Rou did not even have time to fully catch his breath.
Emrys was still standing before him, motionless in the middle of the crater created by his arrival. His face was covered in tears that continued to flow without interruption, while an overwhelming killing intent spread around him. Rou had never felt such a presence coming from his master. Even during the most difficult training sessions, even when Emrys had truly been angry with his students, Rou had never felt anything remotely close to this.
Rou tried to stand up.
Emrys was faster.
He grabbed Rou by his clothes and forced him back to his feet before delivering another blow. The young man was sent flying several meters away and rolled across the ground before managing to stop himself. He tried to push himself up with one arm, but Emrys was already on top of him.
Another strike sent him back to the ground.
"Why?!"
Emrys' voice echoed through the surroundings.
Rou did not answer.
Emrys grabbed him again and forced him to raise his head.
"Why did you do that?!"
Another blow followed.
Rou was thrown back once more.
"Why?!"
Emrys reached him in only a few steps.
"Answer me!"
Rou opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Emrys struck him again.
He was not trying to fight him. He was not trying to test his abilities. He was not even trying to make him understand anything. His movements had no particular technique. He was simply hitting him again and again, as if he was trying to release something inside himself that he could no longer contain.
"Now that you have had your revenge..."
His voice trembled slightly.
Emrys struck again.
"Do you feel better now?!"
Rou remained on the ground.
Emrys grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
"Huh?!"
Another blow.
"Do you feel better now?!"
Rou fell again.
Emrys followed him.
"Was it worth it?!"
Rou tried to speak.
"Your Majesty..."
Emrys hit him before he could continue.
"Was it worth it?!"
His voice echoed once more.
Rou still did not answer.
Emrys grabbed him by his clothes and pulled him closer.
"Tell me!"
Rou felt Emrys' hands trembling slightly against his clothing.
"Tell me if it was worth it!"
No answer.
Emrys released him violently and struck him again.
"Lonni is dead!"
Another blow.
"Nono is dead!"
Another.
"Farel!"
Rou took the next hit and fell heavily.
"Adrian!"
Emrys lifted Rou again.
"Grey!"
Another strike.
"Heim!"
This time, Emrys remained motionless for several seconds after hitting him.
His breathing was uneven.
Tears continued to fall down his face.
Then he started again.
"They are dead..."
His voice had become quieter.
He struck Rou.
"They are all dead..."
Another blow.
"And you..."
Emrys grabbed Rou by the collar.
"You came back."
Rou still could not find anything to answer.
Emrys pushed him away.
The young man fell to the ground again.
"Why them?"
This time, his voice trembled more.
"Why them?!"
He struck him again.
"Why are you the one who came back and not them?!"
Rou remained silent.
Emrys raised his hands toward his face before letting them fall.
He wiped his cheeks roughly, but the tears continued to flow.
"You knew they could die..."
He stopped.
Then his voice rose again.
"You knew!"
Rou closed his eyes.
"They knew too..."
Emrys froze.
The moment Rou had barely spoken those words, Emrys grabbed him again.
"Don't tell me that!"
He slammed him onto the ground.
"Don't tell me that!"
Another strike.
"I don't want to hear it!"
Another.
"I don't want to know!"
His voice completely broke.
"I just want to know if it was worth it!"
Rou remained lying on the ground.
Emrys stood above him.
For several seconds, no sound came from his mouth.
Then he asked:
"Iklia..."
Rou slightly opened his eyes.
"What would she have done if you had never come back?"
Emrys did not give him time to answer.
"Huh?!"
He struck again.
"What would she have done?!"
Rou took the blow and remained on the ground.
"You thought about her when you left?"
Silence.
"You thought about her when you went there?"
Rou did not answer.
Emrys leaned toward him.
"Did you think about her when you believed you were going to die?"
His voice trembled.
"Did you think about her?"
Rou closed his eyes.
Emrys straightened up.
He remained still for a few seconds before slowly raising his arm.
His fist was then covered with a layer of Armament Haki.
Rou immediately felt the difference.
His body tensed.
The amount of power concentrated in that single strike surpassed everything he had endured until then.
Emrys pulled his arm back slightly.
Rou understood.
This time, the blow would be different.
There was no chance he would survive it.
Rou did not move.
Emrys' fist shot forward.
At the last moment, the trajectory changed.
The fist passed beside Rou and slammed into the ground behind him.
The explosion was deafening.
The earth was violently thrown in every direction. A shockwave spread across the area as a gigantic crater formed behind Rou.
The young man remained motionless.
Emrys slowly removed his fist from the ground.
Dust was still floating in the air.
Then he turned his face toward Rou.
"Answer me."
His voice was much lower.
"Was all of this worth it?"
Rou remained silent for several seconds.
He heard his own breathing.
He heard the wind.
He heard the pieces of earth falling around the crater.
Then he answered.
"No."
Emrys said nothing.
Rou added nothing.
A moment later, a precise strike knocked him unconscious.
Emrys remained standing before him for a few seconds.
Then he approached, grabbed Rou by the collar, and began dragging him behind him.
When they arrived in front of Dun Scaith, several inhabitants immediately moved out of the way.
No one asked any questions.
Emrys continued inside the castle.
He brought Rou back to his room, placed him on the bed, and asked the healers to take care of him.
Then he left.
Two days passed.
When Rou finally opened his eyes, it took him several seconds to understand where he was.
The ceiling of the room was familiar to him.
The presence beside him was even more familiar.
"Rou?"
He slightly turned his head.
Iklia was sitting beside the bed.
The moment she realized he was awake, she moved her wheelchair forward and immediately embraced him.
Rou remained motionless.
Iklia said nothing.
Her arms simply surrounded his body as she held him tightly.
Rou eventually raised one hand and gently placed it against her back.
"Iklia..."
She did not answer.
She remained like that for a few moments before pulling away slightly.
Rou then sensed another presence approaching from the corridor.
The door opened.
Emrys entered.
He did not offer any greeting.
He did not ask how Rou was feeling.
Nor did he ask Iklia to leave.
He simply entered the room, took a chair, and sat down.
Silence settled over the room.
Then Emrys spoke.
"Honestly, I thought about exiling you for life."
Iklia's eyes widened.
Rou, however, showed no surprise.
Emrys continued calmly.
"Not only did what you did cost your companions their lives, but it also put Ulster in danger."
Iklia remained silent.
Rou listened attentively.
"If Stigma had discovered the existence of Ulster, the consequences could have been considerable. You all knew the rules. You knew what you were risking by leaving this place to go there."
Emrys paused briefly.
"However, after thinking about it with a clear head over the past few days, I realized several things."
Rou waited.
"For one thing, you couldn't have taken them with you if they hadn't wanted to go."
Emrys crossed his arms.
"You spent more than twenty years together. You trained together. You fought together. You knew each other well enough to make that decision together."
He paused again.
"And I don't think you were the only instigator behind this foolish revenge."
Rou lowered his head slightly.
"If I have to be honest with myself, the most logical explanation is that all of you agreed to it."
Iklia remained silent.
Emrys continued.
"On the other hand, you weren't stupid enough to break the Code of Hammurabi."
Rou slightly raised his head.
"And you weren't strong enough to break it either."
Emrys extended one hand.
A light appeared in the room.
The Code of Hammurabi materialized before him.
The book floated for a moment before becoming stable in the air.
"Despite everything you were planning, no information concerning Ulster was revealed. You did not reveal its existence. You did not reveal that you came from here. You did not transmit any information that would allow Stigma to find our kingdom."
Emrys turned his face toward Rou.
"Therefore, exiling you would seem unfair to me."
Rou slightly frowned.
"Unfair?"
"Yes. Unfair."
Emrys answered without hesitation.
"Don't misunderstand me. Not unfair to you."
He pointed toward Iklia.
"But to her."
Iklia remained silent.
Emrys continued:
"You came back alive. She was still waiting for you. You already nearly took away someone she cares about. I'm not going to take that person away from her a second time simply because I decide to send you somewhere else to live."
Rou lowered his eyes.
"That's why I chose another punishment."
Rou raised his head.
Emrys placed the Code on his lap.
"You are going to become the new leader of Ulster."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Rou remained motionless.
"...What?"
"You heard me."
"But why?"
Emrys slightly tilted his head.
"Because you are capable of doing it."
Rou still did not seem to understand.
"After what I did... you want to entrust Ulster to me?"
"I'm not entrusting Ulster to you because I consider what you did acceptable."
Emrys spoke calmly.
"And don't take this as an honor."
Rou remained silent.
"There is nothing honorable about it."
Emrys placed one hand on the Code.
"Aside from living in the castle, you will have practically no additional privileges. In a certain sense, you will be exactly the same as everyone else."
Rou frowned.
"Then... why call it being the leader?"
"Because the responsibilities will be yours."
Emrys made several documents appear before him.
"For the next thirty years, you will be responsible for the management of Ulster."
Rou looked at the documents.
"Thirty years?"
"Thirty years."
Emrys continued in a perfectly calm voice.
"You will have to oversee the administration of the kingdom. Security. Resources. Construction. Conflicts between inhabitants. Relations between the different races. Any problems concerning the villages. Decisions regarding infrastructure. The people responsible for each area."
Rou remained silent.
"You will be able to delegate certain tasks. I'm not cruel enough to ask you to manage every single detail yourself."
Iklia showed a slight reaction at those words.
Emrys immediately continued.
"But whenever something goes wrong, the final responsibility will be yours."
Rou gradually understood where Emrys was going with this.
"And if I want to leave?"
Emrys answered immediately.
"You can leave."
Rou raised his head.
"Really?"
"After the thirty years and once you have found your replacement."
Rou remained silent.
"You cannot simply abandon your position because you have had enough. You will have to find someone capable of taking your place, train them, teach them what they need to know, and properly prepare the transition."
Emrys made the documents disappear.
"You will not be able to leave Ulster behind without a leader."
Rou looked at the Code of Hammurabi.
"And if I refuse?"
Emrys remained silent for several seconds.
Then he answered:
"That's why I prepared the Code of Hammurabi."
Rou immediately understood.
Emrys did not need to elaborate.
"I'm serious, Rou."
He placed one hand on the book.
"I'm not going to let you spend the next thirty years looking for a way to get around your responsibilities."
Rou slightly lowered his head.
"Why thirty years?"
"Because it's long enough for you to understand what it really means to devote your existence to something."
Emrys paused.
"You devoted more than twenty years of your life to learning, fighting, and preparing for revenge. Now, you are going to devote the next thirty years to something else."
Rou remained silent.
"Your life no longer belongs to you in the same way it did before."
Emrys spoke without raising his voice.
"It belongs to the people of Ulster in the sense that you have accepted the responsibility of protecting and serving them. And it also belongs to Iklia in the sense that you must now assume the responsibilities you have toward her."
Iklia slightly lowered her head.
"That does not mean she is your property or that you owe her anything she does not want. It simply means that you can no longer consider your own goals more important than the people who depend on you."
Rou remained silent.
Emrys stood up.
"You wanted to give your life to something. Fine."
He made the Code disappear.
"Give it to Ulster."
Rou did not answer.
"And this time, make sure it serves a purpose."
Emrys walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he stopped.
"And Rou."
The young man raised his head.
"Don't take this decision as proof that I trust you."
Rou remained motionless.
"I don't trust you yet."
Emrys opened the door.
"But I think you can become someone I can trust."
Then he left the room.
Rou remained silent on the bed.
Iklia was still beside him.