I've Become the King of Villains in the Game

Extreme West of the continent, Beelzebub Kingdom.

Soridette, the Royal City.

This is the residence of the Rose Royal Family, and also a Holy City surrounded by black roses, where the rich sweet scent of flowers permeates every corner.

At dawn, representatives and leaders from the highest levels of the Kingdom ascended the circular staircase, showered by falling petals, exchanging silent glances, and quietly entered the Great Hall of the Obsidian Palace.

Inside, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

With the Red Apple Church practically defunct, coupled with the heavy losses suffered by the Royal family's Order of Knights, the Kingdom's upper echelons were now in a state of panic.

More than half a month ago, a notion had circulated among the noble class that the Beelzebub Kingdom had suffered a grave loss of power, and the Empire would seize this opportunity, using the Sunset City incident as a pretext, to launch a full-scale war against the Kingdom and completely annex this land.

As the rumors spread wildly, countless nobles were too fearful to eat or sleep, and some even sold their possessions to flee overnight... because the upper echelons of the Beelzebub Kingdom were well-aware of the Empire's practices; once the nation fell, they would undoubtedly perish.

But before the panic could boil over, King Mansfield of the Rose Royalty used an ironfisted approach to curb the spread of these "rumors," and for three consecutive days publicly executed over a dozen key "rumormongers," which slightly alleviated the atmosphere of fear…

Yet the uneasy sentiments still lingered like an indelible shadow over the upper and middle classes of the Kingdom.

In the Great Hall of the Obsidian Palace, as the Administrator loudly announced the directives, numerous figures in tall hats and silk robes silently took their seats.

At the far end of the long conference table, in the master seat sat King Mansfield of the Rose Royalty.

He was a lean man who seldom smiled.

Today, he wore a thin black silk shirt, topped with a dark red long vest, with a red rose motif embroidered at the neckline.

His black hair was slicked back, tightly pressed against his scalp, and his pale, beardless face bore a pair of indifferent dark gold eyes that swept over the leadership.

"Let us begin today's meeting."

King Mansfield spoke softly.

Immediately, the sound of pages turning filled the hall, yet nobody was willing to speak.

Until the head Administrator, a short and stout man, noticed Mansfield's slightly furrowed brows and hurriedly coughed twice.

Seated at the conference table, a middle-aged man with short dark brown hair hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, everyone, I believe the Kingdom should be cautious of the Empire's actions to prevent an unexpected war... it's best to tighten the eastern border defenses and send envoys to the Empire for negotiations."

Before he could finish, several people across the table frowned.

One elderly man with graying hair coldly remarked:

"Minister Xiao Te, do you wish to be hanged in the Garland Square?"

"I am exhausting myself for the Kingdom, not deliberately spreading fear!"

Xiao Te's face looked displeased.

"And what does Minister Nickel have to say? Why not share your thoughts!"

The elderly Nickel gave a signal to a young man beside him, who nodded and then stood up with a stack of documents.

"This is the latest intelligence on the Empire; everyone, feel free to take a look."

The Administrator took the documents from him and distributed them to every attendee, and soon, exclamations echoed throughout.

Nickel stood up, leaning on his cane.

"The Empire first launched a siege on the 'King in Azure', but ultimately failed, losing two Demigods, more than twenty Saints, with the Seven Gods Church suffering significant losses, and the Sun Church's top echelons almost completely wiped out, similar to the Red Apple Church's state..."

The elderly man looked around, his tone was cold and passionate.

"The 'King in Azure' then retaliated, causing large-scale pollution incidents across various regions of the Empire. As of the evening before last, over a billion Empire citizens have perished in this calamity..."

"Truly overestimating themselves!"

"Hahaha!"

"Great for morale!"

"Perhaps we could seize this opportunity to ally with His Majesty the 'King in Azure' and together deal with the Empire!"

The conference table buzzed with debates among the attendees.

The elder slightly raised the corners of his mouth and then spoke loudly:

"This is a prime opportunity. I propose that we take advantage of the Empire's chaos, send troops eastward, and reclaim the Empire's new state, the former Anlong United Kingdom's territory, while planning for the Empire's western Wasteland State and Insect State... Byron Kingdom and Shuoli Capital will not pass up such a chance; there is a high possibility of forming an alliance to attack the Empire. By then, the Sun Era that has ruled for over four thousand years will end, and the Rose will flourish atop the Empire's corpse!"

"Seconded!"

"Seconded!!"

Numerous ministers from the Kingdom's radical faction loudly echoed.

The atmosphere became fervent.

However, the conservative faction led by Xiao Te was deeply worried.

"Everyone, please calm down; a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Even though the Empire is currently facing major disasters and internal turmoil, our high-ranking force is also much diminished, recklessly starting a war might lead to our doom."

Xiao Te raised his hands, trying to cool the atmosphere.

Yet most of the attendees had already been roused by Minister Nickel's words, and the meeting room was somewhat chaotic, rendering Xiao Te's words almost inaudible.

Xiao Te observed this, involuntarily directing his gaze to the master seat.

"Your Majesty..."

King Mansfield of the Rose Royalty pondered silently.

At this moment, the radical leader Nickel called out again:

"All along, the Seven Gods Church has been internally divided, and after several disasters, their relationships have reached a freezing point... I propose that we immediately send envoys to Shuoli Capital for secret talks, striving to win over the Constellation Sect, collaborating from within and without!"