The Expendable Ally

The Reno Imperial Palace sprawled across the Mountain Mid-section. The Moon-Gazing Terrace, where *that woman* resided, was tucked against the innermost mountain wall, while the Lionheart King's personal chambers occupied the heart of the palace, and Arthur's Eastern Palace lay in the northwest corner. It was only after Du Chen exited the Moon-Gazing Terrace that he realized a crucial fact: without using the mountain's secret passages he had arrived through, the *only* other route to the terrace led directly through the Lionheart King's private corridor. In essence, under normal circumstances, none but Lionheart King Alonso himself could ever set foot on the Moon-Gazing Terrace!

Du Chen materialized abruptly in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace bedroom. Arthur, still bound by blood-stained bandages and recuperating in bed, nonetheless wore the blissful smile typically reserved for a groom on his wedding day. Upon seeing Du Chen's sudden appearance, he registered a fleeting surprise before a faint smile touched his lips. “I hear His Majesty, the Divine Emperor, is commanding a grand army on the Western Plains. Yet, another Divine Emperor appears before my very bed… Heh, a classified mission, I presume!?”

Du Chen returned the faint smile and settled onto the edge of Arthur’s bed. His entire being radiated a holy and noble Holy Light, its purifying glow bathing Arthur’s injuries. “Between us, brothers who’ve faced tribulations, what secrets could possibly remain? I have three urgent matters to discuss with you!”

Arthur felt the rapid restorative power imbued by the Holy Light, and his expression shifted subtly. He narrowed his eyes. “So, you’ve grown stronger too… You are formidable, and so am I. The reason behind this, I presume, is the first matter you’ve come to discuss, correct!?”

“Precisely!” Du Chen began to explain the enigma of the Twin Bloodline. He spoke gravely, “I suspect that while we cannot possibly be biological twin brothers, there exists some profound connection between us, akin to a Twin Bloodline!”

Arthur fell into a long silence. He gnawed on his lower lip before finally speaking. “I am most certainly the Reno Crown Prince, without a shadow of a doubt! And judging by your features, you are unequivocally Madam Philia’s son! Therefore, the most plausible explanation is… Margaret manipulated something within us at our birth!”

Du Chen gave a slight nod. “With Margaret now colluding with the Scarlet Army, seeking her out to verify this would be no simple task. Keep this in mind for now. Let us move to the second matter… I have just encountered the woman behind your grandfather, and I’ve even uncovered some of her secrets!”

Arthur let out a bitter, strained laugh, propping himself up on the sickbed with visible effort. “She is exceedingly powerful, and there is a strong possibility she is colluding with the Fiendkind. Even the Frost Saint Wolf by her side raises serious questions!”

Du Chen shot to his feet. “You knew all of this!?”

“That woman has been present in Reno for thirty years. We, the people of Reno, are not fools; we could discern subtle clues, each in our own way. I knew, several of Reno’s most loyal and influential ministers knew, and even my own grandfather… had caught wind of the rumors!” Arthur gazed out the window towards the Lionheart King’s royal bedchamber, then lowered his head and slammed his fist against the bed frame. “Yet, His Majesty, the Lionheart King, refused to believe it, stubbornly continuing to act as he pleased, capable of anything for that woman!”

Arthur then lifted his head, his gaze weary as he met Du Chen’s. “My intellect is no less keen than yours, and my understanding of Reno far surpasses your own. I have devised countless traps, attempting to force that woman to reveal her true nature, yet… every single one has failed! Francis, please, tell me the third matter!”

Du Chen, however, shook his head. “Instead, tell me about that woman’s true origins!”

“What is there to tell, truly? Thirty years ago, my grandfather and Martial Venerable Robert arranged a duel. Robert was ultimately defeated, and my grandfather, returning victorious, journeyed through Mount Wanliu. There, at the Demon Sealing Waterfall, he encountered a woman bathing. In that instant, my grandfather was utterly captivated, struck by her almost divine beauty, and he completely fell under that woman’s spell! The entire affair… is as simple as that!”

The Demon Sealing Waterfall… again, the Demon Sealing Waterfall!?

Seeing that Arthur possessed no further substantial clues, Du Chen offered a wry smile. “Very well, let us abandon discussion of that woman for now! Arthur, I need to purloin an artifact known as the Tear Source; it is the linchpin to dismantling Philip’s Undead Scourge plan! I require you to furnish me with first-hand intelligence regarding the Fiendkind!”

“That presents no issue whatsoever! I have personally engaged Bonis in combat and clashed with the Fiendkind on the battlefield on several occasions. No one possesses a more profound understanding of the Fiendkind’s combat capabilities than I… Wait a moment!”

Arthur rose to rummage for documents within his bookshelf. However, at that very moment, footsteps echoed from beyond the room. Arthur quickly motioned for Du Chen to conceal himself in a corner. An elderly inner attendant, carefully balancing a tray of medicine, entered with deferential bows. “Your Highness, it is time for your medication change… Oh, dear! Your Highness, why have you risen? Quickly, quickly lie back down, your constitution is still quite fragile!”

Arthur’s expression darkened abruptly. With a sharp *smack*, he knocked the medicine bowl from the attendant’s hands, scoffing, “Weak? Are you implying *I* am weak?”

The attendant, in a state of utter panic, rushed to apologize. “No, no, Your Highness! You are the foremost warrior of the Skylands, far from weak, not even in the slightest!”

“Hmph, you may depart. I already possess a Secret Technique for healing my wounds; I no longer have need of your tinctures!”

Du Chen frowned and manifested from his concealment, remarking mildly, “He is an elderly man; there is no need to lose your temper with him.”

Arthur was visibly taken aback for a moment, then let out a wry, helpless laugh. “My Divine Emperor, he is merely a lowly minion! If he were to discover that the foremost person alive had respectfully addressed him as ‘an elderly man,’ he would likely wet himself in terror!” A flicker of resentment crossed Arthur’s face. “Hmph, back when I was nothing but a deemed failure, *this* old wretch was the most virulent in his contempt for me. Now that I… Hmph, were it not for the broad-mindedness and magnanimity demanded of a Crown Prince, I would have long since… Anyway, here is all the intelligence I possess concerning the Fiendkind!”

Du Chen himself was momentarily taken aback, then a bitter smile touched his lips. Indeed, he had grown up on the streets, accustomed to addressing any older man as ‘Uncle.’ Even as the Divine Emperor, he couldn't shake this ingrained habit. But Arthur? He had been born to privilege, never deigning to consider a mere servant as an equal… Uh, Xue Ji, too, was of this 'noble' disposition! The thought of Xue Ji made Du Chen’s heart clench. He wondered if that naive girl had already been… by Margaret.

Du Chen accepted the dossier, perusing its contents while simultaneously applying Holy Light to Arthur’s injuries. When his eyes landed on Bonis’s entry detailing his power, his heart gave a sudden jolt. “Bonis has a woman with fiery-red hair beside him, and her strength is utterly terrifying?”

“Precisely. That woman wields flames with exceptional skill. It required my grandfather to assemble a formidable army of ninety thousand, and even then, only by deploying the Ninth Strike of Thundercloud was he able to repel her. Francis, if you intend to steal this artifact, you *must* be exceedingly wary of such a woman. In my estimation, her strength may even exceed Bonis’s own!”

Du Chen furrowed his brow, his mind racing. *Someone in this world even marginally more potent than Bonis… that could only be one of the Five Great Primeval Forces or the Imperial Divine Beasts!*

A Fifteenth-Level Battle God is one who integrates the five fundamental elements into a singular force, thereby achieving the apex of the Battle God’s Path and attaining eternal life! It is said that before his demise, Prince had already completely mastered all five elements, yet he found no way to fuse them into a cohesive whole. Bonis, conversely, possessed a slight deficiency in plant-elemental affinity, rendering him marginally weaker than the Divine Emperor. However, the Five Great Primeval Forces and Imperial Divine Beasts operate differently; they cultivate a single element to its absolute zenith, capable of unleashing power comparable to a Fifteenth-Level with but one elemental mastery! Nevertheless, their power, lacking the true fusion of all five elements, remained marginally inferior to a genuine Fifteenth-Level Battle God. To be precise, they were considered Fourteen-and-a-Half-Level! All of this invaluable insight had been imparted to Du Chen by Snoopy!

Another half-day passed, and Arthur’s injuries showed remarkable improvement. He clapped Du Chen on the shoulder, roaring with laughter. “Brother, it’s a blessing you arrived! Otherwise, come the thirteenth of next month and my wedding night, I would have been in considerable difficulty!”

Du Chen quipped, “Then, should you sire an heir, will half the credit not be mine? Incidentally, what prompted this sudden decision to marry? And which distinguished young lady is to be your bride?”

Arthur’s face radiated a blissful smile. “My grandfather declared that I am the sole surviving scion of the Reno Imperial line. With ominous war clouds now congregating, and none able to guarantee their survival, he coerced me into promptly siring a great-grandson for him! As for the young lady… she is the little princess of the Tum City-State, an affiliated territory of our nation, named Mary… Hey, why not allow me to introduce you personally? She awaits her wedding day in the Guest Reception Tower, situated behind the main palace gates!”

Du Chen had never even heard of this confederacy. His mind was entirely consumed by the imminent theft of the Tear Source, so he politely declined the invitation. Besides, he would be returning for the ceremony on the thirteenth of next month regardless, so what was the urgency?

***

After instructing Arthur to remain vigilant regarding *that woman* and to maintain strict secrecy, Du Chen contacted Dus. He then discreetly trailed Sophia, following her as she entered the Purple Blood Confederacy. Shortly thereafter, the scene shifted to the office of the Purple Blood Confederacy’s High Council.

Bonis scrutinized the intelligence report clutched in his hand, his voice chilling as he addressed the trusted intelligence officer standing before him. “Francis currently commands a vanguard of thirty thousand, garrisoned on the Western Plains. Are you absolutely certain that those two children—particularly Belmonde, whom we suspect to be the Fire Phoenix’s daughter—have *not* accompanied them!?”

“Marshal, the intelligence was jointly submitted by Number Three and Number Five of the Eminence Project. They are unequivocally certain that those two children were left at the Papal Curia’s Holy Mountain, adhering to the principle that designated heirs must not be exposed to the same dangers as the Divine Emperor!”

“Excellent. Then I am free to unleash the Fire Phoenix without constraint!”

The Violet-Blood official acknowledged, then inquired further, “Marshal, what role will the Fire Phoenix assume in this upcoming campaign to thwart the Red-Bloods’ mobilization? Please provide your directive, Marshal; your subordinate must forewarn the front-line Generals. As you are aware, the Fire Phoenix once championed the Red-Bloods, and many ancestors of our front-line troops were slaughtered by her. I must, therefore, preemptively stabilize troop morale…”

Bonis, however, shook his head. “The Fire Phoenix has been assigned another, more critical, responsibility. She will not be appearing on the battlefield for the time being; you need not concern yourself with this particular aspect!”

The official, bewildered, inquired about the Fire Phoenix’s destination. But Bonis, with a sudden, knowing smile, deftly changed the subject. “What is your current assessment of Grand Speaker Philip?”

This official, a trusted confidant of Bonis, spoke with daring frankness. “The Grand Speaker’s authority is far too immense! At present, we Violet-Bloods number fewer than four million, yet Philip commands a million of The Undead. Furthermore, once the Undead Scourge plan reaches completion, it is feared that the entire Azure Heaven Continent will fall under his dominion…” As he articulated this, the official keenly perceived Bonis’s true intentions and cautiously probed, “Marshal, many of Philip’s crucial technologies have now been mastered by our own racial experts, and we have successfully established our nation in the light of day. Therefore… Philip’s utility has dwindled significantly, has it not?”

Bonis smiled. “Indeed! Philip no longer possesses much utility. However, he currently shares joint custodianship of Heaven’s Tears with me and maintains control over the Undead legion. This situation… is deeply undesirable, profoundly so!”

The official eagerly interjected, smiling. “Furthermore, the moment Philip is eliminated, Marshal, you will become the singular progenitor of Heaven’s Tears, wielding the Tear Source within your grasp. In such a scenario, no matter the proliferation of The Undead and Netherbeasts, they shall forever remain slaves to us, the Violet-Bloods… Marshal, when and where do you intend to dispose of Philip!?”

Bonis offered a cold, chilling smile, then asked, “Where is Philip currently, and where are his most capable subordinates stationed?”

“The Grand Speaker is currently within the Scourge Citadel, activating the Spirit Seed Smoke. Tendon-Severing and Corpse Dissolution are at his immediate side. As for his most capable subordinate—Brockman, who commands the Federation’s ‘Outsiders’—he is still accompanying Susanna. And the Undead and Netherbeast Legions under the Grand Speaker’s control… they are all deployed on the front lines!”

“So, that implies Philip’s immediate martial strength has been significantly depleted, does it not?”

Bonis cast a significant, knowing glance at his confidant. “That political imbecile Philip has yet to discern that he is already entrenched in perilous circumstances! Thus, in ten days, I shall personally make an appearance at the Scourge Citadel under the guise of an inspection tour. In this very place, where Philip has poured his life’s blood and ambition, I shall capture him and his inner circle in one fell swoop. The precise strategy is contained within the dossier upon the table; you may peruse it at your leisure!”

The official picked up the dossier, voicing his apprehension. “Marshal, Philip is readily dealt with; the moment he perishes, The Undead will naturally fall under your command. However, your subordinate harbors concerns regarding Brockman—Brockman is the Chief Councilor and, moreover, the leader of the Outsiders who have pledged allegiance to our race. He is currently deployed with his troops. What if he were to rebel the instant he receives news of Philip’s demise?”

Bonis burst into a peal of laughter. “Did you truly believe that my unwavering insistence, a while ago, that Brockman accompany Susanna was merely so I could enjoy a spectacle of their folly!? I have already taken advantage of Brockman’s absence to clandestinely dismantle every foundation he painstakingly constructed!”

The official exclaimed with delight, “Marshal is supremely astute!”

Bonis’s expression darkened. “And it does not end there. Though Brockman has indeed lost the support of the Outsiders, he still commands a considerable number of scattered forces under Susanna’s sway. Therefore, to forestall any unforeseen contingencies, I have deployed another strategic maneuver against him—you inquired about the Fire Phoenix just now, did you not? Heh heh, she has been dispatched to eliminate Brockman! In ten days, when Philip encounters peril, there will be absolutely no external reinforcements to save him!”

Bonis deliberated for a moment. “A mere lesser dragon is hardly sufficient to influence the Fire Phoenix. Nevertheless, for absolute assurance, deploy additional personnel and maintain a close watch on the vicinity surrounding Susanna’s current location!”

*The Marshal is certainly prudent enough. Constantine is merely a Tenth-rank; what conceivable impact could he exert upon a Fourteen-and-a-Half-Level Fire Phoenix?* The official grumbled inwardly, yet dared not voice such thoughts aloud, instead bowing his head to execute the directives.

With the Fiendkind’s strategic decisions now concluded, Du Chen, meanwhile, clinging to Constantine’s wife, made his clandestine entry into the Purple Blood Confederacy. Gazing upon the horrific panorama of the Undead Scourge, he couldn’t suppress a torrent of furious curses erupting within his Battle Soul!

“Bonis, Philip, you despicable scumbags!”