Chapter 416
Chapter 416: THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE EMPIRE
NIKOLAI turned to the crystal ball the size of Neoma’s fist on his office table.
He felt a strange aura gathering inside the crystal ball that looked like a small moon. Thus, it didn’t surprise him when the crystal ball glowed and burst. The broken pieces didn’t reach him since he had a powerful protection on himself that would never wear off unless he was on the brink of death. Thus, the broken pieces turned into pieces of dust, eventually.
The emperor’s body was sacred, so not everyone could touch him casually. If a person who had bad intentions towards him dared to touch him carelessly, his barrier would get activated and attack what it considered as a threat.
“Your Majesty, isn’t that the crystal ball that Lord Manu entrusted to you before he left the empire?” Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing in front of his desk, stopped with his report to ask. “Why did it suddenly break? It feels ominous.”
Contrary to Geoffrey’s worry, it was actually quite the opposite.
“No, it’s not ominous,” Nikolai said, his mood suddenly bright even though he spent the whole day worrying about his children. Neoma hadn’t gone back yet, and he didn’t know what Nero’s exact condition at the moment was. “The fact that the crystal ball broke only means Manu has returned.”
“Oh,” the Paladin said, beaming. “Then that also means Princess Neoma’s Soul Beast has returned.”
.....
Yes, and it was exactly why his mood turned bright.
Now that Neoma’s Soul Beast was back, saving Mona would naturally come next.
[Finally.]
“Your Majesty?” Geoffrey Kinsley asked, confused, when he stood up and grabbed his jacket that was hung on his chair. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I’m going to fetch Manu myself.”
The Paladin’s eyes looked shocked. “Your Majesty can’t leave the palace when your heir isn’t here. In this case, both Prince Nero and Princess Neoma aren’t in the palace so-”
“There are individuals who wouldn’t want us to save Mona,” he said, cutting Geoffrey Kinsley off while putting on his jacket. “Judging by what happened the past few years, it’s obvious there are eyes monitoring our movements. In that case, our enemies probably know that Manu has returned.”
“Allow me to come with Your Majesty then,” the Paladin said. “If the enemies will attack, then I can’t let Your Majesty go and face them alone.”
“Geoffrey Kinsley, are you insulting me?”
Geoffrey immediately bowed to him. “I misspoke, Your Majesty. Please forgive me,” he said. “I am not and will never insult Your Majesty. It’s just that as your Paladin, it’s my job to accompany you all the time- especially when you’re about to face an enemy.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” he said nonchalantly. “I’ll return before Kyle Sprouse notices I sneaked out.”
“Your Majesty, Kyle will kill me if he finds out I let you go alone...”
“Glenn is no longer here, so it’s your job to deal with Kyle now,” Nikolai said, then he walked towards Geoffrey Kinsley and patted the Paladin’s shoulder. “Good luck dealing with that grumpy man, Vice-commander Geoffrey Kinsley.”
Yes, Geoffrey Kinsley was now the vice-commander of the White Lion Knights.
The position of being the commander was still reserved for Ruston Stroganoff, even though he didn’t like how his daughter fawned over that boy.
[Once Ruston Stroganoff becomes the commander of the White Lion Knights, I will move the Order’s base to the farthest border from the Royal Capital.]
Geoffrey Kinsley let out a worried sigh. “Please return safely, Your Majesty.”
***
[DEARL LORD Yule, I’m about to witness a murder.]
Manu knew that the moment Nikolai de Moonasterio created his own Field Isolation, the kind of technique that separated the emperor’s “domain” from reality, Lukas was already dead meat.
Lukas tried to escape, but the emperor’s Field Isolation covered the whole Roseheart Estate fast.
It was impressive.
Usually, when the “territory” was as big as the Roseheart Estate, it would take for an individual with a skill like the emperor’s Field Isolation a few minutes to cover the entire area. But Nikolai de Moonasterio only needed a few seconds to establish his Field Isolation.
[Nikolai de Moonasterio’s skills didn’t get rusty, huh?]
“Manu.”
[Look at this disrespectful little shi...]
“What?” Manu asked while looking up at Nikolai de Moonasterio, who was looking down at him with glowing red eyes. He immediately realized why the emperor called him when he saw him gathering his Moonglow in his fingertip. “I’ll be fine,” he said, assuring the emperor. “I can protect myself and the dragon egg, so don’t hold back.”
To put the emperor at ease, he created a thick Dome to protect himself and the dragon egg. It was the same technique that Dominic Zavaroni possessed. After all, both of them learned the same thing while they were being trained as Lord Yule’s representatives.
“Good,” the emperor, who seemed satisfied with his barrier, said.
[He really never learned how to speak respectfully to his elders.]
His internal whining was interrupted when Nikolai de Moonasterio’s gaze fell on Lukas.
He felt a shiver down his spine, even though the emperor’s hostility wasn’t directed at him. No wonder the elf visibly flinched.
[Oh, the poor elf is scared.]
Lukas looked like a mouse caught in a trap. It was also obvious that the elf was struggling to escape.
Scratch that.
The elf was now literally frozen on the spot where he stood. A black snake was wrapped around his ankles, after all.
[Ah, that’s Nikolai de Moonasterio unofficial Soul Beast.]
Unfortunately for the elf, his Darkness attribute was also weak against the emperor’s Moonglow. Thus, Lukas couldn’t even leave his physical body to escape with his soul. After all, the emperor’s Field Isolation was created from the pure divine energy that the de Moonasterios possessed.
[Yes, this is really a one-sided fight.]
Nikolai de Moonasterio raised a hand, his fingertips glowing with the bluish radiance of his Moonglow. Then he slammed his hand in the air, creating a powerful wave that fell down on Lukas, who was literally crushed in a second.
[Oh, dang.]
The air wave that crushed Lukas was made from pure Moonglow, after all.
It slammed Lukas to the ground; the impact creating a vast crater, as if a huge and heavy object fell on it.
[I wonder if the elf survived that...]
If Nikolai de Moonasterio didn’t use his Field Isolation, the whole Roseheart Estate would have been destroyed by now.
Scratch that.
The Moonglow-infused air wave that the emperor threw at Lukas casually would have been enough to erase the Royal Capital from the map.
His thoughts were interrupted when Lukas coughed up a huge chunk of blood.
“He’s still alive,” he said to himself, impressed.
“I can’t let him die easily since I need him as bait for his god whose name I already forgot,” Nikolai de Moonasterio said haughtily after he landed on the ground gracefully. Then he walked towards the elf while drawing Calypso- the emperor’s sword. “But that elf needs to be purified. His Darkness attribute isn’t normal.”
He nodded in agreement. “It’s filled with despair that doesn’t belong to him.”
The emperor stopped in front of the fallen elf.
Lukas then slowly raised his head to glare at His Majesty.
[Wrong move, fool.]
Nikolai de Moonasterio unceremoniously stabbed the elf’s right eye with his sword- making Lukas scream in agony. After all, the emperor’s blade was covered with pure Moonglow. “Who gave you the right to glare at me?” he asked the elf while twisting the blade to make it more painful for Lukas. “Are you mad I crushed you so easily?”
Manu didn’t want to sympathize with the elf who tried to harm him earlier.
But watching the emperor torture and verbally assault Lukas made it look like that the elf was the victim.
[Nikolai de Moonasterio looks like the villain here.]
“C-Curse you, Nikolai de Moonasterio,” Lukas said weakly. The elf was already crying blood in both eyes. “You and your damned bloodline...”
“Stronger individuals and gods have already tried cursing our bloodline and failed. What makes you think a mere elf’s curse will work on me?” Nikolai de Moonasterio said arrogantly. “But your god’s curse might work, so why don’t you behave and tell the God of Whatever Darkness to come out and play with me?”
Nikolai de Moonasterio really gave the God of Eternal Darkness an insulting name, causing Lukas to scream indignantly at the emperor who remained poker-faced.
[God of Whatever Darkness?]
Manu would probably go to hell for laughing a little louder than he should have.
***
“MY MOON Princess, did you miss me?”
Neoma, who was having tea in Nero’s new room, looked up to see Trevor, who just entered the chamber with a huge grin on his stupidly handsome face.
[It looks like Trevor is as tall as Rubin Drayton now.]
The carefree demon’s physical appearance right now resembled the adult Trevor in her memory.
[God, I don’t want to admit this, but Trevor’s adult form is hot.]
“Princess Neoma, do you like my face that much?” Trevor asked, grinning. Then he sat on the armrest of the chair she occupied. “Here, look at my face closer.”
It was an offer hard to resist.
[My weakness against handsome faces is more embarrassing than the shameful end of my second life.]
.....
Still, she shamelessly stared at Trevor’s handsome face.
“You punk,” Neoma said while looking at Trevor’s face. “Did you get more piercings?”
Trevor grinned (cutely) as he tilted his head to one side, obviously acting cute for her. “You noticed, my Moon Princess?”
How could she not?
Now that Trevor was this close to her, she noticed that he had a tongue piercing as well when he talked.
But it wasn’t the only thing that she noticed.
“Hmm?” she said, her hand automatically reaching for Trevor’s eyebrow piercing.
Yes, this punk had an eyebrow piercing, too.
[This one is strange, though.]
The demon boy’s eyebrow piercing was giving him bad vibes.
Trevor tried to avoid her touch, but that movement only gave her the reason to be aggressive. When she touched his eyebrow piercing, the image of the Devil suddenly entered her mind. She could tell right away that the piercing came from the Devil.
“Did you meet the Devil recently?” she asked, her eyes instantly turned glowing red.
When Trevor didn’t give a response and his lips just formed a thin line, she immediately wrapped her fingers around his neck.
“You did,” Neoma said sternly. “Trevor, did you betray me?”
Trevor let out an awkward laugh. “Princess Neoma, how did you know?”
***
***
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NIKOLAI turned to the crystal ball the size of Neoma’s fist on his office table.
He felt a strange aura gathering inside the crystal ball that looked like a small moon. Thus, it didn’t surprise him when the crystal ball glowed and burst. The broken pieces didn’t reach him since he had a powerful protection on himself that would never wear off unless he was on the brink of death. Thus, the broken pieces turned into pieces of dust, eventually.
The emperor’s body was sacred, so not everyone could touch him casually. If a person who had bad intentions towards him dared to touch him carelessly, his barrier would get activated and attack what it considered as a threat.
“Your Majesty, isn’t that the crystal ball that Lord Manu entrusted to you before he left the empire?” Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing in front of his desk, stopped with his report to ask. “Why did it suddenly break? It feels ominous.”
Contrary to Geoffrey’s worry, it was actually quite the opposite.
“No, it’s not ominous,” Nikolai said, his mood suddenly bright even though he spent the whole day worrying about his children. Neoma hadn’t gone back yet, and he didn’t know what Nero’s exact condition at the moment was. “The fact that the crystal ball broke only means Manu has returned.”
“Oh,” the Paladin said, beaming. “Then that also means Princess Neoma’s Soul Beast has returned.”
.....
Yes, and it was exactly why his mood turned bright.
Now that Neoma’s Soul Beast was back, saving Mona would naturally come next.
[Finally.]
“Your Majesty?” Geoffrey Kinsley asked, confused, when he stood up and grabbed his jacket that was hung on his chair. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I’m going to fetch Manu myself.”
The Paladin’s eyes looked shocked. “Your Majesty can’t leave the palace when your heir isn’t here. In this case, both Prince Nero and Princess Neoma aren’t in the palace so-”
“There are individuals who wouldn’t want us to save Mona,” he said, cutting Geoffrey Kinsley off while putting on his jacket. “Judging by what happened the past few years, it’s obvious there are eyes monitoring our movements. In that case, our enemies probably know that Manu has returned.”
“Allow me to come with Your Majesty then,” the Paladin said. “If the enemies will attack, then I can’t let Your Majesty go and face them alone.”
“Geoffrey Kinsley, are you insulting me?”
Geoffrey immediately bowed to him. “I misspoke, Your Majesty. Please forgive me,” he said. “I am not and will never insult Your Majesty. It’s just that as your Paladin, it’s my job to accompany you all the time- especially when you’re about to face an enemy.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” he said nonchalantly. “I’ll return before Kyle Sprouse notices I sneaked out.”
“Your Majesty, Kyle will kill me if he finds out I let you go alone...”
“Glenn is no longer here, so it’s your job to deal with Kyle now,” Nikolai said, then he walked towards Geoffrey Kinsley and patted the Paladin’s shoulder. “Good luck dealing with that grumpy man, Vice-commander Geoffrey Kinsley.”
Yes, Geoffrey Kinsley was now the vice-commander of the White Lion Knights.
The position of being the commander was still reserved for Ruston Stroganoff, even though he didn’t like how his daughter fawned over that boy.
[Once Ruston Stroganoff becomes the commander of the White Lion Knights, I will move the Order’s base to the farthest border from the Royal Capital.]
Geoffrey Kinsley let out a worried sigh. “Please return safely, Your Majesty.”
***
[DEARL LORD Yule, I’m about to witness a murder.]
Manu knew that the moment Nikolai de Moonasterio created his own Field Isolation, the kind of technique that separated the emperor’s “domain” from reality, Lukas was already dead meat.
Lukas tried to escape, but the emperor’s Field Isolation covered the whole Roseheart Estate fast.
It was impressive.
Usually, when the “territory” was as big as the Roseheart Estate, it would take for an individual with a skill like the emperor’s Field Isolation a few minutes to cover the entire area. But Nikolai de Moonasterio only needed a few seconds to establish his Field Isolation.
[Nikolai de Moonasterio’s skills didn’t get rusty, huh?]
“Manu.”
[Look at this disrespectful little shi...]
“What?” Manu asked while looking up at Nikolai de Moonasterio, who was looking down at him with glowing red eyes. He immediately realized why the emperor called him when he saw him gathering his Moonglow in his fingertip. “I’ll be fine,” he said, assuring the emperor. “I can protect myself and the dragon egg, so don’t hold back.”
To put the emperor at ease, he created a thick Dome to protect himself and the dragon egg. It was the same technique that Dominic Zavaroni possessed. After all, both of them learned the same thing while they were being trained as Lord Yule’s representatives.
“Good,” the emperor, who seemed satisfied with his barrier, said.
[He really never learned how to speak respectfully to his elders.]
His internal whining was interrupted when Nikolai de Moonasterio’s gaze fell on Lukas.
He felt a shiver down his spine, even though the emperor’s hostility wasn’t directed at him. No wonder the elf visibly flinched.
[Oh, the poor elf is scared.]
Lukas looked like a mouse caught in a trap. It was also obvious that the elf was struggling to escape.
Scratch that.
The elf was now literally frozen on the spot where he stood. A black snake was wrapped around his ankles, after all.
[Ah, that’s Nikolai de Moonasterio unofficial Soul Beast.]
Unfortunately for the elf, his Darkness attribute was also weak against the emperor’s Moonglow. Thus, Lukas couldn’t even leave his physical body to escape with his soul. After all, the emperor’s Field Isolation was created from the pure divine energy that the de Moonasterios possessed.
[Yes, this is really a one-sided fight.]
Nikolai de Moonasterio raised a hand, his fingertips glowing with the bluish radiance of his Moonglow. Then he slammed his hand in the air, creating a powerful wave that fell down on Lukas, who was literally crushed in a second.
[Oh, dang.]
The air wave that crushed Lukas was made from pure Moonglow, after all.
It slammed Lukas to the ground; the impact creating a vast crater, as if a huge and heavy object fell on it.
[I wonder if the elf survived that...]
If Nikolai de Moonasterio didn’t use his Field Isolation, the whole Roseheart Estate would have been destroyed by now.
Scratch that.
The Moonglow-infused air wave that the emperor threw at Lukas casually would have been enough to erase the Royal Capital from the map.
His thoughts were interrupted when Lukas coughed up a huge chunk of blood.
“He’s still alive,” he said to himself, impressed.
“I can’t let him die easily since I need him as bait for his god whose name I already forgot,” Nikolai de Moonasterio said haughtily after he landed on the ground gracefully. Then he walked towards the elf while drawing Calypso- the emperor’s sword. “But that elf needs to be purified. His Darkness attribute isn’t normal.”
He nodded in agreement. “It’s filled with despair that doesn’t belong to him.”
The emperor stopped in front of the fallen elf.
Lukas then slowly raised his head to glare at His Majesty.
[Wrong move, fool.]
Nikolai de Moonasterio unceremoniously stabbed the elf’s right eye with his sword- making Lukas scream in agony. After all, the emperor’s blade was covered with pure Moonglow. “Who gave you the right to glare at me?” he asked the elf while twisting the blade to make it more painful for Lukas. “Are you mad I crushed you so easily?”
Manu didn’t want to sympathize with the elf who tried to harm him earlier.
But watching the emperor torture and verbally assault Lukas made it look like that the elf was the victim.
[Nikolai de Moonasterio looks like the villain here.]
“C-Curse you, Nikolai de Moonasterio,” Lukas said weakly. The elf was already crying blood in both eyes. “You and your damned bloodline...”
“Stronger individuals and gods have already tried cursing our bloodline and failed. What makes you think a mere elf’s curse will work on me?” Nikolai de Moonasterio said arrogantly. “But your god’s curse might work, so why don’t you behave and tell the God of Whatever Darkness to come out and play with me?”
Nikolai de Moonasterio really gave the God of Eternal Darkness an insulting name, causing Lukas to scream indignantly at the emperor who remained poker-faced.
[God of Whatever Darkness?]
Manu would probably go to hell for laughing a little louder than he should have.
***
“MY MOON Princess, did you miss me?”
Neoma, who was having tea in Nero’s new room, looked up to see Trevor, who just entered the chamber with a huge grin on his stupidly handsome face.
[It looks like Trevor is as tall as Rubin Drayton now.]
The carefree demon’s physical appearance right now resembled the adult Trevor in her memory.
[God, I don’t want to admit this, but Trevor’s adult form is hot.]
“Princess Neoma, do you like my face that much?” Trevor asked, grinning. Then he sat on the armrest of the chair she occupied. “Here, look at my face closer.”
It was an offer hard to resist.
[My weakness against handsome faces is more embarrassing than the shameful end of my second life.]
.....
Still, she shamelessly stared at Trevor’s handsome face.
“You punk,” Neoma said while looking at Trevor’s face. “Did you get more piercings?”
Trevor grinned (cutely) as he tilted his head to one side, obviously acting cute for her. “You noticed, my Moon Princess?”
How could she not?
Now that Trevor was this close to her, she noticed that he had a tongue piercing as well when he talked.
But it wasn’t the only thing that she noticed.
“Hmm?” she said, her hand automatically reaching for Trevor’s eyebrow piercing.
Yes, this punk had an eyebrow piercing, too.
[This one is strange, though.]
The demon boy’s eyebrow piercing was giving him bad vibes.
Trevor tried to avoid her touch, but that movement only gave her the reason to be aggressive. When she touched his eyebrow piercing, the image of the Devil suddenly entered her mind. She could tell right away that the piercing came from the Devil.
“Did you meet the Devil recently?” she asked, her eyes instantly turned glowing red.
When Trevor didn’t give a response and his lips just formed a thin line, she immediately wrapped her fingers around his neck.
“You did,” Neoma said sternly. “Trevor, did you betray me?”
Trevor let out an awkward laugh. “Princess Neoma, how did you know?”
***
***
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