Aurina stood on Richard, flying straight at the emperor.
Seeing one person and one dragon approach without hindrance, the Yanting Empire Emperor’s face changed, and he shouted again, “Guards!”
Below, the heavily armored Varangian Guards drew their throwing axes to hurl them; the red dragon-tattooed chieftain even directly lifted that massive lightning double-headed axe, stepping up the throne stairs.
But the true meaning of “guards” was not this.
Aurina saw the pillars on both sides rise like giant hands, sweeping toward the two from left and right.
“Mount! Pillars on both sides!”
Aurina shouted, her soft white feet stomping on Richard’s helmet as she leaped up entirely.
Richard tried to dodge; the two pillars changed trajectory as if they had eyes.
It looked like they were about to swat Richard dead in midair like a mosquito.
The fire scale accessory on Richard lit up; his whole body flickered and disappeared into the air.
Thud!
Below Aurina, debris flew, smashing into her feet and hurting her so much she yelped.
Her arms flapped up and down rapidly, blurring into afterimages, as she hovered in the air.
By her estimation, this distance was enough for Richard to teleport to the Yanting Empire Emperor’s side, but when she looked down, she saw Richard as if he had collided with some invisible barrier, landing below the Yanting Empire Emperor’s throne.
In between was the red dragon-tattooed chieftain.
“Regicide deserves ten thousand deaths!”
The Yanting Empire Emperor pointed at Richard.
The burning incense smoke nearby gathered by an invisible wind, quickly forming a warrior as tall as the entire throne.
Anyone daring to challenge the empire’s majesty would have their knees tremble upon seeing it; it held a treasured sword and slashed down at Richard.
Richard reacted quickly, leaping up as well, his greatsword flashing.
Aurina anticipated it and immediately turned her head away.
The vast Violet Chamber lit up; for all those unfortunate enough to look at this battle, the intense light left an indelible afterimage on their retinas.
When Aurina turned back, the incense warrior was gone.
This wasn’t surprising—after all, it was the strongest little bug who had luckily managed to kill her, her own mount.
At this moment, the red dragon-tattooed chieftain blocked Richard; Richard tried another holy smite.
But his enemies weren’t just the red dragon-tattooed chieftain.
“Roar!”
The Varangian Guards roared angrily, about to swarm up.
Aurina fell from the air; as she descended, she grew scales, fangs, and sharp claws, turning into a fat dragon two and a half bulls long, her big belly pressing straight onto the steps for cushioning.
She roared at the Varangian Guards below who were about to swarm up.
The Varangian Guards hesitated for a moment, but the red dragon-tattooed chieftain let out a war cry, “Protect the emperor!”
Facing their faith, they charged up.
Aurina the dragon breathed dragon breath; under the shaman’s blessing, they charged through the fire, their steps not stopping at all.
Aurina the dragon was seeing such suicidal little bugs for the first time.
Little bugs were naturally afraid of fire; even if flames couldn’t kill them, they would still panic in endless flames.
The brave Varangian Guards threw the first wave of throwing axes amid the fire.
Aurina the dragon had always prided herself on her scales, but her body stung sharply, scales shattering and flying.
Aurina cried out in pain, cursing her weak female body, her hind legs kicking and wings flapping as she rose into the air.
What about that mount?
Thinking this, Aurina lowered her head.
She saw the red dragon-tattooed chieftain, who had been astonishingly brave moments ago, now heavily wounded on the ground.
His fine plate armor had a massive gash on the shoulder, the cross-section red-hot, the fallen broken chainmail rings glowing red and hot.
This was just the largest gash; wounds from Richard’s holy smites were everywhere on his body.
Richard wasn’t stingy at all now, every sword strike a holy smite.
“You dare kill me?!”
The Yanting Empire Emperor roared; his body collapsed onto his own throne, raising one hand toward Richard as if to push away this angry dragon-slaying hero.
“Kill!”
Without any righteous condemnation a paladin should have.
Richard raised his greatsword high; the greatsword erupted in a burst of white light.
Aurina’s golden eyes narrowed; half a golden crown tumbled down the throne steps, and a pale hand dangled from the throne, falling onto the floor.
The Yanting Empire, a great human empire—its monarch thus died under the dragon-slaying hero’s sword.
And his last words echoed through the entire Violet Chamber: “Whoever kills Richard gets the treasury! The noble who avenges me has the right to inherit the throne!”
Deafening, and also deafening in the hearts of the military nobles who had just stood up not long ago.
Frostsilver snorted coldly, “Only his stupid brain could turn so fast; in his dying moments, for revenge, he even handed over family interests.”
As the saying goes, the throne rotates; today it’s my turn.
One military noble’s mind surged; he raised his sword and directly led the charge toward Richard, shouting, “Loyal Varangian Guards, charge with me!”
With someone leading, everyone in the entire Violet Chamber surged toward the regicide.
Aurina landed behind the throne, tilting her head and roaring at the crowd of little bugs below.
Richard stood before the throne, feeling that today he might have to sacrifice himself here. Because now he couldn’t fly; before his “air crash,” Frostsilver had replaced flight with haste.
And several high-intensity battles had nearly drained his holy smites.
“Aurina, run! Don’t worry about me!” he shouted. “Tell Sophia I fought bravely to the death!”
The brave Varangian Guards had already charged up to the throne; their giant axes, greatswords, and poleaxes were just about to chop down.
“Stop!” The red dragon-tattooed chieftain raised his bloodied hand to call a halt; he panted, looking like he could die at any moment.
“People of the northern peninsula, stop.”
They stopped.
“Why stop?”
“The chieftain called to stop.”
“Aren’t you loyal Varangians?”
The red dragon-tattooed chieftain struggled to say, “The emp… emperor is dead; we are loyal to the emperor… now, how does the new emperor command? Damn… dragon-slaying hero, I hear… you can heal?”
Richard came to his senses and said, “Today’s lay on hands are used up.”
A military noble squeezed through the crowd and said, “As long as we kill the regicide, there will be a new emperor.”
“I am the grand princess,” a voice came. “The throne should belong to me.”
The red dragon-tattooed chieftain waved his hand weakly and said, “Make way.”
The Varangian Guards made way; the empire princess, wearing her faded princess dress, lifted her skirt and stepped barefoot on the red carpet, ascending the steps.
The military noble still wouldn’t give up and said, “But the emperor’s last words…”
But no one among the Varangian Guards paid attention; the red dragon-tattooed chieftain said, “We… are loyal to the emperor, not the people… in the emperor.”
As the empire princess approached, the throne emitted a buzzing sound; she stepped up one by one to the front of the throne and ordered Richard, “Push the corpse off the throne.”
“Yes.” Richard pulled the two halves of the corpse down from the throne.
Aurina the dragon leaned over, sniffed, and whispered, “Can I eat it?”
“Shut up!”
The empire princess sat directly on the bloodied throne; the hem of her skirt stained with her father’s blood.
She raised her chin high, overlooking the crowd below. The military nobles exchanged glances, whispering.
Though the Varangian Guards were silent, they still held their weapons, facing the empire princess.
“My crown?”
“Here.”
Frostsilver, at some point, held the two halves of the crown in both hands; she chanted a spell to repair the crown.
Her whole body floated up, landing beside the empire princess, and directly placed the crown on the Yanting Empire Princess’s golden hair.
In an instant, the Yanting Empire Princess was filled with majesty.
She spoke, her voice booming, echoing through the entire Violet Chamber.
“I am the empire’s emperor.”
The red dragon-tattooed chieftain lowered his head weakly and said, “Varangian Guards… loyal.”
“Quickly carry him down for treatment.”
The Varangian Guards sheathed their weapons; five or six people carried the heavily wounded red dragon-tattooed chieftain down.
The Yanting Empire Princess—ah, no, now she should be the Yanting Empire Empress—said:
“The dragon-slaying hero Richard is a man of justice and should be rewarded with everything in the treasury. Now I appoint you as my imperial iron guard; on my behalf, quell all disputes in the city, bring peace to the imperial capital, let the sounds of death and fighting stay far from my subjects’ ears—so that in a few days, they can hear the ceremony of my ascension to the throne.”
Richard said, “Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Dead people produce no benefits, and royal blood kin disputes aren’t a big deal.
The one in power is still royal, not a concubine but the previous emperor’s eldest daughter—everyone accepted it, accustomed to it.
Since the emperor had changed, the military nobles temporarily had no leader; the previous emperor’s promised commitments couldn’t be fulfilled.
Richard easily made them retreat; as dawn broke, yesterday’s flames of war were completely extinguished.
The citizens of the imperial capital timidly opened their doors and looked at the streets.
If not for the bloodstains on the streets not yet cleaned, they would doubt if yesterday’s battle had been a nightmare.
After fighting all night, Richard looked exhausted; he stood before the Cathedral of Holy Light.
This ancient massive building now had several outer walls shattered, seven or eight flying buttresses collapsed, rubble everywhere.
Corpses covered with white cloths were placed on the square, occupying more than half of this vast square.
From time to time, early-arriving families, after claiming bodies, let out cries; stretcher teams came and went.
Aurina held the orange dragon, standing beside him, yawning lazily; the orange cat in her arms also yawned lazily.
Sophia, who had arrived not long ago, walked out; she was full of energy.
Seeing Richard, she shook her head.
“Pharasma… She is unwilling to release the commander’s soul.”
Referring to the commander of the Hand of Tyr Knight Order from Haisha City; he had died in battle.
The temple district priests’ resurrection spells were used up; everyone had to preserve his body well.
Until the soundly sleeping Sophia was woken and hurried over to try resurrecting him with resurrection.
Richard didn’t speak.
Sophia said, “I’m very sorry too, but after death, the soul goes to the Boneyard, then undergoes Pharasma’s judgment. If she is unwilling to release the soul, even if—”
“I know.”
Sophia said, “I’m very sorry, but I can’t help it unless I was there when he died.”
Richard said tiredly, “I know; this isn’t your fault, dear.”