153 Return Part 2 (2/2)
Even Saleen could not believe what he was hearing. He had met with the Qin Emperor before, and he had been scarier than the oracles from the Holy See. How could such a formidable person, under the protection of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, have died just like that? The Qin Emperor had been so strong that the oracles would have been defeated before they could even finish a spell. Launching such a powerful attack on the emperor and actually winning would have been nearly impossible.
Saleen was even more certain that the strength of the Qin Emperor surpassed that of Prince Safilos. The latter was already a golden grand swordmaster. An opponent like that would not be easily killed when alone, and with one hundred and twenty thousand elite soldiers and a five hundred thousand strong army constantly accompanying the Qin Emperor, he should have been invincible.
How could the Qin Emperor have died under the protection of so many mages and swordsmen?
People dressed in pure black when they mourned the loss of a Qin Emperor. As much as Lex wanted to believe that everything was just a joke, she knew that the more than three thousand soldiers in the distance would not dare joke about something as serious as this.
Lex was still reeling in shock from the news. Seeing her dazed state, Saleen furrowed his brows in worry as he executed a Chunlin spell. Green droplets of water seeped through Lex’s body. Instantly, Lex looked much more calm and was able to hold back her tears.
”When did this happen, Professor?” Lex croaked out, not bothering to push away Nailisi who was holding her up. Lex felt strangely weak. To her, the Qin Emperor had not only been her father figure, but also her pillar of support.
”About six months ago,” the mage replied with no emotion in his voice.
Six months! Lex’s heart clenched. It felt like it had been pierced by thousands of ice picks, and in that moment, she saw red.
”Lex, let’s focus on the matter at hand,” Nailisi urged, sensing a change in Lex’s mood. Nailisi had noticed that Lex had been incredibly nice to Saleen for the past few months. Perhaps I could spice things up between them, Nailisi thought. Most demons usually only had one wife, but stronger demons were able to find a few females to breed stronger offspring. She had intentionally left out the ”viscountess” title when addressing Lex earlier. As expected, Lex did not sense anything amiss, and simply nodded her head as she looked around.
This place was not Holy Rock City, nor was it the Bitter Water Prefecture. She had arrived in the hell of god’s punishment. The wilderness which had previously occupied the area had now been replaced by a huge palace.
The palace looked big enough to accommodate thousands of people. It had tall walls but narrow doors. It would put them at a disadvantage when attacking, but the tall walls provided excellent defenses against potential enemies. The gates of the palace looked bare, probably because they were not engraved with the palace’s name.
As Lex stared off into the distance, she realized that most of the people there were elite soldiers from Bitter Water Prefecture. Lex slowly walked towards the soldiers, casting an amplification spell that magnified her volume as she spoke, ”From today onwards, I, Lex De Grukos, shall claim this country as my own. Its name shall be Lex County! His Majesty, Lord Chanake, was my father. I will end this feud for him once and for all. All of you here shall be my witnesses. I shall dedicate the rest of my life to flattening Tanggulasi. Are you willing to accomplish this quest with me?”
As she reached the end of her speech, Lex did not know what else to say, but the words she had echoed out earlier had been laced with intense passion.
Thousands of soldiers swiftly drew their swords in a synchronized motion. If this had happened on the battlefield, that very sound would have left their enemies either deafened or shaken to their cores.
”Lex!” the warriors chanted, the ones clad in fully black armor moving forward together. Their voices were laced with indignation. The fact that their emperor had died in battle was an insult to the army as well as the empire itself. The only thought on their minds was to obtain their vengeance. The blood of their enemies needed to be shed in order to restore glory back to the empire. There were no mages in the troop of soldiers. These soldiers had been taught since they were young to pledge allegiance to the empire, his Majesty, as well as Viscount Alex.
As Lex suppressed her anguish, she began to think clearly again. As soon as she saw that her mentor had built the castle and deployed soldiers to stand guard, Lex knew that something major had happened to Holy Rock City. Thus, she had not hesitated to become the founder of this very county, even though it was very far from Bitter Water Prefecture.
Even though Lex was next in line for the throne by right of birth, her father had passed away six months ago, and the position of ruler was now anyone’s game. If she did not fight for it, she would lose everything.
Lex took out the magic staff that Master Joey had given her and raised it up, effectively silencing the crowd. After everyone had quietened down, she uttered one word, ”Enter.”
Their feelings of indignation as well as their loyalty were things that needed to be encouraged. But these emotions could disappear just as quickly as they had appeared if Lex was not careful. She was still very flustered and was afraid of saying something that would cause the soldiers to turn against her. Everything had to be discussed with her mentor before she decided upon her next course of action.
As the gates of the castle opened fully, the more than three thousand soldiers marched in through the four doors. Lex watched everything from the side. At this moment in time, her mood was poor, and if it had not been for the thousands of people standing in front of her, she would have imploded. All she could do at this point was mount the black horse that one of the soldiers had brought to her and enter the castle together with her mentor, surrounded by the thousands of soldiers.
There were many interconnected corridors present within the castle’s structure. Lex walked past the parade square to where Saleen was and said, ”Saleen, go to the study room with the professor for now. I still need to meet the generals.”
Knowing that Lex was not exactly the most stable person right now, Saleen turned to Nailisi and replied, ”Mm, Nailisi, you go with Lex. Kill anyone that poses a threat to her.” He was not doubting Lex’s ability to defend herself, but he knew that when a mage was unable to focus, their magic would not work as effectively. Before Lex could open her mouth to refuse Nailisi’s help, her mentor nudged her gently and said, ”Just go.”
Saleen followed the mage into the study room. While waiting for the mage to take a seat, Saleen said, ”Professor, I don’t believe I’ve asked you for your name yet.”
Smiling, the mage remarked, ”Saleen, before I become a Grade 9 mage, my teacher has forbidden me from getting my own name. All students below that level were of the same caliber in his eyes! To him, since we were no different from each other, there was no need to distinguish us by name.”
”Your teacher?” Saleen asked.
”He’s dead already, so I can’t really reject his request,” the mage replied, without a hint of emotion in his voice.