The Emperors narrowed their eyes.
"You don't have a choice," Empress Nivera said.
At this moment, several pictures shot through Gregorio's mind.
All of these were pictures of his adventure with Lucius.
All the fun they had together.
All the wonders they had discovered.
All the mysteries they had uncovered.
It was such a great life.
A moment later, Gregorio looked at the sky.
And for just a moment, it seemed like Gregorio could look past the sky.
A new picture appeared in his mind.
It was an image of him and Shang traveling across the stars.
They were finding huge beasts as big as planets and fighting Gods that could turn Aterium to dust with a mere step.
And maybe…
A distant silhouette grew closer and eventually turned into Lucius.
Maybe, he could revive Lucius.
There was more to uncover.
There were more adventures waiting for him.
And he wouldn't allow anyone to stop him!
SHING!
Something appeared above Gregorio's hands, and the Emperors readied for battle.
Yet, Gregorio hadn't summoned a weapon.
He had summoned a bracelet.
The Emperors looked at the bracelet with furrowed brows.
"No!" Jenny suddenly shouted in shock. "How?! You wouldn't!"
"Why wouldn't I?" Gregorio asked with narrowed eyes. "You essentially want me to live a life worse than death. What do I have to lose?"
"You recognize that bracelet?" Empress Bina asked Jenny.
Empress Jenny nodded solemnly. "You have all seen it before, a long time ago."
"This bracelet looks just like the one that Lucius gave the Archivist," Jenny said.
The eyes of the Emperors widened in shock, and they looked at the bracelet.
They could feel it.
After such a long time, they finally feel it again.
It was Lucius' Magic!
This bracelet exhibited the aura of Lucius' Magic!
For just a moment, the eyes of Jenny, Bina, Nivera, Isis, and Linastra turned heartbroken and misty.
They were reminded of the death of the one person they had loved with all their heart.
But then, their eyes narrowed as they glared at Gregorio.
"Yes," Gregorio said. "This does exactly what you think it does."
"When Lucius suppressed the Archivist with the bracelet, he gave me a sister bracelet in case the world is ever in danger."
"If I break this bracelet, the bracelet on the Archivist's arm will also break."
"I wonder what he will do when he is free."
"I wonder what you can do against a Peak Mage Emperor that is millions of years old."
"Will he do nothing?"
"Or will he kill all of us?"
"But the real question is…"
"Are you willing to take that risk?"
The Emperors gritted their teeth.
The Archivist was the only Emperor that Lucius hadn't killed back then.
The main reason was that the Archivist was a Mage.
Another reason was that the Archivist was beyond ancient.
In fact, the Archivist had lived through several eras of unstoppable hegemons.
Over the eras, he had been subject to one suppressing Spell after the other.
The hegemon of said era always allowed the Archivist to survive, but only under the premise that he would be suppressed by a Spell that would stop him from hurting the hegemon's friends.
The new hegemon always got rid of the old hegemon's Spell and replaced it with their own.
The most recent hegemon had been Lucius, and Lucius' Magic still suppressed the Archivist to this day.
The Archivist hadn't been truly free in millions of years since one suppressive Spell immediately followed another.
If Gregorio broke that bracelet, the Archivist would be truly free.
No one knew what the Archivist would do, and no one knew how powerful the Archivist actually was.
The only proof of his power had been Lucius' words.
Back then, Lucius had said that he would only be sure of his victory after becoming a Peak Mage Emperor himself.
This had been beyond crazy since Lucius had killed the Weapon Grandmaster when he had only been an Early Mage Emperor, and the fight hadn't even really been that difficult except for that one attack.
This meant that the Archivist was several times stronger than the Weapon Grandmaster, who was stronger than half the Mage Emperors living today.
Kali and Gregorio would probably win against the Weapon Grandmaster today, but they wouldn't win against the Archivist.
"You kill one of our friends, and now you threaten us with the Archivist?!" Linastra shouted in outrage. "Are you insane, Gregorio?!"
"This isn't like you," Isis said as she looked at Gregorio. "You didn't use to be like this."
The other Emperors shook their heads in disappointment.
What happened to the cheerful Gregorio?
When had he turned so sinister?
"What do you want?" Emperor Brutus asked. "You must have something in mind."
"Two things," Gregorio said.
"First, I think the world has been a bit too peaceful ever since we became Emperors. Whenever anyone joins an Empire, they are essentially perfectly safe forever."
"Peaceful times don't make for powerful Mages."
"I want the peace laws to be severely cut down except for the Kings and Emperors."
The Emperors looked at each other in surprise.
That was a weird demand.
"And one more thing," he said.
Gregorio pointed at the Inheritor Sphere in Kali's hands.
The Emperors gritted their teeth.
"Don't get angry just yet," Gregorio said. "I'm not demanding the Inheritor Sphere."
The Emperors waited for an elaboration.
"I want to solve this conflict once and for all," he said.
"You probably want to give this Inheritor Sphere to Abaddon, but I have different plans."
"I know that I can't force you guys too much, which is why I'm willing to make some concessions."
"Abaddon should be about 40,000 years old today."
"Since a Mage King can live for roughly 100,000 years, I think we have some time left."
"In 50,000 years, I want there to be a tournament."
"Every King in the world will take part in this tournament."
"And the strongest King gets to take the Inheritor Sphere and absorb it to become an Emperor."
