Chapter 1454: Chapter 1452: Remember This Day
Richard glanced at the small, thin man blocking his way and shook his head slightly, saying, "I have to say, your actions are very unwise. With your strength, you can’t possibly kill me—in fact, even splitting open my body has caused me no harm, at most just damaged the container holding things."
As he spoke, the wound on Richard’s body opened, but instead of internal organs spilling out, an energy octopus over a meter long squeezed out, the very High Spirit that had once been "captured."
After being "captured," the High Spirit had been confined in a specially sealed body by Richard for research. Until recently, the research had been mostly completed, and Richard had given the High Spirit multiple satisfactory souls, transferring it into another body.
Richard’s plan was to use it as a trump card, in case unexpected events occurred in Shaya, allowing him to adapt and use it as needed.
Who would have known there would be complications, but the enemy was too weak, so this trump card was never used, and Red Moon died.
He planned to release the High Spirit when leaving Shaya, but the Shadow released it prematurely.
Perhaps it’s just as well... Richard thought, touching the wound cut by the Shadow, quickly healing it, and then turning to look at the suspicious High Spirit.
"Our deal is over, you can leave now," Richard said.
"Hmm?" The High Spirit was not happy hearing this, but surprised, communicating with spiritual waves, "Can I really leave now? But... it seems the time initially agreed upon hasn’t arrived, it’s about two days short. Also, you gave me several extra souls as sacrifices before, and I haven’t given back in kind. You’re letting me go now; what does this mean? Is there some conspiracy?"
Over the past month, the High Spirit had been tricked several times, raising its vigilance to unprecedented levels.
Richard gave a wry smile and patiently explained, finally letting the High Spirit be sure that there was no conspiracy, he really was letting it go.
"Alright then..." The High Spirit reluctantly agreed, then turned around, the many eyes on its tentacles locking onto the Shadow.
"Hmm, this soul looks a bit special, quite nice. Can I take it with me?" the High Spirit asked.
"If you want to," Richard replied.
"Very well." The High Spirit responded happily, and its body suddenly expanded, almost giving the Shadow no chance to resist, grabbing it, leaping into the air, opening a passage, and taking the Shadow back to the Void, disappearing completely.
Once the High Spirit disappeared, the scene returned to silence, and Richard looked again at the Alliance Emperor.
At this point, the Alliance Emperor finally lost his composure; even his body couldn’t support him and he collapsed onto the throne.
The reason for this was twofold: he had lost the Shadow, his last support, and Richard had hidden a human-eating monster within his body, which was too much for his spirit—it shocked him. He knew his teacher Red Moon was terrifying, but compared to Richard, Red Moon seemed like a kind old man, as Red Moon never stuffed bizarre things into his body.
Staring at Richard, the Alliance Emperor’s face turned pale, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Are you scared?" Richard asked, glancing at the Alliance Emperor.
The Alliance Emperor did not answer, but instead trembled as he asked, "What... what do you want to do?"
"What do I want to do?" Richard chuckled lightly, "Actually, that’s a question I should ask you. Your Majesty, what do you want to do? Or rather, what do you and those behind you want to do? After all, you invited me to Shaya and set a trap to kill me. Now that the plan has failed, is it not time for you to confess everything and seek leniency?"
"I..." The Alliance Emperor’s eyes flashed, seeming to regain some strength, and he confirmed, "You mean, if I tell you, you’ll let me go?"
"That’s certainly one choice," Richard showed a thoughtful expression, "However, simply confessing isn’t enough; it depends on what else you can offer."
"I... I can pretend today never happened, you will remain the Lord of Shalin, and I guarantee the Alliance will not bother you in any way," the Alliance Emperor quickly said.
Richard shook his head lightly, "Not enough. Today’s events were caused by you, and for Shalin as my territory to not be disturbed, isn’t that reasonable?"
"Then..." The Alliance Emperor hesitated for a moment, bit his lip, and said, "I could grant you another territory, you can choose any, and I will not refuse."
"Still not enough," Richard continued to shake his head, "I want more than territory."
This frustrated the Alliance Emperor, "Then what do you want, exactly? Do you want me to give you the throne? Do you expect to get the entire Alliance?"
He was surprised to see Richard shake his head once more, and flatly say, "Still not enough."
The Alliance Emperor fell silent, having nothing to say; he really couldn’t think of anything else to offer.
At this moment, Richard looked deeply at the Alliance Emperor, turned his hand, and took out a piece of parchment—that was once a contract given by the Alliance Emperor Peter Romanov.
Richard spoke to the Alliance Emperor Bai Lun, "You know, the thing in my hand is what your father promised me, as a reward for helping the Alliance win the kingdom’s war.
Part of the reward was access to the Royal Library’s books and all the Alliance’s library reading rights. He promised that if I couldn’t get them, "everything in the Soma Alliance would be there for the taking."
And this reward, I still haven’t fully received. There are books I need in the Royal Library still there, two days ago I went there and was refused entry, and other Soma’s official libraries also stopped me from entering the most confidential data vaults. So, theoretically speaking, with this, I could directly acquire the entire Soma Alliance—I have the justification to obtain it, and also the ability to do so.
But after thinking it through seriously, actually taking control of the entire Alliance doesn’t seem to have much significance. It’s merely gaining more resources, but these resources aren’t easy to manage, requiring a massive investment of time and effort—unlike Shalin, the Alliance is too vast, with too many people, making management extremely complex, possibly yielding no results for years, just requiring continuous input.
That’s not the worst; the most crucial issue is that the Alliance has been intensely infiltrated by the Truth Society behind you, to the extent that even if a leader dies, the remaining members can still cause chaos. Rooting them all out is extremely difficult, and leaving even one would lead to endless troubles.
So, gaining the Alliance is both a reward and a burden. Considering comprehensively, I would rather not have it. After all, my current need for resources isn’t that high yet. When that need does become significantly high, there’re better ways to address it."
"Then just return to Shalin directly as if nothing happened. Wouldn’t that be easier?" The Alliance Emperor whispered.
"Ha, impossible!" Richard laughed, "Indeed, I can return to Shalin as if nothing happened, but can Your Majesty do the same?"
"I can." The Alliance Emperor responded quickly, his expression serious.
"Yet you can’t." Richard shook his head, correcting, "If I truly returned, the remaining members of the Truth Society behind you would undoubtedly control you to go against Shalin. Even if they didn’t, being an emperor, can you really tolerate a lawless land, an existence above royal power?
No, you wouldn’t. Even if you might think it’s no matter on the surface, there’ll be numerous clandestine measures. With measures in place, I would need to counter them, which would be troublesome. I detest trouble the most. To resolve trouble, I have an idea—one quick stroke to settle everything."
"A quick stroke to settle everything? What does that mean... a quick stroke to settle everything?" The Alliance Emperor asked with some nervousness, sensing something ominous.
"It’s quite simple." Richard replied, "If the Alliance ceased to exist, all issues would be resolved—if I eliminate the source of trouble, naturally no further trouble will arise."
"How could the Alliance cease to exist?!"
"The Alliance could certainly cease to exist; the simplest first step is to ensure the Alliance Emperor ceases to exist."
The Alliance Emperor’s eyes suddenly shrunk upon hearing: "You intend to kill me? But do you realize, killing me would turn the entire Alliance against you!"
"Quite right, in that case, the sources of all troubles will be exposed, allowing me to resolve them all at once." Richard summarized with a smile, "In conclusion, the Alliance is merely a trouble. I cannot have it, as it would transform into my own trouble—personal troubles are more challenging than external ones to resolve.
I also cannot leave it be; external troubles, though lesser, can still greatly impact me if left to develop. Hence, I cannot take the Alliance nor leave it as it is; the only course is to smash it, destroy it, make it cease to exist—this is what settling everything in one stroke entails. The start of settling everything begins with ending Your Majesty."
"You... you are committing regicide!" The Alliance Emperor roared, his eyes bulging, "You are blatantly committing regicide; by daring to do this, everyone will have reason to attack, betray you; you’ll be torn apart, you..."
"Hush, Your Majesty, please be quiet for a moment." Richard made a silencing gesture, looking at the Alliance Emperor, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern, but those are issues for me to worry about in the future; you needn’t concern yourself. For now, just sit quietly; once you are seated properly, I can send you to your death."
"You!" The Alliance Emperor’s eyes almost popped out, trying to struggle.
Richard’s hand pressed down on the head of the Alliance Emperor, expressionlessly exerting pressure.
The Alliance Emperor’s body shuddered, and blood gushed from his seven orifices like a fountain, starting as red, slowly turning black, and finally running dry. The Emperor collapsed limply against the throne, motionless.
Richard turned around, looking towards the distance.
The surviving court officials were seen standing still as cicadas in winter, eyes fixated on the deceased Alliance Emperor, not daring to move, afraid the next moment would be their turn. A few unlucky court officials, who had painstakingly climbed out from the rubble were originally screaming in pain, but now fell silent, faces full of fear, unsure of what Richard would do next.
In truth, since Richard dared to kill the Alliance Emperor, he likely dared to commit any bold act.
However, Richard did not commit any bold acts; he merely glanced at the court officials, speaking softly: "I now ask you to keep the matter of my regicide confidential; you will certainly agree. But I know, once you’re out of my sight, the confidentiality ends there. Moreover, even if you do keep it confidential, this can’t be concealed; in fact, I haven’t planned to hide it.
So, I only ask you to do one thing, which is to tell as many people as possible about what you witnessed today. Let them know that the King Slayer is none other than Richard Austin, Lord of Shalin.
If they wish to avenge the Emperor, let them come to me—unite together and come find me; I will be waiting for them in Shalin. Oh, and remember to remind them that I am fierce and hard to deal with, and they should prepare to die before coming to me, yeah, just like that.
And as a reward for doing this, I suggest you look at the sky more often... because from now on, maybe such skies will only exist in memories."
As Richard spoke, he looked up at the sky.
The court officials, confused, followed suit and looked towards the sky, discovering today’s weather was considered good for summer. The dust raised during the battle had already dispersed; as far as the eye could see, the sky was clear, sunshine bright, indeed nice.
But aside from this, there was nothing special. Frankly, while the weather was good, it was just another ordinary day.
They frowned, withdrawing their gaze, looking back at Richard for explanation.
Then they realized Richard had already disappeared at some point of time.
In their sight was only the throne; the Emperor sat askew on it, half of his body bloodstained, mouth agape, face contorted. His pair of bloodshot eyes rolled upwards, seemingly watching the sky, seemingly seeing fragments of the future through life and death, traversing time, causing fear, inducing screaming.
The court officials looked at each other, expressions frantic and bewildered, in a dead silence enveloping the scene.
...
