King Arthur, Apprentice of Roger’s Company Chapter 276

Dread!

Confrontation!

Mutual scheming and strategizing.

An opponent who had fought for a lifetime, forming alliances and rivalries, now lay dead before him, reduced to a mere husk, his body not even remaining. Only a weapon proved his existence.

He should have been overjoyed at the death of a formidable enemy.

But Alexey felt no joy, only a chilling sensation creeping up from behind.

Mo’ankes, who had evacuated with the Infinite Plan, the highest crystallization of the Empire—Jörmungandr—and transferred the research location, had actually died before him.

Even Jörmungandr was casually held by a young girl among the opposing party.

If he hadn’t mistaken her, this girl was Morgana the Fairy, who had wounded Big Mom and was feared by the world’s high-ranking officials.

Absolutely!

A top-tier combatant comparable to a Marine Admiral.

What could be more despair-inducing than heavy losses on one’s own side?

Alexey would tell you—there is!

That is…

The leader of the opposing force, striking directly at the heart, appeared before you, blocking the door!

Arthur, the new King of Great Britain, had actually swept through the guards, breaching the defenses and fighting his way into the Imperial Palace.

So…

The chaos, the riots, the death of the Celestial Dragons…

These were all his calculations from beginning to end, and he had unknowingly stepped into his trap?!

“What a brilliant scheme!”

“What wisdom!”

“Truly worthy of being called the ‘New King’.”

Alexey forced a smile onto his face.

But his heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cave!

The bone-chilling cold made even him, renowned for his iron will, shiver and tremble.

The seemingly favorable situation was merely a mirage of the opponent’s calculations.

Even—

The large-scale invasion, the expeditionary force to Britannia, was also highly likely to have fallen into some trap.

At the very last moment.

Alexey felt as if he had broken through a bottleneck, his intelligence suddenly skyrocketing. The hazy shadow that had enveloped the Empire seemed to have revealed its true face to him in an instant.

But no amount of hindsight.

With the overall situation already decided, it had long lost any meaning.

Could it be…

Is the Iron Empire truly going to be destroyed in my hands?

Alexey gazed at his outstretched palm. Although it showed the marks of age and vicissitudes, there were no calluses, as he had never done heavy labor. It was clearly the treatment of someone in a high position.

Strength?

Army?

Patron?

His eyes were filled with desolation, unable to find anything that could be utilized.

Since he was fifteen, when he had reclaimed power from the domineering minister, this was the first time he had felt an indescribable sense of bewilderment and powerlessness.

“King of the Iron Empire…”

“Make your choice!”

Arthur’s cold voice echoed through the empty hall.

The once magnificent palace had become his, Alexey III’s, execution platform.

“I…”

“I… I choose…”

Alexey’s lips moved tremulously, his dry skin rubbing together as he laboriously uttered the words.

“I surrender!”

After making the decision.

It was as if a great stone had finally been lifted from his heart.

The choked, sobbing sounds that had been stuck in his throat also became easier.

The tension, which had been like a cicada in winter, facing a formidable enemy, completely dissipated.

He sat steadily on the throne.

His look of fear turned into one of composure.

After being released, Alexey finally regained some of his regal demeanor, returning to his usual majestic appearance.

“Death.”

“After defeat, I should die, shouldn’t I?”

Even as he spoke of his impending death, Alexey’s face was calm.

He had long expected it.

He didn’t even struggle.

Heh heh~ (For an exhilarating novel, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

As a member of the imperial family who had ruled the Iron Empire for hundreds of years, and possessing extraordinary power.

Once the Iron Empire was defeated.

Everyone else might survive, but he—only had one path: death.

Unless…

Surrender?!

Kneel and become a vassal?

“Heh heh—”

A glint of cold light flashed in Alexey’s eyes.

To have personally destroyed the foundation of the Iron Empire was already a great humiliation for him. If he were to cling to life, sacrificing his dignity by kneeling to gain a way out, even if Arthur were willing to accept…

“Hmph!”

Alexey shook his head with unwavering resolve.

“I die…”

“I only hope you can treat… the surviving common people of the Empire well…”

“The Iron Empire has fallen. They are the citizens of a lost nation, and they are innocent people.”

“The war… was all… instigated by me alone!”

As soon as his voice fell.

Alexey forcefully slammed the armrest of the throne, and a gleaming, cold longsword appeared in his hand.

Clang—

Without the slightest hesitation, the cold, gleaming sword tip plunged directly into his chest…

Truly worthy of being a weapon treasured by the Emperor.

Its sharpness was astonishing, like a hot knife cutting through butter, it passed directly through his chest without any obstruction, even piercing into the throne behind him.

Firmly pinned there.

His body, which had gone limp from the loss of life, was thus held upright by the throne.

His spine remained straight and unyielding.

In the face of death, this Emperor of the Empire maintained his regal dignity.

Broken, low murmurs escaped his lips.

“It seems… we greatly underestimated your existence…”

“Heh heh—”

“I knew it, the decision of those fools in the council was a colossal mistake.”

“Choosing a rising power as a target, openly setting them up as an opponent to create conflict, to legitimize the large-scale steel production and avoid detection by those hyenas in the World Government…”

“The Karzai Empire and the British Sea.”

“One is a tiger in its twilight years, the other a nascent lion. They thought it was a cub, but they poked a soaring giant dragon! It wasn’t just baring its teeth in a display, but directly devouring with ferocity…”

“Always hunting geese, but pecked in the eye by a goose!”

“How laughable…”

“Hahahaha…”

The murmuring grew softer and softer, until it became a whisper only he could hear, and even the so-called laughter vanished, swallowed by the wind.

The last trace of life drained away.

This Emperor, Alexey III, known to the outside world as the Iron Will, quietly died on the throne that symbolized his power.

An Emperor who sought to elevate the Empire, yet died penniless on the throne of power?

“Tsk~”

“What a cynical death!”

Morgana hovered in mid-air, a faint glow surrounding her, tinged with a hint of disdain.

Power…

Status…

She had seen too many humans struggling for these things throughout pan-human history.

A boring game~

“However!”

“The Emperor has fallen, and the core territory has been captured.”

“Things here are nearing their end, so those disturbances should stop now!”

Arthur’s gaze sharpened slightly.

Through the vast void, his emerald eyes seemed to already see the smoke-filled, war-torn landscape of Katharina.