Chapter 208

Where the Ese family mansion was located.

Kunxi Ese and the vice-chairman sat opposite each other and talked.

"That Gao De has already been transferred from the dungeon of the Sairisi Magic Tower to the Saint Xi Encheng magic user prison according to the dean's wishes."

"Next, it depends on your own means. If this matter is not handled cleanly, Dean Xie Er will not give you a good look anymore," the vice-chairman reminded.

Kunxi Ese showed a smile of holding the winning ticket, "Once in the Saint Xi Encheng magic user prison, the means I can use on him are many; I will definitely make him confess everything."

"It's best if that's the case. I heard that the magic user you sent returned without success after failing on him," the vice-chairman said again.

Hearing this, Kunxi Ese's eyes twitched involuntarily; even now, he still felt it was too exaggerated when he thought about this matter.

A magic user who had just promoted to the first circle could actually endure the 2nd-circle spell 【Agonizing Pain】.

"This kid must have been born with thick nerves, so his tolerance for pain is extremely high," Kunxi Ese analyzed.

"However, I have other means; I will definitely be able to handle him well and make him confess everything one by one," he said confidently.

Upon hearing this, the vice-chairman didn't ask any more questions.

"When things are over, remember to handle the aftermath cleanly," he just reminded again.

"Rest assured, don't I understand these?" Kunxi Ese's eyes revealed a fierce light.

A magic user with outstanding talent had now offended him deeply; if he let him go, he would definitely take revenge when his strength became stronger in the future.

It's easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow.

He must be ruthless.

"It's a pity for a genius," the vice-chairman sighed again, but in his heart, there was actually not much real sympathy.

There are many geniuses, but interests are limited.

First District, inside Jielika's dormitory building.

"Gao De was taken away from the magic tower today and sent to the Saint Xi Encheng magic user prison?" Hearing the news the butler had inquired about, Jielika frowned deeply.

The butler shook his head and said tactfully: "There's no way; not to mention that the family's hand can't reach that far, just this action alone, it's unlikely to happen without Dean Xie Er's instruction behind it."

Jielika's face looked a bit ugly.

Coming from a noble background, she naturally wouldn't be so naive and clearly understood what signal this action represented.

Having the deepest contact with Gao De, she thought and thought, and in the end, she could only sigh in her heart.

A genius magic user who could have made a name for himself had now ended up in prison.

She didn't know exactly what happened, but she understood that it definitely wouldn't be the so-called "deliberate destruction of academy assets."

In the face of the high-level will of the principality, in the face of those high-circle magic users, in fact, let alone commoner magic users like Gao De, even genius magic users from noble backgrounds like Jielika had limited power.

Inside the prison.

【... Your ability to see in the dark increased by 35.5%】.

With the gradual adaptation to the darkness, those rune patterns that were originally unclear gradually became visible.

Gao De looked casually, not deliberately studying anything.

Those rune patterns naturally separated in his field of vision, turning into one basic rune after another.

Gao De's gaze lingered on those runes for a long time, his mind walking along with the patterns of the runes.

Waiting for death is a very sad thing.

People in this situation often collapse before death arrives.

Fortunately, now there were runes accompanying Gao De.

Just like the situation that had appeared many times before, as soon as he entered the "problem-solving" state, he would completely forget himself, unable to feel the flow of things around him, and even unable to feel the passage of time, entering a state of "obsession."

Therefore, Gao De's current heart was unusually peaceful and focused.

Nolan Calendar 9656, Fog Frost Month, 22nd.

In the eyes of many people, this was just a very ordinary day.

But in history, this was a day worth recording.

That was all.

It wasn't until many years later that people truly knew its significance.

On the majestic city walls of Saint Xi Encheng.

"Captain... that... what is that?!"

The soldiers on the city walls were completely stunned.

Or rather, deeply shocked by the scene before them.

Outside Saint Xi Encheng, the flocks of birds circling in the sky above the great river scattered in fright.

A terrifying behemoth suddenly pierced through the clouds.

It appeared on the sky just like that, as if it were an object from outside the sky.

It was an airship, a huge war airship.

The surface was covered and wrapped in a layer of metal with a cold luster, making the entire airship look like a steel fortress suspended in the sky.

And the row of alchemical cannons exposed was even more ferocious.

At the very top of the airship, a flag was fluttering.

A bright red flag.

In the center of the flag was a heart of fire burning fiercely.

The flame was deep red, with golden radiance, as if it could swallow all darkness.

Around the flame were also delicate silver patterns, which formed a pair of spread wings.

The background color of the flag was a deep frost blue, forming a sharp contrast with the heart of fire pattern, making it even more striking.

The soldiers looked up, dumbfounded at the airship, their eyes full of awe.

"It's the Ice Flame Legion of the Holy Empire's Western Realm..." the magic user known as the captain muttered.

Just such a war airship was enough to make people feel their scalps tingle.

However, the magic user captain understood that a war airship could never appear alone.

The facts were indeed so.

One huge airship after another kept drilling out from the clouds.

They were connected end to end, like a steel giant dragon stretching across the sky for tens of kilometers, and the shadow formed was like a layer of sky curtain, intercepting the sunlight.

Such a scene was enough to burn the nerves of all the soldiers on the city walls from shock to numbness.

The wheels of history roll forward, and the trend of the times is mighty.

The giant wheel of history never changes because of individual will.

It doesn't care what you are doing, whether you are squatting in jail or planning some astonishing conspiracy.

It will only roll over indifferently, regardless of whether it changes your fate.

This change has both good and bad.

"It's over..." that magic user captain muttered to himself.

This "over" didn't just mean Saint Xi Encheng was over, but the entire Saint Xi En Principality was over. The Holy Empire's army is the largest known scale in the world, including hundreds of independent combat legions.

Each legion has its own leader or marshal, possessing its own unique culture and fighting style.

These legions have almost no consistency.

This characteristic makes the Holy Empire's military power numerous and possessing different combat methods.

And the Ice Flame Legion, although it was just an inconspicuous one among the hundreds of legions of the Holy Empire, its comprehensive strength couldn't even rank in the top fifty of all legions.

But for the Saint Xi En Principality, the Ice Flame Legion was an absolute prehistoric behemoth.

Even if the entire Saint Xi En Principality's army were pulled over and concentrated in Saint Xi Encheng, relying on the advantage of the city to confront the Ice Flame Legion, it would be impossible to resist them for even half a day.

Those continuous war airships stopped outside Saint Xi Encheng without any concealment.

That huge shadow covered the sky and the sun.

All the residents of Saint Xi Encheng, as long as they looked up, could see the steel fortress with the Holy Empire Legion flag.

Everyone's face turned white.

The Holy Empire's army has arrived! Red wolf smoke rose into the sky.

In the royal palace of Saint Xi Encheng.

Jeros XIII, who received the news, and all the noble ministers of Saint Xi Encheng who could be named, were gathered together at this moment.

Including the Second Prince and the First Prince.

Everyone's face was pale.

Everyone was plunged into huge panic.

The Holy Empire's war airships were surrounding Saint Xi Encheng in an extremely domineering posture.

"Not passing by..." everyone on the scene remembered the news reported by the border reconnaissance magic user two weeks ago: the shadow of the Holy Empire Legion magic user was discovered.

But after two weeks of being like birds startled by the mere twang of a bow, they didn't find any other suspicious traces for a long time, so they quickly lifted the alarm and positioned this matter as individual magic users of the Holy Empire Legion just happening to pass by.

Now, the facts told them that they were naive.

The Holy Empire's legion had really come.

"What does Legion Commander Fleming say?" the already very old Jeros XIII asked.

"I didn't see Legion Commander Fleming; the one who received me was just a young officer of the Ice Flame Legion," the minister who was sent to negotiate with the Ice Flame Legion conveyed the other party's meaning with a solemn face.

"He only said three sentences to me."

"One, we can surrender, but the time is limited to before the first ray of sunlight tomorrow shines on the city walls of Saint Xi Encheng."

"Two, surrendering before the time they specified, all the nobles, ministers, and the royal family in the city will lose all their original status, but their lives and property can be preserved."

"Three, swear allegiance to the Holy Empire, and then evaluate you only by your value to decide your status; otherwise... be destroyed."

After the three sentences were conveyed, everyone on the scene, these "noble" people who used to be high above and seemed to grasp everything forever, all changed their expressions on the spot.

Facts proved that people with high status didn't necessarily have good psychological quality; it was just that in their positions, there were too few things that could cause them psychological fluctuations.

But once such things happened, many people might perform even worse than commoners.

"How could... how could this be?" Some noble ministers were puzzled.

The Saint Xi En Principality's territory did not border the Holy Empire.

On the contrary, they bordered part of the territory of the Jin Quehua Dynasty.

So from any angle, in this land of many principalities, the Saint Xi En Principality shouldn't be the first country to suffer, right?

Such a strategic policy would lead to the Saint Xi En Principality becoming an enclave on the Holy Empire's vast territory after the Holy Empire conquered the Saint Xi En Principality.

"We all overlooked one point: if the Holy Empire really followed the steps and conquered one principality after another in order of distance...

"Before their territory expansion approached the Jin Quehua Dynasty, the Jin Quehua Dynasty would have already been able to react and make corresponding responses."

"By then, if they wanted to take down the territory directly adjacent to the Jin Quehua Dynasty's territory, the price they would pay would be much greater."

"Therefore, the Holy Empire's first target must be one of the three: Saint Xi En, Yadian, or Efuja, which border the Golden Chrysanthemum Dynasty's territory."

"It's even possible that multiple legions moved at the same time to press the border of the three principalities in the form of a blitzkrieg," a senior general of the Saint Xi En Principality said at this time.

"As for the so-called enclave, that's just based on our own perspective. For the Holy Empire, as long as they are willing, they could sweep away all the many principalities between Saint Xi En and the Holy Empire's territory in just one month."

"Is it still too late to activate the magic array of Saint Xi Encheng to guard strictly and send people to seek help from the Jin Quehua Dynasty?" a noble minister asked at a loss.

"The Holy Empire is clearly coming for the Jin Quehua Dynasty, just taking our Saint Xi En as a front-line strategic point. In this situation, the Jin Quehua Dynasty will definitely send reinforcements to help, right?"

That senior general spoke calmly, ruthlessly shattering the noble minister's fantasy of seeking help: "Once we activate the magic array to prepare for defense, the Ice Flame Legion outside the city will immediately take action."

"The alchemical cannons of those Rage Shark-class war airships only need one round of salvo, and the city walls of Saint Xi Encheng will turn into a ruin."

The Holy Empire's war airships are divided into multiple levels, from high to low: Holy Dragon-class, Lion-class, Rage Shark-class, and Mad Wolf-class.

And even Saint Xi Encheng's most powerful airship had a technical gap of hundreds of years with the Holy Empire's lowest-level Mad Wolf-class war airship.

"Not to mention if their high-circle military magic users take action, the destructive power will be even greater than war airships," the magic user chief of the Saint Xi Encheng palace magic user group said calmly.

"In front of the Holy Empire's legion, we have no chance at all."

Everyone was silent.

"Everyone, prepare to surrender. We don't have the right to let innocent commoners in the city die in vain. Mantis arm blocking the chariot... is truly unwise."

After a long time, Jeros XIII sighed leisurely and said tremblingly.

Making this decision was very difficult for him.

This meant that the Saint Xi En Principality, which had been passed down for thousands of years, would become a grain of dust in history starting today.

And he, Jeros XIII, would become a monarch of a fallen country.

One hour later.

The city gates opened wide to welcome the soldiers of the Holy Empire's Ice Flame Legion into the city.

At the same time, the Jeros royal family, which had ruled the Saint Xi En Principality for thousands of years, issued a statement to all subjects within the country: Starting today, the Saint Xi En Principality officially joins the Holy Empire, changing from an independent country to the Saint Xi En Province under the jurisdiction of the Western Realm Governor of the Holy Empire.

After issuing this statement, the Saint Xi En Principality ceased to exist.

The Saint Xi En Principality proved with practical actions why the Holy Empire is the most powerful country in the world.

Under the siege of the Holy Empire's Ice Flame Legion, they only held out for one hour before declaring surrender.

The Saint Xi En Principality was established on the 1st of the Frost Month, Nolan Calendar 7349.

It perished on the 22nd of the Fog Frost Month, Nolan Calendar 9656.

A total of 2307 years.

For many small characters, this might be a tragedy, or it might be a comedy.

In short, this was just a very ordinary day; they lived as ordinarily as they did in the past, and then inexplicably found that they had changed their nationality.

When the sun set, everyone became subjects of the Holy Empire.

The big hand of fate had not yet stopped.

The second day after the Ice Flame Legion occupied Saint Xi Encheng, which was the 23rd of the Fog Frost Month.

To show the Holy Empire's grace and care for the new subjects, and at the same time to eliminate the estrangement of the original Saint Xi En Principality subjects toward the Holy Empire, and to convey the signal of the new regime's benevolent governance and tolerance.

The Ice Flame Legion announced a general amnesty.

(End of chapter)