Four Centuries of Enmity (5)

"Splash!"

"Splash!"

Shortly after Old Suo saw Her Majesty the Queen off, a series of metallic clanging sounds and footsteps came from outside the hall.

A moment later, a man dressed in a bright yellow brocade robe and wearing a crown led a large group of soldiers to the entrance of the hall.

Looking at the silver-haired boy in the hall, the crowned man and the two white-bearded old men behind him all showed surprise.

"How could it be him? (The Prime Minister's inner thoughts)"

"Hiss! It's that jinx! This is a huge problem!" (Defense Minister's inner thoughts)

"This aura feels so familiar... Could it be him?" (Yanimus thought to himself)

Just as the three were stunned, the outgoing person broke the silence by speaking first.

"Haha! I didn't expect King Stellara to be so hospitable, not only coming personally to greet me, but also preparing such a grand welcoming ceremony. (Old Suo)"

Hearing these slightly (extremely) shameless words, the Prime Minister, unable to bear it any longer, retorted, "Heh! We never expected King Erus to be so shameless, sneaking into someone else's house and being caught red-handed by the owner, yet still managing to talk and laugh as if nothing had happened."

"Hmph! You're mistaken, old friend. He wasn't sneaking into someone else's house; he was just getting a sneak peek at his future home! (Defense Minister)"

Faced with their mockery, Old Suo lowered his head and smiled, then said, "Haha! I wondered what was barking, but it turns out to be two watchdogs running away at the first sign of trouble!"

"You... (Prime Minister, Defense Minister)"

Just as the two men, enraged and humiliated, were about to order their men to attack Old Suo, Yanimus stopped them.

"Haha! Old Friend, it's been so many years, I never expected your eloquence to have improved so much! (Yanimus)"

"Although I know you're Old Friend from many years ago, I don't recall ever meeting you before, (Old Suo)."

"Haha! My Old Friend, you were once a dazzling figure, a big shot who attracted everyone's attention. I was just an ordinary person among those people back then. How could you possibly remember me, Old Friend? (Yanimus)"

"Peerless in beauty and talent? (Old Suo)"

"Ha ha!"

"Ha ha!"

Looking at Sordil, who was laughing uncontrollably, Yanimus asked in confusion, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Old Suo, stopping his laughter, looked at Yanimus and said, "You're only half right. As for the other half... it's absolutely wrong!"

"Oh? I wonder which half of what I said was wrong? (Yanimus)"

"Many brilliant figures emerged back then, but I wasn't one of them! (Old Suo)"

"Heh! If someone like my Old Friend isn't considered exceptionally talented, then I really can't imagine what kind of person deserves those four words. (Yanimus)"

"Hmph! Back then, weren't your five leaders and our side's leaders more suited to those four words? (Old Suo)"

"But they all lost, and they all lost to you, so those four words are only truly suited to you. (Yanimus)"

"Um... have we gone a little off-topic? (Old Suo)"

Upon hearing Old Suo's words, the Prime Minister and the others exclaimed in unison, "You've not only gone off-topic, you've completely steered the conversation from Stellara to Fiore!"

"Hmph! You're right! (Yanimus)"

"Call out"

Just as Yanimus uttered the last word, a dark purple beam of energy flew from his hand and struck Sordil directly.

"Whoosh"

After dodging the opponent's attack with a somersault in the air, Old Suo laughed and said, "Looks like you've grown quite a bit over the years!"

"Call out"

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Suo returned a bright yellow lightning ball to Yanimus.

"Hehe! This is all thanks to Old Friend! (Yanimus)"

"Call out"

"Boom!"

Before Old Suo's lightning ball could even get close to Yanimus, it was shattered by the dark purple whip released by the opponent, which then triggered a small explosion.

"Purple Feather Snake Dance"

"Whoosh!"

As Yanimus finished speaking, long, dark purple energy whips lashed out at Old Suo.

Seeing this, Old Suo conjured up long whips of lightning to meet the attack and annihilate it in mid-air.

Just as the Prime Minister and others were about to enter the hall to join the battle, they were stopped by an urgent battle report coming from outside the hall.

"Report!"

"Your Majesty, Your Excellency, a terrible thing has happened! The Erus Legion outside the city has suddenly launched a full-scale attack, and the brothers defending the city are about to be overwhelmed!"

Just as the two prime ministers were stunned by the battle report, the clear-headed King Stellara made a quick judgment.

"Prime Minister, you two should immediately lead your troops to reinforce the city defenses. I can handle things here on my own!"

"This... (Prime Minister)"

"Go now! That's an order!" (Yanimus)

"Yes!"

After speaking, the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister led a large contingent out of the hall. However, the cautious Prime Minister did not take all the troops with him, but left a portion behind to assist His Majesty the King the battle.

Altair outskirts

"Sigh! While they're fighting fiercely over at the city wall, we've ended up here as quarry workers!"

Hearing his subordinates' complaints, a member of the Heavenly King Guard who appeared to be an officer retorted, "What do you know, kid? These stones could explode at any moment. If we don't clear them away quickly, the army will be in danger!"

"Captain, you're just kidding. This rock can explode?"

"Hey! You dare talk back? Believe me or not, I'll transfer you to the second squadron and have you guard the warships!"

Upon hearing the captain's threat, the troublesome team member immediately cowered.

"Captain, no... no... please stop! At least we can hear some noise here. If we're transferred to the Second Squadron, we'll only have seabirds and waves to keep us company!"

"Hmph! We'll see how you perform then!"

Looking at the arrogant captain, the prickly teammate instantly transformed into a good man (Zeng Xiaoxian), smiling obsequiously while massaging the captain's waist and legs.

"Captain, are you feeling better now?"

"Hmm! Not bad!"

"That..."

"Alright! Get back to work!"

After receiving the captain's forgiveness, the troublemaker nodded and bowed repeatedly, preparing to go back to work.

Just then, remembering something, the troublemaker suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, "Captain, didn't you say that a Heavenly King would be accompanying us on this mission? I haven't seen him."

"Bang!"

The prickly Maruko squatted on the ground, covering the freshly made takoyaki on his head, sobbing incessantly. After a while, when the Maruko shrank to a certain size and he regained his ability to speak, the prickly boy looked at the captain with tears streaming down his face and asked, "Captain, if you don't want to talk, fine, but why did you have to do such a cruel thing?"

"Poisoning me? I'm just giving you a heads-up, so you don't die without even knowing how you died!"

"That goes without saying, either you'll beat me to death, or you'll scare me to death. (The troublemaker's inner thoughts)"

Seeing that the troublemaker was still staring at him blankly, the captain, being a good Samaritan, helped him sort out his thoughts.

"Foolish boy, do you think it's our right to know the whereabouts of the Heavenly King?"

"This..."

Seeing the still bewildered troublemaker, the captain whispered in his ear, "If those guys from the Purple Guard find out that you secretly inquired about the Heavenly King's whereabouts, do you think you'll still be alive to leave the Plum Blossom Intelligence Bureau?"

"Gulp"

Upon hearing about the Purple Guard and the Plum Blossom Intelligence Bureau, the prickly man instantly felt his body temperature drop several degrees.

"Thank you for your guidance, Captain. I will definitely..."

Before the troublemaker could finish speaking, the captain said impatiently, "Alright! Alright! Save your nonsense for another time. Now get to work!"

"Ah! I understand!"

He shook his head with a smile at the retreating figure of the troublemaker, then stared in Altair's direction, thinking to himself, "Your Her Highness the Queen, you must return safely, or His Majesty will skin me alive!"

"Call out"

"Bang!"

After neutralizing Yanimus's attack once again, Old Suo stood there, panting heavily.

"That bastard Yanimus actually used the Stellara Stone to keep me running around like crazy, he's absolutely despicable!" (Old Suo's inner thoughts)

"Hehe! Old Friend, you look very tired?"

"Hmph! If we switched places, you'd be exhausted by now!"

After finishing his internal monologue, Old Suo said with a big smile, "Hehe! I haven't exercised in a long time, and my physical condition has deteriorated a lot. I'm sorry you had to see that!"

"Well... why don't you take a break first, and I'll play by myself for a while? (Yanimus)"

"Haha! No need for that then. I'll just take this opportunity to recover my strength." (Old Suo)

"In that case, let's continue! (Yanimus)"

"Star Feathers Filling the Sky"

"Whoosh whoosh"

Looking at the dark purple arrows filling his field of vision, Old Suo opened his mouth and sucked away most of the air in the hall, then slowly opened his arms.

"Heavenly Dragon's Wing Strike"

"Call"

Driven by a strong gust of wind, the dark purple arrows changed direction and rushed towards their creator.

"Boom!"

Thanks to Old Suo's skillful maneuvering, Yanimus was successfully critically hit by his own attack.

"Um?"

Just as Old Suo was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly discovered that two fish had slipped through the net and were flying at an extremely fast speed toward a Stellara Stone not far away.

Damn it!

Just as Old Suo was about to make a move, a dark purple spear flew out from the purple smoke ahead and stabbed straight into Old Suo's chest.

Damn it!

After spitting out another curse, Old Suo lashed out a long whip of lightning with his left hand to meet the dark purple spear, while throwing a ball of lightning with his right hand to smash the two fish that had slipped through the net.

"Call out"

"Bang!"

Another dark purple spear slid past Old Suo, detonating the ball of lightning he had thrown.

Just as Old Suo was preparing his second lightning ball, two dark purple whips attacked from the left and right.

"The Fire Dragon's Roar"

"Iron Dragon Sword"

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Just as Old Suo successfully dealt with the dark purple whip, the two dark purple feathered arrows arrived before the Stellara Stone, about to collide.