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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 49
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 11:00:10 +0000 UTCThe Imperial rushed to their leader with bright smiles and told him about their fights and everything they had to endure. They talked quickly, and their voices overlapped, making it too hard to listen to each of them.
To think the Imperial would be this talkative. I don’t think they talked this much on the entire trip.
Percy was surprised and studied the Imperial Head. He had long golden hair, and his athletic build was hidden underneath the plated armor. His eyes were razor-sharp, but he looked kindly at the young Imperials.
The Imperials must like him a lot. He seems to be a good guy.
The Imperial Head raised his hand to stop the youngsters and turned to the King.
“I know you just reunited with your son, but I hope we won’t have to wait too long for positive results. The situation at the front is still manageable, but it will change soon. Our enemy’s patience runs thin. He has been waiting too long already, Your Majesty.”
“I know,” King Phillip nodded understandably, patting his friend’s shoulder firmly, “It will be ready soon. We won’t waste any time.”
The Imperial Head nodded curtly, gestured the young Imperials to follow him, and disappeared into the bustling street.
“He has to return to the frontlines. It’s just like he said. The Demon Hordes might be massive, but they’re still manageable,” Phillip Kain looked at his son, “But there are many Lesser Demons and Elite Demons, and it is difficult to kill a flood of dozens of demons before they reach you. The Imperials are doing great, but they have sustained considerable damage. No Imperial has died…but it is only a matter of time.”
He smiled apologetically as he continued, “They requested Ego-enhanced Cards. The Imperial Head studied all information about Mathis’ Ego more intently after we received Melissa’s reports, which also mentioned [Purge]’s effectiveness against demonic creatures, and decided to recreate it. He has been busy in the royal library…and basically every other library searching for Beastariums to study after he heard what the Minister of Finances attempted to do…using Monster Cards and your Ego.”
Percy understood what his father was getting at, “He’s looking for Monsters powers suitable to counter Demons. Imperial Mathis told me privately that nobody considered his Ego powerful. Even he was certain Purge wasn’t good for anything but to remove curses and specific diseases. But since that’s not the case…”
“The Imperial Head has been looking for powers revolving around purification, light, and lunar powers. The latter is something he included after reading something interesting in old scriptures. Apparently, Demons are weak to moonlight. They seem to be weaker during a full moon,” Phillip completed with a smile.
“Did he find something useful?”
The King’s smile cracked this time, “He did find something. And they would have hunted the monster already…if it wasn’t primarily found in the Moonlight Forest.”
That was bad.
“We found some suitable Cards, but they aren’t perfect. To be honest, they’re far from perfect,” The King winced, while Paul Reeze stepped forward, patting King Phillip’s shoulder, “But that should be fine. We don’t need anything perfect as long as we can cover up for the lack of perfection with your Ego.”
He winked at Percy, who nodded slowly in agreement.
“Since you can evolve Monster Cards, it shouldn’t be a problem. It might be perfect since the Monster Cards we acquired in the last few weeks belong to a sub-race of the Lunar Wolf. At least, that’s what this kind of inferior monster had been once, several hundred years ago, before we captured it.”
Percy was now frowning deeply. What in the seven hells was the Duke talking about?
“You aren’t talking about a domesticated—...” Percy couldn’t finish his sentence before the Reeze Duke approached him with a stack of Monster Cards.
[Monster Card(Silverheart Hound) – Mature – 752 Prosperity.]
It was the first time Percy saw a Monster Card this cheap, but what else should he have expected from a domesticated monster?
“I never heard of the SIlverheart Hound,” He mumbled, which was the Queen’s cue to join the conversation.
“The Silverheart Hound barely possesses any mana. All its mana, motes of lunar energy, are gathered in its heart, but that’s about it. Silverheart Hounds are considered pets because they’re weaker than most monsters and easy to control. Still, sometimes they form Monster Cards when they die, which some nobles use to keep their beloved pet close to their heart,” She explained seriously, “Quite literally. Some replace their Monster Cards with their pets even though Silverheart Hounds don’t awaken any Augmentations. They’re barely monster enough to transform into Monster Cards at times.”
Percy looked at the stash of Silverheart Hounds and then at his father, who shrugged, “We paid a fair price to everyone willing to sell them and confiscated the rest. The kingdom’s survival is more important than some sentiments.”
“Tell that to my friends. They’ve been cursing you behind your back,” The Queen clicked her tongue.
“You know better than anyone that these idiots are not your friends,” The King retorted, which earned him a glare from the queen.
Percy cleared his throat to attract his parents’ attention before they could engage in a full-blown fight in the middle of the main street where everyone would see them.
“I don’t have any Prosperity left to enhance them, otherwise, I would have done it right away,” He said while recalling something important, “That might be a slight diversion of the topic, but I hope the Kingsguard and Imperials didn’t burn the Demon carcasses.”
The royal couple turned to him, the Queen snickering after stealing a deadly glare at the King,” The Minister of Finances made sure to tell everyone dozens of times that every Demon corpse has to be collected. Some were probably burned in battle, but most Demon carcasses have been collected and put aside for you.”
“Nice!” Percy gave his mother a thumbs-up, to which she responded by flicking his forehead.
He winced, but the smile didn’t cease.
“If you’re not too tired to Ego-enhance the Silverheart Hounds, we should do it immediately. The Imperials will be happy to fight the Demon Hordes more efficiently,” Phillip said, gesturing to Percy to follow him.
The Queen looked at the others and motioned to them as well.
“Dine with us tonight. I’m curious what you guys went through in the last few weeks,” She glanced at Percy for a moment and Sophia, who was playing with Percy’s messy hair and added, “And don’t leave out a single detail. I want to hear everything!”
The remaining members of the royal envoy looked at each other and swallowed hard. Their eyes lingered the longest on Melissa, who paled ever so slightly.
***
Percy didn’t wash up quickly. He hadn’t seen a shower for weeks. Since they left the capital, no member of the royal envoy had the time, let alone the opportunity, to shower. They expelled the impurities and dirt sticking to their bodies by covering their skin with mana before flushing it away. That was enough to remove the sweat and grime sticking to their bodies, but it didn’t remove the dirt smudging their clothes.
They felt filthy nonetheless. Thus, they deserved a lengthy bath.
The servants prepared a warm bath for everyone. To Percy, who never bothered bathing as it had either been too expensive or too much of a waste of time, it was a pleasant experience. The water wreathed his body, the warmth releasing the tension and stress of the last few weeks.
Percy was alone in his bathroom, his head leaning on the bathtub’s edge, his eyes shut tightly.
I wish I could sleep for a few weeks. Resting for a while…would be great.
The corners of his lips tilted upward, but profound sadness was hidden in his features. No matter how he looked at it, there was no time to rest. He had too many tasks to complete. It would have been much better if he had never entered the bathtub. Certain tasks would have been better off if completed several days ago.
There is no crying over spilled milk. There is nothing I can do about it.
That might be true, but Percy still could not stop thinking about his tasks.
He had to check the Dragon’s Lair, prepare new Artifacts to sell and distribute, inspect the Dragon Nest’s progress, invest more in his employees’ growth, and do the same with the Dragon Knight Order.
Percy had a rough understanding of each aspect—his grandfather informed him about the progress of almost everything—but it was always better to check the situation personally.
He couldn’t be certain what Artifacts were in high demand right now; the war changed the customers’ demands drastically, and there was no way to be sure how powerful the Dragon Knights were. Every Dragon Knight would receive customized Monster Cards. At least, that was what Percy would have done if he had been given the time to watch and study them for weeks.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He couldn’t even be certain how many Dragon Knight trainees were already Elite Gifted and what goods they needed for the great war against the Devil. Were they mentally ready to fight the Devil’s demon hordes in the first place?
Percy had no idea, and that drove him crazy. He needed more intel, and he needed to work more.
His mind was telling him to get out of the bathtub and immediately jump into work, but his body didn’t budge. His head disappeared underwater, bubbles breaking through the water's surface when he sighed in relief.
Percy hadn’t been given a single second of rest even as he had upgraded his Monster Cards. His body had been forced to adapt to the changes without any break. He couldn’t sleep properly either, more nightmares resurfacing since the Devil entered the mortal realm.
Thus, instead of sleeping, Percy had been focusing on mana training. His mana control was already exceptional, and it was increasingly difficult to improve, but he always found something to improve. His improvements weren’t as sudden and explosive as they had been in the past, yet he kept progressing.
It was slow but steady.
How strong is the Devil, in the first place? Grandfather told me about their fight two centuries ago. He was an Exalted then and nearly died repelling the Devil, but it worked. The Devil was injured in the process as well. Normally, Demons cannot grow much stronger in the Seven Hells. They rarely mutate in the Seven Hells, but their strength increases explosively after killing and consuming residents of the mortal realm. If that’s the case…does that mean the Devil took two centuries to regain his full power, or is he still weakened and spent two centuries licking his wounds?
Percy’s mind was a mess, but he couldn’t do anything about it. The Devil’s appearance worried him.
His head emerged again, and he took a deep breath.
“If he had regained his strength, he wouldn’t be hiding in the Moonlight Forest. He is stalling for time, slowly trying to collect his forces,” Percy murmured, “But if he is not at full strength…how strong is the Devil right now?”
