Ace grabbed Maeve's hand among the cheers and walked towards the thrones, sitting on it with an imperial aura surrounding them.
"Long Live Vorst Empire!"
"Long Live The Emperor and The Empress!"
The cheers halted as Ace raised his hand.
"I order the previous heads of the 6 noble families to be here within an hour!" Ace ordered.
"…" Silence befell in the throne room once more. After 1 minute, one of the noble came forward.
"Your majesty, the previous head of the Lev family is not in his best condition and is advised to stay in bed until better, I would lik-"
"I don't care!
I haven't requested their presence.
I have ordered it!
If any family goes against the imperial orders will be charged with treason and will be wiped out from the empire!" Ace refuted in a cold tone.
The noble paled before nodding with a bow.
"T-they shall be here… your majesty"
Just like him, the other 5 nobles sent the message and the 6 previous heads were called.
…
An hour later, the 6 heads were standing in the throne room and Ace looked at them with a smirk.
"M-M-Maeve…" Wilder Zmijz, the previous head of Zmijz family stuttered as he saw Maeve sitting on the empress throne beside the new emperor.
"Oh? You remember me, Wilder?" Maeve smiled that didn't look like a smile at all.
"You... Is that how you talk with you fathe-"
"Wilder Zmij, you are talking with the Empress of the Empire, mind your words." Ace interrupted.
Wilder clicked his tongue as he glanced at Ace and Maeve with hatred.
The other 5 nobles frowned when they saw Wilder looking at the empress so intently but soon, they remembered the name Maeve and after connecting few dots, their eyes went wide as they saw the new emperor.
The other nobles present inside the room furrowed their brows as they weren't able to understand what was going on here.
"Ace Vrest…" Wilder muttered with a sour look.
Other noble's eyes went wide when they heard the name, Vrest.
Who didn't know who Vrest were?
Suddenly, the image of a 10-year-old boy appeared in their mind, and as they looked at the current emperor, the image superimposed with his current face.
"Ace Vrest…" they all muttered.
'How is he still alive!?' Every single noble present in the room had the same question in their mind.
*Pierce*
Before the 6 family heads could react, Ace disappeared from his throne and appeared in front of Wilder, stabbing his waist and taking out his core.
Wilder's eyes went wide as he saw his, along with the other 5 cores in the hands of the new emperor. He then looked at his right and left and saw the other family heads in a similar condition as his.
*Clap* *Clap*
Ace clapped his hands and exactly 36 soldiers entered the room.
"Don't kill them" Ace ordered and returned back to his throne.
The images of his father beaten by six other family heads appeared in his mind. He shook his head and looked forward, where the scene was recreating itself.
"Aggh!"
"No-aghh!"
"Aaghh!!"
The 6 powerless family heads getting beaten by 6 soldiers each, just like how they did with his father.
Their children tried to intervene but were stopped by a wall of fiery hot black-red magma Magma.
They turned towards the emperor and saw him standing with golden wings on his back.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
"Emperor! No! Mercy!"
"Emperor! They are already old! Please, Mercy!"
They kowtowed and banged their head on the ground and pleaded with tears in their eyes.
Ace smiled as he saw the soldiers thrashing his enemies while he completely ignored the nobles' cries.
'I have avenged you, father'
Ace closed his eyes as images of his father smiling at him as he played with his mother appeared in his mind. 2 drops of warm tears rolled on his cheeks while Maeve held his hand from behind.
"If you want, I can let your father live" Ace proposed.
"I already told you, you are the only family for me. Anyone else doesn't matter" Maeve replied and Ace nodded.
He then turned his attention towards the 6 nobles and the air around them turned heavier.
*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh*
Just like he did with the general, Air blades flew and started cutting the previous patriarchs, limb by limb.
"AARRGHHH!!" they cried in pain.
"PLEASE! MERCY!" while their children pleaded.
But nothing mattered, under the pressure of a Divinity, in the next 5 minutes, the previous family patriarch's bodies were lying on the floor surrounded by blood and gore.
"Clean this litter, feed them to dogs or something" Ace ordered.
"You… YOU ARE A MONSTER!" one of the noblewomen roared in rage.
"I am" Ace replied.
"I am the monster you all created" Ace declared and the hall turned silent.
"..."
"You shall be grateful that I am not massacring your entire family even though I have the power to do so, you Bitch!" Ace continued coldly.
"From now on, all the 6 noble families will turn into 3rd tier families with 70% of their wealth will be seized by the empire" Ace roared and the nobles paled.
Nobles were divided into tiers, 3rd tier, 2nd tier, and 1st tier. The six noble families were the only 1st tier nobles in the empire. The rest were 2nd and 3rd tier with less influence all over the empire.
"Your majesty you can't do this, you can't demote our families without any reason it is against the law" One of the nobles complained.
"Yes your majesty, you can't do this!" The others refuted, thinking that if they group together, they might be able to force the emperor to change his decision.
"Oh? I can't? That is against the rule?
Alright, if it is against the rule, you all can file a report in the imperial court whose supreme judge is the emperor, Ace vorste. I am pretty sure he will help you all and will be just." Ace smirked and answered.
"I will be sending imperial guards to collect the money, if any one of you disobeys the emperor's order, their family shall be eradicated.
You are all dismissed." Ace declared and stood up.
Though unwilling, the nobles stood up. But all nobles weren't down, some were extremely happy. They were 2nd and 3rd tier nobles, they knew it was their chance to impress the emperor and increase their influence.
The hall became empty again and Ace exhaled deeply.
"I took my revenge…" He muttered with moist eyes and Maeve placed his head on her bosom.
"I took my revenge *sniff* *sniff*" He cried in happiness while Maeve patted his head.
"You took your revenge, Ace, you took your revenge..." Maeve muttered in a soothing tone as they stayed in that position for 5 minutes until they heard a knock.
*Knock* *Knock*
Ace quickly stood up straight and wiped his tears before they both returned to their respected thrones.
"Come in" Ace ordered.
The door opened and General Luke appeared.
"Your majesty, how do you plan to deal with Halous Family?" He questioned.
"Ahh… the previous imperial family…" Ace muttered as he looked at Maeve, remembering something.
"Bring them here, along with the previous emperor." He ordered.
"As you command, your majesty" The general bowed and left.
...
*Clang* *Clung*
A while later, sounds of chins being dragged were heard, as Vlade Halous, his wives, children, and children's spouses appeared, chained with anti-elemental chains.
"Greetings Imperial family, or should I say previous Imperial family" Ace mocked as he stood up from his throne and walked towards them.
"…" No one uttered a word against the mockery.
Ace then walked towards Vlade and smiled, "Do you know why I left you alive?"
"..." Vlade remained silent.
"Hah... I punished the previous heads of all the six families, I killed them in front of their family members. Of course, their children were crying and begging me to leave them alone, but you know what I did?"
"..." Still, no one answered.
"I tortured them, cut them, limb by limb, in front of their children, I cut them until their bodies couldn't take it anymore and they left this world in pain" This time, though Vlade remained passive, the rest of the imperial family had some reactions, some trembled, some paled, but they had some reaction nonetheless.
But of course, Ace wasn't satisfied so he continued.
"Now think about it, they weren't even the ones who planned for it and they still faced this, what about you, you were the mastermind behind this incident, the main culprit, how could I end your life without showing you hell? Wouldnt that be rude to their poor soul?"
"But, I realized that once you lost your Divine seed, you were already prepared to die, I could torture you for the rest of your life but.... that's boring!
So I decided to change my ways, be glad, this is something I prepared, especially for you"
This time, Vlade glanced towards Ace and questioned, "What are you planning to do?"
Ace smirked as he replied, "I killed those old fools in front of their family, while in your case, I will turn it around"
Vlade's eyes widened and Ace continued, "I will kill your beloved family in front of your very own eyes!"
"You dare!?"
*Clang*
*Thud*
Vlade tried to hit Ace but with a "humph" General Luke pulled the chain holding him, causing him to fall on the ground.
Ace then turned around and walked towards the rest of the imperial family.
"Ahh… you should be the fifth prince… what was your name again…?" Ace questioned as he patted the 5th prince's shoulder.
"V-"
"It doesn't matter, forget it" Ace interrupted and the fifth prince's face turned unsightly.
"My empress, please" Ace requested and Maeve walked towards them as well.
"Do you remember me, Fifth Prince?" Maeve questioned seductively as he walked towards them.
Yes, it was the same fifth prince who wanted to marry Maeve.
"W-what do you want…" the 5th prince questioned with a pale face.
"I heard that you really annoyed my Maeve in the past…" Ace spoke with a smile that didn't look like a smile at all.
"No… I didn't…" the 5th prince muttered in fear.
"Oh? Do you mean to say that my Maeve is lying?" Ace questioned with a frown.
"No… I didn't mean to say that… it was… it was just… we were immature… I would not even dare to look at Empress now…" Prince corrected.
"*Chuckle*, Of course, you won't" Ace chuckled.
"Yes, yes…" Prince answered with a smile, thinking that he somehow managed to survive the ordeal.
"You won't get a chance" Ace completed.
*Slash*
Before anyone could react, the 5th prince's head rolled in the air.