This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

"Rebellion? If you mean betraying this country, then there is probably no greater traitor in the entire nation than you. In pursuit of so-called immortality, you made a pact with the evil dragon, sacrificing the fate of the Black Forest Empire in exchange for an immortal soul. For this, you allowed those insects in the cabinet to run rampant, fueling the war in the south, because you wanted this country to bleed!"

"But immortality requires more than just a soul. You also need a body that resonates with your soul. So you use evil magic to rape the families of nobles, making your children the first heirs of these families. Once you complete the demon ascension ritual, your demonic soul can control every descendant with your bloodline, freely taking over their bodies and achieving the immortality you have always longed for."

"Nonsense! Alarmist talk!"

King Hessian VII angrily denounced Rune for talking nonsense, but his heart was far from calm.

He didn't know how Rune knew this. It was a secret he had been carefully hiding, and he was almost successful when Rune chose this moment, with an aura that seemed to want to perish with him, to reveal the secret of the demon ascension ritual to the public.

King Hessian VII wished he could kill Rune right now and then deny that it was all slander.

However, Rune was clearly well-prepared, having actually summoned six Saint-level experts to assist him. What was most terrifying was that these six Saint-level experts were all well-established "wild Saints" who were not under the control of the royal family. It would be extremely difficult for an ordinary person to even invite one of them, yet Rune was able to summon all six of them at once.

Of course! If it were just six Saint-level experts, King Blackwood VII wouldn't be too panicked, because the royal family is "supporting" a demigod.

Just as a Saint-level being can easily crush a mortal, a Demigod who has touched the power of the laws can also easily crush a Saint-level being.

But the problem now is... where the hell am I, the demigod? Where's that huge demigod behind me?!

As soon as King Hesse VII turned around, he found the shadows behind him empty, and his heart sank!

Rune saw through the fear beneath his feigned composure, removed his noble robe to reveal the cold iron enchanted soft armor beneath, and then raised his hand to transform it into a magic sword made of magic, the tip of which pointed directly at Blacksen VII in front of him.

Young Rune was the most famous magic swordsman in the empire. Unlike many magic swordsmen who were unbalanced in both magic and martial arts, he was skilled in both and was once considered a promising talent who could break through to the Saint rank.

As a result, Rune stopped at the high level and has not been able to advance any further to this day.

Some people felt it was a pity, believing that Rune's potential had reached its limit, and later even Rune himself became somewhat insecure. Until one day, he finally learned the truth about why his cultivation could not improve.

It turns out that his most trusted friend was jealous of him!

So he secretly had the demon god curse him, otherwise his cultivation would be locked, and he would also use evil hypnotic magic to defile his three wives.

Of Rune’s five sons and three daughters, only his youngest son Dick and second daughter Nora were his biological children. His third daughter Finnie was born to his second wife and her lover. The other four sons and one daughter were all of Hesse VII’s lineage.

Rune was able to learn the truth thanks to the Black Forest royal family's betrayal!

A thousand years ago, the Black Forest family rose to power because their ancestor, Black Forest I, by chance unsealed a demigod who had been sealed for countless years from a ruin. The sealing mechanism of that ruin would allow the person who was unsealed to become a demigod-level demon lord.

After unsealing the demon god, Hessen I promised him that if he helped him achieve imperial power, he would release the demon god from the slave contract that was clearly made by the gods and grant him freedom.

As a result, the demon god helped the Black Forest family establish the Black Forest Empire. However, the first emperor broke his promise and even used magic obtained from the Elf Empire to strengthen the contract, making the demon god's object of service change from himself to the entire Black Forest family, who would then serve the emperor of the empire as slaves for generations to come.

The first emperor's betrayal aroused the demon god's resentment, but there was nothing he could do about it.

One day, she suddenly sensed that a curse she had cast had been broken, so she followed the traces of magic and thus had a fateful encounter with Rune Best.

At that time, Rune already knew that his cultivation was locked because he was cursed. He searched for various ways to break the curse and finally learned that the succubus's sex magic was a divine skill to break the curse. However, the level of the curse he was afflicted with was too high, and it was not something that the low-level succubi in the brothels could break.

By sheer coincidence, Rune encountered Dike's elven grandfather, Hammuradi.

Upon learning of Rune's situation, Hammuradi immediately guessed who had cast the curse, after all, there was only one demigod sorcerer in the entire world.

So, in order to win over Rune, a high-ranking nobleman in the empire, Hammuradi gave his daughter Yelena to Rune. Yelena was the daughter of the Saint-ranked succubus Lilith, and had half-succubus blood, but her appearance was no different from that of a pure-blooded elf. Coincidentally, Rune possessed an ancient succubus artifact, and with the artifact's blessing, Yelena actually helped Rune break the curse and even became pregnant with Rune's child.

As soon as the curse was lifted, before he could even pull up his pants, he attracted the demon god who had cast the curse.

But to Rune's surprise, the demon who came to him was not there to kill him, but to tell Rune the truth about the curse and then ask him if he wanted to make a deal with him.

Lu En was filled with hatred after learning the truth! He wanted revenge, to repay the humiliation he had suffered a hundredfold, a thousandfold, to the person who had caused it all. He not only wanted to ruin that person's reputation, but also to take away his ambitions and the entire country.

He had planned for this for half his life, all for this day!

Rune coldly removed the necklace from his neck, and his aura suddenly increased significantly, causing even King Blackwood VII to show a hint of astonishment.

"When...did you become a Saint-level expert?"

"Hehe, that's been a while."

Chapter 317: The Crimson Palace

In front of many nobles, Rune publicly revealed the actions of Hesse VII. Reinhardt was struck dumb upon hearing this and staggered to the ground.

He never imagined that he was not a descendant of the Best family.

Reinhardt stared in astonishment at the "father" he had called for over twenty years, but Rune's gaze remained fixed on Hesse VII, his eyes burning with fury.

Just as incredulous as Reinhardt was the third prince, Bailey.

But amidst his shock, he was thinking about the right to inherit the throne.

If Reinhardt is also of royal blood, with his current rising fame and the emperor's personal appreciation, what can Bailey, who has become a laughing stock, use to compete with him?

Thinking of this, Pele's eyes, in addition to shock, also surged with intense resentment.

Seeing the tense atmosphere in the hall, Bailey suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He drew his ceremonial sword from his waist, shouted "Protect His Majesty!" in a show of righteous indignation, and swung the sword at Reinhard, who had his back to him.

Rune Best is already a traitor, so if Reinhardt also dies here as the "son of a traitor," he will no longer pose a threat to Bailey.

As Pele thought this, his eyes became somewhat crazed.

The fool's roar was like a spark thrown into a powder keg, causing the already tense situation to spiral out of control in an instant.

Inside the main hall, although the protection of the demigods was no longer visible around King Hessen VII, there were still Saint-level guards around him. Although these people were also shocked by the antics that King Hessen VII had caused, they could not stand by and watch Rune kill the emperor in front of them, so they decisively rushed up to protect him.

The aftershocks of the great battle between the Saint-level beings were enough to pose a deadly threat to ordinary people. The battle between the two groups also stirred up a terrifying bloodbath within the hall.

Amidst the chaos, Reinhardt, still reeling from the shock, sat there blankly, completely unaware that Bailey, his eyes gleaming with malice, had come up behind him and was about to stab him with his sword.

At this critical moment, an old mage intervened in time; it was none other than Quinn, the Saint-ranked Archmage who had fought alongside Reinhard in the Eastern Second Army.

He raised his hand and unleashed a sudden "airburst shockwave," sending Bailey flying backward like a rag, crashing through the crystal window of the main hall and landing in the garden outside.

While erecting a magical barrier to withstand the destructive impact of the nearby battle between Saints, the old mage grabbed Reinhardt, intending to take him away from this dangerous place.

"Don't be foolish, come with me now!"

"Father, Father..."

"Can't you see? Neither of those two bastards recognizes you. Just ignore them!"

Seeing that Reinhardt was still dazed, Quinn didn't waste any words. He directly hit Reinhardt on the back of the head with his staff, knocking him unconscious, and then used telekinesis to drag him away.

Inside the royal palace, more than a dozen Saint-level warriors from both sides were fighting each other. The battle was even more intense than the one fought on the southern front. If they didn't leave soon, Quinn was afraid he wouldn't be able to protect himself.

However, when Quinn escaped with Reinhardt, they discovered that the entire capital was in chaos.

As the Minister of the Army of the Empire and the leader of the Southern Noble Group, Rune's rebellion was naturally not as simple as just calling upon a few Saint-level warriors. Joining him in the uprising were several Imperial Guard units and some private armies of nobles who had secretly infiltrated the capital.

They coordinated with Rune's actions, rising up in rebellion as soon as they received the signal.

Organized rebel forces were storming the palace, engaging in fierce fighting with the Imperial Guards who were defending it. The distant booming of cannons could be heard, and then large-caliber magical cannonballs were rained down on the palace, causing its defensive barriers to tremble.

Seeing this scene, Quinn was in a real bind!

"They're all crazy! They're all fucking crazy!"

Meanwhile, at the palace, the injured King Hessian VII was stumbling and fleeing into the inner palace, his disheveled appearance a far cry from his former majesty.

He ran while calling out a name loudly.

"Rona, Rona! Help me, please help me!"

"Stop yelling. That dragon lady doesn't have time for you. She's the one who told me your secret."

Behind King Hessen VII, a blood-soaked Rune held a severed head, watching the disheveled emperor like a cat toying with a mouse. The head in his hand originally belonged to the captain of the royal guard, known as the capital's number one swordsman, but Rune had decapitated him in less than twenty moves with a single sword stroke.

Rune had disliked this guy for a long time, so he casually chopped him down.

Soon, Hesse VII was cornered in a quiet hall displaying golden statues of past Hesse emperors. He turned to look at Rune, his eyes filled with fear.

After all, this is a person who yearns for immortality, so how could he not be afraid of death!

"Lu En, please don't do this! I...I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have treated you, the pillars of the empire, like this. I can abdicate and relinquish my throne, I can issue an edict of self-reproach and confess my sins to the world, please...please don't kill me!"

"Hahaha~! Your Majesty, do you think I want to kill you just because of a few cuckold's horns? Don't tell me... you don't know how my father died!"

"How much do you really know?!"

“All the crimes your Black Forest family has committed over the past thousand years have been told to me by that dragon lady who was forced to serve your family for a thousand years. In exchange, I promise to help her gain her freedom.”

"That bitch, how dare she..."

Before King Hessin VII could finish speaking, Rune had already plunged his sword into his throat, and then with a swift stroke, severed the emperor's head as well.

The head of Hessian VII, with his eyes wide open in death, rolled to the corner like trash.

Gazing at the headless corpse of the old emperor, Rune, under the indifferent gaze of successive Black Forest emperors, laughed wildly until he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, bringing him to an abrupt halt.

"Haha, cough... As expected! If I hadn't been cursed, I would have been this strong to begin with."

Rune had actually misled King Blackwood VII. He hadn't actually broken through to the Saint rank long ago and was hiding his strength with magical artifacts. He was cursed at the age of seventeen, and it took more than twenty years to lift the curse. He had long passed the optimal period for cultivation, and even without the curse, he would never reach the Saint rank in his lifetime.

But Rune was not reconciled. He wanted revenge—revenge for himself and revenge for his father. So he tried every means to obtain a secret medicine that could maximize a person's potential, allowing them to reach the pinnacle of their talent in a short period of time at the cost of their life. Thus, Rune became invincible in the hall.

But the effects of the medicine eventually wore off, and so did his life.

However, before he died, there was one more very important thing he had to do.

Rune pulled out a strangely shaped dagger and an ancient scroll, then shoved open the headless corpse of King Blacksin VII, pulled out his still-warm heart, and stabbed it through the scroll.

Blood soaked the scroll, and after a flash of red light, complex runes appeared on the heart before quickly decaying into a pile of debris. Something connected to the heart also disappeared along with it.

After doing all this, Rune seemed to lose all his strength and swayed backward, but his shoulder was gently supported by someone—the beautiful woman who had been hiding earlier.

Looking at Rune, whose life had been consumed by fire, the woman spoke softly.

"Thank you."

“I’m different from this guy. I keep my promises… You’re free, but please do me one last favor. Pass on a message to my youngest son, Heinz… Tell him… I’ve already… paved the way for them. The plan is to clean up the mess once the capital is in chaos… That child, I entrust to… you…”

When he uttered the last word, Rune's voice faded away like his life.

The woman named Rona sighed softly, closed Rune's eyes, then picked up his body and disappeared into the shadows.

Chapter 318: The Capital's Chicken Dinner Tournament

Before this, no one would have imagined that this rebellion would come so suddenly and so fiercely!

Rune Best, as the Empire's "War Marshal," quietly turned nearly half of the Imperial Guards stationed in the capital against the enemy and led multiple rebel forces to secretly infiltrate the capital and participate in the siege of the Imperial Palace.

This is the first rebellion of its scale in the history of the empire!

However, just as the rebels and the army loyal to the royal family were fighting a bloody battle in the streets and alleys around the palace, a shocking message came from inside the palace.

King Hessian VII had died by the sword of the warlord, his body was disemboweled and beheaded, and then thrown out of the palace.

Rune Best, the instigator of the rebellion, died mysteriously after personally killing the emperor, and his body was taken away by a mysterious woman with wings on her back.

Both sides were stunned.

However, things have come to this point, and stopping is no longer an option.

If Hesse VII had not been killed, even if the rebels had stormed the palace and imprisoned the emperor, there would still have been room for maneuver.

But Rune went too far, not only killing the emperor himself but also throwing the emperor's body to the bloodthirsty rebels, who chopped it into mincemeat on the spot, turning the matter into a fight to the death.

It can be said that things have come to this point, and if the rebels do not overthrow the Hesse royal family, none of those who participated in the rebellion today will have a good ending; they will only be able to go down a dark path.

However, Rune's death left the rebels leaderless, and some nobles who had been instigated by Rune couldn't help but start to have wicked ideas.

From that moment on, the situation completely spiraled out of control.

The day after the turmoil in the capital, news of it flew from the central government to the north and reached Dick.

Dick was having breakfast when he saw the enormous amount of information contained in just a few sentences in the letter. He was completely stunned and couldn't come to his senses for a long time.

"What's going on? My cheapskate father started a rebellion? Why would he do that?"

Dick's mind was in a whirl, after all, the information he had was not comprehensive. But as various true and false messages continued to pour in from the capital, Dick gradually figured out the situation, but he still felt that this matter was very absurd and strange.

"Damn it! The people of the Empire are doomed to be stuck with such a lunatic emperor!"

In short, the rebellion in the capital has turned into a "chicken dinner competition" in just a few days, with all sorts of people and experts gathering, eager to join in the grand event.

The reason the rebellion was able to grow so large and seemingly gain widespread support was mainly due to the seeds sown by a series of actions by the higher-ups. The incompetence of the cabinet and the inaction of the royal family had long accumulated enough anger and resentment in the hearts of the nobles and common people. What Duke Rune did was not just throw a burning cigarette butt into this swamp.

All of this happened so suddenly that Dick was completely unprepared.

It should be noted that in Dick's initial vision, although the empire was deeply entrenched in problems and various issues would inevitably surface sooner or later, it would not erupt for at least three to five years.

What he needs to do is take advantage of this window of opportunity to accumulate as much strength as possible and wait for the right time to start his uprising.

Now, things have gotten really messy. The old duke, being a speed enthusiast, has floored the gas pedal and gone all the way!