Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

The palace was brightly lit, and the sounds of string and wind instruments could be faintly heard, mixed with the rough laughter and curses of men and the suppressed sobs of women.

He pressed himself against the carved wooden window and peered inside through the crack.

The hall was brightly lit with candles and lavishly furnished. A giant man, two meters tall, wearing only leather pants and barefoot on the carpet, was drinking wildly from a gold-inlaid wine jug.

Beside that magnificent bed sat a woman dressed in elaborate robes, still possessing a captivating charm—the Empress Dowager of Jingjue Kingdom.

"So, these are the Demon King's army officers and the Empress Dowager... Hehe, I think the Empress Dowager is still quite charming..."

Lu Guan licked his lips, but a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

The burly man casually smashed the empty wine jug on the ground, wiped his mouth, looked at the Empress Dowager by the bedside, and grinned, "Beauty, why the long face? Come on, give this special envoy a smile!"

The Empress Dowager's body trembled violently, and her head drooped even lower.

The Demon King's army officer seemed enraged by her reaction. He staggered forward, grabbed the Empress Dowager's chin, and said, "We've been married for so long, don't be so ungrateful! All the women in your small country are the same! That little princess is quite pretty, but unfortunately, she's too headstrong and has been locked up... Hehe, she'll be mine sooner or later..."

It's now!

A cold glint flashed in Lu Guan's eyes.

Without further hesitation, he pushed open the half-closed palace door, pointed his spear at the burly man, and threw it with all his might!

"Who?!"

"boom--!"

Before the burly man could react, a gunshot pierced his head, and his body flew several meters with the immense momentum of the gun tip, crashing into a wooden wall before finally coming to a stop!

So weak!

No, it's because I'm too strong!

The power of silver—killing a Demon King's military officer with a single shot… Could silver be the strongest fighting force in the world?

Inside the side hall, only the crackling sound of burning candlelight could be heard for a moment.

Fearing that this demon king's military officer might possess some kind of resurrection technique, Lu Guan treated the corpse with the utmost respect, killing and finishing off the dead body until he confirmed that the person was truly dead, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

He sheathed his sword, looked at the trembling Empress Dowager, and said smugly:

"Empress Dowager, you are free."

Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager stiffly raised her head, her gaze first falling blankly on the corpse, then suddenly shifting to Lu Guan, her face drained of all color, as if she had seen a ghost.

"No need for thanks, I'm just a disciple of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect passing by," Lu Guan smiled. "If you insist on thanking me, offering myself in return wouldn't be out of the question..."

"you you……"

The Empress Dowager's lips trembled violently, and her outstretched fingers shook incessantly as she pointed at Lu Guan, then at the corpse on the ground: "You killed him?!"

“Yes, what, you’re not convinced?” Lu Guan frowned.

"You actually killed the envoy of the Elven Empire! It's all over! Everything's over!!"

"what?"

Lu Guan's expression froze instantly, his brows furrowing tightly.

A strong sense of foreboding washed over him like a bucket of ice water:

"Wait, what did you say? What Elf Empire? Isn't he a cadre in the Demon King's army?"

"The Demon King's army is the Elf Empire! The Elf Empire is the Demon King's army! He is a special envoy of the Western Regions Protectorate!"

The Empress Dowager seemed to have all her strength drained away, collapsing to the ground and covering her face with her hands: "He was an angel representing the Emperor of the Elven Empire, sent to our country! You killed him... This is a heinous crime! It is a provocation against the Celestial Empire! The Imperial Heavenly Army will be here soon!"

"They will definitely send troops and raze our country to the ground within ten days, leaving no one alive! You have brought this annihilation upon us, and all the people of our nation will be buried with you! Waaah..."

what?

The Elven Empire? The Protectorate of the Western Regions?

This sounds like something from the Han Dynasty's border troops in history.

During the Han Dynasty's golden age, envoys loved to travel to other countries to cause trouble, committing all sorts of atrocities, from sleeping with empress dowagers to killing kings, all in the hopes of being killed by the kings themselves, thus securing a legitimate reprisal from the Han Empire, expanding its territory, and making a name for themselves in history!

In the eyes of those small countries, what else could this be but the army of a demon king?

Lu was completely stunned, standing there, at a loss for what to do.

"Boom—!!!"

The next moment, bursts of gunfire and cannon fire suddenly erupted outside the royal city!

The underground city of the royal capital, "Zhehannam," exploded, and countless fully armed elven soldiers poured out in an endless stream, complete with cannons, guns, tanks, and rockets!

Peng Longteng, the legendary general of the Elf Empire who wielded the "Chariot" card, charged forward first, casually slaying the old man blocking his path with a single stroke, and then shouted loudly:

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"The Queen Mother of Akka assassinated the special envoy of my Elven Empire, defying the Empire; she is also warlike, exploitative, and cruel. She should be deposed and a new monarch should be established! However, considering that the sons of the King of Akka are young, the Emperor has temporarily appointed General Peng Longteng as the Prime Minister of Akka to support the new monarch!"

"—So be it!"

The sound, carried by the authority of the "Chariot" sign, spread throughout the city, from the Empress Dowager to the common people, all of whom were terrified!

"Run! The Demon King's army is attacking!"

"The special envoy just died, how could they have arrived so quickly?!"

"Quickly request the Kingdom of Konoma to send troops to support us! We are a vassal state of the kingdom!"

"The Queen of the Kingdom of Konoma is seriously ill, and a new monarch has not yet been enthroned. She herself cannot escape, so how can she have time to care about us? I think the Empire is just looking for this opportunity to send troops!"

Chaos reigned in the city. Before the imperial troops could even make a move, fires raged everywhere. Countless bandits seized the opportunity to plunder and loot, and soldiers defected and surrendered one after another. The nobles either sought a way to escape or had already prepared money and beautiful women, waiting for the imperial troops to purge the court of corrupt officials so they could switch allegiance to the new dynasty!

However, Peng Longteng's next sentence immediately made them abandon their idea—

"Come on, my men! If you don't sheath your swords for a day, slaughter them all, lest the kingdom's spies leak out and military secrets be exposed!"

"drink!"

Countless guns and cannons were aimed at the citizens of the royal city. The war drums sounded, and the elven soldiers pounced like hungry wolves!

In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and unarmed civilians fell in droves like wheat. The soldiers of the capital were terrified, abandoning their armor and weapons, and tried to flee, only to find that there seemed to be an invisible membrane at the city walls, which they could not break no matter what they did!

Peng Longteng's legendary domain!

"Whoever breaks through the royal palace first shall be king!"

Peng Longteng roared with laughter as he watched countless soldiers charge toward the palace. He then smiled at the man riding up beside him and said, "Your Majesty's opening of the underground city is truly a wise move. With this, I can appear in any underground city in the world at will. Who can stop me?"

"Now that we've destroyed the Kingdom of Aka, occupied its capital, and turned it into a military base, we can face the Kingdom of Konoma across the river... Then we can lure Sword Saint Karen to the other side of the river to confront the main army, and I'll lead my troops out of the Silvershine City dungeon. The kingdom will be destroyed in no time!"

The rider was neither elf nor human, nor even an organic being, but a machine—the very same divine official of the Elven Empire.

Demiurge.

"But I'm really curious, Divine Ritual Officer, how did you find a clean-cut Silver to assassinate the Special Envoy?" Peng Longteng asked with a smile.

"It was just a random soul from another world. I made him believe he was the protagonist... and he believed it. It's kind of funny."

The priest rode forward on horseback, his mechanical camera focused on the burning palace, and after another burst of gunfire, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, he's dead now."

Chapter 92, "The Great Formation of Borrowing Generals from Taiyin Fengdu"

"The Kingdom of Akkad was destroyed."

The capital of the kingdom, Silvershine City.

In front of the emperor.

When the two legends, Vilette and Karen, left the dungeon and returned to reality, they immediately received this devastating news.

Under the pretext of "the Empress Dowager's cruelty and the murder of the special envoy," the empire launched a massive invasion of Akka, occupying the capital. After a day of massacre, a new ruler was installed, and within a single day, the empire had achieved complete control and asserted sovereignty over the entire country.

Generally speaking, a small country like this is easily destroyed and no one cares.

However, the Kingdom of Akka, separated from the Kingdom by a river, was a power cultivated by the Kingdom as a bridgehead and buffer zone. Once it is controlled by the Empire, in the event of war, the Imperial army can strike directly at the heart of the kingdom, while the Kingdom will have almost no means of countermeasure and can only passively defend itself.

"The Empire is going too far!" Vilette roared. "With such an blatant attitude, isn't the Empress afraid of igniting a world war and bringing back the original demons of war?"

Under the threat of the Abyss and the Primal, the three great powers—the Theocracy, the Empire, and the Kingdom—have always maintained a certain tacit understanding, trying to minimize direct friction to avoid giving the demons an opportunity to exploit.

However, the Empire's current actions are tantamount to planting a time bomb next to the kingdom's bed, especially at a critical moment when the Queen is critically ill and there is no source substance to protect her!

Its purpose is self-evident.

"The Empress wants to completely control the Source [Glory] by 'dominating' the whole world, and in doing so, ascend to godhood," Karen sighed. "And the kingdom is the most indispensable link."

“The former empress was not so reckless,” said Chancellor Duke Gert. “But since the current empress ascended the throne, she has appointed a cyborg who calls himself ‘Demogue’ as her priest, and her actions have become increasingly extreme…”

"There are treacherous ministers around the Empress... What if we purge them and kill that priest?"

"...No, I have seen that android before. Judging from its structure, it is definitely not something that current technology could create. Its words and actions are also somewhat detached from this world," said Chancellor Gert. "A power that does not belong to this world, a creation that transcends the technology of reality... If I am not mistaken, it may be related to the outer world..."

Beyond the heavens.

Upon hearing these two words, all the officials fell silent.

The so-called "outer heavens" does not refer to any of the "three realms": the human realm, the abyss realm, or the realm of gods, but rather to a mysterious existence beyond the three realms.

For example, there's the legendary Bloodline Lord, the founder of the Necromancer faction, known as "Witch C," or the mythical Lake Fairy, "Witch A," who helped the Amber God attain enlightenment... Each of them transcends the world, unbound by its laws. Neither god nor demon, yet possessing a unique status that lies between legend and divinity.

According to the sages of the "Tower," they are people who come from outside the world and mythology, people who have transcended the three debts and are not subject to the five dangers.

However, such beings have never been heard of interfering in conflicts between humans, much like spectators at a game of chess who rarely intervene to rewrite the fate of others.

Why did this priest choose to side with the empire?

The ministers were all uneasy.

“It might not even be someone from outer space.” Karen shook her head, trying to dispel everyone’s worries. “The most important thing right now is the Queen’s election.”

Once the new king ascends the throne, even if he cannot immediately master the source essence, he will at least have another legend, giving him more confidence in the face of the covetous Elven Empire.

Once the source essence is successfully mastered, even the strongest empire will not dare to easily start a conflict.

The essence possessed by the kingdom, [Understanding], is shaped like a golden scepter and symbolizes all feminine energy and rational understanding in the world. Therefore, only the legends of the "Empress," "Priestess," or "Moon," which also symbolize feminine power, can activate its power.

To draw an analogy, it's like the Source Castle in Lord of Mysteries, where only the high-ranking members of the Gou family can sense and borrow the power of the Source, and even take control of it.

The "High Priestess" and "Moon" have never been legendary, so only the Queen who inherits the "Empress" card can wield this power.

“Throughout history, royal families have continuously refined their bloodlines, ensuring that each princess is born the most suitable person to be ‘Empress,’ and can quickly gain the approval of the entire nation. Upon ascending the throne, she completes the legendary ceremony and ultimately dons her armor to become a saint.” Vilette shook her head. “But now that the princess is missing, the newly chosen queen must gain the nation’s approval… There isn’t enough time.”