Chapter 42: Conquering King

In front of the temple hall,

under a pristine Duo Li Ya column standing twenty meters tall and two meters wide,

Harassed by Ka Li Si Ti Ni, He Ke Tuo's complexion instantly darkened, and he glared angrily at the chronicler beside the king,

He clenched his fists several times, yearning to strike that foul mouth, yet he restrained himself.

This person is the king's teacher, the great sage who recommended talent to the king; though his tongue is a bit sharp, his wisdom is still needed to accomplish the king's great deeds.

However, Ka Li Si Ti Ni seemed not to notice He Ke Tuo's darkened face, and laughed straightforwardly, asking:

"Knight of Britannia, why such an expression?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Isn't this the position you've always sought?"

"Once that Ya Se Wang becomes a true sovereign, you too may become a 'heroic' Knight by virtue of participating in his deeds."

Ka Li Si Ti Ni gazed softly at He Ke Tuo's eyes,

"There seems to be nothing wrong with that, does there?"

"You—" He Ke Tuo, unable to bear it any longer, pressed his hand onto the sword hilt at his waist.

However, at that moment,

a clear, resonant burst of laughter echoed from the temple—

"Hahahahahaha!"

The laughter roared like a sudden thunderstorm over a snowfield, its momentum sweeping through the long corridor as if a legion of cavalry shattered the morning mist, even the white frescoes of exotic birds and rare flowers on the walls glimmered with a fresh vitality,

"Ka Li Si, stop giving him a hard time!"

"Even a Knight of the Britannian king will eventually become my Knight!"

"Come in!"

Hearing this, the three before the hall knelt on one knee, bowing their heads and replying:

"Yes!"

He Ke Tuo glared once more at Ka Li Si Ti Ni, then followed Seleucus, striding into the temple.

At this moment, inside the temple, only three people remained,

attending the throne on either side,

first, He Ke Tuo's father, a middle‑aged Knight with short black hair, a stern face, clad in armor, also the chief strategist who devised the Britannia conquest campaign, Pa Man Niu.

second, a legally recognized loli with yellow tied hair, a pleasant appearance, wearing a blue‑white robe, half‑rimmed round glasses, and a feathered headpiece,

Yet, upon seeing her, He Ke Tuo did not look down on her because of her appearance; instead, he quickly bowed his head and respectfully greeted:

"Prophet, sir."

Facing the third, the tall figure on the throne, He Ke Tuo dared not show any disrespect, kneeling half‑way alongside Seleucus, his head bowed deeply,

"Your Majesty!"

Ya Li Shi Duo De nodded, smiling:

"I was just speaking of you, and you have arrived."

From the throne above, another commanding female voice sounded again; He Ke Tuo lifted his head slightly and saw the figure on the throne propping a hand on its face, looking at him with an amused expression, asking:

"He Ke Tuo, you tell me—"

"Knight Ai Duo A Duo, is he truly Ai Duo A Duo?"

Mentioning this made He Ke Tuo's blood boil, and he replied in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, Ai Duo A Duo's loyalty is beyond reproach, but the one who stole his honor is certainly not a Knight!"

"He is merely a thief not even a professional! He stole the glory and treasure belonging to Knight Ai Duo A Duo, then shamelessly accepted Sir Ecto's protection and left."

The figure on the throne clutched a report summarizing various accounts of the matter,

and immediately shook its head, laughing:

"Do you still think Ai Duo A Duo is the genuine Ai Duo A Duo? Such deeds alone cannot trigger the birth of a treasure."

"The time Ai Duo A Duo left the army and the time his corpse was discovered don't match at all, let alone pitting such a retainer against an heir of the Pan De La Gong family, which is no different from having him fight a humanoid dragon."

"The cavalry and the phalanx legion's testimonies also contain inconsistencies; a soldier of the phalanx legion saw with his own eyes a golden‑haired, blue‑eyed, young handsome Knight holding a rose, racing toward the Bern region"

"He Ke Tuo—"

Upon hearing this,

He Ke Tuo's heart tightened instantly, cold sweat beading on his back,

He could not have been unaware that this chaotic affair harbored issues, merely pretending blindness for the sake of the treasure,

Now that the matter is exposed, even with his father nearby, should the king become angry, his position as commander of the companion cavalry regiment might be lost.

However,

The next moment, a bewildered He Ke Tuo heard not the king's accusation,

but—

"I ask you, what visage does that Knight, that king, possess?"

"Huh?"

He Ke Tuo froze on the spot; when he recovered enough to answer the king's question, his mind could not piece together the thief's appearance,

He had never met Su Ya.

At that moment, a steady voice cleared He Ke Tuo's predicament; he glanced and saw his nominal superior, Seleucus.

"Your Majesty,"

"He Ke Tuo has not faced that Knight, but I have seen the visage of the future king of Britannia."

The Conquering King laughed, "Oh? Tell me!"

Seleucus respectfully stated, "Even as an enemy, I must admit his appearance is peerlessly unrivaled!"

"That king has sun‑bright golden hair, emerald‑clear azure eyes, a delicate face that can easily intoxicate women, and a slender figure as fragile as a fawn."

"Hahaha—how interesting!"

However,

Having guessed the king would react this way, Seleucus shook his head and said gravely:

"But, Your Majesty,"

"I did not sense the aura of a true ruler in that king; if Sir Ecto were not by my side, I would have beheaded this pretender and presented his head before you!"

"Pretender king? Heh, Seleucus, you underestimate him."

The Conqueror King looked at the booklet in his hand and laughed with great interest:

"This king crossed my ten‑thousand‑strong army alone, created the miracle and legend called Ai Duo A Duo that belongs solely to him, and even under your very nose built a stage, performed a splendid drama, and toyed with you—who is hundreds of times stronger—between applause—"

"Yet all of you still look down on him!"

"Interesting, truly fascinating!"

Seleucus furrowed his brow and asked, "A drama?"

The Conqueror King snorted a laugh, his slender finger tapping the throne, and said calmly:

"Sir Ecto died in my hand on the third day of the war; how could he be by that king's side on the seventh day?"

Seleucus immediately realized and asked in astonishment, "You mean the Sir Ecto I saw—"

"—was a fake?!"

The Conqueror King smiled lightly, rose from the throne, and looked to his right,

"Teacher, what do you think?"

The loli named Ya Li Shi Duo De curled her lip, revealing a slightly scheming, mischievous smile:

"No matter how deeds, legends, or even the body change, as long as the soul remains, a person is always the same version of themselves. Thus, she is both Knight Ai Duo A Duo and Arthur Pendragon, and also the creator who fashioned the 'Sir Ecto' character."

"This king is worthy of becoming your queen!"

Hearing this, the Conqueror King was first stunned, then couldn't help bursting into laughter:

"Become my queen? Hahaha—teacher, you truly dare to say that!"

"I have just slain his father‑king, buried his adoptive father, am about to conquer his nation, seize his knights, treasures, and lands, and when he, at this perilous moment, finally shows kingly bearing, you say he is fit to be my queen?"

Ya Li Shi Duo De laughed:

"Isn't that precisely your grand ambition, Conqueror King!"

"You need no instruction on this; as one born a ruler, you should already know—"

The Conqueror King tapped the throne's armrest with his finger, echoing the laughter, nodded, and curled his lip,

"Indeed!"

Her smile, with a resonance like metal striking stone, blended dignity and briskness into golden foil that fluttered down over the entire temple,

"The so‑called ruler must be greedier than anyone, laugh more boldly than anyone, rage more ferociously than anyone, exhausting both the good and the evil of humanity—"

At this point, the Conqueror King rose abruptly, his bold, proud gaze sweeping over the faces of the ministers in the temple,

As if announcing a matter of state survival, he declared gravely:

"I want to see him!"

"I will see whether he is worthy to be my queen!"

"Seleucus, tell me—who is the general nearest to him now?"

Seleucus's mouth twitched slightly, he sighed, and for a moment he could not tell whether this was good or bad,

The good news: the king, who never favored men, finally took an interest in a boy as delicate as a blossom.

The bad news: that boy bears a vendetta for killing his father, and soon will harbor a hatred for destroying a nation.

After a moment's thought, he could only reply gravely:

"It is your brother, Tuo Le Mi."

The Conqueror King pondered briefly, then said, "Then tell him to seize Sol City at once and pre‑emptively block the path left open."

(End of Chapter)