Kill no more volume 10, p.5
Kill No More - Volume 10, page 5
The Dragon Emperor already had a plan for this. He smiled lightly and said, “Child, are you familiar with the battle situation in the Aklan Continent?”
Liola slowly shook his head. The Dragon Emperor didn’t ask him to pay attention to the northern continent’s war. Naturally, Liola paid no attention to it, and therefore knew nothing of it.
“Miluo had already led the Lesser Dragons to attack Aklan. Their war path had been successful, and they’ve almost made it to where Qiusi is.” The Dragon Emperor pondered, while observing the successor from the corner of his eyes. Liola didn’t seem to act like he cared after hearing this. The Dragon Emperor continued satisfactorily, “Though we’ve heard rumors about Qiusi not being able to defend and planning on retreating, but I do not believe Qiusi only had such measly amount of forces.”
“Even after cornering him like this, he still isn’t willing to show his true hand. This person is surely more complex than I thought…” The Dragon Emperor smiled, but his smile was frosty, “He is a worthy opponent, who stopped me for hundreds of years.”
The Dragon Emperor said lightly, “I feel he’s too dangerous.”
Liola’s face had been emotionless, but now his eyes flashed with a cold light. Having long been an Assassin, his instincts told him the Dragon Emperor had already given him a mission. Liola answered directly, “Understood.”
“Slow down, my understanding child.” The Dragon Emperor’s purple eyes became deep and dark, and he revealed a smile, then said word for word, “This time, I will go myself, to get rid of this dangerous factor.”
Then, the Dragon Emperor tilted his body slightly towards Idojin, and said, “Idojin, is everything ready?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Idojin bowed slightly, then took out a staff adorned with a giant jewel at the end. He began chanting some mysterious incantation. A magic circle began to tinkle in the air, and the light grew brighter and brighter. Its size also went from about the size of a fist to eventually about the height of a person. The light also turned more gentle, no longer blinding.
“Go in, child, and help father get rid of anyone who may pose a threat.” The Dragon Emperor stood still, and his thin, long finger pointed directly at the magic circle. He smiled as he gave the kill order to his child.
Liola’s expression was cold as always. He elegantly pulled out Broken Silver and, with a familiar twist, unsheathed the weapon quietly. The Broken Silver shined with a silver light; like its master, the thin blade seemed to be filled with a sense of cold.
With his years of training to step silently, Liola stepped into the magic circle, to carry out the mission ordered by his father. The goal of this mission was, to thrust Broken Silver into the chest of his companion’s father.
Chapter 4 : The Final Tear
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“Prime Minister, the Black Dragon King is already not far from here. Our front lines can’t hold on for much longer, so please, Prime Minister, please leave the capital as soon as possible.”
The representative from all over Aklan were protected by Soldiers surrounding the borders. The recent defeats they’ve suffered and the fact that they would soon be forced to leave their homes, had filled their faces with despair. Only a few of them still acted normally, and these were the people who were worriedly pleading their Prime Minister to leave.
“I’ll be fine. You guys leave first. My teleport is far faster than Maxuns.” Qiusi answered with a smile, with an expression unbefitting of a Prime Minister who was about to be forced out of the capital of his own country.
Hearing Qiusi’s answer, these people relaxed a bit. Even though they knew little of Magic, but Prime Minister Qiusi’s immense magic strength was well known. To ask such a Sorcerer who excelled in teleportation to use a transportation tool seemed a bit… redundant.
They nodded, “We understand, then we will leave first. Please, quickly retreat to the city behind the capital.”
Qiusi smiled and nodded, then looked as all the representatives leave one by one under the guard of the Soldiers, until finally, he was the only one standing there.
It wasn’t until now that Qiusi withdrew his smile, and his brows frowned at the same time. He turned around to look deeply at the meeting room of the Aklan Republic. The broad meeting room was in the shape of a fan, with a podium in the center of it. Facing the podium, were ascending levels of seats. Qiusi’s position was on the side of the podium. As Aklan’s Prime Minister, this was a place he visited everyday.
Most of the time he came here to see the representatives as though he was coming to see a show: they argued about everything ranging from national matters to whether they should put garbage cans on the streets. Occasionally, after an argument with his son and being in a bad mood, he would come here and yell at the representatives, calling them bad examples for the society, and using their apologetic feeling to balance the hurt his son had caused him…
“Is it right or wrong to abandon this place?”
Qiusi thought carefully. What made him feel helpless was how the Dragon Emperor almost never acted as expected. Sometimes, the Dragon Emperor would indeed devise a sinister plan, but some other times, his actions seem to convey a sense of kindness. Qiusi had always thought it was a way to make him lower his guard, but strangely enough, the end results of those times proved that the Dragon Emperor really wasn’t malicious at those times.
This characteristic of the Dragon Emperor had always made Qiusi felt helpless. If everything the Emperor did was malicious, he would actually feel slightly better, but this two-sidedness actually made Qiusi grow tired from guessing.
Thinking about Dragon Emperor’s volatility, Qiusi suddenly remembered his old friend, Susanna. Susanna stood by the Dragon Emperor at the time, and due to the nature of their confrontation, Qiusi and his companions could never ask why their good friend would betray them. Gle had always thought she simply treated lovers better over friends.
But, ever since they sent Gle to the other world, the Dragon Emperor had been quiet for hundreds of years. Although sometimes he would come up with various plans, Qiusi determined the plans didn’t seem to have taken much thought, such as framing Gladiolus. Despite being the top Assassin in this world, Gladiolus lacked much strength. If Qiusi really were infuriated by his wife’s death and used all his powers as a Prime Minister, leveling the Dark Street wasn’t out of the question for him.
Qiusi had been thinking for many of years and he had always thought the Dragon Emperor’s quietness must have something to do with his good friend Susanna, but could Susanna’s death turned the Dragon Emperor’s volatility into purely evil?
“Whatever, whether you’re evil, or switching between good and evil, I must rid you while I’m still alive. I will never allow my child to sink into… the same fate as me — to struggle against the Dragon Emperor throughout his entire life.” Remembering his son, Qiusi forced out any thoughts about his past, and held his determination to fight to the death against the Dragon Emperor.
Suddenly, a strong and powerful magic fluctuation appeared behind him. Qiusi was shocked. He didn’t think there would be such a powerful Magician in this world he didn’t know about. At this point, Qiusi knew without guessing the appearance of such a strong person must have something to do with the Dragon Emperor, but he didn’t really care — he was too confident in his own comprehensive protective shield, since it was the reason he had lived for the hundreds of years of struggle against the Dragon Emperor.
Truthfully, Qiusi’s attack power was absolutely nothing in the face of a rank-X person, but his defense… let’s put it this way, Qiusi had been faced with Assassins under every strange situation one could think of: eating, showering, sleeping, etc. In one of the worst cases, he was suffering diarrhea when he ran into a damned female Assassin. That time, he was sitting on the toilet, accompanied by varying water sounds as well as the smell of his food poisoning. Because it was far too stinky, the female Assassin had covered her nostrils with toilet paper. She jumped from every angle to attack, but she could not break his protective shield.
Finally, Qiusi slowly stood up from the toilet, wiped his butt, flushed, washed his hands, then walked past the female Assassin’s body who was vomiting blood from being far too furious. He then yawned, and climbed on the bed to sleep… And then, rumors were, the female Assassin had since then quit the profession of being an Assassin.
After that, the Dragon Emperor had never sent anyone else to assassinate him, probably because he didn’t have too many Assassins under his commands, and he couldn’t afford to lose them like this.
Could it be the assassination attempts he hadn’t seen for a long time be starting again? Qiusi was actually facing the situation with an attitude of wanting to watch a good show. He turned leisurely and saw a magic door fluctuating before him. Qiusi guessed this may very well be another assassination attempt. A familiar figure emerged from the magic circle, then the figure staggered a few times, then fell to the ground, and stopped moving.
Qiusi opened his eyes wide, and looked shockingly at the unmoving body on the ground, then yelled in shock, “Liola?”
The person on the ground struggled a bit, then raised his head. Painful expressions filled his face.
“Are you… being controlled by the Dragon Emperor?” Qiusi remembered what Mizerui said, and put up his guard. He didn’t forget this person used to be top Assassin of the other world who could get his way unhindered.
“M-Mizerui was… by… the Dragon Emperor…” Liola struggled to get up, but with a frown, he spit out a mouthful of blood. He forced his body up, but he was powerless to move again.
‘Mizerui? Damn! Didn’t I tell him to be careful, and don’t act rashly by himself?’ Qiusi had a rough expression on his face. Truth was, when he heard Mizerui say that Liola had completely sunk under the Dragon Emperor’s control, he advised Mizerui to leave the Dragon Continent. After all, the Dragon Emperor couldn’t possibly have not known Mizerui’s true intent by now, but he refused to go. Qiusi could therefore do nothing but ask him to be careful.
“What happened to Mizerui?” Qiusi walked towards the Assassin on the ground. As usual, his protective shield surrounded his body every second of the minute.
Liola shook his head disgruntledly, and this action made Qiusi knit his brows even more, but all of a sudden, a purple figure flashed out of the magic door. The sword in his hand were intertwined with powerful purple aura, and the target was Liola on the ground. Qiusi didn’t have time to think, nor did he have the time to run over, so he had to extend the range of his comprehensive shield, so he could include Liola into the shield.
The protective shield successfully blocked the Dragon Emperor’s attack. When the purple aura collided with Qiusi’s shield, it created a beautiful purple fireworks, but the protective shield remained unscathed by this beautiful purple aura.
“This plan is surely dirty enough.” Qiusi’s voice was unusually dry.
The Dragon Emperor ignored Qiusi’s accusation of being low, and instead walked curiously around Qiusi’s shield, carefully observing this legendary shield that stopped him for hundreds of years, as if he was waiting…
“Is Mizerui okay?” Qiusi suddenly remembered.
The Dragon Emperor answered casually, “Mocha is in the way, so it’s not easy for me to attack.”
“I see how it is.”
Qiusi nodded, so Mizerui must be out of harm’s way for the time being. Qiusi couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. What a joke! Mizerui, who had always carelessly walked around in the Dragon Emperor’s presence, was going to outlive Qiusi himself, who was always careful and scared of being assassinated by the Dragon Emperor. Blood oozed out of Qiusi’s mouth, and it dripped past his neck, until it colored his chest.
“Sigh, looks like I can’t see my baby, Meinan, marry a girl. It’s all his fault; he looks perverted. It’s not like he hadn’t gotten himself a girlfriend, but he still couldn’t get me a daughter-in-law.” Qiusi sighed, and couldn’t help but reminded Liola, “You have to remind Meinan, when he marries a girl, remember to bring her to me to see. It would be best for them to burn a few wedding photos. Also, when they get me a grandchild, don’t forget to bring the child to my grave to call me grandpa.”
[T/N: in traditional Chinese beliefs, burning things for loved ones will make them receive it in the afterlife, hence the common practice of burning paper (fake) money; so Qiusi’s dialog for them to bring her for him to see was by burning pictures]
Liola’s body trembled slightly, and the hand holding onto Broken Silver could no longer continue to stay at the same place. He suddenly pulled Broken Silver out of Qiusi’s chest, knowing full well that this action could make Qiusi, who was still smiling lightly, lose much blood from his wound. Qiusi, who was covered with blood, suddenly lost more blood, turning his face completely pale. His body, like autumn leaves, shook a few times then fell face-first towards the ground.
Liola, practically out of reflex, threw down Broken Silver, and reached up to catch Qiusi’s falling body. At the same time, he felt the warm blood from Qiusi, Broken Silver had fallen onto the ground, making a crisp metallic sound.
Compared to the warmth of the blood, Qiusi’s face against Liola’s neck was deathly chill. Had it not been his weak breathing, Liola would’ve thought he was holding a dead man. Nevertheless, he knew, if the man wasn’t treated soon, he would not be far from a dead man.
Liola didn’t realize until now, he actually missed. Had his attack landed on the heart, Qiusi wouldn’t still be alive.
“D-don’t worry, cough cough… You didn’t do it willingly. Meinan… he will forgive you.” Qiusi said while coughing blood. The attack probably hit his lungs.
The words shot through Liola’s heart like an arrow. He suddenly understood, just now, using the opportunity of Qiusi putting himself within his shield, he jagged Broken Silver through Meinan’s father’s chest…
Qiusi, who was nearly unconscious at this point, suddenly felt Liola’s body shaking. He struggled to raise his head, only to find two streams of tears running down from the silver eyes. The pain in the silver eyes was obvious to anyone who would set their eyes on it. Qiusi tried to force himself conscious, and comforted him, “Don’t worry, it’s okay, everyone will understand, nobody would blame you.”
Hearing Qiusi’s comforting, Liola’s eyes were nearly covered by the raging tears. He no longer hesitated. He held Qiusi with one hand, and used his other hand to quickly tap the Qiusi’s pressure points across his chest. Qiusi felt something refreshing coming out of Liola’s fingers, and suddenly, the pain sensation dropped quickly, and the taste of death he had sensed was slowly fading.
[T/N: This refers to a previously noted topic: In Martial Arts novels, hitting different pressure points usually have various effects. In this case, it’s implied that tapping Qiusi’s chest pressure points would stop/slow his bleeding.]
“What are you doing? My successor!”
The Dragon Emperor seemed to have noticed something was wrong. He was already very unhappy with Liola catching Qiusi’s body, and now he was sensing Qiusi’s life stabilizing, so he knew Liola had something to do with it. This made Dragon Emperor so furious that his tone was filled with anger, thereby completing forgetting his usual elegant tone. His purple eyes were practically spitting fire, and he yelled, “Kill him! Liola, you must kill him for me!”
Liola’s body trembled, but no actions were taken. Although he was still under the Dragon Emperor’s control, instincts continuously told Liola he couldn’t kill the man in his arms, absolutely not!
Seeing Liola not moving an inch, the Dragon Emperor’s body began to shake. Having seen Liola went with the plan to assassinate Qiusi, he thought his successor was complete without any problems, but now it was failing mere centimeters before the finishing line, how could the Dragon Emperor not be enraged?
However, thinking about Liola’s recent “good behavior”, such a good successor was not easy to find. As such, the Dragon Emperor forced down the anger in his mind, and decided to have Idojin increase the control when they get back. As for now, he decided to kill Qiusi himself.
Sensing father’s anger, Liola felt so bad, as though someone was squeezing his heart tightly, and he had to rely on his instinct to disobey the order. However, he quickly noticed father was already walking his way. His immense murderous intent clearly told Liola he decided to handle Qiusi himself, and this made Liola panick to the point where he couldn’t breathe.
“Leave quickly! Use your teleport.” Liola whispered.
Though Qiusi heard Liola’s reminder, but losing so much blood had made him unable to even talk, let alone using advanced magic like teleport. He could only smile bitterly while being only half conscious. He had thought he might’ve come out with this life, but it looked difficult now. Nevertheless, forcing the Dragon Emperor to do it himself was better, at least it would reduce this pitiful child’s guilt.
The person in his arms didn’t respond and looked like he was about to pass out, Liola understood it was impossible for Qiusi to use teleport to escape. He put Qiusi on the ground gently, then turned to walk towards the Dragon Emperor, hoping to plead for mercy on Qiusi’s behalf. Liola saw his father’s cold purple eyes, and a gust of emotionless wind blew on the successor’s heart and made it colder again.
