1474 Emperor
"Well, even if you try, you cannot do anything to anyone under my protection. You might've had a chance at your peak but at your current state, tsk."
While speaking, he suddenly made a grabbing action.
A powerful aura blasted out and like water flooding into an opened sink, the aura sunk around Miss Calamity like she's a drain.
"Ugh,"
A muffled groan escaped her lips as her face turned pale and aura slightly unstable.
Martial Saint might be a despicable piece of garbage Miss Calamity saw as the lowest of low.
But he had skills that no one could ignore. Barring the King himself, he's the strongest peak rank 9 here.
Due to sheer experience, it's difficult for her to beat him unless she took that step.
"I have contacted the disciplinary committee of the Empire. I wonder what they'll have to say about your decisions and actions.
The kingdoms are under the Empire and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause.
But would they be okay if someone like you poke into our affairs? Wouldn't that be too much?
Who knows how many rank 9s are there in the Empire's forces? If the kingdoms played to everyone of your whims, we wouldn't be running a serious nation anymore.
It'd be a circus and we'd be the monkeys."
The Martial Saint gave a long speech, trying to justify his position as Anti-Calamity and not Anti-Empire.
At his seemingly high minded but pathetic attempt, a disdainful smile formed on Miss Calamity's lips.
Gritting her teeth, she broke free from the constraints and snapped her fingers.
A powerful, seemingly irrestible force enveloped her.
"No," The Martial Saint's brows furrowed. "Stop."
His aura shot out like a laser gun and reached her before any of the dukes could even react.
But Miss Calamity looked at him with disdainful gaze and vanished into the distorting space.
All that was left was a strand of her hair that gently fell down like a bird's feather, dancing and humming with the wind.
Martial Saint Kong appeared still but inwardly he was screaming in anger.
This was naked humiliation!
How dare she? The young bitch who wasn't even half his age trying to do such a thing in front of everyone else!
Martial Saint Kong didn't see anything wrong with his behavior. Sure, she was an upcoming powerhouse. Yes, she could reach divine rank sooner or later.
But he had the backing of a divine ranker. A real divinity whose power would shake the entire Alliance.
Even if Miss Calamity was exceedingly talented, she could not reach the rank he's in for the next ten thousand years!
"Should we chase after her…"
A brave captain blurted the words before his rationality kicked in and he almost slapped himself in public.
"No. Leave her be." The Martial Saint shook his head and was about to continue when he sensed something in the far distance.
The king was returning. Now that the curtain was lifted, he'd be demanding a dialogue or two.
Kong looked at the dukes. "If you don't leave now, you might not have the chance later."
The dukes seemed to have grasped his intention and quickly dispersed to their pre-determined targets.
With a small sigh leaving his lips, the Martial Saint sat in a pavilion on a lake and not too long after, the King sat down with a solemn expression.
"Kong, I will be sending you to the army for a century." The King looked at him with reluctance, not of missing him but of being able to punish him only so much.
"…I see." The Martial Saint nodded without any change in expression and graciously sipped the tea which appeared out of nowhere.
"I know what you're thinking. Isadora might not be a peak rank 9 but you can't kill her. Neither can I. Stay away from that boy and your life will be intact." He advised.
The calm demeanor of the Martial Saint broke down and he slammed the tea cup, causing it to crack. "Do you think my survival depends on the whims of a woman who no longer has the strength to back it up?"
The King shook his head, a hidden emotion slowly surfacing in his eyes.
The Martial Saint blinked in confusion before opening his mouth in utter surprise. "Y-You…What the hell are you…"
Fear.
There was a deep fear surging in the King's eyes.
"My natal treasure." The King said in a drawn out breath, his always steady and commanding voice now shaking.
"Yes," Kong's face soured at the mention.
The King had the best natal treasure of them all.
A Space-Time treasured fused with that of Soul. It had only one function.
The King could glimpse into a being's true potential, sneaking a peek into a person's destiny.
It wasn't something he could do when he pleased. If he set his sights on someone, it would awaken gradually and show a result in some time, mostly a few hours but sometimes even a few days.
"Upon return, I saw it." The King took a sip to calm his nerves and stabilize his quivering voice. But he couldn't stop the hand holding the cup from shaking.
The Martial Saint halted his breath and waited for the man to continue. In the corner of his mind, he regretted his actions.
"That boy's potential is…"
The King would usually see a corresponding picture. An ancientsnake, a special dagger or a near extinct elixir.
The King closed his eyes and nerves began to pop on his forehead. "I saw a silhouttee…"
"A silhouttee you say?"
"The light from it almost blinded my eyes. I have seen Isadora's potential. She is a bright star, destined to go higher than anyone else but with a huge cavity, as if she's missing something. That cavity would eat her up and end her one day. But this man's light was brighter even than her."
"But it's just a silhouttee. Brightness doesn't necessarily imply he'd be great."
The King gave a hollow laugh and swiped his hand. A familiar holograph map of Pala kingdom appeared in front of them.
He zoomed out a few dozen times. The neighboring kingdoms came into view. He zoomed out a few hundred times. The Genesis Empire came into view. He zoomed out a few more.
The broad map of the Alliance greeted them.
"That silhouttee…" The King raised his index finger and injected a bit of aura to the holograph.
A silhouttee of a young man materialized, hands clenched and eyes looking solemn.
The silhoutte began to brighten and the glow from the alliance itself was overshadowed by him.
His light began to now cover even the Jai Empire.
"It doesn't matter how many he have to face, who he has to face…"
Countless red stars lit up in the map, showing hostility. The silhouttee casually stomped its foot.
And the map…shattered.
"There will come a day when he can destroy the entire alliance.
And that brightness…it tells how close the day is.
If my natal treasure hasn't failed, the day is very close.
Maybe this millenium, no, maybe this c-century…"
"Stop exaggerating! He's just a rank 7 at the end!" The Saint looked at the King with eyes full of distrust.
The King let out a wry smile.
"I was reading it wrong but I wasn't exaggerating. The opposite, if anything. If I adhere to the standard, it might not even be three decades. Or maybe two. The light gets brighter every time."
"…"
"Kong, the Alliance might have its own…Emperor."
