Chapter 114: Assassination

Chapter 114: Assassination

“Who… are you?”

Oleg felt a chill run through his entire body.

Although he maintained a calm expression on the surface and stared at the mysterious black-clad figure who had suddenly appeared before him, he was actually extremely nervous inside. While glancing at the distant door out of the corner of his eye and calculating possible escape routes, he slowly shifted his feet. His hands were hidden behind his back, quietly reaching for the longsword hanging beside the narrow bronze mirror behind him.

As long as he had the longsword in hand, Oleg’s combat power would greatly increase. Then he would have the confidence to withstand a few moves against this powerful black-clad figure before him. Once the guards outside the stone hall heard the commotion and came to his aid, he would have a certain chance of escaping this deadly situation.

Time seemed to freeze.

His fingers already touched the slight coldness of the sword hilt. The next moment, Oleg let out a soft sigh of relief because he had finally grasped the longsword.

Holding the sword horizontally across his chest, its cold light reflected on the stone floor of the hall. Oleg’s aura grew significantly stronger, and the look in his eyes as he stared at the black-cloaked figure finally held some confidence. He was just about to loudly call for the guards to come…

But—

“Take me to the Eastern Peak Summit, and I’ll spare your life!”

The black-cloaked figure merely raised his hand lightly and recited a cryptic, hard-to-understand incantation. A tremendous magical power surged from his body, and then he pressed his five fingers into the empty air. Five flaming ropes with dark red light extended from his fingers, like five flexible fire snakes, instantly entangling Oleg’s longsword and arms. Then the fiery tongues crept upward, tightly winding around Oleg’s entire body.

Despite Oleg having the battle qi of a One-Star Warrior and the physical might of a Two-Star Warrior, he had no power to fight back against these seemingly fragile fiery tongues and was easily subdued.

Then, the black-cloaked figure gave a slight tremble of his fingers.

This simple action, however, contained immense power.

The dark flaming ropes wrapped around the longsword suddenly blazed brightly. In just a tightening and loosening motion, with a sizzling sound, the fine steel longsword instantly turned into a pile of red-hot iron droplets that fell to the ground…

“If you dare resist again, your flesh and bones will end up just like this longsword!”

“Who… who exactly are you?” Oleg had completely lost his will to resist by this point. Their strengths were simply not on the same level; this black-cloaked figure was at least a Four-Star Level Fire Mage.

Oleg had originally asked this question unwillingly just before giving up resistance. Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the black-cloaked figure before him hesitated slightly and actually pushed back his hood. A face, shadowed and outlined by the flickering fire snakes, was revealed. But Oleg saw it clearly.

“This is impossible… How could it be you?” Oleg’s eyes widened as if he had seen an Undead in the dead of night. “This is impossible… this is impossible…”

“Now are you willing to take me to the Eastern Peak Summit?” The black-cloaked person put his hood back on, hiding himself in the darkness again. His voice remained calm, but it couldn’t conceal the thick hatred within. “Even if you don’t take me, I still have ways to get there. It would just take a bit more effort. But you would die!”

“I’ll take you!”

Oleg’s legs went weak, and he yielded.

……

Shampoo City was surrounded by mountains on three sides and had flowing water on one side, making the terrain strategically difficult and easily defensible.

The perilous Eastern Peak Summit held great significance for the entire nation because it was the final resting place of all the past kings of Shampoo City who had passed away. It also held the remains of all the royal family members, Nobles, soldiers, and commoner heroes who had sacrificed themselves to protect the country since the founding of Shampoo City in turbulent times. Their heroic spirits had always guarded Shampoo City in the sunlight at the Eastern Peak Summit.

The terrain of East Mountain was extremely steep. From the base of the mountain, there were only two paths to ascend. One was divided into twelve spirals with three thousand one hundred stone steps, resembling a ladder to heaven. The other was even more dangerous, relying on iron chains nailed into mountain protrusions to form a hanging chain from the sky. Those with high skills could use this chain to reach the Eastern Peak Summit in a short time.

Sun Fei and the others ascended step by step from the stone stairs, taking over an hour to finally reach the mountain summit.

What they didn’t know was that just before they reached the summit, two black shadows wrapped in dark red flaming wings sped upward along the hanging chain—more precisely, one figure wearing attire of a close attendant was dragging another bald, fat figure, occasionally using the chain to soar upward.

There was less than half an hour left until daybreak.

When Sun Fei, Angela, and the others arrived at the summit in the Magic Carriage, almost everyone had already arrived. There were envoys and Princes from more than twenty kingdoms including Reke Kingdom, Shenhua Kingdom, Chanba Kingdom, and Luneng Kingdom. Also present were the Shampoo City guards who had been preparing for the ceremony beforehand, as well as monks and their Knight attendants from the Holy Church. Of course, the investiture mission from the sovereign Zenit Empire was there as well.

The Magic Carriage of Crown Princess Tanasha had been parked early in front of the Royal Altar at the summit. She had arrived much earlier than Sun Fei, but had remained inside the carriage without showing herself. The female Warrior Susan and Knight Commander Roman Pavlichenko stood on the left and right respectively, leading over two hundred fully armed Knights in bright armor to guard around the Magic Carriage.

Although East Mountain was extremely steep, its summit was like a smooth stone platform, roughly four to five thousand square meters. At the very center of the platform stood a Royal Altar about ten meters in diameter and six meters high. This was the King’s Altar possessed by all 250 Vassal States of Zenit. It was the place where each generation of Kings received formal enthronement investiture from the sovereign empire. In a while, when the first ray of sunlight from the east shone upon it, Sun Fei would receive the Crown Princess Tanasha’s investiture on this Royal Altar and be crowned with the true King’s Crown.

Around the Royal Altar, at the edges of the platform cliff, stood sixty-six giant stone statues of sword-wielding Warriors, each thirty to forty meters tall. Their facial expressions were vivid, tall and majestic. They symbolized justice and glory, representing the countless heroic souls who had guarded Shampoo City for over two hundred years.

The envoys, Princes, and their guard attendants from various kingdoms were placed around the altar.

Drogba, Ballack, and the other ten Stone Bridge brave men who had followed Sun Fei to the summit, along with Frank Lampard and others who had arrived earlier, led over twenty soldiers to guard the four sides of the Royal Altar.

“Your Majesty Alexander!”

Prison Warden Oleg, his legs trembling slightly, hurried over to pay respects to Sun Fei.

Behind him, a middle-aged close attendant followed closely. Everyone knew this was Oleg’s personal attendant. Though it was strange why the fat man had brought his attendant to the Eastern Peak Summit today, it wasn’t considered a breach of protocol, so no one paid it much mind.

“Begin the preparations!”

Sun Fei nodded expressionlessly, signaling for Oleg, the first order official of the day, to start preparing for the upcoming enthronement ceremony. Since Herald Best had been deliberately left below the summit by Sun Fei, Oleg had unexpectedly been appointed as the order official, which surprised many people.

Large quantities of sacrificial offerings were carried onto the Royal Altar. The preparatory work before the ceremony proceeded steadily and orderly.

Sun Fei stood on the Magic Carriage, his gaze sweeping over each person’s face. Except for the Thrace Kingdom envoy group, which had been completely wiped out by a mysterious expert with no survivors, the envoys from other kingdoms had all come without exception. Sun Fei saw Prince Modric of Reke Kingdom in the crowd. The handsome blond Young Man was elegant and graceful in demeanor, dignified in bearing, as radiant as jade, heroic and majestic—always the center of attention wherever he was.

Sensing Sun Fei’s gaze, Modric nodded and responded with an elegant smile.

Sun Fei nodded back, then continued observing.

At this moment, there were over five hundred people on the platform at the Eastern Peak Summit. Apart from the over two hundred Zenit Empire Knights protecting Crown Princess Tanasha and the over two hundred envoys from various kingdoms, fewer than sixty people actually belonged to Shampoo City, and most of them were attendants and servants with little combat ability. Sun Fei’s gaze mainly swept over the faces of the envoys from various kingdoms and the Zenit cavalry. Being in Barbarian Mode, he had vaguely sensed a great danger, but he couldn’t tell where exactly the danger came from or which person it originated from.

Finally, the faint light of dawn appeared at the horizon.

A golden sun was about to cast the first ray of morning light through the eastern sea of clouds.

Crown Princess Tanasha, under the protection of the female swordswoman Susan, step by step ascended the Royal Altar. Guards followed behind carrying silver trays covered with red silk, on which rested a simple crown made of pure gold, resembling twisted vines and branches. This was the King’s Crown bestowed upon Sun Fei by the Zenit Empire.

Sun Fei waved his hand.

Surprisingly to many, the non-combatant servants and attendants all withdrew from the altar in unison, then slowly walked down the platform, actually heading directly down the mountain.

At this point, fewer than twenty people from the Shampoo City side remained on the platform at the Eastern Peak Summit.

Below the Royal Altar, the envoys from various kingdoms buzzed with discussion. Even Crown Princess Tanasha’s captivating blue eyes showed a flicker of surprise. But for Sun Fei, this was the only option. Although he could predict that great danger would occur today, he didn’t know where it would come from. So he could only reduce the number of his own people as much as possible to avoid unnecessary casualties when real danger struck.

The first golden ray from the east finally illuminated the cloud layers.

The time had come.

It was now…

The Crown Princess lifted the King’s Crown from the silver tray. According to imperial tradition, when that ray of light passed through the sea of clouds and shone upon this King’s Crown, after reciting the ancient sacrificial words and the blessings of the God of War, it would be formally placed on Sun Fei’s head…

Everyone’s gaze and attention focused on that golden ray of light.

Of course, some people’s eyes lit up.

It was now…

No one noticed that behind the order official Oleg, the middle-aged close attendant who hadn’t spoken a word since appearing suddenly looked up. In his eyes burst forth a light of hatred.