Chapter 241

Chapter 241

Crack!!!

The great hall fell silent after the eerie sounds of something getting smashed and destroyed rang out.

Shiiiing... Slash!

The red sword light disappeared in an instant, leaving only a trail of tiny specks of light that scattered in the air.

“Your... Your Majesty!!! You bastard!!!”

The Great General was the first to react. He immediately charged toward Davey.

Baaaam!!!

Seeing that, Davey hastily sheathed Red Ribbon and blocked the incoming spear attack.

“You bastard... You bastard! How dare you do that to His Majesty!!!”

“...” Davey shook his head at the Great General, whose face had turned red from anger and was on the verge of exploding. Then, Davey said, “Get out of my way.”

“Bastard! I will kill you!!!”

Baaaaam!!!

The Great General saw the annoyance flash across Davey’s face. The expression immediately made his anger soar, his moves becoming even wilder. He shoved Davey’s arm away to increase the distance between them and tapped on the mana in his body. A moment later, the tip of his spear was covered with a green glow.

Davey knew that the Great General was above the level of a Swordmaster, but it seemed like the man’s power was of a much higher density and quality than ordinary ones.

“Stop!!! Great General, you have to stop!!!”

The Hyeon Kingdom’s King shouted loudly, but the Great General did not pay attention to it.

Baaaaam!!! Bang!!! Thud!!!

The Great General charged forward like a ferocious beast with eyes red from his anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You bastard!!! I will kill you today!”

“I’m already annoyed at your negligence,” Davey said as he stepped forward, not feeling threatened by the menacing glint of the spear that was headed for his neck. He evaded the attack with a single step.

“Ugh?!”

The attack was completely impossible to evade without years of experience and skillful judgment but Davey had done so. In fact, he was even able to launch an attack of his own, digging into the gap of the Great General’s defenses and unhesitantly thrusting the tip of Red Ribbon’s blade toward the man’s chest.

“S... Stop! I told you to stop!!!”

The childish cry rang out just before the sword tip of Red Ribbon made contact with the Great General’s chest.

The entire great hall was once again plunged into silence. It was as if everyone had been dunked with cold water.

“Ugh...”

Despite attacking with great momentum, moving his spear with the determination to kill Davey, the Great General could not help but gulp dryly when Davey’s sword tip almost touched his heart. When Davey had jumped at him without any hesitation, he must have known that he would have died if the Emperor did not stop Davey just then.

“Great... Great General, put down your weapon! Now!”

The Great General, who was left in a daze, finally heard the urgent cry that rang in the great hall. Finally realizing the situation that he was in, he widened his eyes and stepped back. He pulled his spear back slowly. Then, he turned and said, “Your... Your Majesty! You’re safe, what a... Heup!”

Davey’s sword energy had obviously been aimed at the Son of Heaven, which was why the Great General was so surprised to see that the Emperor looked fine.

Not long after, the Great General’s jaw dropped open. Why? Because someone just fell from behind the Emperor, who had collapsed on his seat.

“Urk... Urgh...”

Davey silently replaced Red Ribbon with Blue Ribbon, who was the best weapon at killing these guys.

“What brings you here, o’ great and distinguished noble?”

“Ugh...”

The uninvited guest coughed up a mouthful of blood. He had been wounded from Davey’s earlier attack.

Davey did not attack the Emperor but the bastard who had been hiding behind the Emperor.

“In... Intruder!!! Great General, what are you doing?! Hurry up and protect His Majesty!!!” The Empress Dowager cried out.

Finally snapping out of his trance, the Great General hurriedly rushed to the Emperor’s side as he wielded his spear. He shouted, “Your Majesty! Please rest assured! I will punish those who dared to harm Your Majesty’s safety even at the cost of my life!”

The Emperor trudged to where the Empress Dowager was sitting. He was soon in his mother’s warm embrace.

Gently patting the Emperor’s head, the Empress Dowager said, “The Chancellor of Peace, the Great General, and this mother of yours are all on your side, Your Majesty. Everyone is praying for your safety and health, Your Majesty.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Just believe in this mother of yours. Can you do that?”

“If it’s Mother... Of course...” The Emperor looked up at his mother with shining eyes. He then added, “Please don’t overdo it.”

“All you have to do is trust this mother of yours,” the Empress Dowager said.

After patting the Emperor’s back until he had fallen asleep, the Empress Dowager chuckled at the child and rose from her seat. Then, she went out quietly and called out, “Myung Ling.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, Empress Dowager.”

“What about that thing?”

“We have acquired it with a lot more ease than expected,” the man said after popping out from within the darkness. He handed over a brooch to the Empress Dowager.

The brooch was none other than the brooch that they had given to Davey as a gift. However, it did not look the same as before. The jewels engraved on the brooch were now emitting light.

“It’s because he doesn’t really value the gift.

Tch, tch.

”

“Should I assassinate him?”

“Asura, are you trying to make a dent in our great plan? Everything that we need is in order. We already have Hyeon Kingdom’s treasure, the brooch containing Prince Davey’s power, and...the Mountain’s Guardian Deity,” the Empress Dowager calmly said. She then turned to ask, “Did I get that right, Chancellor?”

Another figure appeared from the darkness. Walking from the other side, the pale young man with a cold expression on his face answered loudly, “Yes.”

Obviously, the man being called the Chancellor was an wrinkled old man with a gentle smile on his face. Yet, the Chancellor who had appeared at this time and place looked like a completely different person.

“All of our plans are proceeding perfectly.”

“Do not worry. Everything is going well. Soon, all of the Mountain’s Guardian Deity blessings will flow inside the Son of Heaven.”

“Are you sure that it’s only Prince Davey that you want?”

“That’s right. The bastard is our race’s biggest enemy. However, his power is very interesting. We have to make that bastard’s power ours.”

“He’s not an ordinary person. The moment something goes wrong... I will abandon you all. That is our deal.”

“You worry about the simplest of things. The Son of Heaven’s terminal illness will be cured by the Mountain’s Guardian Deity’s power. We will kill Prince Davey and you will get that power. It’s a simple deal. There should be nothing that will make us want to abandon each other.”

The Empress Dowager nodded in determination at the cold-faced man. The prince had to die for her wishes to be fulfilled, because he was the most dangerous variable in the entire continent. She knew that if they did not deal with his existence, their future would be for naught.

The Chancellor, or the man wearing the mask of the Chancellor, quietly disappeared back into the darkness.

The Empress Dowager watched the Chancellor’s disappearing back. After a moment, she extinguished the flames of the candle in the room and whispered, “I will not let the Son of Heaven die at an early age. Just believe in this mother of yours. Even if this mother of yours is hailed as a heretic and is burned to death... I will make sure to save you, Your Majesty.”

***

It was a new day, and today was Tanya’s Bow Test.

Of course, the Hyeon Kingdom was recognized by the Ming Empire as the Nation of Bows, so the test could not be prevented. Well, they could not really stop Hyeon’s biggest event.

—Huh? Davey, your brooch?

It was only polite for Davey to wear the brooch, which had been a gift from the ruler of another nation to him. However, it was nowhere to be found.

“I gave it away.”

—Give it away? To whom?

“To the person who gave it as a gift,” Davey said with a smile. He opened his arms to Tanya, who had changed into her ceremonial robes after finishing her hundred-day baptism to take the test.

“Brother!” Tanya shouted with a big smile on her face. She ran up to Davey for a hug.

“Did you prepare well for the test?”

“I’m sorry. Brother... The technique that you taught me... I still haven’t mastered it...”

Davey patted Tanya on the head silently. He knew how difficult it had been for her. He said reassuringly, “You will be able to do it. Don’t worry. I, your brother, will be watching you from behind.”

“Is that...so?” Tanya asked. She looked up at Davey with bright and cute doe-like eyes that shone with slight confusion.

Davey smiled brightly with a nod. Gently grabbing Tanya by the shoulder, he said, “My dear sister, you have a lot of tension in your body. Your muscles feel tight, huh?”

At the same time, a desperate and pained scream rang loudly from the depths of the Inner Palace where Tanya lived.