"Roar!" A Zergling opened its jaws, its sharp teeth practically like daggers. Yet Warwick struck its head with his sword, and it was instantly cut in two...
With the broadsword in hand, Warwick's combat strength rose another notch. He swept it left and right, and Zerglings around him fell in droves.
But those two or three seconds of delay were enough. By the time he turned around, Ye Meng and the other two had vanished!
Warwick whipped around to look at Barrit in the distance, only to see him struggling to dodge left and right amid the relentless Earth Spike attacks erupting from the ground!
Warwick bent his knees, then sprang upward with all his might, soaring above the Zerglings surrounding him! He still couldn't fly, but he leaped right out of their encirclement!
"Master Barrit, where's Ye Luo?" Warwick asked anxiously, his face full of unease.
Barrit swung his staff hard at the ground twenty meters ahead. A massive fireball slammed into it like a missile! The hollowed-out ground promptly collapsed, revealing the Zerg hiding beneath it!
Warwick rushed toward the hole, but all he saw were several enormous Demon Beasts with broadsword-like blades growing from their backs!
"Where's Ye Luo?" Warwick's eyes widened.
Barrit's face turned livid. After a long pause, he said through gritted teeth, "I fell for his trick. He got away!"
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Warwick furiously hacked at the Lurker in the pit. Its body was severed into several pieces, and copious amounts of blood seeped into the earth, making for a gruesome sight.
"How am I supposed to explain this to His Majesty?" The prize had slipped right through his fingers, and Warwick felt as if his chest were blocked.
Barrit was even more furious. He had come up with the plan, and Ye Luo had escaped right under his nose. As a mage—an arrogant mage—he had made one mistake after another. He felt he'd lost all face in front of Warwick.
The Zerglings that had emerged from the ground were soon wiped out. A thousand Iron-Clad Soldiers dug three feet into the earth but still couldn't find any trace of Ye Luo. In the end, they had no choice but to withdraw in frustration...
An hour after they left, a Flying Ant no bigger than a grain of sand flew out of the mouth of the Lurker Warwick had dismembered. It emerged from the creature's gaping maw, then collapsed limply to the ground and transformed into a human...
That's right, Ye Luo hadn't escaped at all! With the mage's mind locked onto him, getting away would have been difficult. So he gritted his teeth and pulled off an elaborate deception right in front of Warwick and Barrit. The moment his body turned into a Flying Ant and shrank, Barrit's mental lock vanished. Then he flew into the Lurker's mouth, without using any power or observing his surroundings. He was afraid that if he looked at Barrit through Ye Wang, Barrit might find him again by following the mental connection... Mental power was miraculous, but it wasn't omnipotent. Barrit could sense if anyone in a crowd glanced at him from any angle, but he couldn't peer through someone's internal organs from several meters away. And so Ye Luo had succeeded...
Keren Kingdom's royal palace.
Inside the enormous golden palace, Cleveland Keren sat high on his throne, reading the urgent magical message in his hands. Gradually, anger overtook his expression!
"Hmph!" He gave an angry snort, and the ministers seated along both sides of the hall immediately grew cautious.
"Robert! I thought he had inherited his father's loyalty to the kingdom and a warrior's courage. That's why I let him inherit his father's title and lands. But I was wrong—terribly wrong! A lord of the realm, consorting with Demon Beasts!!!" Cleveland roared, his imperial authority on full display.
Watching the ministers on either side tremble with fear, Cleveland continued, "This is the battle report Warwick sent. He set a perfect trap to wipe out the Demon Beasts harassing our borders, but Robert gave him false intelligence and deliberately concealed the enemy leader's ability to fly and burrow underground, causing the operation to fail! Tell me, how should we deal with a traitor to the kingdom?"
"Your Majesty!" As soon as Cleveland finished speaking, the finance minister, Isli, rose to his feet. "Loyalty is a quality every subject must possess. A lord entrusted with the defense of our outer territories, above all, must remain utterly loyal. Robert's actions have not only violated our laws, but also crossed the line of what a lord can tolerate. I recommend that he be executed on the spot in Morton Province!"
Cleveland Keren was an impulsive king, and all the nobles present knew his temper well. Robert was a lord of great power and standing. If he had conspired with another empire, that might have made sense. But conspiring with a relatively weak Demon Beast was suspicious... Lords held considerable power, and treason was a grave crime. According to the kingdom's laws, the case should be investigated with due care.
Several ministers on good terms with Robert wanted to speak in his defense. But seeing the king's fury, and Isli fanning the flames, they had intended to offer some words of restraint, then fell silent.
"Very well. Only a death sentence can appease my wrath. Send the order: in ten days, Robert will be hanged in the main square of Morton!"
On the northwestern coast of the Keren Kingdom, Ye Luo slowly awoke from his coma. The excruciating pain in his body had completely faded...
"Your Majesty, you're awake?" Ye Ya looked at him with delight.
Ye Luo sat up, but said nothing.
"Your Majesty..."
"How many did we lose in this battle?" Ye Luo got off the makeshift bed and asked softly.
"We lost a total of 1,326 Zerglings and five Lurkers..."
Ye Luo nodded. "Go outside for now..."
"Your Majesty!"
"Carry out my order!"
"Yes!" Ye Ya sighed and slowly withdrew.
This seemed to be a little shack left behind by the local fishermen. Its cramped darkness mirrored the guilt and pain in Ye Luo's heart, making him feel as if he were about to plunge into an endless abyss...
Outside the shack, Ye Wang and the others looked at Ye Ya with concern. "Is His Majesty all right...?"
Ye Ya gave a bitter smile. "I can heal the wounds on His Majesty's body, but I can't cure the pain in his heart..."
Ye Luo stayed in the shack for a long time! Ye Meng, Ye Yi, Ye You... and the others stood like statues around it, motionless as they guarded their emperor!
The sun rose and set. When it shone on the roof of the shack for the fourth time, the rickety wooden door creaked open...
After three straight days without food, water, or a word, and without a moment's sleep, Ye Luo's face was terribly pale. He raised his head and gazed at the sun slowly rising on the horizon. Golden sunlight fell across the sea, dancing and quivering in a glittering expanse...
Ye Luo's gaze swept over Ye Meng and the others. Seeing them faithfully guard him, he couldn't help feeling a trace of warmth in his heart!
"Your Majesty!" Ye Meng and the others all knelt before Ye Luo.
Ye Luo looked at them and slowly spoke. "Ye Meng, take command of the troops. Gather all our forces and exterminate the Iron-Pincer Green-Spine Shrimp Sea Clan. Within one day, I want all their territorial waters under our control!"
"As you command, Your Majesty. When the moonlight falls upon the sea tonight, I will personally deliver the pincers of the Iron-Pincer Green-Spine Shrimp Sea Clan's leader to you!" A spark flashed in Ye Meng's eyes.
"Within three days, I want our Zerg hives to cover every metal ore vein in the Iron-Pincer Green-Spine Shrimp Sea Clan's territory. Seven days from now, I will personally lead the army to attack Morton. Within a month, I'll be drinking on the throne of the Keren Kingdom!" Ye Luo's voice was soft, yet filled with unshakable resolve, an icy chill, and—for the first time—the might of an emperor!
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