Chapter 145: Dawn (End) [VIP]
"We're saved! We're saved!"
"Long live! Long live!"
"The nightmare is over!"
"To the square! To the sacred square!"
“…”
The moment the gray-green barrier that had enveloped the royal capital for months disappeared, the people who were struggling in despair immediately realized what was happening outside. They cheered and took to the streets, shouting "Long live" as they rushed to the sacred square in the upper city.
A refreshing breeze blew across my face, blowing away the heaviness, depression and pain that had lasted for months.
Among the various people heading to the Sacred Square, there were civilians from the lower town with tattered clothes and untidy beards, as well as nobles in gorgeous clothes but pale and disheveled faces. Everyone looked haggard and weak, and it was obvious that they had not eaten or slept well for a long time, but their eyes were shining, full of joy and hope.
The crowd would occasionally stop and, with the tacit approval of the Holy Empire coalition that had successfully taken over the royal capital, beat up the once-invincible but now dying lizard monsters.
"Go to hell! Go to hell!"
"You damned monsters!"
"Give me back my loved ones!"
“…”
The suffering people threw everything they could find as weapons at the lizard monster, venting the pain and anger that had been suppressed for months.
Some in the crowd were aware that these terrifying lizard monsters were once humans like themselves. However, when they thought about how these humans transformed into lizard monsters not only lost their human appearance, but also repeatedly broke into civilians' homes and kidnapped innocent children for food during the period when the barrier enveloped the royal capital, no one could feel any pity or sympathy for the lizard monsters who were beaten to a bloody pulp by the people.
…
…
"Long live! Long live!"
"Long live the Holy Sun Empire!"
"Long live His Majesty Aura I! Long live!"
“…”
Excited shouts spread from the Sacred Square to the Imperial Palace like an earthquake, and almost everyone was immersed in the joy of the liberation of the royal capital.
Xiao Yun was in a bad mood.
After months of hardship and suffering, the capital was now in ruins. Huge quantities of food, medicine, and other daily necessities had to be immediately dispatched from the regions. Then, among the survivors in the army and palace, those with "demon spores" in their bodies had to be identified and isolated. Those left psychologically traumatized by the horrific experiences of this period had to be treated, including but not limited to those trapped in the mirror dimension, those transformed by "Him" into beast-headed humans, and those driven mad by witnessing the Demon Prince devouring living people...
In addition, he entertained allies, settled the army, completed the administrative handover between the old and new regimes, rebuilt the capital, restored production order, and reformed and rectified various problems that had arisen during the reign of the Yula Dynasty...
Of course, before discussing the solution to the above with Ulysses, John Deere and others, the first thing he had to do was to go to the White Tower to pick up Yaris, and by the way, protect Edmund who was hiding in the White Tower in the name of detention awaiting trial.
(I hope Edmund is still staying in the White Tower.)
Xiao Yun thought heavily.
(Although according to Edmund himself, he was also a victim, but for the people who suffered inhuman torture during this period, Edmund was the source of all the pain - no matter how many excuses he made up.)
…
When Xiao Yun arrived at the White Tower, the guards had been replaced by the Holy Empire Army.
Seeing the young and heroic Emperor, the knights saluted one after another.
"His Majesty!"
"When you arrive at the White Tower, here—"
“It’s very quiet.”
"Is there anything unusual?"
"No."
"That's good."
Xiao Yun breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the white tower, walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, pushed open the door, and was greeted by darkness and silence.
Xiao Yun's heart suddenly sank.
He suppressed his uneasiness and ordered the accompanying magician to light lamps for illumination.
Bang!
The magic lighting tools lit up, and what appeared in front of Xiao Yun was a large room arranged like a kitchen.
However, whether it was the long table in the middle of the room or the large and small hooks on the wall, they were all empty, no living people, no food, and the windows of the room were covered with two layers of curtains to ensure that the inside of the room could not be seen from the outside.
"There was no visible dust on the floor or on the table, the bottles and cans were neatly arranged, the windows were closed, yet the air inside was not stuffy, indicating that the person who lived here had only recently left, and hadn't left in a hurry."
Afterwards, Xiao Yun went to the fifth floor.
He slowly pushed open the bedroom door and looked at the exquisite and luxurious room decoration, and suddenly felt empty inside.
(Have you been living here all this time?)
(Although it is luxuriously decorated, and every detail reveals elegance and comfort, it is ultimately a cage, and those locked in it have no freedom...)
(These fresh, dewy Rosamaries in the pitcher are probably the only creatures here that know where you've been, and yet I can't get them to speak...)
Take a deep breath, lean forward, put your hands on the quilt, bury your head in the pillow, feel the body temperature of Yaris that has not completely dissipated, and absorb Yaris's warmth.
(If I could come to the White Pagoda earlier, if I went to the White Pagoda, would I be able to see you?)
"If there's warmth inside the quilt, it means the bed is straight."
Xiao Yun forced himself to stand up calmly. "Given my brother's personality, even if he was temporarily forced to move, he would definitely leave relevant clues. Everyone, search carefully!"
"yes!"
, was about to search——
"Your Majesty! There's someone hiding in the bathroom!"
"who?"
Xiao Yun walked quickly to the bathroom. In the dim light from the candlestick, he saw a lifeless, skinny person curled up in a large bathtub without water. His golden hair was dull and dry like an old man's white hair.
"Edmund?"
Hearing this, Edmund turned his head, revealing his wrinkled face that looked like a centenarian.
After seeing the identity of the visitor, he said weakly: "Lucien... Is it Lucien's cousin?"
"Yes, I was your cousin, but now—"
"You are now Aura I, the first emperor of the Holy Sun Empire."
Edmund whispered, curling up against the edge of the tub.
At this moment, he looked as if his life energy had been sucked out. He was as haggard and weak as a terminally ill patient who could collapse at any time. His voice was hoarse and his eyes were panicked: "Lucien... Lucien... Your appearance here, does it mean that the Demon Prince is dead?"
"Well, it's dead."
Xiao Yun looked at Edmund coldly.
"What's going on here?"
"I have no idea."
"You really don't know?"
"I……"
"If you don't say anything—"
"Am I still afraid of death or torture in my current state?"
Edmund looked at Xiao Yun in pain.
"really……"
Xiao Yun sighed.
Edmund is only breathing his last breath, and any means of torture are ineffective against him. But he is the only person he can find who knows the whereabouts of Yaris!
"...Lucien."
Edmund suddenly spoke again, his voice low and groggy, like a dream.
"For a long time, I felt like I was dreaming, walking around in my dreams, talking in my dreams... I knew I was dreaming, and I wanted to end this terrible dream, to wake up from it. But I couldn't do anything. My body was controlled by another force. I felt desperate and helpless..."
"Dream? To you, all the death, misfortune, and despair that have occurred in recent years is just a dream?"
"...I'm sorry! But I really am... I'm trapped in dreams again and again. I always remember the afternoon when we first met. The sun was bright, and Yaris was beautiful. I ran to him again and again, wanting his attention, but his eyes were only on you... Only He paid attention to me. He told me that He could give me what I wanted... and then..."
"And you sold your soul to Him?"
"I don't know... I don't know... I don't know when everything started..."
Edmund spoke weakly, choking and crying.
"I know that you and the people outside want to execute me, and I think it's justified. I have no doubt that I will be the first emperor in five thousand years to die on the guillotine, but I hope you understand that it is not entirely my fault that I have come to this point..."
“He forced his way into my mind and took over my body and soul. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out… I was powerless, I had nothing, I didn’t even know when I was awake and when I was asleep… Sometimes, I would regain consciousness for a while and watch Him use my body to do things I couldn’t do and things I didn’t want to do… I couldn’t do anything, I could only watch…”
"You think you were forced throughout this?"
"Not everything is forced... At least, I feel happy when I see Him targeting you... I have had complicated feelings towards Yaris since I was a child. I like his beauty, but I hate his intelligence..."
"I feel an extraordinary pleasure when I think of how his body had to endure the toyourstery of the gods from the age of sixteen, how he would be paralyzed before he turned thirty, gradually losing his sight and hearing, and even his vocal cords would gradually lose the ability to produce clear sounds due to genetic defects. Yet, his brain remained clear, and his face retained an inhuman beauty until his death. He was like a living puppet carefully crafted to satisfy some morbid hobby...."
"No wonder He found you... Although you try to portray yourself as pitiful, your essence is the same as His... No, your actions are even worse and more despicable. He is not human, and He has no need to empathize with humans. But you are human, born into a royal family, educated as an emperor from childhood, and deserve to enjoy everything this world has to offer. Yet, because your own desires were unsatisfied, you sold your country to the Demon King of another world."
Xiao Yun said coldly.
"You're right, I brought this upon myself... I was trapped in despair, I put my country, my family, and myself in danger because I was a jealous, stupid, greedy fool!"
Edmund howled, his voice hoarse and his mind mad.
"You've been to Yaris's room. Do you want to know how he's been spending the past few months?"
"Now I just want to know where he was taken!"
"Well..."
Edmund looked up, and the corners of his wrinkled mouth drew into a twisted, vicious arc.
"If I just keep silent, will I be able to live longer?"
"I don't mind using magical interrogation on you."
"Magic interrogation?"
Edmund sneered and looked at Xiao Yun mockingly: "If you really let the magician perform a magic interrogation on me, you will get a confession that will make you want to kill me immediately!"
"What's the meaning?"
"My brain is filled with a vast amount of memories related to Yaris. Some are real, some are my fantasies, and some are his imaginations... Unfortunately, because my brain was shattered by him long ago, I can no longer distinguish what is real and what is delusion. I live in a world of truth and falsehood, crying, going crazy, and feeling powerless..."
"Tell me everything you can think of, and I'll tell the truth from the false."
"Really?"
Edmund looked at Xiao Yun tremblingly.
Xiao Yun nodded firmly.
"...He, like me, was filled with a twisted interest in the secrets of Yaris. So, before He left, we often studied Yaris's body together. We devised various methods to try to remove the gods' restrictions on Yaris, pulling out his nails with red-hot iron needles, crushing his hands with heavy hammers, and tearing his Achilles tendon with spiked whips..."
“…”
Xiao Yun clenched his fists.
"But none of these methods worked. No matter what we did, we couldn't cause any substantial harm to his body. The only time he felt pain was when I told him one day that no one would like a monster like you, not even your mother or your brother. He said it was impossible, that Lucien would never abandon him. I said that the Lucien now is not the same Lucien as before. He treats you well because you can bring him good things that are rare in the world. Once you can no longer bring him good things, he will abandon you as ruthlessly as throwing away old clothes!"
"Then what?"
"Then he fell silent, tears slowly streaming down his face. That was the first time I saw him cry. He sat on his bed and cried silently all night, like a young girl abandoned by her first love. For a moment, I wondered if his eyes would go blind prematurely from crying so much."
At this, Edmund sighed.
"In my memory, Yaris was truly E's darling. There was nothing in the world he couldn't get that he wanted, but towards you... he was always afraid, afraid that you would abandon him... I don't understand... why he would be so insecure only when it came to things related to you..."
"because--"
(Because he knows I'm not the real Lucien.)
Xiao Yun was silent.
"After discovering his weakness, we tried every possible way to tease him with words like 'you'll abandon him someday,' but he never shed a single tear. Perhaps he knew we were toying with him and didn't want us to succeed, or perhaps he'd already accepted his fate of being abandoned and hated... After all, who would like a born freak?"
“…You are so vicious.”
"You probably already know what happened next. Something happened within the True Human Empire, and He hurried back to deal with it. The Demon Prince, fearing he would be shackled, decided to tear my body apart and give birth prematurely. To save my life, I sought help from Yaris, and Yaris agreed... because he believed that publicly executing the previous monarch would give you and the new dynasty you founded greater legitimacy and orthodoxy. He truly loved you and did everything he could to please you, even giving up all his pride and bottom line... He was even contaminated by the Demon Prince, and the divine restrictions on him began to collapse!"
"What did you say!"
"I said that the restrictions of the gods that protected his body from external harm have gradually collapsed with the birth of the Demon Prince."
"...Then isn't he in danger now?"
"Yes, he is in a very dangerous situation now."
A sinister grin appeared on Edmund's face.
"Without the protection of the gods' prohibitions, he will suffer all kinds of torture carefully designed by them until his body and mind are completely broken, and even his basic rationality is gone."
"So it was He who took Yaris away!"
"That's right."
Edmund nodded. "When it comes to desire, He is even more insane and perverted than humans. He has borrowed my body many times to embrace women and beautiful boys. Everyone He embraced either became addicted to the twisted and perverted stimulation or died midway through His favorite horrific acts that far exceeded the human body's endurance. And Yaris's body is a vessel carefully crafted by the gods to achieve a certain purpose... Even his sweat carries a fragrance similar to Bisarua..."
"I have no interest in your obscene fantasies. I just want to know where He took him!"
“…”
Edmund looked at Xiao Yun in surprise: "What did you just say?"
"I said, I'm going to find him and bring him back."
"He can no longer bring you any real benefits or advantages!"
"He is my family. The love between family members is an innate bond of blood and has nothing to do with profit."
"Even if it costs me my life?"
"That's right! No matter what the cost, I will find him. This is the agreement between him and me. He said he would wait for me, always. I can't let him wait for too long."
"you--"
Edmund's expression turned resentful again.
"If you want to save him, you must go to the East Continent! Any later and it might be too late!"
"I do think so."
"You actually intend to do this! Do you know what the price will be?"
Edmund panted. "You just became emperor, and the country just ended the civil war. Everything is still unstable and full of variables..."
"The worst that can happen is that you lose everything you have now."
Xiao Yun said nonchalantly, "I accepted the cheers of 'Long Live' and was crowned Emperor Aura I in Denos, not because I wanted to be emperor, but because Yaris believed that the masses needed a banner to lead them to overthrow the Yula Dynasty, and I just happened to meet the requirements to become a banner. My true dream is to create a new world without emperors and classes, where everyone has equal citizenship..."
"Yaris won't agree with you doing this!"
"No, he likes this kind of future. His dream is to live with me in a brand new world as ordinary citizens, to see each other every day, to hug each other before going to bed and eating, and to spend our lives in peace and tranquility..."
“…”
Edmund was completely stunned.
After a long time——
"I'll tell you everything I know..."
…
…
"What!"
"Ah, uh..."
"Say what you just said again!"
"His Majesty……"
"Why, you became mute?"
Alfonso stood up and walked towards the messenger, who was now trembling with fear, sweating profusely, and almost collapsed on the ground.
His movements were slow and his voice was not harsh, but he exuded an astonishing murderous aura.
The other people present suddenly breathed faster and their heartbeats quickened, but no one dared to step forward to stop him - they were afraid of being affected by his anger and were planning to sneak away.
"What exactly does the message John sent you, 'His Highness Yaris is not at the palace', mean?"
"It means... I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The messenger who came on John Deere's orders knelt on the ground and trembled.
"So...so he's really not here...or...or..."
Alfonso muttered, his expression gradually calming down, as if the shock and anger just now were just an illusion, but everyone knew that he was more dangerous when he was calm than when he was angry just now.
“…Where did he go?”
Alfonso muttered to himself, his voice low and suppressed, like that of a desperate beast.
People couldn't help but freeze again.
"His Majesty--"
"...I must see John immediately! And Lucien! I want them to give me a reasonable explanation! Where is Jarris! Where did he go?"
With a loud shout, Alfonso rushed out of the tent, sword in hand.
…
"--What did you say!"
John Deere, who was discussing with Ulysses how to solve the current dilemma, was shocked to learn that Alfonso had broken into the palace with more than a dozen elite cavalrymen after receiving the news.
"Report—His Highness Kairusha demands to see His Majesty immediately!"
The magician suddenly appeared and reported the second bad news.
“…”
Then, the two of them rushed out of the office at the same time.
"Alfonso—"
"You want to stop me?"
Alfonso, fully armed, rode on his horse and angrily looked at his childhood friend who had hurried over.
John Deere took a deep breath and forced a smile: "What happened? Why did you suddenly..."
"What do you think?"
Alfonso sneered, "I led the army here on an expedition for His Highness Jarris, and now this has happened! Tell me, why has the capital been liberated, but His Highness Jarris... Where is he! Where did he go? Where is Lucien? Where is Lucien? Why doesn't he come out to see me?"
"he--"
John Deere hesitated to speak.
"What's that expression? Are you hiding something from me?"
"I'm sorry, we..."
"If a major incident occurred within the Capital of Light, and you refused to tell me, does this mean that the Holy Sun Empire does not consider Barakhania and the Six Coastal Nations Alliance as allies?"
"That's not what I meant."
John Deere smiled wryly.
"What does that mean?"
"Because what happened is so serious, we are still discussing it... Sigh..."
John Deere took a breath, asked Alfonso to dismount, and the two of them entered the Prime Minister's office.
At the same time, Ulysses also brought Kairusha over.
…
"...What did you say? Such a thing!"
After listening to John Deere and Ulysses' stories, Alfonso and Kairusha were stunned.
"Yes, none of us expected that His Majesty would—"
John Deere lowered his head helplessly.
"I knew that His Highness Yaris was more important than all the crowns in the world combined, but I never imagined that His Majesty would... after receiving information about His Highness Yaris's whereabouts, embark on an adventurous journey into the unknown world without a second thought, completely disregarding the opinions of others! Nor the current state of the nation!"
"From the moment we received the message from His Majesty until now, John Deere and I have been very busy. There is at least a mountain of things we need to deal with in the Imperial Palace alone."
Ulysses sighed, took out an exquisite box from the drawer and handed it to the two of them.
"Inside the box is a letter from His Majesty, Prince Yaris, who asked His Majesty to pass it on to you two, as well as His Majesty's apology and explanation for his sudden departure. Please—read these letters before getting angry with us!"
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