Chapter 004: Bauhinia Flowers

With Baros’s death, the expressions of the remaining dozen or so magicians changed. Almost simultaneously, they released their spells, pointing their fingers—only to see their wands explode in an instant, with the resulting powder swirling toward the nearest divine magician…
But it had no effect…
Even as these magicians used this life-burning magic—relying on their life force to unleash powerful attacks—it seemed utterly useless against Absolute Protection. Even after their bodies exploded in midair, the divine magicians remained floating there.
Once Baros was gone, the fierce magic he had cast lost its power, and the already small number of secret guards began to retreat in disarray.
Coupled with the divine magicians dropping spells from above, it wasn’t long before these secret guards were completely wiped out by the combined forces of the Temple Knights and the divine magicians.
It seemed that the most powerful force on the side of the Crown Prince had been eliminated. Though battles continued around them, it was clear to anyone with eyes that… the outcome was already decided…
Prince Fischer watched this scene and finally wore a faint smile, saying, “It’s all… over…”
Du Fan, behind him, suddenly frowned and couldn’t help but ask, “Prince Fischer… will you kill the Crown Prince?”
Prince Fischer turned to look at Du Fan, then wore a strange expression and said, “What do you think?”
…
The Crown Prince watched helplessly as his magicians died one after another, and his painstakingly trained secret guards were also wiped out. His expression turned extremely grim, and the nobles around him all showed strange looks.
Even his generals around him paled…
Who could have imagined that, despite such an overwhelming advantage, Prince Fischer would keep coming up with countermeasures, seemingly effortlessly defeating the Crown Prince’s various plans?
After all, in their eyes, the Crown Prince’s plans were foolproof!

At this moment, under the protection of nearly a thousand bodyguards, the people of the Crown Prince stood there in shock. Yet everyone knew that if the Temple Knights charged at them now, those mere thousand men would be no match at all. Moreover, there were so many divine mages in the sky, and on Prince Fischer’s side, there were numerous court mages as well…
Fortunately, after killing the secret agents, the Temple Knights did not take advantage of the situation, seemingly waiting for final orders…
Amidst this sea of corpses, the last survivors from both sides stared at each other, though the outcome seemed already doomed…
“Your Highness,” Dax struggled to reach the Crown Prince’s side. Unconsciously, the word “Your Majesty” turned back into “Your Highness,” but no one seemed to notice at the moment. “Now, inside the imperial city, we no longer have any advantage… But the capital is still in our hands. What we should do now is lead our troops out of the city and trap them there with our larger army. This is our only chance… As long as we hold on until dawn, once the old emperor dies, chaos will surely ensue. We can then send someone to the Mage Guild for help to counter their court mages and divine mages! Your Highness! Please make a decision quickly!”
The Crown Prince also didn’t seem to notice the change in his address. He merely sighed softly and said, “Do you think… my brother would give me a chance to leave alive right now?”
“Your Highness, why not?” Dax replied quickly. “Behind us, General Hekks will clear the way, and here, these bodyguards will cover our retreat… As for those nobles, why bother with them now? Even if Prince Fischer’s strong warriors chase after us, haven’t you already gathered a few strong fighters? Let them fight… In any case, as long as we can escape from here, we still have hundreds of thousands of troops at our disposal. As long as we have the foundation, we’ll be fine! Your Highness! Please decide soon!”
The Crown Prince gave a bitter smile, then suddenly sighed deeply and said, “Alright, then let’s do as you say!”
With the Crown Prince’s order, Dax immediately issued commands. The dozen or so generals around him were also loyal, and they quickly formed a small battle formation, surrounding the Crown Prince in the center.
Just as the Crown Prince was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and said quickly, “Take Duke Belinger with us. With him, even if we leave the capital, we won’t lack the chance to return.”

A general at his side hurriedly took orders and stepped back, but moments later, he rushed back, saying in a grave tone, “Your Highness… Duke Be… Duke Belinger can no longer be found. Even those strong warriors you recruited are now missing. Your Highness, you should leave quickly—otherwise, it might be too late! As for covering our retreat, leave that to me!” With that, the general drew his long sword from his waist and charged toward where the bodyguards were.

Prince Fischer watched from afar as his elder brother acted. With his intelligence, how could he not figure out why?

He sneered and suddenly said, “It seems my elder brother still plans to rise up again in the future. But since I’ve already anticipated this, how could I let him leave alive?”

Du Fan couldn’t help but ask, “Prince Fischer, are you really prepared to do it?”

Prince Fischer shook his head again and smiled, saying, “When have I said I must kill him?”

Hearing this, Du Fan felt even more confused. He glanced at his father, only to see Duke Green shaking his head gently… It seems that the ways of a ruler are beyond anyone’s comprehension!

Suddenly, Prince Fischer stepped forward a few steps. He made a gesture toward Master Abraham in the air, and soon, an air-elemental expansion spell enveloped Prince Fischer.

This time, Prince Fischer looked in the direction of the eldest prince and said calmly, “Elder brother… You must understand the situation now. You have no chance of winning. In this imperial city, you have no opportunities left, while I am certain of victory! If you surrender now, I’ll promise on my father’s behalf to spare your life. What do you think?”

The eldest prince was about to leave when he heard these words. He suddenly trembled, stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned to look toward the platform. Gathering his combat energy, he shouted, “Fischer! I’m of the royal family! I’d rather die than surrender! Besides… do you really think I’m already defeated?”

With that, the eldest prince turned sharply and shouted, “Go!”

Immediately, he and the dozen or so generals around him retreated quickly toward the back.

Seeing this, Prince Fischer simply shook his head slightly and said nothing more…

Everyone watched as the eldest prince left, guessing what Prince Fischer would do next…

But Prince Fischer merely sighed lightly before suddenly saying, “Master Abraham, lead a team of men personally to bring my elder brother back to me… Remember, he must be alive. As for those around him…” At this point, Prince Fischer stopped speaking, and those on the platform naturally understood what he meant—the elder prince would live, but his aides were doomed! Abraham accepted the order and left. He promptly selected a dozen court magicians and rushed in the direction where the elder prince was, while the remaining court magicians put away their magic spells. After all, with the situation now clear, their protection was no longer necessary. What they should do now was cooperate with the soldiers to eliminate all the rebels. The armies fighting around also seemed to sense something, as they slowly put down their weapons in confusion… It seemed there was no point in continuing the fight anymore… Just then, the sound of horse hooves, like distant thunder, came from all directions around the imperial city, as if thousands of horses were charging. The elder prince, who was about to leave, suddenly looked pleased and asked the generals around him in confusion, “Are the reinforcements here?” But Prince Fischer on the platform suddenly frowned, “Cavalry? So many cavalry in the imperial city? Could it be that my elder brother has prepared such a contingency…” Seeing Prince Fischer’s expression, Du Fan grew puzzled. Could it be… that the arrival of these cavalry was completely beyond Prince Fischer’s expectations? The sound of the horse hooves grew louder as they approached the training ground. In the blink of an eye, a dense crowd of cavalry surrounded everyone in the training ground—whether they were the elder prince’s men or Prince Fischer’s men… Faced with this new force, confusion appeared in everyone’s eyes. Du Fan couldn’t help but use an Eagle Eye spell to look around, only to see his expression change instantly! On those flags fluttering in the wind were clearly the images of Bauhinia flowers!