The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 225: The King’s Last Chance

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FLAAASH!

A bright flash of crimson light descended from the skies as powerful laser beams reached the clowns, disintegrating them instantly.

Could it have been a magician from his brother’s army? Unlikely; they didn’t seem as strong as that!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Caesar looked at the scene in disbelief, covering his eyes due to the immense destruction the powerful magic was creating.

There were no mages of such caliber in his army, yet they were protecting him.

“W-Wha…?!”

Caesar glanced into the skies, noticing the young man that had done this; he didn’t even look older than fifteen years of age.

He couldn’t believe it!

“Your majesty, are you alright?”

The boy descended in front of Caesar, looking at him with a slightly worried expression, and then noticing the corpse in the King’s arms.

“You’re… Ah! I remember you now; you’re one of Bing Xue’s disciples and also a Hunter Guild Master, right? Francisco was your name.” Caesar slowly stood up. “You’ve… saved my life. I will be forever grateful for this.”

“I’m glad you remember my name,” Francisco smiled. “Master Bing Xue sent me here to save you, but just what happened here? And who is that man? Is he related to you? Or he’s…”

“He’s my brother, Claudius,” Caesar muttered. “He’s the one responsible for this invasion… He’s… already dead.”

Caesar sighed, carrying his brother in his arms.

“But why are you crying then? And carrying his body? Even if he was your brother… Look at the destruction he caused! So many civilians must have already died. Washington, D.C. used to be such a beautiful city… it’s in ruins.” Fran muttered, looking rather sad.

“I… I have no proper answer,” muttered Caesar. “I know it’s nonsensical, but my brother used to be different. He was someone that was dedicated to helping our family and also someone that raised me. He was… a gentle and kindhearted man. And yet, after all these years since he left, he changed so much. I… couldn’t bring myself to kill him even after everything.”

“What? Then how did he die?” Fran asked, looking at the scene even more dumbfounded than before.

“He killed himself with that sword he conjured; it’s gone now…” Caesar muttered. “I… I truly don’t get it…! This… everything… My father will pay for this; he will pay!”

“…”

Francisco didn’t honestly know how to feel; he was happy Claudius was dead, but at the same time felt both pity and… a lingering hatred towards Caesar.

Despite what he did to help North America, he was still an invader who came out of nowhere, kicked out the current president, and declared himself their king out of nowhere.

As a land of freedom where American people always valued voting for who they wanted to rule them, this felt completely outrageous.

Despite his protection and everything, the people he brought along, the knights and soldiers, had several reports of misconduct and also of being much rougher people.

They looked at the humans here as mere cattle and were coldhearted...

Fran had experienced firsthand their cruelty; after all, his mother wouldn’t have died if it hadn’t been because they simply decided not to save her when a gate opened in their house.

“I-I… I’m sorry, Claudius…”

As Francisco saw the King crying pathetically, in his weakest form, kneeling in front of the dead body of his brother, someone that came to conquer and slaughter humans.

He felt pure rage.

“If only he weren’t here… if only he wasn’t forgiven by master…”

He gripped his fists tightly as a magic circle was conjured in the palm of his hand, spinning rapidly with immense quantities of runes.

“I could… solve this problem…”

He pointed his hand at the King; Caesar noticed something, looking back at Francisco.

His eyes widened.

“W-What are you…?!”

“…”

Francisco remained in silence, squinting his eyes as he saw the King for who he truly was.

Without his intimidating façade, without his serious personality, he was nothing but a pathetic broken man.

What was he compared to Bing Xue, someone that never broke, that was kind, sincere, honest, and simply wanted to protect the planet?

And above all, a human from this world, and not an alien like him!

“Francisco…! Why are you pointing that at me?! You’re going to…! Is this because…” Caesar quickly realized the hatred of the people he had conquered; even now, an ally was considering killing him.

“Tch…!”

Francisco resisted the urge, as he recalled the words of his master resonating within his mind.

“Why did I spare that man and let him continue reigning this country?”

He had asked her this question before.

“I might be stronger than him, and perhaps more qualified to be a ruler as well… But I don’t think that is the correct way of doing things.

Francisco slowly lowered his hand.

“I believe his heart is in the right place, and he was able to protect all of you. You might resent him; you might hate him, but what he has done to protect the country where my life lived… it cannot be overlooked.”

He sighed.

“So, I decided to give him one last chance… If he fails to prove himself worthy of a ruler, I will force him out of his throne myself.”

FLASH!

The magic circle disappeared as Francisco looked at Caesar with pitiful eyes.

“Caesar, you’re lucky my master is a very good person… I wouldn’t have been as merciful as she is. Be grateful every day of your life that she decided to give you a second chance, and never dare disappoint her again.”

“You…”

Caesar felt relieved, and at the same time, pathetic; he was almost killed again, and he was only saved by Bing Xue.

Again…

“I understand…”

Caesar nodded; at the end, he couldn’t do anything more.

He felt completely frustrated with himself, with everything, with his mistakes, his family, and how things were going.

The chaos that Claudius caused and the lives he took.

If it hadn’t been for his daughter managing to predict this invasion, everyone would have died.

“T-That’s right…”

His daughter and his wife.

And his kingdom, the people that hated him…

They were here, and he had to save them.

He couldn’t stay there crying and kneeling on the ground so pathetically; even a teenager found him worth killing.

“Francisco.”

He stood up, glancing at the young man.

“Hm?”

The wizard glanced back at Caesar; at this moment, he was much stronger than the King.

“I’m sorry…”

“…”

Caesar apologized, swallowing his pride and everything else for this moment.

“I am… truly sorry for what I’ve done… For my negligence, for making people feel unsafe and insecure even now… And I am sorry for doing what I did. That was the only way I knew how to do things. Only after these years did I understand how this world worked. Its people, my wife, my daughter—they slowly let me see the wrongs of my doings, and you as well.”

“Hmph…”

“I’ll try to be a worthy ruler as Bing Xue trusted I should be… And if I cannot do this properly next time… I promise you I will step down. I will try to make things right.”

“Haah…”

Francisco sighed, looking rather bored.

“Listen, you shouldn’t be saying these things to me, you know? There’s a whole country that would love to hear that coming from your mouth instead.”

Yet at the same time, Francisco admired the guts of the man a bit.

“But I’ll accept that apology for now… You better not disappoint the people you decided to rule ever again, you heard me?”

“Yes.”

Caesar quickly walked forward; Francisco still felt like America didn’t really need a king, even less an alien. But at the same time, he wanted to believe in his master and her words.

“{Divine Healing Light}”

FLAAASH!

“Huh?!”

The King suddenly felt his power and stamina coming back to him as he saw Francisco healing him with a powerful spell.

“I feel… like I’m back to normal? No, I feel even stronger… My Physique evolved after that battle… And my stats rose.”

“The more you fight battles to near death, the more a Physique develops. Beyond Levels, your Stats will continue to rise through this method.”

“I see… Thank you, Francisco. I will never forget your kindness.”

“Hmph, don’t get the wrong idea, “King”. I am only doing this because of Master. You better thank HER once we’re done here, not me.”

“Hah… I will. I have so much to thank her for; she has been nothing but a miracle for us all. I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“You better not.”

The two quickly flew into the skies; the body of Claudius was left behind, covered by the torn-apart cape of the King and his broken armor.

There was a flower he had picked in the middle of the battlefield, a small white flower that had somehow survived everything, placing it on top.

He looked back only once, before leaving.

“Goodbye, brother…”

The king no longer shed any tears as he moved towards his next destination, following Francisco.

“Sara is creating a magic circle to dispel the clown effect on the soldiers,” explained Francisco. “With that, we believe we can discard allies from enemies and take down our foes. However, I don’t know if this power will come back later.”

The King noticed the huge magic circle in the skies; it was almost done.

“I see…! Yes, I remember it! We have to find him! Atticus! That man was brainwashed by a clown, and once something within him snapped, he started laughing like a maniac!” The King said. “He might be the one behind this. If we can take care of him, the propagation might stop.”

“Atticus, huh?” The young wizard wondered. “Amidst a sea of clowns, it’ll be hard to find him. Any distinct quality to him?”

“He has golden and silver-colored armor with a lion insignia on his chest,” explained Caesar. “He should be the only one that has such armor; I had commissioned it for him and nobody else. He was… one of my most trusted retainers. My right hand. And he…”

“He betrayed you for your brother?” Francisco asked.

“Y-Yeah, how did you guess so quickly?” Caesar asked.

“It isn’t hard to betray a man like you…” the young wizard crossed his arms.

“…I suppose you’re not wrong; I’ve done things badly recently, and only right now am I beginning to realize things. Even after Bing Xue tried to make me see things clearly, I only understood half the things she tried to communicate to me. I’ve been a fool.”

“…So what will you do now?”

Caesar gripped his fists tightly.

“I need to go see how my wife and my daughter are…”

“They’re alive.”

“Eh?”

“Your daughter took down a very strong General, and she went to go look for her mother. They’re fine; don’t worry about them. Also, Jackes went to check on them too.”

“Oh… Cecil did that?! What general?”

“A guy named Gaius.”

Francisco didn’t reveal it, but he had used several Reading and Clairvoyance Spells together to be able to discern most of the battlefield and what was happening.

With that, he was also rapidly locating the position of Atticus!

“G-Gaius?! That’s a General that directly worked below my father! That’s a man that should’ve been stronger than me before I trained below Bing Xue’s tutelage. How did my daughter even…?!” Caesar couldn’t understand. “She has much more power than I thought. She’s been hiding things, way too many things, that girl…”

He felt slightly surprised, but he also smiled, feeling proud of his daughter, despite the things she hid from him and the rest of her family.

“Then let’s go locate Atticus, Francisco!”

“I already found him, but shouldn’t you go looking for your wife and daughter? I’ll catch him myself; go.”

“Y-You’re right… Thank you!”

FLAAASH!

Both of them quickly flew through the skies, using their techniques and magic spells to stop droves and swarms of clowns trying to get them, paralyzing them while trying to kill the least amount possible while moving towards their separate directions.

Meanwhile, Jackes reached the sinking castle, finding Cecil tailing him as she had managed to barely catch up with them.

“Ah, it’s… is she the princess?! Princess Cecil?” Jackes asked her.

“…What are you doing here?” Cecil asked with hostility in her eyes.

“I came to help out! We’re—"

RUMBLE!

“Ugh?!”

Jackes felt an immense pressure weight over his body as he glared at the girl’s red and emerald eyes, her black armor, that sword, and her entire aura…

It didn’t feel like she was being herself anymore.

“Help? From you and your ilk? I don’t need it.”

Her face distorted, looking at Jackes with disgust.

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