Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 823 - 824: Aftermath

2/5

After the holy war ended and Yumo regained her composure, the top priority of the Black Rose family was to clean up the remnants of the Red Leaf Empire.

The most crucial task was to completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Holy War Alliance.

The Black Rose family had always been ruthless and merciless towards these unstable elements who opposed their lady. Since about 60% of the main forces of the Red Leaf Empire’s army had already been wiped out by Yumo, the Black Rose troops, and the Abyssal Demons from the north, the entire empire had actually fallen under the control of the Black Rose family.

Within the tight encirclement net woven by Xiao, the surviving members of the Holy War Alliance didn’t even have time to escape the empire’s borders before being sent to meet the King of Hell by the Black Rose.

Xiao had no intention of sparing anyone; all those involved in the Anvika Holy War had to die.

Only when all these people in the know were gone could he send out the story template he had prepared to the entire continent.

In this story template, the high-ranking clergy and the Red Leaf royal family coveted the vast territory and resources of the Sadik Empire. At the same time, they insanely wanted to use the special constitution of the young lady of the Black Rose to control the Shadow Power and enhance their strength. So, they imprisoned Miss Yu under false charges. The Black Rose family and the entire Sadik Empire were forced to attack the Red Leaf Empire with no other choice.

After the Black Rose family experienced initial victories, the high-ranking clergy felt something was amiss and tried to use a new weapon jointly developed with the royal family to deal a devastating blow to the Sadik Empire’s army. It was a terrifying weapon developed using Shadow Power. Once released, the attacked enemy troops would die in agony from infection.

However, unable to control the Shadow Power within the weapon, Pope Kael lost control and transformed into a powerful monster similar to an Abyssal Demon King. The church and royal family ultimately reaped what they sowed. The entire imperial capital was destroyed, even dragging countless distinguished guests who came to Anvika to be buried along with it.

And their Black Rose family was the number one contributor to successfully preventing the spread of this Shadow Power.

...

Of course,

This claim was ridiculous, but Xiao believed that as long as they completely controlled the officials and media of the Red Leaf Empire, this fictional story that was completely different from the facts would become reality. Oh right, those students in the Luminous Royal Academy who had interacted with Yumo would also instinctively help spread the word. After all, Yumo’s image in the academy was usually that of a gentle and understanding person. No one would associate her with an Abyssal demon king, let alone a Demon Temple.

However,

To achieve this goal, those participants of the Holy War who knew the truth had to die.

But soon, the plan to eliminate those in the know encountered a huge obstacle.

After the supreme beings of the Holy Tower were all killed in action and the elites of the church were annihilated, the whereabouts of the Millennial Guardian Emperor Enzo, who was Xiao’s biggest concern, were unknown. Although it was detected that he had engaged in battle with the Sword Demon in the north, Emperor Enzo obviously did not die in the fight.

If this absolute authority at the peak of the 8th level were to survive, their lies would likely crumble on their own.

Therefore,

Xiao ordered a nationwide search for Emperor Enzo’s whereabouts without hesitation, determined to execute him before his strength recovered.

...

After an arduous search, the people of the Black Rose family finally detected traces of Emperor Enzo’s residual energy and followed this aura back to a desolate Anvika. Then, they locked their target on the underground of this city.

...

"Anvika has such a place underground??"

Following the secret passage to the underground palace, Qiu Mingtong couldn’t help but show a shocked expression from the bottom of her heart. Like the dozens of dumbfounded Black Rose Knights nearby, Qiu Mingtong scanned this magnificent underground palace with an incredulous look.

Although the Black Rose family’s intelligence system was terrifying, they had never obtained any information about this underground palace.

Therefore,

Caught off guard, they couldn’t help but show a look of astonishment upon seeing this grand sight.

"The Red Leaf folks sure hid it deep."

Shouldering her giant hammer, Qiu Mingtong sighed.

"And to be able to remain intact under that kind of explosion, this underground palace is quite sturdy. Is there some treasure stored here?"

Qiu Mingtong couldn’t help but think so.

However, compared to pondering these things, they obviously had a more important purpose.

One of the Black Rose Knights vigilantly looked around and spoke to Qiu Mingtong with a solemn expression:

"Captain, Emperor Enzo might be hiding in such a concealed place. We better not advance rashly. It’s better to wait for His Grace the Duke and the others to arrive before exploring further. Huh? ... Captain?"

However,

Before he could finish, this Black Rose Knight uneasily discovered that their captain seemed to have noticed something and had already rushed into the depths of the underground palace on her own.

Unable to stop her, the knight group members could only follow their captain’s footsteps with gritted teeth.

Soon, they caught up with Qiu Mingtong. At this moment, the loli captain holding a giant hammer was silently half-kneeling on the ground, examining a piece of golden metal fragment on the floor.

"Captain, what is this?"

The young Black Knight asked curiously.

In response, Qiu Mingtong didn’t answer but picked up the fragment thoughtfully.

As a high-ranking member of the Black Rose, she quickly recognized from the ancient patterns that this fragment belonged to a part of the divine weapon Enzo had. At this point, the Divine weapon fragment had already lost its luster.

What it meant for a weapon that had a soul contract with its owner to lose its luster was probably self-evident.

Qiu Mingtong came to a conclusion.

Emperor Enzo was already dead.

This should have been a piece of news that would make everyone overjoyed.

But Qiu Mingtong couldn’t be happy at all and even had an increasingly ominous feeling. Following the traces of the nearby battle and the scattered fragments, this young captain quickly noticed the unfathomably deep black abyss beside her, which made one’s hair stand on end with just a glance.

"Did something come out from here? And then... killed Emperor Enzo..."

While muttering, Qiu Mingtong slowly raised her head and looked at the obvious huge crack on the ceiling of the underground palace.

"Has that thing already left the underground palace?"

...

And just as the members of the Black Rose family were struggling in the underground palace, on a mountain peak not far from the capital city of Anvika, amidst the desolate autumn winds, Eldric, the third prince of the empire, climbed to the top of the mountain with great difficulty. Dragging his mutilated and scarred body, Eldric stepped up to the railing and gazed at the distant imperial capital in disbelief.

However,

It was no longer appropriate to call it the imperial capital.

Now, Anvika had been erased from the map during the great war, leaving only a barren expanse of sand. If it weren’t for the few remnants of ruins on the outskirts, Eldric wouldn’t have been able to believe that this was once the prosperous imperial capital.

"What exactly happened?"

Previously,

When facing Shuoyue’s explosive trap, Amon, his elder brother, had shielded him with his own body and activated an emergency teleportation magic, sending them to a safe house thousands of miles away, which allowed Eldric to survive. However, his elder brother Amon was not so lucky and died on the spot due to his untreatable severe injuries.

After waking up from a week-long coma and realizing this, Eldric was heartbroken.

After suppressing his grief with great difficulty, Eldric hurried back to the imperial capital.

Then,

Having already lost his elder brother, he was once again struck by the harsh reality.

Seeing the now non-existent Anvika, Eldric could almost guess the outcome of the great battle that day. After all, if they had won, his father the emperor or his mother the empress would have taken him out of the safe house long ago.

At this moment, as if struck by lightning, Eldric’s legs went weak, and he directly fell to his knees on the ground, crying in despair and punching the ground with his fists, venting his anger.

And at this moment,

Several black figures slowly landed beside Eldric. They were members of the Nightingale Organization responsible for searching for the remaining members of the royal family. Eldric, who had no experience in covert operations, was locked onto by the Nightingales not long after leaving the safe house.

"Prince Eldric, please come with us."

One of them, a woman with blue naturally curly long hair, slowly approached Eldric and said respectfully.

Hearing the voice behind him, Eldric knew he was powerless to resist and could only glare at the people behind him with a resentful gaze:

"If you want to kill me, just do it. Don’t pretend..."

Changing his usual cowardly demeanor, Eldric spoke fearlessly.

However,

In response, the few ladies from the Nightingale Organization smiled and directly denied Eldric’s words:

"Don’t worry, Prince Eldric. We have no intention of killing you. We just want to invite you back to be the emperor~"

"Hah?!!"

"You heard it right, to be the emperor. After all, only with a direct member of the royal family continuing to rule can the remaining imperial army and the lords of various regions be somewhat subdued. Otherwise, the resistance forces within the Red Leaf will be endless. And we, the Black Rose, love peace and do not wish to continue this meaningless slaughter. ... For the sake of your empire’s people, please consider it carefully, Prince Eldric."

Eldric: "..."