344 NARRATIVE OF THE STORY

Aero dash forward with his now red horse, laughing while killing his enemies, his sword glare flew from each of his strikes.

The fighting around him is the most difficult with all kinds of warriors and fighters all in the action. Yet Aero trample through them like he was riding in an empty plain.

The mages did not even have the chance to stand up before Aero horse stamped down on their face as their entire head was crushed into the ground like a pine nut being crushed.

The brain matter of the mages spluttered out from their cranium as Aero slash forward with his Heaven Sword. 

The sound of bones breaking and screams of pain was drowned out by Aero strikes. Each time he slashes his sword, a wind tearing sound echoes in the battlefield.

Half of the battlefield is burning fire, courtesy of the mages that possess fire magic. 

They created all kinds of obstacles in hoping that Aero would not be able to pass the line of fire.

'Onwards!' he shouted as his horse cut through the blazing fire that fill the area around him. Aero slashing left and right against any warriors that try to block his ways and more and more Veranis soldiers fall down and form a pile of bodies along Aero path.

These warriors are all elite warriors. 

They could all kill monster easily and fought dozens of people by their lonesome. 

But faced with Aero sword, they were like paper tigers. None of them could even cut even one single hair on Aero body. 

Instead, when they attack, they would found out that their attack would be deflected, countered or broken

Like an unbreakable steel, whatever that attacked his body, whether it be swords, spears or polearm, all of them break upon contact.

Aero focused his eyes on the prize. 

But as he passed through the fallen and as he keeps slashing his way forward, his mind is thinking about a lot of things. 

Most importantly, the aftermath of this battle.

Aero had many strategies before the battle begins. But when the battle begins, Aero had always intended in one on one fight. 

He wanted to take Alexander head in this battle and disperse any intention of Veranis of ever stepping on Vanheim territory again

There is many reason for this decision.

The advantages all lies with his army. 

He caught the enemy unprepared. He caught them with diminished soldiers. He caught them in a position where their morale is low.

This is all the advantages that he had created for the forces of Vanheim

There is nothing else to be done than win the fight. He also had the chance to remind the world who is the Chancellor.

Today, is the day that the world would remember Aero of the East and why he is feared 

That has always been going on in his mind. He did not like being framed like that at all.

He wanted to stage a comeback in the most impactful way possible. All this planning and all the scheming eventually is for his returns to the Imperial Court.

Only by returning to the court, that he could assume back his full power. 

To Aero, his power had never lies in his Curse of Styx. 

Many people believed that the strength of Aero lies in his prowess in battle. 

But he did not think so. And he had never believed so

As the Chancellor, the power he held in the Six Council is an invisible power that people could not see.

That is why Eric would do everything he could to try to kill him. Because he knows that the value of Aero, is not on his prowess but on his value as the Chancellor of a great empire

Aero one word could move millions of people and could shape the destinies of millions. His strategy had enable Vanheim to become a world superpower nation.

As a warrior, Aero could change the tide of the battlefield with his prowess. But he alone could not destroy a nation, conquer kingdoms and bring down an Empire.

But as the Chancellor, the ruler of the Six Councils that supervise and oversee everything about the Empire, one sealed order form him could destroy smalls states and kingdoms without him ever moving from his seat.

This is power. And that is the power that Aero wanted back.

He could always return to Vanheim before. But he never did

The Emperor would shield him at that time because the Emperor needs him to stabilize the divisive Six Councils. 

If at that time he returned, the court would once again fall into his control. 

But Aero knows, that is just optimistic thinking. If he had returned before his name is cleared, while people would fear him as always, he would not be respected.

Respect has a certain type of power over people. He spends less time doing thing because people respect him.

There is also the fact that if he returns without clearing his name, his reputation would be besmirched. As he had always stressed upon people, reputation have a certain power over the people

The higher you are in society, the more important a reputation is to you.

No one cares about the reputation of some beggar begging on the street. But people cares about the dignity of the monarch and the reputation of its minister.

The moment Aero lost that reputation, the people of Vanheim would no longer respect him and with the loss of respect, the Emperor had a lot of ways to bring him down.

Either the Emperor would try to bring him down, the end result which would not be pretty or the emperor would try to force him to submit

None of that options are something that Aero could stomach.

If he returns without clearing his name, he would only give the initiative to the Emperor and once that initiative is given, there is no returning back from that path

Once he did that, his power in the Imperial Court, while outwardly would appear like nothing had changed, there will always be that subtle feeling among the people, that he had been under the grace of the Emperor and submitted to him. 

The reason why people acknowledges him as the true guiding hand of the Empire is because, he never owed anything to anyone in the Imperial Court. 

Those that he owed, he could always pay back. But if he returns, and accept the protection of the Emperor than that is a silent acknowledgement of the Emperor power over him.

And he would owe the Emperor. And the price for that debt would surely be steep.

While Aero did not mind giving the power to the Emperor, there were some things that he had found out in his moments of hiding that had given him sufficient reason to be wary of the Emperor that he had thought as a fool before

It appears a lion would not beget a dog. 

Edward is not as meek and timid as he had believed that young Emperor to be. 

And for Aero, as he now has only one live to life, he is very reluctant to give up power to a person who had always hated his gust and probably the single biggest obstacle for the young Emperor to assume full control of the Six Council and the Imperial Court.

He needs to have insurance. And what better insurance is there other than being the Chancellor of the Empire?

As such, Aero had decided to clear his name before returning. And he already had the narrative all figured out. 

And he is building that narrative now by winning this war. 

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