Chapter 195: Tens of thousands of [father-in-law and mother-in-law]? Ask the son-in-law to die!
Wind and snow—the eternal elegy of the Alps.
Today, this elegy played for a broken army.
A helicopter tore through the roaring blizzard, hovering over a natural fortress violently blown open.
A tall, immaculate figure was the first to leap down, her combat boots treading on the frozen, red-and-black stained earth, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding snowy peaks.
In the valley's depression, a heavy iron gate should have stood, the entrance to the Rebel Army headquarters.
Now, that iron gate, along with the mountain it was embedded in, had become a massive, inwardly collapsed breach.
Around the breach, corpses lay everywhere.
The armed believers had met tragic ends, their limbs severely mutilated.
Even worse, some bodies were disintegrating into fine, sand-like particles, scattering into nothingness with a gust of cold wind.
The biting mountain wind suppressed the stench of death, but it couldn't disperse the blood and despair that hung thick in the air.
Kazematsuri Kousan, following behind Edelweiss, saw this hellish scene, his pupils constricting abruptly, his aged face filled with solemnity.
"As expected, we were still too late…"
Before long, subordinates who had gone ahead to investigate returned one by one, bringing back even more despairing news.
"Report, the base interior… all annihilated. Including the twelve apostles on guard, not a single survivor."
The Rebel Army headquarters had become a silent tomb.
Kazematsuri Kousan gripped his round-headed staff tightly, his voice incredibly hoarse.
"This kind of shocking and tragic scene absolutely couldn't have been caused by Puppet King alone."
Edelweiss nodded slightly, her calm eyes sweeping over the battlefield.
"There's a dry and violent magical energy lingering in the air. It should be Desert Death."
"It's him!?" Kazematsuri Kousan's expression changed drastically, "That monster, did he team up with Puppet King!?"
Desert Death Nasim, active on the Middle Eastern battlefield, the world's strongest mercenary.
As long as he participated in a battle, regardless of good or evil, the scales of victory would inevitably tip, a walking natural disaster.
In other words, the opponent was also a Demon!
Unlike Kazematsuri Kousan, who was in shock, Edelweiss, who had meticulously surveyed the scene, frowned slightly, analyzing calmly.
"It's not just him. Judging from the traces of destruction at the scene, there are at least two other accomplices."
She pointed to the terrifying, bottomless crack on the adjacent mountain wall, and the human potted plants with eerie roses crawling on their skin, scattered in the corridor.
Kazematsuri Kousan observed the extremely familiar execution method, his eyes flickering.
"Puppet King's loyal follower, Giant Baby. I'm not surprised he would betray us."
"The other… is likely the fierce dog kept by the Rebel Army themselves, the strongest of the assassin clan, Evil Flower A茵."
The more Kazematsuri Kousan spoke, the more alarmed he became, suddenly raising his staff and fiercely striking the blood-stained, frozen ground.
"What exactly do these lawless monsters want to do by gathering together?"
Edelweiss recalled Arthur's previous instructions and looked up at Kazematsuri Kousan.
"Could their target… still be Sir Arthur?"
Kazematsuri Kousan gasped, immediately took out his mobile terminal from his Pregnant, and quickly transmitted the information.
...
The private plane cut through the sea of clouds, cruising steadily high above the sky.
Inside the cabin, luxurious like a five-star hotel, Stella slowly woke up in Arthur's arms, like a lazy cat that had slept its fill.
She would occasionally look up to steal a glance at her lover, who was engrossed in reading, and her lips couldn't help but curl into a silly, doting smile.
"Fu wu!"
Fou, however, suddenly pounced onto the large bed, stepping on Stella's face with one paw, using the leverage to bounce onto Arthur's head.
The pure white cub extended its claws and frantically dug through his hair, venting its unease.
"Mmm… Fou, why have you been so restless ever since we got on the plane? Come down."
Stella rubbed her sore nose bridge, trying to grab the mischievous little one, but it nimbly dodged her every time.
Arthur closed the book with a "snap," reaching out with lightning speed to precisely pinch Fou's scruff.
"It has acrophobia and dislikes the feeling of weightlessness, so it becomes unusually irritable whenever it's on a plane."
Stella suddenly understood, turning her head to look at the clock on the wall, and gently comforted it.
"Fou, just hold on a little longer. In two hours, we'll arrive at the Vermillion Royal Capital."
Fou scrunched up its small face, its agile beast eyes full of resentment.
It simply broke free from Arthur's hand, forcefully squeezed between the two of them, curled itself into a ball, and buried its head to sleep.
Arthur glanced at Stella, who was gently stroking Fou's fur to comfort it, and reopened the half-read Taoist scripture.
The words on the pages now held a new meaning in his eyes.
[From ancient times to the present, a Blazer who transcends the limits of the soul and breaks free from the shackles of fate is a Demon!]
[However, when the soul transforms into something non-human, how can the body, as a vessel, maintain a mortal form?]
[Based on this, the ancient sages proposed a terrifying hypothesis: Super-Awakening!]
[A soul that is already non-human will inversely interfere with the physical body. Ultimately, the body will undergo a qualitative change to accommodate the soul, transforming into a form more suitable to bear its mighty power!]
Reading this, a hint of solemnity flashed in Arthur's eyes.
Wasn't this precisely his and Star Light of Salvation's current predicament?
Strong soul, weak body.
That overly self-willed Holy Sword constantly yearned to unleash its full radiance; any suppression would incur its displeasure.
To perfectly control it, the best way was to evolve his "vessel," to grow into an individual capable of bearing that radiance.
He also thought of Stella and her Hiryū Zai Ken.
The perfect fusion of soul and spiritual armament, indistinguishable, form no longer mattered.
The concept of a dragon was never confined to the blade, so what about starlight?
At this thought, the Star Light of Salvation within him trembled slightly, giving a proud response.
...
Time flowed in contemplation as the plane crossed over Eastern Europe and arrived in Vermillion, a land of windmills and grasslands.
Taking advantage of the moment to tidy his clothes, Arthur recalled the information he had reviewed on the way.
Vermillion, a small country that had separated from the neighboring Kuiduolan, maintained an absolute monarchy, rare in modern society.
The people revered the royal family, and the royal family, in turn, protected the people.
Stella once told him that Vermillion was a country, but even more, it was a big family.
This statement received its most terrifying validation the moment the two stepped out of the cabin.
Tens of thousands of people surrounded the airport tarmac, packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through, and the cheers, like a mountain tsunami, almost shattered one's eardrums!
"Princess Stella! Welcome home!"
"You've worked hard cultivating outside!"
"Is this the son-in-law? Oh my, he's so handsome!"
"Welcome, son-in-law, to our Vermillion!"
Wave after wave of enthusiasm almost drowned Arthur.
"Princess Stella, you must report to His Majesty the King first, right?"
A burly middle-aged woman squeezed to the front row and shouted loudly.
"Don't let the son-in-law wait outside the castle. How about we, the people, give him a good tour of the Royal Capital?"
"We've secretly prepared some 'surprises' and want the son-in-law to understand our country better. What do you think?"
The people behind her immediately echoed in unison, and Stella's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
Only Arthur's eyebrows arched slightly, and a playful smile curved his lips.
His intuition told him that this so-called 'surprise' was probably not that simple.
The naive Stella, without suspicion, gave a few simple instructions, then boarded the royal motorcade and headed towards the castle.
When the motorcade completely disappeared at the end of the road, the tens of thousands of enthusiastic, smiling faces instantly froze, and then, twisted!
All the smiles on their faces receded, replaced by cold, scrutinizing, and even fierce gazes!
The next second, a series of "kacha" and "shuala" sounds rang out from the crowd!
Hoes, shovels, and baseball bats were drawn from behind them, glinting with cold light!
Locked onto by tens of thousands of murderous gazes, Arthur merely chuckled and shrugged.
He casually took out durandal from his storage bag, its tip lightly touching the ground.
"Everyone, could you first give me a reason to act?"
In the crowd, a burly man's eyes instantly turned crimson, as he gnashed his teeth and roared out everyone's heartfelt sentiment.
"Reason? Our national treasure, held in our palms, our Princess, whom we cherish as a precious gem, has been defiled by you, you scoundrel!!!"
"Defiled…" Arthur scratched his cheek, his expression a little unnatural, "Alright, I can't really argue with that point."
A wisp of pale light ignited in his eyes, and invisible winds gathered high in the sky. durandal's blade pointed distantly at the steel jungle formed by the angry populace.
"I accept your 'judgment'. So—attack."