Volume Four: Withering in the Mortal World - Chapter 293: Cooperation (Part 1)

This silence was filled with majesty.

I stared at Bradwich and his sister, with Alan's headless, charred corpse between us.

Try to observe every detail of them, but be careful not to show that you are deliberately observing them.

My impression of Nid Bradwich is... that of a typical shonen Japanese RPG protagonist: handsome, young, tall, capable, and passionate—in short, the kind of good young man who shoulders responsibility and ideals and strives forward. Because if you look closely, you'll find that he's a little younger than me, who's about to turn twenty.

Having roughly formed my first impression of Nid, I temporarily shifted my attention away from him.

The key was the woman behind him who looked a year or two older than me.

She looks very much like Nid, but their temperaments are the complete opposite. Her younger brother, Nid, has the aura of a standard righteous hero, while her older sister, Loxue, appears very gentle and approachable, with the air of a well-educated and refined lady. However, the imposing presence of a superior she exudes is even stronger than that of Nid.

At first glance, I knew it was true.

This older sister, who has no fighting ability, is someone who needs more attention than her younger brother, who is the leader of the guild.

Then--

Nid stepped forward and stopped in front of me, breaking the silence.

"I am Nid Bradwich, the fifth Grand Master of the Blood Blade Knights— "

Loxue also stepped forward a few steps.

"Chief of Staff, Loxue Bradwich-- "

The two of them knelt down on one knee before me.

"We cordially welcome the Blood Emperor's return."

From that moment on, all the Revolutionary Army faced my direction, their expressions calm, but their eyes gleaming with fervor.

"Welcome back, Blood Emperor!!!!!"

Thus, the massive two-month-long battle, later known as the Battle of Torres, finally came to an end, ending in a victory for the Revolutionary Army.

The Templar Knight Alan was killed, Torres Saintess and the Archbishop were captured, and the majority of the Papal army was wiped out.

The process was extremely tortuous.

The attack began with the Bradwich siblings leading elite troops to ambush the Paladin Heavy Armor Brigade. Commander-in-Chief Nid personally led his troops into battle, while Chief Strategist Loxue skillfully employed a series of tactics, including luring and infiltrating, dividing and encircling, and feinting attacks, finally allowing the elite force to penetrate to the edge of the Boundary Protection Saint Domain outside the main city of Torres.

Just as they were about to breach the Sanctuary with the help of their infiltrators, Alan, the Fifth Seat of the Templar Knights, led over a thousand Cathedral of the True God's direct Imperial Guard to the city center via the city's central teleportation array. They turned the tide of the battle, not only defeating the elite vanguard but also launching a large-scale pursuit of the retreating Revolutionary Army.

At the critical moment, Dorothy, the vice-commander of the Seventh Division, arrived with reinforcements that no one expected. The reinforcements numbered only five, but three of them possessed terrifying strength that was close to or even equal to Nid's.

One man—the descendant of the Blood Emperor from two hundred years ago—killed Alan, regained the morale of his army, and left the Papal army leaderless in an instant.

The two defeated the main force of the Papacy, saving the lives of countless Revolutionary Army and even civilians.

The two captured the Saintess and the Archbishop, obtaining important hostages and disabling the Boundary Protection Saint Domain.

Upon learning of these three pieces of news, Grand Commander Nid decisively issued the order for a full-scale counterattack. Led by Nid and the new Blood Emperor, the Revolutionary Army, with unprecedentedly high morale, cheered as they stormed into Torres City. Without reinforcements from the Templar Knight and the Papacy, the garrison there collapsed almost instantly. The high-ranking officials and powerful people in the city, already corrupted by their decadent lifestyles, had no contingency plans and no chance to escape.

Within days, the Blood Blade Knights announced that Torres City had been completely taken over by the Revolutionary Army. With the provincial capital falling, the rest of the province was thrown into chaos and surrendered under the attack of the arriving divisions. As for the official treasury and granaries of the Papacy, in order to appease the people who were already terrified by the war, the Revolutionary Army withheld only the necessary money and rations to replenish themselves, and distributed the rest equally among the people. They also executed all the corrupt clergy members accused of oppressing the people.

Most of the people quickly accepted the reality that the Papacy had lost power in the Torres Ecclesiastical Province and expressed their support for accepting the administration of the Revolutionary Army. After all, the Papacy's actions over the years had already eroded their prestige, and the Revolutionary Army, which could feed the people, was clearly much more reliable. During this period, in order to make up for the loss of troops, the Revolutionary Army also widely recruited soldiers from the liberated people and received a relatively positive response. The only problem was those few clergy officials who were loyal to the Divine Law Cult but had not committed any wrongdoings. They insisted on not surrendering to the Revolutionary Army, but it was difficult to punish them. The only option was to temporarily strip them of their power and place them under house arrest.

At the same time, news no less shocking than the fall of the Torres Ecclesiastical Province also quietly spread—

"Have you heard? The symbol of the Blood Edge Revolution two hundred years ago, the supreme Blood Emperor, has finally returned!"

"But two hundred years have passed, is that person still alive?"

"She is her successor! Although not the Blood Emperor herself, her strength is said to be no less than Lord Nid's! It was because she single-handedly killed the Templar Knight that the situation finally stabilized!"

"Really? That's amazing!"

"Lord Nid and Loxue may not officially announce the Blood Emperor's return for some time, but that's actually unnecessary now, as the news has already spread."

Is it really as beautiful as described in history books?

"She's not just beautiful! She's incredibly beautiful and incredibly strong! And I heard that her companions are also extremely good-looking!"

"We want to know what it looks like!"

"This photo took me a lot of effort to get, even though it only shows her back..."

--And so on. Undoubtedly, the emergence of the new Blood Emperor injected new vitality into the revolution. More importantly, the Blood Emperor's impassioned revolutionary declaration when facing the Templar Knight resonated with countless Revolutionary Army and spread even before the battle was fully over.

Sayings such as "The people should not fear their rulers, but the rulers should fear their people," "What makes me what I am is not only my body, but also my thoughts, and thoughts never die," and "We should remember the thoughts, not the people, because the people may fail, he may be arrested, he may be killed, he may be forgotten, but 400 years later, the thoughts can still change the world" are widely circulated and regarded as classic quotes by countless people.

Of course, when I heard about all this later, I just felt... so embarrassing! And speaking of which, suddenly becoming an idol is making me stray further and further from the Dragon Proud Heaven and heading towards Mary Sue!

No matter how lively it was outside, the room of the Blood Blade Knights' Supreme Commander remained unchanged.

However, the addition of a few beautiful women greatly enhanced the charm of the small room.

The Revolutionary Army deployed seven divisions in this battle. Now, in this small room, there are six regimental commanders and seven deputy regimental commanders, the Bradwich siblings (Nid himself serves as the commander of the 1st Division), and of course, us five uninvited guests.

"Then, please allow me, as the Grand Master of the Blood Blade Knights, to formally welcome the Blood Emperor's return and the arrival of all patriots!"

Clap clap clap clap clap~~ The commanders and deputy commanders applauded enthusiastically. The most excited one was Dorothy, after all, she was the one who brought the reinforcements of the Blood Emperor's successor. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Battle of Torres was saved because of her.

"Welcome, Blood Emperor Emperor--"

As Nid was about to kneel down and bow to me, I quickly stopped him.

"These unnecessary formalities are unnecessary. Aren't all revolutionary fighters equal? I'm not entirely sure how the Revolutionary Army treated the previous Blood Emperor, Ai Kasser, two hundred years ago, but you can be casual with me."

"Ah, I was too formal. I'm sorry."

He readily agreed, clearly not one to dawdle or be coy. He immediately stood up and extended his hand to me, which I shook solemnly. The touch was rough, covered in calluses.

"Me too, you are very welcome, Blood Emperor."

After Nid, Loxue also shook hands with me. Her hands were much more delicate than Nid's, but there were some deep wrinkles on her fingers, as if they were left from frequently turning over papers.

"Me too, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Loxue. I've long admired your strategic talent in planning from afar."

"Your Blood Emperor, you flatter us. If it weren't for your rescue, we would be forced to flee in disarray right now."

Hahaha... Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

"Then, please allow us to extend the same respect to His Majesty the Blood Emperor's companions—Miss Tartaglia, Miss Xiao Wu, Miss Sinan, and Miss Soler —and welcome you all to join our Blood Blade Knights, who are fighting to liberate the West Saint Continent!"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet everyone. I've always admired the fearless Revolutionary Army," Haoyue said with a sweet smile, leaving the other regimental commanders speechless.

"Ah... me too, nice to meet you." Xiao Wu was clearly not good at handling this kind of occasion. She nodded and turned her gaze to the side, but this did not stop the people around her from looking at her stunning appearance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Miss Bradwich. We would be delighted to join the new Blood Emperor and become your strength." Givinia flashed her signature gentle smile, which warmed the heart of anyone who saw it.

"Uh, me too, uh... It's nice to meet you all!" Xiao was the most flustered one. The people in front of her were all high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army, truly seasoned Big Figure, which made her a little intimidated.

Nidrol shook hands with each of the four people, and the atmosphere remained harmonious.

"Although I would like to continue this meeting, unfortunately time doesn't allow it," Loxue said apologetically.

"Oh, it's alright. You've just taken over the Torres Ecclesiastical Province, you must be very busy. Don't worry about us, go get to work." I said immediately.

"Since His Majesty the Blood Emperor has said so, then you captains, please return to your posts now. There are still many matters to attend to. We two will first host a welcome dinner for His Majesty the Blood Emperor."

After hearing Loxue's instructions, the commander and deputy commanders exchanged a few more pleasantries and returned to their posts. Dorothy waved to me before leaving.

Then, only the five of us and the two siblings remained.

"""""""..."""""""

Silence, and then--

"Now, there are only a few of us left here; the guards have left."

Loxue broke the silence, still wearing her gentle smile, but there was something else in that smile.

"Yes, it's just us left--"

With a gentle clap of her hands, Haoyue caused a silver rune to shatter into dozens of Moon Elf, which scattered throughout the room to scout out the surroundings.

"--So, now it's time to speak frankly and openly~"

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I just settled in at my grandparents' house, and tomorrow night I'm off to Chengdu... So tired... so tired... so tired... Please give me Monthly Votes to comfort me!