Chapter 857
Chapter 857
“Lord Vytin.”
Duchess Dysses bowed.
Lord Vytin was the greatest swordsman on Cerulean Planet and had been Count Austin's master for a long time.
“Your Grace.”
Lord Vytin bowed in return.
“Now!”
“Let's begin!”
The two then clashed fiercely.
Dyssess had never used her fighting aura before, but now, facing a master of the highest caliber, she finally unleashed it. Her sword seemed to emit a faint glow, and with every swing, a sound like crashing thunder echoed as light intertwined.
*Swish, swish, swish.*
A gust of sword wind swept past, slicing through the nearby flags.
The two fought wildly for dozens, then hundreds of seconds, yet no victor emerged.
But suddenly, a shadow approached rapidly from a distance, as if to barge in on them.
It was the middle-aged eunuch, Taren.
Duchess Dysses furrowed her brow.
“Hah!”
The two executed their final moves with all their might.
*Boom!*
With a loud noise, their figures collided forcefully before rebounding, and the solid stone ground cracked like a tortoise shell.
Lord Vytin bowed and said.
“Your Grace, you truly possess the strongest bloodline of the Russo family.”
Duchess Dysses nodded and walked outside.
* * *
“Is it bad news?”
The middle-aged eunuch, Taren, answered Duchess Dysses's question.
“It is. The Bloody Baron requests an audience.”
Duchess Dysses instinctively started toward her study but stopped.
She was in her combat attire, which was not suitable for meeting a vassal.
She bathed, changed into an ornate dress, and then headed to her study.
“Bloody Baron, you said you had bad news for me?”
“Yes. We were defeated in the battle at Mulan City. Count Duke was killed in action, and Count Austin was taken prisoner.”
Duchess Dysses's beautiful face turned cold and rigid.
Inwardly, she was utterly shocked.
*'Is that even possible? How could an army of one hundred thousand lose when attacking a shabby city, no bigger than a small town, with only two thousand soldiers?'*
“Shen Lang has won the allegiance of the Amazon tribe. At a critical moment, nearly ten thousand Amazonian warriors attacked, annihilating the armies of Count Austin and Count Duke.”
At the Bloody Baron's words, all the color drained from Duchess Dysses's face.
*'Shen Lang won the allegiance of the Amazon tribe? How? By what means? How is that possible? For over a thousand years, the Amazon Queendom has been isolated from the world. Several emperors of the Sauron Dynasty tried to conquer them, but all failed. So what did an Easterner like Shen Lang, who doesn't even have the strength to wring a chicken's neck, use to achieve this? His handsome face? Did he captivate them with his 'charm'? What does Shen Lang possess that allowed him to accomplish what several emperors of the Sauron Dynasty could not?'*
In Duchess Dysses's view, a strong man was attractive, and power was true charm.
“How many of the soldiers I sent to attack Mulan City are left?”
“Almost none. They were completely wiped out.”
Hearing this, the solid crystal ball in Duchess Dysses's hand shattered into dust with a forceful crack.
* * *
But the blows to Dysses had only just begun.
A few hours later, several ships appeared in the waters of Goldstone City, carrying cargo the likes of which had never been seen before.
The ships were packed to the brim with human heads.
Tens of thousands of grotesque heads were piled high on the decks.
The ships slowly approached the waters of Goldstone City, and Dysses recognized the heads as those of the army she had dispatched.
Shen Lang had taken their heads and had a priestess of the Fire God Sect deliver them.
This was a complete provocation, an insult, and a threat directed at her.
The countless citizens of Goldstone City who witnessed the scene felt a chill run down their spines, and many wailed in grief.
Because those heads belonged mostly to their husbands and sons.
The people of Goldstone City had never seen tens of thousands of severed heads piled up before, and the sight was horrifying.
Wherever the ships passed, that place became a vision of hell.
A priestess of the Fire God Sect, who looked younger and more beautiful than her thirty-two years, appeared before Duchess Dysses and bowed slightly.
“Shen Lang asked me to deliver a message to you.”
“What is it?”
“He said he will soon lead a great army to attack Goldstone City, and that you should make yourself fair and plump in anticipation of his arrival. He said he needs a lowly slave, and you are the perfect fit.”
Hearing this, Duchess Dysses's red hair seemed to flutter suddenly.
It was an unprecedented humiliation and provocation.
But just then.
*BOOM!*
A sudden explosion echoed from the sea, and an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
Those who witnessed it would never forget the sight for the rest of their lives.
With the explosion, tens of thousands of heads detonated simultaneously, and all the heads, along with the ships, were blown to smithereens.
“Aaaah!”
Screams erupted from all over Goldstone City.
They couldn't believe the scene before their eyes.
*'How can human heads explode?'*
Duchess Dysses's beautiful face trembled slightly.
In that moment, she felt as if she had been fiercely slapped across the face.
For the past year, she had poured immense energy and effort into finally placing the Russo family at the pinnacle of history.
Though a mere woman, she had become one of the greatest contributors to the establishment of the Third Sauron Empire, conquering nearly a quarter of the Witch Empire's territory and becoming the guardian of the southern Sauron Empire.
But that single moment seemed to instantly reset all the glory she had previously achieved.
That handsome Eastern man had utterly humiliated her.
An army of one hundred thousand annihilated, her uncle Austin taken prisoner.
Not only that, but he had detonated tens of thousands of heads in front of the people of Goldstone City.
How could Shen Lang be so audacious? His complete lack of restraint showed none of the dignity of a nobleman.
After a long while, Duchess Dysses spoke coldly.
“He wants to conquer Goldstone City and make me his slave? Then let him come!”
She turned, left the docks, and entered her castle.
“Send orders to all vassals of Cerulean Planet to lead their armies to Goldstone City. In the name of the Guardian of the South, I command all governors of the five southern planets of the Sauron Empire to send their forces here for support. Since that Eastern man says he is coming, I will make this Goldstone City his grave. Amazonian warriors? Those shameless women are fatherless bastards. I will experience for myself just how strong you are. Can your mere thousands stand against my army of over one hundred thousand? Traitors must die! From this day forward, the Amazon tribe is no longer worthy of being part of the Western world. They are the shame of the West and must be swept into the dustbin of history.”
At Duchess Dysses's command, hundreds of messengers rushed out of Goldstone City, heading for Cerulean Planet.
They also spread throughout the southern regions of the Sauron Empire, delivering the Duchess's orders.
Soon, countless armies would likely rush to participate in this holy war.
* * *
Inside Duchess Dysses's study.
“I am terribly sorry, but you will not be granted your freedom. Your Eastern lover has won, and he has annihilated my army of one hundred thousand.”
Hearing Duchess Dysses's words, the Black Widow, Hila, found it utterly unbelievable.
Even though she had never set foot there, she had seen Mulan City.
What a weak and primitive city it was.
Shen Lang had only two thousand soldiers, yet he defeated Duchess Dysses's army of one hundred thousand? How on earth did he do it?
“He has insulted me. In return, I will flay you, turn you into a specimen, and present you to him as a gift.”
Hearing this, the Black Widow Hila's beautiful body trembled.
Of course, she was afraid of dying, and even more so of dying such a miserable death.
“Hila, you are a woman of the wealthy Veda tribe. Tell me, would you support an Eastern man conquering and ruling Goldstone City? Even if that man is your lover?”
To Duchess Dysses's question, the Black Widow Hila remained silent for a long time before shaking her head.
“Then would you support my family conquering Goldstone City and the entire Cerulean Planet?”
The Black Widow Hila was silent.
“Why the silence?”
“I neither support nor oppose it.”
“What if the Veda tribe were to rule themselves? Would you support that?”
Hila shook her head.
“I would not.”
“Why not?”
“They are my people, but I must admit they are all cruel, stupid imbeciles.”
“A thousand years ago, your Veda tribe had its own empire, and it was relatively powerful.”
The so-called nation of the Veda tribe was the Dayak Empire.
But after the White Whale's ship drifted to its shores, that mighty empire fell to ruin.
“Many adventurers have been to the Dayak Empire. It was indeed a powerful empire, but it was also a place inhabited by savage beasts.”
“Isn't that strange? You don't want Goldstone City to be ruled by us Sauron people, nor by the Easterner Shen Lang, and not even by the Veda tribe. Then who do you want to be the master of this land?”
Hila was silent for a moment.
“Speak, or you will never speak again for the rest of your life.”
“I wish for a monarch like Empress Helene to be the master of this land.”
Dyssess sneered at her words.
“The traitor empress implementing racial equality? How childish and absurd. It was precisely her foolish actions that led to the fall of the Second Sauron Empire and the division of the empire into north and south. Of course, you are speaking your mind, so that is not a crime, even if your thoughts do not align with my will. I have one last question. Your Eastern lover says he will conquer Goldstone City. When I capture him, I will execute him with an Eastern punishment. Drawing and quartering.”
As she uttered those words, Duchess Dysses's heart was filled with infinite killing intent and rage.
She had truly never hated someone so much in her entire life.
Of course, a crueler punishment than drawing and quartering was death by a thousand cuts.
But in Duchess Dysses's view, death by a thousand cuts was too slow.
Drawing and quartering was not only cruel but also brought a swift death, delivering an absolute shock to those who watched.
“So, when I have your Eastern lover drawn and quartered, do you wish to die with him?”
The Black Widow Hila thought about it seriously, then shook her head.
“I do not.”
Dyssess nodded and said.
“I see. Guards! Take Hila to the water prison. Since Shen Lang said he is coming to attack Goldstone City, I can only hope he arrives on time. Otherwise, his Veda tribe lover will soon die. A mere woman won't last more than a few days in the water prison.”
The water prison was indeed a cruel punishment.
Even someone with relatively strong martial skills would not last long and would soon die if confined there.
After the Black Widow Hila was dragged away, Duchess Dysses took a deep breath, entered an opulent room, and sat down at a new organ to begin playing.
She couldn't stop practicing the organ, as she had to play for Emperor Sauron.
When she appeared before Emperor Sauron, not only must her beauty surpass countless other women, but her talent must also astonish everyone, leaving an indelible impression on him.
She played with overwhelming emotion, pouring out the feelings pent up inside her again and again.
But for some reason, her skill today seemed to have improved significantly compared to before.
*Could it be that the emotion of anger can elevate a person's artistic level? Ah, so that must be why artists so often maintain a state of rage.*