Volume 2, Chapter 62 – The Prelude to the Plan

“Then, please excuse me.”

“It is no matter, Your Imperial Highness. Countering the Abyssal Demon invasion is the top priority; I can understand.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Archbishop Mokaro.”

After cupping his fists to express his gratitude, Xue Tian’ao put on his platinum steel helmet and led dozens of elite members of the Royal Guard as they hurriedly left the restaurant, leaving Archbishop Mokaro and two other Ashurmos Church knights behind.

Golden light suddenly rippled.

Watching the pale golden light vanish into the horizon, one of the Ashurmos Church members showed a look of displeasure. After all, their Archbishop had been left standing there, and as a subordinate, he naturally felt dissatisfied even if there was a justifiable reason.

“Heh.”

After letting out a cold laugh, the man named Rasim walked slowly to the blonde man’s side, “Lord Mokaro, Xue Tian’ao has left.”

“Yes, I know.”

Taking a casual sip of morning tea, Mokaro gave a faint smile. He did not seem to care that Xue Tian’ao had departed so quickly without arranging further hospitality. After a few more sips of tea, he looked toward the direction where Xue Tian’ao had gone with a profound gaze, “Hmm, the Chosen Son…”

Seeing the Archbishop talking to himself, Rasim silently poured him a new cup of tea before asking curiously, “Lord Archbishop, what do you think of this Chosen Son?”

“Well, he is quite imposing.”

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Mokaro praised him with a smile, his tone devoid of any mockery, “Should I say he truly lives up to being the Chosen Son? He is powerful, possesses an extraordinary temperament, and has quite the personal charisma. It is clear that the guards in the palace respect him immensely, perhaps even more than they do the Emperor. It is no wonder the old Emperor is so wary of him now. However, looking at the situation, it is only a matter of time before Xue Tian’ao becomes the Emperor of the Snownight Empire. The old Emperor’s faction cannot compete with him. It is just…”

“Just what?”

“He is quite confident,” Mokaro smiled slightly.

However, his current smile carried a chilling cold compared to the one before, and the teacup in his hand was directly corroded into a drop of thick white liquid. “He is too confident; it would not be an exaggeration to call him conceited. Those weapons of his are indeed powerful, but using them to threaten the Ashurmos Church is simply naive. Moreover, this man’s ambition is too great.”

“Ambition? He didn’t seem to say anything about that, did he?”

“That is why you are still too green, Rasim.”

“My apologies, Lord Archbishop.” The knight lowered his head in shame.

“No, there is no need to apologize. This Chosen Son is a good actor; without enough experience, it really is difficult to see through him. In short, all you need to know is that his desire to see Mengxi is definitely ill-intentioned. If my estimation is correct, he wants to use the Chosen Maiden to ultimately control our Ashurmos Church. The coalition he mentioned earlier follows the same logic.”

“I see, is that how it is? Then do we still need to cooperate with him?”

“Cooperate? Why wouldn’t we?” Mokaro’s smile grew even more radiant as if he had heard something amusing. “Before we figure out the construction of the Magic Fission Bomb and his other weapons, there is no problem with joining forces. Of course, the specific details will depend on the Pope’s instructions.”

“Understood,” Rasim nodded, seemingly understanding yet not quite. “Then Lord Archbishop, I shall go and notify the ‘Darkmoon’s Lament’ troops to head to the southern border of the Snownight Empire to assist Xue Tian’ao in dealing with ‘Inferno’.”

As he spoke, Rasim took out the communication device from his pocket, seemingly prepared to make an emergency contact with the Darkmoon’s Lament in the northern part of the Red Lotus Leaf Empire.

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“Ah, that won’t be necessary.” Mokaro slowly raised his hand, stopping Rasim’s movement.

“Eh??”

“I would also like to see just how capable this Chosen Son, who is rumored to have obtained a portion of the Goddess’s power, truly is.”

“But, but Lord Archbishop!” Hearing his leader’s words, the uneasy Rasim raised a rare objection. “Among the known demon king tier existences, Inferno is an extremely powerful monster! Can Xue Tian’ao, a seventh tier being, handle it? Besides, if the Chosen Son really dies, the consequences… what will happen to this world?! Should we really not intervene?”

“It is not necessary,” Mokaro said indifferently, sipping his tea with a playful expression. “A Chosen Son that cannot be controlled is of no consequence if he dies. As for what will happen to the world, you need not worry about that…”

On the other side, aided by a rare spatial magic array, the fully armed Xue Tian’ao and several elites of the Royal Knight Corps arrived north of the Flowerveil Military Base! Enveloped in pale golden holy aura, Xue Tian’ao hovered in mid-air, gazing toward the distant military base.

Xue Tian’ao narrowed his eyes, while the several royal knights behind him wore expressions of utter terror.

Ahead of them, the sprawling mountain range had already turned into a fire sea purgatory. Hellfire from the abyss continuously consumed every living creature in its path, accompanied by the endless wails of humans, magical beasts, and spirit beasts. The terrifying crimson flames incinerated life into nothingness and completely swallowed their souls within the boundless sea of fire.

The flames soared into the sky, turning the heavens a crimson hue.

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The scorching heat, mixed with the overwhelming pressure of Shadow Essence and the eerie sounds of ghostly wailing, surged from the distance. The royal knights could not help but tremble uncontrollably as unprecedented fear surfaced in their eyes.

Faced with such a shock, several knights looked at Xue Tian’ao with trepidation and spoke up in persuasion, “Your Highness, let us wait for the Great General! That is Inferno! During the Holy War, that demon king tier monster defeated three of the Ashurmos Church’s Heavenly Apostles single-handedly! Your Highness, please reconsider!”

“Yes, a saint tier fighting a demon king tier?! This is simply too inappropriate!”

“You are the Chosen Son! You cannot afford for anything to happen to you!”

However, facing his subordinates’ pleas, Xue Tian’ao merely smiled with indifference. He looked ahead with complete confidence at the flame demon standing amidst the sea of fire—a creature constructed of flames with two pairs of wings and horns upon its head.

“Do not worry, Garfield, Toma, Lalo. I have my own way of dealing with it. You just need to follow my plan.”

As he spoke, a hint of golden light quickly seeped out of Xue Tian’ao’s azure eyes. Pale golden divine power gradually replaced his holy magic, covering his body! His momentum began to climb steadily at this moment as a powerful divine aura erupted!

He actually managed to hold his own against the surging heatwaves through sheer force!

Seeing this, the royal knights knew they could no longer persuade Xue Tian’ao and could only bow respectfully. “Understood, Your Highness. Then we wish you great success in battle.”

“Mm, wait for my good news.”

After a soft reply, Xue Tian’ao suddenly turned into a golden meteor! With an unstoppable and powerful momentum, he charged toward the vast fire sea purgatory ahead like an invincible force! In Xue Tian’ao’s eyes at this moment, there was not a trace of unease or solemnity; instead, there was only a deep sense of eagerness and surging battle intent!

‘Heh, Inferno? Such a powerful demon king tier is perfect for me to test my new moves! Besides, if I defeat this big fellow, I should get far more points than I do from courting those women or dealing with rigid knights.’

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Thinking of this, a greedy, cruel smile couldn’t help but surface on Xue Tian’ao’s face.

‘Let’s try unlocking two shackles first!’

On the other side, watching the golden light charging toward her with radiating killing intent, the demon of the flame calamity slowly narrowed her eyes, an inexplicable sense of relief appearing within them.

‘You’ve finally come, just as planned. If you hadn’t shown up soon, I’m afraid I would have had to retreat directly. After all, attacking a national capital without permission would get me scolded by Mother…’

But honestly, feeling the extremely dense aura of divine power surrounding Xue Tian’ao, the feeling of disgust in Karina’s heart skyrocketed.

‘Truly… a disgusting thing…’

Along with the release of Karina’s cold killing intent, the sea of fire suddenly boiled!

As Xue Tian’ao flew over the sea of fire holding the imperial treasure, the Snow Emperor Sword, he concentrated all his attention on the flame demon to prepare his attack! Suddenly, a crimson pillar of fire erupted from the ground without warning!

It struck Xue Tian’ao right between the legs without straying an inch…