Immortal Kingdoms

Ink as night was the lake, bits of starlight and moon rays revealed the lurking beasts below the otherwise tranquil surface. Leonardo stood by the railing of his balcony, deep in thought as his eyes at times observed the sky and its three moons, the land afar and its seemingly endless army, and the lake below for its depth remains a mystery unknown.

"I'm very bad at this," Leonardo sighed after being silent for a while. Aria jumped off his shoulder and landed gracefully on the railings, her crimson eyes as inquisitive as always.

"I'm a businessman who was taught the art of killing, not the art of war. As for matters of the heart? I'm very, and overwhelmingly lacking in that aspect."

"However, no matter how lacking I am, I'm still confused at how little these people that I would have considered beings of unfathomable power a few months back think of… you know, the matters between man and woman."

"I'm as proud as I am selfish. Perhaps the reason I rejected Azalea is that I can't bring her back with me to the higher realms, but that would simply be part of it. If I'm being honest, the main reason is that I can't leave my woman behind thinking that another man may lay hands on her."

"Azalea isn't like Pandora and Juvia, those two have the growth potential and won't be some disposable junk to a behemoth like House Hestia. At least I'd like to believe that much. As for Leona and Kieran, even though I'm not sure about my master's personality, I have a feeling that she won't force me to abandon my adopted children, especially with their remarkable potential."

"Ah, speaking of her, that brings me to the first of my worries and points of confusion," Leonardo's lifeless eyes grew somewhat unfocused, the image of a petite, wild, scarred yet beautiful woman.

He sighed, letting the worries in his heart float through his mouth, "I remember she wrestled me to the bed without a warning whatsoever. I thought I didn't care whether I was her first or last, but after listening to Azalea, I now realize that I'm damn wrong about that…"

A weird teasing light glimmered in Aria's eyes, not having thought that the seemingly cold Prince Leonardo was the emotional type. However, thinking about it, if he wasn't so emotional, he wouldn't have gone through all of this.

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Then she tried to imagine her daughter throwing a man on her bed and knocking him unconscious with nothing but aggressive sex. She felt speechless…

After Leonardo vented for a bit, sharpness returned to his eyes which were now dyed crimson once more. With a faint yet wicked grin, he faced the direction of not the army, but the Regalia Kingdom behind them.

…

The next day quickly arrived. It was like any other ordinary day of the siege. However, the saints of the opposing army felt like something was amiss with the flow and commotion of the non-cultivators in the five districts of Grace Imperial City.

The saints from House Regalia, House Samuel, and House Issac advanced to the forefront of the formation as they felt a surge of worldly energy aggregate in front of the five districts.

One explosion of energy after another echoed as two pillars of emerald flames, and three pillars of wild energy soared into the clouds above, declaring the presence of five saints unleashing their auras.

Miko, Misaka, Sitri, Lucas, and Pandora's auras exploded, their domains surging like five tides each superimposed on the next. One sonic boom after the other caused the hundreds of thousands of soldiers beyond the formation to clutch their ears as they buzzed, blood trickling down past their clamped hands.

"Insolence!"

BOOM!

The three saints echoed an identical sentiment as their auras also exploded, their domains merging seamlessly as a few powerful auras within the army also bloomed, surging to aid the commander and his right and left vices. Quickly, the opposing domains merged into two conflicting tides that blasted into one another a few miles away from the formation.

"Not good!" The leading saint's pupils constricted as the sneak attack was just a bait, and they fell right into it. However, it was already too late to take it back.

"Protect everyone!"

Shouted the saint. However, oddly enough, the world lost all its sound and color, and the soldiers stood rooted to their spots. However, it was just a misconception on the saint's side because he was simply moving and talking too fast, it seemed as though no one was responding to his words.

From realizing his mistake to giving the orders, it was all within the gap in time preluding a beautiful explosion that shook heaven and earth.

BOOM!

Space twisted during the collision of two peak domains, rebounding into the massive collection of foot soldiers. A wave of dust, debris, flesh, and bone spread into the distance, mounted by no other than the miserable cries of the unfortunate soldiers closest to the siege towers.

While the saints were busy warding off the aftershocks of such an apocalyptic explosion, five silhouettes blasted through the curtains of destruction and rushed in the direction of Regalia Kingdom. Since they were flying at top speed, it wasn't a puzzling conundrum as to their identities.

Just as the saint was about to furiously shout, an oppressive bloodlust covered the earth and sky of the battlefield, even causing this second-cycle saint to falter in his train of thoughts, let alone the soldiers below.

After the slaughter at Crouching Dragon Province, Leonardo's bloodthirsty aura grew almost substantial, suffocating the soldiers; cultivators and non-cultivators alike. Dense waves of blood rushed into the sky, swirling around a man clad in black robes and the three-meter tall halberd at his side.

Deep crimson eyes peered through the silver mask on his face to glare at the armies below, giving them the feeling of caged animals waiting for their inevitable slaughter.

"Bloodthirsty! What is the meaning of this?!" Roared the saint as he shot into the sky as well, floating right in front of Leonardo, his eyes red with rage. He didn't even pause to question how this god of death appeared in front of him when he was supposedly dead.

Leonardo tilted his head before his raspy voice echoed far and near, "What are you so flustered about? This is obviously my retaliation."

"What fucking retaliation in a war?! Call back your subordinates immediately, lest we raze this city to the ground!" Spoke the saint through his gritted teeth. He received reports about Bloodthirsty and his unconventional methods, but he never thought that this madman would repeat his transgressions after Arcadia's Wrath.

"By the time you raze my city to the ground, my subordinates would have razed at least five of yours. They're not moving armies, they're five saints with the mission to blaze a path of slaughter through the four provinces. Let's see who is willing to sacrifice more of their people for their own cause."

Leonardo responded in a rather nonchalant tone, as though the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians had nothing to do with him.

Off in the distance, Lexus's heart throbbed with panic and anger as he heard those words. That Prince Leonardo is a madman, and his commander is just as much of a madman as well. He only considered Leonardo's threats as something to take at face value, never thinking that he would actually follow up with his words.

If Leonardo truly wished to establish a state on a throne of flesh and bones, asking him to take the lives of his citizens seriously was but a joke.

"Of course, you can take your saints and intercept my subordinates, but then you'd have to leave me by myself with these courageous soldiers who dared raise arms against my House Grace!"

"You're simply using the context of war to avenge personal enmity!" The saint responded, his voice cold as he calmed down somewhat. He was absolutely furious to have lost so many of his soldiers, but he wasn't some child who hadn't seen the cruelty of the world before.

However, as a man with multiple accomplishments in the art of war, he respected as much as he feared this bloody concept. Now, to meet someone who didn't care for the lives of the innocent, simply waging war to satisfy a selfish sense of indignation, his eyes blazed with dense killing intent.

Leonardo wasn't the least bit bothered by this killing intent as he said, "His Highness said he doesn't have the time to entertain your foolish games. You have two paths to choose from, each worse than the last."

"My subordinates have already breached the defenses of the four provinces, rivers of blood might as well be running through their meadows as we speak. If you surrender now, you'll have to give up those provinces to Prince Leonardo, or you can simply cling to a foolish hope of a textbook war and watch your soldiers fall to the last."

"By the time you breach our city's formations, you would be lucky to have the remnants of a squadron capable of marching into our territory to siege the palace. You'd have won the war, but lost millions of your people."

Leonardo stretched a hand and clutched tightly at the pole of his halberd, his eyes cold and ruthless as he spoke flatly, "Choose your path."