Damon quickly made his decision. If these guys were all going for a Kingdom, then there was only one thing he could do. He too had to go for a Kingdom and not just any Kingdom. He would have to go for one so big that it would put the others to sha.
Damon's thoughts snapped to a single na.
An empire.
One that had stood for centuries. One that spanned multiple regions. One whose authority was recognized by the Light Faction and countless neutral powers alike.
If he took that…
Damon exhaled slowly, blood essence stirring beneath his skin as plans rapidly ford and refined themselves. His blood avatar was still grinding, still growing stronger by the minute. It was now ti for his true body to do sothing similar.
With that, Damon opened up a Blood Gate. On the other side of the Blood Gate, the hot, dry desert winds blew. "Hello, western deserts." He grinned. The answer to all of his problems was none other than the Great Western Desert Empire.
Be it the total amount of territories or land, or resources, no Kingdom or Empire could beat the Great Western Desert Empire. If he managed to obtain this successfully, then the Golden Throne event would no longer belong to the ten families. It would belong to him.
Damon stepped through the Blood Gate, and the world changed in an instant.
Blazing heat washed over him without any effect as golden sand stretched endlessly in every direction, dunes rolling like frozen waves beneath a rciless sun.
Damon then disappeared and appeared in front of the royal palace gates. He only had to wait a mont before a familiar figure rushed towards him. Coincidentally, it was not the one he thought it would be. Instead, it was the Emperor himself.
"I knew you would be back." The old man laughed. However, there was an unmistakable tinge of sadness in his eyes.
"What happened? Is everything alright? Your highness." Damon asked.
The old emperor stopped a few steps away from him. Up close, the weight of centuries seed to press down on the man's shoulders. His robes were immaculate, his back straight, but the vitality Damon rembered from before had faded, replaced by sothing brittle and tired.
"Let's go inside and talk, Blood God. I am assuming you don't want your identity or your presence to be revealed?" The Emperor smiled lightly as he led Damon inside the royal palace.
They entered a private chamber, no guards, no attendants, only a round table carved from a single slab of golden sandstone. The emperor gestured for Damon to sit, then did so himself, letting out a quiet sigh.
"You are not going to ask how I knew you were here?" The old man smiled.
Damon chuckled lightly. "It's fine. I knew your emblem had a tracking formation. I am not offended."
The old man's sharp eyes studied him for a mont before he sighed again. "Then I guess you also know about Alzara's condition." He then suddenly beca a little agitated and asked again, "Is that why you are here? Do you know of sothing that could help my daughter? Perhaps so alchemist from the Venom Sigil has a cure for her?"
"Hmmm?" Damon raised a brow. This ti, he honestly had no idea what had happened, but judging from the Emperor's words, he could make an excellent guess. "I first need to see her before I can say anything."
"…Of course," he replied quietly, rising from his seat. The earlier composure slipped just enough to reveal the man beneath the crown, a father grasping at dwindling hope. "She's resting in the Sun Veil Pavilion. The physicians… the priests… they've all done what they can."
They left the chamber and walked through the inner halls of the palace. The doors to the pavilion opened soundlessly.
Inside, Alzara lay on a soft bed, her body unnaturally still. Her breathing was shallow, almost imperceptible. Sunlight filtered through the translucent do above, bathing her in warmth, but the warmth didn't reach her.
"…Interesting," Damon murmured. Soone had poisoned her.
The emperor's composure cracked at once. His shoulders stiffened, and the breath he had been holding escaped in a sharp exhale. "You can tell already?" he asked, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. "Do you think… can you help her?"
For all his efforts to appear calm, the fear was written plainly across his face. The ruler who commanded an empire stood there powerless, stripped of pretense by the sight of his daughter lying between life and death. In the end, he didn't even try to hide it anymore.
He took an unsteady step forward, eyes fixed on Alzara.
"Blood God," the emperor said hoarsely, pride finally giving way to desperation. "I know you are soone who turns the impossible into reality. You destroyed three of the nine hidden orders in a single day." His voice faltered. "Please… save my daughter."
He bowed his head, fists clenched.
"I will give you anything you want."
Damon didn't answer right away. He stepped closer to the bed, gaze sweeping over Alzara with clinical calm. To the emperor, it might have looked like indifference, but in truth, Damon was already dissecting the situation layer by layer. Her mana circulation was sluggish, uneven, as if sothing had gnawed holes into the pathways themselves. Worse still, the poison wasn't rely in her blood. It had fused with her essence, anchoring itself deep within her core like a parasite afraid of being uprooted.
"This isn't ordinary poison," Damon finally said. "And it wasn't ant to kill her quickly."
The emperor's head snapped up. "Then what was it ant to do?"
"To rot her from the inside," Damon replied flatly. "Soone wanted to torture her. Make her suffer slowly, let her vitality be gnawed away day by day, until even healing spells wouldn't give her any relief."
The emperor trembled. His fingers clenched into his robes, knuckles whitening. "Who would dare…?"
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