Imperial Throne

Chapter 111: Surrender

A frenzied gale burst forth from the body of a Bloodline Knight in an instant.

However, the airflow did not disperse, but was tightly sealed around his body, transforming into a barrier composed entirely of strong wind.

[Wind Wall].

Five ice spikes pierced the air toward him, but only one managed to pass through before the [Wind Wall] was formed, shooting at a Bloodline User.

The other four were just caught within the [Wind Wall], and under the influence of the turbulent airflow, they lost all momentum and eventually dropped to the ground.

Even the ice spike that was aimed at the Bloodline Knight failed to hit its mark.

It was effortlessly blocked by a shield.

But at that moment—

A streak of cold light suddenly broke through the air.

A longspear cut through the white mist formed by the steam in the air, then hurled itself at the Bloodline Knight who had deployed the [Wind Wall].

Without changing expression, the Bloodline Knight abruptly pushed his hands forward.

The [Wind Wall] advanced over a meter instantly.

The longspear, wrapped in white mist like a white python, crashed head-on into the [Wind Wall]. But unlike the ice spikes, it was not easily stopped. Instead, it forcefully pushed through with even greater strength, driving the longspear further in by nearly a third of its length into the wall of wind.

The spear tip was just a little short of penetrating the [Wind Wall].

The billowing white mist that had been trailing the longspear also struck the [Wind Wall], then rapidly spread outward at a speed visible to the naked eye, until the originally greenish translucent [Wind Wall] turned a thick white, obscuring the view of both sides of the barrier.

A well-defined, relatively pale right hand quietly grasped the longspear while the Bloodline Knights’ vision was obstructed.

The next moment—

The [Wind Wall] was instantly torn apart.

A young figure holding a longspear charged through the white mist straight toward the Bloodline Knight.

At this moment, the leader of the mercenary group finally held back no longer!

On the frontlines of battle, especially when the enemy showed no restraint, he could not afford to hold back either—for that would be a disservice to his companions.

So this thrust, the young man aimed straight for the opponent’s throat.

"Retreat!"

A guttural voice rang out.

The Bloodline Knight who had deployed the [Wind Wall] did not hesitate or linger for even a second, retreating swiftly.

Then, another figure over two meters tall brushed past him, stepping directly into the path of the young man's longspear.

“Bang—”

A deafening crash erupted.

Along with it, countless rocks burst outward under the impact of the longspear.

A faint red hue appeared beneath the rock layer pierced by the spear.

But very quickly, another massive hand fully encased in stone pressed against the spear, preventing it from driving in further—thus, the injury could not worsen.

The young man’s pupils suddenly contracted.

From the outbreak of battle until now—including the ability displayed by this rock giant before him—he had identified the abilities of these Bloodline Knights.

It started with the Fire Wolf’s [Fire Bomb].

Then came the Fire-Tailed Rat’s [Fire Manipulation].

Followed by the Wind Wolf’s [Wind Blade].

Then the Wind-Chasing Hawk’s [Wind Wall].

And finally, this rock giant before him—it was Sien’s bloodline ability of the [Rock Turtle]: [Great Rock Form].

Five Bloodline Knights, each with distinctly different abilities, yet they demonstrated a startling level of coordination. This made the young man unable to imagine what would have happened if they hadn't disabled Kalel earlier—what would the result have been then?

He dared say that with this group of Bloodline Knights’ coordination alone, no Second-Tier Bloodline User would have any right to behave arrogantly in the White Mountain Territory.

But—

Based on his intelligence investigation that spanned three months, there were only six Bloodline Knights in the White Mountain Territory. Ion Soderbell had already been away from the White Mountain Territory for a long time, and Lord Lily Bole along with her husband Yam Soderbell would not easily leave White Mountain City. Therefore, the ones he actually needed to deal with were only the three Bloodline Knights of White Forest Castle. The other three, who had pledged fealty elsewhere, had long-term assignments of their own and would only be summoned if something unexpected happened in White Forest Castle.

That was also why he hadn’t intended to kill anyone at the beginning.

He had aimed to keep the situation under relatively mild control. From his understanding, most Bloodline Knights valued their pride greatly. So if something went wrong in their jurisdiction, they would try to resolve it themselves to demonstrate their capability, rather than seek help—unless they were utterly cornered. They would avoid making their lord look down on or despise them.

After all, no one likes an incompetent subordinate.

But the current outcome was entirely contrary to his expectations!

“Ah!”

Another miserable scream rang out.

The young man turned his head and saw that two Bloodline Knights had already charged into the mercenary group, swords in hand.

Both of these individuals had the [Flame Hound] bloodline. Once their burning [Blood Flame] was unleashed, ordinary people simply could not withstand their charge. Among his own forces, the other three Bloodline Users lacked strong melee capabilities—especially Aster’s [Water Vapor Diffusion] and Prye’s [Wind Pressure Burst], which were utterly ineffective in standard combat scenarios. Aside from their slightly superior physical abilities enhanced by their bloodline, they were not much different from ordinary people.

Moreover, the [Flame Hound] bloodline was well-known for its prowess in close-combat assassination. Their defeat was only a matter of time.

This realization made the young Bloodline User even more anxious.

He tapped lightly with his foot and leapt into the air. Then, with a step in midair, an airflow gathered beneath his feet, allowing him to remain suspended.

Yam recognized this bloodline ability.

The [Suspended Zone] of the [Wind-Chasing Bird].

It was identical to Ding’s bloodline ability from before.

Suspended in midair, the young man suddenly launched a fierce kick, stomping hard on Sien’s head, sending shattered rocks flying and forcing the over-two-meter-tall Sien to stumble several steps back, his mind dazed.

This was one of the drawbacks of the [Rock Turtle] bloodline ability.

[Great Rock Form] did allow a Bloodline User's body to be covered in a large amount of rock and earth, like donning heavy armor. What was rare was that the adhered rock did not compress the user or increase their burden. In theory, this coverage could turn a Bloodline User into a giant nearly five meters tall. However, the more the body was covered, the larger the form—and consequently, the slower the movement.

Thus, staying just over two meters and under three was generally considered the optimal size range.

Yet, while [Great Rock Form] could transform a Bloodline User into a heavy-armored warrior, it also placed them in a uniquely enclosed environment, making them particularly vulnerable to sonic attacks.

Of course, absent sonic attacks, a powerful kick to the head—like what this young man delivered—was another viable tactic.

Fortunately, Sien had a military background. Even though his head was spinning and his brain felt rattled, he did not cancel the ability on the battlefield. He was keenly aware that he and the Bloodline User wielding [Wind Wall] served as shields for the three ranged attackers on their side. If he went down, then relying on [Wind Wall] alone would be insufficient to stop the opponent.

The battlefield would turn into a slaughterhouse where the enemy had free rein.

After all, they were all First-Tier Bloodline Users.

"Retreat!"

A soft command rang out.

Sien suddenly felt reassured and immediately deactivated his [Great Rock Form].

Only then did the others notice that Sien’s left rib was soaked in red—that was where the spear had struck earlier. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep. While the blood looked alarming, it was not life-threatening. What looked far more terrifying was the internal shockwave caused by the young man’s powerful kick, which had left Sien pale and bleeding from all seven orifices.

“Don’t worry about me,” Sien spat out a heavy breath and said in a low voice, “Take down the others first!”

He refused the support of his comrades and urgently directed them to encircle the mercenaries.

Under the charge of the two Bloodline Knights who had awakened the [Flame Hound] bloodline, the ordinary members of the mercenary group were nearly wiped out, leaving only three Bloodline Users still resisting desperately. But among them were two who were neither good at direct combat nor capable of inflicting effective damage with their bloodline abilities. Clearly, they were no match for the two Bloodline Knights on Yam’s side. They could only stay close to Avis, relying on the combined coordination of their three abilities to barely hold the line.

After all, each time only five ice spikes could be formed. As long as those two opponents were even slightly cautious, it was impossible to catch them off guard.

And [Water Vapor Evaporation] was completely ineffective against [Blood Flame]. Not only could it not extinguish the flames on the two opponents, it couldn’t even weaken the fire slightly. As for [Wind Pressure Burst], while it might disrupt the internal pressure of [Fire Bomb] and disperse fireballs, when used against these two Bloodline Users, it was about as effective as a tickle.

To put it bluntly, the activation of this ability actually served as a resource for [Wind Blade]—just like how [Water Vapor Diffusion] could accelerate the formation and condensation of ice spikes for [Condensed Water into Ice], the strong airflow generated by [Wind Pressure Burst] could likewise speed up the formation and enhance the power of [Wind Blade].

As the four Bloodline Users on Yam’s side joined the battle, the situation for the mercenary group quickly began to deteriorate.

The young Bloodline User wielding the longspear wanted to provide support, but Yam absolutely would not let him.

He had previously fought against Ding, so he was very familiar with the effects of [Suspended Zone].

This ability indeed offered considerable benefits for Bloodline Users adept in close-quarters combat: such as mid-air pauses, leverage during aerial movement, feints to provoke enemy strikes, evasive maneuvers in confined areas, or unconventional mid-combat methods of redirecting or absorbing force. All of these made it an extremely useful ability.

But precisely because it was so effective, truly mastering this ability required extremely high standards in personal combat experience, physical condition, and mastery of battle arts.

This young mercenary leader—his skills in battle arts aside—possessed undeniably rich combat experience, refined techniques, and formidable physical prowess.

In terms of sheer strength as a Second-Tier Bloodline User, Yam believed he was no weaker than Andre.

His only shortcoming may have been his lack of mastery over any advanced battle arts.

In fact, Yam was in no position to criticize in that regard either.

Because the only battle arts he had mastered were [Eagle Strike Swordsmanship] and [Flame Stream Strike].

It was just that [Flame Stream Strike] happened to be highly compatible with his bloodline ability.

So whether in direct confrontation or when the Bloodline User tried to exploit the hovering effect of [Suspended Zone] to bypass Yam from above and assist his companions, he was effortlessly interrupted by Yam—head-on, [Eagle Strike Swordsmanship] combined with footwork was enough to suppress this Bloodline User; and during aerial maneuvers within twenty meters, Yam's flame sword energy could strike precisely without giving the opponent any chance to dodge.

Repeatedly having his attempts at support thwarted and being forced to face Yam’s relentless assault, the young Bloodline User gradually became more anxious.

This was exactly the outcome Yam wanted to see—he had changed the combat orders mid-battle, not delivering fatal blows to the remaining three Bloodline Users, but instead focusing on wounding them. His goal was to force this mercenary leader into making a mistake out of anxiety.

Therefore—

When Yam noticed the Bloodline User reveal a flaw due to a minor mistake, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He struck forcefully, knocked the longspear aside with one blow, then slashed a deep, bone-revealing wound across the young man’s chest with his longsword.

Fortunately, Yam wasn’t fighting with a Demonic Sword, or else that wound alone would likely have been fatal.

“Boss, run!”

“Don’t worry about us! Boss!”

Seeing the young man suddenly suffer such a heavy blow, the remaining three Bloodline Users panicked, throwing caution to the wind as they fought desperately.

But they were already the suppressed side, and such reckless attempts to trade injuries only amounted to futile resistance. Instead, they put themselves in even greater danger—among them, the Bloodline User with [Wind Pressure Burst] was pierced through the shoulder blade with a single sword strike and collapsed to the ground, completely incapacitated.

“Wait!”

Seeing his companion about to be executed, the young mercenary leader could no longer remain silent and cried out, “We surrender! I’m willing to confess everything!… Lord Yam, esteemed [Red Eagle Knight], please show mercy—I’ll tell you everything I know, just please spare my comrades!”

“Swish—”

The longsword that had been poised for decapitation stopped just in time as Yam raised his left hand.

At that moment, the sword’s tip was less than an inch away from the unconscious Bloodline User on the ground.