Chapter 178 - Different Scenario (8)

Braxtein Palace, Randalvine.

Contrary to the situation outside of the palace, which was very much chaotic, the throne room was very peaceful; it was so quiet, even a footstep felt like a drum. There are 7 people in the room, and 6 of them were looking at each other seriously.

The man with an untied blond hair, and muscular body who sat in the throne was Anthony Lionheart Braxtein—the King, the old man holding a staff who was standing beside Anthony's throne was his chancellor, and the five young men standing in front of Anthony were his sons.

No words were exchanged for more than five minutes, but none of the people got impatient at Anthony; they waited for him to speak with utmost respect and patience. Anthony gazed at the scene neutrally, before nodding his head in satisfaction.

Turning his head to his chancellor, said chancellor quickly got the cue. "A call for backup has been received from the First Legion Commander. They need help to take care of the Monsters that is starting to dominate the battle."

The chancellor stopped speaking, and all of the princes turned their head at Anthony. The first prince, who had a well trimmed blond hair, and an intelligent look raised his hand.

"You may speak, Aldrich." Anthony gestured his hand at Aldrich, the first prince.

"May we know what does the relation the piece of information have with us, Royal Father?"

"Hoh? I thought you already knew the answer." Anthony quirked his eyebrow.

"I do know, but I want to make sure."

"Tell me, Aldrich."

Instead of immediately talking, Aldrich gazed at his siblings, the chancellor, before returning his gaze to his father. Exhaling softly to himself, he said, "You want us to lead the Royal Army in the battle."

At the piece of information, the other princes slightly widened their eyes; a cold glint appeared in their eyes in the next moment.

"As bright as usual, aren't you?" Anthony smiled slightly, but pleasantly. "As you have already known, our tradition requires the King to be the best out of the best. I have been waiting for the opportunity to test each one of you, and it comes faster than I expected."

"Is the next King decided this way, Royal Father?" At the voice, everyone turned their eyes to the person who was standing on the leftmost side—the fifth prince. He had a shoulder length black hair that had its side tied neatly to the back.

"No, it is not, my son Edward. However, your achievement in the Battle will greatly affect your chance of being the next King." Staring at Edward incomprehensibly, Anthony added, "In a good way or a bad way."

Edward nodded his head in understanding, and stayed silent. The other princes looked at each other, but none of them said a thing; their gaze returned to Anthony, who was about to speak once again.

"Each of you will be given two Legions to command. Therefore, you have to be careful as you will have 12,000 chosen individuals under your lead; losing all of them doesn't equal to losing money. We will lose our power the moment we lose them."

"Understood, Royal Father!"

Anthony nodded his head lightly, then continued, "The four Legions remaining in BA-22 will arrive here tomorrow. You will be assigned the Legions you shall lead tomorrow, and you will depart upon the return of the four Legions."

"Royal Father." Aldrich raised his hand. Anthony gestured his chin at Aldrich, and the latter immediately asked his question, "Will we be assigned to the same battlefield?"

"You will." Even before Aldrich managed to utter his next question, Anthony continued, "All of you will go to BA-32 to conquer the Obelisk, while the rest of the available Legions are liberating Woster County."

Silence descended upon the room. All of the people who had heard Anthony's statement were bewildered; even his chancellor was looking at him like he didn't understand what Anthony was saying.

"My King, isn't it too dangerous to send—"

"Tell me your level of Magic mastery!" The chancellor was silenced with this remark from Anthony.

"Sixth Circle!" All of the princes answered in unison.

Turning his head to his chancellor, Anthony spoke, "Have you forgotten about what I did when I was just a mere Sixth Circle Mage, Eldridge?"

"You—You lead a hundred men troop to exterminate the Monsters in the now Ruttenhale Barony, your Majesty..." Eldridge the king chancellor sighed.

Anthony moved his gaze back to his sons, then leaned his head on his left fist. "Ironic isn't it? Now we are close to losing it once again. But, that doesn't matter." He waved his hand mildly.

"I was even younger than all of you back then. How old are you again?" Anthony mused, and got the answer even before Aldrich opened his mouth. "Right, all of you are 22."

Taking his head off his fist, Anthony leaned his body forward. "I was merely 20 when I liberated the now Ruttenhale Barony from those lowly Monsters. Of course, it was not a heroic story; it took me a month of suffering to achieve victory, and I had to even eat my shoulder's flesh to sustain my life."

Gulp.

The princes were slightly shocked, and utterly amazed at their father's past that they had never head before.

"The most talented of you has 5 Grand Circles in his disposal." Anthony glanced at Edward. "Meanwhile at that time, I only had a Solid Realm—three Grand Circles; I have less Grand Circles than all of you have. Can you imagine the hardships I had been through?"

The princes wisely shook their head.

"Indeed. You can't imagine the hardships I had been through." Leaning his body to the back, Anthony crossed his feet. "Therefore, you have to experience it by yourself to know what I am talking about."

Anthony stopped speaking, and the room descended into silence once again. Eldridge was shaking his head in helplessness, as he was reminded with how the previous King, Anthony's father, had educated his sons.

"Compared to your grandfather, I'm a benevolent man. Your chance of survival is much higher than mine back then; you are more talented than me, and you can also help each other."

Anthony smirked. "Furthermore unlike me, you still have someone you cherish dearly. All of you were borne by different mothers; perform to your utmost effort, and make your own mother proud."

At that word, all of the Princes' eyes shone even brighter. Their mother was the person that was always by their side; their mother was the person who had raised them—the person who knew them the most, and they knew the most.

For them, being a King was their way to repay their mother's kindness; that was the only way to let their mother receive the honor they truly deserve.

"Understood, Royal Father!"

"You may leave." Anthony waved his hand mildly.

The princes bowed their head politely, before leaving the throne room, and got to their own room to rest. Eldridge looked at the scene with a complicated smile, then shook his head bitterly.

"Not every kid is the same, your Majesty."

"That is the point, Eldridge."

"Then, why—"

"They will never be ready if I am to keep them sheltered from the harsh world."

Eldridge kept his silence, as he couldn't retort Anthony; he had said the right thing. Of course, that doesn't mean Eldridge didn't have anything to say anymore.

"Sending twelve Legions to conquer an Obelisk, while presumably enough, is quite a stretch considering who will be leading them. Not even an experienced Legion Commander can guarantee they can successfully conquer the Obelisk, let alone—"

"A bunch of immature kids?" Anthony laughed lowly. "Don't worry, Eldridge. They have more than what I had back then."

Eldridge kept his silence for a moment, before opting to ask. "What is it, your Majesty?"

"Rivals. Unlike me, they still have their siblings to compete with." Turning to Eldridge, Anthony smiled coldly. "They have the urgency to win. People like that will surpass your expectation ... Or they will come to a conclusion; that to win, they have to—"

"Eliminate their opponents ... Just like what you did in your early age, your Majesty," Albert finished Anthony's word bitterly.

Anthony stared at Eldridge with a smirk for a while, before turning his head away. "The world is harsh, and you should know it better, Eldridge. We have betrayed, sacrificed, and killed many people to get to our current height. It's a thorny path that they, too, have to thread."

Eldridge didn't say anything right after that, as he simply didn't have anything to say. Silence descended upon the room, and it remained that way for a couple of minutes; it was only broken, when the door to the throne room was knocked.

Knock!

Eldridge slammed the butt of his staff to the ground. "State your business!"

"I am one of the Eyes. I am here to deliver an information."

Both of the people quickly quirked their eyebrow, and turned to each other briefly. Anthony waved his hand, and Eldridge once again knocked the ground with his staff.

"You may enter."

Rattle.

The grandiose door to the throne room slowly opened by itself, revealing the white robed figure standing behind it. The figure was completely covered in white to the point one couldn't even guess their gender.

The figure only stepped forward once, but they were already kneeling in front of Anthony in the next moment. "Another hordes of Monsters have been found, your Majesty."

"How many are they?"

"There are three hordes of Monsters that roughly amount to 270,000. They are heading towards three different areas of Fortescher County."

Anthony frowned, as he had a feeling he wouldn't like what he was about hear. "Tell me where they are heading to."

"Southevile, Westerheiss, and Northonham."

Upon hearing that, Anthony stood up from his throne angrily. "What?! How can a bunch of unintelligent creatures find their way there?!" Glaring at the air fiercely, he was close to kill the kneeling figure in anger.

Luckily for the figure, Anthony calmed down in the next moment. "Huuh... Deliver a message to the unaffiliated Mages and Knights to defend the area!" By the unaffiliated Mages and Knights, he meant the powerful people who had rejected the title of Nobility.

"It's time to mobilize them, so they can show us their loyalty to their Kingdom. Anyone who refuses will be deemed as a betrayer." Waving his hand in dismissal, the white figure disappeared in the next moment.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Anthony lowly muttered, "I can't lose my ancestors' legacies that are buried there."