Chapter 1335: Chapter 1335
With the death of the king, more and more soldiers were surrendering, and the noise of battle slowly dissipated. The city interior was quickly taken over by the soldiers, by which time, no one had the power to turn the tide.
On the ground, countless soldiers quieted down, watching Du You in the sky.
Du You pondered for a moment and then loudly declared, "My people, the war has ended, and we have triumphed!"
As soon as Du You finished speaking, the soldiers suddenly started shouting, their voices thunderous. This signified the fall of one empire and the rise of another.
The sound of cheers, like waves, caused even greater silence among the people in the city.
Next was the cleanup of the battlefield. Lin Yucha controlled the Platform Floating Cloud to descend, and the soldiers’ enthusiasm finally cooled down. Then there were many more tasks to do, which didn’t need Du You’s involvement.
Often, Du You, the king, seemed more like a mascot, serving little function. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
The remaining Demonic Flame Skeletons began their task not far away, on a piece of open ground, starting to dig graves. Most centrally was Emperor Tru’s grave, which, thanks to Du You’s dark powers, ensured that Emperor Tru’s corpse could not be summoned as an Undead. This corpse, apart from its symbolic significance, held no other value.
Du You did not prepare an elaborate crypt for him, just a slightly larger pit than the others. Because Du You had crafted a coffin for Emperor Tru, the pit needed to be somewhat larger.
The others were buried around Emperor Tru. The soldiers’ corpses, after being cremated, had their ashes buried around, thus leaving a form of memorial.
"Your Majesty, look, these are the materials we excavated from within the city walls, all top-notch stuff."
Suddenly, Shaliya approached Du You and handed him a stone. These materials were useful for upgrading functional buildings among other uses. Such a massive city was truly no simple matter.
"Have the assets of the noble families been accounted for?" Du You pondered and said.
"Not yet, but it’s being compiled, and I believe it will be organized soon. If anyone hides anything, they will pay the price," Shaliya said, excitement flashing in her eyes.
Du You nodded, "Then begin with the accounts. This city used countless high-tier materials, we cannot afford to waste. Let’s start with the city walls, dismantle them first, then the inside."
Du You decided to completely dismantle the entire royal city. As for destroying cultural artifacts and ruining the royal city, Du You didn’t care too much about that. As long as his territory was developing well, a mere city counted for little.
Besides, dismantling the royal city, wasn’t that what many new kings did? There was nothing too out of the ordinary in his actions.
At that moment, a series of tumultuous noises erupted outside. Du You frowned and walked out.
"What happened? Why the noise?" Seeing Du You appear, everyone around quieted down. Du You saw, not knowing since when, a group of individuals in noble attire had appeared.
"Respected King Du You, we are nobles surrendering to you; we have requested an audience."
Du You frowned, glanced at the badge on the man in front, which, if he remembered correctly, belonged to a duke’s family, quite renowned, something one had to learn in the Study of Heraldry.
"So, you sought me out to discuss what?"
The leader immediately said, "We wish to know how you plan to handle us, since we are all nobles."
"Nobles, you say? You should be aware of our country’s laws. Someone will check into your affairs. If no severe crimes were committed, you’ll receive a fair disposition."
"But, but we are nobility, you can’t treat nobles . It was fine when it was minor nobles in the south, your actions didn’t matter much. However, if you treat major nobility the same way, I fear many will resent it."
Du You scoffed, "Are you threatening me?"
"Not at all! I’m simply stating the facts," the other maintained a demeanor neither servile nor overbearing. Seeing their leader act this way, the other nobles stood tall and proud, as if emboldened.
Du You disdainfully said, "Let them resent if they will. If anyone dares cause trouble, they will be dealt with."
Without waiting for their response, Du You coldly stated, "Now, the entire east is under my control, except for the Quicksand Empire, who else could you possibly defect to?"
Quicksand Empire? Stop joking, those Sandpeople only see humans as food and enemies. They wouldn’t accept them. If these nobles ran to the Quicksand Empire seeking refuge, they’d likely end up devoured.
Thinking it over, all of the east was indeed under Du You’s control, save for the Shenghai Kingdom and the Holy Fox Kingdom. Perhaps they wished to defect to the Beastmen? They wouldn’t spare them either. Due to the slave trade over the years, their disdain for human nobility, especially those from the Divine Flame Empire, was profound.
Struck by this realization, they found they had no leverage or support at all.
"No, you can’t do this, we are nobility, you can’t treat nobility this way. We demand the treatment befitting nobility."
Behind them, a slightly younger noble suddenly started shouting frantically. Du You glanced at him dismissively, turned away, and walked off. Someone would soon handle this fellow.
From a distance, Du You saw Li Mengyao and Xi Qianxue returning, and finally, a smile appeared on his face.
"How was it, not a bad haul, right?" The two had indeed shown their prowess on the battlefield, one with the Ice Domain and the other with the Wild Wind Domain, decimating their enemies within their domains’ reach.
Of course, because Du You had secretly deployed sixth-tier soldiers for protection, such effects were achieved.
In such a battlefield, though the rewards were reduced, due to killing so many enemies, there were still many benefits to reap. Seeing the smiles on their faces, Du You could guess some of it.
"It’s wonderful, I never imagined advancement could be so easy. This time, we’ve gathered all the Fifth Tier exclusive Crystal Coins needed, only the advancement materials are lacking," Li Mengyao said, clearly thrilled.
"There are plenty of things here, it is an ancient empire’s royal city, you should check all the items later," Du You also said with a smile.