Chapter 169: Preparing for the worst

The entire night was rowdy but the next morning was even noisier as the entire empire finally got the gist of what happened the previous day. Not only did Lucien kill Lukas Raizen, a man who plotted against the royal family but he was only at the warrior realm when he defeated the peak spirit realm powerhouse. He soon teleported an entire civilization of spirit beast cultivators into the empire's domain and ended up dying due to the stress placed on him from the previous actions. In just one night, he resurrected from the dead and showcased even greater strength to mark his return.

As long as the empire is concerned, Lucien is a hero of the empire and a role model for the empire and Lucien had no intentions of letting this momentum go to waste. He quickly instructor Han recruit some selected instructors into his clan and a few talented students time and time again. Since Lucien has shown respect for the humans time and time again, human recruits were easier to get but the main problem was the beast-men who were still stuck with the old beliefs that they are superior thereby they can never join a group that treats humans and beast-men equally. Before Lucien was known as the horror of the humans but now he could be considered as the ideal beast-man the humans want.

It didn't take long before Lucien left for the Raizen clan to take his throne, not before he asked Alice to organize the spirit beast cultivators before he returns.

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Bang!

The golden doors of the royal courtyard swung open even though Lucien didn't exert much force on it. Each step he took to make his aura feel more chaotic and threatening, making many reluctant to oppose him since no one knew how the underworld can affect someone mind negatively so they all argued that Lucien should be kicked off the noble families and put under observation until they can be sure that he is perfectly fine but the emperor refused, alongside a good number of the human clans. Even without the support of the other noble families, Emperor Fei had no intentions of letting them do as they please. His gaze seemed indifferent as looked at the nobles gathered around but as it got to Lucien it turned soft.

"Emperor!" Lucien said as he bowed but the silver light in his eyes was shining more brightly than usual.

"All this while we have been gathering and you only came to report and leave directly… Today I wish to let you act like a real noble… Take a seat and let the meeting begin!" Emperor Fei said and watched Lucien go to the seat prepared for the Rakuzen clan head.

Many gazed at him and wondered why he didn't bother to wear a mask now unlike before when Lucien always wore a mask to meetings. He ignored the gaze of many and turned his attention to Klaus of the Lightborn family and nodded.

"We are here to talk about two things, the first is the upcoming war will not be an easy one… The human empire of Libet has been a lot of things over the century but they have never been weak… Our spies say they are preparing their forces and every clan there is participating in this battle… I know a good number of you want my head but I refuse to believe that my head is more important than the entire empire! This time I request all of you to prepare your forces for war and wait for further orders… History favors those who strike first… We will be the one to strike first!" Emperor Fei said calmly and the entire room turned silent. His eyes ran through the faces of the entire nobles before nodding in approval.

"If I may speak I wish to request that my forces are sent to the front lines… I started this issue I choose to be the one to end it… Let me show them the power I possess!" Lucien said coldly, stunning many.

They were shocked that Lucien would make such a request especially since he was the one with the least number of forces in the empire… They didn't know his plans but what was even more shocking was the fact that the emperor agreed to the request with a nod without asking questions.

"I kindly refuse my emperor… The Rakuzen clan has the least number of forces in the empire… Having them go in first is no different from giving the enemy the first victory in battle…. While I do not underestimate Lucien's strength, I know that there is just so much that a single person can do in battle… He will be overwhelmed and killed! The death of an imperial knight is not something we would like to see" A 6ft tall man asked casually. He had darkish purple hair and wore a robe with a huge feather collar. His eyes lacked any form of emotions and that's why Lucien didn't say all these out of spite, instead he simply stating the obvious.

The emperor was about to speak but then Lucien stood up and he decided to let the youth take care of things himself.

"You are the Vladimir family head, am I correct?" Lucien asked with an indifferent look on his face and the man nodded respectfully.

"All I have to say is that there is nothing to worry about… I will be taking over the Raizen clan as soon as this meeting ends, coupled with my army of spirit cultivators I should have a pretty powerful family… Finally, I also possess my army of demonic beasts who are indestructible so you don't have to worry about my safety or victory… You should be more worried about the enemy and not me" Lucien said casually but it struck deep fear in the hearts of all those who heard it. They quickly turned their attention to the emperor and back to Lucien, repeating this almost three times bur even then the emperor showed no intentions of interfering.

"I heard you reached the underworld, had an encounter, and still made it out alive. Can you show me this army you speak of?" the Vladimir family patriarch asked politely and Lucien nodded and took a few steps forward, reaching the central spaced area of the room. At that point, Lucien's eyes turned blood red as blood began running down his cheeks from his eyes and his aura turned black, taking the shape of a massive skull above his head. His shadow expanded rapidly, filling the whole room in a matter of seconds, and in the next second, the entire grand hall was turned black, choking with demonic presence! His original tattoo soon vanished and was replaced with countless black demonic beasts tattoos moving rapidly on his skin, giving him an even spookier look.

"Rise!" Lucien said with a tone overlapping countless screams and cries!

Whoosh!

At that moment, countless demonic beasts began surging out of his shadow up to the point that even the entire hall was congested due to this.

"Return!" Lucien said coldly and under his order, the countless demonic beasts sank into his shadow and vanished as if they never existed.

At this point, Lucien has returned to normal and he was using white clothe to wipe the blood on his eyes and cheek before turning his attention to the Vladimir clan head.

"Are you satisfied?" Lucien asked coldly and the man nodded with an astonished look on his face. He looked like a little kid getting his favorite toy from his parents!

"How many of those creatures can you all out" the Vladimir clan head asked respectfully.

"About a thousand or more… I haven't really taken the time to count them all so I only have a general idea!" Lucien answered indifferently but then something that's stunned even him happened.

Bam!

Everyone watched in shock as the Vladimir clan head fell on his knees with his fists cupped and his head bowed. His body shivered with excitement leaving many stunned and wondering why he would bow to a lesser noble!

"Lord imperial knight! The Vladimir family wishes to join your forces in the upcoming war! Please accept my humble request!" The man said with so much power and passion even Lucien felt awkward!

He could remember the stories about the Lightborn and Vladimir clans who have never seen eye to eye. The Vladimir family has always been interested in dark arts of all kinds… To hear that someone managed to go to the underworld, encountering the god of death, and escaped. Lucien soon realized he is some sort of celebrity in the eyes of everyone from this clan, making him feel a slight headache brewing since he didn't know how this will affect his relationship with the Lightborn family.

"What do you think old man?" Lucien asked casually and Kalus simply laughed at his question.

"If you can find a way to coexist with humans and treat them equally… Dealing with this shouldn't be a problem for us" Klaus replied calmly.