Chapter 15: The March to the Capital
I reached down and gently placed my hand under Ye Chen's chin, lifting his face. "Stand up, Ye Chen. You will never kneel in the mud again. Not to me. Not to anyone."
Ye Chen’s breath hitched. He stood, his eyes blazing with a devotion so fierce it could have melted the ice lotus above us.
I turned back to the wailing Crown Prince. The thorns released him, dropping his writhing, crippled body back into the filth. He clawed at the mud, sobbing hysterically as the pain of his shattered legs finally registered in his pampered brain.
"You..." Xiao Tian gasped, spitting blood. "My father... will tear you limb from limb... He has the Dragon Vein Core..."
"Good," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, silken whisper. "Tell him to keep it warm for me."
I raised my hands, my voice projecting across the entire army of thirty thousand men buried to their necks in the mud.
"Listen to me, dogs of the Usurper!" I roared, the Dragon Qi making the very air vibrate. "I am sparing your lives today! I will release the earth, and you will carry your crippled prince back to the Capital! You will tell the false Emperor that the famine is over! You will tell him the true heir has returned from the grave!"
With a sweep of my arm, the mud instantly hardened back into dry, cracked earth, expelling the soldiers. They scrambled backward like terrified insects, dragging the sobbing Crown Prince onto a surviving horse. They didn't dare look back. They didn't dare breathe. They just ran.
I watched the remnants of the once-mighty Blood Cavalry flee into the dark horizon, a satisfying warmth spreading through my chest.
[DING! Area Secured. Famine Relief in Northern Province: 100% Complete.] [Main Quest Updated: March on the Imperial Capital. Reclaim the Throne.] [Current Shock Points: 350,000. System Shop Level 3 Unlocked. Host may now purchase 'Mythical Siege Weaponry' and 'Divine Beast Mounts'.]
I smirked, opening the system interface. Oh, the Usurper Emperor had absolutely no idea what was coming for him. He thought he was playing a game of thrones. I was playing a game of absolute annihilation.
"Ye Chen," I called out, turning back to the glowing, lush walls of Ironwood City, where tens of thousands of my new subjects were cheering my name.
"Yes, Empress?" he replied, stepping to my side.
"Go pack up the hotpot," I said lazily, stretching my arms. "We leave for the Capital at dawn. I suddenly have a craving to dine in the Imperial Palace."
The game of survival was over. The era of the Dragon Empress had officially begun.
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