“Preparations?”

“It’s all done, sir. It will begin once the Emperor comes over.”

“Finally… FINALLY! Our long wait is over! We will have our revenge!”

“Yes. It has been so long.”

“Without him, the days of Horun will return!”

“Will it not fail?”

“No, it won’t. Once he comes over the Gate, the explosions will overwhelm the entire area. No human can survive such explosions.”

A man spoke eagerly.

“We have prepared for 5 years for this. The radius of 50 meters around Gate will be in ruins, killing everyone near it. We have already tested it out multiple times.”

The surrounding masked men seemed to be very satisfied by what they heard.

“Finally. We, the White Masked Brotherhood, will be able to kill that demon emperor with our own hands!”

“YES!”

“Punish the Emperor!”

“For Horun!”

Many around with white masks seemed eager, but some of them seemed to have a cold look while watching this.

‘They really prepared this… crazy bastards.’

A man, Ronster Barisman from the old Horun Empire, seemed shocked. He was watching a man with white hair behind his white mask, shouting amongst the others. This man was Priest Chriheem, an apprentice of High Priest Brix of the past.

‘Well, whatever. If this plan succeeds, our days will return. We nobles will retake the world yet again.’

This was the last chance to get rid of Emperor Joonbum who took everything from them and brought back the old days. The area around the Gate was well-guarded and protected, but when it was closed 10 years ago, the security around the area became loose and that was how the White Masked Brotherhood took advantage of it and prepared a large amount of explosives beneath the main road in front of the Gate.

‘In a few hours… the world will change!’

Ronster thought to himself. That’s when someone shouted.

“T-the gate is open!!”

“I-it’s time!”

“Let’s go!”

***

“Chancellor Jackson. It’s done, sir.”

“Hmph.”

Jackson sighed. He looked at the mirror. It was no longer young energetic himself. He was full of white hair and his skin was filled with wrinkles.

‘Has this much time passed?’

He was too old. It was only 20 years, but 20 full years of adventures and change.

‘From a lieutenant of the gatekeepers to the Chancellor of the Empire…’

Jackson shook his head. Many memories shot past him.

‘It was a good life.’

Jackson smiled. He had experienced many good and bad times, but it was now time to rest. He wanted to sip some warm afternoon tea and read some books before bedtime.

‘I guess I can retire now.’

The Empire was now very stable. There wasn’t much to do on a regular day-to-day basis. Jackson then smiled and turned.

“Let’s go.”

As Jackson started walking out of the door, people began to follow him. The number soon increased to the hundreds as they marched toward the Gate.

As Jackson and the officials of the Khalodian Empire gathered in front of the area, everyone became tense. They didn’t know what happened during 10 years beyond the Gate, so they weren’t sure as to what might come over. But of course, that wasn’t likely.

“It’s opening! The Gate is opening!”

End of Chapter