novelraw Chapter 226: What is it that makes you so confident?
Chapter 226: What is it that makes you so confident?
"What does this have to do with Kevin waging war?" Seraphina was puzzled, her mind a chaotic mess.
"Louis becoming the heir means the other ghost cities will be cautious. They might even form alliances to protect themselves. But if they get wind of Lord K’s siege plans, what do you think they’ll do?" Alexander posed the question rather than providing an answer.
"Of course they’ll... together..." Seraphina was about to say they’d join forces to siege, but then her eyes narrowed, and she hesitantly uttered, "Sit back and watch?"
"Exactly!" Alexander chuckled. "The Thrilling World has been anything but calm lately. Louis becoming the heir might make them cautious, but not so much as to act immediately. And just at this time, the Endless Abyss is planning an attack!"
"Lord K appears to be quite powerful. Dark Hell even has spies sent by him, and other ghost realms will naturally have forces supported by him. They fear Louis, but they also fear Lord K."
By this point, Alexander didn’t need to continue. Seraphina sheathed her longsword and said excitedly, "At this time, the Endless Abyss aims to attack Dark Hell, and other forces would love nothing more than to see us both destroyed. You thought of all this in advance?"
"Of course not!" Alexander shook his head. "Upon hearing that my older brother voluntarily withdrew from this competition, I guessed the reason.
After entering the city lord’s mansion and discovering that this was a faction war, the idea struck me. After all, I wouldn’t be able to kill Hurricane and his gang on my own."
Alexander’s words eased Seraphina’s worries. But in reality, he was still not telling the whole truth. His aspirations for Louis went beyond merely making him the heir.
Initially, his plan was to directly prop Louis up to become the Ghost Emperor. The means to do so were simple. Even without this heirship battle and the Abandoned Emperor Stone, there was still Dolly!
He was holding onto the invitation to the city lord’s mansion for a reason other than identification.
When Kevin initially talked about attacking Dark Hell, Alexander already had this plan in mind. He was waiting for an opportunity, for Louis to leave the city lord’s mansion, perhaps even Dark Hell itself.
Selena’s warning had made him hesitant to use Dolly.
It wasn’t until the faction war began and Louis voluntarily left that Alexander realized the Thrilling World might have even greater reservations about forbidden powers than he’d imagined.
Further interactions with Alice led him to discover that the relationship between mother and son might not be as strained as he initially thought. This shift prompted him to vie for the heirship on Louis’ behalf instead.
Seraphina was stunned by Alexander’s revelations. After a long pause, she finally said in a low voice, "Have you considered that Louis is just one man? The Endless Abyss has secretly been amassing power for who knows how long. Dark Hell may not be able to hold against their armies."
"But I believe in Louis," Alexander retorted. It wasn’t just because Louis had the terrifying strength to sever a Ghost Emperor’s arm. More crucially, he believed in Louis’ wisdom.
If Dark Hell couldn’t withstand the Endless Abyss, then Louis wouldn’t have let him take the seal on the rooftop. Or even if he had, he wouldn’t have calmly negotiated with Kevin.
"What’s the point even if we do manage to fend off the attack from the Endless Abyss? Mr. Louis isn’t aware you would do this. If Dark Hell fights the Endless Abyss and wins, that could be a real disaster!" Seraphina said, unconvinced.
"How long would it take for the army of the Endless Abyss to get here?" Alexander suddenly inquired.
"The journey is long, and they would also need to avoid the Hell Warriors. It would take at least half a year! But the Endless Abyss has previously attacked a ghost realm, and somehow, they managed it in a month."
"A month! The Endless Abyss can’t possibly send out their entire army! So, once we fend off the first wave, it’s very likely there’ll be a second." Alexander analyzed, "Back and forth, it would take at least three to five months to really determine the victor. By the time the army of the ghost realms is assembled, who knows how much time will have passed."
"Is three to five months a long time? Even if the leaders of the other ghost realms are slow to react, what could possibly change in three to five years?" Seraphina questioned.
For ghosts, time was largely irrelevant. A few years, decades, or even centuries didn’t matter. They wouldn’t die; what they had in abundance was time.
"From a novice Chosen One to my current level of strength, it took me less than two months," Alexander suddenly interjected.
Seraphina was taken aback, not thinking for a second that Alexander was boasting. She stared at him incredulously, "You’re not suggesting that during the time the Endless Abyss is marching, you could grow strong enough to single-handedly take on an entire ghost realm, are you? That’s ludicrous!"
To her dismay, Alexander’s face bore no signs of jest. And indeed, he wasn’t joking.
Forget three to five years; even three to five months felt sufficient to him. His self-assurance was simple in origin: the bell and Emperor’s Wine.
True, facing an endless army from the Abyss, even Louis with his forbidden powers would be but one man.
And though Alexander had nine bottles of Emperor’s Wine, allowing him to attain a King-level strength, they would only produce nine warriors with forbidden powers. Even adding Louis to the mix, that was a mere ten.
They couldn’t save Dark Hell, even if Alexander could step back into the real world at will or acquire tremendous power from forbidden sources.
But he had the bell!
If it ever came to that point, Alexander wouldn’t hesitate to summon Hell Warriors, After all, he had no fear of the terrifying white fog that accompanies such a summoning.
"What is it that makes you so confident?" Seraphina was filled with doubt, but seeing Alexander’s evident reluctance to answer, she could only suppress her amazement and continue: "I hope you do have that ability. In the meantime, there’s something I’d like you to help with."
"What is it?" Now it was Alexander’s turn to be surprised. After all, she was the Guard Commander of the City Lord’s Mansion, holding a rank even higher than that of the Flame King.
"Edward tells me you’re going to the Mist Instance?"
Edward, not only a braggart but also incapable of keeping a secret!
Alexander felt a bit helpless but nodded nonetheless.
"The favor I ask is related to where you’re going." Saying this, Seraphina took out an antique embroidered sachet from her bra and handed it to Alexander.
"As Guard Commander of the City Lord’s Mansion, I can’t enter the Mist Instance. I’d like you to meet someone for me there and deliver a message."
...
Meanwhile, far away in the Endless Abyss, another conversation was taking place in the hall of the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Second Brother, are we really going to make a move on Dark Hell? Louis there has forbidden powers, you know," said Turtle, the Prince ranked eighth in the Endless Abyss, with some concern.
"What of forbidden powers!" Kevin, ranked second, scoffed, "You and Sixth Brother are going to the Mist Instance soon. You’re responsible for clearing the instance in Liang City’s Retirement Home, and Sixth Brother for the kindergarten. You must both ascend to Ghost Emperor status as soon as possible! Leave Dark Hell to Fourth Brother."
"Don’t worry, Second Brother!" The Fourth Brother referred to by Kevin, Eternal Ghost Emperor Yao, exclaimed excitedly, "I’ll assemble the troops and march on Dark Hell right away!
Second Brother, it’s time to show our trump card. Let me lead the Ghost Plague Army, an army of ten million soldier-ghosts, capable of sweeping through all of Dark Hell!"
"Absolutely not!" The Third, Ice Ghost Emperor, shook his head. "The most dangerous thing in Dark Hell isn’t their army or Louis, but the mysterious person brought back by James the Ghost Emperor from Fierce Ghost Apartments!"
At the mention of James and the mysterious person, everyone shivered.
Ice Ghost Emperor continued, "Ten million soldier-ghosts could sweep through Dark Hell, but if they encounter Louis or that mysterious person, You’re as good as dead.
Let me go with you, and I’ll bring along a few Imperial-level subordinates. Even if that mysterious person makes a move, we can still ensure both of us survive."
"There’s no need for concern; I already have a plan in mind! It’s not just our ten million-strong ghost army that’s going," Lord K said, grinning. "We also have reinforcements from the Netherworld and the Undead City."
"More reinforcements?" The crowd was visibly startled.
Lord K swept his gaze over his own empty right arm, and said menacingly, "The Lord of the Undead City was severely injured and on the brink of death half a month ago in the Mist Instance. He has just chosen a successor, someone no one has ever seen.
This newcomer was selected due to awakening a special talent and has become an inheriting Ghost Emperor overnight. He’s eager to prove himself.
Conveniently, something big happened in the Netherworld recently—the young lord has returned, and the current Ghost Emperor has abdicated. Both seem to have some grudges with Dark Hell and have agreed to launch a joint attack.
Especially the Netherworld—the former Ghost Emperor holds tremendous respect for the young lord. If our young lord agrees to our request, the former Ghost Emperor will undoubtedly offer us full support."
"Looks like we’ve got it in the bag now!" The crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.
With the collaboration of four Ghost Emperors, two of whom are inheriting Emperors, plus a ten-million-strong ghost army—additionally, the other two domains can muster at least five million ghost soldiers.
On top of that, each domain will send forth combatants of Imperial rank or higher. (Imperial is a rank higher than Emperor).
With such an overwhelming force set against a Dark Hell led by a single Ghost Emperor, victory seemed like a foregone conclusion.
In the Endless Abyss, with the union of three major powers—the Netherworld, the Undead City, and the Endless Abyss—tens of millions of malevolent spirits began to gather. This was obviously not something that could be accomplished overnight.
...
Meanwhile, in Dark Hell, the Chosen Ones had long since lost their ability to think clearly, astonished beyond words.
Who am I? Where is this? What am I doing here?
Everyone was a Chosen One, and though Alexander was exceptionally talented, even his abilities seemed implausibly extraordinary. They were still exhilarated about potentially receiving high evaluations and unprecedented rewards, dreaming of maybe earning an SSS ranking to widen the gap between themselves and other Chosen Ones.
But Alexander was on another level; he was having staggering conversations with the Commander of the City Lord’s Guard.
Topics of Ghost Emperors, ghostly wars, and full-scale sieges of entire ghost realms were discussed. Most shockingly, many of them didn’t even know what a ghost reamls was.
Was he boasting? It all seemed so unreasonably exaggerated.
More unsettling was how Seraphina seemed to abandon any attempt at persuasion. It appeared, almost incredibly, that she might actually believe him—even if the likelihood was slimmer than hitting the jackpot in a lottery.
Was this information even meant for their ears? They had overheard it, so would they be killed for knowing too much?
Alexander, however, was unconcerned about what these Chosen Ones were frantically pondering. He took the sachet, still warm to the touch, and carefully inspected it before bringing it to his nose for a sniff.
There was no fragrance, nor did it appear to be a special treasure. Puzzled, he looked towards Seraphina, only to find her blushing and visibly irritated.
It appeared that she had pulled the sachet from her bra.
Alexander felt momentarily awkward, but then he remembered that he had already worn Seraphina’s clothes. What was there to be self-conscious about?
Feigning ignorance, he inquired, "Who are you looking for? Are you sure she’ll appear in the Mist Instance?"
"The person I’m looking for is my cousin. Someone recently spotted her in the instance. The Mist Instance is not easy to conquer, and if I’m not wrong, she’ll definitely go back there. If you find her, tell her I’m waiting for her in Dark Hell," Seraphina explained.
With a flick of her hand, a scroll materialized in the air and unfurled. The painting depicted a beautiful woman who bore a striking resemblance to Seraphina.
"This is my cousin, named Snow White. We grew up together. Just give her this sachet, and she’ll understand," she continued.
"Snow White is a good name. Rest assured, if I come across her, I will definitely relay your message," Alexander said, pocketing the sachet and nodding in affirmation.
Afterward, Alexander asked no further questions. With a few polite exchanges, he concluded this instance. As he reappeared in the Fierce Ghost Apartment, a familiar instance prompt emerged in his mind.
"Congratulations, esteemed Alexander, for successfully completing the instance..."