Episode-767
Chapter : 1533
"It is exactly what we expected," Lloyd said. He walked over to the King. He opened his medical bag. It wasn't the prop bag he used for Doctor Zayn. This was his real kit.
Inside, nestled in velvet, was a set of long, silver needles.
"Lloyd," Seraphina said, using his real name for the first time in hours. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to burn the candle at both ends," Lloyd said grimly.
He took out the needles. He took out a small vial of a pungent, green liquid—a stimulant refined from the venom of a desert scorpion. It was dangerous. It was toxic. But it was potent.
"His mind is fogged because his body is addicted to the poison Cassius fed him," Lloyd explained. "I can't cure the addiction in five minutes. But I can... override it."
He looked at Seraphina.
"I can use acupuncture and the stimulant to force his body into a state of hyper-lucidity," Lloyd said. "I can clear the fog. I can give him his strength back. His voice. His command."
"That sounds good," Seraphina said hopefully.
"It comes with a price," Lloyd said. His voice was heavy. "It burns life force. He is old. He is weak. If I do this... he will have maybe one hour of clarity. One hour of strength. And after that..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to.
Seraphina looked at her father. She looked at the shaking, drooling shell of the man who used to carry her on his shoulders.
"Will he... will he die?" she whispered.
"Not immediately," Lloyd said. "But it will weaken him further. It will shorten his time. But Seraphina... look at him. Is this living? Right now, he is a victim. If I do this, he gets to be a King one last time. He gets to choose."
Seraphina squeezed the King's hand.
"Father?" she asked softly. "Can you hear me?"
Aurelius looked at her. For a second, there was a flicker of recognition. "Sera? The... the darkness..."
"The darkness is here, Father," she said. "We need the King. We need you to fight. But it will hurt. Do you want to fight?"
The King’s hand tightened on hers. He didn't speak. He just nodded. Once. A sharp, jerky movement.
Seraphina looked at Lloyd. She wiped her tears.
"Do it," she said.
Lloyd nodded. "Hold him steady."
He took a needle. He dipped it in the green venom.
"Ken," Lloyd said. "Watch the door. If anyone comes in before I am done, kill them."
"Understood," Ken said, raising his rifle.
Lloyd activated his [All-Seeing Eye]. The King's body lit up in his vision—a map of failing organs and clogged energy pathways.
"This is going to sting," Lloyd whispered.
He plunged the first needle into the King's neck.
Aurelius gasped. His back arched.
Lloyd didn't stop. He moved with a blur of speed. Needles went into the chest, the temples, the wrists. He was rerouting the King's entire nervous system, bypassing the damaged receptors, flooding the brain with adrenaline and mana.
It was a dangerous, forbidden technique. It was something he had learned in a book he shouldn't have read.
"Wake up," Lloyd commanded, driving the final needle into the center of the King's forehead.
The King screamed. It wasn't a scream of pain. It was a roar.
The room went silent.
The shaking stopped. The King sat up. His spine straightened. The gray color faded from his cheeks, replaced by a flush of red.
He opened his eyes. The fog was gone. The confusion was gone.
In their place was cold, hard iron.
King Aurelius looked at his hands. He looked at Seraphina. He looked at Lloyd.
Then he stood up. He didn't stumble. He stood tall, towering over them. He ripped the blanket off his shoulders as if it were a shackle.
"Where is my sword?" King Aurelius asked. His voice was deep, resonant, and absolutely commanding.
Lloyd pointed to a display case on the wall, where a ceremonial blade rested.
Aurelius walked over. He punched the glass. It shattered. He took the sword. He drew it. The steel sang.
"My son thinks I am dead," the King said. He turned to the door. "Let us go and correct him."
The corridor outside the King’s old chambers was a kill zone waiting to happen. The red carpet, usually pristine, was scuffed with the marks of hurried boots. The magical lamps on the walls flickered, their mana feeds disrupted by the lockdown protocols.
Chapter : 1534
A squad of ten soldiers marched down the hall. They wore the black armor of the Obsidian Eye. They were the elite. The cleaners.
"Check every room," the Squad Leader barked, his voice distorted by his helm. "The Prince wants them found. The order is execution. No prisoners."
"What about the Princess?" a soldier asked.
"The Prince said she is compromised," the Leader said. "If she resists... neutralize her."
They reached the end of the hall. There was a tapestry hanging there, depicting an old hunt.
"Behind there," the Leader said. "The Old Queen's rooms. It's the only place we haven't checked."
He signaled two men forward. They ripped the tapestry down. Behind it was a heavy wooden door.
"Breach it," the Leader ordered.
One of the soldiers stepped up and kicked the lock. Wood splintered. The door swung open with a bang.
The soldiers rushed in, swords drawn, expecting to find a cowering doctor and a weeping girl. They expected easy prey.
What they found was a nightmare.
The room was dim, lit only by the moonlight and a few candles. In the center of the room stood a man.
He was not cowering. He was not weeping.
He was wearing a simple nightshirt, but he stood as if he were clad in full plate mail. In his hand was a heavy broadsword, the steel gleaming in the candlelight. His face was lined with age, but his eyes... his eyes were burning with a terrifying, golden intensity.
It was the King.
Not the sick, trembling invalid they had seen shuffled around the gardens. This was Aurelius the Lion, the man who had led the charge at the Battle of Black River thirty years ago.
Behind him stood the refugees—Jasmin, Risa, and the children. And guarding his flank were the Doctor and the bodyguard, looking calm and dangerous.
The soldiers froze. Their training screamed at them to attack. Their orders were absolute. But their instincts rebelled. This was the King. The man whose face was on the coins in their pockets. The man they had sworn oaths to.
"Halt!" the Squad Leader shouted, trying to regain control. "In the name of the Crown Prince!"
"The Crown Prince?" King Aurelius’s voice rolled across the room like thunder. It wasn't loud, but it had weight. It hit the soldiers in the chest. "Since when does the Prince give orders while the King still breathes?"
"Your Majesty," the Leader stammered, taking a half-step back. "We... we were told you were incapacitated. We were told there were spies holding you hostage."
"I see no spies here," Aurelius said, gesturing with his sword to Lloyd and Ken. "I see my physician. I see my guests. And I see traitors breaking into my wife's bedroom with drawn steel."
He took a step forward. The soldiers took a step back. The psychological pressure was immense.
Lloyd watched from the side, his hand hovering near his belt where he kept his flash-bangs. He was amazed. The acupuncture was working better than he expected. The King was burning through his life force at an incredible rate, but he was channeling it into pure presence.
"Lower your weapons," Aurelius commanded.
The soldiers looked at each other. They were wavering.
"Don't listen to him!" the Leader yelled, desperate. "He is sick! His mind is gone! The Prince is Regent! The order stands! Secure the targets!"
The Leader lunged forward, raising his sword. He was committed. He knew if he backed down now, Cassius would kill him.
"Treason," Aurelius whispered.
The old King didn't wait. He moved.
It wasn't the fast, flashy movement of a young man. It was the brutal, efficient economy of a veteran. He stepped inside the Leader's guard. He parried the blow with a clash of sparks. And then he drove the pommel of his sword into the Leader's helmet.
CRUNCH.
The Leader dropped like a stone.
The other soldiers gasped.
Aurelius stood over the fallen man. He looked at the squad.
"Who is next?" the King asked. "Who else wants to strike their King?"
Silence. Absolute silence.
Then, a clatter. One soldier dropped his sword. Then another.
They fell to their knees. They put their heads to the floor.
"Forgive us, Majesty!" one cried. "We didn't know!"
Aurelius looked at them with sadness. "Get up. Guard the door. If any more of my son's dogs come... show them whose house this is."
"Yes, Majesty!"
Lloyd let out a breath. "That," he whispered to Ken, "was impressive."
"Old lion still has teeth," Ken agreed.