Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 450

Chapter 450: Arrogance
The arachne queen, Shizuka and her royal court spent several days attempting to recover and repair the damaged walls and help wounded warriors as much as possible.

However, because of the speed at which the empire sent its delegation and ambassador regarding the ceasefire. It threw a wrench in her plans because they came too soon.

‘It seems the Empire was prepared for this before the battle ended,’ Asura thought in silence, rubbing his chin. Today, they would accept the Empire’s delegation, yet he felt it strange they could come from the capital so far away in a matter of days. ‘Did they anticipate winning or causing enough damage to weaken the monster kingdoms enough to surrender?’

Today, only those with high battle power and status would be present from Asura’s side, although Helliana wanted to join. He requested she stay away. He now owed her two dates in return, but that was fine.

Amalia stood to his right and Ignis to Asura’s left. They seemed to have fought with Lucia during the evening before deciding who would escort him.

“Are you nervous, My Prince?” Ignis seemed to change her way of addressing him depending on the situation, her eyes watching the small crowd of elder arachne and monster nobles and leaders who sat on either side of the walkway.

Asura shrugged before he looked down at Ignis, offering a small smirk, “Of course not. There is nothing they can do.” He truly didn’t believe this delegate would cause many issues. Though whether they would pay for their crimes, felt hard to say.

‘If they try to blame Arachneas, what stance will the queen take?’ He wondered while pinching Ignis on the nose.

“Brother, it feels like they are arriving soon…” Amalia was a good girl. Her eyes watched the distant gates and saw the carriages from the north. “Who will represent us?”

“The Queen, of course. I will be there as her guard, along with the royal knights. She will have a few others with her, though I am unsure who.” The distance was still quite far. The white flags signalled they came for peace talks and not war.

Ignis fixed her hair and rubbed her nose after Asura let go. “It seems like a good thing she chose the courtyard instead of the throne room. We need to repair the palace anyway.”

Amalia and Asura looked at each other and then at Ignis, nodding in agreement.

“However, thankfully she let us join the conference. We aren’t a part of either nation, after all, it seems they don’t wish to offer a truce with Silvara, after all.” Asura curled his lips, creating an aggressive smile.

Shizuka sat on her throne. Normally, Asura thought she would be in her arachne form. Instead, her long white hair draped down to her thighs shone in the sunlight, glossy and beautiful. Instead, she sat in a humanoid form, with her fluffy legs extended from her back while she watched the empire’s ambassador approach.

“Is this alright, brother? You had no time to rest.”

“I feel fine, Amalia. I can always go rest if needed. Besides, this is a chance to show the Empire that the monster kingdom is not alone, and that they should never attack again.”

“My Prince is so kind, lending your prestige to the small monster kingdom.” Ignis nodded, convinced of her comment, before facing the procession.

Several empire warriors wore ceremonial swords and masks, while the ambassador wore a white robe embroidered in emerald green, the empire’s main colour for high-class and noble people.

The several priests and nobles of the empire stepped forward, with a single male at the front. He seemed to be someone in a prominent position. His gaze watched the queen for a few moments before giving a light show of respect.

“It is my honour and pleasure to speak with the esteemed Queen of the Arachne Kingdom, and their gracious court.” The old man stepped forward, bowing his head deeply before moving on. “We have brought a gift from our empress and emperor if you would not mind accepting it.”

“I accept these gifts, and in return, the emperor and his wife may enjoy some delicacies of the arachne kingdom,” Shizuka said, her voice low and gentle as she nodded her head to a small group of maidens, who brought a large platter with several plates and cups, along with a teapot filled with the best tea the kingdom had.

Asura eyed the gifts brought, mostly books, scrolls, and a few pieces of jewellery. ‘Typical, useless things that the empire didn’t need.’

“Now then. May I ask why you have come to us? After the damage which your army has caused, I am afraid there is little that we can exchange.”

Shizuka and the ambassador continued to attack each other. Neither wanted to lose or let the other take the upper ground, so he let the empire become more arrogant. She treated them well but seemed to make it look like they were being ungrateful and offered only garbage.

“No, no, no, my queen. Our empress would not be so cruel. The army that attacked you has been disposed of.” The ambassador’s eyes glinted under the light. “It is a shame that some of your warriors seem to have caused a few issues while fleeing.”

“Oh?” Shizuka tilted her head, her voice cold. “And pray tell me, what would those issues be?”

“An imperial caravan, a village, and an outpost. All destroyed.” The ambassador was quick to respond.

“Such a shame. However!” Shizuka looked at Asura and gave a powerful gaze, different from her gentle look a few hours ago when the two were busy arranging future trade between the two kingdoms.

“It was the army of the empire. No monster, beast or man of this kingdom was to blame. There is no proof they did not cause this damage, nor do we know who did it.

The ambassador’s eyes turned sharp as he frowned, his face scrunching up as he glared at the queen. “I must protest–”

“Oh? You, a mere ambassador protest against this queen’s statement? Are you sure it wasn’t just because of your incompetent soldiers who failed to take a wall against an enemy army a fraction of the size, fufu?”

A feeling of two magical spells colliding filled the room. The contest between the empress and this messenger was amusing to Asura. Shizuka seemed to have the upper hand, though he could only imagine how the Emperor would react if they made a deal.

“Fine… The empire is willing to offer a formal ceasefire to the kingdom of monsters. However, there are a few things we must demand.”

“–Hang on!” Asura, this time, stepped forward, just as the queen requested. This way, it wouldn’t be her kingdom taking the heat but Silvara. “I don’t believe a losing army is in any situation able to make demands from the army that defeated them.”

Asura’s handsome smile caused the Ambassador’s face to twist in irritation, yet he didn’t seem to mind.

“Pray to tell, where, and how did the empire’s army lose?” The ugly folds of skin on the ambassador’s face shook as he spoke in a tone of detail and a negative tone.

“Hahaha, oh forgive me but I didn’t realise the Empire ambassador was also a comedian. Imagine losing over 20,000 troops and barely killing 400 and not thinking that it was a complete disaster. Maybe I should burn the empire’s capital down, and they’d say it was a friendly barbeque instead.”

“YOU INSOLENT FOOL!” A noble shouted at Asura.

Despite that, however, his body was soon held down by several arachne knights and Ignis with a blade to the old man’s throat.

“Tut, tut, tut, an empire noble insulting a foreign prince. I wonder what the empress and emperor would think when her people disobey and go against the wishes of the royal family.”

“He is merely a monster of low blood, not a prince of any kind.” The Ambassador answered, however, his face changed, a slight tremble in his hands as she nervously seemed to peek at Asura’s face.

‘Oh? Is that how these people view me, what an amusing assessment.’

“Low blood, a prince, a demon. He is still a guest of this kingdom and is of greater importance and status than yourself, a mere Messenger. How dare you insult the prince of Silvara, he carries such pure and noble blood!”

“What, but you’re a monster.” A priest whispered, obviously dissatisfied about his superiors speaking to a woman who was named a witch.

“A demon, a monster, an evil. I guess those are all titles for a proud and strong bloodline. It is a shame you would consider yourself so superior, thinking you are the strongest and highest class of beings.”

“But in the end, you are just a human. A race with a self-inflated ego about their importance, despite being irrelevant to the world.” Shizuka continued with a wicked grin on her lips. The delegate knew the facts and wanted to come hard to politics, causing their weak stance right now.

‘It was a fact they lost most of their main army and even the second prince was now deceased. They were forced to come begging, and they must have a plan for how they wish to handle this situation.'”Now then, I’ll ask again. What demands do you have?”

“Well, firstly, we demand that the kingdom hand over all the warriors who have fled, and that the kingdom allows our priests to purify the lands….” His words continued but they were trying to use this as an excuse to steal the land of the monster kingdom under the pretence of purifying the lands.

Shizuka matched her gaze with Asura, and they both smiled because they heard almost exactly what they planned in the meeting the night before.

“Hah! I don’t believe there is anything to discuss, Ambassador, please take your leave for today.”