoric smile.

Her cheeks were flushed with a rosy hue.

“Didn’t I say I’d strike just once?”

I looked down at the hall that felt like it had been swept away by a storm.

“I ended it in just one blow, didn’t I? Wasn’t that what you meant?”

Sererassie wiped the blood from her burst right hand on the red lining of her cloak.

“It’s true that it worked, but…”

“Ah, wait a minute. It hurts a lot. Everything is spinning in front of my eyes. I think I’ll faint.”

Blood was flowing from her eyes, nose, and ears.

“Valenciaunos.”

Despite her pale face, she spoke with a smile.

It was chilling yet beautiful.

“Will you really recommend me? Can I truly live boldly using magic?”

‘In my next life, I hope I can live boldly using magic.’

I recalled the words that had become nonexistent and supported her.

“Yeah. I promise I will.”

Because my sister will be the great sorceress of the future.

She was someone far too precious to let go.

Thud.

Carrying the collapsed her in my arms, I crossed the devastated first floor of ‘Future’ Casino.

It was time to return.

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