Chapter 452: The Rise of the Black Crown (2)
Wearing his royal robes, smiling with that same familiar expression ..
The First Prince, Aegon Valerion, stood proudly at the center.
"Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to the first military summit in the long history of this Empire .. The first and final War Council against our eternal enemies...
The Ultras."
Aegon walked across the stage with steady steps, Drawing the eyes of the entire world upon him.
"People of the Empire,
The beating heart of this nation,
Allow me to begin this summit with you.
For you are its foundation ..
It is because of you that this civilization still stands. So please, let the noble lords wait a moment longer."
Aegon spoke with skillful charisma,
Giving priority to the people instead of the elite and noble commanders.
It was a smart move ..
Subtly, he made the entire world witness him valuing the common folk and soldiers above the elites and leaders.
"Now, my dear citizens,
I would like to ask you a simple question.
And I hope you will answer me honestly.
Tell me ... where is the enemy?!"
His question echoed through every corner of the Empire.
The answer was obvious.
And yet the hall fell into complete silence,
For no one dared to respond.
But this only deepened Aegon’s smile,
As he raised his hand, causing the massive screen behind him to come to life, displaying the footage he had carefully prepared.
In that moment, the screens showed riots and destruction ..
The chaos caused by the citizens themselves when their anger had consumed them.
The footage was extensive, Showing the faces of everyone who had committed such acts, With a level of detail so precise it left the world wondering...
How did the prince obtain such recordings?
"My beloved citizens,
You are angry, aren’t you?
And who could blame you?
Because of others’ mistakes, You have been forced to suffer the horrors of war and death."
"While most of the great names survived,
It was your loved ones, your families, who died on the battlefield."
"We have lost so much ..
So much that my heart aches whenever I recall the death toll from the last battle."
"Those who died were not mere soldiers ..
They were heroes who gave their lives for their homeland.
My words may sound empty to you,
But from the bottom of my heart,
I apologize to each and every one of you—
On behalf of myself and the entire royal family responsible for such a fate."
Before the entire world,
Aegon Valerion bowed deeply ..
A sight rarely witnessed from someone standing at the top, Bowing before the common people.
His gesture didn’t ease the people’s anger,
But somehow... it made them fall in step with his rhythm.
And this was exactly what the prince had counted on to deliver the finishing blow he had prepared from the very start.
Raising his head slowly, Aegon cleared his throat before shouting once more, louder this time:
"Soldiers of the Empire, Let me ask you again .
Where is the enemy?!"
Taking another step forward, he continued his performance:
"Is it the leaders of the Empire,
The ones who sent your loved ones to war?
Are they the ones forcing you to fight again,
Throwing your precious lives away like they mean nothing?"
To that question, Aegon gave his own answer.
"No. That’s not the answer."
With a wave of his hand, The footage on the screen shifted entirely ..
Revealing something else...
Something dark.
Something that made several people jump from their seats the moment they saw it.
"What I’m about to show you...
Is the fate that awaits us all if we do not rise and fight against our one true enemy.
Forgive me for the filth you are about to witness, But this is necessary ... so that you may see the dark reality of what lies beyond, on the other side of this world."
And at that moment..
The truth was revealed.
The truth that made Phoenix rise from his seat, His blazing eyes burning with an uncontrollable fury as he glared down at the prince.
And how could he not ..
After what his eyes had just seen.
On the massive screen, footage was displayed that silenced the entire world...
Leaving them staring in rage and disgust at the scenes before them.
Meanwhile, Aegon’s smile quietly grew wider.
The first scene showed the suffering of a particular girl ..
The saint candidate, Emilia Atrax.
The video revealed to the entire Empire how the Ultras had raped that poor girl,
Beating her relentlessly, Then tearing her body apart and devouring her alive.
The footage was so horrifying and real that many turned their eyes away, unable to watch.
The footage shifted again, showing the deaths of the other elite students one after another.
Jan Dover and Kyle Walker, eaten alive.
Xiver Adams, killed by the bite of a mutated human.
The footage was brutally detailed, perfectly capturing the savagery of the Ultras ..
Filling the citizens of the Empire with unrelenting fury as they watched this tragic display.
Seizing that moment of collective outrage,
Aegon shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage,
Revealing a wrathful face no one had ever seen before.
"People of the Empire ... where is the enemy?!"
"Allow me to answer you!
It is right here!"
"The enemy is the one who killed your loved ones and left them to starve to death!
The enemy is the one who raided your homes,
Murdering your husbands and wives,
Raping your women and children!
The enemy is the one who committed all these massacres against those of your own flesh and blood!"
"This vile enemy, Who sold their souls to demons, Is now preparing to wage war against the Empire built by mankind,
Lived in by mankind, And defended by mankind with their lives!"
Aegon’s voice thundered,
And his emotions reached the hearts of the entire world.
He appeared angry, sorrowful, furious ..
And within mere seconds, Aegon had ignited the hearts of every citizen of the Empire.
"My brothers and sisters!
Will you sit idly, refusing to fight,
Until the day comes when you share the same fate as all those poor souls we’ve already lost?
Will you allow these defilers to take the lands your ancestors died to protect?
Of course not!!"
Raising his fist, Aegon roared ..
And at the same time, the citizens of the Empire roared with him.
"We will fight!!!"
"For the land our ancestors, our fathers, and our sons died for!"
"We will fight!!!"
"To give the next generation a chance to live ..
So they won’t suffer as we did!"
"We will fight!!!"
At last, Aegon fell silent.
But in return, the entire Empire exploded this time...
Chanting his words,
With a burning fire igniting in their hearts.
"We will fight!!!"
Quietly, Aegon stepped away from the spotlight, Leaving those dark images playing before the world ..
Withdrawing from view,
Hiding the devilish smile that crept across his face.
Inside the royal sanctuary hall...
Iris barely managed to hold Phoenix back,
Who was moments away from leaping toward Aegon.
The Lord of House Sunlight burned with rage.
How could he not ..
After seeing those horrific scenes in which his students had died?
But the problem wasn’t the scenes themselves.
The problem was how Aegon had acquired them.
To obtain such footage and record it in such detail ..
One had to be present at the very place where all of it happened.
In other words... Aegon had been there.
When Emilia was raped...
When Xiver died...
When the students were massacred...
He had been there.
And what did he do?
Nothing.
He did nothing ..
Simply recorded their final moments,
Saving them for this very day ..
As if he had known all along that this was how it would end.
Aegon Valerion.
He had presented the Ultras to the world as demonic monsters worthy of death.
But the real question was ..
Between him and the Ultras...
Who was the true monster?
The rogue prince had united the entire Empire beneath him, Crowning himself the supreme commander of the coming war.
Only the gods knew what fate awaited the Empire
Under the leadership of a man whose cruelty surpassed even that of demons themselves.