The Thunder Emperor felt like he had gone mad.
Initially, when the Wise King found him and entrusted him with such a task—as a citizen of the Human Central Empire, he really had no reason to refuse. But then again, the task of subjugating the Ice and Snow Kingdom wasn’t necessarily ant for the Thunder Emperor alone; there were other strong individuals who could take action. If he were unwilling to step in, the Wise King likely wouldn’t bla him.
However, the Wise King’s constant praise, saying "You are indeed the most powerful mage of our Human Central Empire, master of thunder and lightning, who can stop you" and such flattery made the Thunder Emperor, already feeling invincible, slightly floaty. Indeed, if talking solely about magical prowess, he might not be as good as Adriana, but when it cos to lightning, in his lifeti, the Thunder Emperor had never been surpassed.
Even Adriana, if confronted with his thunder magic, would definitely be no match.
So, wasn’t conquering an Ice and Snow Kingdom just a trivial task?
Then, both the Hero and the Demon King appeared simultaneously at this location.
To be honest, when he learned of this situation, he wanted to take his army and run away—but then again, the Thunder Emperor was a figure of significance in the Human Central Empire. How could he just run upon seeing the Demon King and Hero? How would he face others when he returned? How could he hold his head high among nurous nobles? How could he have the face to instruct the disciples who sought refuge under him?
Simply from the perspective of interests, he couldn’t easily retreat his troops.
So, he had to stage a fake battle.
Pretending to fight but actually doing nothing, he sharply realized he was likely experiencing sothing very ominous, and at this ti, a slight lack of caution could lead to trouble.
And indeed!
The imposing presence of the Hero A·Gedora in anger absolutely obliterated any notion of resistance; anyone who blocked his path would die.
The entire army’s morale suffered a huge blow, and even trying to restore the warriors’ resolve wasn’t an easy task, especially since... this army wasn’t an ordinary one; they all had ties to the "nobles" of the Human Central Empire.
Of course, the kinship might be distant—but before the war, everyone was thinking of obtaining glory. You think you could enter this expeditionary force without any connections? It’s very difficult. Although they might not be direct noble descendents, it couldn’t be allowed for all to perish here. The Thunder Emperor himself was among the nobles, and many distant relatives of his were here, many whose nas he couldn’t even recall.
That’s why this was indeed an advantageous opportunity. The morale of the troops had collapsed. You want to fight? That’s illogical!
Do you really think I’m a pushover?
He was quite dissatisfied with the current situation, feeling as though he’d been sched by the Wise King and Adriana, yet, on the other hand... he indeed hadn’t considered much, theoretically, this war had to be fought. Only, truly no one had expected the Hero to intervene.
Of course, according to the current situation, Adriana’s target should be the Hero, but what does this have to do with him?
He had already led the army to retreat a great distance.
But...
"Demon King, are you set on a fight to the death with ?"
The Thunder Emperor knew he had been targeted; he had no choice but to order others to retreat the army, as he was very aware the Demon King’s objective was him.
Long black hair, haunting black eyes, seemingly possessing demonic charm—the girl stood right before him.
Despite the necromancer, the sword saint, and an undead accompanying her, the sight was wholly distorted, forcing focus solely on the Demon King... No, more precisely, his gaze dared not shift from the Demon King’s before him.
That’s the Demon King...
"The weakling who once knelt before , begging for a chance to live, now claims to be the Thunder Emperor and dares to speak of symbolism. Humans, as creatures, truly grow swiftly!"
Yes, the Thunder Emperor had encountered the Demon King.
When the Hero hadn’t yet erged, and the Thunder Emperor was still a child, he had t the Demon King.
At that ti, although the various races had secretly begun to unite, outwardly, they still displayed reverence and fear toward the Demon King—they awaited, awaited the gods’ will... until the Hero A·Gedora appeared, and the wars against the Demon Race, against the Demon King’s rule finally erupted.
Prior to that—the Thunder Emperor, once recognized as a human genius, had been offered as tribute to the Demon King.
The Demon King wasn’t interested in the so-called talents; such gifted tributes were often bestowed upon the Four Kings or other Demon Race generals. For instance, the Vampire Lisidorwei had, in earlier years, shown deep interest in the blood of talented individuals from various races. Regardless, being rewarded to the Four Kings usually wasn’t a good thing; even if one survived, staying loyal to humanity was nearly impossible.
Humans were rely toys for the Demon Race—
Such was the common understanding of the ti.
At that ti, the Thunder Emperor knelt before the Demon King, in utmost humility, pleading for rcy, begging not to be bestowed upon anyone.
The Demon King agreed.
For the Demon King at that ti, it was probably just a whim. People had heard of such things as well—if you sincerely plead with the Demon King, perhaps... perhaps there might be a glimr of hope.
In fact, the Demon King back then was probably in a pretty good mood.
"Do you know why I spared your life back then?"
Mohe seed in a very good mood, showing a human-like sense of "nostalgia."
The Thunder Emperor did not answer.
"When many people plead for my forgiveness, they are always eager to show their value—such as, if you spare , I will repay your kindness a hundredfold, if you help , I will make it worth your while. Generally speaking, I do not spare such people, after all, the world is my possession. Repay ? It was mine to begin with, how could you repay ?"
She wore an inexplicable smile: "You were quite smart back then. You just knelt before and simply said, ’I beg you to spare .’ I have always liked smart people, so I let you go—yet who would have guessed that such a smart person as you could now be so arrogant and offensive?"
"To dare to speak symbolically with such power, is it that the strong power has clouded your mind, that you have lost your awe of the world?"
Hearing Mohe’s words, the Thunder Emperor slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "So this ti, no matter what, you will not spare , right?"
"How should one not handle a being who has lost awe for what should be revered?"
The Thunder Emperor’s eyes suddenly opened, lightning flickered within them: "The fears and shadows of youth often take a lifeti to heal! After eting you that ti, after abandoning all dignity and honor, kneeling and begging you for rcy... my life has been... destined to live to overco the shadows you brought!"
The Thunder Emperor, who appeared like a frail youth, was now surrounded by lightning: "If I cannot beco a symbol! Then I can never overco you! If I don’t do this! I can never rest in peace!"
"All of you stand back." Mohe instructed the others, "I don’t like those actively seeking death, but I do like watching those who knowingly court death for a different purpose. To overco the shadows I brought, an excellent reason. I accept this challenge."
When Mohe accepted this challenge, the Thunder Emperor was sowhat dazed.
He recalled all the love and praise he’d received from everyone from birth to nine years old; everyone said, "This child will beco the light of humanity, guiding humanity forward."
However, on his ninth birthday, everything changed.
He was defiant.
He was resentful; what a laughable matter that a genius like him was to be sacrificed to the Demon King? Humanity would lose its future, humanity could never rise beside the Demon Race... yet on the other hand, he was proud—he thought it was because his talent had alard the Demon King, that the Demon King feared his abilities, so he was offered to the Demon King.
But at the mont he saw the Demon King, he knew his thoughts were wrong.
Because the Demon King’s expression was montarily puzzled, then he directly asked the person beside him: "What’s the situation with this human?"
"The genius offered to you by the humans this year."
"Do humans have so misunderstanding about ?" The Demon King looked at the Vampire Lisidorwei, "Do you want him?"
The Vampire shook her head: "The blood of a genius and ordinary people is no different—in truth, if we talk about blood taste, perhaps the fleshier ones are better, but this kid, with his delicate skin, the blood quality might be average. Also, he seems to know Thunder Magic, so there might be so electricity in his blood, which gives a slight tingling sensation... it’s hard to call it a feast, at most a snack. I’m not very interested."
"Then dispose of him as you like? And kindly inform the humans not to send such useless things to again. Anyway, they send them rely to show their submission to —I have nothing that needs them sent."
The Demon King was so disdainful.
It wasn’t because the Demon King feared his talent, but because of humanity’s own fear, they presented him to the Demon King.
How laughable was that?
In that mont, the youth’s pride, arrogance—all sorts of things—shattered completely.
His knees touched the ground, his head deeply bowed.
"I beg you... spare my life... give a way out..."
No extraneous words, just such humble pleas.
He could not see the Demon King’s expression.
Only heard "Alright, throw him out."
So the youth survived.
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