Chapter 468: Discord in the Palace (1/2)

“Who exactly is this Coldblade?”

“Nearly ten thousand years ago, the Spirit of Grief continent was destroyed and rulers like Fia and Annie started to fall in battle one after the other. After that, there appeared several great unifiers who managed to conquer the whole continent, and one of these great unifiers was Coldblade! He was born in an ancient clan and he rose from a small mercenary to become an emperor who swept away all the nations of the human race in a mere decade! He even used his unrivaled military strategy to reforge the Silver Moon Alliance. However, Coldblade still ended up dying in battle, in the capital of the Night Creatures themselves! Brave warriors retrieved Coldblade’s body and buried him in the Tomb of Heroes. So… why was he reborn in Hell?”

I grunted when I suddenly realized that one of the nine strongest bosses in the game had the same name as Coldblade. It was the boss ranked seventh, whose name was Coldblade the Infinite Storm.

Hmmm, that’s right, it was that person. Who would have thought that I’d get involved with some superboss in my fifth class-promotion mission? I really couldn’t tell if I should rejoice or despair.

“The crack in reality that connected the human world to Hell had been sealed up by the Dragon Speaker. So, logically speaking, there is no way such a huge hellish army would be able to enter the human world. Am I right, Mylin?”

“Yes, if we are following the normal rules that is. However, however…” Mylin’s eyes filled up with worry as she stared at that spindly magic staff that lay in the center of the altar. She continued, “But this is something that I have to tell you. That is the Purgatory Dragon Scepter, an item that is able to establish a spatial bridge between the dimensions themselves. I’m afraid that…”

“You suspect that Coldblade the Infinite Storm will use the Purgatory Dragon Scepter to send large amounts of Night Creatures from Hell over to Sky City, right?”

Mylin gave a heavy nod of her head. “Mhm, you also saw the scene that Teacher managed to capture. Coldblade has an identical Purgatory Dragon Scepter. As long as both Dragon Scepters are used at the same time and their magical wavelengths match, the spatial bridge will be constructed. If that happens, Sky City’s demise will not be far away…”

I hefted my Heaven-stealing Sword as I grinned. “Then isn’t it simple? Let’s just go up to that altar and destroy that Purgatory Dragon Scepter. Won’t that solve everything?”

Mylin’s eyes were filled with an overwhelming sense of powerlessness as she looked at me and shook her head. She replied, “We can’t. His Majesty was the one who decided to activate that Purgatory Dragon Scepter. Without his orders, no one will be able to destroy that Purgatory Dragon Scepter. In fact, the Four Elders of the Mage Guild cast a restrictive spell on all of us which will rip apart anyone who tries to destroy the Dragon Scepter.”

“Bloody hell…” I cursed as I clenched my teeth. “Well then, let’s go and seek an audience with His Majesty.”

“Mmm!”

Mylin resolutely nodded her head and replied, “Come with me, we’ll go seek an audience with his Majesty right away!”

……

So that was how I was led right past the Mage Guild and straight into the royal palace. When we entered the great hall, I was shocked to discover that the old king of Sky City had already passed away. The man sitting on the throne looked to be a young king that was about 40 years of age. He was clad in golden armor and he held an adorned sword in his hand as he sat inside this splendorous and magnificent hall. He certainly had the look of a king.

It looked like nearly all the officials had gathered here today. They were all sitting down in their designated seats beneath the throne and it seemed as if they were about to start a grand meeting.

Mylin brought me straight toward the dais on which the throne sat. She stopped in front of the dais and bowed respectfully as she said, “Mylin greets His Majesty!”

The king let out a soft laugh. “Oh, it’s one of the royal magi, Lady Mylin. Aren’t you supposed to be busy activating the Purgatory Dragon Scepter at the altar? Why have you come here?”

Mylin's expression became severe as she said, “Your Majesty, I have discovered that a great calamity is about to strike us, and I am unable to simply sit back and watch it happen! Your Majesty, please stop the activation of the Purgatory Dragon Scepter! We must also destroy it! If not, Sky City will be brought to ruin!”

“What!?” The young king leapt to his feet as he bellowed in rage, “Mylin, do you know what you’re saying right now!?”

Mylin nodded her head. “Yes, I do. We need to destroy the Purgatory Dragon Scepter. If not, it will bring calamity down on our heads. Your Majesty, please take a look. This is the evidence that I have gathered so far!”

“Hmph!”

As the young king and all of his soldiers and officials stared at Mylin, she activated the Fragment of Phantasma, showing everyone in the hall the same scenes that we saw just now. When they saw Coldblade the Infinite Storm and the army that he had summoned, a few of the officials looked shocked, but there were more of them who didn’t even flinch throughout the entire proceedings.

Mylin put away the Fragment of Phantasma and said, “Everything is all too clear now, Your Majesty. We need to destroy the Purgatory Dragon Scepter. If not, Sky City will be dragged into a battle it will not be able to extricate itself from. In fact, the other human nations may very well be destroyed in the process as well. Lord Coldblade has already become a ruler of the Night Creatures, and if he could build such a strong and flourishing human empire in the past, he very well has the ability to personally destroy it!”

The young king sat back down on his throne before breathing in deeply, but he did not speak.

It was at this exact moment that an aged chancellor stood up with his magic staff in his hand. He said, “This is an extremely important strategic decision to make, so the council of elders must be the ones to decide this. I, the head of the Situ Family, the grand elder of the council of elders, will vote first in opposition to the Royal Magus Mylin’s proposal. We definitely must not destroy the Purgatory Dragon Scepter. It is the only thing that can act as a portal between us and the beastman tribe. If we destroy it, the beastman tribe will definitely take this opportunity to attack Sky City!