In truth, even Ye Chui felt a little flustered performing such a cringe-inducing dance in front of so many people. Yet coming from another world had its advantages. When embarrassment struck, he could simply treated it as deliberate comedy. After all, Star-Lord once defeated an interstellar overlord with exactly this tactic. Thick skin is also a skill.
He slowly withdrew into the crowd of guests while quietly murmuring a few words into his magic communicator.
Seeing Ye Chui step down, Jamil breathed a silent sigh of relief. His cold eyes fixed on Jacob atop the high platform. He prepared to ascend and assassinate the new emperor.
The Shadow-Snake phantom beast granted him concealment that surpassed any stealth magic. His body simply could not be detected. It was the ultimate assassination tool. As clan leader of the Phantom Snake clan, Jamil’s mastery of the Shadow-Snake summoning was flawless. He was absolutely confident he could silently end Jacob’s life and depart unscathed.
In the days leading up to this, he had possessed opportunities to slip into the palace and kill Jacob, but he had not done so. Only killing the new emperor during the coronation would deal the greatest blow to the Star Empire. Moreover, this setting made approaching Jacob far easier. As for the guards around Jacob, they were as nothing before him.
He readied himself to strike.
Yet at that very moment, a group of black-armoured guards wearing peculiar insignia on their chests suddenly appeared around him, vaguely encircling him.
Green was among them.
Following Ye Chui’s orders, the Alpaca Team had boxed Jamil in!
For an instant Jamil’s heart jolted. Had he been discovered? He quickly realised the black-armoured guards were not looking at him. Though they had him firmly trapped in the centre, their posture suggested this was unconscious behaviour, merely a precautionary formation to prevent anyone from charging the platform from this side of the steps.
The gift-giving segment had ended. The formal coronation was about to begin. These guards were simply guarding against interference, so standing here was perfectly natural.
A flicker of anxiety crossed Jamil’s face, yet he dared not act rashly.
The Grand Scholar, still trembling from nearly fainting during Ye Chui’s dance, shuffled forward clutching an exquisite sceptre. With the Star Empire at war with the Church, the so-called coronation consisted simply of the Grand Scholar placing the sceptre representing imperial authority into Jacob’s hands!
Though Jamil’s presence was currently erased, he could not physically touch anyone without revealing himself. Trapped in the centre of the circle, he could not escape. Leaping over their heads would inevitably create noise. His gaze, burning with urgency, shot towards his companion, Barbarian Bull clan leader Iraq.
Iraq knew where Jamil had been standing. Seeing a group of black-armoured guards suddenly appear there for no apparent reason, he realised Jamil had probably been accidentally trapped. His rugged brows knitted together as his eyes flickered.
Both men’s reactions fell under Ye Chui’s watchful eye.
Ye Chui stood to the side, observing them from the corner of his vision.
He could have taken advantage of Jamil’s distraction and killed him instantly, but that would not have allowed him to deal cleanly with the Tide Empire envoy. After all, there was no proof Jamil had entered with the Tide delegation, nor proof of his intentions. The Star Empire and Tide Empire were currently allies against the Church. Any misstep could spark diplomatic disaster. The best method was to wait for Jamil and Iraq to act first, then catch them red-handed!
With Jamil now trapped, Iraq would have no choice but to create a diversion!
As Ye Chui predicted, Iraq clenched his teeth fiercely, as though reaching a final decision. A powerful phantom suddenly materialised around his body: the Barbarian Bull phantom beast.
This time the Barbarian Bull phantom was even stronger and clearer than the one he had displayed at the Anything Goes Magic Guild, completely enveloping Iraq until his own figure could no longer be seen.
“Moooo!” A thunderous bellow shook the heavens. The bull-formed Iraq charged straight towards the spot where Jamil was trapped.
Iraq’s plan was simple: create chaos, draw every eye to himself, and give Jamil the opening to reach the platform and eliminate the new emperor!
Jamil’s Shadow-Snake phantom beast could not only erase his own presence but could also extend that erasure to Iraq upon contact. Once Jamil killed Jacob, he could spirit Iraq away with him.
The Barbarian Bull’s greatest strength was absolute defence. With the phantom beast fully activated, even if everyone attacked him simultaneously he could hold out for several seconds.
“Iraq!” Sheral roared in fury. “What are you doing?”
The other guests erupted into pandemonium.
The enormous charging bull barrelled straight at Green and the black-armoured guards, unstoppable!
Green saw the bull rushing towards him and felt a momentary surge of fear, but it vanished instantly. He was no longer the timid youth he once was. Following Ye Chui on countless adventures, burning, killing, and plundering… er, adventuring, had forged both his courage and his strength. He remained an intermediate-rank omnimagus, but after endless training under the One-Punch BGM his total magic power rivalled peak high-rank omnimagi. His combat techniques had been honed ever stronger by Master Kurbo repeatedly trapping him in pocket dimensions to break out.
Not to mention the divine artefact Ye Chui had personally forged for him, with how much it had pained Ye Chui to part with it, one could imagine its terror!
Green gave a soft shout. Facing the charging bull without dodging, golden light flashed in his hand as the vibranium brick materialised. He smashed it down squarely onto the bull’s head!
BANG!
Green’s vibranium brick was an extremely peculiar metal. Vibranium itself originated from science fiction and did not belong to this world originally. Green’s brick was a magical construct inscribed with powerful spatial arrays. It possessed astonishing hardness and could rebound attacks and nullify impact, exactly the property Captain America relied on to charge through gunfire with his shield.
As the vibranium brick slammed into the bull’s skull, Green’s body shuddered. Cracks suddenly spider-webbed through the space behind him, shocking everyone present.
He… shattered space itself?
No. This was spatial magic Green had comprehended from being repeatedly imprisoned in pocket dimensions by Kurbo and breaking free.
Using the vibranium brick, he could transfer the impact force it received directly into the surrounding space!
The terrifying bull that could smash a hole through city walls came to an abrupt halt. Green’s brick had stopped it dead.
Inside the bull, Iraq felt a wave of dizziness and alarm. Attending the coronation, he naturally wore no battle helm with horns. When Green halted the charge, the immense force of the brick transferred to Iraq’s body as though someone had smashed a brick directly into his unprotected head.
The violent impact nearly knocked him unconscious!
Green had single-handedly stopped Barbarian Bull Iraq!
Yet the disturbance was enough to create an opening for Jamil. Whoosh! While no one was looking, Jamil’s body appeared atop the platform. As the shockwave from Green’s brick and Iraq’s charge rippled outwards, Jamil was now only a few metres from Jacob.
At that moment Ye Chui suddenly spoke into the communicator: “Jacob, five o’clock.”
Jacob, face grave, instantly raised his hand at Ye Chui’s words. His magic guide book materialised. His palm aimed at his own five o’clock direction. Powerful gravitational magic surged forth. Crash! Several wooden frames on that side of the platform collapsed as though struck by something.
“Ah!” A startled cry.
Jamil was flung away by Jacob’s gravity magic and crashed to the ground, unable to suppress a cry of surprise.
The instant he cried out, his body flickered into view for everyone to see, brief, but enough for many to glimpse him.
“Someone was stealthed!” Prince Geller shouted. A squad of black-armoured guards immediately formed a tight protective ring around Jacob.
“It’s Jamil! It really is Jamil!” Sheral, village chief of Flower Village, roared in fury as understanding dawned. He too summoned his divine dragon phantom beast. The ferocious beast lunged at Iraq’s bull form, pinning it down.
“The Tide Empire has gone mad!”
“They actually moved against the new emperor of the Star Empire!”
Shouts rang out from the crowd.
Ye Chui leapt onto the platform, but his brow furrowed. Jamil had vanished again!
Like a startled bird, Jamil had missed his chance and no longer dared maintain hostility towards Ye Chui. Thus he once more erased his presence from Ye Chui’s sight.
“Where is he?” Ye Chui growled.
He was speaking to the communicator. Alpaca Forty-Seven responded instantly. “He… he’s heading for Miss Dani…”
Almost the instant the words were spoken, Dani cried out in alarm. When everyone looked, they saw Dani’s body rise unnaturally, leaning slightly backwards. She had been seated to one side of the platform during Jacob’s acceptance of the sceptre. When Prince Geller ordered the guards to protect Jacob, they had overlooked Dani. Jamil had seized the chance to take her hostage.
“The people of the Star Empire are indeed formidable. I never imagined you would see through my Shadow-Snake disguise…” A sharp voice rang out. A long-haired man materialised behind Dani. It was Jamil. By speaking, he revealed himself to the crowd. Many also noticed his long hair was somewhat singed and electrified, his clothes riddled with tiny burn holes.
At that moment many suddenly understood. Could Ye Chui’s cringe-dance just now have been because he had discovered Jamil’s presence?
Their gazes turned to Ye Chui. This guild president truly was unfathomably deep.
Then they froze again, because they saw that even with the future empress held hostage, not a trace of worry showed on Ye Chui’s face!
Not only Ye Chui. Even Jacob wore a strange expression that was definitely not concern.
They were not afraid Dani would be killed?
Was the future empress truly so unimportant she could not be used to threaten them? Was this the heartlessness of emperors?
Very quickly, however, they realised they were wrong.
“Ow, ow, it hurts, it hurts…” Dani trembled, the sharp dagger pressed against her throat. She looked terrified, whimpering pitifully.
Jamil’s lips curved into a serpentine, cruel smile. Dani’s cries seemed to awaken some savage instinct within him. The dagger pressed harder as he spoke. “Release Iraq and let us leave, or I will turn your new empress into a dry corpse. I mean what I say…”
Jamil’s voice abruptly cut off. He realised the hostage had suddenly stopped speaking.
What happened?
He looked down and saw not a pale, terrified face, but… a cold face tinged with faint savagery. It was indeed Dani, yet somehow different.
As Jamil looked at Dani, Dani tilted her head up to meet his gaze.
“You’re threatening me?” A voice utterly devoid of warmth issued from Dani’s mouth.
Jamil faltered.
In that split second, a black snake suddenly shot from Dani’s neck, hissing as it struck at the arm holding the dagger!
It was the phantom beast of the Joker-girl Dani!
Jamil’s expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly released Dani and tried to flee, but in the next instant thorny vines erupted from the ground at his feet, coiling swiftly around his body.
When Jamil tried to escape Dani’s side, he had re-entered his presence-erased state, but the thorns pierced his flesh. The agony forced a scream from him, instantly revealing his position once more.
The thorns continued to multiply, binding him tightly, rendering him completely immobile.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the scene.
Dani rubbed her slightly sore neck, stepped aside, and flicked her right hand. A vine extended from her palm, forming a terrifying thorned whip. She turned coldly. Crack! The whip carved an arc through the air and slammed into Jamil’s body. The whip was covered in wooden spines; a single lash tore away a chunk of flesh.
“Aaah!” Jamil let out a blood-curdling scream.
The entire Garden of Stars had already fallen silent at the empress’s ferocious display, making Jamil’s scream especially piercing.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A pleased expression gradually spread across Dani’s cold face. The savage soul of the Joker-girl blazed brightly.
The whipping of the Empire’s Empress!
Jamil was soon beaten beyond recognition. Seeming finally satisfied, Dani tossed the whip aside and waved her hand. A monstrous man-eating flower erupted beneath Jamil, opening a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth. Chomp! It swallowed him whole. The enormous flower head chewed vigorously, then slowly retracted into the earth.
Not even dregs of Jamil remained…
Silence. Deathly silence.
The savage look slowly faded from Dani’s face, replaced by calm, then a touch of panic. She glanced around like a frightened innocent girl. “Eek, what just happened? How scary…”
Everyone present: “…”
