Chapitre 74: The Fall of Xia Family (Part 3)
Day 4th, the month of the wind, aka autumn
A piece of news was being circulated around the Fire Kingdom.
'Xia Longyu rebelled against the Royal Family as he instigated the people in Xia family's domain. Fortunately, the swift Royal Family realized something wrong with the Xia family as they were conducting an observation on the Xia family's domain.'
'In order to minimalize the unrest between the commoner, the Royal Family ordered their trusted retainer to suppress the Xia family as they tried to find the instigator in the Xia family.'
'It turned out that General Xia, the patriarch of the Xia family, Xia Longyu had been planning to usurp the throne and used the commoner to attack the Royal Family.'
'Unfortunately, the prime suspect, Xia Longyu ran away from the encirclement of the Third Batallion Vice Commander, Xia Wuyi.'
'Even though Xia family was the suspect of the unrest that happened in the Fire Kingdom, the King deemed that the Xia family was only used as the cover of rebellion as he pardoned them. As the prime suspect, Xia Longyu had run away, the King granted the position of the Xia family's new patriarch to Xia Wuyi. The reorganization of the Xia family will be left at Xia Wuyi as the new patriarch.'
When this news was circulated among the commoner, almost everybody thought of it as a joke. No one believed because it was absurd, too far-fetched.
But as the news of the Xia family domain's destruction, many related it with the news of Xia family's rebellion.
Of course, many didn't believe some random rumour, thus some people even applying a mission toward their city's Mercenary Guild to make a journey toward the Xia family's domain.
Some city was close to Xia family's domain, while some other was far. Some would need a few days worth one-way journey, making it at least ten days journey.
One by one, the mercenary began their mission.
It was an easy job as they only had to look, and then they returned.
But as they reached the Xia family's domain, the mercenaries didn't believe the scene before them. If someone said it was a battlefield, they would believe it because the scene before them was no different from a battlefield.
The ground was lifeless as it was reek of burnt blood. There was nothing on the domain as the place was razzed, and it was very possible that all the citizen was not spared at all.
Some mercenaries puked on the spot as they never saw such scene. They could hear faint cries and agony from seeing the wasteland.
No, it was a dead land.
As this news was circulated, the commoner was hit the hardest. Many didn't believe, many felt that it was a ploy or scheme worked behind the scene, but they didn't have any strength to prove it.
And with the destruction of the Xia family's domain, the King decided to apply the nobility system to the Fire Kingdom to prevent another attempted rebellion. This news was mostly welcomed by the dominant and big families, while the commoner didn't care about the unrest that happened around them.
Many citizens tried to leave the Fire Kingdom, fearing they would be involved like the former citizen of Xia family's domain.
And from today onward, the Fire Kingdom had completely changed. The Royal Family announced that they would take the initiative to attack the Earth Kingdom, unlike before.
…
The Fourth Prince's study room.
"My Lord, what you feared have happened. Someone has poisoned General Xia, Xia Longyu when the extermination happened. One-Shot Killer. The chance of Xia Longyu still alive is very small to nil."
One-Shot Killer, a deadly poison, but it was not deadly.
The poisoned one would lose his strength as his vitality would be drained. There was no cure for it, but the spread of the poison could be stalled as long as the poisoned one flowed the Elemental into his whole body
As long as the poisoned one used Elemental, the progress of the poison would be stalled and the vitality wouldn't be drained.
Thus, it was weird for Xia Longyu to be killed by a mere little trick like One-Shot Killer.
"There is no any trace of Xia Longyu at the Xia family's domain at all. Even if the domain had been razed, there should be some movement as Xia Longyu is one of the rare experts of the Fire Kingdom." Scorpion One reported to the Fourth Prince as he bowed at the latter with the utmost respect.
"Hence, my speculation is someone had killed Xia Longyu. The prime suspect is between two people. The first suspect is General Shi, Shi Tiangang. Exactly like what the most people knew, the relationship between the Xia family and the Shi family is very bad. Their rivalry had begun for more than hundred years ago and the peak is around thirty years ago. Even though Xia Longyu had withdrawn from his post as the Right Protector, their enmity will not disappear like a smoke. Moreover, at the raid time, Shi Tiangang had disappeared until the Xia family's domain was flattened."
"The second suspect is Xia Wuyi, the son of Xia Longyu. His achievement in the military department is high and he is well-known for his steel hand. For him to murder his own father to cleanse the blemish on the Xia family's name was not overstretched."
". . . Hmm, it is within my expectation." The Fourth Prince was garbed in his royal clothing as he was assuming his post as one of the Royal Family, not him who was the leader of the Assassin Squad.
The Fourth Prince wore his usual kind smile as he played around with the device that he found at the Ocean Temple's ruins a month ago.
It was a very short black-coloured stick with a blunt edge on both sides of the stick. From the outside, it was something inconspicuous with its bland design. The stick's length was only a little longer than the Fourth Prince's fist. But even though the stick looked useless, the Fourth Prince didn't think so as he kept playing with the stick.
"No matter what, his death won't affect our plan. No need to modify the plan." The Fourth Prince closed his eyes as he was thinking.
[General Xia, Xia Longyu is a crucial pawn, but it is not necessary to have him as my pawn.]
". . . " Scorpion One kept his silence as he was standing behind the Fourth Prince and waiting for the next order.
He didn't dare to ask the Fourth Prince about the stick as it was not his privilege to be privy about the Fourth Prince's personal matter.
After some silence between them, the Fourth Prince opened his mouth again. "How is the research's progress?"
"Even though the Malin Kundang stone's mystery is still unsolvable, our 'guests' have found out some of its mysteries. The unfinished devices like transmitter have been refined even further."
"Our 'guests' have calculated that every device created from the Malin Kundang stone's technologies is very dangerous as they will be able to make the current dependence of the Elemental reduced greatly."
"The Elemental won't become the only source of strength. Not only that, our 'guest' has made the prediction that there is some way to restrict the Elemental." Scorpion One made a short report about the kidnapped researcher's progress.
He himself didn't expect that the Malin Kundang stone that the Fourth Prince set his aim was something very important.
[Many devices that were created based on the technology alone are enough to topple the existing Fire Kingdom, so taking over the throne was something easy for the Fourth Prince.] Scorpion One believed that the Fourth Prince had the higher aim than a mere Fire Kingdom.
"Hoo. . . At least our guest isn't that useless." The Fourth Prince's smile became brighter as he listened to the report. But suddenly, the Fourth Prince's body moved as he threw the short stick to the wall beside the window behind him. Scorpion One was surprised but he immediately realized what happened.
[Spy!] Scorpion One was angered and ashamed as it was a blemish to his capability as an assassin.
What kind of assassin would allow himself was spied by another?
No!
There is no such kind of assassin as it was akin to destroy one's pride.
He wanted to fix his mistake as he chased the escaping spy. But he was stopped by the Fourth Prince.
"Stop it." The Fourth Prince still had his calm expression as he stood up.
Even though Scorpion One wanted to chase the spy, he still followed the Fourth Prince's order
The Fourth Prince walked step by step to the window as if he was walking in the park.
He pulled out the short stick that was embedded on the wall, but Scorpion One was surprised by what he saw.
It was not a mere short stick, but a long and thin blade!
The short stick became the handle and something else became the blade.
It was a pitch black blade that was covered by black mist, miasma.
The Fourth Prince was contented from seeing Scorpion One's expression.
"This thing is the remnant of the ancient inheritance that we have found in the ruins of the Ocean Temple." The Fourth Prince made a small introduction, but Scorpion One understood many things from the small hint.
The Fourth Prince showed his abilities to handle a weapon. His movement was fluid as if he was a high-grade weapon master. It showed the Fourth Prince's familiarity with the weapon itself as Scorpion One was attracted to the Fourth Prince's movement.
Suddenly, the Fourth Prince stopped his play and removed the blade from the stick. "This thing has no name. Well, I have no plan to give this thing a name." The Fourth Prince returned to his seat as he played with the short stick again.
". . . My Lord, how about the earlier spy?" Scorpion One hesitated whether he should bring out this matter or not. But because the importance of the earlier conversation, he finally made up his mind as he reminded the Fourth Prince.
"No need, no need." The Fourth Prince slightly shook his head.
"This handy device in my hand has some unique traits. One of it is condensed the miasma in my body into the form of a blade. Of course, it is not a mere blade or a mere sharp blade, but it has the traits of a miasma. Corrosion." The Fourth Prince smiled as he didn't look at Scorpion One.
"Anyone that was corroded by miasma, that person would end up as a dead corpse. Why do you have to care about a dead body?" Even though the Fourth Prince didn't look at Scorpion One as he talked, Scorpion One shivered from the Fourth Prince's explanation.
Scorpion One once had seen the experiment of the Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince called it as 'Bestowment', giving a blessing to the experiment target.
Of course, the blessing that was said was miasma, the miasma that came from the body of the Fourth Prince.
Scorpion One had seen many failures of the experiment as they all ended up worse than a beast.
It was literally a living dead.
Scorpion One remembered that day as clear as the sun shone in the sky. Even though he felt nauseated from what he imagined, Scorpion One kept his calm as he asked the Fourth Prince again.
"The corrosion. . . Will it uncovered my Lord's plan?"
"Hm? Whether is it covered or uncovered, they wouldn't be able to do anything as they are having fun with the nobility crap. At most, they are only wary, but nothing more. Thus, we are able to move our plan to the next phase."
"Won't it lower my Lord's chance to denounce the Royal Family?"
"Nah, those failure devices is only an introduction to the people. The best will be monopolized by me, of course. Who is stupid enough to give the credit to that greedy old bastard?" The Fourth Prince sneered as he remembered the greedy old bastard he mentioned was actually the kingdom's rightful ruler, his father.
"I understood."
"Wait." When Scorpion One turned his body as he left the Fourth Prince's study room, the Fourth Prince stopped him on his track.
"Our highest priority is still the Malin Kundang stone. Anything else is only a bonus. No matter what, don't mix your priority."
"Also, leak some useless technology from the Malin Kundang stone discreetly. Improve the overall technology of the kingdom. A mosquito's meat is still a meat."
"I understood." Scorpion One immediately disappeared from the room without leaving any trace.
Silence covered the whole room as if nothing happened before.
The Fourth Prince still sat in his seat with some paper stacked in front of him.
[Earth Golem. . . From my memories, there is also three other golems. With the exception of Malin Kundang stone, the other three golems is in a dangerous place. I cannot be rash about it since I still have time before the real game start.] The Fourth Prince's expression turned grim, as it was filled with uncertainty and powerlessness.
[The time comes closer as I make preparation here.]
[Unfortunately, General Xia has fallen. Thus, the Fire Kingdom is nothing more than an empty husk. Taking over the Fire Kingdom will only give me more trouble, so I will lend this throne for that incompetent.]
The Fourth Prince's expression didn't change even after he read the report
'Xia Family's Downfall Report' could be seen at the first page of the report. He kept looking at a certain page as he furrowed his eyebrow.
[Pandora box? This kingdom has a Pandora box?] The Fourth Prince stopped his movement in a certain page as his gaze was focused on that page.
[If what that dead man said is true, then what is the key? This kind of person's pride was too high to tell a lie.]
[If I could obtain the key of the Pandora box, then I should be able to hold off the invasion for a few years. . . ] The Fourth Prince closed his eyes as he kneaded his forehead.
[. . . If I knew that General Xia have some inkling about the Pandora box, I would have saved him no matter what is the price.]
[Sigh. . . There is no merit in remorse, I need to move forward.] The Fourth Prince's gloominess disappeared as it was changed into sharp expression.
[The plan to destroy the Fire Kingdom has commenced. Less than fifteen years, no, less than five years, and the Fire Kingdom will be a history.]
…
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
FrostDream193
FrostDream193 4/22 for this week
This chapter 2,4k words
Hey, since when I wrote a lot???
*touching my chin while thinking
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone