One could only say that Cerydra's thoughts were very simple and pure, almost to the point of being straightforward.
Whoever treated her well, she wanted to treat well in return.
Lucian had just avenged her, and he was even willing to adopt her, so in her eyes, he was unquestionably a very good person, perhaps even the greatest kind of good person she had ever met.
According to her simple logic, if something good happened, then of course she had to bring him along with her. After all, good things were meant to be shared with people she considered good.
Lucian looked at Cerydra, who stood only 1.2 meters tall, yet somehow possessed enough courage to reach the heavens.
'Not bad. At least she didn't think about offering me up as a sacrifice.'
Lucian felt rather relieved by that.
At least this little girl did not yet possess the same cold ruthlessness as her future self, the Imperator, and there was still a considerable difference between the innocent little girl before him and the ruthless empress she would eventually become.
Upon hearing Cerydra's answer, the expression of the captain of the soldiers immediately darkened, while Count Adler's brows drew together in a deep frown.
Neither of them had expected this little beggar to actually dare make demands.
Not only did she want to bring an unidentified man back with her, but what if something went wrong along the way?
If this foreigner caused trouble inside the imperial palace, who would bear the responsibility?
In the next moment, Count Adler turned toward the carriage and respectfully consulted the duke inside.
"Your Grace, what do you think?"
At the question, the duke inside the carriage, Duke Alphine, leaned his head out through the carriage window.
He was a middle-aged man with a long beard, and even his appearance carried an unmistakable air of ambition, as though the position he currently held was far from enough for him.
"Only those with imperial blood possess flame-like blue hair, and this little beggar could allow me to become regent." Duke Alphine said as his gaze settled on Lucian before he continued in a calm voice, "And the man who adopted the princess... is he trying to become emperor?"
In other words, that young man had to die.
Count Adler immediately understood the duke's meaning and respectfully nodded before turning back toward Cerydra.
"Girl, only you can come! Who does that man think he is? Does he really think he's worthy of entering the imperial palace?"
Hearing that, Cerydra's little face instantly went pale.
Yes, she might have been young, but she was not stupid.
She could vaguely sense that the people on the duke's side did not seem nearly as 'friendly' as they claimed. Even though their words might have sounded polite on the surface, there was an unmistakable hostility hidden beneath them.
In the next moment, Cerydra made a decision that left every nobleman present dumbfounded.
"Th-Then... I'm not going either..."
"What?!"
Count Adler stared at her in disbelief, convinced for a moment that he must have heard her incorrectly. He felt as though he had suffered an enormous humiliation and an outright act of defiance.
A lowly little beggar had actually dared to refuse him?
She was refusing the chance to rise to the heavens in a single step, all because of this strangely dressed foreigner?
She clearly did not know what was good for her!
Count Adler's expression instantly became vicious as the last traces of his feigned benevolence disappeared.
Clearly, he had completely lost his patience.
"I see... it seems like this lowly outsider kidnapped the princess of the Northern Empire, Hyperborea!"
"KILL HIM!"
"RESCUE THE PRINCESS!"
Count Adler's words sounded noble enough, as though he were merely acting out of loyalty to the empire and concern for the princess, but in reality, the order amounted to nothing more than murder and kidnapping.
As soon as the order was given, the soldiers immediately pounced forward like a pack of hungry wolves.
Several gleaming spears thrust viciously toward Lucian, their sharp tips reflecting the cold light of the surrounding sky, while two other soldiers rushed toward Cerydra and reached out to seize her slender body.
Meanwhile, the surrounding refugees cried out in terror and scattered in every direction, desperately trying to put as much distance between themselves and the soldiers as possible. None of them wanted to become caught up in a conflict between nobles and an unknown foreigner.
Cerydra's little face turned deathly pale with fear, and she instinctively reached for Lucian, preparing to pull him away and run.
Lucian, however, simply watched the incoming spears with an indifferent expression, as well as the nobles and soldiers who had finally discarded all pretense of civility.
Looking at their expressions, he found the whole situation genuinely amusing.
'Heh, they got quite the temper, huh... They wouldn't listen when she tried talking nicely, so they had to get physical with her?'
Lucian had originally intended to play along with this heartwarming little drama for a while longer, watching how things would develop between Cerydra and the nobles.
However, there was no point continuing once these people had decided to throw away their lives.
At the instant the foremost spear was about to pierce his chest, Lucian finally moved.
He did not even feel like trying out his new ability.
He was simply tired of dealing with this group of ants.
*BANG! *CRACK!*
No one present saw how he attacked—they only heard the sharp succession of two sounds.
In the next moment, however, they finally understood what had happened.
Apparently, the first soldier to charge forward had been sent flying more than ten meters away, spear and all. More importantly, his chest was visibly caved inward, and after crashing into a large rock, he slid down its surface like a lump of rotten meat, clearly beyond saving.
Lucian did not even look back as he continued walking at an unhurried pace toward the five-hundred-man formation and, beyond it, toward the duke's carriage, with his hands clasped behind his back.
As he walked, his expression remained as calm as though he were merely taking a leisurely stroll.
"HE'S TRYING TO ASSASSINATE THE DUKE! KILL HIM!"
Count Adler continued shouting orders, and hundreds of soldiers immediately surged forward.
Lucian did not bother using any flashy skills, relying on nothing more than the most primitive speed and strength.
In the next second, his fist clenched before he drove it forward, and a moment later, his leg swept sideways in a brutal kick. Every movement was simple and direct, yet the sheer force behind each attack was terrifying.
He found himself rather nostalgic for the satisfying sensation of fist meeting flesh. Every time he moved, his attacks were accompanied by the horrifying sounds of bones breaking and the soldiers' agonized screams.
One soldier's head exploded beneath a single punch, spraying red and white matter through the air, while another was kicked so violently in the waist that his body folded unnaturally.
*CRACK!* *THUD!* *BANG!*
It was like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep.
No, that comparison was still not quite accurate.
It was more like a runaway heavy steamroller crashing through a group of straw men, crushing everything in its path without the slightest resistance.
Anyone could see that the battle had become a completely one-sided massacre.
Screams, pleas for mercy, the sounds of bones breaking, and the clatter of weapons falling onto the ground rose and fell one after another, while blood rapidly spread across the pristine snow, staining the white landscape a horrifying red.
By now, the sinister smiles and arrogant expressions on the faces of the nobles riding nearby had completely frozen. In their place was nothing but absolute terror and disbelief as they watched their elite soldiers being torn apart as easily as strips of paper.
Only a few breaths had passed before the ground was already covered with twisted corpses.
In the end, only the duke's carriage and the fat count remained.
Count Adler sat alone upon his horse, his entire body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind. He was so terrified that his soul seemed to have left his body, and the front of his trousers had already become soaked as a foul stench spread through the air.
"A... A monster!"
He let out a shrill cry, frantically turning his horse around in an attempt to flee, but Lucian naturally had no intention of giving him such an opportunity.
In the next second, Lucian's figure flashed, moving so quickly that it looked almost like teleportation, and he appeared directly beside the horse. He then reached out, seized the fat count's thick leg, and gave it a casual tug.
*THUD!*
Count Adler screamed as he was dragged forcibly from the saddle and slammed heavily into the cold pile of corpses and blood beneath him. He looked up in terror as Lucian approached step by step, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"P-Please spare me! Milord! No... Y-Your Majesty the Emperor! Please spare me! I was wrong! I failed to recognize a great man! How could a mere duke possibly compete with you for the throne? Your Majesty, the princess should be yours! Adopting her was a great decision!"
Hearing that, Lucian looked down at the fat count from above, and the trace of amusement that had remained on his face disappeared completely, leaving behind only cold indifference.
"I'm not the emperor. I'm the father regent."
Right after saying that, his foot rose and then came down without hesitation.
*CRACK!*
A crisp sound that made one's teeth ache resounded, and the fat count's desperate pleas abruptly came to an end as his head was crushed beneath Lucian's foot.
Just like that, only Duke Alphine remained inside the carriage.
Lucian lifted the carriage curtain and found a middle-aged man sitting calmly within. Unlike the fat count, the duke showed no signs of panic. He remained composed even after seeing the sea of corpses outside, and when his eyes met Lucian's, he only froze for a brief moment before speaking.
"Are you an assassin sent by one of the other dukes? I'll pay you ten times what they offered. Let me leave, and we'll call it even. Or you can swear allegiance to me, and I'll make you a marquis of Hyperborea. You'll have wealth and glory beyond anything you could imagine!"
Lucian had effortlessly slaughtered his elite soldiers, so he was clearly no ordinary person.
At this point, the duke understood that fighting was meaningless, and the only sensible option was to appease Lucian by offering him enough wealth and status to make cooperation worthwhile.
'Heh, this is what you call a decent reward?'
Thinking that, Lucian couldn't help but laugh.
"Using a beggar to impersonate the princess and get the power to become regent was a pretty good plan, and you actually pulled it off. Too bad, you picked the wrong guy. You guys aren't worthy of handling Cerydra."
He paused briefly before adding with a faint smile.
"Besides, the population under my command is in the trillions. I don't need some noble title, wealth, or glory."
"I'm just here to experience life."
As he spoke, Lucian reached into the carriage and casually seized Duke Alphine by the throat before snapping his neck.
Duke Alphine did not resist or beg for his life until the very end, because he understood that there was no way he could escape. Since death was inevitable, he chose to preserve what little dignity he had left and face it with the composure expected of a nobleman.
At least he had some semblance of a nobleman's bearing.
In fact, the corners of the duke's lips had even curled upward slightly, as though he were quietly mocking Lucian's boast.
A population of trillions?
Just how vast would an empire with such a population have to be?
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it consisted of several realms.
Yet he did not believe it.
He simply could not believe that anyone could truly rule several realms.
Just like that, the world of snow fell silent.
Only the sound of the wind and the soft rustle of falling snow remained, accompanied by the heavy, lingering smell of blood that permeated the air.
All the refugees were completely terrified and had retreated as far away as they could. Some of them were simply too exhausted to move, leaving them with no choice but to accept their fate and remain where they were, waiting for whatever judgment awaited them.
After witnessing Lucian's overwhelming strength from such close range, every one of them was filled with a mixture of awe and fear.
At some point, Cerydra's eyes widened to the limit.
She stared at Lucian, who stood in the middle of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, yet remained completely untouched by even the slightest trace of dirt or blood, his clothes still spotless.
More importantly, his calm profile showed not the slightest hint of the brutality that had just unfolded around him.
Seeing such a scene, the blazing light in Cerydra's eyes seemed almost ready to burst out.
'He's so cool... He's so strong...'
Truth be told, she was not afraid of the dead in the slightest. Even when a splash of blood landed on her face, she merely blinked without showing the slightest sign of fear.
It couldn't be helped.
During the war, she had seen countless corpses, and her own parents had died horribly right before her eyes, so this scene carried little shock for her. If anything, it was Lucian's overwhelming display of violence that kept pounding against her mind, leaving her completely captivated.
Done with the duke, Lucian calmly walked over to Cerydra and then crouched down.
He reached out and gently wiped away the snow and bloodstains from her cheek, his movements so careful and gentle that they seemed almost impossible to reconcile with the savage violence he had displayed only moments earlier.
"Alright, you're good now. Everyone who bullied you is dead."
Lucian spoke casually with a faint smile, as if the previous incident was nothing more than a trivial nuisance.
'He's so gentle, too...'
Cerydra stared blankly at him, her eyes fixed on his smile as she thought in a daze.
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]