Chapter 439 - 437:'Yes, Your majesty.'

Chapter 439: Chapter 437:“Yes, Your majesty.”

The sounds of clinking utensils were all I could hear as I suddenly found myself within a royal dining hall.

I couldn’t even recall the last time I’d sat at a normal dining table, much less something this large and sophisticated.

Most of my meals back at the academy dorm were devoured by me on the spot as Mira placed them down.

Lucky for me though,

BURRRRRRBBBBB!!!!!

I was accompanied by people who didn’t give a rat’s ass about decorum.

My smile widened as I took in the forms of Malachi, Paku, Salazar, and, surprisingly, Shulvan digging into a mountain of dishes.

Paku, Malachi, and Salazar I had expected. Hell, even the tiny little man trying to shove as much food as he could down his tiny throat I had expected. But Shulvan was a total curveball.

The others had placed a bet that the winner would be considered the best apostle, and apparently, Shulvan took that quite personally.

"So classless..." I shook my head as I chomped on the massive thigh belonging to an animal I wasn’t even bothered to know about.

I could feel the disbelieving stares of the others here. Be it the Emperor himself, his wife, the princesses, or the princes, they all seemed utterly frightened by me and my friends’ methods of eating.

"Can you blame them? You guys are animals." The disgust in Shaia’s voice was hard to miss.

"Animals? Please, let’s not insult animals. These guys are worse. Just look at what this bastard is holding! Do you even know what meat that is? What if it’s poisoned?" Sana chastised.

"First of all, I couldn’t care less what meat this is. Secondly, poison will probably just add more flavor to the meat, so who cares?" I shrugged, taking another large bite from the meat sticks in my hands.

...

...

BURRRRRBBBBBB!!!!

Another round of loud burps shook the room as me and the boys were finally satisfied, bellies bulging as movement became an impossibility.

"Ahh... that was nice." Malachi.

"These guys truly know how to treat guests. Five stars to the chef, muah!" Salazar.

"Paku, weak... can’t... move... Urgghh..."

"Hahahahahahahaha!!!! Weaklings, all of you!!" Shulvan stood dramatically, laughing wildly.

"Just a little food and you’re bloated like cows, and you dare argue who is Master’s number one? Pathetic." The crazy man appeared before my bloated figure, kneeling down fervently. "Master, this humble one has successfully defended your honor in an eating contest, please bestow your favor upon me."

I honestly wasn’t even in the mood to deal with this guy’s nonsense right now, so..

BANG!!

A kick connected with his face as,

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

He flew back, crashing through the dining walls, his body buried under the rubble.

"Finally. Some quiet." I sighed in satisfaction, closing my eyes to get some rest, but—

"Young Dante, I hope the meal was to your satisfaction." The Emperor had other ideas.

I begrudgingly pried one eye open, not wanting to disrespect the man in his own place. "It was lovely." My eye closed back up, ready for a sweet rest, but—

"I am glad then that you liked it." The man still had more to say.

"Haa..." I sighed, giving up on the thought of getting any sleep. I finally sat up straight as my bloated stomach disappeared like a mirage.

My jealousy peaked as I heard the soft snores coming from the others.

Why did they get to sleep, but I don’t?

"Haa..." I sighed once more, finally looking at the Emperor. "I am not a man of perfunctory words, Durmont." The moment I called the Emperor by his name, the atmosphere within the room shifted. I could feel multiple eyes locked onto me from the shadows, but I couldn’t care less.

"I came here at the request of my women.."

"Who’s your woman??? Bastard, I dare you to say that again!!" Sana.

"He never mentioned your name. Stop projecting." Terra.

"This fucking—"

...

"Like I was saying, I came here because my women thought it’d be a good idea to not wander aimlessly and instead seek out information from a more experienced people." I looked straight at the man. "That’s why I’m here. To figure out what’s going on in the wider universe. I am not here to be some friendly person with you, nor am I here to become a hand you might want to use against your foes. So let us not play that game. I like transparency, so be transparent."

I had to lay down the ground rules for whatever conversation was to be held between me and the man.

I didn’t care if he was some Emperor or not.

Was I being too harsh and rude? Of course not. It would be easy to get fooled by the man’s welcoming and well-meaning demeanor, but I still haven’t forgotten what Lysera had called him during our first encounter.

The Conqueror.

A man doesn’t get that title by being nice, not when Max himself had been on an expedition. There was no need to guess what expedition that was.

So I had to make it clear that I wasn’t here to subordinate myself or become a borrowed hand.

"Human! You dare speak to His Majesty..." The guard hadn’t even finished speaking those words before his body was engulfed in a flare of crimson red. His body glitched, then fell apart piece by piece.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" A horrifying scream echoed through the dining room as everyone’s face changed and they stood up.

The guard’s screams were soon cut short, his body dropping to the floor in a mismatched display of art.

"You do not speak when Master is speaking," Shulvan’s dark voice sounded out soon after.

CLANK! CLANK! The sounds of weapons being drawn followed right after his declaration.

The atmosphere had shifted from the warm, welcoming one of earlier to a tense and drawn-out one.

I didn’t bother moving. The others were still sleeping, or at least that’s what it’d have looked like were it not for the slow leaking of aura from their bodies.

They were just waiting, waiting for a reason to turn this whole place into a bloodbath.

"Princess, I believe you know what comes next." I didn’t move, merely addressing Lysera.

"Father..." Before she could even continue,

"Put your weapons down." The Emperor’s orders had already been given out.

The guards, props to them, weren’t the sloppy and slow fools that would waste time contemplating their Emperor’s orders.

"I apologize for the actions of my guard earlier; I’m sure he was just a bit excited." The man apologized with a smile, not batting an eye at the dismantled corpse still within the dining room.

Amusement was all I could feel at such a display.

"Heh! Seems he’s done with the facade, huh? I guess this is his true face." Shaia laughed.

"The man is just trying to bite off more than he can chew. Thinking he can impress this bastard by acting cool? At least he’s not dumb enough to antagonize you." Sana.

"Pooh..." Terra’s pouting couldn’t help catching my eye.

"What are you pouting for?"

"I was hoping Husband would go on an irrational rampage and then I’d get to take this planet’s core and grow myself. Unfortunately, this man seems quite sensible."

"Eyy? You can grow by assimilating other planets’ cores?"

"Husband didn’t know?"

"If I did, would I be asking you? Anyways, don’t worry, there are no shortage of fools that I’m sure will be willing to give us their planets. Besides, I don’t need to kill to take what I want, no? Let’s just see how things develop for now."

"Alright, I’ll do as Husband says."

"Good girl." I laughed.

Done assuaging my sad planet wife, I turned toward the man. He was still smiling, having ordered for the corpse to be taken away.

"It’s no bother, Emperor. My friend Shulvan here gets pretty excited himself, I hope you don’t mind."

"It’s nothing to worry yourself about."

"Alright then." I stood, the others following suit. "I think it’s about time to retire. It’s been a long day, so if you could just show us our quarters,"

"Certainly." The man looked toward his daughters. "Nyssara, Lysera, you two show our guests to their chambers."

"Yes, Father," the two princesses answered before standing up and leading the way.

"I’ll be seeing you, Emperor. We’ve got more things to talk about."

"I am sure we do."

A smart man indeed. I smiled faintly, following behind the two princesses as we made our way out, my eyes definitely not ogling the sexy ass of the older princess. Definitely not.

"Humph! Pervert!" Sana.

...

...

The dining hall fell silent after Dante’s group had departed.

"Father..." one of the princes, a broad, blue-skinned man with black hair and scales running along his body, called out.

"I know." The Emperor’s voice was hard. His smile had disappeared. His arms were crossed over his chest as he tried to stop them from trembling.

"That man... he’s dangerous. Not just him, everyone around him, they’re monsters." Another prince spoke out, a trembling tone in his voice.

"Maximoff," the Emperor called out.

"Your Majesty."

"That man, do all you can to get into his good graces. He seems less violent toward you."

"My Emperor, I don’t believe that is wise." Maximoff shook his head.

"And why do you say so?"

"That man, Dante, he can sense intentions in a frightening manner. If I tried to force a relationship, I may not even know how I died."

"So what do you suggest? We have a path out of the clutches of those Calderans right before us, we have to take it." The Emperor’s voice was low, weak. "I cannot lose another one of my children to those monsters."

...

...

The entire hall fell silent at those words. They understood clearly what the man was talking about.

"Your Majesty, I suggest we just let things take their course. He’s here to seek out information. Let’s help provide it to our best abilities. Let our sincerity be what we show, whatever comes from that, comes." Maximoff replied.

"Haa... Maximoff, my boy. Once again, you show wisdom and discernment beyond your years." The Emperor finally smiled. "Then let us do as you have said. Prepare the imperial library and make sure whatever he needs is available on demand."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

*******

A/N: Let the universal conspiracy begin, hehehehe... anyways,

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Thanks for reading..