Chapter 562: Shengzai: I Shall Strike as the King of the Subhumans!

“Your Majesty, you haven’t slept in days—why not rest for a while…?”

Hearing the voice beside him, Gilknifer, his eyes bloodshot and spirit drained, slowly lifted his head.

“Bahud, aren’t you leaving like that woman Reinas did?”

After seeing the empire’s bleak future, Gilknifer issued an edict allowing any knight who wished to leave to retire voluntarily.

The Bahas Empire would hold them blameless for any abandonment.

In the original Four Knights, Immovable was killed by Ma Xiu’s Earth Split.

Heavy Blast Reinas, the only female member of the Four Knights, also simply chose to leave the empire.

“Your Majesty underestimates me too much. Though my strength doesn’t match the Kingdom’s Warlord, nor can I defeat those Steel-rank adventurers, and I haven’t even reached the Heroic Realm of humanity—”

“Still, I am a soldier of the empire, and I could never desert in the face of battle.”

“Nipul is the same. We’ve already sent our families to safety. As for us, we will fight alongside Your Majesty until our final breath!”

“After all, if not for Your Majesty’s extraordinary promotion of us, we wouldn’t be who we are today.”

Hearing Bahud’s words, Gilknifer forced a bitter smile.

“As emperor of the empire, I have the duty to perish with the Bahas Empire.”

“But you and your comrades have no such duty—go with your families.”

“When I first promoted you Four Knights, I already said it clearly.”

“I value your abilities, not your loyalty or lineage. If you wish to leave, you may—just like Reinas did.”

Seeing Gilknifer so despondent, Bahud, usually seen as simple-minded, suddenly grew angry.

“Emperor Gilknifer! You should look in a mirror and see what you’ve become!”

“A monarch has the duty to die with his nation—then as knights, we have the duty to die alongside our sovereign!”

“Once, you were full of vigor, confident in every action you took.”

“Why now do you choose to abandon yourself? I know the enemy is strong—truly despair-inducing in strength.”

“But open your eyes! The people and knights of the Bahas Empire still believe in you. What have you done in return for their trust?”

Faced with Bahud’s fury, Gilknifer’s long-suppressed pressure erupted at once!

“Do you think I want to give up? Do you think I’m willing to be a king of a fallen nation? But every possible solution has been tried!”

“Those monsters aren’t just strong—they’re incredibly clever. Every move I make is within Ainz Ooal Gown’s calculations.”

“The Bahas Empire simply cannot resist the Magic Kingdom’s advance…”

Before Gilknifer finished speaking, Bahud drew his broadsword and held its blade like a mirror before Gilknifer’s face.

“Emperor, look at yourself—do you still resemble the proud, confident Blood Emperor?”

“To fear before battle, to sink into despair—even if the Bahas Empire falls, at least we fought with blood and honor.”

“Or has the once-mighty emperor now decided to surrender before the battle even begins, kneeling before the enemy and offering his neck for the blade?”

Gilknifer stared at his reflection in Bahud’s blade—hair disheveled, eyes filled with blood, spirit utterly broken.

“Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap—!”

As Gilknifer opened his mouth to speak, a rhythmic clapping echoed suddenly in his and Bahud’s ears.

Seeing a man standing by the window of the emperor’s study—when had he appeared?—Bahud instantly snatched Gilknifer’s sword and, fulfilling his knightly duty, shielded the emperor behind him.

“Who are you? An assassin sent by Ainz Ooal Gown? Or a killer dispatched by those noble traitors who seek to profit from our fall?”

“But no matter who you are, as long as I, Lightning Blast Bahud, still live, not a single hair on Your Majesty’s head will be harmed!”

Upon hearing Bahud’s threat, the man seated by the window paid no mind—he simply leapt down from the sill.

Then he looked at Gilknifer and Bahud and said: “Apologies for eavesdropping on your conversation just now.”

“You must be one of the empire’s famed Four Knights, correct?”

“As for your strength, I’ll leave that aside—but your words and actions just now are worthy of the knight’s name.”

“The famed Blood Emperor, however, has disappointed me. Though we’ve never met, I’ve long admired the empire’s emperor.”

“Ah, I’ve spoken so much and forgotten to introduce myself.”

“My name is Shengzai Trans Ignar Leir Vanshuf. I am the third prince of the R. Ye Sitijie Kingdom. I apologize for this sudden intrusion—please don’t take offense, Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing Shengzai’s introduction, Gilknifer and Bahud both froze.

The kingdom’s third prince—Gilknifer and his men were well aware of him; in fact, they’d heard countless rumors.

Among neighboring nations, this prince and Emperor Gilknifer were long called the “Twin Paragons” of the continent’s finest young men.

Yet for various reasons, though they’d both heard tales of each other, this was their first actual meeting.

“The famed third prince of the kingdom arrives at the Bahas Empire in this manner—what is your purpose?”

“Prince Shengzai, have you come to mock our empire? Or to see the fallen emperor before his kingdom perishes?”

With a stranger present—especially one whose reputation rivaled his own—Gilknifer swept away his earlier despair and showed the dignity befitting a monarch before his rival.

“I’ve long been curious about the Blood Emperor and wished to meet you.”

“But you’re no beautiful maiden of a golden age—I wouldn’t be so childish as to travel far just to mock you.”

“I’m here because I came to attend Your Majesty’s ‘Council of Nations.’”

“What? Don’t tell me Your Majesty doesn’t welcome me?”

“Stop joking! Even mockery has limits! Your kingdom has already decided to form a friendly alliance with the Magic Kingdom!”

“Now you come here talking about attending the ‘Council of Nations’? Do you think I have no temper at all?!”

In response to Gilknifer’s angry outburst, Shengzai remained calm: “The kingdom’s alliance with the Magic Kingdom has nothing to do with me, the King of the Subhuman Nations.”

(End of Chapter)