The words were as grand as they could get.
Even the princes and dukes couldn’t help but give the man a few extra glances.
This guy is quite the character!
“Keld!” Fratis’ face flushed bright red with anger.
She glared at the once-loyal royal general, about to scold him.
But then she saw the calm expression on his face.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of guilt in his eyes; in fact, there was a trace of smugness.
“You… don’t tell me…” Fratis froze, realization dawning upon her. This had all been planned long ago.
No matter what she said, Luca, and anyone supporting her, would be branded as rebels. Even if she was Alfred’s personally chosen heir, it wouldn’t matter. They had long since stopped caring.
Fratis looked at Luca, only to see that his expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. It wasn’t just him—Ziegfried, Augustine, Winston, and the others shared the same indifference.
Clearly, they had all known this moment would come.
“The victor is king, the loser is a bandit. That’s how it has always been, from the past to the present. Only the one who survives in the end can be called the winner.” Luca reached out and gently grasped her slightly trembling hand. A strange glint flickered in his eyes as he smiled, “But don’t worry, because we will be the ones left standing.”
Fratis stared at him in a daze. For a brief moment, fragmented memories flashed before her eyes—memories of the ball, where the young man had said something to her, though she couldn’t quite make it out… It seemed they had known each other before, but no matter how hard Fratis tried to recall, she couldn’t piece together more details.
“Everyone, listen up!” At that moment, Keld suddenly drew his sword from his waist and pointed it toward Luca and the others.
His voice was cold as he ordered, “Immediately kill the traitors led by Luca the Count. No matter the cost, we must rescue Her Majesty!”
“Understood!!” The soldiers behind him roared in unison. Beneath their golden helmets, their eyes gleamed with cold murderous intent. They only took orders and didn’t care if they were killing nobles or generals—anyone would do.
“Keld, leave this to me.” Knowing that battle was inevitable, Winston’s gaze turned icy. Bloodlight suddenly flared on his spear.
In an instant, blood-red magical runes quickly spread across his body, and a vast sea of bloodlust, as overwhelming as an ocean, surged, enveloping the entire palace hall.
In the next instant, the stone slab beneath Winston’s feet cracked with a loud bang! In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his original position, only to reappear directly in front of Keld.
“Die!” Winston’s eyes were cold as ice. Without a single word of hesitation, his spear shot through the air like lightning, aimed directly at Keld’s head with ruthless precision!
“Move!” Oleni and Runne quickly retreated, their eyes filled with wariness. A man’s reputation is as strong as his deeds, and Winston’s title as the War God had reverberated throughout the Clinton Empire, earned through real military exploits!
However, Keld’s expression showed no sign of panic. Instead, he revealed a savage grin.
“Hahaha! I’ve heard that the Empire’s War God, Winston Transcendent, has few equals. Today, let me see if you truly have such strength!”
As his voice echoed, golden Battle Will surged around Keld’s body. His muscular arm rose abruptly, and his massive sword swung down violently toward the charging Winston.
Boom! The moment the two forces collided, a powerful shockwave exploded outward!
It was as if a hurricane had swept through, scattering food and furniture across the hall in all directions.
“Everyone, attack!” Seeing Winston and Keld already engaged in combat, the others hesitated not for a second. Their aura surged as they moved directly toward Princes Leonie, Runne, and Isaacs.
Second Prince Runne immediately waved his hand, shouting furiously, “Kill them!”
Behind him, several high-ranking nobles from the noble faction had long been waiting. Superclass experts shot forward almost simultaneously, intercepting Augustine, Evelyn, Ziegfried, and others mid-air.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Several violent auras collided, and the entire royal palace hall was immediately thrown into chaos.
Superclass experts battling in such a place was akin to throwing high explosives in a bathroom. In the blink of an eye, dozens of innocent nobles were caught in the chaos, instantly reduced to a bloody mess.
“We are neutral! Let us go! We are innocent!” Hundreds of innocent nobles screamed in terror as they fled in panic.
But unfortunately, the soldiers showed no intention of sparing them.
Neutral?
Only the dead are truly neutral.
“Senior, teacher, take care of Fratis.” As the battle officially erupted, Luca turned to Lucia and Sophia and said this before they could react.
Without waiting for a response, his feet gleamed with silver light as he rushed toward the heart of the palace hall.
“This guy just can’t stay out of these things!” Lucia gritted her teeth in frustration and immediately rushed to pull Luca back.
But before she could take more than a few steps, Sophia called out to her.
“Don’t worry about him, teacher.” She glanced deeply at Luca’s retreating figure and said, “Our priority is to protect Her Majesty.”
This level of battle was beyond Lucia’s ability to intervene. Even if she did try, it would be of no help, and could potentially slow things down.
Lucia realized this herself. Despite her usual optimism, a sense of defeat welled up inside her.
In such a situation, even high-tier individuals like herself were still too weak.
The chaos in the palace hall continued. The sounds of pleading for mercy mixed with anguished cries, blood and severed limbs splattered everywhere. The walls, still stained with Mond’s blood, were once again covered with fresh blood from countless others.
“What… what can I do…” Looking at the battlefield in the palace hall, Fratis showed fear in her eyes, but still mustered the courage to speak.
“Your Majesty, just stay here.” Sophia glanced at her, her eyes showing complexity. Having experienced the events involving the Ancient Gods, everyone believed that the divine power within Fratis had long been depleted.
But only she and a few others knew that this power had been lying dormant inside Fratis all along. That world-shattering power could erupt at any moment!
Alfred had never been worried about Fratis managing the Clinton Empire, because, in the face of that power, almost no one could resist.
The problem was that Fratis couldn’t control this power yet…
As Sophia thought this.
Her gaze suddenly caught a gleam of brilliant light flashing through the hall.
Though faint, it shone like a star, dazzling and radiant!
Sophia froze for a moment, thinking she might have been seeing things.
But when she looked again, her eyes widened, and shock flashed across her face.
“This… this is impossible?!” At the same time, gasps of astonishment rang out from all around the hall.
A Superclass Duke looked at the tall figure walking forward, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Somehow, a golden glow surrounded Luca, radiating an aura that felt both unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar to everyone.
It was the Star Power of the Dawn God Sect!
“Dawn?!” The moment they felt the divine power and pressure that were almost identical to the Goddess of Dawn, everyone’s breath seemed to freeze.
Thud! The fear brought on by the Goddess of Dawn surged back to the forefront of their minds. Several soldiers, unable to withstand the pressure, collapsed to the ground. Their eyes, filled with terror, remained fixed on Luca.
“It’s impossible! This can’t be!” The First Prince Leonie trembled as he looked at the figure in midair, surrounded by divine power. His face twitched in disbelief.
The Goddess of Dawn had already fallen before them, and Fratis’s power had been dormant. This was supposed to be their best opportunity.
But how could Luca possess the Star Power? When did he obtain it? How could he have the Star Power?!
“What in this world is impossible?” Luca chuckled lightly, and the starlight around him grew stronger and stronger, until it gathered into a vast ocean of stars!
Boom!
A mighty divine presence suddenly descended!
The heavens darkened, and the starry sky became visible!
Countless stars shone brightly across the sky, grand and boundless, their brilliance overwhelming!
Luca rose into the air, surrounded by an endless stream of stars. In his eyes appeared a strange symbol, resembling a crown made of stars—identical to the crown of the heavens!
This was the professional skill of the Fate-Swapping Master: Fate Plundering!
No one could have anticipated that he was holding such a Surpass the Conventional skill!
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And the target of Luca’s power was clearly Fratis!
Though her starry divine power couldn’t be used, her divine rank, tied to the stars, still remained.
The ability of the Fate-Swapping Master was to replicate fates!
“No wonder he dared to kill openly; turns out, he had the confidence…” Evelyn gave a bitter smile as she watched the figure in the air.
The boy was far more clever than she had imagined. She hadn’t expected that, even in that dire situation, he was still hiding a trump card that could turn the tables!
“Now then, who wants to die first?” Luca’s gaze lowered as he looked at the people below, his voice echoing throughout the entire hall.
At the same time, streams of starlight behind him transformed into countless glowing arrows, aimed at the princes and all the rebellious nobles, a divine presence overwhelming the hall!
Everyone who had arrows pointed at them turned ashen. They had already experienced how terrifying the power of the gods could be.
Faced with such a presence, no one had the courage to continue fighting.
“Stop him! Quickly, stop him!!” The Second Prince Runne, realizing the danger, panicked. He shoved a nearby noble aside and, without a second thought, turned to flee!
It was obvious that Luca wouldn’t let them go. Rather than waiting to die here, it was better to run and perhaps have a chance of survival.
“Run! Run quickly!” This thought immediately spread to everyone present. Soldiers and nobles alike discarded everything else and dashed toward the palace doors, fleeing for their lives.
“Now you want to run…” Luca’s eyes flickered slightly, and dazzling starlight erupted around him. The starry arrows transformed into bolts of golden lightning, pouring down like a torrential storm!
“Isn’t it a little too late for that?”