Chapter 648: The Flame Empire Makes Its Entrance! The Massive Carriage Procession!

The capital of the Eternal Night Empire had recently banned flight.

That meant prohibiting all airships, magicians, and sky knights from flying.

This ban was not merely theoretical.

It was also enforced by a flight-restricting barrier erected by the Eternal Night Empire's Sacred Domain above the capital.

Even if you wished to fly, you could not—unless you were legendary.

This was why so many great nobles, including dukes, chose to switch to carriages outside the city.

These carriages were not brought by the nobles themselves.

They were provided by the imperial family.

Each great noble could barely requisition one of these carriages.

Then, these nobles would use the carriages to transport He Li into the capital, accompanying them personally!

Since the carriages belonged to the imperial family anyway, once the He Li reached its destination, the nobles no longer had to manage it.

Even in a vast empire like the Eternal Night, legendary beings were not common.

Among the dukes, only one or two possessed legendary-level strength.

These dukes were all within the Eternal Night Empire itself.

They used resources from the Eternal Night Empire's Sacred Magic Academy to raise a legendary-level descendant.

But most ducal houses had no legendary beings at all.

Hmm, in a certain sense, dukes within the Eternal Night Empire were no worse than kings of surrounding kingdoms—the vassal dukes.

After being granted a vassal kingdom, one ruled an independent realm, but everything depended on oneself; the Eternal Night Empire offered almost no assistance.

The advantage was owning one's own kingdom, whose territory far exceeded that of any duke's land within the Eternal Night Empire, where one was absolute ruler!

Meanwhile, dukes within the Eternal Night Empire enjoyed extremely abundant resources and kept pace with the empire's overall power.

Thus, dukes within the Eternal Night Empire viewed the vassal dukes of surrounding kingdoms as "country bumpkins."

Although a flight-restricting barrier existed, airships carrying a legendary being could still fly directly into the city after that being used magic to clear the way.

But no other airships could enter the city.

"Your Majesty, let us enter the city first and rest. He Li will be delivered by Hester—here, no one dares steal it."

The Crown Princess suggested.

Meng Ying nodded.

Hester—that was the female giantess.

She not only looked fierce, but her name sounded like a man's.

She had once been captain of the Temple Knights, but Meng Ying brought her along this time to lead the entire Queen's Guard.

Hester possessed Eighth Rank strength; with her present, no one could even think of stealing the He Li.

Moreover, this was the capital of the Eternal Night Empire, and recently it was the Emperor's thousandth birthday—hardly anyone dared cause trouble.

The Crown Princess gave Hester a few instructions; the female giantess nodded, led the airship to the designated port to unload, then rented an imperial carriage to deliver the He Li into the city.

Meanwhile, Meng Ying and the Crown Princess remained aboard one airship, flying directly into the imperial palace.

This airship carried only one hundred members of the Queen's Ceremonial Guard.

The entire Queen's Guard had followed the carriages.

Meng Ying, as a Sacred Domain, maintained a Queen's Guard only for ceremonial purposes.

The airship flew directly above the capital of the Eternal Night Empire; though flight was permitted, speed dropped dramatically.

On the wide streets, nobles continued flaunting their wealth.

The carriages of Duke Laurence, who possessed silk, and Duke Victor, who possessed porcelain, had already reached the front.

Behind them, nobles of all ranks still strained to display their He Li.

Though none matched the shock of silk or porcelain, the sea of gold and silver still dazzled many eyes, sparking constant murmurs.

At that moment, a massive carriage procession entered the city.

"Look! It's Duke Phibes! As king of the Phibes Kingdom, he defeated Duke Richard a few years ago and now controls two kingdoms—he's the wealthiest of all vassal dukes. I wonder what He Li Duke Phibes will bring."

At that moment, some nobles recognized Duke Phibes.

Duke Phibes was one of the most prominent dukes in the Eternal Night Empire in recent years, and also the king of a kingdom to the north.

His prominence stemmed from his defeat of another kingdom a few years ago, allowing him to rule two kingdoms alone.

The defeated king, Duke Richard, fled back to the Eternal Night Empire and spread the news.

Duke Phibes's carriage procession quickly entered the city.