Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 457

Chapter 457: The Consquences of crossing the Devouring Monarch

A small group of horsemen raced away from the city of Arachneas as if they were in grave danger. The leader was the ambassador who came to seek reparations for the clash between the monster kingdom and the empire, which caused the loss of nearly seventy thousand.

This includes those who were vaporised when Asura lost control and manifested his monstrous form, wiping out dozens of villages and towns from the empire.

“Ambassador… is this really alright for us to do?” A knight from the empire with a young face asked. He wasn’t quite seasoned enough to accept the deadly effect of the bomb.

“Hmph! Those monsters refused our kind terms and insulted our emperor. Thus, we will destroy their land and take those mines while trampling their filthy corpses.”

“B-But the Prince of Silvara was also there if he suffers any injuries…”

The loud sound of horse hooves galloping echoed while the knights all looked at the young man and felt a sense of loss. It would be likely this boy would be sent to the lowest rung of duty because he questioned the Ambassador, who was selfish and sought his benefits over anything else.

The ambassador’s eyes turned red, and he glared at the young man.

“You… you dare question my decision?”

“No! I was just thinking of the consequences!” The knight shook his head as he thought about what would happen after this.

“What consequences? That monster deserves to die the most! He will be a glorious target to allow us to destroy the kingdom of infidels and hybrids once and for all!” The knight shut his mouth as he could not retort further.

They were ordered to ride their horses with their heavy equipment towards the closest city called Behemoth, where the mining facilities were located.

There was also the possibility of finding a treasure trove of minerals and precious metals in the mountains. However, because the damage from the explosive would last several days, the empire stationed all their troops in Behemoth and wanted to wait for everything to clear.

‘This foolish boy, I will make him mine ore for the rest of his life!’

The ambassador grinned as he looked at the young knight, who seemed to have given up.

“Hmph! You will thank me later when we return to the capital. The emperor will give us all a higher position and glorious reward because of this mission.”

All the other knights also smiled as they thought of the rewards they would receive, especially if they were to get any treasures from the mines. The ambassador then remembered the words spoken by the emperor himself.

“Good work, Ambassador. The empire will grant you the title of Lord for this accomplishment. Make sure to bring me the minerals you find. You may even keep one-tenth of them.” One knight grumbled, one of the older knights who followed the ambassador for the longest time.

Although it sounded like a decrease, the ambassador was currently not a noble nor able to own his land. A noble title and even a tenth of the spoils were far greater than any reward he had received before. This was a testament to how important this mission was to the Emperor.

The group of knights continued to ride towards Behemoth until they halted when the ground beneath them began to shake. The horses whinnied and began to become restless as the rumbling sound grew closer.

“What is that sound?!” A knight with a moustache shouted.

“Strange…” The ambassador looked at the walls of Behemoth, less than a few hundred metres away.

The shaking grew stronger, and the ground became unstable, causing the knights to panic.

“W-What is happening?!”

“It seems the mine is collapsing!” A knight shouted in fear.

“Calm down! Our knights were already in the area, and there were no signs of a collapse! This is just a natural occurrence!” The ambassador felt a sense of unease, but he refused to say anything to the knights and instead insisted things were fine.

However, just as they began to recover themselves, a huge purple flash blinded them. The flash originated from Behemoth, but the moment the ambassador saw the flash, his jaw dropped, and he panicked, trying to turn away. ‘It can’t be… this is too horrible, how can I die?! There is no way I can outrun…’

BOOM!

The flash of light ended, followed by a gigantic explosion that sent shockwaves and wind currents blowing past them.

“AHHHHH!”

“AHHHHH!”

“AHHHHH!”

The screams of the knights could be heard as they flew away, their bodies ripped apart, and the horses and their riders were also torn apart, creating a bloody mess.

‘How can it be here?’ The ambassador’s last thoughts vanished as the entire area became swallowed by the purple light and the following explosion.

Nothing survived in a fifty-mile radius. The bomb placed in the Aracheas royal palace was somehow moved to Behemoth and exploded, destroying the city and all the surrounding villages.

An immense cloud appeared in the sky, forming a mushroom, as a secondary wave of force crushed and destroyed all monsters and people in the area. Then, radiation expanded outward.

All monsters were burnt to ash, and even the empire’s troops stationed in the city miles away from Behemoth were also wiped out. This was a scene of destruction on a scale never seen before, something that was only possible through modern bombs and technology.

The death toll continued to rise as the mushroom cloud rose high into the air.

Though Asura knew thousands would die from the aftermath, this was an ancient weapon, from the time when the abyss invaded the world and the upper realms sent their troops to bombard them with the same weapon.

Now, there might be one or two remaining after the upper realm took most of them back after the victory.

They didn’t want those weapons to fall into the hands of any demons or inferior creatures who sought to rebel, so they kept a minimum amount.

However, now, a bomb like that had been used against the empire, and no doubt it would cause a ripple that would cripple their empire for a long time after losing their major source of metals and minerals in the mining city of Behemoth.

“It serves you right, foolish Emperor.” Asura sat on the mountain and watched the devastation.

His eyes tingled with the flash of light, but unlike others, he wouldn’t go blind. ‘It reminds me of the weapons of mass destruction in my first life… they would destroy entire continents and leave nothing… not even radiation behind.’

****

Hours later, as messengers rushed into the gates of the royal palace, the emperor sat on his throne with a dull gaze, looking down at his retainers and generals.

Emperor Shang Wei looked around the throne room. Head eunuch Xu Ming gazed back with a sense of loss.

“Your Highness, the news of Behemoth is true,” he said in a low voice. “They have reported that the city has been wiped out, and none survived the attack.”

“…” Shang Wei stared at the old man. The news of Behemoth City being destroyed was no surprise, but it shocked him that the entire city vanished off the map along with surrounding villages. “…” He seemed so stunned that no words left his lips.

The Emperor of the Empire looked as if he was in a trance. He didn’t even realise that his body was shivering.

“What is going to happen now, your Highness?” the Prime Minister asked. “The losses are so great that we will have to use up all of our gold reserves to rebuild the city and provide assistance to the surrounding people.”

“Gold, assistance?” The emperor’s hoarse voice sounded while looking at the empty seat of his son, the fallen second prince. “How did we lose even more people… Did my son’s enemy die?”

After he spoke, a dreadful silence remained, revealing the fact that his son’s enemy was, in fact, alive.

“I cannot believe the monsters of that kingdom can do such things.” The prime minister shook his head while the rest of the officials sighed.

‘This was what we get for angering them…’ They all thought, not wanting to admit it.

However, the emperor and Xu Ming knew it was THEM that created this situation, taking an ancient weapon from the sacred vaults of the empire, items that were kept in case the empire was on the verge of destruction. Now, they had lost a major source of their economy and countless lives.

And the weapon that could have turned the tides of war…

“What are we going to do, Your Highness?” The prime minister asked again, hoping the emperor would recover from his shock.

“…” The emperor stared blankly, making no sign of answering.

“Your Highness!” Xu Ming shouted at him, causing his eyes to focus once again.

“The monsters killed my son.” Shang Wei mumbled, but the eunuch heard it and felt a sense of dread.

‘This is not good. That fool prince really got us into trouble… He cost us so much that we no longer have any of those weapons or barriers from ancient times left. Our research wasn’t complete when he took them, and now they are nothing but scrap in the hands of our enemies!’ Xu Ming thought, knowing that the emperor was already past the point of no return.

“What are we going to do?” The prime minister asked once more, only to be ignored.

The emperor’s eyes turned cold and bloodshot as he looked at his retainers. “We will destroy them, Silvara, Romantica, Arachneas…. destroy them all!” He rose and pointed towards his officials. “Send word to all our vassals and allies! We will invade the monster kingdom, Silvara and their allies and exterminate every last one of those demons! Call that fat bastard from the north and have him declare war and demand their princess back!”

The officials were taken aback by his decision but didn’t dare to speak up. All of them were frustrated. There was no more money or infrastructure to maintain a war, but the emperor lost his mind, and none of the heirs were present.

Even though he was a little slow, they started to wish Shang Luo would return to the empire so they could stop this madness; a dark cloud lingered over the empire, with its emperor lost in his grief and madness.

Xu Ming and the other officials all looked at each other as they began to walk out of the hall.

“This is ridiculous. What do we do now?”

“I don’t know, but if this continues, the empire will be in dire straits…”

“Dire straits… the empire will fall.”

“Quiet Ming An!” The prime minister glared at Ming An, who shut his mouth and lowered his head.

‘This is not good.’ The eunuch thought as he followed the others.

‘The entire empire has been destroyed and will not recover from this. The monsters have done too much damage, and we will have to deal with the other nations while our emperor has become senile… and the lords and vassals seem to have begun to distrust the royal family!’