harleyscars Chapter 25 A King Who Flees Is Unworthy of Being Called King
Chapter 25 A King Who Flees Is Unworthy of Being Called King
If someone were standing at the edge of the L77 Nebula right now and looking out, they would see a scene that evokes despair.
It was neither a meteor shower nor a cosmic storm, but a massive fleet so large it blotted out starlight. Tens of thousands of Magma Empire warships swarmed towards L77, the brightest jewel in the universe and the heart of Leo.
Each warship is equipped with a planet-destroying cannon capable of easily annihilating continental plates, and countless Magma aliens.
This was not the kind of small-scale invasion fleet led by Volugan, but the main royal fleet of the Magma Empire, one of the highest powers in the Dark Universe.
At the very center of the fleet stood a colossal Magma Empire mothership, comparable in size to a small satellite, and Emperor Magma sat upon his throne.
The entire bridge was eerily silent. The elite royal guards of the Magma Empire stood on both sides, and no one dared to make a sound. Everyone's eyes were lowered in awe, and they dared not look directly at the tall figure on the throne.
Emperor Magma was not wearing a helmet; his thick, wild golden hair swayed slowly. He did not wear heavy dark armor like Volugan, but merely a cloak. However, the terrifying pressure emanating from him, the pressure of a true peak powerhouse of the universe, made everyone around him afraid to speak.
He looked into the distance, his gaze already fixed on L77.
"Arus... Last time in a remote galaxy, you used your justice to block my path. You proclaimed the justice of your L77 and regarded my army as pests, just like those Ultra race from the Land of Light."
"Babar aliens, I hope you can defeat those annoying Ultra race."
With that, Emperor Magma stood up.
"However, today will be the day of L77's demise. Today, I will see whether your laughable justice will still be as sharp as your sword when my imperial army besieges the city and your homeland is about to be reduced to ashes!"
The emperor walked to the holographic star map on the bridge, stretched out his right hand, and squeezed it so hard that he crushed the holographic planet representing L77 to pieces.
"By my decree, the entire army shall enter Level One combat readiness! Main guns, charge! Once within firing range, do not engage in any negotiations, do not accept any surrenders. I will use the first round of orbital bombardment to present the most dazzling opening fireworks for this grand reunion between me and Arus!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The officers on the bridge knelt down in unison, their fervent shouts echoing throughout the entire mothership.
Meanwhile, on planet L77, deep beneath the royal city, in a massive underground cavity.
This place is no longer the secret base where Kaul used to sneak around alone; it has become a huge refuge.
The alarm sounded throughout every corner of L77.
Hundreds of millions of L77 civilians, under the evacuation of the Royal Guard, are orderly yet inevitably panicked as they pour into the three massive "interstellar wandering arks" that are as large as mountains.
The largest ship was the flagship "Lionheart," which Caul had painstakingly built with the resources of the royal treasury.
"Quickly! Women and children board the ship first! The engineering corps immediately cuts off the underground energy pipelines and transfers all remaining energy into the Ark's warp drive!" Several elderly ministers were loudly directing the order on the scene.
At the very front of the boarding passage, the ruler of L77, the Lionheart Emperor Arrus, stood quietly.
Instead of wearing his usual magnificent royal robes symbolizing peace and prosperity, he had changed into a set of light silver armor. On his shoulders, the king's cloak, representing L77's supreme power, fluttered amidst the crowd.
In his hand, he held the Lion Sword, a divine weapon that had left countless glories throughout the universe.
"Your Majesty! The First and Second Arks are fully loaded! The Lionheart is also ninety percent full of its people!" A commander of the Royal Guard rushed to Arus, knelt on one knee, and cried uncontrollably. "Your Majesty, please board the ship too! The enemy numbers are too many; it's the entire Magma Empire's army. L77's defenses simply cannot hold! As long as you are alive, L77 still has hope of restoration!"
Several senior officials around him also knelt down, tears streaming down their faces: "Your Majesty, please board the ship! You cannot die here!"
King Arus looked at his old ministers who had accompanied him for hundreds of years, and at his subjects who looked back at him reluctantly at the boarding gate, some even wanting to run back to live and die with him. A very gentle smile appeared on his face.
He had long been prepared. Even if he hadn't maintained the peace at the time, these Magma aliens would have come to L77 sooner or later. Now, he could still stop them and allow his people to survive.
"The hope for the restoration of our nation has never rested on any one person, but on the people in these arks who carry the flame of our L77 civilization."
King Arus slowly raised his head and looked at the underground dome. His gaze seemed to penetrate the earth and see the massive fleet that was approaching.
"Moreover... I am a king. If a ruler of a country chooses to abandon his homeland and his people when enemies come to his door, and instead hide in a safe ark to escape... then what right does he have to be called a king?"
King Arus turned around and gently stroked the Lionheart Ark. In his mind, the image of his youngest son, Kaul, who always liked to come up with strange inventions, who usually seemed carefree, and who even transformed into a life-sized Reonicus, came to mind.
"Kaul... my most intelligent, and also my most worrisome youngest son." King Arus's eyes were filled with pride. "Since you were little, you've been clamoring about how planets would be destroyed and how we had to prepare for the future. At first, I thought you were just being overly pessimistic, and I even punished you for embezzling from the national treasury."
"But now it seems you were right. Your seemingly absurd prophecy and secretive preparations have actually become the last chance for the billions of lives in L77."
King Arus took a deep breath and raised the Lion Sword high.
"Leo, Astra, and Caul... my sons, I know you are on your way back, but this time, forgive your father for not being able to wait for you, for not being able to fight alongside you again."
"Starting the Ark's engines takes time, and escaping the Magma army's blockade takes even longer, and that time... must be bought for you by me!"
King Arus turned around and walked towards the elevator shaft leading to the surface.
"Your Majesty!!!" came the shouts of the ministers and subjects from behind.
"Listen! This is the King's final order!" King Arus didn't turn around; his voice, transmitted clearly through telekinesis, reverberated throughout the entire underground space. "The instant the warp drive is fully charged, launch immediately! Don't worry about me, don't look back! Live on, carrying the future of L77!"
The moment the words fell, King Arus's body erupted with a red light that was even more dazzling than the sun!
The light shot straight into the sky through the elevator shaft, and outside the atmosphere, it transformed into a red giant of light, fifty-five meters tall, wearing a king's cloak!
This is Arus, the Lionheart!