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It has been a week since Bing Xue made that announcement to the entire world about the creation of her sect, which would protect not only her country but the rest of the world, and about her taking as disciples' important figures of the government and hunters, such as Nicholas and Yanisse.
She had invited the King to a civil conversation, for a meeting of sorts where they could also discuss the freedom of Yanisse from her duties. However, throughout the entire week, he has given no response at all.
And the reason wasn't because he was being cowardly, but because he had decided not to play around with her and her games. The king immediately received a message from his father.
[The Tower God {Golden Lion Crimson Emperor} says that you must slay anybody that threatens your kingdom!]
[No forgiveness is allowed! Slay her and end this tomfoolery. The wielder of Void belongs to you, and you mustn't let anybody take her away from you.]
He blindly followed his father without question, without giving Bing Xue any response at all. He gathered an army of one thousand powerful knights and magicians, all of them above Level 3000.
Not only were their levels high, but these knights and magicians, most of them, were from his home world, Floor 74. In such a world, people could cultivate something called a Knight's Aura or a Magic Circle.
Magicians could increase the rings of their internal Magic Circle to obtain tremendous magical abilities and spell power, and warriors could cultivate their Knight's Aura, learning to surpass their physical strength to superhuman levels.
And such teachings, unlike those of Bing Xue, had been kept a secret from Earth; these were Elites that he had raised back home and brought them here. He had employed their help to slay all the invading monsters before, and now he was going to employ them to kill this false Messiah, Bing Xue.
"Are you sure this is the correct way, my husband?" His wife, however, was doubtful of his resolve.
The elven woman, with long blonde hair and gentle emerald eyes, seemed very worried. The princess of one of the worlds that his father had invaded and conquered, his union with him had signified an alliance with the Elven Kingdom of Yggdrasia after they'd been almost completely overwhelmed and forced to submit.
The elves of Floor 71, led by their goddess, the {Fairy Empress of the World Tree}, were formidable fighters, long-ranged attackers, magic swordsmen, spirit knights, and beast tamers. However, they were unable to overcome the tremendous forces of the {Golden Lion Crimson Emperor} and ultimately succumbed.
Their goddess was stripped of her powers and forced to become one of the Emperor's many concubines, while her daughters and sons became the wives and husbands of the Emperor's many children.
This was the Emperor's way of "alliance" by taking away his enemy's very will to fight, stripping and humiliating their goddess, and then forcing their entire royal family to marry his children.
Many elves, even after fifteen years since then, still harbor hatred against the Empire but cannot do anything other than submit to humans, despite their longer lifespan.
This, aside from their conquest, is because the humans of the Empire are warmongering and battle-lovers, while elves have always been guardians of nature and peacekeepers.
Naturally, the king's wife would doubt his decisions.
"You said that this world... We could govern it peacefully so that we didn't have to go to such lengths," she muttered. "You promised me that, Caesar."
The King remained silent as he glanced at the maps in front of his desk, planning a strategy. "Just like Life and Death, Elphiette, War is a constant Law of nature. It will happen anywhere, always. As long as there's Life, there will be War. Even animals and beasts wage War against each other. War is merely a part of our Nature as living organisms. To strip away the weak from their lands and food and use it to nourish our own. I am doing this to protect our family and our daughter."
"But…" muttered the Queen. "Bing Xue, she doesn't really feel that bad to me; she was sincere with her words. Why wouldn't you choose to first speak before waging war? So many things could be resolved if... if we simply sat down to speak with one another as equals."
"Equals?" sighed his husband. "Did that work for your empire, for your world?"
"T-That's… Why would you say that?!" muttered Elphiette. "You know exactly the pain I've gone through—the pain of my people, of my mother…"
"Exactly," the King said, walking towards her and gently grabbing her delicate hands.
The elf princess sighed, her beautiful emerald eyes looking at her king, his long black hair, his handsome face, and his sharp red eyes. There was an innate cruelty within him, but also a desire to protect what was his.
"I don't want our country to go through that," he said. "We must battle our enemy and defeat them, no matter what. We will build something new, Elphiette. I promised you that, right? I will give you many children, and we will make a new family together. This will be your new home, and you will be its queen."
"Caesar..." she sighed, still doubtful.
"You mustn't concern yourself with this; I will deal with it myself," he said, caressing her beautiful, silky hair and then gently grabbing her chin and kissing her. "I will protect my beautiful wife and our beautiful child with all I have. Our home—nobody will strip that away from us. I will defeat that monster and ascend as a god. So I can better protect everything I hold dear."
"Dear..." she sighed. "You want to become... like the tyrant of your father?"
"No," he muttered. "I will surpass him, and eventually... I will avenge your family, Elphiette."
"You… Are you serious, Caesar?! T-That's…!" Elphiette panicked.
She had never thought her husband had such a scheme—to surpass his father and slay him! Since she was captured by the Empire, every single child of the Emperor has been nothing but bootlickers, fascinated by his divine existence, and completely loyal to him.
But Caesar Chrom III was different; he was one of his youngest children, but also the sharpest and most talented. He was cold and calculative, yet deep down, she was able to know the softness he hid beneath the hard shell of his external appearance and personality.
He was a man of family who loved her dearly and even more their child.
"Elphiette… Do you trust me?" Caesar asked.
"I… I do…" she nodded. "Of course, I will trust you…"
"Good." Caesar nodded, smiling very faintly. "Remain calm and take care of our daughter. I will get this done by next week. The Wielder of the Void is too powerful of a soldier to give up. She could singlehandedly help me achieve my dreams after all."
"Her name is Yanisse... And she's a very wounded girl," sighed Elphiette. "Don't treat her... like an object, please."
"I won't; she's an asset, an ally, and I don't plan on having her taken away from us," the King said.
"An asset, you say?" Elphiette sighed. "Very well, do as you please... Please, be careful."
"I will," the king nodded, walking away.
As he planned and gathered troops, the week ended, and the next week arrived.
His army was prepared, all gathered in front of his castle. With the magicians using teleportation magic ready, he glanced back at his wife and daughter.
"Please don't be reckless," his wife sighed.
"Do your best, Daddy!" his daughter cheered.
"I will return by dinner," the King said nonchalantly.
FLASH!
The entire army teleported away, appearing right below the massive Golden Pagoda that Bing Xue had built on his own territory and without his permission.
"So this monstrosity of a building is where she's hiding—quite fancy," the King said, sitting above a giant draconian beast. "Magicians, fire!"
He wanted to first see if the floating castle could be called a castle. To begin with, it was big and strong looking, but he assumed that if it was so large, it would be very easy to put it down due to gravity.
After his command, fifty magicians out of three hundred pointed their wands at the castle, their magic circles shining brightly within their bodies as gigantic fireballs, each as large as thirty meters, were fired at once.
This was an attack often used to decimate enemy defenses within a few attacks, and it was one of the ways the Empire burned through the wooden walls and forests of the elves in the past.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The bombardment began, and the King only saw smoke as the explosions reverberated, neverendingly covering everything with deadly flames that could consume everything.
His eyes squinted as he looked at the fortress; it had yet to fall, which was impressive by itself, but he assumed it would be already in tatters if not set ablaze immediately.
"Huh?"
"How is this possible?!"
"I-It's unscathed?!"
His knights reacted faster than he could; the smoke dissipated to reveal the floating fortress to be completely untouched, unscathed entirely. The smoke dissipated to reveal an almost transparent barrier encompassing everything, giving off a rainbow glow.
"A Magic Barrier of some sort… Capable of withstanding a hundred attacks from Level 3000 Magicians at that," muttered the King. "Hmm… Perhaps I'll have to cut it down myself then-"
Before he could muster another word, Bing Xue herself suddenly appeared out of her Pagoda, through the gates themselves, and showed herself in front of the army.
"She came out directly…" the King squinted his eyes. "I suppose she has no army other than herself?"
"My, oh my, what is this honor I have here? His Majesty himself has come to greet me this morning! And with such beautiful fireworks!"
Bing Xue laughed as she greeted them with a smile.
And then she waved her hands.
The King's eyes widened as he felt an almighty pressure cover his soldiers; a strange, invisible force lifted all fifty magicians out of the ground.
"What is she?!"
Bing Xue didn't say another word; her merciless eyes only glanced at the struggling magicians.
"Wait! Do you have any honor?!"
The King was about to step forward, but it was too late.
Bing Xue closed her hands, and this pressure, this invisible force, which was actually her own Venerable's intent, tightly grasped the bodies of all magicians.
And she made them explode into pieces, their feeble bodies incapable of taking the enormous pressure. They were completely powerless from the beginning!
SPLAAAT!
"Would you try being gentler, your majesty? My family and my disciples didn't certainly take it kindly, you see."
His eyes widened as he saw the blood and guts fall like rain over the rest of his panicking army. The King felt both a feeling of surprise, dread, and anger.
He had expected casualties; it was bound to happen, and Bing Xue was not weak. But he never thought she would attack them in such a way.
To strip them away from their lives so savagely!
RUMBLE!
The King's Aura surged from his body, his crimson eyes glowing brightly as his long black hair waved by the intensity of his Aura's pressure.
His giant sword, made of dark obsidian and embedded with gold and magical jewels, released its own separate Sword Aura. The King slowly lifted his sword, pointing it at Bing Xue.
"Just as I thought, you're nothing but a monster…"
Bing Xue only smiled and laughed at his words.
"Oh my, that can't be true! I am a human, in the flesh~"
She looked down at the King and tried to calm herself.
After all, she just cold-bloodedly killed fifty people like nothing…
"But more importantly than that, your majesty… Did you truly expect me not to retaliate after your men started trying to destroy my property?" she asked. "And what about you? You ignored my invitation for a civil meeting, where we could talk things out as equals, and have now come to me with an army of one thousand men. Who is the warmongering monster here?"
"I have no time to speak with a monster like you," the King said. "I shall slay you and free Yanisse from your claws!"
"Oh my, how heroic! Have you come to save your slave, King?" Bing Xue laughed. "Very well, I accept your sparring invitation; I shall wield my swordsmanship techniques too. Let us see who the better swordsman is!"
"Silence already!"
The King leaped into the skies with a single kick in the air, his gigantic sword rushing down towards Bing Xue.
CLASH!
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