<Steiner Landerck (Count)>
Possessed Traits: Meister (S), Knight of the Iron Bastion (Unique A), Old Loyal Retainer (B), Noble (D) – Additional traits unavailable for viewing.
Overview: A genius sword-saint born from the Landerck house, one of the ancient loyalist families of the Felberg Empire. He reached the realm of Meister—called sword-saint—at the young age of early thirties and is one of the nobles loyal to the Empire and the imperial house.
Count Landerck’s settings were almost exactly as Kain had expected.
Like Viscount Keilid, only four traits were revealed, but the Unique A-rank “Knight of the Iron Bastion” stood out.
Unique traits were, as the name implied, exclusive to that character alone.
Kain remembered the details of the A-rank unique trait “Knight of the Iron Bastion,” and once again felt profound relief that Count Steiner Landerck had not met his death in the grand banquet hall on Founding Day.
“While preparations for the coronation are flawless and security in the grand plaza has been perfected to the utmost, I cannot guarantee absolute safety.”
After Kain finished examining the setting book, Count Steiner Landerck cautiously reported.
“Since the catastrophe on Founding Day, the Empire has been greatly weakened.”
Count Landerck explained with a sorrowful expression.
The Empire’s military forces remained largely intact, but the commanders who led them—and the Grand Chevalier-class knights and high-ranking mages who formed the true backbone of the Empire’s martial power—had become corpses in the grand banquet hall.
Moreover, the five great imperial knight orders that the Felberg Empire prided itself on had suffered devastating losses that day.
Only the Third and Fifth Imperial Knight Orders could be said to have retained relatively intact strength.
Thus, rather than utter empty lies, Count Landerck candidly laid bare the Empire’s miserable reality.
“If those who attacked the grand banquet hall that day return, every loyal subject will lay down their lives to protect Your Highness… yet even then, I cannot promise safety.”
Count Landerck spoke honestly.
In the blood-soaked grand banquet hall on Founding Day had stood the Empire’s most revered Meister, Count Royce Horizon; the grand mage-level Grey Tower Lord Albus Grey; the Imperial Mage Tower Lord Hermann Melstapho; and even Veil Sunchaser—the youngest ever appointed Meister and hope of the Empire.
All had met vain ends.
That was why Count Steiner Landerck could not promise Kain absolute safety.
If those assassins returned, the Empire was finished.
Yet to such a report, Kain replied calmly.
“If those assassins had intended to kill me that day, my throat would already have been cut long ago. The fact that they have not appeared until now means—regardless of who sent them or why—they are a blade that cannot be used frequently. Don’t you think so?”
As Kain, far from his wastrel image, calmly analyzed the situation, Count Steiner Landerck quietly bowed his head in shame at his own lack of confidence.
“There is also the possibility they are waiting for the coronation to slaughter me in public. But canceling the coronation for that reason makes no sense. And I have at least one trump card of my own, so there is no need to worry excessively. The Count need only do his utmost in his position.”
“…Until my final moment, I will devote my life to loyalty.”
After Count Steiner Landerck reaffirmed his resolve and departed, leaving Kain alone in the reception room, a new system message suddenly appeared in his vision.
[The Main Story “Make the Crumbling Empire Great Again” will soon commence.]
[To lead the Felberg Empire back to its golden age, survive the threat of uninvited guests attending the coronation. Upon successful survival, a random Sigil will be rewarded.]
The arrow had left the bow; there was no turning back now.
Time flew by, and amid flawless preparations, coronation day arrived before anyone realized.
“Finally… today.”
Having finished changing into splendid ceremonial robes with the maids’ assistance, Kain stood before a full-length mirror before heading to the inner citadel’s grand plaza where the coronation was scheduled.
He reexamined everything that had happened so far and everything he still had to accomplish.
In the Founding Day catastrophe, the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and every royal except Kain had been massacred.
Now the bloodline of the imperial house—the very foundation of the Felberg Empire—rested solely on the infamous wastrel Third Prince, Kain Felberg.
When the Primordial Hatred sleeping at the far northern end raises its head, and the legions of evil gather upon the land of beginnings, civilization will perish and the world will meet its end. To prevent this, the forgotten power, the “Will to Annihilate Evil,” must be forged into the sword.
A prophetic passage quietly passed down since the ancient mythic age.
It was also bait summarizing the unfolding of the main story in Empire Heroic Legend.
The 32-year-old Kang Ji-hoon—who had run rampant in both planning and development from the earliest stages as overall director—had borrowed heavily from the fantasy novels he had devoured since childhood.
Thus Empire Heroic Legend was built upon the classic framework of an ancient great evil, apocalypse, and a hero’s good-versus-evil confrontation to save the world.
The antagonistic forces mentioned in the prophecy—“Primordial Hatred” and the “Legions of Evil”—were designed to reveal ever-greater power as time passed, while the original protagonist, Veil Sunchaser—now dead—was meant to overcome hardships to obtain rewards and stop them.
Right after possession, Kain had thought he could simply watch safely from the rear while being protected…
But the situation had changed drastically.
The protagonist meant to raise the torch of hope against the great evil, Veil Sunchaser, had died fighting unidentified assassins in the grand banquet hall.
Now, to avoid the world’s destruction ending, someone had to take the protagonist’s place.
Now I have to play the protagonist. There is no other way.
No other choice existed.
There was no guarantee that dying in this world would wake the 32-year-old Kang Ji-hoon back in his original body, and continuing to live here meant facing the world’s scheduled destruction.
Moreover, with countless unpublished DLCs applied without balance work, the main story had already gone far off the rails.
To save this world—now not far from ruin—the former developer, now the sole surviving imperial, Kain, had no choice but to replace the dead Veil as the protagonist.
“Yes, I have no other choice now.”
Looking at his reflection in the full-length mirror, Kain gave a wry smile.
Empire Heroic Legend was a game the 32-year-old Kang Ji-hoon had poured his youth into, nearly completing.
Though it had been pushed toward cancellation for various reasons, it was not just parental bias—Empire Heroic Legend had truly been a high-quality game.
Perhaps because of lingering attachment to the work, or for some other reason…
Now that he was possessed here, resolving the situation was not easy.
Though the 32-year-old Kang Ji-hoon possessing the wastrel prince Kain Felberg felt affection for the world he had created, the main story had already diverged completely from the original setting, so he had no clear plan yet.
Yet despite that, he felt a growing desire to prevent the world’s destruction and reach the end of the main story.
Whatever had happened, this game was his spiritual child.
Empire Heroic Legend—a game he had thought he would never see the ending of.
Now its ending rested in his own hands; the feeling was new.
“Your Highness. It is time. You must now proceed to the grand plaza.”
With a knock, the door opened and Baron Denver entered, bowing politely.
Kain quickly scanned Denver’s setting book as well.
<Heinrich Denver (Baron)>
Possessed Traits: Grand Chevalier (A), Destiny of the Great Sword-Saint (Unique A), Old Loyal Retainer (B), Lazy Genius (B) – Additional traits unavailable for viewing.
Overview: Heinrich Denver is a talented knight from a loyalist house that, though not particularly prestigious, has long devoted itself to the Felberg Empire. After losing his entire family to a plot by the Empire’s Five Pillars faction, his spirit broke; even on the verge of reaching sword-saint level, he fell into despair. Yet broken spirit does not erase talent. Show him the possibility of revenge, and his explosive potential may awaken once more.
It was Baron Heinrich Denver’s setting, which Kain had been too busy to check until now.
Even with a developer’s memories, the world of Empire Heroic Legend was too vast to remember every character.
Yet Denver’s backstory had left a strong enough impression to remain roughly in memory.
A knight with the talent and destiny to become a legendary sword-saint, but whose life lost all meaning before his potential could bloom—shattered by the schemes of nobles in the Five Pillars faction.
Though he never strayed from loyalty, he had lost the will to reach sword-saint level.
His tragic past was perfectly described in the setting book opened via the Wanderer privilege.
“Baron Denver. Nervous?”
Kain asked playfully, looking at the loyal escort knight who had been his only friend and conversation partner during exile.
At the light tone, Denver’s tense face relaxed into a faint smile.
“Why would I be nervous? Isn’t Your Highness the one who is far more tense?”
“I’m not nervous at all. Perfectly fine.”
Kain shrugged, exuding strong composure.
But the briefly lightened mood did not last long.
“Baron Denver. Before I ascend the throne, there is something I want to say. May I?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I’m no good at beating around the bush, so I’ll be direct.”
The moment they left the bedroom and entered the corridor, Kain looked straight at Heinrich Denver and revealed clear intent.
“I know what happened to your house. I can imagine how you feel. It will be hard right now, but someday I will create an opportunity for you, Baron Denver, to settle your old grudge. I promise it won’t take long. Do you understand what I mean?”
He did not speak at length, but it was enough for Denver.
When the explanation ended, he looked at Kain with resolute eyes and slowly bowed his head.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“So today, protect me with your life. So that I may safely become Emperor.”
The Empire’s Five Pillars faction was strongly suspected as the masterminds behind the Founding Day catastrophe.
They stood to gain the most from slaughtering the entire imperial bloodline and eliminating the Emperor’s faction.
Even if they were not the culprits, the fact remained that they had reaped enormous benefits from the events in the grand banquet hall.
Moreover, using that as a foundation, the Five Pillars factions were now steadily amassing military power as if preparing outright rebellion.
They had merely refrained from attacking first—so far.
The relationship with the Five Pillars was now irreversible.
Civil war was at hand.
Resolving this would mean granting vengeance to Baron Denver, who had lost his entire family and house to the Five Pillars.
“I will protect you with my life.”
The once-wandering genius of the sword finally reaffirmed his resolve.