Chapter 523: Assassination

The scent of blood filled the room.

"Rest easy, Father!"

Jialete drew his longsword, crouched down, and raised a hand to stroke Bruno's face, closing the latter's open eyes.

When he stood back up, the grief and anxiety on his face had been swept away, leaving only madness and determination.

Now, he was no longer the Crown Prince, but Aoduoyin Liushi, King of the Kingdom, the liege lord whom all nobles followed and swore allegiance to.

"No one shall sway my will again, no one!"

He clenched his fist and glanced at the corpse by his feet, "Now, let me present the Wushan Family with their first grand gift!"

Jialete chuckled twice, then pushed open the bedroom door; the bloody stench in the corridor rushed to meet him.

Yet he did not pause for a single step, leaving the scene with long, swift strides.

Although he was the Kingdom's first heir, the throne would be his after Bruno died.

But this did not mean Jialete dared to let the outside world know he was the murderer of Bruno.

Killing the King, killing his own father—if such a thing were to spread, nearly the majority of the nobles would refuse to acknowledge his status, and at such a time, all it would take is for someone to lead the charge, and the Kingdom would immediately fall into instability.

But he was the last person to see the King, so the suspicion could not be washed away.

Therefore, Bruno's death needed to be covered up.

"Your Highness!"

Outside the bedchamber, the Guards who saw Jialete emerge saluted him one after another.

"Hmm."

Jialete responded indifferently, saying as he walked: "The enemy kingdom's movements have been frequent lately; stand guard well, and once you detect any sign of trouble, report it immediately!"

The Guards' expressions turned solemn, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Jialete nodded, then quickly left the scene.

It was unknown how much time had passed when a strange, cold wind swept across the bedchamber, forcing the standing Guards to circulate their Battle Qi to alleviate their fatigue and the cold.

"What kind of hellish weather is this? In previous years, the January winter snow would have already passed; this year is truly abnormal!"

"Indeed, it's freezing to death, colder than when it was snowing!"

"I wonder if tomorrow will be a bright, sunny day?"

The Guards talked in low voices; some looked up at the night sky, wanting to judge tomorrow's weather by the stars.

"What is that?"

Someone shouted in alarm.

Everyone looked over and saw a massive black shadow that had appeared above them at some unknown time; if one didn't look closely, one would mistake it for a dark cloud.

Only, this black shadow seemed to have a head and a tail, and one look told them it was not a dark cloud.

"A Magic Beast?"

"Where would such a large Magic Beast come from?"

"No, Duke Luoning's dragon is this big!"

As long as it was a Magic Beast, there was a risk.

The Guard squad leader immediately shouted: "Go, notify Lord Buluoer and have the Griffin Knights stand guard. I am going to tell the Regiment Commander!"

Just as they were about to act, a black figure descended from the sky and landed directly in the courtyard.

"Assassin!"

The Guards in the courtyard reacted quite quickly; while exclaiming, they drew their longswords one after another.

Yet they were no match for the intruder; before they could even make a move, their throats were slit by a cold blade, and they collapsed into a pool of blood.

After finishing off the blocking Guards, the assassin flashed into the bedchamber.

"Quick, blow the Horn!"

"There's an assassin!"

The Guard captain shouted frantically, and the shrill sound of the Horn pierced the silence of the winter night.

Buluoer's residence was not far away, and upon hearing the sound, he rushed over immediately.

But just as he arrived outside the door, a booming explosion came from within, and a violent Battle Technique blasted a massive hole through one side of the palace wall.

"Oh no!"

Buluoer's expression changed drastically; he took a step and lunged through the hole to the second floor.

But what he saw was Philemon, who had lost half his body, and corpses strewn across the floor.

"Your Majesty!"

Buluoer rushed into Bruno's bedroom in a panic, only to see a masked man in black walking out from within.

The longsword in the assassin's hand dripped with fresh blood, while there was no movement in the room behind him.

"Damn it!"

Buluoer held his longsword and charged over like a madman.

The assassin raised his sword to parry, effortlessly blocking Buluoer's attack, then lifted his leg and kicked, sending the latter flying; he only managed to stop after smashing through several walls.

"Too strong!"

Buluoer was shocked to his core; he possessed the strength of a late-stage Meteor, and even if a Silver Moon Knight had come, he could have put up a fight, but this person before him was too powerful.

He was simply no match!

"A Blazing Sun Knight?"

The assassin seemed to have no interest in Buluoer; he jumped out of the bedchamber through the hole and happened to see a large group of Knights already assembled outside.

Seeing the assassin emerge, the Knights immediately unleashed their Battle Techniques to attack.

Over a dozen rays of Battle Technique light illuminated the night sky with great momentum.

But the assassin only struck once; the red flames not only suppressed these Battle Techniques but also carried residual power that severely wounded the Knights on the ground.

"Stay right there!"

A thunderous roar came from afar, and purple Thunder was seen surging toward the assassin.

"It's His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

All the Guards felt relieved, as the Crown Prince was rumored to be a Sun-level Knight and would surely be able to take down the assassin.

Unfortunately, this attack launched from afar was still easily received by the assassin, who then stepped into the air and vanished into the black clouds high above.

Immediately after, that mass of black clouds flew toward the horizon at an extreme speed, and by the time Jialete arrived at the bedchamber, the person had already escaped.

"Damn it, what is going on?"

Jialete roared in anger, demanding an answer.

No one dared to reply.

"Your Highness, come inside!"

Buluoer's heavy voice came from within, making everyone's heart skip a beat.

Only then did Jialete react, flying over in a hurry, "How is my father the King?"

Buluoer was in a wretched state, with fresh blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Yet the terror brought by reality had already made him forget the pain.

"His Majesty... is in a very bad state!"

"Damn it, how did you protect him!"

Jialete shoved him angrily and then walked inside, his expression so flustered that no one could discern any ulterior motive.

In fact, Buluoer did not even dare to look at the other's expression, for he had already fallen into boundless self-reproach.

Over these years, Philemon had been protecting Bruno at his side, while he served as the other layer of security.

In the past, Silver Moon Knights were rarely seen, and Sun-level Knights were non-existent, so Bruno's safety had never encountered any issues.

But now, the situation outside had changed too drastically, and their security had not yet been upgraded, resulting in His Majesty the King dying in an assassination.

"No!"

Jialete's shrill voice rang out, causing everyone's hearts to sink to the bottom, all of them at a loss.

A seemingly absurd thought emerged in the hearts of the Knights outside—

The King... is dead?

Buluoer lifted his legs, which felt as if they were filled with lead, and walked into the familiar bedroom, just in time to see Jialete kneeling on the ground.

Bruno's cold corpse lay right before the Crown Prince.

The atmosphere was so heavy that it was difficult to breathe.

Along time passed.

"Who is the assassin?"

Jialete slowly raised his head; his eyes were bloodshot, and he released his Sun Level aura without any restraint, which shocked Buluoer.

"He was masked, I didn't see his face."

Buluoer said in a deep voice: "However, his strength is very high. Not only was my full-force sword strike easily blocked by him, but I was also smashed through several walls by the immense power the opponent erupted with in an instant!"

He paused for a moment and stated his suspicion: "I suspect the opponent is likely a Sun-level Knight!"

"A Sun-level Knight?"

Jialete stood up, clenched his fists fiercely, and gritted his teeth as he spat out a name: "Luoning!"

Luoning?

Buluoer's pupils contracted sharply: "Impossible, Your Highness, this person is definitely not Luoning!"

"Then it must be his subordinate, Ruidar!"

Jialete's voice was beyond doubt, "Looking across the Aoduyin Kingdom and the Tricia Kingdom, how many Sun-level Knights are there? And that huge black shadow in the sky just now, if it wasn't his dragon, then what was it?"

"This..."

Buluoer did not know how to argue for a moment, but his intuition told him that the assassin was neither Luoning nor Ruidar.

"Go, go and invite my mother over!"

Jialete said in a deep voice: "Also, seal off the news; no one is allowed to leak this matter!"

Buluoer always felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He could only carry the guilt toward His Majesty Bruno and the self-reproach for his own failure to execute Jialete's orders.

"The Kingdom... is about to change!" he thought to himself. (End of this chapter)