Chapter 50: Glory and Disgrace
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translations Editor: EndlessFantasy Translations
The Imperial Palace was built in the center of the Empire, more than 400 years ago when the
Empire was founded. It was an enormous structure built using granite shipped from the north.
From the Empire’s few centuries’ worth of history, Rody learned that the Empire had gone
through many hardships and wars. Rody was unable to remember them all.
During the Empire’s 49th year, the Empire was at war with the Northern Roland Continent and
entered a moment of crisis. The granite palace became the last military stronghold. Both sides
had about 200,000 soldiers and they fought at the fort of the palace for a total of 17 days.
Finally, the third Duke of the Tulip Family led 100,000 soldiers that helped to repel the enemy
and defend the palace.
During the Empire’s 109th year, there was an internal strife. The emperor was assassinated by a
rebellious minister. The rebellious minister then put a prince there and controlled him like a
puppet. After that, the sixth Duke of Tulip Family ran away from the Imperial Capital. Fifteen
days later, he came back to the Imperial Capital with 9,000 soldiers. They took six days to break
through the city walls and later fought 20,000 rebels for two days and two nights. The duke
personally killed the rebellious leader, Davis and continued to attack the Imperial City with
thousands of soldiers. Due to that war, the river near the walls turned red with blood for a full
two weeks, before returning to its original color.
During the Empire’s 209th year, after the internal strife the most outstanding emperor in the
whole of Empire’s history, Abbas the Great ascended the throne. Abbas was the Empire’s
greatest emperor in their 400 years of history. However, during his reign he was also the
emperor that killed the most people. Abbas had the support of the Tulip Family and killed more
than 1,000 of the ministers and kinsmen that opposed his rule. That included his younger
brother and his uncle. About 100 years later, the Empire once again experienced a bloody
baptism. On that night, the whole Empire was filled with shrilled screams and the stench of the
blood. After a heavy downpour, the whole Empire was covered in red.
During the 30 years of Abbas the Great’s reign, he created the Empire’s formidable cavalry. The
cavalry was well known in the mainland as the Lightning God Legion. Under Abbas' great
leadership and the Tulip Family’s outstanding commands, the cavalry conquered the entire
continent. Only in the mainland at the Northwest Grasslands, was there a strong and unknown
resistance from the nomads who refused to be ruled by the Empire. Abbas the Great then
implemented firm strategies. “In all parts of the mainland where the sun shines, everyone must
respect the imperial law and authority! The obedient ones will be rewarded while the rebellious
ones will be mercilessly punished.” Finally, the marshal of the Empire massacred 60,000
foreign troops and captured their leader, Halifax. Abbas the Great then ordered for this foreign
leader to be publicly trampled by horses until he died.
At last, the whole continent finally unified and became the Empire’s territory. As a result, the
Empire in the south and Roland in the north, separated by the straits, were in quite a
confrontational setup. Also in that era, the Great Sage Dandong was born. He became Abbas the
Great’s most powerful assistant as he single handedly planned a series of reforms, giving the
Empire a lot of vigor. Also in that palace, Abbas the Great renamed the Empire as the Radiant
Empire1. The name of the Radiant Empire reverberated through the whole continent.
Twenty-three years ago, the Empire once again went through a historical moment. It was its
first defeat and humiliation after a few hundred years. The foreigners from the Northwest
Grasslands raised their banners and declared independence. They then formed the Great Moon
Kingdom. On top of that, the commander of the army who was Tulip Family’s head died of
illness. Eventually, the Empire’s Central Cavalry were defeated by the Great Moon Kingdom’s
armored cavalry. As they were defeated, the Empire had to acknowledge the Great Moon
Kingdom’s independence. After that, the Empire and the Great Moon Kingdom signed an
agreement in the hall constructed by Abbas the Great, agreeing to the division of their lands.
Rody sat in the carriage and occasionally gazed out of the window, looking towards the palace
in the distance. He recalled seeing the picture of the palace in history books. He did not know
what his fate would be when he arrived there.
Rody stared at the palace which was getting closer. As night drew nearer, he had a peculiar
feeling.
give me your sword.”
Rody knew he could not refuse. He gave the lightsaber to Gordon. Gordon nodded his head and
passed on the sword to one of the guards at the door before walking with Rody towards the
back.
The two guards, at the side of the entrance, carefully interrogated Gordon. Only when Gordon
produced the command plate did they allow Rody to enter.
The door slowly opened and Rody immediately felt a chill.
It was a side hall, which was actually the real center of the Empire. It was noted in the Empire's
history, that all the important policies and strategies were agreed and fixed here by the
emperor and his ministers.
The inside of the hall was mostly empty. He felt a strange sense of relief from the ceiling that
gave off a gentle and chilling light. Rody knew that this was an illuminating spell. There were
no decorations or furnishings in the middle of the room. There was only a huge and long table
in the wide, open hall. At the end of the table, there was a long and thin silhouette.
He wore a long white robe and had long black hair tied up behind his head. His face looked
abnormally fair as if it was devoid of color. He carefully looked at Rody with eyes which looked
like two bright gems. Although the person was just quietly standing there, Rody could feel a
tremendous kind of invisible pressure.
Rody immediately bowed his head and knelt down. He spoke loudly, “I am Tulip Family’s Seth
Rudolph. I present myself to His Majesty the Emperor!”
The white robed person in the distance seemed motionless. He gently nodded but he did seem
to have intention of allowing Rody to stand up.
The current Radiant Empire Emperor quietly looked at Rody. His gaze was as if he could see
through Rody. Rody did not know how long he had knelt. He could feel the cold sweat flowing
down his back. After a while, he heard a clear and resounding voice.
“Seth! I have a difficult problem. I hope you can solve it for me!”
Translator’s Footnote
1 The original name, guāngmíng dìguó meant Light Empire or Bright Empire but it sounds
awkward as the name of a kingdom so I picked Radiant instead.
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