Meanwhile.
In the Heron Imperial Capital, at the Sage King's Palace, in the study.
“A young hero has emerged…”
The Sage King closed the recording stone and sighed.
He had misjudged.
He had been mistaken again.
He had originally thought that Leon advancing to Gold rank before the age of seventeen was astonishing enough. Such a rapid pace of advancement was remarkable, even when considering the entire transcendent history of Ommisiah.
However, this talent, when compared to Leon's combat power, ridiculously seemed less impressive.
“Your Majesty, should the Shadow Agent protecting Leon be replaced with a Shadow General?”
From the shadows of a palace pillar, a voice suddenly spoke. The Sage King raised his eyes, glanced at the shadow beneath the pillar, and quipped:
“How rare.”
“Even you are speaking up for Leon on your own initiative.”
The inky shadow rippled, but the person within did not speak again.
The Sage King paid it no mind and said:
“There is no need to dispatch a Shadow General.”
“With my token, no one on this continent can kill him, unless a god personally intervenes.”
Even if a god personally intervened, they might not be able to kill him...
The Sage King did not voice this thought.
He easily moved past the topic and asked again:
“Have the spies on Prince Guilliman’s side been caught?”
“They have been apprehended,” the voice in the shadows replied.
The Sage King nodded slightly.
He rose from his jade chair and suddenly walked out of the study.
He slowly walked towards the depths of the palace, to a long-closed bedchamber.
“You stay here.”
The Sage King instructed the shadow, then entered the chamber alone.
The bedchamber was silent; even after years of disuse, it remained spotless.
This was the bedchamber of Prince Guilliman’s birth mother, the late Queen.
Every item in the chamber seemed frozen in time, preserved exactly as it was before the Queen’s passing.
Even the dressing table, where a young Prince Guilliman had once secretly snuck in and carved “I will become Heron’s strongest” into its corner, still stood quietly in its original spot.
Those childish, crooked, yet incredibly earnest carvings were still clearly visible.
The Sage King's fingertips gently brushed over the various old items left by the Queen, and a rare, distant look of reminiscence flickered in his usually calm golden eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, the look of reminiscence in the Sage King's eyes faded.
His golden pupils regained the composure befitting the Heron Emperor.
Stepping out of the Queen’s bedchamber, the Sage King looked towards the shadows outside and said:
“Prince Guilliman has seen the recording stone?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What was his reaction?”
“…”
The entity in the shadows did not reply.
In such a situation, no answer was an answer in itself.
The Sage King stood silently outside the Queen’s bedchamber for a while, then turned his gaze to the items within, his eyes lingering for half a second longer on the crooked writing on the dressing table.
Then, the Sage King gently closed the door to the Queen’s bedchamber.
He walked towards the Imperial Study, where he handled state affairs, and said:
“Proceed as planned.”
...
The next day.
Stormveil City.
“Welcome! Welcome back our great hero, Leon Douglas!”
In the city's largest banquet hall, a perceptive baron raised his wine glass and praised loudly.
Hearing this, Leon also raised his goblet, nodded to the baron in acknowledgment, and then drained the fine wine in his cup.
Just then, a stout arm slung around Leon’s shoulder.
Viscount Finn, carrying a bottle of extremely potent liquid—so strong it could barely be called wine, but rather pure alcohol—refilled Leon’s goblet.
“That was incredible, Young Master Leon!”
Viscount Finn clinked his glass with Leon’s and said:
“I was wondering why you sent word back that it was done in less than a day.”
“So this is how you lead an army into battle!”
Recalling the strength Leon displayed in the recording stone, all of Viscount Finn’s doubts instantly vanished.
He had initially wondered how a punitive expedition against the undead army in Endless Bay could possibly take less than ten days to half a month.
Whether it was fiercely battling the undead generals in the bay or gradually whittling down the undead army that lacked vital points and was extremely difficult to kill.
All of this would take time.
Viscount Finn had even prepared himself to receive a request for aid and head to Endless Bay to help.
It wasn't that he looked down on Leon; rather, he knew Leon was extremely cautious and wouldn't undertake anything without certainty.
If it came to a fierce battle with undead generals, a two-on-one fight would certainly be much safer than a true man's one-on-one duel.
But in the end… he didn't receive a request for aid from Leon; instead, he received news of a great victory and the swift conquest of Endless Bay within half a day!
And after seeing 'Leon Douglas's Combat Strength Unveiled,' which had suddenly spread throughout Stormveil City, Viscount Finn’s doubts instantly vanished.
Fighting three peak Gold rank undead generals single-handedly, he had casually kicked them to death as if they were stray dogs.
What more was there to say?
He just crushed them!
No wonder Leon, who always played it safe, didn't ask for reinforcements.
It turned out he always felt that conquering the undead army was a sure victory, something he could easily accomplish!
Leon smiled slightly, looking at Viscount Finn's expression that seemed to say, “You should have told us you were that strong earlier.”
“Viscount Finn, you flatter me.”
Viscount Finn's eyes widened: “Where is the flattery?”
“Before the ‘you’.”
“…”
Bishop Miles raised a glass of juice, lightly clinked it against Leon’s wine glass, and said with a gentle, appreciative expression:
“Priest Leon, your growth… is truly astonishing.”
“When you left the Imperial Capital, I thought I might need to look after you a bit later on, but now it seems that concern was unnecessary.”
Leon drained his wine and gently shook his head:
“Bishop Miles, you overstate it. Without your guidance and protection, I wouldn't be where I am today. I will never forget your kindness.”
He wasn't the type to forget his roots, acting humble in the beginning only to become arrogant later.
Leon always held great respect for devout and purely benevolent believers like Bishop Miles.
Even if his strength had surpassed Miles's, his respect for Miles would never change.
Hearing Leon’s sincere words, Miles smiled slightly and said nothing.
He merely patted Leon’s shoulder before pulling away Viscount Finn, who was somewhat drunk but refused to use Battle Qi to dispel the alcohol.
The protagonist of this banquet was Leon, celebrating his successful recapture of Endless Bay.
Therefore, he should be given more space to enjoy the blessings of others.
After the two left, Zachary also seized the opportunity to approach Leon.
“Young Master Leon, the Evelyn No. 2 you brought up is truly amazing!”
Zachary said excitedly:
“I just gave Evelyn No. 2 a blueprint for a new manor, and in less than two days, she built the basic structure of the new manor!”
“What’s more, she can build many unexpected machines. The farmers in Jellyfish Town say that with these machines, farming efficiency has more than doubled!”
“And…”
Listening to Zachary's ceaseless chatter, Leon nodded slightly.
It seemed Evelyn No. 2 had fully taken his words about Infrastructure and Farming to heart.
He looked at Zachary and asked:
“What about Evelyn No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5? What are they doing?”
Zachary said: “Oh! Compared to Evelyn No. 2, No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 are just causing trouble—”
Bang!
Suddenly, the banquet hall doors were violently thrown open, and Ratahn rushed in with a grave expression.
Seeing Ratahn’s face so gloomy it seemed almost to drip water, Leon immediately asked in a low voice:
“What happened?”
“Young Master!” Ratahn gritted his teeth, his voice bursting through them:
“News just came… His Royal Highness Prince Guilliman was ambushed by Nightmare assassins at the border… and has… fallen in martyrdom!”
Rate on N.U.
