Chapter 624

Chapter 624: The Chaos of the Rose

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Chapter 624: The Chaos of the Rose

Ivar System

When two crowns, as if miracles or actual miracles, rose into the sky, all eyes in the world were drawn to them. Countless people looked up to the heavens, where the sun’s diadem and the moon’s wreath hung in the sky, far apart yet beginning to intertwine, colliding and fighting each other.

In the Falcon Kingdom, atop the mountain range.

Many figures with wings knelt on the ground, whispering prayers.

“We, the descendants of the Sun, have finally welcomed this day once more. Everything is just as the ancient legends foretold: the heavens and earth overturned, flames and ice, Titans and Dragons, the Sun and Moon battling again.”

To Lolan Hill, what she saw and knew might be history from the past, but to the many races on the ground, it had a profound significance. This scene awakened memories of murals in ancient ruins for countless people.

The giant who chased the Sun with flames, the dragon that embraced the Moon with its icy breath, mountains and earth alike became their battlefield. The two races fought incessantly until one side was annihilated.

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One day prior, in the Verdant Imperial Capital, Titania.

Knights clad in red and black armor escorted a young prince into the palace square. Corridors and passageways were filled with corpses and blood; some were original attendants and maids, others were former guards and personal soldiers of the Crown Prince.

After killing Ansel, Aimanke led his men straight into the inner depths of the palace, where the emperor used to conduct affairs and hold meetings. There lay the symbols of national power: the golden seals and edicts. With these in hand, he had achieved half of his success. Next, he needed only to kill or detain another Crown Prince.

Compared to the excellent and radiant Ansel, his brother, though not bad, did not pressure Aimanke much. Moreover, his twin brother had gone to help him, so he expected no disappointment.

As they hurriedly walked out of the palace, a trusted aide of Aimanke ran up from behind, seemingly with urgent news.

Hearing the hurried footsteps, Aimanke felt a bad premonition.

“What is it?” He wasn’t the type to avoid problems. Since something unexpected happened, he had to face it more actively.

“Your Highness, we searched the entire hall but still couldn’t find Miss Florasia.”

Aimanke frowned. “How could that be? She wore such elaborate and cumbersome dresses today, and her appearance is so distinctive. How could she disappear under so many eyes?”

After defeating Ansel, Aimanke suddenly realized Florasia had vanished. But at the time, he was in a hurry to enter the inner palace and didn’t have time to search thoroughly, leaving over 200 nobles to guard the hall and delegating the rest to his deputy.

He hadn’t expected that under such circumstances, the Landsworth family’s lady would escape.

This wasn’t a small matter. If handled poorly, it could lead to a catastrophic failure later on. He chose that moment to enter the hall to prevent the marriage of the two from happening. If the Crown Prince truly married Florasia, it would create an insurmountable obstacle between the Landsworth family and him, significantly affecting his future stability on the throne.

Given his current strength and intentions, he couldn’t afford for Florasia to meet any misfortune. As long as she was in his hands, he had significant leverage to negotiate with the Landsworth family and even improve relations with the Elven clan, reducing many obstacles.

But if Florasia died here, many things would become complicated, and he would form an irreconcilable hatred with the Landsworth family, pushing the Unicorn Duke to become his enemy.

Originally, he planned to properly entertain and detain her, then negotiate with the Landsworth family. Ideally, he would eventually marry her himself, thereby gaining support from the Landsworth family and calming the forest elves within the empire.

This was his best-case scenario, but now, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

Damn!

Aimanke clenched his fist and then released it. Now wasn’t the time to be angry.

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“I understand. Continue searching with your men, and try to be gentle. Don’t scare the beautiful lady.” If he couldn’t get Florasia, at least he had to ensure her safety, giving him room for future negotiation.

“Yes, Your Highness.” The attendant saw Aimanke’s expression and understood his displeasure, but since Aimanke didn’t blame him, he relaxed and felt grateful.

Seeing the attendant leave with his men, Aimanke quickly advanced.

“Let’s go. We need to deal with Ansel’s brother, Anselroy.”

“Yes!” The surrounding soldiers responded unanimously, their voices like thunder.

On the square, soldiers from both sides were fighting. One side wore black steel-like armor and wielded halberds, while the other wore lion mane armor and wielded long axes.

“Aidren, are you planning a rebellion?”

Jieranen, dressed in gold armor, stood on a majestic horse. His golden mane armor and white lion-griffin cloak made him appear extremely valiant and imposing.

“No, I’m merely executing the late Emperor’s orders to capture the rebellious prince, Anselroy.”

This former Red Prince, now holding a slender scepter and dressed in elegant red-black robes, stood behind the soldiers. He was Aimanke’s twin brother, Aidren, the former president of the True Red Rose of Emanas.

“I hope Lord Jieranen will hand that coward over to me. It wouldn’t cause enmity between the Salus family and the royal house,” Aidren thought, watching the young man hiding behind Jieranen. He sighed inwardly; this guy was handsome, just like his brother, which explained why the Griffin Duke’s daughter was infatuated with him.

Thinking this, images of the black-haired, red-eyed girl appeared in his mind. Comparing Jieranen’s performance in school, he wondered if members of the Griffin Duke’s family were prone to being infatuated.

“Huh, someone wants to snatch a person from under the Griffin’s claws. Is this an insult?” Jieranen dismissed such threats.

Among the four dukes, the Salus family was undoubtedly the most independent. Their territory was in the western part of the Verdant Empire, mostly mountainous and less connected with the outside world. Additionally, when the kingdom unified into the empire, their power didn’t diminish, so they sometimes didn’t care much about the views of other nobles within the empire.

“It seems we can’t achieve our goals elegantly,” Aidren lamented, shaking his head, then waved his scepter, sending a wave of soldiers rushing towards the enemy.

Even if he offended the Salus family, he had to kill Anselroy today. Otherwise, relying on his status as Crown Prince, he could threaten future rule.

The warriors from both sides clashed fiercely on the square. The clash of gold and iron, the dispersion of magic and energy waves, filled the air. Jieranen, protected by his guards, charged on horseback toward the red-black camp, aiming to take down Aidren, the leader.

With a wide sword, he slashed through several spears and spearheads, leaping into the enemy ranks, sending a fierce energy wave straight at Aidren.

Feeling his hair lifted by the wave, Aidren had no choice but to raise his scepter, preparing for battle.

Unexpectedly, the Jieranen he once saw as dull had grown so quickly after graduation, or perhaps he was naturally a warrior like a lion. Aidren thought, gradually setting aside his earlier disdain.

After Jieranen charged into the enemy ranks, several retainers and noble attendants followed closely. They had trained in the war sequence, making their coordinated combat a daily routine, so they worked together smoothly.

Seeing the Griffin Duke’s warriors gradually suppressing the red-black knights from the border, the palace gates suddenly opened, and two squads of knights on horseback rushed out, flanking Aidren’s troops, immediately encircling them.

With Aimanke’s reinforcements arriving, the tide turned. The lion-maned warriors were surrounded, starting to contract and retreat.

“Stop.” A low, hoarse voice suddenly rang out, followed by a gray-haired elder leading nearly 300 knights from a corner of the street.

With a simple gesture, a knight stepped forward and tossed a head into the square, rolling it.

“That’s… Lord Conske,” some red-black armored knights exclaimed.

The owner of the head was Conske, the general of the southern border and representative of many southern legions, with a war sequence of 8. No one expected the elder to have killed him so easily.

“You’re here, Father.” Jieranen looked at the elder, feeling a mix of joy and embarrassment, thinking he had let him down.

“Need more practice, Jieranen.” The old Griffin Duke neither praised nor criticized his son’s performance, as if it were expected.

When the Griffin Duke entered the arena, the intimidating presence forced both sides to temporarily stop fighting. Aidren’s side slowly regrouped and reunited with his twin brother, Aimanke.

“Tell me, what are your plans?” The old Griffin Duke’s eagle-like eyes scrutinized the two young princes.

“We are princes of the imperial family, this is a private matter of the royal family, none of your concern,” Aimanke said.

“Very well, then I’ll ask in my capacity as the former emperor’s designated relative: how do you plan to handle the marriage afterward?”

Upon hearing this, Aimanke suddenly understood. He simply waved his hand, allowing the knight in front to step aside.

“According to the late emperor’s will, the marriage alliance is canceled.” After all, the current emperor was dead, and the golden seals, edicts, and loyal ministers were all in his hands, making him the ultimate authority.

“Oh, does this mean the Salus family has been tricked by the royal house?” The old Griffin Duke’s tone was indifferent.

“The royal house will apologize and guarantee to find a good marriage for the Salus family’s lady,” Aimanke replied.

Hearing this, a voice suddenly rose from the crowd.

“No, Father, I don’t want another marriage. I want Prince Anselroy,” a blonde girl jumped out, saying defiantly.

The old Griffin Duke didn’t turn his head, speaking directly, “Jieranen, make your sister shut up.”

“Alright, Father.” Jieranen knew his father’s decision. Soon after, the girl’s voice weakened, as if something had silenced her.

“An apology is acceptable, but there’s no need for matchmaking. I’ll find a suitable marriage for my daughter,” he continued.

“Thank you for your understanding, Lord Salus,” Aimanke’s lips curled slightly.

Such an agreement and response meant the Griffin Duke family had abandoned Anselroy and acknowledged Aimanke and Aidren’s legitimate positions.

A handsome young man, bound, was delivered to Aimanke, and the Griffin Duke left with his men, the palace gradually returning to peace.

Just as Aimanke and Aidren breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to secretly celebrate, a deep red shadow darted out from the darkness, enveloping Anselroy, ready to take him away.

“Stop him!” An urgent command echoed, followed by the sound of rapid running and pursuit.

The deep red figure, carrying Anselroy, was soon blocked by knights at the intersection. But before anyone could relax, a group of dark red figures emerged, cold and swift, swiftly cutting down the soldiers at the intersection, clearing a path.

“Damn, those are the Imperial Dark Moon,” Aimanke whispered.

The Dark Moon was a specialized unit directly under the jurisdiction of the Verdant royal house, usually engaged in intelligence gathering or assassination. It was unexpected that they would intervene. Given that Anselroy hadn’t ascended to the throne and wasn’t yet the emperor, they shouldn’t interfere in internal conflicts. This was taboo.

But given the situation, there was no time for them to think further. Under his command, a group of knights charged forward, trying to intercept and stop these intruders.

However, more figures in deep red cloaks emerged from the shadows, wielding invisible black blades, masked and cold, swiftly slaughtering the pursuers.

These assassins and soldiers, direct subordinates of the emperor and elite warriors of sequence 6 or higher, caught the unformed knight formation off guard, causing significant damage. Many fell in the bloodbath.

Facing this, Aidren was about to shout for the warriors to contract and defend, but a cold blade suddenly emerged in his chest. He stared in disbelief at the white blade, blood rising to his throat, everything spinning. All warmth seemed to vanish, leaving him to fall slowly.

The dark sky cleared to a serene blue-violet. Beside him, Aimanke’s anxious calls grew distant. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a flawless crown outlined in golden light formed in the sky, its tranquil glow slowly echoing.

It was truly beautiful.

His eyes slowly closed, entering a pitch-black sleep.

(End of Chapter)