Chapter 440 – The Death of Tandak

At this moment, within the Royal Palace of Rock Sand City.

Prince Dick stood alone in the empty hall, lost in thought. The sounds of battle outside the Royal Palace failed to rouse him from his reverie. He remained standing in place, head bowed silently, while in his hand, a Black Scroll that had lost all magical fluctuations slowly disintegrated into crimson dust.

As still as Prince Dick was King Tandak, slumped upon the throne—even as flames raging outside the Royal Palace cast dancing shadows upon the pristine walls, this king known as a tyrant maintained his meditative posture, motionless…

Never in his life had the king been so quiet, for… he was already dead!

He had not perished in Sorsend’s trap, but instead met his end beneath the scroll suddenly torn open by Prince Dick. Until his final moments, he had been chastising his grandson, until the scroll bearing lethal magic was torn open by a grimacing Prince Dick. The king, unable to utilize his perception abilities, had no time to react.

Thus, Tandak died just like that—silently, like a helpless old man truly entering his twilight years. His end did not come in an epic battle, but suddenly arrived in the empty Royal Palace as he reached life’s conclusion…

The king had passed, yet the vast Royal Palace remained as cold and deathly silent as ever.

The shadowy palace held no maids or guards. The self-reliant King Tandak had always considered accepting care from others as a great insult for a warrior. Therefore, he never required guards at his side, nor even a single attentive maid. Even when his body had weakened to the point where he couldn’t move without using Battle Aura, Tandak still insisted on moving independently, believing this to be the last dignity remaining to him as a combat professional.

But… on this very day, this final dignity caused the once-mighty warrior to perish ignominiously upon his own throne. So much so that until the very end, no one knew the king who had ruled the Huaibien Kingdom with absolute violence for thousands of years had fallen into eternal slumber.

Even as death arrived, Tandak’s right hand never released its grip on his sword hilt. Unfortunately, this master who had wielded blades throughout his life didn’t even have time to draw his weapon—an unexpectedly profound irony indeed.

Only after a long, long time, when flames had spread to the palace curtains and the marble floors began growing hot… did Prince Dick casually discard the palm-sized scroll and approach the ornately decorated throne adorned with gems and jade.

In a daze, he forcefully pushed Tandak’s withered, aged corpse from the throne. Maintaining an eerie smile, Dick carefully produced his custom-made magnificent crown, placed it upon his head, and slowly seated himself upon the splendid throne.”Ahahahahaha! From this day forth, I am the King of the Huaibien Kingdom! I am this nation’s hero and savior, a truly qualified and legitimate monarch! I shall abolish the policies enacted by that tyrant Tandak and lead this country to prosperity!”

Shouting hoarsely with bloodshot eyes, Dick laughed maniacally from the throne. This prince, suppressed for who-knows-how-long and mentally influenced by magic, had never felt such exhilaration. Seated upon the throne, he seemed to envision the Kingdom thriving and expanding beyond the desert. Rampant flames cast flickering shadows across Dick’s distorted face, his fingers even bleeding from gripping the throne too tightly.

But… in the very next moment, Prince Dick’s laughter and beautiful dreams came to an abrupt halt.

Accompanied by the incantation of a Formal-Level Minotaur Shaman casting witchcraft, the entire Marble Palace instantly shattered. The terrifying shockwave obliterated nearly half the palace structure. Under the ravages of devastating destructive energy, what crumbled alongside those sturdy rocks of varying sizes were Prince Dick’s ambitions and that ornate throne…

——————Break——————

“BOOM!”

In the southern part of Rock Sand City, a tiny speck of light swiftly flew into the densely packed minotaur army. The next instant, accompanied by tremors in the earth and deafening roars, the minotaurs who moments ago had been arrogantly slaughtering civilians all exploded into scattered pieces of flesh.

Without a doubt, there was only one person on this battlefield capable of unleashing such a terrifying spell against the minotaur army – Ovakain Acidmaw!

“So amazing! Quickly teach these damned minotaurs another lesson! Look how foolishly clustered they’re standing – perfect targets!”

Watching how such a tiny speck of light could create such devastating damage, Aisha following behind Ovakain flushed with excitement, her face glowing red.

Throughout their journey, she had witnessed too many tragedies caused by the minotaurs – refined houses burned to ashes, lost children weeping on the streets, civilians hiding in basements being sniffed out and slaughtered by the keen-scented minotaurs… The furious Aisha had long been burning with rage. Were she not merely an Apprentice-Level Stalker with limited capabilities, this grief-stricken princess would likely have charged alone into the minotaur ranks.

Of course, with Ovakain taking action, if Aisha rushed to the frontline now she wouldn’t be helping but causing trouble. Aware of this herself, the young woman could only suppress the blazing fury in her heart while following behind Ovakain, shouting and exclaiming.

“Ah! A squad of damned minotaurs is heading toward those refugees! Lord Ovakain, quickly eliminate them!”

“I know, I know. I can definitively say that failing to intercept these minotaurs outside the city was our greatest mistake. If not for concern about civilian safety, I could eliminate all these minotaurs with just three or four spells. Now I have to carefully control my spell’s potency – that’s no easy task!”After obliterating the goat-headed squad with a casually thrown spell, Ovakain—equally anxious—muttered complaints under his breath as he hurried toward the next blazing location.

In a way, the black dragon was even more furious and impatient than Aisha at this moment. The inferno engulfing Rock Sand City stirred Ovakain’s most regretful memories. Witnessing innocent commoners perish in the flames, he vividly recalled the endless, ravaging fire that had once swept through the mountains!

“Dammit, I’m still too weak. If I were a Legendary Expert, such tragedies wouldn’t keep happening one after another.”

Gritting his teeth in silence, Ovakain pushed past the stinging pain in his soul and accelerated his spellcasting once more. Perhaps the black dragon now craved that agony within his soul—for only such intense pain could drown out the remorse spreading through his heart.

(End of Chapter)