The Blood Emperor looked at the report in his hand and sneered: "I didn't expect the Kingdom to still be so persistent. Back then they held some Royal Tournament and were made a laughingstock, yet that wasn't enough. Now they dare to hold a Swordsmanship Tournament at this juncture, wanting to nominate that Warrior Chief of theirs? Hah, let our Sword Saint go and recreate the scene from back then, let them know the meaning of despair!"
Ten years ago, the Kingdom's King was still very bold and capable. Back then, he never allowed those nobles to ride over his head like they do now.
At that time, the old King even dared to hold a Royal Tournament in front of those nobles to find an outstanding young man to serve as the Kingdom's Warrior Chief.
If the old fellow had truly succeeded then, perhaps the Kingdom really could have brought about a reformation. However, the possibility was very small because the old King had no suitable heir, so even if he found an excellent Warrior Chief, he would be powerless to change the Kingdom's situation.
But as the Kingdom's rival, the Empire didn't want to give them even that sliver of hope.
The Empire dispatched the Sword Saint, letting the Sword Saint go to the Kingdom under an assumed name to participate in that Royal Tournament and then defeat all opponents to win the final championship.
The final result was, of course, the Sword Saint winning the championship. It wasn't even a competition on the same level. Even if the ages were similar, the Sword Saint at that time already had one foot in the realm of heroes, and was simply not someone the genius warriors of the same age could defeat.
Consequently, the contestant who held the title of the Kingdom's genius swordsman was so crushed by the Sword Saint that he questioned his very life. He refused the royal recruitment and later became a mercenary, and even later, a mountain bandit.
The runner-up at the time was a warrior of commoner birth who had no prior fame. He could be called a dark horse that appeared out of nowhere. If the Sword Saint hadn't participated, he probably really could have fulfilled the King's expectations.
But the dark horse failed to win in the end. Finally, the Sword Saint completed the mission of suppressing the confidence of the Kingdom's geniuses and returned to the Empire. The position of the Kingdom's Warrior Chief then fell to this commoner warrior who was the runner-up.
Although this genius Warrior Chief had a firm will and didn't lose his self-confidence just because he was defeated once by the Sword Saint, his status as a commoner, combined with the fact that he was the runner-up rather than the champion, meant that even after becoming the Warrior Chief, he couldn't fulfill the old King's expectations. He was constantly suppressed by the Kingdom's Noble Faction. The fundamental reason for this was that the old King had already given up, as the person most affected by the blow during the Royal Tournament back then was the old King himself; he could no longer see any hope of turning the tables.
The Empire's suppression plan could be said to have ended perfectly. Had the Sword Saint not been unwilling to participate in subsequent wars, the Empire might have conquered the Kingdom before the Blood Emperor took the throne. However, if things had truly developed that way, the one with the headache then would have been the Blood Emperor. Because the Empire's nobles weren't any better back then; if the Kingdom had been conquered then, it would have instead strengthened those nobles' power, making it much more troublesome for the Blood Emperor to deal with them than it was initially.
Therefore, the Blood Emperor was quite grateful to the Sword Saint. Because if the Sword Saint hadn't refused to help those nobles, he wouldn't have completed the plan to purge the nobility so easily, and the Sword Saint had also left him the great gift package that was the Kingdom.
"It seems the Kingdom won't last more than three years at most," the Blood Emperor said to the Four Knights and the Chief Mage. If the Kingdom, which was already on its last breath, experienced another such blow to morale, it would likely collapse within the next two or three years.
The Four Knights did not speak.
Fruda stroked his beard and said: "There's nothing strange about the Kingdom facing ruin. Having no heir to the throne is already a major taboo, let alone that old King losing his ambition after being crushed by the Sword Saint back then."
"They have allowed the Noble Faction to ravage the common people all these years. Although the Golden Princess seems to have done quite a lot, in terms of results, it's meaningless. Because of the old King's inaction combined with the nobles' growing power, they can find a countermeasure for any policy implemented. Even if the Golden Princess can see this clearly, it's of no use; ultimately, she has no right of succession to the throne."
"Do you think if I personally paid a visit, I could persuade the Sword Saint to help me win this war?" The Blood Emperor knew that the Kingdom's only current threat was nothing more than the Warrior Chief and his troops. This was because they were a group of people with faith, firmly believing the Kingdom would overcome its difficulties and welcome a rebirth. They had several very brilliant and active performances on the battlefield before.
Even the Blood Emperor couldn't help but want to recruit that Warrior Chief last time. After all, their Sword Saint was still obsessed with magic at the time, and except for the first generation Sword Saint, successive generations only intervened when the Empire was about to be destroyed by foreign enemies. They completely refrained from interfering in internal affairs and absolutely would not participate in wars initiated by the Empire. So compared to the Sword Saint, he actually wanted a genius warrior like that Warrior Chief who was completely loyal to
himself, but that Warrior Chief refused.
Because he had sworn loyalty to his master, it was absolutely impossible for him to swear loyalty to the Blood Emperor, even if the Blood Emperor's charisma made him very much admire him.
If the Sword Saint were willing to go to battle,
this Warrior Chief would clearly be nothing.
Although the Blood Emperor appreciated the other party, he didn't particularly take it to heart. After all, he had the stronger Sword Saint, and the Four Knights weren't much worse than the opponent either; there was absolutely no need to waste effort on him.
If one recruitment attempt failed, then so be it.
However, the other party equipped with the Kingdom's secret treasures was indeed a trouble on the battlefield. The Four Knights were completely no match for the Warrior Chief in that state. Even if Fruda were to take action, there was a certain risk of failure. In this situation, it was simply not worth doing so.
But even so,
if a war could be finished without dragging on, he naturally didn't want it to continue. If the Sword Saint took action, all problems would be solved easily, which was why he wanted to persuade the Sword Saint so much.
But he also knew that the possibility of persuading the Sword Saint to act was very slim. The fact that the Sword Saint had gone to crash the party on her own this time was already an unexpected joy for him.
As for the Blood Emperor's question,
Fruda said bluntly: "Impossible, give it up. With the things you've done before, I guarantee you won't even be able to enter her front door!"
Bajiu De's mouth twitched.
Watching this old fellow scold His Majesty,
he couldn't help but complain in his heart.
It seems you're about the same, old man.
Didn't you also fail to even get inside the door?
The Blood Emperor heard Fruda's words, and although he knew what he said was very likely to happen, he still retorted unwillingly: "I am the Emperor after all. Astrea must give me some face; she wouldn't block me at the door like she did to you."
"Heh heh."
Fruda chuckled.
He didn't deign to argue about this matter.
If His Majesty really dared to pay a visit, he wouldn't mind going along to see the excitement.
"We'll discuss this later. You all go and prepare for the start of the war first; it's about time."
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