Volume 2, Chapter 34 – The Blackrose Family

Sadik Empire Capital – Lubitaan

Under the moonlight’s glow, everything appeared so peaceful, and at this moment, the interior of the heavily guarded imperial palace was equally serene.

Accompanied by crisp footsteps, a black-haired man dressed in a cool and handsome military trench coat was leisurely strolling through the palace hall while holding a communication magic stone that emitted a blue light. After a moment of exchange, Yumo’s voice, melodious as a lark’s song, slowly drifted into the black-haired man’s ears.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you?”

The black-haired man, Xiao, smiled slightly and spoke with absolute confidence.

“No problem, Lady Yumo. Just leave it to me to handle. I won’t let you down.”

“Mm, then that’s that. Also, even if you are already a magic god tier, you must remember to take care of yourself. Don’t get too tired~”

“Don’t worry, Lady Yumo. I will take care of myself.”

…

As the final words of farewell entered his ears, the light on the outer layer of the communication magic stone gradually faded. The very next instant after the call with Yumo ended, the warm atmosphere that had originally permeated the palace hall suddenly vanished. It was replaced by a bone-chilling, lethal intent.

The terrifying cold and hair-raising killing intent caused the white-bearded old man prostrated at the black-haired man’s feet to tremble violently, his soul nearly frozen. However, as the ruler of a nation, the white-haired old man still suppressed his fear and barely supported his body with his scepter. He looked at Xiao with eyes full of rage.

“B-Blackrose Duke! Is that woman the one who instigated you to do this?!”

“Hmm?”

Hearing this, Xiao frowned and quickly waved his hand in denial.

“Don’t misunderstand, Your Majesty. Lady Yumo is very merciful and would never give such an order. Wanting to exterminate your royal family is purely my own idea.”

Xiao gave a faint smile, one filled with superior pressure and loathsome mockery. Hearing this, the white-bearded old man, Emperor Lopeki of the Sadik Empire suddenly had veins popping on his forehead. He clenched his fists in extreme frustration and questioned hysterically.

Reаⅾ οn ΚatRеаԁіngСαfе

“Then why?! My royal family has treated you well! We even titled you a Duke! Why would you still rebel?!”

“Oh?”

The playfulness in Xiao’s eyes grew even more intense.

“Your Majesty, you treated us well? Those words aren’t quite appropriate, are they? Everyone knows you wanted to play the game of political balance. Furthermore, you don’t actually think I’m unaware of who it was that caused my father’s death back then, do you? It seems it was you, Your Majesty. Speaking of which, disguising it as an attack by an Abyssal Demon? That really was a fine excuse~”

“You?! No, impossible! How could you know about those things?!”

Hearing this, the old emperor who had intended to play the emotional card suddenly had a drastic change in expression. To this, Xiao could not help but let out a series of contemptuous laughs. The dozens of knights from the Blackrose Family guarding the hall also couldn’t help but laugh along.

“W-What are you laughing at?!”

Hearing the mockery in their laughter, Lopeki felt humiliated once again and gritted his teeth. Blood even began to flow from his tightly clenched fists. Realizing that the emotional card was useless, Lopeki’s face suddenly became distorted and his tone took on a hint of a threat.

“Xiao! I advise you not to be too arrogant. It remains to be seen who will emerge victorious! Once the Imperial Guard arrives, your end will be near! If you surrender now-?”

However, Lopeki, who was in the middle of shouting threats to intimidate the other, suddenly shut his mouth. He looked behind Xiao in disbelief. At that moment, accompanied by a powerful pressure of battle aura, a tall man nearly three meters in height holding a giant axe and clad in heavy black armor strode into the hall. In his left hand, he held the head of Lacaro, the Commander of the Imperial Guard…

Casting a sidelong glance at the Vice-Commander of the Blackrose Knight Order behind him, Xiao gave a meaningful smile.

“Your Majesty? What was it you wanted to say just now?”

“You!! How… how is this possible?!”

Lacaro was a seventh tier sword saint! How could he have died so inexplicably? And since Lacaro was dead, didn’t that mean the entire Imperial Guard was…

‘No, impossible! This is impossible!! This is absolutely impossible!!’

Lopeki pressed his hands tightly against his head and roared hysterically.

Rеaԁ οո КatReαⅾiոɡСаfе

“What exactly did you do! Your Blackrose Family clearly only has forty people! My Imperial Guard has five hundred! How could they be defeated!”

Lopeki’s eyes were bloodshot. Upon seeing his final trump card killed so mysteriously, the Emperor of the Sadik Empire seemed to enter a state of mental breakdown. Looking at the former emperor’s pathetic display, Xiao shook his head in disappointment.

“Hehe~”

To others, it might indeed seem unbelievable for forty people to defeat the elite Imperial Guard. But for Xiao, it was entirely within expectations. The members of the Blackrose Knight Order were almost all children who had returned from the Deepwinter Forest. They were originally gifted children from across the Ancheka Continent kidnapped by the Divine Punishment Holy Church to be sacrificed to the Demon God.

Those who could make it to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons alive undoubtedly possessed constitutions far superior to their peers. Their mental fortitude had also been tempered through that ordeal. They were more unafraid of hardship and difficulty; after all, they had repeatedly danced on the edge of death since a young age. After undergoing rigorous training, such children grew to become the knights of the Blackrose Family. The Blackrose Knight Order had followed Xiao through battles across the land, unifying the southeastern part of the Sadik Empire. How could such a knight order be matched by the useless fools of the Imperial Guard?!

Evidently, Lopeki could not understand this and could only continue his futile, angry outburst.

“This, this is impossible!…”

“…”

Xiao had lost interest in the old emperor’s noise.

“Your Majesty, please go in peace~”

With that, Xiao gave a casual wave, and a condensed ball of black magic power instantly gathered in his palm. In the next moment, under the terrified gazes of countless royal family members, Lopeki’s head was pierced by the black magic bullet. He died instantly, perishing miserably in a pool of blood.

Upon seeing this, dozens of royal family members who had been captured nearby revealed expressions of despair. They cried out at the top of their lungs, begging Xiao for mercy. These formerly high and mighty princes, princesses, and consorts wailed without a shred of royal dignity, earning disdainful laughter from the Black Knights. To prevent the noise from polluting the Duke’s ears, two Black Knights guarding the royal members nodded to each other and drew their waist-swords, preparing to send them all to the afterlife…

Right then, Xiao calmly raised his hand to stop the two knights’ movements.

“Forget it. Keep them alive.”

“Eh??”

Rеаd оn КαtRеαdіngСafe

The two knights were momentarily dazed. Wasn’t the plan to completely exterminate the royal family tonight? Why the sudden change?

However, as the two knights were feeling confused, Xiao gave a meaningful smile. He then looked toward a black-haired boy in tattered clothes who was prostrate on the ground.

“You are the Eighth Prince, Lopelio, right?”

“Yes, yes, Lord Duke! I… I am Lopelio!”

Hearing Xiao’s call, the fourteen-year-old boy named Lopelio immediately crawled toward him. Xiao smiled with satisfaction and used the sole of his boot to pat the young prince’s head.

“From now on, you are the Emperor of the Sadik Empire.”

?!?!

The moment those words were spoken, Lopelio froze in place. It wasn’t just the Eighth Prince; the other royal members and even the members of the Blackrose Family themselves found it surreal. Everyone looked at Xiao with bewildered eyes.

A moment later, escorted by dozens of Black Knights, Xiao leisurely walked out of the blood-stained palace. As for Lopelio and the other royal members, Xiao had left them for his secretary to handle. If everything went smoothly, the coronation of the Sadik Empire’s new emperor would take place in a few days.

However, watching Xiao’s back, many members of the Blackrose Knight Order behind him were still in a state of confusion. After all, according to the original plan, they were supposed to thoroughly eliminate the royal family and take control of the Sadik Empire themselves.

But now?

Driven by confusion, one of the adjutants couldn’t help but ask.

“Lord Duke, weren’t we going to seize political power? Why… why did we leave the royal family alive?”

Hearing his subordinate’s doubt, Xiao smiled meaningfully.

“It doesn’t matter. Our goal was always to completely control the entire empire. Controlling it directly or controlling it through a puppet makes no great difference. If anything, this is more beneficial for us.”

“B-Beneficial?”

Rеaⅾ oո КαtRеαdіոɡCαfе

“Yes. If you think about it carefully, the royal family has ruled the empire for over three hundred years. They still have quite a bit of prestige among the people. If we were to usurp the throne directly, there might be resistance.”

“As for resistance, we can just wipe it out.” the Vice-Commander said bluntly.

Xiao nodded noncommittally.

“True. But the main point isn’t that.”

“Then… what is it?”

“Lady Yumo hopes the various empires can get along and reunite. We of the Blackrose Family naturally have to follow her instructions, right?”

“You mean?”

“Hehe, our family will be very cooperative in helping repair the relationships between nations. However, if the Sadik Empire’s royal family isn’t cooperative enough at that time… or even tries to obstruct us? Then they won’t be able to blame us, will they?~”

As he spoke, a chilling smile gradually surfaced on Xiao’s face. It caused the surrounding members of the Blackrose Family to feel a shudder of dread. Fortunately, Xiao quickly withdrew his cold aura. Then, as if remembering something, Xiao looked thoughtfully at his adjutant.

“By the way, Ravana.”

“What is it, Lord Duke?”

“Go find ‘Inferno’ for me. I need her help with something~”

“Inferno?! Why… why look for that woman?!”

Upon hearing the name of that demon king tier existence, the adjutant clearly showed a trace of fear. To this, Xiao smiled slightly.

“Sigh, isn’t the female lead currently being protected by Lady Yumo? It’s not easy to make a move. Since that’s the case, I can only find someone to help me prioritize killing that Chosen Son first~”