Volume 11: Chapter 22 – Dalu’s King
The Commander’s Division at the Ström Fortress
“Reporting! Viscount Ke Er Lan Di requests a meeting.”
A heavy and domineering voiced sounded, “Let him in.”
Clad in silver armour Ke Er Lan Di, with a worry filled expression, walked into the Interim Marshall’s Manor quickly.
“Your Subordinate, Ke Er Lan Di, greets Your Majesty.” Ke Er Lan Di knelt to the ground as he looked at the lofty middle aged man. He was the current Emperor of Dalu, Tian Feng Luo Chen. Tian Feng Luo Chen was about 1.9 meters tall, with a broad shoulders. Even though he was already 50, his lower back was still straight. He seemed to be dreading something as his resolute appearance now had furrowed eyebrows.
“Ke Er, you come at the right time. I’ve got a troubling matter for you to solve.”
Ke Er Lan Di replied respectfully, “Please state your order, Your Majesty.”
Tian Feng Luo Chen sighed. “I’ve come to the Ström Fortress for an inspection. Everything has been going well until Fei Yu suddenly went missing. I dispatched men after her, but there are still no results. I dote on her the most among all my children. It can be said that I’m to blame, she said that she was getting bored, but I didn’t pay any attention to her. I want you to take 18 cavalrymen along with you to find her and bring her back.”
Helplessness flashed in Ke Er Lan Di’s eyes. He had got in contact with Princess Fei Yu many times already. Her willfulness had given him a headache. He pondered before replying, “Your Majesty, I’ve got a crucial report to relay to you before I head out to find the princess.”
Tian Feng Tian Chen nodded. “You may stand and report.”
Ke Er Lan Di sighed before telling everything from meeting the God’s Envoy, Zhang Gong Wei, and the incident of fighting against the Monster race. When he reported about Zhang Gong’s peerless magic, he expressed admiration and wistfulness.
After hearing Ke Er Lan Di’s report, Tian Feng Luo Chen expression changed. “So everything is real. The Monster race really is threatening the peace and harmony of the world. It looks like I didn’t pay enough attention to it and Marshall Feng Hao was forcefully dismissed from his position due to my greed. Sigh! Everything is my fault! Our Kingdom of Dalu must really start to train up our armies. Someone attend to me!”
“Your Majesty!” The soldier that received the order respectfully knelt.
Tian Feng Luo Chen said resolutely, “Pass down my order to gather all of the mages in the kingdom, especially light mages, to form the First Division Mage Army force. Every mage that joins the Mage Army Union will be given twice the wages, according to their magic powers. (The Kingdom of Dalu was the same as the Kingdom of Xiuda in having a lack of mages. Otherwise, Tian Feng Luo Chen wouldn’t have been moved by Ke Zha that day.) Similarly, order the First to Seventh Divisions of the Army troops to gather at the city’s outskirts. They will be under the leadership of the head of the Kingdom’s Protector Squad, Ai Er Zha. And tell the Commander in Chief of the Army to implement the Eagle Training Project.”
After hearing Tian Feng’s words, Ke Er Lan Di couldn’t help but be startled. He had heard of the Eagle Training Project long ago. It was a regime that contained an extremely brutal training course. Initially, when it had been drawn up, it hadn’t been implemented due to its brutality. Those divisions of the army troops that were just dispatched by Tian Feng were the most elite troops in the armed forces. They were equivalent to half of the kingdom’s force. In addition to the newly assembled Mage Army Union, it seemed that the wise emperor, Tian Feng Luo Chen, had become serious.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” That soldier withdrew.
Tian Feng Luo Chen told Ke Er Lan Di, “Ke Er, you’re the most elite among the elites in my Kingdom’s new generation and are also a royal. I’ve great expectations of you. I’ll pass the leadership of the Royal Guardian Battalion troop to you. Please don’t let me down!”
Ke Er Lan Di instantly became overjoyed as the Royal Guardian Battalion troop was made up of 50,000 elite soldiers. That division was the most elite among all of the other troops in the Kingdom of Dalu. Tian Feng Luo Chen had just passed the leadership of that division to him. This was an extremely important duty as he had been directly passed on the responsibility of guarding Tian Feng Luo Chen. Marshall Feng Hao had also been assigned to this position before he slowly climbed up to the Marshall’s position.
Ke Er Lan Di excitedly knelt again. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s bestowment.”
Tian Feng Luo Chen said, “En! You’re now to immediately find my daughter and bring her back. I’ll personally supervise commencement of the Eagle Training Project.”
Just as Ke Er Lan Di wanted to agree, there were hurried steps coming from outside. “Reporting!” A soldier frantically ran in and knelt as he reported loudly, “Reporting to Your Majesty, we had just gotten the location of the princess.”
Tian Feng expressed happiness. “Quickly tell me where she is!”
“Originally, the Guardian Battalion would have already caught the princess, but there was a mage that suddenly appeared. The mage used a short distance teleportation to take her away, resulting in our loss of the target. Following that, the leader that was guarding the city discovered them and immediately dispatched light cavalry after them. It was until they chased them as far as the Miracle place (The gulf that was created from the forbidden spell was known as the Miracle among the three kingdoms.) that they caught up with them. But the mage’s magic was extremely powerful. He also declared that he was the princess’s teacher. Our troops realised that we weren’t a match for him after a short tussle with him. After the mage defeated the leader of the squad, he took the princess to the other side of the Miracle place, making it impossible to continue pursuing them.”
After Tian Feng listened to the report, he instantly fumed. “What?! A thousand cavalrymen couldn’t deal with a single mage? Why were you even born in y kingdom?”
That soldier didn’t dare to reply. A glimmer flashed past Ke Er Lan Di’s eyes. “What did that mage look like?”
That soldier answered. “That mage was lean and was wearing a white mage robe. His head was covered by a hood and donned a silver mask on his face. He also had a long clothed package in his hand.”
Ke Er Lan Di frowned. “Silver mask?”
Tian Feng Luo Chen replied, “What? Ke Er, you know him?”