Chapter 200: Saving Lives
“Hahahaha!”
A vicious laugh tore through the silence.
Without question, this laughter could only have come from the Crazed Monarch himself.
He yelled, his arms in the air, “Yes! Yes! This is exactly what I wanted to see! A climax! A true climax!”
Averigus was stunned.
Anubi continued to yell, “Look! The great, wise Averigus, Defender of the Ravagers, Nightmare of the Astrals, shameless womanizer, is so deflated!”
Anubi continued to howl with laughter. “This is exactly what I was hoping to see! This is even more exciting to me than the deaths of all those nobility! I’m going to kill you with love, Lontu! You have put on a performance I haven’t seen for decades. I swear on my consciousness that I have never seen something as entertaining as this. See, look at Averigus’s expression! He looks like an idiot who was played! Averigus, you never would have dreamed that this day would come, right?”
Averigus’s expression was steely. “I don’t think this is anything to be delighted about.”
“Of course not to you,” Anubi chuckled.
The nobility around him also began to chuckle.
One thing Anubi had said was absolutely correct. Averigus had never had the wind taken out of his sails so badly.
This was the first time that his attempts to teach someone a lesson had been soundly turned around on him.
Averigus calmed himself down and said, “The soldiers that went looking for the evidence still haven’t returned yet, right?”
Anubi immediately said, “But you and I both know that Lontu isn’t lying, right? Unless you told your soldiers to destroy the evidence, but it’s obvious that you aren’t that kind of Ravager. You are a true god of war, and there’s no way you could do something like that. That is one of the things I despise about you, but now, I am starting to appreciate that quality of yours. So it turns out that it’s possible to find cute points about a hateful appearance. It’s quite shocking to me, really, that I didn’t discover it before!”
Anubi shrugged and said, “What I mean is, Lontu was able to dig up the lovable side of you and make you more lovable.”
Averigus maintained his silence with a steely expression.
The soldiers who had gone looking for the evidence very quickly returned.
As expected, there really had been a report on the need to repair the barrier delivered.
Obviously, however, the Ravager in charge had totally ignored it.
Whether it was him just holding down a job without ever doing anything or he had just failed to do his job this once, both were quite common to the Ravagers. It would have been strange if he had jumped to do something as soon as he received the report, not to mention the fact that Su Chen had chosen to hand over the report when the official was intoxicated to ensure that he would neglect his duties.
The situation unfolded exactly as expected.
Perhaps there were other details being overlooked?
Other strategies under the surface?
Other people pulling strings behind the scenes?
But none of this was important anymore.
The most important thing was that this situation had already unfolded, but it had all turned out to be an accident.
Many nobles had died, the god of war had lost quite a bit of face, but the Emperor was quite pleased.
“Everything has its rules,” Su Chen said. “Since you, the god of war, have no evidence implicating me as the culprit, am I allowed to go?”
Averigus stared at Su Chen. After a long time, he finally nodded and said, “I’m keeping my eye on you, kid.”
Su Chen replied straightforwardly, “I think you’re better off keeping your eye on those Astrals. We all know that Astrals have the ability to bewitch and transform. Perhaps the person in charge of maintaining the arena is an Astral who managed to sneak their way past your defenses into the city by virtue of his camouflage. Who knows?”
He was all but saying directly that Averigus was the chief culprit of this incident.
However, it was undeniable that there was some logical truth to it. Averigus violently suppressed the flames of rage in his heart so that he didn’t explode right then and there.
He shot Su Chen a fiery glare before turning around on his heel and marching off.
Anubi muttered as he watched Averigus’s departing figure, “I have rarely ever seen him like this before. You’ve really offended him now.”
However, his tone quickly changed, “But I like that about you! Hahahaha!”
Anubi began to laugh maniacally again.
Averigus’s honesty and persistence weren’t actually that well-regarded in Anubi’s eyes.
Su Chen chuckled. “Whatever pleases Your Majesty.”
Anubi said, “Very well. Since you have put on a marvelous performance for me, then I will also keep my promise. From this day onwards, you will be the head of my internal servants.”
“Your Majesty!” Kenwo cried out.
Even though being the head of internal servants was still lower than his status as Chief Imperial Officer, it triumphed in that it allowed him to be much closer to Anubi.
Anubi was very sober-minded about how he used his subordinates. He placed the ones with more ability further out, while he kept the ones that entertained him nearby - when the Crazed Monarch wasn’t, well, crazy, he had more clarity than anyone else.
The problem was that this did not benefit Kenwo in the slightest.
He had always wanted to be the head of internal servants, but he was also worried that Anubi would kill him with a single slap if he was in a bad mood. As such, Kenwo had never had the courage to ask.
But now, there was no point in asking. He stared intently at Su Chen. A thought flashed across his mind, reminding him of the possibility that he would need to suck up to Su Chen in the future. As such, he restrained the daggers in his gaze. But when he thought of the fact that Anubi might smack him to death the next day, he continued to glare at Su Chen.
Anubi didn’t know how complicated his feelings were at this moment. He said, “Didn’t you say there would be still another competition? Continue.”
He still had an interest in continuing to watch more battles.
True, everything that had happened before was in fact his “amusement”. Since it was so amusing, it was only natural that he would continue.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Kenwo replied respectfully as he waved his hand at one of the subordinates.
He knew that he had lost this bout - the Terror Lizard’s escape was definitely part of Su Chen’s plan.
He wasn’t worried, though. This Lontu had indeed pleased His Majesty, but he had also offended too many Ravager nobles. Offending a large group for the sake of one person was not viable, even if that person was an emperor. You never knew when that emperor would die at the hands of some other nobles, or if a Ravager would just try to kill him without a plan. After all, the Ravagers weren’t exactly known for carrying things out with plans.
As such, he still tried his best to take care of his own business. Even if he couldn’t get Anubi to howl with laughter, he could at least tease Anubi with some dessert after the main course.
Very quickly, a new group of duelists entered the battlefield.
When Su Chen saw who the contestants were, even he was stunned.
Humans!
It was a group of humans.
There were twenty of them in total. They all wore torn armor, revealing wounds and scars beneath. The Ravager soldiers around them drove them into the arena with whips.
“Humans!” Anubi murmured in astonishment.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kenwo said as he bowed. “These are a few human soldiers who managed to infiltrate through our borders. Today, the blood of these humans will be used as part of a sacrifice to please you, Your Majesty.”
“Oh!” Anubi nodded. Even if he was a Crazed Monarch, as a Ravager he still possessed a bone-deep hatred for the human race. By the same principle, watching these humans die was second only to watching the Astrals die in terms of entertainment value. Also, there were many more humans than Astrals.
Su Chen’s heart seized when he saw so many humans standing there.
At that moment, he decided that he was going to save these people no matter what.
But this wasn’t something that brute strength alone would be able to bring about. He had to come up with a plan.
Su Chen racked his brains for an idea, the consciousness crystal in his body, allowing him to utilize his human intelligence to its greatest extent.
Anubi had just spoken when Su Chen suddenly interjected, “So this is going to be a one-sided slaughter, is it not?”
The mood was immediately stifled.
Anubi and Kenwo both turned to look at Su Chen.
Kenwo said with a dark expression, “So what if it is?”
The twenty human warriors’ opponent had appeared on the other end of the arena.
A pack of vicious Jagtooth Wolves.
Jagtooth Wolves were common mid-tier Vicious Beasts, but using them to deal with the common Heavenly Might Battalion soldiers was more than sufficient.
Most importantly, there were even more Vicious Beasts waiting behind these Jagtooth Wolves.
As Su Chen had said, this was definitely going to be a one-sided slaughter.
These human soldiers were going to use their blood and flesh to satisfy the unpredictable urges of these Ravager nobles.
Su Chen coldly replied, “It’s a waste, a shameful waste!”
Kenwo’s expression flickered, and Anubi asked, “How so?”
Su Chen said, “Before I answer this question for Your Majesty, can I first request that Your Majesty stop the current fight? I have no way of stomaching such a reckless waste.”
Anubi motioned to stop the ongoing battle, causing a screen of light to appear and separate the two sides from each other.
Su Chen bowed and replied, “Your Majesty, gladiator fights are like a kind of feast. Every gladiator is like a precious ingredient placed on the table. Combining these ingredients well is our responsibility. Only the best ingredients are worthy of the finest preparations, which results in the most delightful feast. Human gladiators are hard to come by, even in the mighty Iron and Blood Country. Isn’t that right?”
Anubi nodded. “It is quite difficult to find them.”
“Such rare ingredients should be processed with the most exquisite methods in order to display their immense value. But now, Sir Kenwo wants to use such a primal, barbaric way of squandering them...... what a pity. If I had these twenty human soldiers, I wouldn’t need much time in order to turn them into the best performers for Your Majesty.”
Kenwo’s expression drastically shifted. “Your Majesty, don’t listen to him......”
Anubi, however, chuckled. “I think what he says makes perfect sense. It can be hard to come by humans, so wasting them in a gladiator match like this is a bit of a pity. We should train them a little more in order to produce the bloodiest spectacle. Since that’s the case, these humans are yours.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Please, rest assured that I will definitely make those human warriors put on a beautiful show for Your Majesty!” Su Chen said loudly as he stood up.
Anubi had given him two months time.
A single sentence from Su Chen had managed to buy them two months’ worth of time.
Anubi didn’t really seem to care. He nodded to express his approval and then left.
Su Chen smiled slightly at Kenwo. “So, Sir Kenwo. It seems that these humans are mine.”
Kenwo harrumphed. “You won’t be so happy for long...... give him the twenty humans!”
As he spoke, he turned his head around and left.
“Sir Kenwo, I think you’re wrong. I said all of the humans when I was talking to His Majesty...... All of them!” Su Chen said. “I’d imagine you have more humans on hand than the ones here, right?”
Kenwo stared at Su Chen fiercely. “What are you trying to do?”
Su Chen replied, “I just want to set up a beautiful performance for His Majesty.”