In the Purple Eagle Empire in the north, the climate in spring, autumn and winter is always colder and drier than in the Iberian Kingdom in the south. However, in summer, the hot weather here is not inferior to its southern neighbor.
Normally, late summer is not a good season for hunting. First, the weather is hot, which makes it difficult for hunters to hunt. Second, the vegetation is lush, making it difficult to find prey. Third, it is not the right season, and the animals are not fat enough. Just like the king in the south who passed away not long ago, he would never go out hunting under the scorching summer sun.
However, Emperor Alfred of the Empire was a young man who liked to do things unexpectedly. Not only did he lead his team to the hunting ground in the afternoon sun, but he also brought his Queen Catherine and the three-year-old Prince Bernhard.
The king looked very young. If he were on Earth, he would be just a college student. He had short dark green hair and a pair of deep and bright emerald eyes. His skin was pure and white and his body was slender, but from the way he rode a horse, it could be seen that his seemingly thin body contained great power.
His cousin, Queen Catherine, has almost the same hair and eye color as him, and is a very beautiful woman. Their son Bernhard also inherited this and is a lovely child with bright green eyes.
This appearance comes from the Emerald Dragon bloodline of the current royal family. The Emerald Dragon is the best of the green dragons. It not only has a strong physique, but is also proficient in wind magic. It is a rare holy bloodline on the continent and one of the four holy bloodlines of the Purple Eagle Empire. The so-called holy bloodline is to awaken this bloodline to the extreme, and the inheritor of the bloodline can obtain the power of the holy level. In addition to the Emerald Dragon bloodline, the other three holy bloodlines of the empire are the Hydra bloodline of the Duke of Maple Forest City, the Cyclops bloodline of the Duke of Falling Flag City, and the Purple Winged Condor bloodline of the former royal family that has disappeared for many years.
Over the years, in order to maintain the stability and purity of the bloodline, the royal family of the Purple Eagle Empire has always intermarried within the royal family. The Emerald Dragon is not an easy bloodline to maintain. The previous emperors of the empire did not perform well in terms of bloodline talent, but when it came to Alfred, he restored a very high bloodline purity. According to the judgment of the Saint Morales of Silent Praise, he might reach the realm of the Saint level one day.
Emperor Alfred touched Prince Bernhard's head and said, "Today is an important day for you. You will understand the power of two things. The first is power. That is what I have, and you, if you are smart enough and strong enough, may get it a little bit."
Young Bernhard obviously didn't know what his father was talking about. He sat on the saddle in front of his mother and looked around curiously. Although his father had a serious expression, he couldn't help but smile at him.
The corners of the emperor's mouth couldn't help but twitch upwards.
"Your Majesty, is it really necessary to let Bernhard watch this? I don't remember having such a 'course' when we were children!" There was some dissatisfaction in the Queen's tone.
"Times are changing, aren't they, Catherine? I said I wanted to give him the best, and I think what I'm going to present to him today is a most valuable gift."
The Queen looked at the Prime Minister of the Empire, Duke Bernard of Whitefish City, who was accompanying them on the hunt. The Duke smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness Catherine, although Bernhard is young, he is a child with the blood of the Emerald Dragon after all. He is a natural warrior. You don't have to worry too much."
The emperor pointed at the Duke with his whip and said with a smile: "Bernard is always the best at talking. Bring up our prey."
The so-called prey was four young people, two men and two women, who were wearing ragged clothes, but if you look closely, you will find that the material of the clothes is very good, and only high-ranking nobles would dress like this. They looked terrified and trembling, especially the two women, who were already in tears at this moment.
The emperor looked at them, but there was no sympathy on his face. Instead, he said jokingly: "Davis, that greedy fool, always regarded himself as the shield of the empire and deceived us for many years. I didn't expect that in the end he would be a parasite who used gold coins to fight wars and used human lives to cheat for merit. How could I forgive such a person? Did he think he could escape my punishment by slashing his neck? Now the punishment he deserves should be taken by you instead."
"But Your Majesty, we really didn't participate in those transactions with the orcs! Everything was done by my father, and he was completely unaware of it." One of Earl Davis's sons pleaded.
"Yes, Your Majesty, father never told us these things. We are innocent in this matter." One of his daughters also said.
"Innocent?" His Majesty the Emperor sneered, his emerald eyes staring at those people, making them feel very uncomfortable.
"In my eyes, you have enjoyed your father's greed, so you must pay the corresponding price for his greed. Let's get started!"
On the side, a knight unlocked the shackles on the feet of four young men, whipped them with a whip, and shouted: "Run, run! In three minutes, the hunters will start hunting you. They will kill you without mercy, but if you escape from this forest, you will be free."
When the four men heard this, they didn't know whether they were stimulated by the whip or moved by freedom, but they started running one after another.
The emperor said to his son, "You see, this is power. As long as you have it, countless people will revolve around you. You can even easily decide a person's life or death. Now I will give you a power. You will choose who among the four people will be killed first."
The little prince looked at his father with some confusion, but with his father's encouraging eyes, he stretched out his finger and pointed at a running woman.
"A good choice." The emperor took out a bow from the space ring, pulled it to the full length, and enchanted the arrow with his innate wind magic.
Those young men whose magic and fighting spirit were sealed couldn't run too far.
As soon as the emperor let go, the arrow wrapped in the wind drew a gray line in the air and pierced directly into the back of the woman's head.
Count Davis's little daughter let out a short scream, then a big hole exploded behind her head, and she fell to the ground silently.
"This is the second point I want to tell you today: the power of force. With this power, the empire can occupy the largest territory on the continent." The emperor then shot two more arrows, and the wind magic gave his arrows an extremely long range. One of the two young men was shot through the chest, and the other had a big hole directly opened in the head.
When the emperor was about to kill the fourth woman, suddenly a knight rushed into the hunting ground and rushed to the king.
The knight whispered in the prime minister's ear for a while. The prime minister showed a look of surprise, and he cast a silent barrier. He said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is great news, the Thousand-Ren Sword Saint is really dead!"
The emperor seemed to have completely forgotten about the last prey at this time. He said to the people around him: "The God of Nature is favoring the Empire, isn't he? Let's go back to the palace. Our game with the southern girl will soon begin."
The hunting team came and went quickly. They left the hunting ground in a hurry and threw the last female prisoner into the wilderness. The woman covered her face and cried bitterly, but not long after, a string of flames rose from her back. The woman rolled and screamed, but was finally burned to ashes in the flames.