latelenovela Chapter 644 Esdeath
Chapter 644 Esdeath
Compared to Naduham, the capital of the Millennium Empire is vastly larger. As the capital of a millennium of prosperity, it served as the seat of the emperor and his ministers. Despite being the heart of the empire, it was utterly decayed, and the people lived in extreme hardship. Rumor has it that the culprit was Ernest, the minister who manipulated the emperor behind the scenes.
You can't help but feel somewhat thankful for your decision to go to the Imperial Capital. The situation here is far more complex than you'd imagined. You've already gathered a wealth of information without even using multiple clones. On April 4th, a woman named Chelsea even approached you, offering to invite you to join an assassination organization called "Night Raid."
They and the Western Kingdom are allies against the Empire, and they witnessed the battle between you and Hei Tong. According to her, the Empire's Anbu have already initially identified your identity. Without the help of "Night Raid," you probably won't be able to hide for long.
"Oh my, who are you trying to scare? You declined without giving it much thought. You never intended to hide. Your goal was to attract more users of Teigu, so you could seize them whenever you had the chance. Your next goal is to make your clones appear wherever there are Teigu."
This country's prototype is somewhat reminiscent of the late Qin Empire, which perished in its second generation. It felt like a harsh regime, with high taxes and tyranny making the people miserable. They began to rebel, and various civil rebellions sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
Among the rebel forces, the strongest and most popular is the Revolutionary Army. During the years of war between the Millennium Empire and the Western Kingdom, they grew in strength, clashing with the Empire. Large organizations require a group of individuals to work in the shadows, handling matters that cannot be seen in public. The "Night Raid" you were invited to join, commonly known as the Night Raid Force, is the Revolutionary Army's Anbu, assisting the Revolutionary Army in assassinating enemy leaders, raising funds, and gathering intelligence. If you're not mistaken, the Revolutionary Army must possess intelligence-related Teigu, otherwise the enemy wouldn't have been able to locate them so quickly.
[Compared to "Night Raid," the Empire also has its own corresponding assassination faction. The most powerful is called the "Hunters," composed entirely of Imperial Tool Users and commanded by a woman named Esdeath. The Kuronetsu you killed earlier was a member of the Hunters.]
According to the information provided by the clone, the name Esdeath should make you wary. She is known as the youngest and most powerful general in the empire, the most powerful imperial weapon user in history, and is extremely cruel to enemies and prisoners of war. She once quickly pacified a northern alien tribe that was believed to take at least a year to defeat, and even buried 400,000 people alive. She is a typical ruthless person. She also seems to be an imperial weapon user, able to create and control ice at will.
[However, you don't need to worry too much about her for now. Esdeath is currently in the eastern part of the empire suppressing foreign tribes and is unlikely to return anytime soon.]
April 1022th - April 4th, 7. After a week of effort, you initially mastered the use of the Dead March: Eight Chambers. You also successfully replicated it en masse. The principle is simple: by firing the Eight Bullets at yourself, you reappear as you were a few minutes ago. While these clones lack the power of the original, they each possess their own will and equipment. Repeating this several times, you'll have enough Dead Marches for testing, and you'll discover a number of issues.
Because those with incompatible temperaments cannot unleash the Teigu's power, forcing it to be used will either disable it or harm the host. Your compatibility with the March of the Dead is actually quite average. Even Kuroi can control eight corpses, but you can only control two at first. Time is running out much faster than you imagine.
[Also, there seems to be a limitation to Imperial Gear. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to use two or more Imperial Gears simultaneously. The reason is that using one Imperial Gear already requires a lot of energy, and using multiple Imperial Gears simultaneously will double the physical and mental energy consumed. The average person cannot bear such a huge burden.]
.
However, after your research, you've discovered that your clones can also use Imperial Gear. Counting the three more powerful clones, Zhou Laoning, Zhou Daning, and Zhou Xiaoning, the four of you can rotate and perfectly utilize the March of the Dead. Furthermore, by using more clones, you can also perfectly bypass the restrictions on using Imperial Gear.
Besides that, you haven't been without setbacks during this time. First, your attempt to recreate the imperial artifact's crafting method failed. You spent a considerable amount of "time" and were able to use the power of the Emperor of the Dead to restore the March of the Dead to its original materials, made from Orichalcum and the silk of a giant spider called "Cocytus." The problem was that the process involved some lost secret techniques, and you could only recreate it piece by piece through the subtle changes in the raw materials over time.
Although you had no prior experience as a craftsman, there's a saying that goes, "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west; don't bully a young girl because she's poor." You're quite inquisitive about things that interest you. June 1022, 6, is your birthday. You've also received the first gift this world has given you: you've finally figured out how to craft this imperial weapon, but only for this one.
They use a special method to strip the special abilities from the dangerous materials and infuse them into their imperial artifacts. Perhaps with a few more samples, you can analyze the commonalities and even consider transferring the power of the dangerous materials to yourself. (You have obtained the gift recipe: March of the Dead, Eight Chambers.)
During this time, you were also targeted several times by the Empire's Anbu, especially by a man named Will. He seemed to have a fondness for Hei Tong, who died at your hands, and fought you with exceptional desperation.
Frankly speaking, your strength doesn't offer much of an advantage over the Hunters. You're well aware of your weaknesses: your attack and defense are both insufficient. The power of the Emperor of Keke only works if it hits the target; if it doesn't, it's meaningless. You're most afraid of opponents with both speed and strength.
In one particularly challenging encounter, you encountered the legendary Esdeath for the first time. Her destructive power was far greater than you could have imagined. Not only did she possess astonishing speed and explosive power surpassing that of a beast, she could instantly freeze enemies, shatter them with giant icicles and countless ice arrows, and instantly create dozens of layers of ice walls for defense. She even had a limited freeze time limit—even though, as a spirit of time, you could still move freely within the frozen time. Your trusted clone, Zhou Xiaoning, was instantly killed by her.
[For some reason, you didn't use the March of the Dead. This is the first time you've suffered a loss at the hands of the natives of this world. If it weren't for the Night Raid troops stopping the other Hunter troops, you would have lost quite a few clones.]
After these battles, you no longer harbor the same reluctance to cooperate with the Night Raid Unit. During this time, you've witnessed countless despicable acts. As they say, even the imperial capital, once prosperous for a thousand years, has now become corrupt and a living hell. Demons and monsters disguised as humans are arrogant and domineering, egocentric. These crimes, unpunishable by Heaven, can only be stopped by fighting violence with violence.
You can vaguely sense that Esdeath is your formidable rival in this world, and to some extent, the essence of this world is the changes in the Empire, the war between the Empire and the Revolutionary Army, and the brutal confrontation between the two Anbu organizations.
After careful consideration, you decided to cooperate with the revolutionary army, reaching an agreement to assist each other in battle. Even if you were occasionally exploited, it didn't matter, because you also hated seeing those corrupt and decadent nobles and would be happy to see someone overthrow the corrupt empire.
After reaching a cooperation agreement, you also met Nadezhda, the leader of the Night Raid organization. She is also a Teigu user, a biological, humanoid Teigu originally created to protect important personnel. According to Nadezhda, she is very powerful in hand-to-hand combat and is also very skilled in housework.
"Even though you have a clone, to be honest, you also want this imperial weapon... You silently shouted in your heart."
Nadezhda stated that Esdeath's Ice Imperial Artifact, "Demon God Appearance: Devil's Essence," is the most powerful Imperial Artifact. Defeat this woman would require at least 10 elite soldiers and over Imperial Artifact users. She's seen you fight, and with you around, the required combat power should be significantly reduced.
[In order to clear the way for the revolutionary army to encircle the imperial capital, Najta wants to cooperate with you to kill the hunters, and finally Esdeath herself.]