Chapter 159

The sudden explosion lit up the sky, and the clouds that kept falling snow were blown away by the shock wave.

Everyone in the entire imperial capital was awakened this night.

Even if they are not awakened by the strong light, the continuous vibrations are enough to prevent them from sleeping peacefully, but...

The Imperial Capital's guard troops did not immediately mobilize, because the huge explosion really made people worry that there would be a second one. No one even knew why... there was such a big demon statue outside the Imperial Capital.

After all, although the empire inherited most of the things from the unification of the empire, many of them disappeared in various palace struggles and battles for the throne. Otherwise, there would be no regression of civilization.

It is precisely because they don't understand that they choose to remain unchanged for the time being and plan to wait and see what happens.

But this also allowed them to avoid the scene of being massacred by a group of large demons. After waiting for a long time, they remembered why they sent magicians to investigate, but... they only saw a huge pothole like a lake.

The water from the moat outside the imperial capital poured into this "lake", but it... failed to fill it up at all, and it dried up first.

The heart of the imperial capital, the center of the imperial city on the top of the towering mountains, in the castle that serves as the imperial palace.

The spaciousness and luxury of the emperor's bedroom exceed the world's imagination of a palace, but it cannot be summarized just by the glittering and pure gold decoration.

The scene in reality is even better than this. The bedroom is as vast as the hall of an ordinary castle, with exotic animal velvet carpets spread in every corner. Every strand of down seems to tell the hard work and skill of the craftsman, and its exquisiteness is amazing. It’s so breathtaking that you almost can’t bear to set foot there.

The surrounding walls are covered with breathtaking treasures of art and history - all kinds of priceless paintings and sculptures.

They are not only decorations, but also witnesses of the glorious years of the empire. There are also a large number of extremely expensive forbidden magic stones, which are decorated in every corner of the room to ensure the safety of this dormitory.

However, behind the splendid scenery, the emperor of the empire did not show a smile.

He stood by the window sill, looking through the palace walls to the distant and blurry edge of the imperial capital.

There, a huge pothole was like a greedy beast, swallowing up the surrounding satellite cities, and even its outline had disappeared into the dust.

This scene made the anger in the emperor's heart burn uncontrollably.

"Why...what is going on?! The captain of the Imperial City Guard is dead, and the assassination team failed...and now even the southern city of the Imperial Capital has disappeared! Who among you will bear this responsibility?!"

This seemingly ordinary middle-aged emperor was holding the window frame with his hands, his fingers turning white with anger, but it seemed that he was trying his best to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Your Majesty, please calm down... The current losses are still within control. We might as well give the enemy a little sweetness first, and when the time is right, we will annihilate them in one fell swoop; after all, the foundation of our thousand-year-old empire is not those What can a small kingdom compare to?" An old, white-haired minister knelt behind him, with endless worry and loyalty in his voice, and persuaded him earnestly: "But if you are so angry, you can It’s not worth the loss.”

The emperor's eyes flickered slightly, as if he was thinking about something: "So... did you also use that move?"

"For the safety of the empire, it is undoubtedly safer to be prepared with both hands." The important minister continued: "As for the treasures left by the Holy Master for the empire, if they are kept in dust, they will only have empty names. Why not take this opportunity to let those little ones Let me see the true power of the empire and restore the majesty of my empire!”

"That's fine!" The emperor's eyes flashed with determination and fierceness. He slapped the window frame hard, as if to vent all his anger and unwillingness: "It's time to let those ignorant clowns understand why the empire Able to endure for thousands of years!”

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Ash didn't know the emperor's thoughts.

After being separated from the other demons, he quietly returned to the imperial capital.

However, before he reached the stronghold, he found that the entire Imperial City was brightly lit and busy.

"Master Ash, are you okay? What happened?" As soon as he saw his figure, Fearon hurriedly came up to him and looked at him with concern, fearing that he would be hurt in the slightest.

But he just pretended to be relaxed, smiled and shook his head: "I just went to check the situation, how could anything happen?"

"...Just for a look?" She was obviously forcibly awakened from her sleep, and Fulian, who had a messy hair on her head, couldn't help but look at him suspiciously when she heard this.

In her mind, apart from this guy, it would be difficult for anyone to make such a big noise.

"I will not kill innocent people casually, let alone create exaggerated explosions to massacre civilians." Ash said calmly.

"....What's going on?"

"A huge golem exploded on its own. It's probably because Volamei didn't debug it himself."

"....Really?" Fulilian obviously didn't believe it.

"Okay, actually, the golem suddenly got up and wanted to fight with me. If it couldn't beat me, it would explode. What can I do? I didn't even have time to stop it. I was helpless."

Ya Xiu was calm, he directly spread his hands and told the truth of the matter.

This situation can probably only be described as a natural disaster, and can only be accepted as something that can't be helped.

The Master's repeated wrong choices, wrong settings for the golem's self-destruction, and wrong cultivation of the empire caused this country to unknowingly turn into a monster without any sense of conscience and kindness after a thousand years.

All this filled Fulilian's heart with bitterness. She couldn't help but sigh and asked, "There must be a reason for you to fight that golem, right?"

"To save those persecuted by the empire."

"People persecuted by the empire?" Fulilian looked at him with suspicion: "I can still believe that you help others. After all, you have indeed helped many people in the kingdom. You only saved them from famine and hunger. There are too many people to count, I admit that, but..."

"To be precise, they are a group of mercenary shadow warriors. They receive meager remuneration, but have to perform extremely dangerous tasks. So I gave them a chance to serve the kingdom, but the empire refused to let them go. Isn't this... There was a slight conflict and the golem was accidentally activated."

"...You're hiding another part, right?"

"How to say?"

"With meager salary, why do they do those extremely dangerous tasks? Can't they change careers or refuse?" Fulilian always felt that this didn't make sense.

This time, he couldn't help but laugh. He reached out and rubbed her messy hair: "The career you have in mind is great, but how can they refuse? If you change your career, you will defect, and you will be killed."

He wasn't hiding it, it was the complete truth.

The assassination team really had no choice. Facing the behemoth of the empire, they had no ability to resist.

Moreover, they also maintained a not too high, but not too low loyalty to the empire. If life could still be passed, they would just get by.

When Feilun heard this, he handed the hot tea to Ash and asked in confusion: "If this is the case, what is the difference between the empire's behavior and the demons?"

"They are so ungrateful that they want to kill Lady Seriai. They are no different from the demons themselves, right?" Zanze, who had no good impression of the empire, gave his evaluation without mercy.

"Ha, haha... Indeed, at this point, even I have a hard time defending the empire."

At first, Fulian had a natural affection for the Empire, a country where she had stayed for a long time and was like her master's son and daughter, but now her face... was filled with bitterness.

She scratched her head vigorously, sighed vigorously, said no more, and silently turned around and returned to her room.

Fei Lulun was still looking at Ya Xiu incessantly, and said with concern again: "S... Mr. Ya Xiu, are you really not injured?" g”

Dream

"What can happen to me? You just think too much." Ash casually patted Fearon's head, the expression on his face looked very soft and calm.

Only then did Feilun really feel relieved, and he smiled: "That's good... I'll go to bed first, and you can go to bed earlier."

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After the two left one after another, Zan Ze and Ya Xiu were the only two people left in the empty living room.

Zanze stared at Feilun's back as he gently closed the door. Worry crept up on his brows, and he couldn't help but ask softly:

"Master Ash, are you really okay? Would it be better for you to leave the empire first?"

After hearing this, Ya Xiu looked at Zanze with gentle eyes and a smile on his lips: "....What are you talking about? You are all still here, how can I leave."

Zan Ze seemed to have anticipated Ya Xiu's determination. She sighed slightly and continued: "I heard that you want to see the emperor with Fulilian. You don't want to... ..”

"That's it."

Yaxiu nodded slightly, not denying Zanze's guess.

But this caused a trace of confusion to appear on Zanze's face: "Why? You went to such a dangerous place to do that kind of thing. Even if you succeed, there will be a lot of princes who will inherit the throne, right?"

"Yes, it is true that the empire has a lot of princes, but as far as I know the emperor is still in his prime, so although there is a designated crown prince, there is not much delegation of power, and there is no transfer of power that can overwhelm other princes." Ash He stood up slowly, walked to the window, stared at the night outside the window, and said softly:

"According to the tradition of fighting in the imperial court, if the emperor suddenly dies suddenly, those princes will never sit back and watch the crown prince ascend to the throne. They will have to compete with each other."

"You want to... watch them fight among themselves and then take advantage of them?"

"No, this is a situation where everyone is leaderless and working on their own. Each prince and his followers will definitely keep themselves under their wing. At that time, I only need to make a small promise, and I can choose one of them as my cannon fodder, and then attack from multiple directions... .We can take over the imperial capital immediately, and then we can slowly deal with these princes easily."

Naturally, he conducted an in-depth investigation into the situation in the empire, and that was why he took such risks.

Zanze couldn't comment on these words, because as a magician specializing in magic, she didn't know much about political strategies or anything like that, but...

"The empire will indeed be in chaos when it loses its emperor, but aren't you also the core of the kingdom? If you die... you won't even have any heirs."

"Although this is the common sense, there is a question as to whether the kingdom can survive longer than me."

And if he dies, the demon clan will probably disperse again. This does feel like a one-for-one exchange of extremes.

But he still has sufficient confidence in his own strength, and there are a large number of top demon clan forces outside the city as reserve teams.

Don't talk about other dreams, ⑴ It's okay even if you lose, and escaping shouldn't be a problem ②. manage

dam

But staring at the worried girl in front of him, Zanze, who is often cute because of his petite and cute appearance, now unconsciously wants to tease her:

"I don't have a suitable partner either. You're so worried about me, why don't you introduce me to a partner?"

"Introduction...?"

"Yes~"

"You...you are a demon, and you are a very powerful being. Can humans really...accept it? And...can humans and demons have children?"

Zanze's face turned red, and he couldn't help lowering his head shyly, his voice as thin as a gnat.

Ash was also amused by this serious and interesting look. He knelt down so that his eyes were parallel to the girl in front of him, watching her troubled expression, but he couldn't hold back the corners of his mouth:

"Hmm~ I don't know if humans and demons can have children, but why do they have to be humans~"

"Huh? Ah, indeed, indeed! That..." After hearing this, the girl felt her cheeks burning, blushing to the roots of her ears. She stammered in a panic but couldn't explain why, and kept using her little hands. He was making gestures in the air and seemed to have lost his ability to think normally.

Seeing this, Ash couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek gently, smiling and teasing:

"——Zan Ze is indeed very cute~ If I were a human, I would definitely propose to you!"

"If... Master Ash is not a demon, I... I will definitely marry you..." Although her face turned red with embarrassment at Ash's words, the girl still squeezed out her words. A shy voice.

When Ash heard this, he pretended to sigh sadly: "Well...if you put it this way, I was dumped politely?"

"Huh? This...this..."

This casual rhetorical question immediately made the girl feel confused. She even felt helpless and tried hard to explain, but... she didn't know where to start.

This pitiful and cute look made Ash feel the urge to hold her tightly in his arms, and then take her home.

However, his reason told him that he couldn't do this yet.

Before he found a way to make people live forever, he felt that he could not do such an irresponsible thing. Now he could only put his hands on her shoulders and push the panicked girl into the room again:

"——Okay, okay, it's just a joke~ I didn't think too much, why don't you go to bed quickly?"

Zan Ze wanted to say something more, but when she thought of Ash's identity and their racial differences, her words were stuck in her throat, making it difficult to speak.

He could only nodded silently, and then watched Ash gently close the door.

"By the way, I'm actually very happy when you say that to me. Well... this is not a joke."

"Ah...um...thank you?"

Before closing the door, Ash left the last words with a hint of ridicule. Zanze was once again stunned on the spot. He nodded subconsciously, but in the closed room, he unconsciously pursed his lips and fell into a daze mode.

I don’t know how long it took for her to calm down, but there was no reason why she threw herself on the bed. At this moment, with her little face flushed, she whispered softly: "I always feel that there is an itching... strange feeling on my body. Tonight, I probably can’t sleep...but at this time, it’s okay to be honest and happy..."

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After teasing the legal lolita to cheer up his mood and cheer him up, Ash lay down on the rocking chair that was specially moved to the roof.

Looking through the gradually drifting clouds, the falling snowflakes, staring at the gloomy sky in the distance that has returned again, just enjoying the rare quiet time.

The rocking chair swayed slightly with him, making a subtle creaking sound on the snow-covered roof, forming a subtle harmony with the surrounding peaceful atmosphere.

"No one knows the power of the Holy Sword, and neither does Volame. It has left behind some strange things... There are so many unsolved mysteries in this world..."

His eyes were slightly closed, but there was a trace of distress on his face. As he whispered, the snowflakes fell gently on his face and melted quietly, making everything appear inexplicably harmonious.

But... a burst of brisk and energetic footsteps suddenly broke the silence.

Yubel, who ran to nowhere before, stepped on the softness of the snow and just jumped up and down, letting the horse's tail sway gently with her steps, and came to his side.

"I saw everything that happened just now on the roof next door."

"....What?"

"You promised to like a big sister like me, but you end up flirting with little lolita all the time~ You can't do that, right? Or...is this your plan?"

The girl walking in front of the house, {just like she was going to ride on it, she put her hands on the armrests of the rocking chair, leaning her upper body with a big range, and a playful smile on her face.

"Compared to these, you are 'lying' on it like this... are you teasing me?"

"I'm waiting for you to tease me~" The girl's mouth was full of smiles, as always, making people wonder whether it was serious or a joke.