Chapter 180

180 Only Way Out.

Priscilla took a deep breath and said, “On the way back to Sapientia, we spotted a lot of unusual movement, and when the prince entered the place, he tasked me to infiltrate the Centaur Nation.”

Fragrantia raised her brow and had bad premonition aroused in her heart. Priscilla continued, “The Centaurs have an alliance with the berserks and they plan to invade the other two nations. In the latter part of their plan, they will attack Lumen Empire.”

The empress did not panic, she had estimated something like this to happen and asked, “The source of information?”

“Third prince of the nation, who was forced to marry the Valkyrian lady. He was rather easy to dig out the information from. He seemed to be dissatisfied with his wife.”, said the shadow agent.

The empress nodded, she could understand that the prince might have been disgusted with his marriage to a barbarian. Valkyrians did not teach the women anything. They treated them like child-bearing slaves. So, they had no education about basic mannerisms. Centaurs were the send strongest in the western continent after the Lumen Empire and thus they had the arrogant capital to deal with the Valkyrians.

Fragrantia said, “I will mule over it with His Excellency and the other officials of the nation. You guard by his side. Azula will take over from you in the evening.”

Priscilla nodded and stood up at the side. Fragrantia looked at Valerian once more and caressed his pale face before she left with a sigh. Suddenly, she said, “No one is allowed to go past that vine wall.”

The shadow agent nodded and said, “Yes, your excellency.”

Fragrantia exited the room and the combat maid let out a deep sigh. She sat down on the stool beside the bed and said, “Your Highness, thank you for your instructions.”

.....

Valerian was oblivious to all of this, he was inside his mind, looking around at the thousands of old men standing around him. They were all glaring at him. Valerian was fighting these people, but every time he tried to move, the old man killed him with a blink. He watched himself break and fall, only to stand up again and face the old man.

The process was endless and unaware to the mana inside his body was increasing slowly. This was because he was facing his demons and simply learned to integrate mana with his physique, resulting in strength twice as stronger as before.

In the evening, Azula came back and relieved Priscilla. She carefully cast a water spell and cleaned the body gently. As the night deepened, she fell asleep on the big chair comfortably. A jade vine appeared from a crack in the floor and climbed the bed with the leg of the bed. Then it coiled around the injured leg and began to heal his wounds slowly but surely.

Azula did not notice this as the vine, she was also tired from her work in the day and fell asleep. The vine around his ankle accelerated the healing process a bit. A gust of wind blew inside the closed room, but no one was awake to distinguish between the gust and a sigh.

...

Fragrantia sat beside Libra, and all the key officials of the royal court sat in front of them. They have been discussing the discoveries made by Priscilla, and also they wanted to know the reason why the Shadow was fooled in the previous situation. The Shadow leader accepted the flaw and told the court that they have captured a few traitors among themselves. This was a shock to Fragrantia, but then the leader went on to say that the traitors were actually people portraying their members.

They killed the shadow agents they could and managed to mimic them for a few months. They used the shadow’s strength of keeping things hidden even within the groups was something that she was well aware of. However, none of them really followed this rule and that was why when the impostors were investigated, they were caught red-handed.

The threat of spies among the shadows was dealt with with an iron fist and everyone caught was killed after an investigation. The empress nodded and told the news gathered by Priscilla to the rest of the people. This was not too shocking, everyone was aware that the Centaurs have been gathering forces and now that they had shaken hands with the Berserks, they will not lack the manpower to unite the western continent.

The prime minister stood up and asked, “Your Excellence, I would like to say something.”

Libra nodded and encouraged the man to go ahead with his idea. The prime minister said, “The Centaurs will not pick a fight with us just yet. They will first target others. For example, at this moment the Stellan empire is unstable, the old emperor has almost given up on their made. The unstable government will not be able to take down the Valkyrians and the Centaurs at the same time, so I think that the only way we have to get out of this quagmire is to attack the enemy preemptively.”

The rest of the people were surprised by these words, it was basically stating that the Lumen Empire starts a conquest of its own. If that happened, a lot of lives will change and so will the situation of the Western Continent. However, this was the only way to get things to turn their way.

The few other ministers suggested that since the elders of the Sapientian empire were done for, they could ask if the empire was willing to run things under their supervision and combine the resources to fight for a better future.

This opinion was supported by everyone but Fragrantia said, “Although the elders of the Sapientia had retracted from the scene, we must not forget about the senior Imperial Guardian they have as well as the dragon treasure. It would be better to discuss this cooperation with them instead of supervision.

If we wish to start a conquest then we cannot have worries of a sudden rebellion or resistance from a party that could be won over by diplomacy.”

The officials agreed and Libra said, “Have Ignis deal with this matter, and Princess Adele facilitate a middle way. This alliance must be iron strong. Send out the shadows to eliminate all those who stand in our way. The lumen empire has been too silent lately for the western continent to understand the true power we have.”

The ministers were perked up and they all nodded in acceptance to the proposal. The officials began to leave slowly after they all conveyed their good wishes for the fourth prince and praised his bravery. Lumen Empire governed with skill and talent in mind, they did not mind the background of a person and if someone could do things easier than you, then the other must learn.

Fragrantia was having mixed feelings towards Valerian. She loved him like her own son, but at this moment she was really angry with him for getting hurt as well. She sighed when Libra asked, “How was he doing?”

The empress wished to cry when she thought of Valerian’s present condition, the boy has been unconscious for the entire day, and his wounds were too serious. She shook her head and said, “He was unconscious when I came over, I do not know if he woke later.”

Libra nodded and said, “Let’s go and check on him?”

The lady nodded and the two moved to check on the young prince.

...

Valerian did not know how much time has passed and what was happening outside, but gradually his mind had accepted the fact that there were differences that could not be filled with talent and potential. The old man was able to bash him up for good because of this gap. He understood that these gaps were like the laws of this world.

However, despite this realization, he decided to keep doing what he was doing. He wanted to forge his way forward, and he kept fighting the grandmaster phantom in his mind. The boy knew no rest and hunger. Suddenly, after countless dispersions, his kick managed to graze the old man. That moment the scene froze, and Valerian had capably trapped the old man into making a move that he knew will come and how he will break it.

Just when he was about to get happy, an ethereal voice sounded in his mind, “Stop it, you are getting so excited by just random stuff. Your mother would have been disappointed.”

Valerian looked around him and the voice sounded again, “Stop looking for me, we will meet when the time is right. For now, your only way out of this is to learn all that you can from this phantom and temper your mindset. I will not explain why must you do this, but you have to do it. This is one of the tests everyone has to face in order to grow stronger. Do you understand?”

Valerian thought for a moment and then nodded. The voice said, “Good.” and faded away like last time.