Chapter 651: The Approaching Storm

From Shien perspective, he couldn’t sense any breathing or signs of life from Harvis.

Harvis’s body, besides the lingering magic power and faint death aura, showed no signs of life.

Looking at Harvis, Capeline turned to an elderly man in priestly robes with a heavy heart.

“High Priest, is there still no improvement in my brother’s condition?” she asked.

The man was the High Priest of the Imperial Capital’s Temple, the leader of all clergy in the Empire, a Temple Magician at level eighty-nine.

Shien only now realized that not all leaders of Temples were called Popes. Pope was a title reserved for the most trusted and respected clergy, only one per generation. The current Pope was Yuler, a Legendary-level expert from the Royal Capital’s Temple, leading all clergy in the Kingdom, his status equal to the King.

As for the leader of the Empire’s clergy, he was simply the High Priest of the Imperial Capital’s Temple.

The High Priest, after observing Shien secretly, turned to Capeline and said with a wry smile,

“I’m very sorry, Princess Capeline, but as you can see, Prince Harvis isn’t injured or cursed, but consumed by a large amount of death aura and transformed into a half-dead being by necromancy. Saving him is no different from resurrecting the dead. Even Pope Yuler of the Royal Capital’s Temple might be helpless.”

The High Priest sighed, explaining the severity of Harvis’s condition.

“Is there no way?” Capeline asked anxiously.

“There is a way,” the High Priest sighed, “If Anima, the Goddess of Life, were here, she could use her power to dispel the death aura, purify his body, restore his vitality, and grant him new life.”

In other words, only Anima could save Harvis.

Capeline looked at the motionless Harvis, then turned to Shien.

“Do you have any way?” she asked, almost pleading. Harvis’s condition made her despair.

Shien looked thoughtfully at Harvis, then turned to the High Priest.

“As long as the death aura is dispelled and his body purified, he can be saved?” he asked calmly, as if not finding it too difficult.

“Y… yes,” the High Priest, slightly startled by Shien’s question, replied nervously, “As long as the death aura is dispelled and his half-dead body revitalized, then using the highest level Restoration Magic, it’s not impossible to replenish Prince Harvis’s lost life force.”

But that death aura was incredibly difficult to deal with, even more so than a curse. The High Priest had tried various methods to dispel negative status effects, but none could dispel the death aura and purify Harvis’s body.

But Shien smiled.

“In that case, let me try.”

Saying that, Shien drew his Holy Sword.

“Heresu.”

With a short chant, Shien unsealed the first seal on the Holy Sword.

The Holy Sword glowed, and a steel blade detached from the blade, turning into a ring and attaching to the hilt.

“Ooh…!”

The High Priest let out a gasp, kneeling before the divine light emanating from the Holy Sword almost instinctively.

The surrounding clergy also knelt down in shock and excitement.

“The light of the Holy Sword!”

“Oh god…”

“I never thought I would see the true Holy Sword of the Hero in my lifetime!”

“Praise the Goddess! Praise the Hero!”

The clergy exclaimed in awe.

Capeline also watched this scene, her eyes flickering intensely.

“He truly is the Hero…”

Looking at Shien wielding the Holy Sword, even though it wasn’t the first time she had seen this, Capeline still couldn’t quite believe it.

She touched the replica Holy Sword at her waist. After everything had settled, she had retrieved the replica Holy Sword that was dropped on the battlefield.

Now, the replica Holy Sword was trembling slightly, as if excited and joyful.

With the genuine Holy Sword before it, the replica naturally couldn’t remain calm.

Shien ignored all of this and walked towards Harvis, holding the Holy Sword.

“Slash!”

In the next second, Shien swung the Holy Sword, slashing at Harvis and cutting his body.

No, Shien wasn’t cutting Harvis’s body, but the death aura surrounding him.

With the Holy Sword’s divine power, Shien effortlessly severed the stubborn death aura that even the High Priest couldn’t dispel, letting the Holy Sword’s light bathe Harvis and purify his body.

Finally, some changes appeared on Harvis’s body.

The color gradually returned to his face, and his chest began to rise and fall again, showing signs of life.

“Brother!” Capeline cried out joyfully.

“A… a miracle…!” the High Priest exclaimed.

But Shien wasn’t finished.

“[Celestial Breathe].”

Shien cast the spell, letting starlight, along with the holy light, bathe Harvis.

“This… this is Celestial Magic…!?” the High Priest was shocked again.

Shien ignored him, focusing on his magic, restoring Harvis’s lost life force.

If the death aura still lingered on Harvis, this life force would be absorbed and transformed into death energy. If Harvis’s body wasn’t purified, his life force wouldn’t return.

Shien, using the Holy Sword’s power to dispel the death aura and purify his body, restored Harvis’s foundation as a living being.

Then, with the healing of [Celestial Breathe], equivalent to the highest level Restoration Magic, Harvis’s life force rapidly recovered.

“Mmm…”

Soon, Harvis groaned, his eyelids fluttering, and under everyone’s expectant gazes, he slowly opened his eyes.

“Where… where am I…?” Harvis murmured, looking around in confusion.

“Brother!” Capeline finally cried tears of joy.

Cheers of joy echoed through the Temple.

…

Thus, Harvis recovered.

He seemed to have no memories of his time as an undead, remaining confused and unaware of what happened.

After Capeline explained everything to him, Harvis finally understood and remained silent for a long time.

Later, Harvis sighed.

“I didn’t expect that when I woke up, everything would be over,” he said to Shien and Capeline apologetically, “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

“Don’t mention it,” Capeline shook her head, telling Harvis not to worry.

“You were just tricked by that venomous Consort. It’s not the first time,” Shien’s words were slightly harsh, making Harvis smile wryly.

“I only remember waiting for your news in my bedchamber, then that venomous Consort suddenly came to me and did something,” Harvis said helplessly, “Then I lost consciousness, and only now, after waking up, do I know what happened.”

“How lucky,” Shien said enviously, “I also wish I could wake up and find everything over, all the troubles unrelated to me.”

“Are you mocking me?” Harvis rolled his eyes, “While you were telling me what happened, I was thinking that if it weren’t for you, we would never have been able to defeat that venomous Consort, and the Empire would be doomed because of her actions.”

“Is that so?” Shien said nonchalantly, “Now that everything is over, what are you going to do?”

“What else can I do?” Harvis shrugged, “With Mara eliminated and the Emperor dead, everything else will naturally fall into place.”

Indeed, everything would fall into place.

Harvis would naturally ascend to the throne and become the Emperor of the Empire.

The people of the Empire would naturally support him, as he was the only remaining prince.

The Empire would naturally be reborn.

The nobles supporting Harvis would naturally be rewarded, and those connected to the Imperial Consort’s faction would be eliminated.

And Shien would naturally complete his deal with Harvis.

“As we agreed before, during my reign, even until your death, I will unconditionally support all your actions,” Harvis looked directly at Shien, “In other words, from now on, the Empire will be a force at your disposal.”

This was the bargaining chip Harvis offered.

However…

“This relationship can only remain in secret, right?”

Shien brought up Harvis’s condition.

There was no helping it.

After all, Shien was a noble of the Kingdom.

If Harvis, as the Emperor, openly declared his allegiance to Shien, the entire Empire might rebel.

Therefore, their relationship could only remain secret.

But in secret, Harvis would do his best to fulfill all of Shien’s future requests.

“We’ll have a lot of dealings in the future,” Harvis smiled.

“I hope you won’t regret it,” Shien said, curling his lip, thinking of the troubles he was facing.

With this, the Empire was truly on the path to rebirth.

And the storm surrounding Shien, the Hero, was about to arrive.

Empire Border, Location of a Large Magic Power Source.

Figures emerged from the glowing magic power source, arriving on the shore.

“Roar!”

“Howl!”

The monsters guarding the magic power source roared ferociously.

But soon, a terrifying aura emanated from the figures, scaring the monsters away.

The figures, seemingly deaf to the monsters’ cries, looked around and commented:

“It’s been a while since we’ve been to the Human Realm.”

“The environment here is quite nice, much better than ours.”

“Well, although the Demon Realm is the largest of the three realms, a thousand years ago, when the Demon King split the world, the Human Realm was the center of Omnipotence.”

“It’s a pity the Demon King was slain by that damned Hero. Otherwise, how could mere humans enjoy such a good place?”

As they spoke, their identities were revealed. They were demons from the Demon Realm, each a powerful being.

Their purpose in the Human Realm was simple.

“Let’s go to the Imperial Capital of the Ragna Empire and investigate.”

“I want to see what this Hero, who appeared after a thousand years, is capable of.”

“This era doesn’t need a Hero, and we, the Demon Race, will not allow a Hero to exist in this world.”

“Let’s kill the Hero and see how the God Race reacts.”

“The Hero summoning is definitely a sign of some plot by the God Race.”

“We must stop it.”

“Yes, we must stop it.”

Saying this, the demons transformed into streams of light, heading towards the Imperial Capital.

Similar scenes occurred around other large magic power sources within the Empire.

In the past few days, demons continuously arrived in the Human Realm. Some were hostile towards the Hero, some were wary and felt threatened, some were restless and came to investigate, and some were simply driven by personal gain.

Regardless, the Hero’s appearance had unnerved the entire Demon Race. For various reasons, they decided to come to the Human Realm, to contact the Hero, and even—to kill him.

The various factions of the Human Race naturally noticed this.

Even the God Race reacted.

Several factions made declarations:

“The Hero is a treasure of humanity, and we will not allow the Demon Race to harm him.”

“The order of the Human Realm cannot be disrupted. We ask the Demon Race to retreat immediately.”

“No one should be suspected before the truth is revealed.”

“We strongly condemn the actions of some radical members of the Demon Race. We ask the demons who have come to the Human Realm to retreat. Otherwise, we will consider this an invasion.”

These were statements from countries that chose to side with and protect the Hero, including the Mitra Kingdom and the Elven Homeland, their stances firm.

Other nations and factions who supported the Empire were anxious, seeing the hostile demons appearing within its borders.

Even the Beastmen priests were on alert, preparing to take action.

Naturally, there were also those who chose to wait and see.

Some countries and factions, seeing the aggressive Demon Race, nervously ordered their armies and knights to defend their territories while observing the situation.

After all, the Demon Race was the strongest of the three races, and they were currently at peace. Even for the sake of future peace, they shouldn’t provoke the Demon Race at this time.

Some even suggested handing over the Hero to appease the Demon Race.

Besides these, there were also countries and factions that had already sided with or befriended the Demon Race.

Under such circumstances, they couldn’t possibly support the Hero, and if they weren’t worried about being held accountable by the Human Race and the God Race, they might have already spoken up for the Demon Race.

In short, the situation was extremely tense, like a storm brewing.

Temples everywhere contacted the God Race, requesting their intervention.

Initially, the Goddesses of the God Race took this matter seriously, some even descending to the Human Realm.

But for some reason, after a while, the God Race suddenly went silent, making no further statements, and the Goddesses who came to the Human Realm returned to the Divine Realm, as if no longer caring about this matter, causing much confusion.

“What is the God Race doing?”

“Are they feeling guilty? Or are they planning to abandon the Hero?”

“What’s going on?”

Many human nations and factions were puzzled, not understanding the God Race’s intentions.

The Mitra Kingdom and the Elven Homeland were the same, feeling both confused and anxious.

The Demon Race, seeing this, some became even more wary, some believed the God Race was feeling guilty, and some even thought the God Race was afraid of another war and thus chose to retreat, becoming smug.

This made many demons even more brazen, heading towards the Empire and gathering near the Imperial Capital.

Gradually, a large demon army amassed near the Imperial Capital.

At first, they only used subtle detection magic to search for the Hero, but with their increasing numbers and the Hero’s continued absence, they finally made their move.

“Hand over the Hero!”

“Hand over the Hero!”

“Hand over the Hero!”

Such slogans echoed around the Imperial Capital.

Countless demon warriors gathered, surrounding the entire city, their momentum overwhelming, like an approaching army, their aura aggressive and domineering.

Most of them were high-level demon experts.

Those who dared to come to the Human Realm and challenge the Hero and the Ragna Empire were naturally not ordinary individuals.

This time, the lowest level among the demon experts who came to the Imperial Capital was eighty.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Such a large number of beings above level eighty, creating the effect of an approaching army, this force was enough to crush any country in the Human Realm.

This was the Demon Race, a race stronger than the combined forces of the God Race and the Human Race, known for their power, having once suppressed both races, forcing them to rely on Heroes to break the deadlock.

Their combined aura, like a collapsing sky, made the people of the Imperial Capital pale and tremble.

Even the Imperial Knight Order didn’t dare to sortie.

Although they were furious, they knew that a rash attack would result in devastating losses.

If that happened, the Empire would truly be doomed.

Therefore, Rockto ordered all Imperial Knights to remain within the Imperial Capital.

“Bang!”

In a bedchamber within the Imperial Palace, Capeline slammed her hand on the table, shouting furiously,

“This is too much!”

Capeline was beyond enraged.

Not just Capeline, but Harvis, Rockto, and Tilly also felt a sense of frustration and anger.

The approaching army was indeed a dire situation.

However, for the number one military power in the Human Realm to be bullied like this, their capital surrounded, their citizens suppressed, and their proud Imperial Knight Order unable to even step outside the city, this was a humiliating situation for any country.

Especially since the enemy was demanding the Empire hand over the Hero. This was truly infuriating.

Harvis looked at the parchment in his hand, his face grim.

This was a warning letter from the representatives of the Demon Race surrounding the Imperial Capital.

“Hand over the Hero, or the Demon Race’s army will flatten the entire Empire.”

This was a clear threat.

“Brother!” Capeline stood up, her voice filled with indignation, “Please let me lead the troops and fight the Demon Race!”

Capeline couldn’t endure this any longer.

This showed how unacceptable this situation was.

However, although Harvis’s face was grim, he refused without hesitation.

“No,” Harvis said in a deep voice, “The Empire can’t afford the consequences of taking action.”

Indeed, they couldn’t.

“Not to mention the difference in strength, if we choose to attack, it would mean declaring war on the Demon Race,” Rockto said impassively, “If that happens, regardless of the Hero, the Demon Race won’t let the Empire off easily.”

At that time, the Empire would truly be in danger.

“Then what should we do?” Tilly couldn’t help but ask, “Are we supposed to watch the Demon Race enter the Imperial Capital and massacre our people, or hand over the Hero who saved our country?”

Saying this, Tilly couldn’t help but think of that young noble from the Kingdom, her feelings incredibly complex.

After learning that Shien was the Hero, Tilly’s heart was in turmoil, completely at a loss.

But at the same time, she understood somewhat.

“Only a Hero could become a top-tier Legendary-level expert at such a young age, right?”

Tilly was relieved by Shien’s strength.

This made all her previous curiosity, unwillingness, and competitiveness towards Shien turn into admiration.

Coupled with the fact that Shien saved the Empire and eliminated Mara, Tilly absolutely didn’t want the Empire to betray the Hero and sacrifice him.

The others felt the same.

“Handing him over is absolutely impossible,” Harvis said without hesitation, “Both emotionally and rationally, the Empire can’t do that.”

The Empire had become one of the forces backing Shien.

Therefore, Harvis wouldn’t abandon him.

“Then what should we do, Your Highness?” Rockto asked, frowning.

“Wait,” Harvis’s eyes flickered, “I’ve already asked the High Priest to request aid from the God Race. I believe they won’t just stand by and watch the Hero be persecuted by the Demon Race.”

Hearing this, everyone present slightly relaxed.

However, not long after, someone rushed into the bedchamber in a panic.

“Your Highness!” he shouted, “The… the Hero has left the city with his people!”

These words made Harvis and the others stand up abruptly.

“Go!” Harvis ordered without hesitation, “Order the Imperial Knight Order to sortie immediately!”

“Yes!” Everyone responded.