The Lord Is Too Overbearing

"Amazing!" Calliope exclaimed, startling the adults. "Uncle Basil is so strong!"

"Kuhum! Calliope, it is rude to yell before the match even ends," Oseya says in mortification.

"The match has ended, hasn't it? Look at Uncle Emperor, he is sprawled the way I am after playing a whole day."

"That is..."

Oseya smiled awkwardly as she sent nervous gazes at Kurdva from time to time. Kurdva was a benevolent Emperor but he still had a temper. She didn't want to enrage him. She didn't worry about her getting punished for Calliope's insolence. She worried about Calliope getting punished along with her.

To her relief, Kurdva didn't take offence to Calliope's comment. He even seemed to be in a good mood since he laughed heartfully while still sprawled on the ground.

"Ha-Ha-Ha! That was an exciting fight, Basil! I can tell you didn't hold anything back but I am sure you could have killed me more than once."

Saying nothing, Basil came down and walked toward Kurdva. As he stood before Kurdva, he watched Kurdva's cells doing their best to regenerate. They failed. [Haywire] was doing its job splendidly. It was actively destroying Kurdva's cells, rendering any form of healing useless.

Blood was constantly flowing out of the gash on Kurdva's chest. Kurdva winced as he looked at it and wondered why his regeneration didn't work. Turning to Basil, he couldn't help smiling wryly. Unlike him, Basil's injuries had disappeared.

"Do you need a hand?" Basil asked softly.

"Nope. I might have lost but I am not weak. I can--"

Thud.

Widening his eyes, Kurdva was bewildered to find his body unable to move. He could move his hands and feet just normally but his torso didn't budge regardless of how many times he ordered it.

At the same time, the pain in his chest worsened. It forced him to reassume his human-like form. Immediately, as soon as he looked human again, the pain disappeared. In return, however, the bleeding worsened. He became even more bewildered and only then did he turn to Basil to ask what was going on.

"Did you do it?"

"Do you need a hand?"

Looking at Basil's extended hand, Kurdva cursed under his breath. "Fuck! This brat is annoying, isn't he?"

Grabbing Basil's hand, he watched in fascination as golden light swirled around his arm before covering his wound. His chest felt warm and the bleeding immediately stopped. The golden light stopped covering his wound when he stood up. At this point, the wound had already disappeared.

"Can you heal people?"

"I can accelerate your regeneration factor."

"Hoh? You do something more amazing than making temporary tissues with Mana Construct."

Kurdva was hot-blooded and bold--typically, the characteristic of stupid fellows--but he was bright. He understood Magic well, so he often surprised people when he shared his insight. He often enjoyed the baffled look the people gave him but he couldn't with Basil. Basil didn't seem to be surprised by his knowledge.

"It is my first time seeing a human not surprised by what I say about Magic," he remarked.

"Only idiots will underestimate someone knowledgeable enough to rip the space with his claws," Basil responded.

"Ah, you are just as good as the rumour portrays you. I have to say that the rumour underestimates your ability, though."

"I like to give people a surprise."

As Kurdva smirked, Basil finally pulled Kurdva up. The Emperor stood straightly and watched as Basil took a step back. He noted that Basil remained respectful even though Basil had defeated him fair and square. A smirk immediately crept up his face. He didn't mind being good friends with Basil. Scratch that--he didn't even mind being led by Basil.

"Now, what?" he asked.

"Why don't we talk about our business somewhere else?" Basil suggested. "I know you trust your subordinates greatly but I can't risk letting a traitor amongst them hear what we are going to talk about."

Quirking his eyebrow, Kurdva snapped his fingers. Immediately, the twenty Silent Killers who had been hiding in every corner of the Stage of Adulthood revealed themselves. All of them had cat ears and a cat tail like Nadiza. Waving his hand, Kurdva made them leave the place.

Turning to Basil again, he nodded his head. "Let us change--"

"It is fine. I just want to test your cooperativeness."

"--places.... Bastard, why are you doubting me?"

Basil quirked his eyebrow. "I thought you liked hearing about rumours. You know that I am extremely cautious, don't you?"

"...not to this point." Shaking his head, Kurdva continued, "I hoped it wasn't true."

"Well, now that I am sure that you will fully cooperate, I am going to talk about our plan to go against Arthean. I am planning to unite the other four Empires, so we may have a greater chance of defeating Arthean. There is a high chance, after all, that Arthean will collude with Demons."

Blinking his eyes, Kurdva raised his hands. "Hold on there, Basil. I think this should be discussed somewhere private. The magnitude of the news makes me hesitant to risk it."

"It is fine. My Shadows have made sure no spies can enter Werspien."

"Shadow? You also have spies here?"

Ignoring Kurdva, Basil continued. "Besides, Arthean is currently busy finding a way to Padeitophys. They will not bother to send spies to Werspien."

Kurdva became even more bewildered but he knew Basil wouldn't answer him even if he asked. He quietly listened to whatever Basil said. By the end of it, his mouth was left agape. He was astounded by the amount of information Basil had. It was at this moment that he understood that Eloreth wasn't joking when she said Basil was ready.

....

"I am not being a coward but I get more scared the closer we get to your fellows."

"I won't blame you. I can feel someone's gaze on my back and it is not a good sign."

Whispering to each other so no one would hear them, Norman and Zander expressed their uneasiness. They still didn't know there were ten Eighth Circle Mages flying above them but they had become sure that someone was watching them closely.

They had prepared the others for combat a few hours ago and it bewildered the people mildly. Some people asked what was wrong and they decided to lie. They told the people that they would immediately fight as soon as they got there because some of the Empire's troops were there already. The people believed them and none of them was nervous.

An enemy that one can see is less terrifying than that one cannot see, after all.

Swish!

The group increased their speed as they could see Thompson and the other members of the Hauler. Norman's face darkened immediately as he couldn't spot any other people than his fellow party members.

The Empire's Army might still be away from them but it was not the only threat they should mind. The closer they got to Thompson and the others, the hotter the gaze that he felt on his back got. Something would happen as soon as they reached Thompson--he was sure about it. His heart clenched, hoping that nothing bad would happen.

While Norman and Zander were worrying about the same thing, the others were bemused that they couldn't find the Empire's troops that the two had mentioned. They had expected to be greeted by an army of Basil's supporters, so they were also quite underwhelmed when they could only spot Thompson and the rest.

When one of them was about to ask where their backup was, Zander raised his hand, signalling everyone to take out their weapons. They were baffled but immediately followed the instruction as they saw Thompson and his party charge at them.

They knew Thompson and his party weren't targeting but what was behind them. Turning around, they widened their eyes in horror as they found ten Eighth Circle Mages standing before them.

"[Great Teleportation]!"

A gigantic Temporary Magic Circle appeared on the ground as the Spell was cast. Bright light covered everyone's vision for a few seconds. When it died down, the previously vacant space was filled with ten Legions of Arthean's soldiers. To make the situation even worse for them, the number of Eighth Circle Mages increased.

"Charge!" exclaimed each of the Legion Commanders.

Norman and Zander laughed in despair. They found the situation ludicrous. They wondered why Arthean put so much effort into taking them down. They were many but their number didn't add up to more than six thousand people. It was overkill to send ten Legions of soldiers just to take a Legion of betrayal down.

"Charge!"

At least, that was what he thought until he heard Thompson's exclamation. He looked back to see if his friend had lost his mind; however, at that moment, he found Legions of soldiers that were comprised of Elves, Dwarves and humans.

He had heard some rumours about Basil having managed to coerce the other Empires into joining his side but he had thought it was merely Braxtein's exaggeration. He was quite bewildered to find out that it was indeed the case.

The surprise also didn't stop there. To face the fifteen Eighth Circle Mages that the Empire sent, they had eight former Ninth Circle Mages. Each of them was exuding Mana Pressure which was three times more overwhelming than any of the Eighth Circle Mages from the Empire was exuding. Winning was something that they shouldn't be worried about.

"Bu-Ha-Ha!" Zander laughed boisterously. "That lad Basil is something indeed. He has everything prepared. Joining his side is going to be the best decision we ever made. I pity those who stand in his way."

He charged at the Empire's Army after saying his piece. Norman looked at that Zander silently before shaking his head helplessly. He had to agree with what Zander said. With how much power Basil possessed, it wasn't impossible to defeat Arthean.

Turning to his wife, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Everything is going to be all right. We will get to safety and you will be able to deliver our healthy baby peacefully."

Norman's wife, Stella, looked at her husband with a soft smile. She nodded her head and said nothing. She knew what her husband would do and she believed in him. Her husband would never lie to her. Everything would be all right when he said it would.

"Stella! Let's get to safety!"

At the exclamation, Stella turned to the left. "Sylvia!" She found Sylvia sprinting at her as if she was flying.

As soon as Sylvia reached Stella, she immediately took Stella to the rear. Norman believed in Sylvia, so he didn't waste his time watching over his wife. He charged at the Empire's Army, joining the others. That day, the Arthean Empire suffered its first defeat after a long time. That day, some of its arrogance was beaten out of it.