Within the lavish Royal Palace of the Atlane Third Empire, a stifling pressure filled the air, like a storm about to break.
“Luo Ling failed?!”
A roar exploded in the luxurious council hall like thunder, making the window frames tremble.
On the throne, the face of King Aisonia, usually dignified and composed, was now twisted with fury, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the trembling Messenger below as if he might devour him whole.
The expensive incense in the air couldn’t mask the intense anger burning within.
“Y… yes, Your Majesty.”
The Messenger knelt on the cold marble floor, head bowed even lower, his voice barely more than a whisper, trembling uncontrollably.
“According to… according to the soldiers who narrowly escaped the front lines, Luo Ling the Hero… the Hero, after crossing the Wraith River and facing the Demon Queen in a direct battle… was… was defeated by the Demon Queen… and…”
“And what else?!”
The King, like an enraged lion, slammed the armrest.
The gemstones embedded in it cracked like shattered glass under his furious strength.
“Speak!”
“Our army has… completely collapsed…”
The Messenger’s voice was hollow, filled with endless sorrow and despair, as if his soul had been sucked out.
“Enough!”
The King interrupted harshly, his chest heaving like a furious beast.
“A bunch of useless fools! Worthless trash! And what about the Saint Light Church and those charlatans?! Didn’t they swear that the hundredth prophesied Hero, chosen by fate, would surely slay demons and monsters, bringing us ultimate victory?! Where are their prophecies now?!”
King Aisonia’s mood was at rock bottom, every word squeezed out through clenched teeth.
He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood from his palms without him noticing.
Originally, last year’s ambitious ‘Aeria Unification Plan’ had ended in disaster for the Empire—heavy losses and nothing gained.
This year, after much struggle, he had barely managed to form an alliance, using threats and bribes, uniting the neutral Elves and the greedy Goblins into a seemingly powerful Anti-Demon King Alliance.
At first, the alliance advanced swiftly, overwhelming the Demon Queen’s defenses. The dawn of victory seemed within reach.
He had even begun to dream of conquering the Demon King’s Castle, crushing the woman who dared to claim power underfoot, and bringing the entire Aeria continent under imperial rule.
But now, the news from the Messenger was like a basin of ice water, dousing all his hopes and dreams.
The legendary Hero, the Empire’s trump card, couldn’t even defeat the Demon Queen?!
How could he not be furious? How could he accept this?
The Messenger trembled, his face pale as paper.
He knew the next words would completely ignite the King’s rage, but he had no choice but to speak.
He swallowed hard, summoning all his strength just to force out the words:
“Y… Your Majesty… Your servant begs forgiveness… there is one more thing to report…”
The King growled impatiently.
“Speak! Don’t stutter!”
“Just now… just now,”
The Messenger’s voice was choked with fear, as if walking on the edge of a blade.
“The Messengers from the Elves and Goblins… have already submitted official letters… they… they have declared their withdrawal from the Anti-Demon King Alliance, and… and publicly announced… their full support for the Demon Queen…”
“What?!”
This was the final straw that broke the King’s sanity.
He shot up from the throne, his regal robe billowing with the sudden motion.
His eyes were red, veins bulging on his forehead, and a violent aura swept through the hall, making all the palace guards fall to their knees, not daring to lift their heads.
“Unforgivable! Unforgivable!!”
The King paced before the throne like a madman.
“How dare they?! How dare they betray me?! Those long-eared hypocrites of the Elves! Those greedy dwarfs of the Goblins! After all I gave them! And they dare to switch sides at the last moment?!”
He stopped abruptly, turning his fierce gaze once more on the Messenger.
“And the Saint Light Church! What’s going on with them?! Luo Ling was their own chosen and trained Hero! Didn’t they say they had erased all his so-called ‘unnecessary memories’—those that could make him waver or diminish his loyalty to the Empire—so that he would be our most loyal and perfect pawn?!”
“A Hero with no past, who knows only loyalty to the Empire and the Church, was supposed to be our proudest weapon! And now?! The pawn is broken! The alliance is shattered! What have they done?!”
King Aisonia was ablaze with rage, forgetting any trace of royal composure.
His roar echoed throughout the Royal Palace.
He felt like a clown being mocked, all his careful plans reduced to a joke.
The Messenger was terrified, shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind, stammering incoherently.
“T-this… this… your servant does not know… the information from the Saint Light Church… is unclear… it is said… it is said there was some kind of disturbance… it seems… a Traitor has appeared… now… now the entire Church is in chaos… the Cardinals… they… instead of uniting to face the crisis… have turned on each other due to a power vacuum… fighting for territory and dividing the Church’s remaining power and wealth…”
“Trash! Utter trash!!”
King Aisonia let out a hopeless and furious roar, kicking over an ornate sandalwood table.
Crystal vessels and document scrolls crashed to the floor, shattering with a piercing sound.
Never before had he been so angry, so lost.
The carefully laid alliance had collapsed, the trusted Hero was defeated, and even the Saint Light Church was embroiled in its own internal strife.
The Empire’s situation had never been so dire and humiliating.
The council hall was silent as death, the King’s heavy breathing and the scattered mess on the floor the only evidence of what had just occurred.
Everyone remained frozen with fear, terrified of provoking the monarch teetering on the edge of eruption.
King Aisonia held his forehead, the world spinning before his eyes.
He knew the Empire was about to face an unprecedented crisis.
The Demon Queen’s victory, the betrayal of the alliance, the chaos within the Church… all these things formed an invisible web, tightening around the Atlane Third Empire, leaving him unable to breathe.
Notice: The same series was there in the raws too.