All Chapters of I Destroy the Empire: Chapter 91
- Chapter 100
106 chapters
Chapter 91: The Saint and the Drunkard 2
Aelia swung her sword in a massive overhead arc, putting her entire body into the blow.Jinto stepped aside, letting the blade smash into the floor, shattering a heavy stone tile.As Aelia struggled to wrench the blade free from the crater she had made, Jinto stepped onto the flat of her sword, pinning it to the ground.He looked her in the eye. "You are strong, Aelia. Maybe stronger than I am. But you are fighting with your eyes closed."He kicked her in the chest.The blow sent her stumbling back, relinquishing her grip on the sword. She staggered, gasping for air, unarmed.Jinto kicked the sword away, sending it skittering across the floor toward Theron’s feet."Pick it up," Jinto commanded, pointing to a decorative display of weapons on the wall. "Pick up another weapon. Or surrender."Aelia looked at her empty hands.She looked at Theron, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. She felt the shame b
Chapter 92: Weight of a Fist
The rain in the First Knight’s courtyard evaporated before it could hit the ground.Aelia Solara stood in the centre of a crater of her own making, her golden aura boiling the storm clouds above.She didn't look like a knight anymore.With her helmet gone, her red hair whipped around her face like a crown of blood, and her eyes were twin red suns that promised nothing but incineration."You want to fight, old man?" she screamed, her voice distorted by the sheer volume of mana pouring out of her core. "Then let’s fight!"She slammed her foot down, causing the mud around her to flash-harden into ceramic glass from the heat.Raising her Arming Sword and the Sun-Piercer spear simultaneously, wielding the spear in her left hand and the sword in her right—a dual-wield style forbidden by the orthodox teachings of the Order because it was deemed too reckless.She didn't care about orthodoxy. She cared about annihilation."Solar Flare!"She swung both weapons in a cross-slash. Two arcs of cond
Chapter 93: The Last Stand
Jinto Kyoran walked toward the stairs, his boots squelching in the mud and blood that coated the immaculate marble floor of the atrium.He moved with a slow, deliberate heaviness, like a man wading through deep water, his scarred chest heaving with every breath.The mana pressure radiating from him had settled into a dense, suffocating aura that made the very air taste of rust.Lord Commander Theron waited on the landing, looking down at his old friend with an expression that sat somewhere between pity and annoyance.He hadn't drawn his sword. He hadn't moved a muscle while Aelia tore the atrium apart."You look terrible, Jinto," Theron observed, his voice smooth and carrying effortlessly over the sound of the rain pounding against the shattered windows. "You really should have kept the cloak on. It hid the mileage.""I earned every mile," Jinto rasped, stopping at the base of the stairs. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his ha
Chapter 94: A Prince Return
Theron was standing in the aftermath of a destructive battle when the double doors groaned open.A squad of First Knights rushed in, weapons drawn, having finally recovered from the initial blitz. They stopped dead, staring at the carnage, at the unconscious Vice-Commander, and the standing corpse of the Third Commander."My Lord!" a captain shouted, rushing forward. "We heard the blast! Is the intruder—""The intruder is dealt with," Theron said, stepping past Jinto's body without looking back. "He was a traitor. And he died like one.""Shall we... remove the body, sir?"Theron paused at the bottom of the stairs.He looked at Aelia, who was being lifted onto a stretcher by two medics."No," Theron said. "Leave him. Let him stand there. Let him rot on his feet. It will serve as a reminder to anyone else who thinks they can walk into my house uninvited."He pointed a gloved finger at Aelia."Take the Vice-Commander
Chapter 95: The Weight of Memories
Aelia Solara woke to the smell of sterile healing salves.Her body felt like it had been crushed under a falling mountain, every muscle fibre screaming in protest as she forced her eyes open.The Royal Infirmary ceiling greeted her, painted with pristine, mocking frescoes of the Sun God.She turned her head an inch, gasping as a sharp pain lanced down her neck."Do not move, Vice-Commander," a healer in a white robe murmured, rushing to her bedside with a glowing vial of green liquid. "You suffered absolute mana depletion. Another second of output, and you would have burned your own soul to ash."Aelia blinked, the harsh light of the room making her eyes water. The memories crashed back into her skull like breaking glass.The atrium. Jinto’s rusted sword. The blinding beam of holy light piercing his chest."The Lord Commander," Aelia croaked, her throat feeling like sandpaper. "Theron... is he...""You saved his life," the healer said, offering a warm, reverent smile. "Lord Commander T
Chapter 96: Resolve of the Past
Nathan was nineteen.Even for his age, he was built like a brick wall, with a mop of curly brown hair and a smile that never seemed to fade. He was the unofficial big brother of the squad, the guy who always managed to steal extra portions from the mess hall and pass them out to the younger kids.Seraph grunted, using his elbows to drag himself another gruelling foot forward. "That’s because I am small and need that extra meal, Nathan.""Well, you are a growing kid," Nathan grinned, easily pulling his own log alongside Seraph. "Keep your head down, little brother. I'll trade you my salted pork for your soup tonight if we survive the old man's obstacle course."Seraph smiled through the grime. Nathan made the hell of the Third Knights bearable.Sometime later, the routine changed.Jinto called the squad into the briefing room. The Commander looked unusually serious, his sake cup absent from his desk."We have reports from the far western borders," Jinto announced, pointing to a map pin
Chapter 97: The Negotiation
The Hall of the First Knights was a cavernous expanse of polished white marble and vaulted ceilings designed to make men feel small.Today, the vast space felt even more oppressive than usual.Twenty knights stood in a perfect, rigid line facing the far end of the hall.They were not the standard rank-and-file guards who patrolled the perimeter. These men wore armour with distinct, personalised modifications—jagged pauldrons, reinforced visors, and heavy chainmail skirts.They were the direct underlings of the Knight Lieutenants, the brutal enforcers who had survived the purges of Fenris, the crushing drills of Brog, and the silent, lethal training of Nefeli.Many of their peers had been stationed elsewhere to maintain martial law in the city, but these twenty had been handpicked for this meeting.Lord Commander Theron walked slowly back and forth in front of them, his boots clicking rhythmically against the stone.Behind him, p
Chapter 98: The Prince’s Awakening
Elara walked closer, eyes scanning the corners of the room out of habit.Isolde blinked, genuine shock crossing her face before smoothing out into a delighted smile. "A wyvern? I guess an organisation like yours has a huge budget.""Not necessarily," Elara replied, her innate greed bleeding through her professional tone. The budget was actually quite massive now, thanks to Kaelen's father, but Elara would never admit that to a potential client.Pyralis had sent her to handle this meeting because he absolutely refused to leave the Common Lands while Theron was consolidating power, and Kaelen had generously loaned her Aethon so she could make the journey in hours instead of weeks.Isolde took a step closer, her royal composure slipping to reveal a manic, desperate energy. "Where is he? Why didn't he come himself? Pyralis Cinderfall... is he well?"Elara felt a sudden, icy chill go down her spine.The Princess was asking about the Warlord of th
Chapter 99: The Royal Invitation
The heavy wax seal on the scroll bore the intricate, gilded crest of the Royal House of Veridia.In the damp, mildew-scented gloom of the Deep Lair, the pristine parchment looked almost offensive.Kaelen Yunis leaned over the map table, a pair of thick alchemical goggles pulled down over his eyes.He held a small eyedropper, carefully letting a single drop of clear, hissing liquid fall onto the edge of the royal seal. The liquid pooled, sparked briefly with a faint blue light, and then evaporated into harmless steam."No contact poisons," Kaelen announced, pushing the goggles up into his silver hair. He waved some kind of scanner over the parchment to check for ambient mana traps. "No explosive runes. No tracking hexes. It is exactly what it appears to be."Pyralis Cinderfall leaned against the stone archway, idly tossing a gold coin into the air and catching it. He wore a crisp new shirt he had scavenged, his metal arm polished and gleaming in the
Chapter 100: True Enemy
The Common Lands. Ground Zero.Princess Isolde Valeriana arrived back in her capital under the cover of a weeping, grey sky.She did not ride in a golden carriage emblazoned with the royal crest. She sat in the back of a simple merchant’s wagon, secretly escorted by a half-dozen Bryngard rangers who melted into the treeline the moment they reached the city outskirts.She didn't direct the driver to the gleaming gates of the Royal Palace, wanting to visit the slums.Isolde stepped out of the wagon, her heavy, nondescript cloak pulled tight against the damp chill. She walked through the ruins of the Fourth Ward, and for the first time in her life, she truly saw her kingdom.It was horrifying.The devastation left by the Eclipse Battery was absolute. Entire blocks were simply erased, leaving vast, bowl-shaped craters of fused glass and blackened earth.The smell of ash-cooked stone clung to the back of her throat,