Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

“Brother Aaron, you’re not from Asgard, so you don’t know much about the situation on our Lusset border. But that’s alright. You still have me, your good friend Mine. If you have any questions, just ask me. Don’t be shy. I promise I’ll answer everything I know.”

"You're too kind, I didn't really have anything in particular I wanted to know..."

"Don't mention it, you're my benefactor. By the way, is your family not very well-known? I asked my parents, and they both said they'd never heard of it."

"It's just a small family, it's normal that you haven't heard of it."

"Don't be modest, don't be modest. We're people who can receive invitations from the Empire, but our mercenary group isn't to be trifled with in Asgard. When we get back to Asgard, come find me, and I promise I'll take you out for a lavish meal and drinks. Let me tell you, Asgard isn't just known for its entertainment, but also for its amazing women!"

"Then I'll thank you in advance..."

“By the way, let me tell you, the women of Esgard are absolutely stunning!” Minee said excitedly. “The girl who delivered our invitations to us in Esgard that day was absolutely gorgeous! She was as beautiful as a fairy when she came out! She was just as beautiful as anyone else!”

“The women of Esgard are very beautiful,” Aaron said with a smile.

“But she’s just too arrogant. My father, a mercenary captain from the Lucerne Empire, has to look up at her when he sees her, but she doesn’t even glance at him, acting like she doesn’t care about anyone else,” Minee muttered.

“The people of Esgard are very impressive,” Aaron added.

"Hey, do you think any girls from Asgard will take a liking to me at this celebration, given my looks? The two of us could... oh, but don't even think about it, bro."

Mina glanced at the three women beside Aaron and said, "You already have so many, it's not good to have any more."

Aaron opened his mouth, wanting to explain that his relationship with those women wasn't what others thought. The girl he was closest to wasn't there at the moment, after all, she was the star of the celebration.

Mina suddenly fell silent, because they saw people, carriages and horses piled up like mountains at the city gate, and all sorts of famous figures from Esgard were prominently displayed.

As Minee said, Esgard is a group of people who are extremely arrogant. No one who receives an invitation from Esgard is an ordinary person. Even their Black Knight mercenary group is not considered among them. Some of them are imperial dukes, some are heads of large families, and some are archbishops. But at this moment, they all have to obediently line up here because Esgard wants to screen everyone who enters the city. Only those with invitations can pass through the city gates.

Mina was initially a little intimidated by the crowd, but he quickly straightened his chest and became proud. After all, they were also part of this group, which meant that they were no ordinary people like them, and it seemed that he was also benefiting from it.

They stopped about a mile from the city gate, and Mi Nei's parents got out of the car. While in the car, Rao Zhendong saw several important figures he had to bribe. These were people he rarely saw on ordinary days, but now they were all gathered here. It was as if this wasn't a queue at the city gate, but a banquet for important figures, gathering all the powerful and influential people in the world.

"Esgard is really something. These guys usually act like big shots wherever they go, but Esgard dares to make them stand in line here obediently." Minee muttered. There was still a long queue ahead of them. It looked like they would have to spend the night here.

While Minee could still carefree and think about spending the night, Eris was meticulously planning how to win over the important figures ahead of them. Sarah also turned to Christina and whispered, "Is it because we arrived too early that they weren't notified?"

They were all discussing their own things, but soon their voices were drowned out by the clamor of the crowd. Suddenly, the surroundings became abuzz. Mina was confused and looked around, only to find that everyone around her was looking at the sky.

As the sun was setting, the ground suddenly trembled. Fully armed Asgardian soldiers appeared at the city gate and quickly occupied the key locations around it. They were the backbone of Asgard and only appeared during major events. Logically, the city gate guards did not need to be present, but they suddenly appeared. They were on high alert, holding standard-issue spears and riding ferocious beasts that would devour anyone they chose.

Another torrent surrounded the city gates from both sides, encircling the crowd. It was another army like a steel torrent, clad in heavy black armor, their faces completely covered by face shields, revealing only their sword-like eyes.

But no one paid attention to these things at the moment. Minee followed the crowd and looked in the direction where the sun was setting. At first there was nothing there, only the setting sun, but soon he saw a small dot in the sunset, a tiny black dot.

While Mina was still in surprise, someone next to her suddenly said, "They're here!"

Is it coming? What is coming? Mi felt uneasy. There was no warning, no sign of anything. The sky was still the sky, and the sunset was still the sunset, but everyone around him, including his parents, the important figures queuing at the city gate, and the high-ranking Asgardian soldiers, all looked up at the sky.

The next moment, a deep and powerful dragon roar tore through the night, accompanied by the blazing light of the rising sun, and swept over the crowd and descended upon the earth!

Without a doubt, that was the emperor's carriage, a symbol of supreme honor in heaven and earth, with the most noble person under heaven sitting inside—the emperor.

An Esgard envoy immediately went to receive them, but the people in the carriage did not get off. Instead, the black army surrounding them took the initiative to act. The soldiers put down their weapons and knelt down in unison before the carriage. The next moment, a deafening roar rose from the ground.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

It was almost impossible to hear what they were cheering about; all that could be felt was the overwhelming sound that reverberated in their ears, and everyone was infected and shocked by it—that was the majesty of the ruler of the world.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor forever!"

After a few seconds of silence, people began to shout loudly, and more people began to prostrate themselves. At first, it was only the high-ranking officials of the dynasty, but then more and more people began to kneel down. In the end, almost everyone in front of the city gate knelt down. Tens of thousands of people formed a huge crowd under the city gate and knelt down to the carriage.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Mina joined in the shouting, seemingly immersed in the glory of being a citizen of the Lusset border. As he shouted, he quietly turned around and saw his parents kneeling down with the others.

Since his parents had already knelt down, he had no reason to show off. His legs buckled, and he was about to kneel down as well, but at that moment, a hand supported him and stopped him from kneeling.

Mina looked up and saw Aaron, who had been gentle and mild-mannered the whole way, smiling at him and gently shaking his head.

Mina was dumbfounded, and his body stiffened. If Aaron hadn't been supporting him, he would have collapsed long ago.

But once he couldn't kneel down, he couldn't kneel down anymore. Looking around, he almost fainted from fright. In the huge square, only the five of them stood firmly in the center of the square, while all the people around them knelt down, as if it were a solemn worship ceremony.

Chapter 269 Two Empresses

Everyone felt the emperor's majesty, except for the five people in their group, whose faces remained cold.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

The deep, resounding roar of the dragon and the triumphant shouts of the Obsidian Knights filled the entire world, like a massive steel storm, bringing a shock to the hearts of every resident of the Lusset border.

All the colleagues were infected by the strong spirit of the nation. Some were so excited that they trembled, while others stood tall with flushed faces. But they all chose to kneel down and shout in unison. Their voices echoed throughout Asgard. Even those who hesitated at first knelt down with them. At this moment, anyone who did not kneel down would be suspected of not being a Lusset borderman.

Even Minee was infected by that powerful aura and wanted to kneel down with him, but he was forcibly supported and became one of the few people standing in the square.

But even more conspicuous than him was another person beside him. He gazed at the magnificent carriage on the city gate, not kneeling down, but staring directly at the solemn "Ascard" banner on the carriage. At this moment, in this city, surrounded by tens of thousands of kneeling people, he was the only one who dared to stand and look directly at that banner. The golden banner fluttering in the wind was reflected in his eyes like golden flames burning in a black vortex.

Eris knelt behind Minne, feeling his scalp tingling. This man usually wore a gentle smile, had no servants, wore no jewelry, and didn't even carry a sword. Such a person would be like a fleeting cloud in a grand ceremony where dignitaries gathered, and would be completely insignificant. Yet, at this moment, he was the most arrogant person in the square.

Eris was terrified. Who was he? Why wouldn't he bow? Wasn't he afraid of being beheaded? The crucial point was that his own son was also refusing to bow. What would he do if his rival saw this? To refuse to bow before the Emperor was to show contempt for royal authority! That was a capital offense!

In an instant, Eris's mind raced with a thousand thoughts, then his face turned pale, feeling as if he had squandered half a lifetime of honor and disgrace.

Of the five people in the square, apart from Aaron who dared to look directly at the flag and Minee who was forcibly supported, the other three also became the focus of the entire scene. At first, the crowd was dense and no one noticed them, but at this moment their beauty suddenly appeared in the crowd, like a spark of inspiration spreading in the world, their beauty spreading throughout the world like the four seasons.

The woman on Aaron's side had an expressionless face as white as snow. Facing the grand worship, she seemed to think it was foolish, coldly turning her face away and watching everything indifferently, her face cold and murderous.

Faced with the grand and overwhelming worship service, most people would have already knelt down even if they were not moved by the atmosphere. However, a woman who was closer to Aaron not only remained calm, but also smiled and looked around curiously with her hands behind her back. Every smile and frown made people's hearts pound.

The woman closest to Aaron was the most unique of the three. She looked quite young, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen, yet she had blossomed into a beauty as lovely as a lotus emerging from water. She was the least affected of the three, and possessed an air of detachment from the world.

Soon, these people attracted the attention of others, even those on the city gate.

"If I'm not mistaken, those people should be the Duke's men."

A handsome man approached the carriage and said respectfully.

Almost everyone noticed Aaron, who was not bowing in the center of the square, but very few people knew that this man who came to Her Majesty the Queen also did not kneel, but only bowed slightly.

“I know who they are, and I would like to invite the leader to come up and sit down,” the Queen said.

"To be honest, Your Highness, after receiving you, I was supposed to go and receive the Duke's men. They were supposed to arrive in twelve days, but they suddenly turned back. The Duke's men really caught me off guard," the man said with a smile.

"I never imagined that the Knight King of Esgard would be so busy entertaining guests that he was overwhelmed with work," the woman smiled.

"It is my honor to receive such a distinguished guest as the Duke. How could I say I am overwhelmed?" Li Wei said modestly.

The Empress lowered the curtain and looked towards the other side of the city gate. Her carriage was stopped at a corner of the city wall, with half of the carriage floating in the air, like the upturned corner of the eaves on the city wall. But on the other side of the city wall, there was also an upturned corner of the eaves. The carriage was all black, and a black flying dragon was painted on the carriage flag.

Li Weiyue looked at the other corner and said, "It is indeed very unfortunate that the envoy from the Snow Kingdom also arrived before Her Majesty the Queen."

"To call her the Queen of the Snow Kingdom is an understatement; the more accurate title would be Her Majesty the Empress," the Queen said meaningfully.

Li Wei smiled, but as a third party, he felt it inappropriate to say much about the affairs between the two countries, so he remained silent.

At this moment, the two carriages on the city wall stood like two opposing horns, each on one side. Many people below the city gate noticed this and were curious about what kind of sparks would fly when these two carriages met.

But the result was surprisingly calm. Her Majesty the Queen simply chatted casually with the people from Esgard who were receiving her, while curiously glancing at another black carriage. There was no tension in the air, and the confrontation between the two women that outsiders might have imagined was nonexistent. The Snow Kingdom was not a country that suddenly appeared. By now, the Snow Kingdom had been rising for twenty years. In those twenty years, the relationship between the two countries had stabilized after testing and friction. Even now, in many aspects, they still cooperate with Lucretia. Her Majesty the Queen stared at the carriage, simply considering whether she should go and greet it.

However, the renowned Princess Sivir remained completely still, not even opening the carriage curtains. Li Wei explained that Princess Sivir was tired from her journey and wished to rest in the carriage, so she stayed there temporarily. As for why she didn't rest in the grotto prepared by Asgard, the Empress's servants explained that the Empress was more accustomed to the familiar environment of the carriage and would stay in the grotto prepared by Asgard once her fatigue subsided.

"Since Her Majesty the Empress is unwilling to receive guests, why don't you all come up here for a chat?" the Empress said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Your Majesty, please take a short rest."

The handsome man stepped backward out of the carriage and stood on the city wall. Many people below the wall saw him. Someone who could freely enter the Queen's carriage to be in charge of entertaining must have a very high status in Lucerne. Many people standing below the city wall could only barely make out his figure, not his face. They only felt that when he stood on the city wall, his white clothes were flowing, like a prophet who had stepped out of a painting.

Suddenly, the prophetic man turned around and looked down at the crowd below the city wall, as if searching for something. The crowd wanted to sneak up and get a good look at his face, but the man had already leaped from the city wall and floated down like a white crane into the throng of people.

"Lord Li Wei."

"Lord Li Wei."

He did not disappear into the crowd after he landed. Wherever he went, the crowd automatically parted to make way for him. The Lucerne soldiers in white bowed their heads to greet him, and he smiled and nodded in response.

Many people heard the way others addressed the young man, including Minee's sister. She was initially confused, but soon she was startled and trembled with excitement—because Lord Levi… wasn't he the rising sun of Lucette!

Lucert boasts the world's largest number of superhumans, possesses the invincible Book of Omniscience, and has the best superhuman system. Lucert's spears and swords have been unstoppable on the battlefield for thirty years. Lucert's young knights are shouldering the burden of the younger generation. To the point that the standard for excellence among superhumans in the world is now based on Lucert. Empress Lucert is invincible in the world, to the point that young people either admire her or turn pale with fear when they talk about Her Majesty the Empress.

Livy emerged in such an environment. Lucert is a land of geniuses, and in a sense, a hell for geniuses. But even in this environment, Livy, like the rising sun, equally shines his light and heat into everyone's heart, bringing hope to every equal.

Even Aaron had heard of Levi from Chris. Chris was a very proud man, but even in his words, Levi was like a rising sun. As a genius, he never compared himself to Levi, because no one was as dazzling as Levi.

But when she actually saw Li Wei, she thought he was just a handsome young man. He seemed a little shy, his eyes narrowed, a faint smile on his face, perhaps because so many people were watching him. However, seeing Li Wei approach, Sister Mina was completely stunned. She didn't know why Li Wei had emerged from the Queen's carriage and appeared before her. Were they using a sledgehammer to crack a nut these days? No need… a weakling like him could be crushed with a flick of the wrist. Or was this some kind of warning? Was he the perfect target for their wrath?

Unexpectedly, when Li Wei saw them, he did not speak sternly. Instead, he bowed respectfully to them first. By the time Sister Mina reacted, Li Wei had already stood up straight and said with a smile, "This must be Lord Aaron? I have long admired your name. It is a pity that I have not met the Duke."

“I know many people hoped the Duke would attend the celebration in person, but in the end, it was me who came. Did that disappoint you?” Aaron said to Levi.

"How could that be? It's a pity that His Excellency the Duke couldn't come, but it's still an honor for our school to have Lord Aaron here. Besides, isn't Miss Sarah also here?"

Levi turned to Sarah and said respectfully, "I have long admired your reputation and have heard that you manage the Duke's mansion very well."

"Oh……"

Sarah was taken aback. Levi's flattery was perfectly timed. If he had praised her appearance like other men, Sarah might have scoffed. But he praised her management skills, which made the proud Sarah unable to refuse.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is Lord Aaron’s student. I’ve heard she has special talents, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her showcase them in this hall.” Levi then looked at Aurelia and said.

Aurelia didn't react much; she was like that with everyone except those she knew well.

“And Christina, it’s been a long time,” Levi said with a smile.

Christina nodded slightly, but did not respond.

"By the way, who is this...?" When he saw Sister Mina, a look of confusion appeared on Levi's face. Even someone as meticulous as him, who could remember the names of everyone he was supposed to meet, couldn't recognize everyone.

"You...you...you...I...I..."

Mina was completely bewildered by the long conversation between the group.

“This is Minee.” Aaron pulled him aside, put his arm around his shoulder, and said with a smile, “A friend I met on the road. We got along very well, so we ended up together.”

“So you’re friends from the mercenary group.” Li Wei looked enlightened and nodded to Minay. “Since you’re friends, why don’t you come with us to the city gate? Her Majesty the Queen would like to have a chat with you all.”

“...Your Majesty the Queen…!” Mina was speechless with shock.

"etc……!"

Even Eris, who was behind Minne, was so frightened by what she heard that she stood up. Then, seemingly feeling that this was disrespectful, she knelt down again, but still looked up at them with a pale face.

Mina's mother and sister were also stunned. From the moment Li Wei came down, things had been developing in a direction they couldn't understand.

"And who is this...?" Levi turned his head with a smile and asked Aaron.