Chapter 734: See Through
As Shea said, the Fallen Angel Empire’s envoy team led by Aguile had pa.s.sed the Seg Estate from the border of Town Leia and arrived at the Dark Shadow Empire.
Along the way, Chen Rui saw the emergency stand-by state of the Dark Shadow Empire. Although what he saw was only the tip of the iceberg, he could see that Catherine was definitely not bluffing this time.
Putting himself in her shoes to think about it, now was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to annex the Fallen Angel Empire. As a ruler, it was reasonable for Catherine to make such a decision.
It was just that the difficulty of his mission this time would be greatly increased. Christina might still be shaken by some things, but Catherine. Asmodeus would never shake the fundamental interests of the empire for personal feelings.
No doubt, Chen Rui hit the snag when he first arrived in the Dark Shadow Empire. Catherine used various excuses to delay the envoy in the Royal Hotel. They had no intention to meet him for a few days. It seemed that this delay would still continue indefinitely.
Even if he had eloquence or incredible skills, it was still useless if she didn’t want to meet him at all.
Chen Rui found Celine and tried to get through via various channels, but it was also unsuccessful. It seemed that Catherine did not plan to give ‘the Fallen Angel Empire’s envoy’ a chance at all. This made him feel anxious because a day of delay here meant the danger of the Warlock Fortress and the Fallen Angel Empire as a whole was even more increased.
Chen Rui racked his brain and suddenly thought of something, a magic badge. This badge was given to him by ‘Isis’ back then. It was said to be a special token of the Asmodeus Royal Family. If the Dark Moon had any unexpected changes, he could use this badge to look for her. ‘Isis’ was one of Catherine’s avatars who had once easily captured Azgalor, whom Chen Rui couldn’t match at the time.
Although Aguile’s ident.i.ty was likely to be exposed, he couldn’t afford to care much in an emergency situation.
The Fallen Angel Empire had just finished recruiting and had not had the time to train them into the army, let alone sending them to the battlefield. Even if the number was equal to that of the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire, they couldn’t compete with the elites. It was unimaginable how the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire could gather these 6 million elite troops after the internal strife between Edmund and Aleus.
There was only 1 giant crystal beast and 10 a.s.semble puppets in the ancient alchemy civilization castle. Apart from Delia who could barely control the a.s.semble puppet, there was no qualified driver. There were only 500 crystal beasts and 3,000 lamp spirits, but very few elites reached the Demon Emperor. The lamp spirits created later were still in the charging stage and could not partic.i.p.ate in the battle for the time being.
After Dragon Emperor Auglas got the Pseudo-G.o.d Dragon Power Essence of the holy dragon Rodriguez, he had already gone for closed training, so he didn’t know what happened in the Dark Moon. Even if he knew it, he wouldn’t let his daughter get involved. Therefore, Daniel and Julia declared that they would not partic.i.p.ate in the war long ago and they would only protect Olypheus who insisted on staying in the Dark Moon.
As for Chen Rui himself, the [Pole Star Transformation] was sealed because of the Shackles of True Flame, so he could not compete with the kingdom-level powerhouse for the time being. The [Dual Training] skill could accelerate the absorption speed of the Shackles of True Flame to a certain extent, but it was a long cutscene after all. Even if it did not take 2 full years, it would surely take more than 1 year.
If this war happened 2 years later or even 1 year later, they would not fall into this kind of crisis. Now both Chen Rui himself and the strength at hand were greatly reduced, so teaming up with the Dark Shadow Empire was the only way to save the Fallen Angel Empire.
The ‘Asmodeus Royal Family’s special token’ was no doubt useful. Soon, Chen Rui was taken to a courtyard on the outskirts of the Dark Shadow Empire. The location was remote and very quiet.
Whether it is Christina or Isis… I don’t know how many avatars that Catherine has. Of course, this is not a habit of changing roles. What Chen Rui saw more from it was fatigue and loneliness, just like the strange and familiar figure in front of him.
Race: l.u.s.t Royal Family.
Physique: A (S++), Strength: A (S++), Spirit: A (S++), Agility: A (S++).
[a.n.a.lysis]: Spirit cancellation, magic and spiritual damage debuff, puppet control, and the power of Nirvana (4).
Risk level: Quite high.
No doubt it’s her!
The ‘(4)’ after the ‘power of Nirvana’ in [a.n.a.lysis] referred to the 4 times of Nirvana. Nirvana was the most powerful bloodline talent in the Asmodeus Royal Family. Each nirvana was equal to the renewal of qualitative changes in apt.i.tude, which could break through various bottlenecks more easily. However, the higher the level of Nirvana, the greater the risk. 1 carelessness would result in annihilation.
It was said that in the history of the Asmodeus Royal Family, only 1 person had completed 5 times of Nirvana. A small number of 4 Nirvana’s geniuses chose to risk the fifth time, and they were all reduced to ashes under the flames of Nirvana.
It was precisely because of this risk that the talent of Nirvana was gradually ignored by the Asmodeus Royal Family, and they instead focused on the more practical [War Puppet].
She was still dressed in the black veil. ‘Isis’s’ gaze paused on Chen Rui’s mask as she asked faintly, “Where did your royal token come from?”
“Madam Isis, please forgive me for my presumptuous visit. The badge was handed to me by Sir Financial Officer Chen Rui of the Dark Moon. Please let me convey his sincere grat.i.tude to Madam Isis.”
“Sir Aguile, I have already received this grat.i.tude.” ‘Isis’ nodded, clearly making an order to leave.
Chen Rui would definitely not leave at this time. He played deaf, “Madam Isis, I have come from afar in order to hand over this token. Can you give me 10 minutes?”
“The entire Dark Shadow Empire knows Sir Aguile’s intention. Sir Aguile is the prince consort appointed by Her Majesty Shea. Although both of you are not yet married, you have the full authority to represent Her Majesty Shea. I’m just the guard of Her Majesty Catherine. You should meet Her Majesty Catherine.”
When talking about ‘meeting Her Majesty Catherine’, there was not a trace of abnormal fluctuations in those black eyes. It seems that Her Majesty is really calm.
“Then I’ll take it as Madam Isis has given me this time.” Chen Rui said brazenly, “The current situation is actually very clear. The b.l.o.o.d.y Empire army has declared war on the Fallen Angel Empire, and the army is approaching the Warlock Fortress. Once the Fallen Angel Empire is breached, then the enemy of Raizen the Great will only be the Dark Shadow Empire. The Fallen Angel Empire and the Dark Shadow Empire can be described as an interest-based relations.h.i.+p. We will benefit from each other when we cooperate, and we will be at a disadvantage when separated. Madam Isis, please tell Her Majesty Catherine, or if possible, I would like to explain the pros and cons to Her Majesty.”
“Since it is such a simple situation, Her Majesty Catherine will also have plans even without Sir Aguile. As for seeing Her Majesty… I believe Her Majesty’s current att.i.tude is very clear. Sir Aguile is a smart person, so I don’t need to explain more.”
Chen Rui was silent for a moment before he spoke up, “Empress Catherine wants to take this opportunity to swallow the strength of the Fallen Angel Empire at the least cost? Then take advantage to go full force and defeat the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire who exhausted their military after capturing the Fallen Angel Empire in order to unify the Demon Realm?”
“From my personal point of view, this seems to be a good suggestion. I believe it should be within the planning of Her Majesty Empress.”
Chen Rui raised his eyebrows, “As far as the level of hatred is concerned, the secretly plotting friends are more hateful than the violent enemies. Isn’t the Dark Shadow Empire afraid that the Fallen Angel Empire will directly take refuge in the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire if it loses, then uses the strength of the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire to destroy the Dark Shadow Empire?”
“I can’t answer you this question, but I once met Her Majesty Shea in the Dark Moon when she was only a lord at the time. From my impression, she would never surrender… Don’t you think that this trick is copying the strategy of Her Majesty Catherine back then?” Isis sneered behind the veil, “Unfortunately, Shea is not Catherine, and Raizen is not Midnight Sun. If the Fallen Angel Empire directly surrenders, then I’m sure that less than 1% of the Lucifer Royal Family can survive, just like the Samael Royal Family of the Wrath Empire.”
Chen Rui clenched his fists, “So, what if the Fallen Angel Empire gave up the northern defense line at all costs and tried its best to fight the Dark Shadow Empire to the end?”
“This kind of ridiculous threat doesn’t require Her Majesty Catherine to answer. A little guard like me can answer you.” Isis replied calmly, “Now the Fallen Angel Empire has 2/3 of its military forces focused on In the north, there is no way to turn back. Moreover, if your army gives up the defense and takes the initiative to attack, it is basically sacrificing strengths to seek shortcomings and courting death. Then, our army of the Dark Shadow Empire can just occupy the Dark Moon, Red Spirit Estate and the Tekula Fortress. We can wait for the arrival of the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire Army while they exhaust themselves. It is equivalent to Raizen the Great working hard to capture the Fallen Angel Empire, but it turns out to be a contribution to the Dark Shadow Empire.”
Chen Rui was speechless, and it took a long time before he said, “Her Majesty Empress really wants to take this chance to unify the Demon Realm? Even if her strategy can succeed, the Fallen Angel Empire will perish and the Dark Shadow Empire’s power will be greatly enhanced, there will be stalemate when fighting against the b.l.o.o.d.y Empire. The Demon Realm, which has only 2 empires left, will hate each other after losing the buffer of the third party. The 2 empires will be trapped in a protracted war. There will be no peace, and countless lives will be lost.”
Isis’ voice seemed cold, “The war is for the peace in the future. If the Demon Realm can finally be unified, all the sacrifices will be worthwhile.”
“Then how many years will it take to unify? 100 years? 1000 years? So what if it is finally unified? Can there be real peace? For now, how many of the royal families who died before the empire are willing to succ.u.mb? How many forces have hidden ambitions like the Bloodfall? How long can this superficial unity, which is exchanged with b.l.o.o.d.y means and sacrificed countless lives, be maintained? 100 years? 1000 years?”
In Chen Rui’s memory, the first emperor of Qin destroyed the 6 empires and unified them. As a result, Great Qin was torn apart again. Some of the most powerful dynasties in history were like this, alternating between prosperity, decline, unifying and separating. This was the natural cycle of history.
Isis just sneered at this and didn’t explain it as she said lightly, “10 minutes is up.”
Chen Rui gritted his teeth and said, “Have you seen countless homes destroyed by war? The prosperous and beautiful homes turned into 1000 miles of scorched soil in just a few moments. People have been displaced and homeless! Have you heard countless civilians cry during the ma.s.sacre? The war’s death scythe, ignoring the crying and pleading of blood, reaping innocent lives ruthlessly. These are your exact words! Didn’t you experience the b.l.o.o.d.y and sorrowful scene before? What happened to your persistence? What about the things you want to protect? What about your so-called righteousness?”
Isis tore off the veil on her head, revealing her stunning face. Her cold gaze was fixed on Chen Rui’s mask, “Finally, you are no longer pretending? Sir Financial Officer, or… should I call you the Fallen Angel Empire’s Prince Consort?”
Chen Rui’s eyes were stagnant as he sighed. He took off his mask and said, “When did you see through this?”
TL: She should have guessed it when she went to Dark Moon to find Chen Rui ?. Will Catherine insist on not helping and they turn hostile to each other?