Among the Lothern Kingdom, Valdo City, Royal Court
Late at night, the city had faded away from the hustle and bustle of the day. Patrol guards wearing light armor passed by with light footsteps. Royal Court Only the quiet light of the magic lamp remained in the corridor, illuminating the stone pillars and hanging heraldic flags in half-light and half-darkness.
The king's chamber is located deep in Royal Court.
Raymond was lying on the large velvet bed, sleeping deeply.
He was in the prime of life and had a resolute appearance. Even in his sleep, his brows still bore traces of fatigue from dealing with state affairs, but the calm demeanor developed from long-term control of a powerful kingdom was not concealed by sleep.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Urgent military information! From Theo!"
Suddenly, rapid knocks and shouts extinguished the tranquility in the dormitory.
Raymond opened his eyes suddenly, and the remaining sleepiness disappeared instantly.
He did not respond immediately, but remained lying on his back, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.
Raymond felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
But he knew that as a king, he could not lose his composure at any time.
He sat up, his silk pajamas making a slight friction sound with his movement. He stretched out his hand to straighten his somewhat messy underwear, and pushed a few strands of hair away from his forehead. Then he looked towards the door and made a steady sound.
"Come in."
The door of the dormitory was pushed open from the outside. The head chamberlain looked nervous, followed by a dusty herald.
"Your Majesty!"
The herald's voice was trembling a little. He lowered his head and said very fast, "Theo Kingdom...Silverglow City is under attack!"
Raymond's eyes froze.
The herald swallowed and continued to report, "Garos·Ignas, that Red Emperor... it landed directly from high altitude, and within one minute, Continuously broke through the two major defenses Silverglow City Magic Array, broke into the hall, captured the king Torfin alive, and then... then left without any harm."
Raymond sat on the edge of the bed, motionless.
The blood seemed to stagnate in his body for a moment, and then suddenly accelerated, hitting his eardrums.
It took him several seconds to fully digest the astonishing information contained in this sentence.
"Capture alive?" He repeated the key words, "At Silverglow City? Red Emperor... in person?"
Ridiculous.
This was the first feeling that came clearly to his mind.
Theo is an important part of the Lothern New Federation plan. It is a key piece to curb the expansion of the Aura Kingdom and demonstrate the authority of Lothern.
Not so long ago.
He just expressed his concern for Theo to Red Emperor in the name of Lothern, implying that he should exercise restraint.
Aura How dare?
Over there Red Iron Dragon, Garos·Ignas, how dare it?!
After Lothern made his position clear, Aura did not seek negotiation or relaxation. Instead, he chose the most brutal and direct method and directly overturned the chessboard.
This is not just against Theo, it is a trample on the prestige of the Lothern Kingdom!
"Not too long ago... I had a conversation with it."
Raymond stood up slowly, walked to the low cabinet aside, poured himself a glass of water to soothe his throat and drank it. "It rejected New Federation's alliance invitation, and now, it has taken away the king of my friendly country Lothern...
"This giant dragon is so unscrupulous and lawless!"
"You really... don't take me Lothern seriously at all!"
A seriously offended anger surged from Raymond's heart, burning his reason.
He seemed to be able to see the arrogant vertical pupils of Red Iron Dragon and hear the mockery in its deep voice.
How could the glory of Lothern for thousands of years and the great achievements of the previous kings be so despised by a Beast in his time?
But then, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. He repeated this three times, forcing his violently fluctuating mood to gradually calm down.
No chaos.
Anger cannot solve problems.
Red Emperor...Garos·Ignas.
This Legendary Realm dragon has repeatedly done incredible things since the establishment of the Aura Kingdom. It cannot be measured by the standards of ordinary kings or leaders.
It is a dragon, a powerful and willful Evil Dragon.
Raymond has a strong premonition.
If this incident cannot be properly handled this time and the alien thorn in Aura cannot be dealt with, then his grand blueprint of rebuilding Federation and restoring Lothern's past glory is likely to suffer a fatal blow or even die prematurely.
He put down the water glass and turned to face the chamberlain and herald. His face had regained the calmness that belonged to the king.
"Call emergency Royal Court Council."
"Immediately inform the commander-in-chief of the military, the chief of intelligence, the minister of foreign affairs, and..."
He paused slightly and his eyes became dark. "Please come, ancestor Soderian."
Soderian, this name seemed to have some kind of Magic Power, which made the body of the chamberlain and the herald who was still kneeling on the ground tremble slightly.
The chamberlain bowed deeply. "Yes, Your Majesty."
He quickly turned around and motioned for the herald to follow, and the two of them hurriedly exited the dormitory and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.
Raymond stood alone in the middle of the dormitory, with the thick night still outside the window.
He walked to the window and opened a crack. The cold night wind poured in, making his mind clearer. He looked at the sleeping silhouette of Valdo City, and the watch lights on the tower in the distance flickered.
"Red Emperor... Troublesome guy."
He whispered to himself.
Half an hour later, a small meeting room in a confidential location.
The atmosphere was solemn, Lothern important ministers gathered together.
A friendly king was captured alive, and the impact of this incident would be huge.
The military commander was the first to break the silence.
"This is a declaration of war! A naked declaration of war!"
"Aura is not hitting Theo, but hitting us Lothern in the face! A king of a friendly country was captured alive in his own Royal Court... Has there ever been such a ridiculous and bad precedent in the history of all countries?"
"We must make the strongest response and immediately send additional troops to the Theo border, and at the same time issue an ultimatum to Aura, demanding that he unconditionally release King Torfin and publicly apologize and compensate for his barbaric behavior! If they refuse..."
A cold light flashed in his eyes. "Then immediately raise troops and crush Aura Kingdom!"
Opposite, the intelligence chief, a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes spoke.
"More troops? What next?"
"An all-out war with Aura?"
"Aura is no longer the previous Aura. The number of their Legendary Realm is indeed not as good as ours, but each of them cannot be underestimated. Now there are two new dragons Legendary Realm, and Red Emperor itself... is a terrifying dragon beyond common sense."
"A direct conflict with Aura will disrupt our plans and consume the strength we have saved to rebuild Federation."
"This doesn't do us Lothern any good."
On the other side, the military commander frowned and said, "Should we just sit back and do nothing? Then what prestige does New Federation have? What will other kingdoms think of us?"
"Who would truly follow a leader who can't even protect the king of an allied country he promised to protect?"
He turned to the end of the long table, where the always silent King Raymond sat.
The king had already changed into formal uniforms, with his hands folded on the table, his face as calm as water, and he could not see too many emotions.
"Your Majesty, I insist that strength must be demonstrated immediately!"
The military commander said in a deep voice, "Send troops to Aura and beat them up, so that other kingdoms will know how powerful we Lothern are and how worthy of following we are."
Raymond did not reply immediately. He lowered his eyes and thought quietly.
At this time, the most senior Foreign Minister slowly spoke.
"Control, of course you have to."
"We must not stay out of Theo's matter, but how to manage it requires strategy."
He leaned forward slightly and leaned his cane on the edge of the table.
"First of all, we need to make it clear that Aura Kingdom, at least in name, is still an ally of our Lothern. The old alliance is still in the archives. Before the alliance is officially broken, it should not be treated completely as an enemy."
"Secondly, let's think about it from another perspective."
"Red Emperor's brazen attack to capture King Torfin alive is certainly extremely ferocious, but it also puts himself and Aura Kingdom at a moral disadvantage."
"Today, Red Emperor can deal with King Theo in this way; tomorrow, will it use the same method to deal with other kings or leaders who displease it?"
After a pause, the man's eyes flashed. "However, this is actually a good thing for us."
The king looked at the foreign minister.
After being silent for a long time, he spoke for the first time and asked, "How do you say this?"
Under the gazes of several people, the Foreign Minister smiled.
"Fear is a powerful glue."
"Some kingdoms that were originally hesitant about joining New Federation, or had doubts about our Lothern, may now empathize with the experience of King Torfin, and thus have a strong sense of crisis."
The Foreign Minister laughed and said, "We, Lothern, now need a target that is enough to make other kingdoms feel jealous or even afraid."
"This will allow them to unite more closely under our Lothern flag and seek protection."
"Red Emperor and his kingdom are playing this role for us."
He looked at the king and continued, "Therefore, Your Majesty, our primary strategic goal now should not be to meet Aura immediately. Instead, we should use this matter to isolate Aura in diplomacy and public opinion, accelerate the consolidation of New Federation's internal unity, and draw those panicking kingdoms into our system faster."
"As for Theo..." Minister Ethan picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip.
"The king of Torfin is captured, and there will be turmoil in Theo. We can take immediate action to support a reliable and pro-Lothern candidate to stabilize the domestic situation of Theo and avoid further collapse or even civil strife due to the disappearance of the king."
"A stable and dependent Theo can be used as our springboard or shield."
In the eyes of the Lothern Kingdom's senior management, the value of Theo lies in its restraining effect on Aura.
When Aura was founded, its foundation was unstable and surrounded by powerful enemies. At that time, Lothern was happy to see the success and provided some support almost free of charge, hoping that this Northern Frontier beast could bite Theo and weaken the kingdom of Ribos Faction.
Lothern did come true.
But who could have expected that, under the leadership of Red Emperor, Aura Kingdom would grow at an eye-popping speed and even begin to influence Lothern in turn.
So, today is different from the past.
Theo has gone from an opponent that needs to be attacked to an ally that needs support to contain Aura.
Next, the debate continues.
The content is mainly the collision of two ideas: "Hard counterattack" and "slow impact".
Raymond The king listened quietly, with a thoughtful look on his face, weighing the pros and cons.
Not long after, a slight cough sounded.
Everyone raised their heads almost at the same time and turned towards the direction of the source of the sound.
At some point, the closed door was opened.
A figure walked from the dim light of the corridor outside the door into the bright light of the hall.
That was a figure who looked very young.
He looked very young, with a face of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with smooth black hair, gentle eyebrows, and clear eyes, but he seemed to have been baptized by the years. Hanging on his waist was an old and inconspicuous small buckler, as well as an ancient long sword, and he was dressed in simple clothes.
Whether it is a shield or a long sword, you can see many subtle cracks and even small chips on it.
It's as if he has accompanied his master through countless fierce battles, weathered many hardships, but has never been abandoned.
At the same time, the moment this young man stepped into the hall, an indescribable strange feeling enveloped everyone.
It was like a... stagnant feeling.
It was as if the light, the flow of air, and even the propagation of sound around him had become slow and clear. The light created a halo around him, and the tracks of suspended dust were visible to the naked eye.
Soderian·Lothern.
Members of the royal family, ancestors of King Raymond, have lived for more than four hundred years.
At the same time, he is known as "Time Crownbearer" and is also the strongest person Lothern Kingdom currently exists.
Under him, Lothern also gave birth to a relatively young Crown Rank during the period of rapid post-war development, but he could not compare with Soderian in terms of strength and qualifications.
The two Crown-Rank Legendary coexisted in the same era, which is why Lothern Kingdom has the confidence to try to recreate its glory.
"Ancestor, you are here."
Raymond King stood up from the main seat, nodded slightly to the young man, used the honorific, and sounded respectful.
Other important ministers also stood up and bowed to salute.
In Lothern, Raymond is the king on the surface, in charge of government affairs, but Soderian·Lothern is the undisputed anchor of the kingdom and the uncrowned king.
If Soderian is willing to devote his time to governing the country, he can sit on the throne by himself.
But not all Legendary Realm are as versatile as Saint King, who are involved in many fields and have extraordinary talents.
Soderian has devoted almost all his life and effort to the training and improvement of combat skills. He lacks interest in complicated state affairs and considers himself not good at it.
His identity in Lothern is more of a transcendent guardian.
Soderian walked slowly and stopped not far from King Raymond.
"I already know about Theo."
"Red Emperor, Garos·Ignas... He is more unpredictable than your father expected during his lifetime. He is a... quite dangerous existence."
His voice was a bit old, completely different from his face.
On the opposite side, Raymond was shocked and asked, "How do ancestors judge?"
Soderian pondered slightly and said, "His own Legendary Realm level is not too high, but he can easily break through the Magic Array guarding Royal Court on both sides and capture the king alive."
"In terms of destruction, he surpasses us humans Crown Rank."
"Moreover, he should have some skills to break spells or anchor space."
Hearing this, Raymond asked, asking the most critical question, "Ancestor, if you... confront him in person, are you sure?"
Soderian was silent for a few seconds.
Then, he looked at the king again.
"I can't give you a specific answer without real contact and confrontation."
"There are too many variables in battles at the Legendary Realm level such as level, domain, characteristics, and race. Even the environment and luck at the time will affect the final result."
At this point, he changed his subject slightly.
"However, since I enjoy the worship of the Lothern Kingdom for generations and live in a country established by my ancestors, compatriots and descendants, I naturally also shoulder the responsibility of protecting the continuity and prosperity of Lothern.."
"Your father, the previous king, O'Brien."
"His evaluation of Red Emperor during his lifetime was very complicated. He admired the strength and wisdom of this dragon king, but he was also keenly aware that this dragon might one day appear on the opposite side of Lothern's interests and become a huge trouble."
"Therefore, he specifically entrusted me with this before he died."
Soderian's voice was slightly lower and more serious, and he continued, "If future generations of kings, after careful judgment, finally conclude that the existence of Red Emperor has posed a major threat to the Lothern Kingdom that must be eradicated..."
"Then, I will personally organize and execute the beheading of Red Emperor at any cost."
No matter the cost.
No matter the cost, he said these four words very softly, but everyone present felt a chill.
That could very well mean a battle beyond the ordinary, or even... the realization of dying together.
Raymond's heartbeat accelerated, and complex thoughts flashed in his eyes.
Behead Red Emperor?
Although the ancestor did not directly answer whether he was 100% sure, but since he made a promise at any cost, then, if he really decided to go all out, Raymond did not think that Red Emperor could survive easily
Soderian·Lothern, "Time Crownbearer", this title did not come out of thin air.
The path of Soderian to the Legendary Realm is not based on some rare and powerful bloodline or hidden profession.
At first, he was just an ordinary shield swordsman, taking a very common path in the warrior system.
This approach often performs mediocrely at the same level.
However, Soderian takes the ordinary to the extreme.
Through training day after day, year after year, and in countless boring dawns and late nights, he has polished his sword and shield skills to an incredible level. He has good talents, and has the resources of the kingdom to support him, so his level has steadily increased.
Then, at the moment of promotion to Crown Rank, his field was strengthened.
The originally ordinary shield swordsman underwent an essential transformation and sublimation, allowing him to glimpse and master a trace of the great power that interferes with the time plane!
Even though it was just a trace, it was enough to make him completely transformed.
In the use of shield technique, Soderian can extend the field to the shield surface.
If you can block the enemy's attack just before it hits the shield, you can not only Absolute Defense, but also reverse all the damage and injure its owner.
In the application of swordsmanship, the effect of the field is even more wonderful.
If he can dodge the moment before being attacked, his field will affect the passage of time, making the flow of time on his body relatively faster, and his own perception can also keep up with the changes in time, and then he can counterattack the enemy at an unimaginable speed.
They all have extremely demanding timing requirements and cannot make any mistakes.
However, Soderian has reached the pinnacle of skills and can capture the fleeting perfect opportunity in the flash of light every time.
Or rather
It is precisely because he first possessed such extraordinary skills that when he achieved Crown Rank, he obtained the corresponding field strengthening.
The pinnacle of skills, and the Crown-Rank Domain that contains the secret of time.
The combination of the two makes him Lothern Kingdom's strongest shield and sharpest sword.
"Although Red Emperor is strong, his physical body is comparable to Calamity, but in front of the Soderian ancestors who can interfere with time, it may be difficult to take advantage, and may even be restrained... The power of time is really too transcendent."
Raymond's thoughts are churning.
"If the ancestors could go one step further and break through to the Destiny Rank level, they might be even more terrifying in combat than the Saint King ancestors."
"It's a pity," he sighed inwardly, "After all, time is not forgiving. After Crown Rank, our ancestors' appearance and body functions returned to their youngest state, but their real life span did not increase as a result. It is hopeless Destiny Domain."
He collected his divergent thoughts and refocused his attention on the key decision in front of him.
Beheading Red Emperor can once and for all solve the biggest variable, Aura.
With the Aura Kingdom's deformed structure that relies heavily on Red Emperor, once this dragon is lost, the entire kingdom will collapse and fall apart in the blink of an eye.
By then, this most dangerous thorn in Romanian States will no longer exist.
But, what then?
The Foreign Minister's words rang in my ears again.
The existence of Aura and Red Emperor is actually a good thing for his grand blueprint of rebuilding Federation.
If Romanian States continues to maintain its current status, and each kingdom is in vain, but only in vain, when will he make Lothern great again?
Will he be able to see that day in his lifetime?
On the contrary, if there is a powerful, brutal and unruly public enemy like Red Emperor, which constantly stimulates the fear nerves of the surrounding kingdoms and makes them feel that their own safety is seriously threatened... then their desire to seek shelter and stick together for warmth will be unprecedentedly strong.
Lothern will naturally become their first choice for refuge.
Federation's cohesion may be formed faster as a result.
Use the fire started by Red Emperor to temper the New Federation he expected!
Thinking of this, the thoughts in Raymond's eyes were gradually replaced by determination. He raised his head and stared at the ancestor Crown Rank standing in front of him again, with a decisive look on his face.
"Soderian Ancestor."
"My father's dying instructions to you are very necessary and the most responsible arrangement for our kingdom. However, I believe that beheading should be our last choice, not the first choice at this moment."
Soderian listened quietly, with no expression on his handsome, boyish face, neither approval nor objection.
Human life is too short. In order to explore a higher realm within his limited lifespan, he has been immersed in cultivation all year round. He is neither good at nor interested in understanding complex and treacherous national affairs.
Since the contemporary king, after Royal Court Council's discussion and his own thinking, believes that now is not the time to behead someone, then he will not act without authorization.
He is the guardian of Lothern, not the decision-maker.
"The beheading plan will be put on hold for now."
Soderian glanced at the king and added unhurriedly, "Raymond, you are the king, and your judgment determines the course of the kingdom. If you change your mind at some point in the future and think that the threat of Red Emperor must be eliminated..."
"Tell me again when the time comes."
After saying this, his figure gradually blurred and disappeared into the meeting hall.
Several important ministers were left behind, looking at each other, and finally their eyes fell on the king.
Next, the meeting continued and began to finalize the details of some specific actions.
After the final plan was finalized and everyone dispersed, a little light began to shine through the deep night outside the window, and dawn was approaching.
The king was walking up a staircase.
When he came to the terrace of the tallest tower of Royal Court, the sky was already a clear fish-belly white. The night receded quietly like the tide, and Valdo City gradually woke up in the morning light, with clear outlines.
"Red Emperor... The fire you set off is just what I want. It depends on who can control the fire better in the end and achieve what I want."
The king stood in the hunting morning breeze, his eyes scanning the vast land.
Under the rising light, there seemed to be flames burning in his eyes.
It's called ambition, it's called ambition.