Chapter 50 50: The Weakest King
"Moreover, didn't you swear on your life that if you're giving Elijah wrong information, you'll die? We can't let that swear go to waste, can we? Have fun."
Azekiel freed his grip, letting the minister fall. His rage-filled screams went fast and wide before the screams turned silent. The Minister fell to the ground, dying on the spot.
Azekiel acted as if nothing significant had happened as he immediately shifted his attention to the General.
"General, stay with the old plan. You can leave ahead. While you're at it, have someone clean the body of the way."
The General departed, giving Azekiel complete privacy.
Watching a Minister fall to his death, the Soldiers were horrified. They remained calm, noticing the person who was on the Balcony. They were already informed that the person was their new King. If the King killed the Minister, they believed there must be some reason.
Soon, the General arrived before the body. He called some of the soldiers and told them to take care of the body.
He got busy with the preparation, which was mostly done. All that was left was leaving. The army had already gathered. Moreover, the army that was about to attack the Empire of Greed had already left from another route.
Now only the Main Army was left, which started advancing toward the main battlefield, prepared for the battle. They also had a perfect counter to take care of the army of the Empire of Greed now that they knew what their plan was.
Azekiel watched the soldiers leave for the battlefield.
The city, which appeared to be filled with people until a few minutes ago, looked completely empty now.
"Raphael?" Azekiel gazed at the empty City.
"Yeah?"
"If you were in place of Elijah and you were informed of that plan, what would you have done?"
"Depends on what my goal was," Raphael answered. "If my Goal was a victory on the battlefield, I would've stayed with the plan."
"However, if my Goal was that book, I wouldn't care about the battlefield at all. I would've left my army behind to battle. You couldn't attack them in any case, so I didn't need to be there."
"While you and the army were busy on the battlefield, I would've snuck inside this castle for the book that I'm after."
Hearing the explanation of Raphael, Azekiel nodded in satisfaction.
"Exactly. If I was in his place, I would've done the same, especially since he doesn't know that I know his plan," He agreed. "And if we can come up with the plan to leave the army behind, that guy can certainly do the same. This war is not important for him since he already cleared this floor."
"So, if common sense is to prevail, I would say that he would do the same. The chances of him staying on the battlefield are close to nil. If I'm not wrong, he would already be on his way here, all alone," he continued.
"I am still around ten percent weaker than Michael was at this time. However, he was stronger than Elijah, from what I know. So I should roughly be equal to Elijah, who is supposed to be the weakest King. What kind of welcome do you suggest we prepare for him?" he asked.
"I have something fun in mind," Lia chimed into the conversation between the two.
"Go ahead. Let's see what you can come up with."
Lia explained her plan to Azekiel. There was no reaction on Azekiel's face as he heard the plan.
After hearing the plan, he turned to Raphael. "What about you?"
Raphael also explained a plan. His plan appeared to be more strategic, minimizing all the risks.
Azekiel considered both the plans carefully before deciding on one.
"I think Lia's plan sounds better. It's safe, and it sounds like it can be entertaining. Your plan is the safest and the fastest, while what she suggests takes longer. Still, I don't seem to be in any hurry. We can waste a few hours. It's not always you get to play with a King."
He decided to go with the plan of Lia which slightly surprised Lia. She thought he was going to select Raphael since his plan appeared to be clever and was less time-consuming. She thought a strategic and serious person like Azekiel was never going to consider her plan.
Not only did he consider her plan, but he also selected it above Raphael.
After the slight daze, a bright smile appeared on the lips of Lia.
She flashed her cheeky smile to Raphael as if flashing her victory to him in a childish manner.
Raphael didn't react to her. It wasn't a competition for him. Moreover, it wasn't as if her plan was bad. It was just slightly time-consuming. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter if they went with her plan since the outcome appeared to be the same in both the plans.
After finishing the plan, Azekiel stretched his arms as he lazily yawned.
"Let's get to preparation. I want to give Elijah a welcome that he will never forget.".
Everything seemed to have fallen into place for him. The trial that was supposed to take months to finish was about to be finished in less than a week, and all because his loophole worked.
Moreover, the Empire of Greed was coming for war. Their Entire Army was going to be en route, leaving their Capital unprotected for the other half of his army to take over.
And lastly, King Elijah was coming here on his own. Azekiel was sure that he was going to finish the Trial soon and he could go to the Tomb of Gods on the next floor.
****
In a distant place, a lone horse raced in the desert, carrying the King of Greed, who had no idea that he was moving straight to a trap, thinking Azekiel was going to be busy on the battlefield. His guard was already lowered.
He took a slightly longer route to make sure he wasn't going to come across the army of the Empire of Gluttony.
The Route took longer, but it was also safer.
Elijah traveled for hours without a break. He kept licking his dry lips as he thought about the near future.
"Soon, I will have both the books. Then no one will be able to stop my rise! The Other Kings were so stupid! They cleared the Third Floor yet didn't know what a treasure trove it was! Their loss was going to be my gain! After such a long wait, I could finally move on from this godforsaken floor which had started to bore me."
"They called me the Weakest King! I will show them what Weakest means after I get the book! No one can stop me now!"