Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
On May 5th, the sun rose from the ground. The signs of war in Denan City were washed away with time. The grounds were cleaned and houses rebuilt.
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The Harry Family’s golden dragon coat of arms could be seen throughout the city as knights patrol within the peaceful streets.
Today was a special day. The great emperor was putting up a grand ceremony.
Copious numbers of nobles emerged in Denan City on their luxurious carriages a few days ago.
Countless citizens gathered along both sides of the Victory Boulevard before dawn to witness their new great emperor’s show of military strength.
It was a tradition every emperor had to do after claiming the throne, but this time Abel had gotten his throne through violence, so everyone was especially curious.
Not only were the citizens, but the duchies and other kingdoms were interested as well. They had heard a lot about Abel’s power through all kinds of reports. Now they finally had the chance to witness with their own eyes.
A protection circle was set up in the center of the square in front of the palace. Inside it was a 100 square audience platform with 20 smaller ones by the side.
20 lighting spirals were placed in front of the platform by guards.
“Your Majesty, you can change your clothes now!” Steward Burbridge said carefully.
He had tremendous amounts of respect for Abel. He never thought that a young noble, the child of a coat of arms knight, could become the emperor of one of the most powerful kingdoms of the human world.
Although Abel didn’t think he was that different, he was a new man in his steward’s eyes.
“Burbridge, thank you!” Abel put down his book and smiled.
He stood up and went to the change room. The tailors of the palace were already waiting for him. They bowed the moment they saw Abel.
“Stand, what clothes did you prepare me today!” Abel waved and asked.
Both Abel and steward Burbridge did not know anything about clothes, so they let the tailor take care of all of it.
“The great emperor Abel. We repaired 3 sets of suits for you. Please pick one!” A tailor lifted cloths from a table and said.
The tailor had worked very hard. Abel did not give them any clear instructions for this grand event, so he could only make 3 sets and let Abel pick.
Abel sighed as he looked at the suits. Each of them was priceless just looking at the materials alone– not to mention the countless gems and jewelry that go along with it.
“I’ll pick this one.” Abel pointed at a dim gold color one. It was the least flashy one from the bunch.
Still, the color was made up for with the countless gems and jewelry.
“Your Majesty, this suit is made from the material sent by the elves. It was from the fur of a golden lion!” The tailor carefully put the suit on Abel’s body as he explained.
Every well-known organization in the Holy Continent knew about this ceremony, so all countries and species sent gifts. Even the enemies of the humans, the orc empire, had given him something through their connections.
At first, Abel was not planning to invite the orc empire, but he had to because of this.
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The dim gold color suit perfectly reflects the muscles on his physique. Every stitch was perfectly considered to maximize his dominant energy.
“I’m very happy with it!” Abel looked at his reflection in the crystal glass and nodded with a smile.
Abel’s affirmation sent joy throughout the heart of the tailor. His family had been serving the royals for generations. Since Abel was the new Emperor, his attitude would dictate if he could continue his family legacy.
Abel stepped out on the platform in his suit, a wave of applause. All the citizens on both sides of Victory Boulevard were cheering for their new emperor.
“Is grandmaster Abel really afraid of dying that much?” In the audience, a big noble from the Kingdom of St Anwell said in a mocking tone.
“Shut up, don’t drag us along if you want to die!” A wizard in wizard robe rudely interrupted. His gaze was fixed on the 20 lightning spirals.
The mocking of the big nobles was not coming from a kind-hearted place and seemed like it was triggering the lightning spirals.
That wizard knew how scary the lightning spirals were. According to rumors, it had killed an intermediate wizard in seconds.
If those 20 lightning spirals were ignited, not only that big noble but the entire audience would die along with him.
Of course, that wizard did not know that Abel had let the palace guardian spirit operate those lightning spirals, so it couldn’t attack the audience.
Abel smiled and waved his hand. He then turned to the Kingdom of St Anwell Emperor Aldous and bowed.
“Welcome, the great Emperor Aldous!”
“Thanks for your invitation, the great Emperor Abel!” Emperor Aldous bowed back.
Abel then turned to the Kingdom of St Pierrt prime minister and bowed, “Duke Chesterton, Welcome!”
“The great Emperor Abel, I congratulate you on behalf of Emperor Manfred. It’s my honor to attend your ceremony!” Duke Chesterton bowed back.
“Grand Duke Edwina, Duke Albert. Welcome!” Abel then came across a young elf couple and immediately bowed.
“Grandmaster Abel, I hope the elves will forever maintain peace with you!” Grand Duke Edwina smiled.
Abel then came across a master blacksmith dwarf “The honorable Master Robbin. I am very honored that you have come!”
“Grandmaster Abel, this old man is here on behalf of the Blacksmith Union. You definitely need to show me your new work after this!” Master Robin laughed and bowed.
“Of course!” Abel continued to smile. Afterward, he turned to 2 elite wizards and said, “Welcome, my prestigious wizards!”
“Grandmaster Abel, we are old friends. We are here to represent the wizard Union!” Wizard Lorenzo and Wizard Allenby bowed back.
Finally, he turned to an elite Priest in a black hood and bowed, “My prestigious elite priest, I hope your visit means peace!”
“Grandmaster Abel, that’s exactly why I’m here. The orc empire has lost too much, and I hope I can sign a peace treaty on behalf of my empire with the great Kingdom of St Ellis!” The black-cloaked priest owed back.
Abel smiled but did not reply. Things like this took time to discuss.
Still, he was very surprised that the orc empire had sent out an elite priest.
The orc empire had no choice. Their military force, especially the Air Force of the kingdom of St Ellis, was way too scary.
Those 5 Sky Ships and 200 griffin knights could dominate the sky.
The scariest thing was the carrying capacity of those skyships. They could carry 10,000 knights into any terrain they wanted. This defied the rule of war.
Initially, the orc empire had set up a wall outside of St Ellis’s kingdom, but now it had become a joke.
Therefore, the orc empire had to choose but to show good intent to Abel despite everything he had done to them.
Abel also greeted Wizard Dunn and the representatives from the dwarf Goff Family.
The platform was not big, but almost all the most powerful forces of the Holy Continent were gathered there.
Especially the one in the center. They were the most prestigious.
10 notes of horns emerged, and the audience quieted down. Afterward, a galloping sound came from a horse running. Head commander Bodley appeared in a full set of magic armor and his equally muscular warhorse.
“The great emperor Abel, your men’s are ready for review!” Head commander Bodley said with his voice amplified by combat qi.
“My captain Bodley. Begin!” Abel said in a low voice.
“On command, review begins!” Head commander Bodley bowed on his horse and yelled.
Afterward, the 21 lightning spirals began to flash, and 21 beams of lightning shot up to the sky. It exploded into stardust and vanished.
“That’s overkill. How can they make a machine do that!” A few dwarfs lamented on the little audience platform.
Using powerful lightning elements as attacks were already beyond their imagination, let alone fireworks to please the eye.
It was an insult to the machine. If Abel’s wine wasn’t so good and those lightning spirals weren’t so powerful, they would definitely flip the table.
However, this was different in the eyes of human wizards. Unleashing lighting elements in such a controlled manner was a clear reflection of military strength.
Most wizards did not look good. Those things had the power of a powerful wizard, and it had been ignited with a trigger. Other than a few elite wizards who were confident fighting against one or two, most wizards were horrified.
This was what Abel wanted. The status of wizards was too high. A bit of horror should bring them down to earth and make them easier to manage.
“Wooo!” A wave of wolf howling sound emerged, making every knight on the spot grow tense. They placed their hand on their swords.
Afterward, a team of 200 knights emerged. Although their number was not her spectacular, each of them was equipped with a mount wolf—the mount wolf from the orc empire.
The black cloak priests felt their hearts drop. Their eyes flashed with emoticons under their hood.
It was the orc empire’s pride to have their mount wolf named the no.1 mount in the Holy Continent. Although there were some mount wolves in the human world as well, there had never been a full team of 200 knights on mount wolves. This meant the kingdom of St Ellis had found a way to domesticate them.
Their warhorse always limited the ability of a knight. There were more powerful mounts, but most of them couldn’t get into a knight formation.
Knights were always more powerful in a team. When they get into a knight formation, their strength will multiply.
The appearance of mount wolf in the Victory Boulevard sent a shock to the civilians, followed by huge applause. The power of mount wolf was no longer exclusive to the orc empire, but their kingdom had obtained it. The kingdom also had the no.1 mount of the Holy Continent.
The ruler of the 2 other kingdoms began to search their heads as worry began to emerge from within. Knights were the core of a kingdom, and mounts were the most attractive thing to them.
If the kingdom of St Ellis had found a way to domesticate mount wolves, it could attract all the most powerful knights.
The ruler of the 2 other kingdoms exchanged gazes. They both had one idea in mind. A Peace treaty; they had to sign a peace treaty.
However, Abel was not happy at all as he gazed at those 200 mount wolves. Although they seemed fine to others in regards to their control of mount wolves, they were total amateurs in the eyes of a double attributed head commander with Black Wind such as Abel.
Maybe he needed to start sending this team of knights out. The human world was at constant war anyway, so it was a good time for them to get some practice.
When the 200 knights arrived in front of the platform, they ignited their combat qi and yelled, “Long live the great emperor!”
Abel waved his hand to signal to the knights and audience.
After the mount wolf knights stepped aside, a knight formation made up of 60 knights emerged. The experienced ones in the audience could already tell that their shields and swords were all magic weapons.
Still, this was nothing compared to a team of knights on mount wolves.
When this knight formation neatly arrived in front of the platform, they yelled, “Long live the great emperor!”
Afterward, fiery red and white combat qi armor appeared in their body. Although their tone was a little mottled, no one would say anything.
All 60 of those knights were head commanders, and the sharp eyes knights in the audience realized they have never seen those head commanders before,
This team of 60 knights was all cultivated using the ‘dragon blood wall breaking potion.’ They all signed a magic contract, so their loyalty was far greater than any other knights.
Those 60 head commanders had shocked the audience once again. The number of head commanders in a kingdom had dictated their core strength.
Although both the kingdom of St Pierrt and the Kingdom of St Anwell had more than 60 head commanders as well, turning all of them into a team was impossible.
Every head commander was prideful. They were the pinnacle of knights, so no way they would get into a formation for eye candy.
This was the case with the dwarfs and elves as well. Their top-level fighters were all very prideful. Having ten of them was already very amazing, and they could persuade more top-level fighters to join through rewards.
Therefore, they only fought for them for assets, not loyalty.
A smile emerged on Abel’s face as he looked at those 60 head commanders. They were his core. Intermediate wizards would not want to mess with those knights. Even elite wizards would have a hard time breaking their defense.
The 60 head commanders sent applause through the civilians again. Wizards were too mysterious. The power of knights was more easily translated.
Head commanders were the pinnacle of knights, according to legends. With 60 of them in a kingdom, most civilians were so excited some of them had almost gone crazy.
40 giant hammer warriors immediately followed after the head commanders left. Each of those warriors was 2 meters tall. Their giant hammer was a special kind of weapon.
10 of them were given by the kingdom of St Pierrt as a gift to Abel, and after he took over the kingdom of St Ellis, he discovered another 30 of them.
A giant hammer warrior was often just for show. They took way too much energy to train, and they were not practical for normal battlefields.
At that moment, they did exactly what they were supposed to. Their 2 meters body and their giant hammer caused another applause in the audience. They all felt like they saw some scary war machines.
The civilians couldn’t tell they were just for show at all.
“Long live the great emperor!” Although the number of giant hammer warriors was not shocking, their voices were loud as thunder. No surprise there, it was in their training.
Most of the audience had seen a lot. With 40 giant hammer warriors, it meant the kingdom of St Ellis had also reached a high standard when it comes to their etiquette.
Or in other words, Abel had taken over the kingdom of St Ellis so quickly that almost all of its initial military force was preserved.
After the giant hammer warriors, 5000 high-level knights and warriors appeared on the Victory Boulevard in magic armour with magic sword and shield in their hands.
5000 high-level knights and warriors stepped forward with dominating energy. Their scale was totally out of this world, and they had all got into a battle formation.
Their energy intensifies with each step causing the audience to yell even louder, “Long live the great emperor!”
Abel smiled at his men. He had spent a lot of effort on them, and he was happy. Each of those knights was rewarded with a set of magic gear forged by Abel when they signed a magic contract. Without the time difference in the Dark World, the Holy forgery tool ‘Horadric Mallet’, and a Grandmaster Blacksmith’s ability, he could have never made this many weapons. This was more than anything a Grandmaster blacksmith dwarf could make in their entire life.
“Am I mistaken? Those are all magic weapons!” The audience on the platform began to mumble. Unlike the civilians, they realized what was truly on display.
“They are all Grandmaster Abel’s work!” A blacksmith dwarf’s eyes began to sparkle.
He couldn’t even believe his eyes. Those 5000 sets of magic gear were all made by Grandmaster Abel. They were enough double the power of a knight.
“That’s a luxury, truly a luxury!” Emperor Aldous sighed. He suddenly felt like a poor man.
“Yeah, only Abel majesty could do something like this!” Duke Chesterton nodded with admiration.
They knew they would not be able to buy 5000 sets of magic weapons even if he used up all the wealth in his kingdom, let alone the ones from Grandmaster Abel.
Even if they had enough wealth, where could they find 5000 sets of magic gear? The dwarfs would need to clear out their generational inventory to achieve something similar.
“Grandmaster Abel, your forgery skills are too powerful!” Said Master Robin. His own forgery skills were very close to a grandmaster, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
Abel smiled, but he did not reply. He knew he had shown quite a lot today, but it was the only way to declare to the world. He wanted peace, so he had to show everyone something so frightening that they wouldn’t even think about messing with his kingdom.
The 5000 knights took a long time to pass through the center platform, but no one would let their eyes rest. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
When the last knight passed through, the grounds began to shake.
Afterward, a neat row of 500 war puppets emerged in a battle formation. Each of them was holding a bursting crossbow.
All the audience on the platform suddenly stood up, even master Robin.
The little war puppets were the work of dwarfs, but they normally needed a magic circle to operate. Once they left their magic circle, a spirit would not be able to control them.
Another way to operate those war puppets was manually by a dwarf, but this would dramatically reduce a puppet’s fighting power during the battle since they would lose control once the dwarf who operates them dies.
Those little war puppets were walking along Victory boulevard without a magic circle, at least for the next one mile of road. There was only one explanation to this, and that was Abel had somehow gotten a spirit that could control puppets from a long distance.
“Abel never told me about this!” Bernie mumbled by the side of the little platform.
His status was not high enough to be on the main platform, so Abel had organized him on the closest side platform.
Bernie was more shocked than anyone when he saw those puppets. He was the one who sold those things to Abel, and Abel had always used them in a magic circle.
The black hooded elite priest was also not looking good. He saw them in action before; they were the things that destroyed the orc empire.
“He’s literally invincible!” These words simultaneously emerged in the mind of Emperor Aldous and Duke Chesterton.
How could anyone defend against those puppets; was it even possible?
Invincible was the only way to describe them. Even if you sent wizards to attack them, how many wizards would it take? Those puppets could be rebuilt, but wizards were very hard to cultivate.
The 500 puppets did not make a sound. They stopped in front of Abel and gently bowed to signify their respect.
Actually, Abel was the one controlling those puppets throughout the commander spirit. With its scary range of 10 miles, it was enough to cover the Victory Boulevard.
Another crazy applause erupted in the audience. Those metal things were 4 meters tall, and each of them was holding a bursting crossbow. The pressure it gave out was more powerful than anything that came before.
In the face of this, any enemy would feel hopeless.
“Long live the great Emperor!” Although the puppets did not speak, the civilians shouted again.
An immense pride for the kingdom emerged from their heart. With such a powerful military, no one would want to mess with them.