Chapter Ninety-Two: The Imperial Capital in Peace, Part Five

“Your own empire?” Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and smiled, his delight having nothing to do with Andor’s offer. Behind Andor, he had finally seen what he had been waiting for.

“Praise the Goddess of Life!” Chu Tian pointed behind Andor. “Mr. Andor, I don’t think there’s any need for us to continue discussing business.”

“Father, save me!”

It was Anderson’s desperate cry. Anna had him firmly in her grasp, a jade-green arrow pressed tightly against his throat.

This was precisely the situation Chu Tian had been waiting for. Otherwise, he would never have wasted so much time talking with Andor.

His magical beasts might not have been able to evade Deck’s detection, but Anna could. Even a ninth-level Sword Saint had no way to see through the concealment abilities of an eighth-level Night Hunter.

Though Anna was inexperienced in worldly affairs, she was not foolish. After realizing that the situation in the hall had turned unfavorable, she immediately thought of Anderson, who was still waiting outside the mercenary headquarters. At that moment, Deck was busy capturing Chu Tian’s magical beasts, while the other men Andor had hidden nearby were being held back by the Imperial Guards. Thus, Anderson, a mere Bronze Knight, was easily captured by Anna.

At first, Chu Tian had been puzzled as to why Anna had not attacked when he was in danger. But when she deliberately shot an arrow wide, sending it outside the hall, he understood. The arrow had not been aimed at Andor. It had been a message telling Chu Tian that she was going outside to seize Anderson and take him hostage.

“Useless trash!” Andor glared at Anna—or rather, at his own good-for-nothing son. Yet even though Anderson had betrayed him and was now a hostage, Andor had only one son, his sole heir.

Thunder rolled. Red and white light flashed continuously across the sky. The battle between Scarlet Flame and the Bone Dragon had reached a life-and-death struggle, while the magical aftershocks raining down relentlessly ravaged the headquarters of the Earth Dragon Mercenary Group. Watching the battle, Redeno’s heart ached with every blow.

Just moments ago, after Andor’s magical beast had appeared, several thousand enemies dressed as mercenaries had suddenly emerged around the group’s headquarters.

The Imperial Guards commanded by Peake were all elite soldiers of the empire, and Redeno had brought the strongest fighters from his mercenary group to reinforce them. Yet even with such formidable strength, they could barely hold the enemy to a draw.

The quality of Caesar’s Imperial Guard left Redeno and the other mercenaries speechless. Each soldier was only a low-level professional, but when two thousand of them stood together, they inspired an instinctive terror.

“Form ranks!” Peake struck down the enemy before him with a single slash, then shouted, “Shields!”

The two thousand guards suddenly abandoned their individual opponents and contracted into a gigantic ring. In perfect unison, they raised the heavy shields in their left hands, while the long blades in their right hands continued to fend off the enemy.

“Commander Redeno!” Seeing that Redeno was still fighting, Peake hurriedly called out from beneath the shields in the center of the ring. “Get inside!”

Redeno, already drunk on slaughter, could not make out what Peake was saying. Instead, he charged even more fiercely into the enemy ranks. His long sword carved a bloody path through them, displaying the overwhelming might of an eighth-level draconic knight. But the enemy had its own experts, and before long two swordsmen had entangled him.

At that moment, the reason for Peake’s command became clear.

High above, a vast crimson cloud was torn apart by the Bone Dragon. A storm of burning fire fell like hailstones.

“Ah! Ah! Aah!”

Pitiful screams rose without end.

Bodies engulfed in flames ran wildly in every direction, desperately trying to extinguish the fire consuming them. Unfortunately, their efforts only scattered the charred corpses across the ground.

Compared with the enemy, Peake’s Imperial Guards were far more fortunate. Their two thousand shields formed an enormous umbrella, protecting their commander and comrades with desperate resolve. Yet the aftershocks of the battle between Scarlet Flame and the Bone Dragon were simply too powerful. Beneath the rain of fire, the weaker guards were crushed to pieces along with their shields, while the stronger ones struggled to hold up shields that were already on the verge of shattering.

From time to time, a guard within the formation was struck by a falling fragment of fire. Immediately, his comrades pressed their bodies against him, smothering the flames beneath the crush of their shields and armor. Whenever someone died beneath the fire, the ring contracted by one person, tightly filling the gap that had appeared.

At last, the fiery rain ended. The enemy ranks had been thrown into complete disarray. Peake naturally refused to let such an opportunity slip away. With a sweep of his sword, he charged out first.

“Crescent Formation! Attack!”

At Peake’s command, the ring swiftly stretched into a straight line, then bulged toward the side where the enemy was most concentrated. Like a crescent moon sweeping across the heavens, the formation cut through the battlefield. Before the terrified enemies could recover, they fell one after another into pools of blood beneath the curved tide of steel.

The enemy had already been scattered.

“Break formation! Encircle and destroy!”

Peake roared again. The crescent suddenly divided into countless smaller formations. Each little crescent swept toward an enemy, then rapidly closed into a ring. When the rings opened once more, the enemies within them were already dead beneath blades and swords.

Amid the trembling of the earth, an ancient draconic beast crawled slowly toward Redeno. It moved on all four limbs and resembled a stegosaurus from Earth’s prehistoric age.

“Haha, old friend, you finally came!”

Although Redeno had escaped fatal injury beneath the rain of fire, his beard and hair had been scorched nearly bare, leaving him in a miserable state. He lightly patted his magical beast, then pointed toward the two swordsmen who had been holding him back.

“Take one of them.”

With that, Redeno lunged at the other swordsman.

Without his mount, how could Redeno be called a draconic knight? Only with his magical beast at his side could he display his true strength.

In terms of personal battle aura, Redeno was actually a level above Canas. If his magical beast had not been an eighth-level draconic beast but a true dragon—even an eighth-tier dragon—then Redeno could genuinely have been called a Dragon Knight.

In the blink of an eye, the two swordsmen who had managed to hold Redeno at a disadvantage were destroyed. One was cleaved in two, while the other was smashed into a mass of flesh by the Earth Dragon’s enormous, bone-spiked tail.

Had Chu Tian been there to witness the scene, he would certainly have loudly praised the Goddess of Life. He had found himself an excellent laborer.

“Heh heh, how interesting!”

No one noticed that high above the brutal battlefield, a little boy dressed in clothing of many colors was sitting cross-legged in midair, watching everything with keen interest. Different lights shimmered in his eyes, and a horrifying scar was visible around one of his wrists as he rested his chin in both hands.

“Hahahaha! Andor’s Bone Dragon is quite impressive. Hmm, it looks like he doesn’t need my protection anymore.”

The little boy was Murphy. His eyes had been darting about as he enjoyed the spectacle, but they suddenly fixed upon a certain place.

“Hmm? Deck’s in trouble. Yay! I’m going to take a look…”

“Your Highness Fladino,” Andor said, as though he had not seen his threatened son at all. He continued speaking to Chu Tian. “You still haven’t answered me. Will you accept His Majesty Tyren’s invitation?”

Andor was not worried about his son’s safety because he believed that Chu Tian would never reject his offer.

“Mr. Andor, can you tell me what position you hold in Reis?” Andor had been able to offer such generous terms on behalf of Emperor Tyren, and he himself possessed the strength of an Undead God Mage. Clearly, his standing within the Reis Empire could not be insignificant.

“My identity? Heh, I’ve forgotten it myself.” Andor obviously had no intention of revealing the truth. Since Chu Tian had not yet agreed to serve Reis, everything remained uncertain. “If Your Highness accepts the invitation, you will naturally learn the answer once you arrive in Reis.”

“And what if I refuse your invitation?”

Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and smiled. In truth, he genuinely did not want to accept Andor’s offer. The prospect of becoming a founding emperor was undeniably tempting, but Chu Tian knew that he was incapable of such a thing. Even if Emperor Tyren truly allowed him to establish a nation, would the other nobles of Reis permit it? And although Chu Tian possessed powerful magical beasts, could they really govern a country?

Besides, Chu Tian’s interests were already tied to Emperor Ludi III. If he went to Reis, where would he obtain the gallstones he needed? Without them, what would he use to produce his potions? His other two sources of income were also connected to Caesar. The moment Chu Tian betrayed Caesar, the Pampas family would be delighted to confiscate his fortune, while Apache, far away on the battlefield, would also be placed in danger.

Why exhaust himself building an illusory nation, only to bear the disgrace of being branded a traitor, when he could remain at home, count his wealth beyond the dreams of kings, and comfortably enjoy the respect of others?

Faced with such a choice, Young Master Chu was far too clever to make the wrong decision.

Besides, he truly could not bear to part with Princess Selena.

“Oh? You don’t wish to accept the invitation?” A look of astonishment appeared on Andor’s kindly face. He asked incredulously, “Why? Could His Majesty Tyren’s sincerity be insufficient?”

Though the situation remained dangerous, Young Master Chu’s thoughts had already turned in another direction.

Praise the Goddess of Life! Goddess, though you are already dead, I still have to thank you for giving me an opportunity that comes once in a thousand years.

Heh heh. Every day, I’ve been wondering how I could move Princess Selena’s heart. And now the opportunity has finally arrived!

Gently taking Selena’s hands, Chu Tian discarded the sanctimonious expression he usually wore. In its place was boundless sincerity. Staring into his fiancée’s eyes, he said, “Selena, tell me—between an empire and you, which should I choose?”

“Heh…” Selena gave a bitter smile. Born into the imperial family, she had witnessed far too many instances of kin turning against kin. For the sake of kingdoms and power, was there anything men would not do?

“Fladino, I understand. I won’t blame you…”

“Haha, Your Highness, if you like, I can bring Selena with us to Reis.”

Andor relaxed. If he had not been pursuing power, he would never have spent thirty years undercover in Caesar.

“I want to become a founding emperor!”

Chu Tian stared into Selena’s ashen eyes. With one hand, he gently lifted her chin and said tenderly, “But I love you more…”

Then Chu Tian pressed his lips against Selena’s crimson ones.

[Chapter Ninety-Two: No War in the Imperial Capital, Part Five]

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