『Let me introduce myself. I am Aditya, the only Dragon in History with Crimson Divine Dragon Bloodline. I am the Dragon Monarch. I am the King of all Dragons. And I am your destruction.』
Remembering these words, Lucca felt really ashamed and embarrassed. No wonder why Aditya was laughing like that. But being thick-skinned, Lucca did not show it on his face. His expression returned to normal.
The words Aditya said shocked each one of them. Now in their eyes, Aditya had become a much bigger level of threat.
"I don't care if you're the Divine Dragon. I don't care if you're the fiance of the Goddess of Alchemy. I don't care if you're Emperor of the Istarin Empire and I really don't care if you call yourself Dragon Monarch or whatever. You have dared to harm my son. You have captured the Crown prince of the Echo Nexus Empire. You have destroyed one of our Allies. The Oracle Alliance and the Echo Nexus Empire will settle matters through war."
Hearing this Aditya just smiled and said nothing in response. In Aditya's eyes, Lucca was currently being ignorant, over-confident, prideful, and arrogant. It was clear that this man needed a reality check but unfortunately being the Emperor of such a powerful Empire and with the backing of the Oracle Alliance, no one can do anything to him. These traits of his will definitely bring him to his knees.
"Istarin Emperor, I am giving you exactly 24 hours to release my son. Within 24 hours if the Crown Prince of the Echo Nexus Empire isn't sent home, I swear on this Empire's name, this will be more than just a war."
Hearing this Aditya finally stopped smiling and seriously looked at Lucca. "Old man, perhaps living for more than [700+] years has clouded your sense of judgment. I think you don't understand the current situation. Your son is in my prison. Why the hell I should let him go?" Aditya wasn't going to let Louis leave like that.
Judging from the words of the Echo Nexus Emperor, it was clear that even if Aditya releases Lucca, a War was inevitable. And as for Lucca's threats, Aditya wasn't bothered about it.
"Since you want war, The Istarin Empire will give you one." At this point, Aditya was fed up. The interests of the Istarin Empire and the Oracle Alliance were bound to clash at some point in the future. Both Empires had different policies and interests. Meaning that a war was going to happen between them regardless of Aditya's actions.
This war was a good chance to eliminate the big fishes and take complete dominance of the entire Dying Isle continent.
Hearing this Lucca gritted his teeth. He was hoping to use the Oracle Alliance to pressure Aditya into releasing his son. And once his son was released, he was going to attack the Istarin empire. But Aditya did not follow the script that Lucca had thought in his mind.
Seeing the expression on Lucca's face Aditya was satisfied but he wasn't done yet.
The next second Aditya's expression turned dark. His eyes started glowing dangerously. His Aura became cold. He put his right elbow on the armrest and supported his face on his palm.
"The Istarin Empire is taking proper care of Louis. Every single day my servants have been working really hard. Don't worry, I am feeding your son three meals per day. He is getting regular body massages. Since he has nothing to do in the prison, I even made him do some workouts so that he won't gain any fat." Everyone was confused between Aditya's cold voice and his words.
Snap!
Before Lucca could say anything, the next second with a snap, a figure suddenly teleported in front of the throne.
Seeing the figure, Lucca and other Emperors stood up in deep shock. Lucca couldn't just bring himself to believe that this was his beloved son. In just a single day, he had changed so much. His appearance was even worse than a beggar's.
His hair was dirty and disheveled. His entire body was covered in a mix of dried blood and mud. His clothes had been torn apart. The Crown Prince looked really weak. There was still a trail of blood coming from his mouth. His nose has been broken and disfigured.
The more Lucca watched the more intense his emotions became. Lucca loved his son more than he loved his whole family together. Seeing his son in such a condition, he felt a volcano erupting in his heart.
There were countless wounds all around Louis's body. Lucca could see whip marks all over his son's body. Before Aditya teleported Lucca here, he was continuously getting beaten with an electric whip by two soldiers.
Louis looked in the mirror. Seeing the face of his father, his lifeless eyes regained some hope.
"Dad.....Dad....please save me." Louis pleaded to Lucca with tears falling from his eyes. Ever since he was captured by the Istarin Emperor, his life had become a living hell. He wasn't just physically tortured. He was tortured mentally as well. He was tortured to the point where he was begging his own father with tears to save him.
"Son..." Seeing this, Lucca's heart was in deep pain. At this moment, arrogance, over-confidence, and pride, nothing remained on Lucca's face. Lucca looked like a desperate father.
Seeing the look on Lucca's face, Aditya coldly smiled before he went to kick Louis in front of everyone.
Bang!
Louis's head hit the floor and started bleeding.
"Bastard!!!!!!"
Bang!
Lucca smashed the table. His eyes completely turned red from anger. The Emperor's entire body was trembling in anger. Never in his life, Lucca had felt such humiliation and pain.
"Now you realize the position you're in. Lucca if you surrender your Empire to the Istarin Empire, then I might consider letting your son lives." Aditya was testing the water. He wanted to see how far Lucca was willing to go for the sake of his son.
Hearing Aditya's words Lucca's entire body trembled. Lucca looked at his son who was also looking at Lucca with a hopeful gaze.
But.....
Seeing his father not speaking, a bad feeling rose in Louis's heart. Time passed quickly. And soon everyone found the Emperor standing and looking at his son silently for over 5 minutes. With each passing second, the suffocation in the meeting room grew. And with each passing second, Louis soon began to understand the answer that his father was about to give.
"No.....No....." Louis refused to acknowledge the reality. Never did Louis think that a day would come when his father would abandon him.
Lucca looked at his son with a sad face. "Forgive me, my son. But I am not going to give up on this Empire. I have built this Empire. I can have another son but I cannot have another Empire." Hearing this Louis's eyes became lifeless. He knew that he was abandoned. Louis thought that Lucca loved him more than anyone in this world but today that very same father abandoned him at the mercy of the enemy.
"Don't worry. Soon I will end the Istarin Empire. I will rescue you."
Snap!
Aditya had seen enough. So with a snap, he sent Louis back to prison. Aditya wasn't going to kill Louis now. Not until he defeated Lucca and the Oracle Alliance.
"You have no idea what you just provoked." The current Lucca was a man who had learned to control his emotions. The rage in his heart was slowly building up.
"Let's start this war." Saying that Aditya destroyed the mirror with a small Crimson lightning bolt.
Aditya knew that this war wasn't going to be easy like the other wars that he has fought. In this war, Aditya will be fighting against someone who didn't lack resources, soldiers, equipment, and weapons.
After the meeting ended, there was silence in the Throne Hall. Aditya appeared to be thinking something.
A few minutes later, Watson broke the silence and asked. "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
"First, let our allies know about the War. I want to have a meeting with the Echo Dominion Emperor and with our other allies. Spencer, please arrange it for me. I want to meet him today itself. Watson, please send a letter to Father informing him about the war." Spencer and Watson nodded both of their heads.
"Your Majesty, are you planning on requesting help from the Celestial Terrain?" Because Aditya knew what Lucca wanted, he was able to ask the Eleven Empress for a favor through Riya. Because of Aditya, the letter was sent to the Oracle Alliance.
"The purpose of asking The Elven Empress's help was to prevent any foreign power from helping the enemy in this war. Right now, though this war is going to be tough, I am confident that we will be able to fight them without needing the Celestial Terrain's help." Aditya wasn't going to involve anyone from outside the Dying Isle continent in this war. That means, the Ethereal Empire also can't participate in this war and help the Istarin Empire. In a way, this war would determine the next Superpower of this continent. This was an internal conflict. So Aditya didn't want to involve any Foreign powers in this war.
Aditya was keeping the Ethereal Empire and the Celestial Terrain as backup support. If he faces a situation where the Istarin Empire absolutely needs support only then he was going to involve them in this war.
Really Thank you very much to all those who sends support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
