Chapter 20: Alexander's Boredom
Holy Court, Inner Hall.
Gold patterns were inlaid on the table, with a large area of gems at the center, dazzling and extraordinary.
The Saint King sat slightly higher at the head seat, while among the five ducal chairs, two were now empty.
Su Xiao, the Old Duke, and Lady Moon Wolf were all present. Today marked one day since Iron Feather King's demise.
The Northern Alliance had attacked. On the very day of Iron Feather King's fall, the Northern Alliance broke through Sera's border defenses. 150,000 polar cavalry drove straight in, breaking through seven defensive lines in succession before halting because their supply units couldn't keep up.
By normal reasoning, such war intelligence would be transmitted back to Arance City within three hours. The dukes and the Saint King would learn of it first, then make decisions.
But on that day, the empire's high command was completely unaware of this. The reason was that the soldier responsible for delivering this battle report had just arrived in Arance City when he was assassinated. None of the twelve soldiers who arrived in separate groups survived.
Who orchestrated the interception could no longer be investigated, nor was there time to investigate. The subsequent handling by Arance City officials compensated for this.
In the final moments of the empire's survival, the officials finally set aside their greed. They braved the assassins' attacks and sent people to the front lines to gather intelligence. After losing twenty-seven waves of people, they finally verified the front-line battle report. Note: it wasn't twenty-seven people dead, but twenty-seven waves.
The next morning, the battle report finally reached the Holy Court. As for where the Northern Alliance had advanced to by then, that was unknown. Those cavalry from the polar regions had already charged into the empire's territory, their purpose being to intercept intelligence units.
"By the time I arrived, this was already the situation."
Lady Moon Wolf spoke with a grim expression, her index finger trembling—a sign of extreme rage.
"Alexander, what is your stance on this matter?"
The Old Duke spoke without even lifting his eyes, directly addressing the Saint King by his birth name. In the Old Duke's view, Sera had only one king, and it was not Alexander.
"You decide."
Saint King Alexander's expression was languid.
"Fine."
The Old Duke looked at Lady Moon Wolf. After a moment, he sighed inwardly and turned his gaze to Su Xiao.
"Well then, my ducal seat has been lent to you for a few days. At least give a suggestion."
"Oh."
"For the sake of Iron Feather King's face, give a suggestion."
"First, issue a general amnesty within Arance City. Then, one of you—either you or Moon Wolf—personally go to the front lines to oversee the battle."
"Is that so?"
The Old Duke frowned in thought. This was roughly the same as his own idea. As for who between him and Lady Moon Wolf would go to the front lines, was there even a question?
"I will stand with Arance to the end."
Lady Moon Wolf spoke before the Old Duke could say anything.
"Figured as much. Given your cowardly nature, there's no way you'd go to the front lines. I have no other demands—before Arance City completely falls, you damn well hold this place. At the very least, don't let the front lines' supplies run out."
The Old Duke stood up from his seat. He was going to the front lines to oversee the battle and boost morale. At least after Sera fell, he wouldn't bear the name of a cowardly duke.
Several servants stepped forward to help the Old Duke into a suit of black armor. Going to the front lines meant looking the part.
Just as the Old Duke was about to leave, his gaze inadvertently fell on the gems at the center of the council table. The more he looked at them, the angrier he got. Useless as they were, they were also blinding when the sun hit them.
Bang!
The Old Duke punched the council table, shattering the gems at its center. This greatly improved his mood, as he had wanted to do this for a long time.
From start to finish, Saint King Alexander had said very little. Becoming the Saint King was not his subjective wish but rather something his family had chosen for him. He was strong enough, so he sat here.
The Saint King's family had originally trained him to be a second Iron Feather King, but Iron Feather King's strength could not be replicated. It was the purest, simplest kind of strength—strength forged on the battlefield.
As the Saint King, Alexander was not actually incompetent. At least he accepted most of Li Lin's advice, which was evident from the empire's people's happiness. Moreover, he had kept the ambitious Angry Lion in check, preventing him from acting recklessly.
"Moon Wolf, you may leave."
Su Xiao suddenly spoke. Hearing this, Lady Moon Wolf first felt a moment of anger, then a chill of terror.
Lady Moon Wolf stiffly turned her head, her face filled with disbelief.
"You intend to?"
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. Lady Moon Wolf immediately stood up and left. All the doubts in her heart were resolved. She had been wondering why the Old Duke was personally going to the front lines. Now it seemed that old bastard was simply running away.
"So... you want to kill me."
Alexander seemed to have just figured something out. He slapped the armrest of his throne, and an ornate circular sword hilt popped out. As the sword slowly rose, Su Xiao saw it was a battle sword.
The entire battle sword was about 1.3 meters long. The grip and guard were simple, the blade sharp. Near the hilt, the blade was about six centimeters wide, gradually narrowing upward until the tip, which resembled a sharp cone.
"In my life, I haven't accomplished much. But I'm very good at using this thing."
The languid expression on Alexander's face gradually faded. He had originally thought he would die under the siege of the polar warriors—an ending he could accept.
The reason Alexander often slept was mainly that he found everyone around him too boring. Officials fighting for power, dukes scheming against each other, a family placing great hopes on him—all of it was too dull. The only thing that wasn't dull was a person who had arrived in Arance City not long ago, someone who concealed the blood aura on his body. Unfortunately, it seemed that person wouldn't fight him.
Many years ago, everyone looked to Alexander with anticipation, hoping he would lead Sera to prosperity. But Alexander himself knew he couldn't do it. That wasn't his forte. As a child, he had been clumsy. What his siblings could learn in a few minutes—tedious etiquette—took him at least a month to practice, and even then, he was awkward in actual use.
Especially when dancing a waltz, he once tore a lady's dress open—ripped it all the way down. He swore he hadn't meant to. During the dance, the lady had tried to struggle, but to maintain etiquette, Alexander chose to finish the dance with her. Afterwards, the lady cried very bitterly. Alexander never saw that lady again.
Faced with his siblings' mockery, Alexander felt neither anger nor inferiority—only boredom. He was always puzzled: why learn all this etiquette?
Until one day, when Alexander held a sword for the first time in his life. He smiled—the first time he had ever smiled.
When Alexander's joy faded, he was slightly surprised to find that his siblings, biological mother, uncle, and others had all fallen in pools of blood. The only one still alive was his father, whose legs had been severed, covered in blood.
"Alexander, having a son like you makes me proud."
Alexander clearly remembered that this was the first time his father had praised him. In the days that followed, Alexander received a somewhat long battle sword and went to kill all kinds of monsters.
Just as Alexander thought he would live forever in this joyful slaughter, his father came to him again and told him he would become the Saint King. Alexander initially thought the Saint King was meant to kill for the Sera Empire, so he agreed.
But after becoming the Saint King, Alexander discovered that the Saint King's daily job was just sitting around sleeping—extremely boring.
After enduring for years, then over a decade, then decades, Alexander sought out his father and revealed his true thoughts.
The result was predictable. Alexander's father was furious, even wanting to take away his battle sword. For this, Alexander argued with his father. But due to his clumsiness with words, he was thoroughly chewed out.
So Alexander chose to negotiate in the way he was best at. His conclusion was that his father was too weak and simply didn't understand how to use the Saint's power to fight.
After killing his father, Alexander left the Sera Empire and began wreaking havoc on the Northern Alliance. Over a decade later, when the Northern Alliance was baffled by his rampage and preparing to station troops in desolate areas to encircle him, he returned to Arance City, casually killed the Saint King who had been in power for just over a decade, and sat back down on the throne.
The reason was that Alexander had heard a story—a tale told by an old woman named Iwill, called the Story of the Father Dragon. After hearing it, Alexander felt some regret, because he realized he would never find anyone who treated him better than his father. Such a person... would never come again.
A second emotion arose in Alexander's heart: guilt. So he sealed his battle sword within the throne and tried to fulfill his father's expectations. Unfortunately, he didn't do a good job.