Chapter 494
Being close to power and authority often leads some people to mistakenly believe they al
Chapter 494 Being close to power and authority often leads some people to mistakenly believe they also possess power and authority.
Sunlight streamed into the tavern, which was packed with people.
This was an ordinary afternoon in the Kingdom of Grell.
For the ordinary people of the capital, life is prosperous and stable; the days of displacement and uncertainty are over.
In their view, all of this was thanks to their great king.
—Grell
Glug... Glug...
"Ha." A middle-aged man took a big gulp of ale, his face flushed, and exhaled with great satisfaction. "That feels good."
"I heard your child was selected for the guard team?"
A burly man next to him asked, his eyes filled with undisguised envy.
"That's right!"
The middle-aged man puffed out his chest, smoothing out every wrinkle on his face, and grinned, saying, "Just yesterday, they said there was a new discovery in the north, and they need the strongest soldiers."
"They say it's to serve the king directly, to uncover important... uh, anyway, important things!"
He looked around and, seeing the envious glances from the other drinkers, his voice grew even louder: "My son was the first one chosen from their batch!"
"Wow, what incredible luck!"
Another tall, thin craftsman clicked his tongue and said enviously, "If you join the guard team, you might be able to make contributions and get the chance to be 'blessed with blood' in the future. That would be a meteoric rise."
"What's this talk of bestowing blood? Serving the king is the highest honor," the middle-aged man said with a ruddy complexion and a chuckle.
"The King has led us to establish such a great kingdom and bestowed upon us a peaceful and prosperous life. It is my son's blessing to be able to contribute to the King's great cause."
“That’s right!” Several warrior-looking drinkers nearby raised their glasses and shouted, “For the King!”
"For the King!"
Everyone around raised their glasses, pointed them towards the distant royal palace, and drank them down in one gulp.
For most of the tribe, loyalty and worship for Grell are ingrained in their very bones, and being conscripted into a warrior is something to be proud of and envied.
No one thought about what those conscripted soldiers might face.
No one could have imagined that just moments ago, their revered king had issued an order to slaughter all those who knew the truth.
"Oh, right."
In a corner, a gaunt old man took a sip of wine and said in a low voice to the people at the table, "Recently, more and more slaves have been taken away from the mining area and the new city wall."
“I have a friend who is in charge there. He said that last month alone, they took away several batches of slaves, but it still wasn’t enough. Too many of them died from overwork and disease.”
"Slaves, aren't they just expendable commodities?"
One of the people at the table waved his hand dismissively: "The prosperity of the capital, the Grell Stone, and our current lives—aren't they all built on the backs of those lowly scoundrels?"
“We can just catch them again once they’re dead. There are plenty of rebellious tribes in the south that have resurfaced, and new kingdoms established in another part of the west.
"As long as the mines keep running and the city walls need to be built, there will never be enough slaves. If they die, just throw them into the pit; it'll fertilize the land."
His tone was relaxed, as if he were talking about firewood being consumed rather than human lives.
“Exactly,” someone nearby laughed. “Come on, let’s drink, let’s not talk about those unlucky things, it’ll spoil the mood.”
Everyone laughed and raised their glasses, turning the conversation back to this year's harvest, newly opened shops, or which soldier had performed another meritorious service.
The sun still shines warmly, the beer still smells delicious, and the people still look forward to the future and are still content with their identity.
Blindfolded, they couldn't see the countless white bones deep in the mine; covered their ears, they couldn't hear the dying groans of the slaves; they were only immersed in the happiness Grell had created for them.
However, the happiness that they considered so solid was torn apart by a single hand in the most violent way.
One moment it was a sunny afternoon, the sun was scorching, the streets were bustling with pedestrians, the market was noisy, and people were busy in the fields.
The next instant, it was as if a hand had pulled the curtain of the sky up.
The bright sunlight streaming into the tavern quickly dimmed, and the previously noisy sounds gradually disappeared. The patrons looked up in surprise and gazed out the window.
The people on the street, the vendors in the market, and the farmers in the fields all stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky with surprised expressions.
"What's going on? Why did the sky suddenly turn cloudy?"
"Is it going to pour rain? It was fine just now..."
"These clouds came so fast!"
The once clear and azure sky was now swallowed up by endless thick clouds.
The clouds hung low, as if pressing down on the highest spire of the palace, churning and surging, blocking out even a sliver of sunlight, and the daytime instantly turned into darkness.
“Grell.” A detached voice reached everyone’s ears, “Come out and see me within three breaths.”
As soon as he finished speaking, an aura spread out.
Fear originates from instinct and rises from the depths of the soul.
Where is that sound coming from?
"This feeling..."
The child stopped crying and nestled into his mother's arms, trembling.
The tool slipped from the middle-aged man's hand, and his face turned pale.
The old man stared at the sky, his lips trembling.
The domesticated livestock became restless, and the birds flew frantically towards the eaves. The entire royal city was instantly enveloped in deathly silence and panic.
"The sky..."
A person inadvertently looked up, staring blankly at the churning dark clouds, and asked involuntarily, "What is that?"
Following his gaze, everyone saw two figures floating beneath the thick, dark clouds, illuminated by occasional flashes of lightning through the gaps in the clouds.
"A person, a figure?"
"A person is standing in the sky?"
"Am I seeing things? No...it's real!"
Against the backdrop of a dim sky, they resembled two ink dots in the dark clouds.
But no one would consider them insignificant, because that soul-stirring aura emanated from them, as if the sky were collapsing.
Otsutsuki Kumoshiki floated in the air expressionlessly, calmly looking down at the sizable city-state below, and at the tallest royal palace.
Time seemed to stretch out at this moment, and there was no movement inside the royal palace.
"How many breaths?" Otsutsuki Kumo asked casually.
The Sichuan-style attendant standing behind him had slightly cold eyes. He glanced at the king, who seemed to be pretending to be deaf and dumb, and lowered his head slightly, saying, "Ten breaths."
"Oh."
Upon hearing this, Yun Shi chuckled and said, "Being close to power and authority always makes some people mistakenly believe that they also possess power and authority."
As soon as he finished speaking, he slowly raised his hand and casually pressed it down on the sprawling city below, the towering royal palace below, and the countless terrified people below, like ants.
The swirling, low-hanging dark clouds seemed to transform into a pool of thunder the moment the cloud-like palm pressed down.
Boom! Boom boom!!
The lightning deep within the clouds was drawn together by an invisible force, and dozens or even hundreds of thick white bolts of lightning crashed down, connecting heaven and earth, blindingly bright.
The first bolt of lightning struck directly at the center of Grell's capital, at the tallest statue that symbolized Grell's supreme authority.
Next, the second, third, and fourth bolts of lightning all struck the royal palace.
Snap! Boom!
With a deafening roar, the royal palace built of massive stones shattered instantly, sending countless fragments of rock flying in all directions!
Countless bolts of lightning followed, striking various areas of the capital city in rapid succession.
The majestic city walls collapsed amidst the lightning, the bustling streets were engulfed by the thunder and fire, wooden houses instantly turned into torches, and stone buildings also crumbled under the impact.
The crisscrossing farmland was ignited by lightning, the golden waves of wheat turned into a sea of fire, and the docile river was blasted into towering waves, with white mist rising into the sky.
"what!"
"Help!"
The crowd below screamed, instantly vaporized in the blinding lightning, or torn apart by the powerful impact, or buried by the collapsing buildings...
Each flash of blinding lightning illuminated the city, which had just been immersed in the illusion of prosperity, turning it a ghastly white and revealing countless terrified and distorted faces.
Just when the surviving tribesmen were terrified.
Rumble!!
As if a sea of blood had been poured from the earth, a deafening roar of water echoed from the direction of the royal palace. Crimson light poured down, staining the sky, the ruins, and every face that looked up in disbelief. The once pale world was now painted with an ominous dark red!
It was a towering curtain of blood, thick and scarlet, rising into the sky from the royal palace area that was the focus of the lightning strike!
The blood curtain was so vast and surging that it instantly rose hundreds of meters into the air, like a crimson wall that blotted out the sky.
scoff!
The massive bolt of lightning struck again, but this time it hit the towering curtain of blood, vaporizing and evaporating into a foul-smelling blood mist. However, the blood seemed to flow endlessly from below to replenish it.
"It is the power of the king!"
"The king has come to our rescue!"
"The king hasn't abandoned us! Hahaha!"
The tribespeople below, who were fortunate enough to escape the first wave of lightning strikes, were suddenly awakened from their fear and then burst into wild shouts of joy at surviving the disaster!
They gazed at the crimson curtain of blood that blotted out the sky, their eyes brimming with tears, and they cried out at the top of their lungs.
However, their cheers did not last long.
A man with scarlet vertical pupils suddenly stiffened, his expression of ecstasy freezing instantly, turning into pain and disbelief.
“Ha! Your Majesty…”
He gripped his throat tightly with both hands, his eyes bulging out in a horrifying way, bloodshot and almost falling out of their sockets.
Bang!
With a muffled thud, the man's body exploded like a bursting blood bag!
Blood, flesh, bone fragments, and entrails splattered everywhere, soaking the cheering tribespeople around them.
"what!"
A piercing scream rang out, but this was only the beginning.
The very next second after the first person exploded and died, another man not far away, who also had scarlet vertical pupils, suddenly let out a scream, and his body began to twist and swell.
“No! No! Your Majesty, why… I am your loyal servant…” he cried out in fear.
Bang! !
With another muffled thud, the captain followed suit, exploding into a cloud of blood mist.
Bang!Bang bang!
One after another, all the tribesmen with scarlet vertical pupils and who had been granted power by Grell began to explode and die without warning, in a truly tragic manner!
Their deaths were not caused by divine retribution, but by the very source of their power: the king they served.
"what happened?"
"They...they exploded!"
"Was it done by the king? Why?!"
The elation and worship that had just begun to rise were instantly replaced by fear. As the people watched those around them explode one after another, turning into a cloud of blood mist, the fanatical faith on their faces began to crumble.
The blood that had exploded did not spill onto the ground; instead, it seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, turning into streams of crimson blood.
They converged towards the direction of the royal palace, towards the source of the rising blood curtain!
This horrifying and cruel scene also came into the view of Yun and his companion.
"Hmph." A cold and mocking glint flashed in Chuan Shi's eyes.
Grell was clearly severely injured by the lightning strike earlier, but he was decisive and ruthless, using the lives of these "blood descendants" to restore his body and withstand the attack.
"Indeed, a servant is a servant, whose life and death are only in the hands of his master."
A thought involuntarily arose in Kawashiro's mind, and he subconsciously looked at the figure in front of him.
If he hadn't met Senior Yun, he wouldn't have been any different from the others below him...
Finally, just as the crimson blood curtain that blotted out the sky was being bombarded by lightning and was about to collapse completely, the moment came when...
"My Lord God, please have mercy!"
A roar, fueled by all its might, suddenly erupted from the depths of the royal palace, piercing through the thunder and explosions, echoing in everyone's ears.
"It was Grell's foolishness that betrayed the grace and trust of the divine. I beg the Lord to consider Grell's insignificant merit..."
The roar suddenly paused, as if grasping at the last straw, Grell's voice abruptly rose: "Ruins! Yes! My God, Grell has discovered new ruins!"
remains?
Upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashed in Chuanshi's eyes, and he subconsciously looked at Yunshi's back in front of him.
He knew that his senior had been searching for something in the ninja world, but this was the first time he knew that the other person was looking for ruins.
Otsutsuki Kumoshiki's expression remained unchanged throughout, but his hand, which was pressing down, slowly withdrew.
The churning, roaring thunderclouds in the sky suddenly stopped, leaving only a deep, muffled rumble from the depths of the clouds.
The blood-red curtain below, which blotted out the sky, seemed to have lost its power to continue, and collapsed with a roar like a punctured blood bubble.
Thick, scarlet blood poured down, a murky rain of blood cascading down, drenching the already devastated ruins and the survivors of their tribe.
The thunder subsided, and a torrential downpour of blood fell.
In the center of the crimson rain curtain, where once a magnificent royal palace stood, now only ruins and charred craters remained, a figure staggered to his feet.
Grell's once magnificent robes and armor were now tattered and disheveled from the thunder's blast, his long hair was a mess of blood and dust, and he looked utterly wretched.
"Huh...huh..."
He was panting heavily, each breath pulling at his chest and abdomen, clearly indicating that maintaining that scale of blood barrier had been a huge drain on him.
However, despite his disheveled appearance and unsteady breathing, he had no wounds on his body.
The surrounding blood rain and the blood flowing on the ground turned into thin streams of blood that continuously flowed into his body!
With the return of this blood, Grell's previously somewhat disordered aura stabilized at a visible speed and began to slowly rise and strengthen.
"Hand it over."
Yun's indifferent voice reached Grell's ears below.
Grell's body trembled almost imperceptibly. He raised his head, and his face, covered in blood and dust, twitched slightly as he forced a humble, fawning smile.
"Yes." He said in a hoarse voice, trying his best to appear obedient. "Thank you for sparing my life, Your Majesty. I will now lead the way for Your Majesty."
As he spoke, he bowed deeply, his posture extremely humble, but a scarlet light flickered deep within his lowered eyes.
Upon hearing this, Chuan Shi, who was standing behind Yun Shi, immediately frowned, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.
Chuan Shi's lips moved slightly, about to speak, but Yun Shi, who had his back to him, turned his head slightly and glanced at Chuan Shi out of the corner of his eye.
Without saying a word, Chuan swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Yun Shi withdrew her gaze and looked again at Grell, who stood humbly in the ruins below.
“Okay,” he said.
Having said that, Yun Shi slowly descended, landing on the city below.
500 meters... 200 meters... 100 meters...
Just as the cloud-shaped and river-shaped formations descended to within tens of meters of the royal city.
Grell, who had been bowing his head respectfully, suddenly raised his head.
Beneath her disheveled hair, her scarlet vertical pupils held no trace of humility or fear, only utter madness, ferocity, and resentment.
Like a venomous snake that has been lying in wait for a long time, finally revealing its deadly fangs.
"Kill!" Grell gritted his teeth.
hum!hum!hum!
Four deep and violent buzzing sounds suddenly rang out from the four corners of the royal city almost simultaneously.
The next moment, the ground around them exploded, revealing four huge cannons with astonishing calibers deeply embedded in the ground!
The cannon was inlaid with huge Grell Stones, and the engraved patterns began to glow with a blue-green light, with fierce and violent fluctuations rapidly emerging and converging!
The cannon was pointed directly at the two Otsutsuki Kumoshiki who had entered the attack range in the air.
This is Grell's trump card weapon, powered by a massive amount of Grell Stones and incorporating technology excavated from multiple ruins, a secret Grell Cannon.
They are usually buried deep underground, and each strike requires an astronomical number of Grell Stones, but their power is enough to instantly blast a small mountain apart.
Grell's entire disguise was for this moment.
He certainly didn't expect to actually kill it that way; he only hoped that this attack would give him a chance to escape.
He has taken back all the "blood" he had given to others over the past hundreds or thousands of years, and every drop of "blood" given to others would become stronger in sync with the host's body.
In other words, his body is now so powerful that nothing can be added to it.
"As long as I can escape, as long as I can get to that ruin first, as long as I can absorb that corpse in the ruin..." Grell's eyes were filled with even deeper madness and ferocity.
Bang!
The ground beneath his feet cracked instantly, and without hesitation, he turned and dashed away into the distance, his speed almost turning into a streak of light.
Boom! Boom boom!
Four beams of blue-green light, radiating terrifying energy, tore through the air, accompanied by sharp whistles and slight distortions, and shot towards Otsutsuki Kumoshiki from four different angles!
(End of this chapter)