Zither Emperor

Chapter 35 – Sura’s Story (I)

Faced with Sura’s question, the two brothers had nothing to say and just looked at each other in dismay. Okafur’s clenched fists gradually relaxed.

“What Sura said is right. Ye Yin Zhu has done an outstanding service for the Empire—he is a genuine hero. Even if Great Master Lunar was here, he may not have been able to accomplish everything that Ye Yin Zhu has done here today. For this matter, I can explain to Generalissimo Maldini on both of your behalfs.” With the support of two Dragon Cavalry Knights, Fisichella climbed the city wall, his gaze falling upon Ye Yin Zhu’s body. Only, his eyes were filled with complete zealotry, a close-to-worshipful light.

Oliveira tapped Okafur and bowed, saying, “Yes, your Highness. This subordinate will listen and obey your Highness’ command.”

Okafur nodded somewhat unwillingly at this, saluting Fisichella at the same time.

Fisichella said, “Good. Generals, please clean up the battlefield first. Purge the remains of the beastmen and tally how many spoils of war we have obtained as well. Some of our Falcon Dragon Cavalry may have survived the fall.”

“Yes, your Highness.”

✶

One day later. Mjolnir Stronghold.

“What?” Guti slapped the table and stood up. Before him, a corner of the black onyx table unexpectedly broke off because of his slap. His dark, chilling gaze seemed to want to devour the messenger. “Say that again.”

The tigerman that crouched on the floor had over half his hair burnt off, along with a broken arm. Trembling, he said, “Revered Tribal Chief, our, our plundering legion was completely wiped out.”

“No. That’s impossible.” Guti’s breathing was uneven as he bellowed, “Don’t tell me our Behemoths are herbivores? Dis and Perkins are considered the strongest amongst the Behemoths. With them in the lead, how could the forty-thousand-strong plundering legion not seize a small town with walls only ten meters high? Explain what happened.” If the Tigerman in front of him wasn’t his native kin, then he probably would have already torn him to shreds.

“We were ambushed. We hadn’t even reached Konya City yet when the enemy ambushed us. The casualties then were disastrous. With Lord Dis and Lord Perkins guiding us, we, with great difficulty, reached Konya City, but we then came across an enemy comprised of Dragon Cavalry and mages. Revered Tribal Chief, this is a conspiracy. This is absolutely a conspiracy!” As he said this, the Tigerman lifted his head and looked at the blue-cloaked Emerson standing beside Guti.

Guti’s ice-cold, bloodthirsty gaze slowly shifted toward Emerson, his glare at the human’s back causing Emerson to tremble. “Mister Emerson, I need an explanation. A plundering legion of forty thousand, comprised of the most devote of the people of Thor, the most elite army under my control, has now returned with less than a hundred or so men.” His intense killing intent assailed Emerson’s seemingly frail body like a tsunami.

“Tribal Chief Guti, that’s impossible. Our stratagem was flawless; how could the enemy have known and taken initiative?” said Emerson, somewhat panicked. Although he had a lot of confidence in himself, he didn’t have the confidence to be able to break out of the impenetrable defense that was Mjolnir Stronghold.

Guti coldly countered, “The results are already arranged before me. Tell me, what is this?”

Emerson sucked in a breath of air and turned toward the Tigerman that had returned alive, saying, “Speak quickly. What did you come across? Was it a large amount of Dragon Cavalry? We are currently holding up all of Sacred Heart City’s Dragon Cavalry, though.”

The Tigerman shook his head, his tiger eyes displaying a panicked expression. “No, what defeated us wasn’t the Dragon Cavalry. It was the mages, those horrible mages. We were just prepared to attack when Konya City suddenly released an intense wave of magic. It was a Violet Rank Great Magister. There was an unusual song. When the Milanese tamed dragons heard that song, it was like they had all gone mad. They rushed toward us, then…” Extremely frightened, the Tigerman disjointedly explained the situation at Konya City.

Listening to the Tigerman’s words, Emerson sank into contemplation. After a long while, he said, “This is truly too inconceivable. A song actually caused the total defeat of the tens of thousands plundering legion troops? Was it a mage from a branch of Spiritual Discipline, a Divine Music Mage? To the best of my knowledge, however, the most powerful Divine Music Mage of the Milan Empire is only about Cyan Rank in strength. Even if it really was a Violet Rank, I have also never heard of a Divine Music Mage being able to cause dragons to explode! Tribal Chief Guti, this matter is very strange. Please allow me to return to investigate.”

Just as the words left Emerson’s mouth, an enormous shadow already appeared before him. Before he could react, Guti’s large hand had already grabbed at his throat, lifting him off the ground. With a piercing, glacial voice, Guti heavily and roughly breathed into Emerson’s ear, “I don’t know what’s strange about all this. I only know that my four legions, in addition to eighty six Behemoths, have been completely wiped out. Up until now, not a single Behemoth has returned. Don’t you know that the plundering legion dispatched held a third of our Thor Tribe’s strength? With Maldini’s prior rush, I have already lost too much. The plundering legion has now become like this. Mister Emerson, even if I were to tear you apart, the hatred in my heart will be hard to resolve.”

“Tribal… Chief… Guti…, our… cooperation with… you… is absolutely… sincere…. This matter… give… me… a while…. We’ll… send… you… a gift… first… immediately…, those things… should suffice… to prove… our… sincerity….” Emerson had an extremely difficult time breathing, and his face had already turned a dark reddish-purple color. If Guti’s large hand tightened again, his life would be on the verge of leaving him.

Hearing the word ‘gift,’ Guti’s complexion gradually eased. His hand threw Emerson to the side. “I hope you aren’t lying. If not, you should know the consequences. I’ll give you ten days to find the truth of this matter. Get lost——!”

“Yes. I will definitely investigate and find out.” Emerson near-fanatically tried to escape the large tent.

Guti’s complexion became more unsightly. If he didn’t need to cooperate with the power backing Emerson, this loss would have been an absolutely fatal strike to him. “Pass down my orders: Stop all military operations at Sacred Heart City. Recall all troops to Mjolnir Stronghold.”

✶

Ye Yin Zhu woke up hazily from his slumber with a splitting headache. Within his mind, new illusions would frequently manifest, and all kinds of chaotic and complex moods unceasingly assaulted his thoughts. He couldn’t help but moan painfully.

“Ah! Yin Zhu, you’re awake.” Sura’s pleasantly surprised voice rang out. Ye Yin Zhu only felt a small, icy hand touch his forehead. It was an indescribably comfortable feeling. He automatically grabbed that hand and held it firmly, not letting it go.

A blush rose up on Sura’s face, but he didn’t struggle.

Ye Yin Zhu, with some difficulty, opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the deep concern within Sura’s eyes. “Sura, your voice just now was really pleasant to hear.”

Sura’s heart jolted. He just realized that in his impatience, he’d accidentally revealed his female voice. Hurriedly trying to change the subject, he said, “Yin Zhu, are you okay? Are you still feeling unwell anywhere?”

“My head is very sore, but leaving your hand there makes me feel very comfortable.” Following his complete return to coherency, his spiritual force gradually dispersed those chaotic moods. With the assistance of the Pure Brightness Spirit Guardian, his mind stabilized, the pain gradually growing distant.

Sura’s face was cold as he said, “Yin Zhu, you were too audacious this time. I heard the Spiritual Mage say that your harmonization of Spiritual Magic was extremely dangerous. If it weren’t for the Pure Brightness Spiritu Guardian assisting you this time, you might have become brain-dead.”

Ye Yin Zhu helplessly said, “But then what else could I have done! I also didn’t know that this Spiritual Harmonization Magic would be so dangerous. Originally, I thought that since everyone has indistinguishable spiritual forces, there would be no problem harmonizing with all of them. Only later did I discover that harmonizing spiritual forces also included harmonizing with everyone’s moods. The onslaught of those moods indeed made me feel awfully unwell. Sura, how’s the battle? The beastmen?”

Sura stared at him blankly before saying, “You don’t know what happened?”

Ye Yin Zhu logically and obviously said, “Yes! I borrowed everyone’s spiritual forces and then I played the song << Soaring Dragon’s Cry >>. According to the plan, the tamed dragons should’ve descended into a berserk state upon hearing my zither song. If they could rush into the beastmen, they should definitely be able to deal a lot of damage to the enemy. But, when I used the Withered Wood, Dragon’s Roar Zither to play << Soaring Dragon’s Cry >>, my consciousness became completely immersed within the zither song. It was like my whole body became very cold. After that, I don’t remember anything. Don’t tell me that my zither song failed?”

Sura sighed lightly and said, “No. You succeeded. Only, you seemed to have been too successful. In addition, the price paid is enormous. In addition to the five hundred Falcon Dragon reinforcements, altogether, a thousand and sixty tamed dragons died in this battle. The result, however, was also tremendous. The enemy was annihilated. The only thing I’m not clear on is what happened when that Gold Behemoth rushed to the top of the city walls to attack you. Afterward, you weren’t injured, and that Gold Behemoth had disappeared. He had shot me down from the city walls, so I could only vaguely see a violet light soar into the sky. What happened then?”

Just as he asked this question, Sura suddenly remembered that there was no point for him to ask. He laughed self-deprecatingly. “Why am I asking you? At that time, you would’ve been unconscious, so how would you know? Yin Zhu, I really didn’t expect that you, who is the normally open and guileless, would actually be even crazier than Oliveira during combat.”