Chapter 564-565: Facing the sages  

It was still night, dawn was approaching and the moon was leaving place to the sun; slowly but surely, allowing more and more light to bath the earth.

Sol was observing everything, walking quietly and ignoring everything in his path.

He was currently in the land of the Eternal Battlefield and though people could not see it, he could feel the power in this land.

It was a place where many people died—a place where war had been repeatedly fought for so long that it lost all meaning.

A certain hush filled the battlefield. Lilin's victory had been so swift, few had been able to react and with the appearance of the Rangers, the course of the war was all but decided. But even so, Wratharis was not considered helpless.

For they still had three Kings and three powerful Dukes outside of those who were sent to the war so people were waiting. Waiting for what would most likely be the last act before the end of this war.

When he finally reached the gate of the fortress, they immediately were opened and on the other side, a large corridor of honor could be seen with all the soldiers standing on either side, creating a wide road for him with a red carpet. At the end of this, he could see Lilin with one knee down, waiting respectfully for him.

“Welcome your Highness!”

Sol quietly smiled. Clearly, Lilin had warned them about his arrival. The soldiers were orderly, as expected of soldiers who fought constantly without much contact nor help from the Capital.

The current hay of honor reminded him of what happened when he once visited the Duke Highland. Back then, the soldier had been radiating their killing intent, wishing to test his might and his talents.

Now though — No one dared something like this and yet, this was not enough. This was far from what Sol wanted to see. The Soldiers here still did not respect him, they still did not understand what kind of power he held.

It seemed like he had to make them learn.

The first step he took when he entered was all that was needed for the soldier to buckle and groan. They had the distinct feeling that a mountain had been suddenly placed on their shoulder but what they did not realize was that this was nothing more than the start. After all, Sol did not want to cripple them.

Each step he took added more weight to them and soon, all the soldiers were kneeling and saluting his arrival while Sol continued to walk unhurriedly until he finally reached Lilin.

Taking her by the hand and raising her up, he smiled, “Why do you kneel while the soldiers stand?”

The others finally understood what had happened but none of them were even able to say a word. The entire zone seemed to be under Sol’s influence, pressuring them, crushing them, pushing them against the ground like worms being pressed by a boot.

They could not talk. They could not breathe and moving was nothing but an impossibility.

Indeed. They understood now.

The young boy in front of them was not some useless prince. Neither was he, someone, people like that could even dare to try and understand.

“Your Highness. Forgive them, I am sure that they meant no ill.”

Sol pinched Lilin's nose before looking at the kneeling old woman while ignoring everyone else,

“General Rose was it?”

“Your Highness.”

Rose was also kneeling but unlike the other, she was barely able to speak. Even so, she could say nothing much and those two words made her feel like she had been working out for hours.

Rose, like many others, had been wondering what kind of man Sol was. She had been constantly hearing from Lilin how awesome Sol was and if she had to be honest, while she had some expectations, she also had many doubts.

How monstrous.

All those doubts were no more. She could feel it even more keenly than the others. This was no intent. Not even a technique properly speaking. He seemed to be like a primordial monster and their instincts were forcing them to kneel as only then could they avoid punishment.

“I have heard many things from the Queen about this army and on behalf of Lustburg, I would like to give my gratitude for all the blood the soldiers shed during this war and even before.”

“You are too kind.”

“Indeed I am. This is why I will give you a warning General. Never forget. No matter how you have been ruling this place. No matter how long you have been living here, you are all from Lustburg and I —am your Prince. Do not overstep your ground.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and Rose had to fight the urge to simply lie on the ground and freeze because of fear.

Rose had been fighting for years, decades even. She had seen everything there was to see and fought everything there was to fight. Or so she thought. At this very moment, she did not doubt that the slender arm of the young prince that was devoid of callus had enough strength to grind her to dust in an instant.

“Sol…”

Sol looked behind and could see that many of the soldiers were about to faint. He smiled, the fact that they were only about to faint showed their experience.

“I am glad that I was not disappointed. All of you, rise.”

Like a lie, the pressure vanished and many groaned as they realized for the first time how beautiful it was to be able to breathe freely. With Shaky legs, they all stood and saluted once again.

“WELCOME YOUR HIGHNESS!”

“At ease.”

As sad as it was sometimes, it was necessary to give a beating to make people understand the difference in hierarchy. In this world, no amount of beautiful speech could surpass the effect of a strong fist.

Of course, after beating them, he needed to appease them but now was not the time.

Standing up, Rose sighed, her old bone had been quite rattled after this episode. Trying to act like they did with Lilin had been a monumental mistake and she was happy this was all they got as a warning. “Would you like to rest, your highness?”

“No. I will have to fight soon.”

“Fight?”

Who would he fight? The soldiers here were already captured and Wratharis had pulled back. As for Envilya, they were perfectly happy just observing and staying away for now.

“You will understand. For now, bring me to our VIP captive. The so-called sages. You put them under a dream, right?”

“Yes.” Lilin nodded excitedly. “With this, they won’t be able to create trouble. After all, we have no way of restraining them.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

The walk was mostly silent, Sol was deep in thought, Rose did not dare disturb the prince and Lilin was happy gazing silently at Sol. Her gaze was not burdensome for Sol as he was already used to such and it was in such a heavy atmosphere that they found them.

“I see that you are already awake.”

Sitting in a cage cross legged, both the Camel King and the Dragon Flood Queen opened their eyes.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“It would have been quite humiliating if we were unable to wake up even with such a distance.”

The camel king spoke slowly, his voice old.

“So why have you not escaped yet?”

“We wanted to but…”

The camel King gave a bitter smile while the flood dragon Queen changed her position by putting one knee on the ground.

“I salute the Dragon Prince.”

“Oh? You know me?”

“Hearsay, coming from the forest of elves. I did not believe them at first but the moment I felt your aura, I realized that those words were no lies.”

The Dragon flood queen was a beautiful woman in her way and had it been any other time, Sol would have been happy to chat more with her but now he had other things to worry about.

“I will be brief as I have no wish to waste both of our time. Will you follow me?”

The two sages stayed silent and this time Jialong stood, “Are you asking this as the Prince of Dragon or the Prince of Lustburg?”

“Neither and all of them at the same time. My identity are nothing but accolades. Will you follow me? Do not make me repeat myself a third time.”

The two exchanged a look and Jialong gritted her teeth, “Will we have to betray Wukong?”

“No.”

“Then, I submit.”

Jialong had no hangup about this situation. The dragons were even clearer about hierarchy than most races and her pride would not have a dent by following the prince. The Camel king had more hesitation. But, knowing what he knew of the situation, he knew this was a trend that could and should not be fought;

“I will follow and listen to the prince.”

“Good. You will come to realize that this was the best decision in your whole existence. But for now…Let's go and recuperate your other friends.”

Sol looked at the horizon, his eyes shining. Though they were still far way, he could feel them approaching. Three very powerful presences, one of them in particular was at a level completely different from the two sages here. This was surprising but not outside of expectations. “Lilin, you have everything set?”

“Yes. This fight will be relayed to the entire battlefields and even the capitals.”

“Very well. Then…Let’s see what the so-called sages are made of.”

*** Lately, the sentence, “When Lustburg moves, the world moves as well” was becoming something akin to a common sentence.

After all, with everything the kingdom had been doing lately, it was hard to not notice all the things that were going on.

From being expected to lose, to nearly completely dominating the whole war, one could say that Lustburg was truly riding the tide.

Even so, there were still many people who did think this would go far.

They all knew that once Lustburg reached the capital, that would be it. After all, only a demigod could hope to break the barrier created by the supreme daughter.

In the end, Wratharis would most likely make one last show of force then retreat and start negotiating later.

Beyond the results of the war, the things people were the most interested in were none other than the situation of Lilith Luxuria.

There were many theories. Some alluded to Lilith being gravely wounded after facing the demigod who broke in Lustburg.

With how the Prince rose to power around the same time, many considered that Lilith and the Prince had always been in a strained relationship and that Lilith had been keeping the power for so long because she was controlling him.

Now though, Lustburg was without a King ranked and the prince seemed to be only moderately talented.

The tales about the black phoenix showing its might made it clear that the Phoenix was not a King level either.

Sol Luxuria was weak or at the very least, he was weak right now!

This was a common opinion, the idea that was spreading, and a fact that Sol did nothing to and instead helped push forward. This was why, when a large screen suddenly covered the sky, the residents of Lustburg, Wratharis, and the few borders did not understand what was going on or what was about to happen.

All they could see was a lone man floating high in a desert battlefield, wearing regal clothes and showing a calm smile.

While many might not recognize him by name, his features made it easy to understand who it was as the camera seemed to focus on his eyes.

The Blessed of Lustburg — Sol Dragona Luxuria.

This was not the first time such a thing had happened. In fact, this had happened a few many times but each time the prince made a broadcast, the information shared was incredible or very shocking.

This was why, everyone raised their head in the sky, from the most mundane to the high-ranked, they looked up and wondered, what kind of crazy stunt would the prince pull again.

They were not ready for what followed.

***

Back to Lustburg, the three sages were flying using clouds, a technique Sun Wukong had taught them, a very useful one that allowed them to reach incredible speed in the sky and fight as they wished.

“Bull, do you feel it?”

The bull King frowned and his form slowly changed, his muscles twitched and his height grew, reaching an impressive nearly 3 meters tall, with long pointed horns on both sides of his head, and finally a long sturdy tail.

The Macaque King and the Lion King immediately transformed as well. This was not their full form but this form was the most advantageous one when it came to fighting in their opinion.

“I will take the front, you guys stay a little further. If the prince immediately attacks, I will count on you guys to support me.”

The Lion King mocked, “I didn’t expect you will be so scared.” Though he said this, he was also showing a very serious expression.

He could feel the pressure. They had underestimated the prince even more than they initially thought.

This guy was —

“Hello.”

Whoosh!

The three sages, who were in a triangular formation, immediately reacted. Fists covered in Fire, wind, and Metal all created a roar as they tore the air to ruthlessly punch their target but sadly for them—.

“Well… This is not the kindest greeting I received, I must say.”

The lion King, holding a magical sword he had created with his affinity, widened his eyes s he watched what was happening. All of them were standing still, unable to touch the one intruder in their midst.

Their attacks weren’t blocked, not truly so. But he felt like there was a layer between them and the young man in front of them. As if he was standing in a completely different space from him.

Now that they were close, they were able to see the intruder more clearly and immediately recognized him. Though he was very different from the image of him they had.

The prince they knew of had his appearance mostly human. But the one in front of them was taller and his horns and draconic eyes were clear for all to see. He was tall, his eyes were anything but human and a few scales could be seen on his white skin.

Though he was shorter than the Bull King, he gave the distinct impression that he was towering over all other them.

“To be honest. I have so many different ways to make you guys completely helpless in one go that this fight is entirely meaningless. Ideally, I would put you down instantly like my beloved did but this does not align with my goal.”

They became angry at the way he was belittling them but showed once again surprise when the feeling of infinite distance between them seemed to vanish and their fists or weapons finally made contact with his skin.

Boom!

It had to be said that though they appeared to have stopped earlier, they had never ceased building momentum and tried to break through whatever means of protection the prince was using.

The shockwave of the attacks finally making contact with his body was akin to a bomb detonating. The three sages were no pushovers and the power they held was enough to bring down mountains.

Pure white light flashed and the shockwave spread, forcing people who were watching in the vicinity to crouch down and cover their ears or protect themselves.

For those watching the broadcast, the impression of awe and power was all too easy to feel as they could see the spreading damage even though the four were fighting in the air. They had no doubts that if they were in the place of the prince they would have been destroyed.

Then, what about the prince himself?

A few showed surprise. Many started to show glee or mockery at the situation. In lustburg, the nobles who had been pressed down because of the reforms Sol was establishing were already about to jump for joy.

But —

Sigh~!

A sigh full of tiredness and disappointment sounded, reaching the ears of all those watching.

The light slowly dissipated, all this to show the three Sages standing further apart, all of them with the same incredulous face.

“All that…For a drop of blood. How pitiful.”

Meanwhile, Sol, still nonchalantly standing where he was, gently tapped the closing wound on his forehead and liquid the drop of blood that fell.

“Or should I say, as expected of the Bull King? You honor your name as a powerful Duke. Only a very select few can even dream of making me bleed.”

He smiled, “Be proud. You will be the one to have the honor of fighting me.”

Neither the Macaque King nor the Lion King were able to answer before being swiftly swallowed in Sol's dimension.

“Brothers!”

“Do not worry. They will be fine. No harm will come unto them. I cannot say the same about you though.”

He stretched a little before taking off his upper shorts and throwing them away, revealing his muscular frame.

“Relax. This will be short.”

This would not be a fight. This was going to be nothing more than a demonstration.