Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 532 Alertness
Yuno's face paled slightly. He understood that saying things to this point meant that the Ancient Dragon Dynasty would never accept him.

During his years in the North, he had conducted in-depth research on the new Dragon King. Ever since learning about the abolition of gladiatorial combat in the 46th year of the Golden Calendar, which originated in Rodel and later spread throughout the entire border region, he had come to a conclusion about Lucia Sanx that even he himself found perplexing—

This Dragon King, son of the Dragon God, sole heir to Sky City, and demigod of the highest bloodline in the world, although nominally he has not yet fully ruled over Fam Azra and the inherent territories of the Far East Islands, seems to have developed a perception that he regards all the land under heaven as his own territory and all the people under heaven as his own subjects, and he truly practices what he preaches, following the "way of the king" that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.

Such an outlier who goes against the secular power system, killing him is not some trick of giving a beating and then a sweet treat. He can't explain the value of keeping his life alive in a few words. If he were to be hit, he would probably be shattered even more completely than that former giant saint.

"Your Majesty," Yuno swallowed hard and said cautiously, "It took me twelve years to create this barrier array. I laid out the rune circuits all the way to the outer edge of the furnace ley lines, and at the same time set up bloodline and spiritual imprints as insurance. If Your Majesty kills me here, not only will the ley line seal be completely closed, but this barrier will also turn into a cage."

He carefully chose his words, striving to project an imposing presence while avoiding making the "threat" sound too harsh and thus angering Lucia.

"Of course, with your and His Majesty Katopella's abilities, breaking the seal and barrier would be easy given enough time. However, this place is the central turning point of these tens of thousands of miles of ley lines. Without the magic array I set up to conceal it, the end of the ley lines beneath Starfall Peak will sense energy fluctuations no less than an earthquake at any time. The false king Chareleus, along with the ancestors, is coming along the ley lines, which will eventually put the situation in a somewhat passive position."

"Your Majesty, please consider this: I would exchange my life for the initiative in this decisive battle, so that tens of thousands of your soldiers would not die in vain. After this matter is over, you will unify the northern border and can issue a new kill order. I will continue to be a fugitive, and Your Majesty will no longer need to show me mercy. Is such a deal fair?"

Yuno's speech exhausted all his strength, but the dragon's might pressing on his limbs and bones did not lessen. Instead, it became more suffocating, like molten iron gradually cooling and solidifying. Sweat had already soaked through the lining of his robes, and even his spine groaned from the unbearable pressure.

From the moment he met Lucia, he realized that this would be the most dangerous part of his plan so far. But as he confessed to Katopella, only monsters can fight monsters, and only kings can stand against kings.

Without Lucia's support, seizing the ley line runes from under Chareleus's nose would be a dead end, and to gain Lucia's support, one must fall into this desperate situation where life and death are in someone else's hands.

In his fear, the once high-ranking Archbishop of Flames couldn't stop the resentment growing in his heart. At the same time, he frantically mobilized his remaining mental strength to suppress his anger, lest the monster among monsters in front of him see through his disguise and slap him to death.

His only chance of survival was if Lucia spared him temporarily; as for trying to gamble with forbidden spells, that was not even on Yuno's radar.

Yuno, who inherited the "Flesh of the Abnormality," knew very well that after the Battle of the Nameless Plains, the Royal Court retrieved the remains of the former Tenth Progenitor, Adonis. On that battlefield, Adonis led an army of 100,000, empowered by the Curse of Immortality, claiming to be on par with a king, and faced Lucia in his full glory. But what was the result?
"Remains" was just a respectful term used by the giants to refer to Adonis's mutilated body; in reality, it was nothing more than a lump of rotten flesh that had almost turned to ashes!

If it weren't for the fact that the Tenth Titan's size far exceeded that of ordinary Titans, they wouldn't even have been able to distinguish him from the debris left after the other Titans were blasted apart!
Yuno listened to his thunderous heartbeat. During their last meeting, he had already realized that the Queen of Death was nothing like a normal person; now, it seemed that the Dragon King, who was so close to her, was even more so.
Suddenly, just when he was almost in despair, the terrifying dragon's might vanished.

Yuno's legs, which had been struggling to hold on for so long, suddenly twitched and went limp, finally causing him to kneel down.

"Have you prepared the method for extracting runes from the earth's veins?" A detached voice inquired from above.

"Yes, yes, the ley lines still retain the seals left by Saint Hethenes when he cut off the ley lines of the furnace. I have used the blood essence of those two first giants as a guide to construct the unsealing array, which is available for Your Majesty to use at any time."

"Where are your former comrades, Archbishop Olivia and her subordinates, as well as the remnants of the garrison and the sanctuary that you dragged here?"

"As I have reported to His Majesty Katopella before, the ley lines are quite vast, and I do not know the exact location of Bishop Olivia. Since you two have already arrived here, why don't you go ahead first? I believe Bishop Olivia will arrive soon after she notices."

"No need, go and prepare to activate your unsealing array first."

Lucia frowned and waved his hand, as if shooing away an annoying fly. "Now that we're here, I can roughly sense their location. Let's find them first, and then we'll come find you together."

Yuno hesitated for a moment, raised his eyes a few inches, and saw that Katpera behind Lucia was looking up at the sky with his hands behind his back, as if he was following the former's instructions. So he said no more and bowed his head and said: "Yes - this ley line space was originally designed only for me and a few trusted subordinates to operate. The structure is not complicated. Afterwards, you only need to follow the fluctuations of my aura to go to the core area where the unsealing array is located. I will be waiting for you there."

After saying that, Yuno didn't dare to linger any longer, as if afraid that Lucia might suddenly change her mind. She hurriedly disappeared below the path and went to prepare for the lifting of the lockdown as required.

Katarpera watched the disheveled figure, then quietly shuffled forward half a step, his arms behind his back, and came to Lucia's side, saying, "Actually, I already gave him a warning once at the Fourth Legion's base. He's just an insignificant nobody. Why scare him again?"

Lucia narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm not bluffing. I just confirmed the heinous crimes he committed and learned your identity. I really want to kill him right now."

Carterpera was actually quite pleased to hear that he still cared about her identity, but she grumbled, "Whatever, just don't kill them now and mess things up. And Olivia and the others—why the rush? Why do you have to go find them right away?"

Lucia turned to look at her nonchalant and relaxed demeanor and couldn't help but say, "After all, it's someone else's territory that they've been preparing for for many years. I'm afraid that things might change if things go wrong. If something happens, we might not be able to help them in time. As for you, don't forget how you crashed and burned back then. No matter how strong you are, it's always good to be more cautious."

Surprisingly, this time when he mentioned his humiliating defeat to Marika, Katpera did not become angry or embarrassed. Instead, she remained silent for a moment, her beautiful face as radiant as a thawing ice river in early spring. She smiled gently and said, "Okay, I'll remember your words. Let's encourage each other."

(End of this chapter)