SHK CH 564: KNEEL (Patreon)

It was still night, dawn was approaching and the moon was leaving place to the sun; slowly but surely, allowing more and more light to bath the earth.

Sol was observing everything, walking quietly and ignoring everything in his path.

He was currently in the land of the Eternal Battlefield and though people could not see it, he could feel the power in this land.

It was a place where many people died—a place where war had been repeatedly fought for so long that it lost all meaning.

A certain hush filled the battlefield. Lilin's victory had been so swift, few had been able to react and with the appearance of the Rangers, the course of the war was all but decided. But even so, Wratharis was not considered helpless.

For they still had three Kings and three powerful Dukes outside of those who were sent to the war so people were waiting. Waiting for what would most likely be the last act before the end of this war.

When he finally reached the gate of the fortress, they immediately were opened and on the other side, a large corridor of honor could be seen with all the soldiers standing on either side, creating a wide road for him with a red carpet. At the end of this, he could see Lilin with one knee down, waiting respectfully for him.

“Welcome your Highness!”

Sol quietly smiled. Clearly, Lilin had warned them about his arrival. The soldiers were orderly, as expected of soldiers who fought constantly without much contact nor help from the Capital.

The current hay of honor reminded him of what happened when he once visited the Duke Highland. Back then, the soldier had been radiating their killing intent, wishing to test his might and his talents.

Now though — No one dared something like this and yet, this was not enough. This was far from what Sol wanted to see. The Soldiers here still did not respect him, they still did not understand what kind of power he held.

It seemed like he had to make them learn.

The first step he took when he entered was all that was needed for the soldier to buckle and groan. They had the distinct feeling that a mountain had been suddenly placed on their shoulder but what they did not realize was that this was nothing more than the start. After all, Sol did not want to cripple them.

Each step he took added more weight to them and soon, all the soldiers were kneeling and saluting his arrival while Sol continued to walk unhurriedly until he finally reached Lilin.

Taking her by the hand and raising her up, he smiled, “Why do you kneel while the soldiers stand?”

The others finally understood what had happened but none of them were even able to say a word. The entire zone seemed to be under Sol’s influence, pressuring them, crushing them, pushing them against the ground like worms being pressed by a boot.

They could not talk. They could not breathe and moving was nothing but an impossibility.

Indeed. They understood now.

The young boy in front of them was not some useless prince. Neither was he, someone, people like that could even dare to try and understand.

“Your Highness. Forgive them, I am sure that they meant no ill.”

Sol pinched Lilin's nose before looking at the kneeling old woman while ignoring everyone else,

“General Rose was it?”

“Your Highness.”

Rose was also kneeling but unlike the other, she was barely able to speak. Even so, she could say nothing much and those two words made her feel like she had been working out for hours.

Rose, like many others, had been wondering what kind of man Sol was. She had been constantly hearing from Lilin how awesome Sol was and if she had to be honest, while she had some expectations, she also had many doubts.

How monstrous.

All those doubts were no more. She could feel it even more keenly than the others. This was no intent. Not even a technique properly speaking. He seemed to be like a primordial monster and their instincts were forcing them to kneel as only then could they avoid punishment.

“I have heard many things from the Queen about this army and on behalf of Lustburg, I would like to give my gratitude for all the blood the soldiers shed during this war and even before.”

“You are too kind.”

“Indeed I am. This is why I will give you a warning General. Never forget. No matter how you have been ruling this place. No matter how long you have been living here, you are all from Lustburg and I —am your Prince. Do not overstep your ground.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and Rose had to fight the urge to simply lie on the ground and freeze because of fear.

Rose had been fighting for years, decades even. She had seen everything there was to see and fought everything there was to fight. Or so she thought. At this very moment, she did not doubt that the slender arm of the young prince that was devoid of callus had enough strength to grind her to dust in an instant.

“Sol…”

Sol looked behind and could see that many of the soldiers were about to faint. He smiled, the fact that they were only about to faint showed their experience.

“I am glad that I was not disappointed. All of you, rise.”

Like a lie, the pressure vanished and many groaned as they realized for the first time how beautiful it was to be able to breathe freely. With Shaky legs, they all stood and saluted once again.

“WELCOME YOUR HIGHNESS!”

“At ease.”

As sad as it was sometimes, it was necessary to give a beating to make people understand the difference in hierarchy. In this world, no amount of beautiful speech could surpass the effect of a strong fist.

Of course, after beating them, he needed to appease them but now was not the time.

Standing up, Rose sighed, her old bone had been quite rattled after this episode. Trying to act like they did with Lilin had been a monumental mistake and she was happy this was all they got as a warning.

“Would you like to rest, your highness?”

“No. I will have to fight soon.”

“Fight?”

Who would he fight? The soldiers here were already captured and Wratharis had pulled back. As for Envilya, they were perfectly happy just observing and staying away for now.

“You will understand. For now, bring me to our VIP captive. The so-called sages. You put them under a dream, right?”

“Yes.” Lilin nodded excitedly. “With this, they won’t be able to create trouble. After all, we have no way of restraining them.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

The walk was mostly silent, Sol was deep in thought, Rose did not dare disturb the prince and Lilin was happy gazing silently at Sol. Her gaze was not burdensome for Sol as he was already used to such and it was in such a heavy atmosphere that they found them.

“I see that you are already awake.”

Sitting in a cage cross legged, both the Camel King and the Dragon Flood Queen opened their eyes.

“It would have been quite humiliating if we were unable to wake up even with such a distance.”

The camel king spoke slowly, his voice old.

“So why have you not escaped yet?”

“We wanted to but…”

The camel King gave a bitter smile while the flood dragon Queen changed her position by putting one knee on the ground.

“I salute the Dragon Prince.”

“Oh? You know me?”

“Hearsay, coming from the forest of elves. I did not believe them at first but the moment I felt your aura, I realized that those words were no lies.”

The Dragon flood queen was a beautiful woman in her way and had it been any other time, Sol would have been happy to chat more with her but now he had other things to worry about.

“I will be brief as I have no wish to waste both of our time. Will you follow me?”

The two sages stayed silent and this time Jialong stood, “Are you asking this as the Prince of Dragon or the Prince of Lustburg?”

“Neither and all of them at the same time. My identity are nothing but accolades. Will you follow me? Do not make me repeat myself a third time.”

The two exchanged a look and Jialong gritted her teeth, “Will we have to betray Wukong? No.”

“Then, I submit.”

Jialong had no hangup about this situation. The dragon were even clearer about hierarchy than most races and her pride would not have a dent by following the prince. The Camel king had more hesitation. But, knowing what he knew of the situation, he knew this was a trend that could and should not be fought;

“I will follow and listen to the prince.”

“Good. You will come to realize that this was the best decision in your whole existence. But for now…Let's go and recuperate your other friends.”

Sol looked at the horizon, his eyes shining. Though they were still far way, he could feel them approaching. Three very powerful presences, one of them in particular was at a level completely different from the two sages here. This was surprising but not outside of expectations.  “Lilin, you have everything set?”

“Yes. This fight will be relayed to the entire battlefields and even the capitals.”

“Very well. Then…Let’s see what the so-called sages are made of.”