Within a single day, the news spread like wildfire eventually reaching the ear of King Sebastian. "You're telling me, while the soldiers who were meant to guard the Warehouse were having fun, someone mysterious person emptied our Warehouses."
"Yes, your Majesty." The messenger was trembling seeing the red eyes of the King.
"Your Majesty, I think I have an idea of who might be the culprit." The newly appointed prime minister gathered his courage to speak.
"Who is it?" Everyone in the court was looking at the man named Louis Martin.
"I think it was the Istarin Kingdom."
"Pure nonsense."
"What? This is nonsense."
"Yeah, why would the King do something this low and shameful?"
Everyone including the King doubted Louis, the Prime Minister's words.
When everyone calmed down, King Sabastian sighed and looked at Louis. He was starting to regret his decision on choosing this man as his prime minister.
"Explain your words."
"As we all know the Istarin Kingdom is lacking in food supplies. Now that their army has suddenly expanded to 38,000, I am sure they must have been running out of food to feed this huge army. The only reasonable solution to tackle this problem would be looting the enemy. By spreading false information, he made Lord John recall all the troops who previously were guarding the three towns. With only 100 soldiers guarding the towns, I am sure it must have been very easy for the Istarin Kingdom to take the Warehouse."
Hearing the words of the Prime Minister, the whole throne hall turned silent. Everyone realized how sly King Aditya was.
Bang!
Everyone took a step back seeing King Sabastian breaking the concrete wall with his right fist. A big part of the wall cracked like a spider web. King Sebastian did not use any Mana in his attack meaning he used his pure strength to crack the wall.
Drip!
Blood dripped from King Sebastian's hand as he angrily bit his lips drawing blood from his lips as well. "From the beginning, we have been dancing under that bastard's control without realizing it." This was the biggest slap to their faces. King Sebastian could feel his face burn in shame. What happened to the glorious Dynasty that he spent decades to built?
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Scene change____
While everyone was shocked by what King Aditya did, currently the Dragon King was already executing the next phase of his grand plan.
"Everyone we will wait rest here." With 25,000 troops Aditya and his 7 generals had set out to invade Asharc city for real this time. Aditya had decided to stop 10 km away from Asharc city and hide in the mountain ranges until the perfect opportunity comes.
After giving a set of orders, Aditya turned to the old man who has been following him. "Old man, you know what to do" Zachary nodded and disappeared into the shadows. It was all thanks to the Majins who took out the enemy scouts that they were able to come this close to the Asharc city without anyone finding out about them. Zachary and the Majins were given the task to prevent news of the Istarin troops invading Asharc city from leaking out.
After finishing eating dinner, Aditya and others gathered in this tent to discuss their future plans. "Now that King Sebastian has found that we have purposely misled them to go after their Warehouse, he would probably try to increase the security of other towns to prevent this incident from happening once again. This means the security of Asharc city will be lowered. They certainly wouldn't expect us to launch an attack." The slaves that worked in the three cities are probably going to suffer from hunger now that all of their harvests have been taken away. Although Aditya did feel sympathy for them, he couldn't just let his people suffer as well. Sometimes, a ruler has to become cruel to win the war.
"Josh, Scott, Eleanor, Tyler, and Henry, you all will remain here and take command of the troop. While I, Amber, and Nathan will infiltrate Asharc city to take down the Mana barrier." Every main city of the Zulux dynasty was protected by a mana barrier. The barrier covered the whole city and was powered by mana stones.
Mana stones are special kinds of stones that are formed after collecting mana from the atmosphere for ten thousand years. Each mana stone had Mana comparable to a 3rd-order cultivator. The mana stones are very expensive. This is also why that capital only had 15 mana stones that Aditya bought for emergency purposes.
The mana barriers are strong enough to resist 3 full-powered attacks of a 3rd-order. Without deactivating the mana barriers it would be impossible for Aditya and his troops to invade the Asharc city.
"Out of everyone only Amber's illusion magic and Nathan's sneaking skills are going to help me." After awakening the royal Fox bloodline, Amber had started cultivating both paths. She even changed her class to Illusion Warlock. When one wants to change their class or choose a class, unlike Aditya they would have to visit the altar that is created for the sole purpose of granting a class for a cultivator.
"When we have done our part, I will send a signal. As soon as you all see the signal, don't waste even a second. March the army as fast as you can and attack the Asharc city."
"Understood"
With everything progressing according to the plan, Aditya, Amber, and Nathan disappeared into the darkness of the night.
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The Asharc city was almost about 3 times the size of the capital. The whole city was surrounded by concrete walls standing 10 meters tall, just as in any other city. On three sides, the city was surrounded by forest, and on the north, it was surrounded by mountains. At a 10 km radius, watchtowers were made to look out if any army is approaching the city. With the joint afford from Nathan and a few other Majins, all soldiers in the watchtowers were killed in silence.
The Asharc city had a population of nearly three hundred thousand. The city was built in a pentagonal shape, having two gates at the North-west and the South-east sides of the city.
"Hold! If you're new to this city, then you must pay 1 silver as an entry fee." With Nathan's help, Aditya changed his appearance. Currently, Aditya's hair had turned dark purple while his pupils color still remained red. His face now changed to look more chubby. The handsome that could set any woman's heart on fire was no longer there.
While Amber did not change her appearance, as she used simple illusion magic to suppress her charm to the point where she now looked like an average woman.
Aditya politely gave two silver coins to one of the guards who were wearing silver armor and had short hair.
"Where are you from?" On the right side, Aditya could several posters of some wanted criminals. The faces of those criminals were neatly drawn on those posters.
"We came from one of the nearby villages." Aditya couldn't tell the guards that they came from the Istarin Kingdom. Due to the ongoing war, the security of Asharc city has been raised to the highest level.
"Which village?" The guard asked while taking a glance at Amber.
"The Ashwood village." Amber replied quickly. The guard nodded and wrote down the details along with the fake names that both Aditya and Amber gave them.
"How long are you two planning on staying in this village? And what is the purpose of your visit? Who is she?" After several more questions, finally, both of them were allowed to enter the city.
"My lord, where is Nathan?" Amber curiously asked while walking around the city. Unlike the capital, the whole city was bustling with different colors of light. There were street shops on almost every corner of the street. People from nearby villages mostly came here to sell their handmade products, hunted animals, and their harvest in the Asharc city in hope of making a little more money.
"You will know soon enough." Aditya replied with a mysterious smile.
While walking around, Aditya found many men glancing at Amber. Even though the Royal fox queen had suppressed her charm with illusion magic, she couldn't hide her bouncy body. Her big and round breasts slightly bounced every time she took a step and her big round plump ass attracted the attention of the males like a magnet. No one dared to approach Amber seeing the cold look in her eyes. It was as if she looking at insects.
"My Wife, what kind of food would you have tonight?" Aditya asked while putting his hand around her soft and slim waist.
Ehhh!
Amber wasn't expecting his Majesty to do something like this. When she felt Aditya's strong arm around her waist, her cheeks for a moment turned red before she quickly calmed herself.
"You, My dear, what are you doing?" Amber leaned right should on his chest and asked in a whispering tone. To others, this might look like the couples were flirting in the open which made the males very jealous. Amber purposely did this to not blow their disguise.
Aditya leaned to the right and whispered near her right ear. "A soldier has been following us for a while now." Now Amber finally understood why his Majesty suddenly put his arm around her waist, not that Amber felt offended or anything. Rather this whole thing was a unique experience for her. Before becoming a slave, Amber's life was full of struggle. She never had time for a relationship or romance.
For a moment Amber didn't understand why a soldier was secretly following them. But after a moment she realized something and looked at Aditya. "Your Majesty, did you suppress your Aura when you were entering?"
"I am sorry I don't understand your words." Amber nearly slapped her forehead with a palm.
"I think that soldier is following you because they sensed you are a 2nd-order."
"Your Majesty, you must learn to suppress your Aura otherwise even a non-sensory cultivator can what your cultivation strength is. The guards already must have seen through our disguise. If my guess is right, they are thinking of ambushing us." In these parts of the continent, only a few percent of the people can reach 2nd-order. There is no way a second order can belong from a village.
"Well, this makes things easier for us." From the beginning, Aditya came here with the intention of killing thousands. In war, it didn't matter who is the innocent or who is the criminal. It did not matter who is right and who is wrong. What mattered is the victory. The winner will always be the right.
In this path, Aditya has no idea how many innocent people will die in his hand. But as the ruler, the King must place his family and kingdom before anything. A king must become cruel when it's necessary. If a King does not use cruelty, sooner or later this Kingdom will fall. It was all about survival of the fittest. There was no such thing as innocent or guilty.
[Ever since I forged my plan, I have been prepared to slaughter all kinds of beings. I won't care who stands in my way. If my biological parents block my path then I will them as well.] These words were the true conviction of the Dragon King.
"Amber get ready to battle."
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Thank you for all the golden tickets!!!