Chapter 49
What if he had never known?
That feeling of omnipotence where the whole world moved at his word.
Those brilliant days when he adorned himself with radiant gold and jewels, never doubting his success.
The blonde man sighed as he dwelled on such laments.
His appearance was utterly disheveled.
Bloodshot eyes and a face worn with exhaustion.
No one in the world would associate this unkempt man with the title of Golden Duke.
'Even though I'm alive, I don't feel like I'm living.'
He knew the taste of money and power. He had personally experienced what true strength meant. Yet because of that, the current reality was unbearably painful.
The crime he committed was trivially small.
Though assassination had crossed his mind, all he actually carried out was a single warning shot.
Disciplining one new professor.
Just for that, the whole world had become his enemy.
Treated worse than a demon. In the end, the Golden Duke had fallen to become a fugitive hunted by the Empire.
He couldn't even get proper sleep.
Never knowing when pursuers might find him. Unable to stay in one place, he had to sleep on newspapers in the streets.
His artifacts for escape were running low.
He was reaching his limit of erasing traces, manipulating memories, and temporarily deleting his own existence while fleeing.
Most terrifying of all was his financial state.
Though he had managed to grab one or two subspace bundles containing important items while fleeing in haste.
To the Golden Duke, gold coins had been as common as stones on the street.
Who in the world would waste subspace storage on mere pebbles? As a result, his remaining funds were despairingly meager.
Most of his escape artifacts were either used up or needed for future use, so he couldn't sell them. Obviously, walking into a bank and demanding his money was impossible too.
He had tried to seek asylum in the Holy Empire somehow, but the horrifying reality was that he fell far short of the necessary funds.
It was the current reality that the great Golden Duke faced death from lack of money, but he refused to give up.
He couldn't keep living on just rain and dust.
He would survive by any means necessary.
He had already thought of a method for that.
'I'll invest in H.L. Corp to raise funds for asylum.'
Though the Golden Duke despised Ryan, he trusted the new professor's abilities more than anyone else's.
Wouldn't it be strange not to trust him?
The artifact he had used on Ryan before. That grotesque flesh doll that fixed the worst possible future for its target.
Even that hadn't broken the new professor.
The mysteries contained in artifacts. Surely only another artifact could resist such miracles. Ryan must have used a defensive artifact anticipating his attack.
'The curse definitely manifested, but had no effect.'
He most likely used a blessing that resists curses.
Since the curse was established, the artifact the Golden Duke used seems to have been slightly more powerful. But Ryan's artifact must have been quite powerful too for the effect to be weakened.
If the flesh doll's power had been just a bit stronger, or if Ryan's prepared artifact had been just a bit weaker...
He wouldn't have fallen this far. Though such thoughts made him feel somewhat wronged, he had no intention of dwelling on a past defeat.
'The moment he anticipated an artifact-based attack and prepared means to counter it, I had already lost.'
That Ryan is definitely a monster.
A man who controls everything from behind the silver screen. A ruthless control freak and genius who makes all things his chess pieces.
Trying to destroy someone over mere disciplinary action.
Crushing those who challenge his authority while keeping his own hands clean. Always maintaining the position of victim.
Looking down on everyone alone from on high, manipulating people's hearts to guide situations as he wishes.
Though that sight was certainly astonishing...
'This time I'll turn his competence against him.'
The Golden Duke knew who Ryan was.
He knew about that absurd superhuman insight.
Therefore, he knew Ryan never failed.
H.L. Corporation's stock would rise.
Ryan had declared this to all citizens of the Empire.
Many people had already invested large sums trusting that professor. So how much criticism would Ryan face if the stock crashed here?
His carefully built reputation would crumble.
An act of folly that seemed to tarnish his own authority.
That genius would never allow such an outcome.
H.L. Corporation had no choice but to rise.
Some innovative invention would emerge to dramatically increase the company's value, and everyone would marvel at Ryan's insight.
The scenario was already set in stone.
Having drawn the winning hand, what needed to be done was simple.
All in, even mortgaging his soul.
He invested his entire holdings there, believing without doubt his money would multiply dozens or hundreds of times.
A smile naturally formed at the predetermined victory.
The Golden Duke was able to sleep with a smile for the first time in a long while...
And today. The Golden Duke's world came crashing down.
He rubbed his eyes in a daze.
He slapped both his cheeks hard with his hands.
But those terrible four characters remained.
[H.L. Corporation, Hidden Truth Revealed.]
Tears streamed down his cheeks the moment he saw the newspaper announcing the delisting.
Could there be a chance for compensation from the government?
Since this happened due to misunderstandings while reporting a hidden criminal organization, might there be room for relief?
Though he tried to run such hopeful circuits, it was useless.
Not only would stock refunds be impossible, but even if the government offered compensation it would mean nothing.
Stocks purchased while a fugitive.
How could they have been bought through normal means?
Money invested through all sorts of roundabout methods, proxies, and black routes. Naturally, expecting compensation was impossible.
In other words, he had lost all his assets.
The Golden Duke, famous for his wealth, had from this moment become just another beggar on the street.
The question of why fills his head.
And it didn't take long for the answer to come.
'Ryan, that damn bastard...'
The newspapers were clamoring.
That Professor Ryan had purely warned everyone because he thought the company was suspicious. That everyone trapped in materialistic thinking had failed to understand that warning.
But the Golden Duke knew.
That Ryan wasn't such a pure person.
That while pretending to be noble and more upright than anyone, he was a control freak more obsessed with power than anyone.
'Just how far do you plan to mock me!'
His words could be misinterpreted.
Telling people to watch a company could make its stock rise.
Ryan wasn't stupid enough not to know such an obvious fact. Then why did Ryan make statements so open to misinterpretation, why was there a need for such words?
There could only be one reason to think of.
...To trap him.
A warrior who had reached the Heart-Sword realm.
Though killing the Golden Duke would be simple if he wanted, he deliberately used such methods instead.
You are in the palm of my hand.
No matter how much you struggle, you cannot defeat me.
Now watch.
Without even lifting a finger myself, haven't you been skillfully manipulated by me into strangling your own neck?
How laughably pathetic.
He could almost hear such a voice.
Ryan was openly mocking him right now.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
His teeth ground together madly.
He could not possibly contain the surging emotions.
Finally, the last thread of reason snapped.
With bloodshot eyes, he pulled out the flesh doll.
Power weakened by the passage of time.
Cursed energy that seemed ready to break at any moment.
This artifact had consumed 666 innocent humans just to activate. To forcibly revive these dying embers would surely require an unthinkable price.
Even thousands of souls might only extend its life by a day. Moreover, he had no leisure for murder now.
However. Despite all that.
There was no need to worry at all.
For the souls to use as payment were right here.
He had bought his glory with money.
The Golden Duke's power was built on purchased lives.
His achievements were made by devouring countless souls.
There could be no finer material than this.
The flesh doll ravenously devoured the man's soul.
Terrible pain soon overwhelmed him.
But rather, a smile formed on the Golden Duke's lips.
"Fear! Tremble in terror, Ryan!"
The doll once again emanating ominous cursed energy.
Gazing at it, the Golden Duke proudly declared.
"I shall personally show you 'true hell.'"