Chapter 842
A shiver ran down Emperor Consteinus' spine.
Many of his subjects had offered to give up their lives for his sake. However, that was only because of their long-standing belief in his power and authority. Those that had given up their lives for him were people that were born and raised in Ardo Empire. All of them believed that their emperor was their god. And if their god were to die, then they might as well die instead.
‘But from what I heard, Spear God Ben was not even a native citizen of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.’
From what Consteinus knew, he was once called Ghost Spear Ben, and was one of the Pinnacle Strong Men, a legend that wandered the continent. Yet, a man like this was devoted to the emperor that he served to such an extent!
However, the awe disappeared not long after. Shame and disgrace washed over Consteinus. He could not believe the humiliation he was facing, in his capacity as the emperor of a great empire at that.
“Bastaaaaaaaard! How dare you treat an emperor like this?! I will twist all of your limbs on my own!”
That was what Consteinus said but then, he realized that he had signed a contract that explicitly stated that they could not cause any harm to the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire no matter the insult or disgrace that they received.
[You have offered to recruit to Spear God Ben.]
[According to the contract you signed with the Beyond the Heavens Empire, you will have to pay 20,000 platinum.]
[Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk can now send an offer to recruit one of your empire’s talents.]
“...”
What a damned thing! However, Consteinus believed that it was still too early to conclude this matter. There were still quite a lot of talented people in the Beyond the Heavens Empire. The face of one person flashed in Consteinus' head.
'Absolute God’s Sword Brod! He will be the next one!'
Consteinus vowed to pay back the humiliation that he suffered in this place one day. The contract that he signed with Minhyuk stipulated that he could not bring any kind of harm to the other party with regards to their reaction to their recruitment offer. However, he could use some other methods to deal with them.
‘I can wage war with the Beyond the Heavens Empire using this as a pretext.’
To do that, he needed enough people. That meant that he needed to recruit Brod right away. Recruiting Brod would mean that he would also be able to recruit Spear God Ben.
Consteinus began to move.
***
Emperor Consteinus, who sported bright red cheeks, quickly ran to where Brod was. Just like before, there was also an unusual scene unfolding in that place.
Dozens of diplomats, prime ministers, kings and even emperors followed right behind Brod and shouted the conditions that they were willing to give if he followed them. However, Brod ignored all of them. He just hummed as he fed his pigs, chickens and cows.
“Look at the situation that you are in right now!!! How can the Beyond the Heavens Emperor order a man like you to raise livestocks like this?!!!”
However, even after shouting loudly for an hour or two, there was no response from Brod. He did not respond to their words at all. Emperor Consteinus, who was among the crowd, was also suffering from the same treatment.
“Sir Brod,” Emperor Consteinus shouted politely at Brod.
“If you come to my Ardo Empire, I will immediately build a statue for you and hail you as my empire’s legend. I will also pay you 500 million platinum. And if you so wish it...” Consteinus mustered all of the sincerity that he could muster and continued, “You will be the one to lead the Ardo Empire upon my death.”
In other words, he was even going to give him his throne.
“...!”
“...!”
“...!”
The emperors and kings of the other kingdoms were taken aback. The succession of the throne usually followed the bloodline of the imperial or the royal family. However, Consteinus was willing to go so far for someone that did not have anything to do with the Ardo Empire. They could hardly believe their ears.
Brod was the Fallen Wretched Emperor. Consteinus was aware of this and he was fully convinced that the Ardo Empire would prosper forever if Brod became its emperor.
“Oinkies, make sure to eat a lot.”
However, despite that grand offer, Brod still treated him like air. After almost half a day had passed, Consteinus could no longer stand it. He shouted, “Bastaaaaaaaaaaaaard!”
The scene where Brod looked completely disinterested while Consteinus’ veins almost popped with how loud he was shouting looked completely ridiculous.
“I know you are a great being, but in the end, you are still nothing but a vassal of an emperor! So, why are you ignoring us here, huh?! Kneel in front of me and apologize!!!”
Brod glanced at Consteinus, as he cried loudly in front of him, and said, “I belong to His Majesty. Aside from His Majesty, I do not have any obligation to answer your questions or entertain your requests. I will only listen to His Majesty and the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. I have no other reason. As such, I do not need to answer you.”
“...!”
“...!”
The faces of all of the kings, emperors, diplomats and prime ministers all turned red. In other words, all this time, it had been a ‘You guys can go and bark all you want, I don’t care’ situation.
‘Does that mean that you will not listen at all if it’s not your emperor’s words?’
‘What a really strong and close bond.’
The kings and emperors were in awe.
At that moment, one of the soldiers approached Brod and said, “Sir Brod, His Majesty is looking for you.”
“His Majesty? Is there a problem?”
Brod immediately looked contemplative when he heard that His Majesty was looking for him.
“His Majesty said that he misses you.”
“What?! His Majesty said that he misses me?!” Brod’s face was filled with sadness.
“Yes. His Majesty said that he hasn't seen you for quite some time since he has been very busy lately. He wants to see you as soon as possible.”
“Your Majesty, please forgive this unfaithful servant of yours!”
Brod looked completely different from when he was dealing with them. He looked like he was about to cry, resenting himself for being unfaithful and causing His Majesty Minhyuk to miss him like this.
“Your Majeeeeeeeesty!!! This servant of yours is coming right awaaaaaaaay!!!” Brod ran like the wind as he cried out for Minhyuk.
“...”
“...”
The kings and emperors looked at his retreating figure with ridiculous looks. However, they immediately dispersed. There were still many figures in the Beyond the Heavens Empire that they could recruit.
All of them ran to the Great Pirate Gorfido, who was walking with a net hanging on his back.
“If you come to our empire then...!”
“If you come to our kingdom then I will give you a title in the nobility...!”
“Do you have a death wish?”
“...”
“...”
The kings and emperors hurriedly moved to find another target. This time, they gathered around the Great Sage and Best-selling Author Aruvel.
“A best-selling author like me can only be in harmony when I am in the arms of His Majesty Minhyuk.”
He was adamant in his rejection. However, there were still some kings that had a different line of questions.
“Did— did you release a new work?!”
“I also want to read your new work...”
“Sir Aruvel, please let us read your new work!!!”
The other emperors and kings were earnestly hoping to get a glimpse of his new work.
“I will not distribute my new works to the kingdoms and empires that offered to recruit me today.”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The kings and emperors collapsed. However, they immediately picked themselves up and ran to another place. There, they saw Paladin Corr, who once served and protected Saintess Loyna!
“Come to my Paragon Empire! If you come to my empire, I will promise you eternal wealth!”
“I refuse. More importantly, emperor of the Paragon Empire, I believe that you are in dire need of my blessings.”
“Blessings?”
Not long after, the emperor of the Paragon Empire felt a heat bloom on his head.
“U— uwooooooooooooh! It’s— It’s growing!!!”
“Talmooooooooor!!!”
Emperor Consteinus of the Ardo Empire hurriedly moved to another location when he saw some of the other kings and emperors began to shout for Talmor.
He tried to recruit the baby piggy, who was running around with his squishy and bulging belly.
“Oiiiiiiiiiink!”
However, the baby piggy just raised a middle finger at him and disappeared with a big and wide smile on his face.
When he approached the God of Alchemy, who could make the best potions in the world, he received a firm shake of the head.
He also tried to recruit a randomly passing knight by the street...
“I don’t want to.”
...only to receive a firm refusal.
This had now become a battle of pride. Consteinus ran to the military training grounds and barracks.
“To anyone who comes to my empire, I promise to bestow upon you 100 million platinum as soon as you promise to move to my empire!”
It was a huge sum. In fact, it was enough for a soldier or a knight to spend for the rest of his life. However, not a single one of the hundreds of thousands of troops that were training in the training grounds answered him. In other words, none of them wanted to move to his empire.
Exasperated, Consteinus asked the perfectly groomed bichon that was passing by, “Will you come to my empire?”
“F*ck you,” the bichon Bichor replied bluntly and sharply, before turning around to leave.
Consteinus sighed. Then, he shouted in front of the huge doghouse that had the name Love, Hope, Happiness written on it, “Become the dog that protects my empire...”
“Grrrrrrrrrrrr!”
“Grooooooooooar!”
“Roaaaaaaaaaaaar!”
However, Consteinus was forced to run away when he saw Cerberus appear with drool dripping down their sharp canines that could rip through a lion in one swift movement.
“...”
Finally, Consteinus even tried to ask an ordinary-looking farmer that was passing by, “My Ardo...”
“No!”
It was a perfect defense!
“...”
Emperor Consteinus was not able to recruit anyone. Walking around empty-handed, he looked around with a helpless and desperate look on his face. And what did he see? All of the emperors, kings, diplomats and prime ministers were sporting frustrated expressions on their faces. None of them were able to recruit anyone.
***
Minhyuk gathered all of the kings, emperors and diplomats that came to his empire.
[Emperor Consteinus will have to give 110,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire as a recruitment fee.]
[You can try to recruit 29 talents from the Ardo Empire.]
[Emperor Valkarra will have to give 70,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire as a recruitment fee.]
[You can try to recruit 28 talents from the Rekkad Empire.]
[Emperor Rumai will have to give 67,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire as a recruitment fee.]
[You can try to recruit 25 talents from the Ars Empire.]
They were able to secure around 1.75 million from the recruitment fees. On top of that, they could extend the offer to recruit to around 400 people from various empires and kingdoms. This meant that the Beyond the Heavens Empire could approach 400 new talents from their pool of talents.
“For an entire week, the Beyond the Heavens Empire will send diplomats and executives to your respective empires and kingdoms to recruit people. As the emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, I will also make a move and recruit people. Do you have any objections to that?”
Everyone was mute. Everything had already written and signed under a contract.
“Then, I will see you here in a week. If those that I recruited decided to come here, their families will have to come along with them. Please bear that in mind.”
Recruiting a talent meant that their families would also have to move and migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.
***
After a week.
Emperor Consteinus came back to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Of course, the same was true for all of the other emperors and kings. They all came to attend this event.
The Beyond the Heavens Empire had been recruiting talents from their kingdoms and empires up until this point. Of course, the kings and emperors all put pressure on those that they tried to recruit.
—You’re going to the Beyond the Heavens Empire? If that’s the case, then I will make sure to remember you.
It was more of a threat than pressure.
Consteinus had a wide smile on his face. He had already discussed it with the other kings and emperors. He was confident that Minhyuk would not be able to take anyone from them, just like how they were unable to take anyone from him.
Since that was the case, then they wanted to make a second proposal. That was to deploy their military forces to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They intended to eat away and devour the Beyond the Heavens Empire by using the pretext of deploying their military forces to protect them.
“Duke Amacar. I will force the Beyond the Heavens Empire to kneel and kiss my feet. At the end of the day, even the Luvien Empire will be absorbed by me. By then, you will be able to enjoy greater wealth and glory. Look forward to it,” Consteinus said politely.
Duke Amacar was the founder that established Ardo Empire’s Hound Knight Order. The Hound Knight Order was an overwhelming and shocking order composed of 100 individuals with levels over Level 550. Prior to the appearance of the Luvien Empire and the Swords of the Gods, the Hound Knight Order was considered to be the strongest knight order in the entire continent.
Because Duke Amacar founded and established such a knight order, he was bestowed with the title of Duke. And Duke Amacar was loyal to Conteinus. He loved, cared for, and respected the emperor of the Ardo Empire. But that was not all. Duke Amacar was also a Named NPC, and his level went beyond Level 650. Duke Amacar was the pride of the Ardo Empire.
The huge hall was filled with countless talents as well as their families. Some of these talents were hailed as the legends of their empires or recorded as heroes that protected their kingdoms.
Their respective kings and emperors obviously cared for them so they were sure that these people would willingly risk their lives for their sake. Would such people truly come to the Beyond the Heavens Empire? An empire that was in a precarious situation and would probably disappear at any given moment?
At that moment, Minhyuk appeared. He said, “I believe none of the kings and emperors present here will be dissatisfied with whatever decision their talents will make today, no?”
All of the kings and emperors nodded. Secretly, they did not believe Minhyuk could take away the pride and glory of their kingdoms and empires.
Then, Haze stepped forward and began to call out the names of the talents one by one.
“Weiden Kingdom’s Earl of Spears, Sir Hathor.”
“Roicun Kingdom’s Duke of Magic Polo.”
“Epoch Empire’s Magic Weapon Manufacturer Emfez.”
The names were constantly being called out. Of course, there were also dozens of people from the Ardo Empire among the list. However, Emperor Consteinus remained arrogant and proud. He continued to listen with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
‘No one will leave my proud and glorious empire!’
The Ardo Empire was the largest empire after the Luvien Empire. Besides, his bond with his people was very tight knit and close.
Then, Haze said, “Those whose names have been called, if you wish to serve the Beyond the Heavens Empire, please kneel in front of His Majesty and swear your allegiance.”
Many of the kings and emperors laughed at Haze’s words. No one made a move as silence engulfed the entire hall.
Consteinus could not help the laughter that spilled from his mouth. He grinned widely and said, “How dare you mention Duke Amacar’s name?”
As ridiculous as it might sound, Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk has also extended an offer to Duke Amacar. Perhaps they had planned it in secret. However, it was nothing but a useless and ridiculous act.
Consteinus was somewhat disappointed that Duke Amacar did not mention this to him before. But he felt like the reason why the duke did not tell him was because there was simply no need to.
Then, at that moment, Duke Amacar knelt in front of Consteinus.
“Hoo... Duke Amacar. How come you’re kneeling in front of me in this shabby place?”
Deep inside, Consteinus was feeling delighted. It seemed like even Duke Amacar felt humiliated after being called like that.
'How dare he receive an offer from another emperor when he is already serving me?'
Consteinus felt like Amacar was trying to apologize to him here. He could already hear what he was about to say to him. He would definitely shout it loudly so that even the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor would be able to hear.
‘Your Majesty! You are the only one that I will serve! I will serve no one else in this life!’
This was the loyalty of a vassal to his emperor. Of course, Emperor Consteinus would show how much he cared for Duke Amacar. He quickly bent down and said, “I am fine. Duke Amacar, don’t kneel like this here...”
But then, Amacar shouted, “Your Majesty!!!”
Emperor Consteinus was left dumbfounded with his loud and powerful voice.
“May you live long and healthy!!!”
“...?”
Consteinus watched in confusion as Duke Amacar kowtowed to him on the ground and slowly stood up. Then, amidst the silence, Amacar walked in front of the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk and proceeded to kneel down strongly.
Thud—!
“I vow to stay by His Majesty’s side forever and help the Beyond the Heavens Empire!!!”
“...!”
“...!”
“...!”
Emperor Consteinus was left speechless. Duke Amacar was the representative of the Ardo Empire. He could be considered to be the main pillar of the empire too.
At the same time, a notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.
[The Hound Knight Order’s Master, Amacar, has pledged his eternal loyalty to you!]
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