Dragon Monarch System

Axel City was widely considered the capital of the entire Ashen Covenant Faction. Even though it was never officially recognised as one, almost everyone within the Empire treated it as the true centre of the Harrington-led alliance. Most major meetings, political discussions, and trade agreements involving the Ashen Covenant Faction were held there, which only strengthened that image over the years.

However, the Empire never formally acknowledged Axel City as the official capital of the faction due to political reasons. Aditya’s father strongly opposed such an idea because he believed it would slowly divide the Empire from within. In the eyes of the Emperor, there should never be separate political powers or regional blocs acting like independent entities inside the Empire. Every noble house, every Duke, and every territory was supposed to serve the Empire equally under one united banner.

Recognising Axel City as the official capital of the Ashen Covenant Faction would send a dangerous message to the rest of the Empire. Other powerful factions and noble alliances could begin demanding their own capitals and independent authority as well. Over time, this could create deeper divisions between the Duchies, weaken the authority of the Imperial Throne, and encourage nobles to prioritise faction loyalty over loyalty to the Empire itself. In the worst-case scenario, it could even plant the seeds for future rebellions or civil wars, as different factions might slowly begin acting like separate nations rather than parts of one united Empire.

Axel City, a city that was considered to be the capital of the entire Ashen Covenant Faction. At least, unofficially, it was the Capital of the Ashen Covenant Faction. The Empire never officially approved Axel City as the Capital due to political reasons. Aditya’s dad felt that doing this would divide the Empire. After all, in the view of the Emperor, there cannot be any factions within the Empire. Everyone equally served the Empire.

As darkness slowly approached Axel City, everything still appeared peaceful on the surface. The flames of the upcoming civil war had not yet reached the lives of ordinary civilians. The streets remained lively, businesses were still open, and most people continued their daily lives without realising how close the Empire was to falling into chaos.

However, the situation was completely different among the upper classes and the elites of society. The powerful nobles, wealthy merchants, and influential families were already aware of the growing tension within the Empire. Many of them had quietly started making preparations to protect themselves, their businesses, and their properties before the civil war officially began. Meanwhile, the common people remained completely unaware of the storm that was approaching.

Compared to the territories ruled by other Dukes, the domains belonging to the Harrington Faction, also known as the Ashen Covenant Faction, were far more stable and peaceful. These regions had flourished economically because the leaders of those domains often worked together and made smart, long-term decisions. Out of all one hundred and nineteen Duchies within the Empire, the Duchies under the Ashen Covenant were considered the wealthiest after the Capital itself.

Another major reason behind their prosperity was the extremely low level of corruption within those territories. Small merchants and common businessmen did not need to constantly bribe officials just to run their businesses or gain approvals. Starting a business, expanding trade, or even handling simple matters was much easier compared to the rest of the Empire. Because of this, many people preferred living and working within the domains controlled by the Ashen Covenant Faction.

”What is this?” Victor looked at the metallic square-shaped box that was shining in the blue light.

The square box appeared to be around the size of a human head. The square box had very tiny runes engraved all over it. These rune lines were so small that even for a cultivator, it was impossible for them to see or notice them unless the box was held closer to their face.

”It’s something that will help us make sure that we don’t have any interference when we begin our assault.” It was an advanced rune formation that he took from the vault of the Organisation.

Ren placed the box in a random corner of the city. The box was hidden inside an old abandoned house. The location he chose was very close to the city wall. The distance between the city wall and the abandoned house was just 10 meters.

”We need to place three more of these around the city.”

Basically, the purpose of this was to cut off and seal the space around the city from the outside world. Once all four boxes are activated, no one will be able to teleport in and out of the city. Any form of teleportation beyond the walls of the city is impossible.

”This way, we can finish this mission with a peace of mind without risking our identities getting exposed.”

Ren took out three more boxes and handed one to Victor.

He handed another to Sophia.

And the last one went to Renji.

”Place each of these boxes very close to the walls of the city in three other directions. Make sure that each of the boxes is hidden so that they are not exposed to anyone.”

”Remember, if even one of these boxes is exposed and hit by some kind of low-level attack, then this entire formation will stop working.” This was the weakness of the formation. These boxes did not have any ability to protect themselves from any incoming attacks. Hearing this, Everyone seriously nodded.

”When the formation is activated, each of the boxes will release a blue pillar of light into the sky. Because of this, there is a possibility that our enemies may use those pillars to track down the locations of the real boxes.”

”That is why I decided to prepare twenty additional dummy boxes. Once the formation activates, those fake boxes will also release the same blue pillars of light into the sky at the exact same time. This should make it much harder for anyone to figure out which locations are real and which ones are fake.”

”At the same time, fireworks will be launched all across the city to keep everyone distracted and create even more confusion. With so many lights appearing at once, it will become much more difficult for our opponents to identify the true locations of the boxes accurately.” Ren had already sent his man to do all of this work.

Since he was in charge of this mission, he had full authority to take whatever he needed from the Organisation’s treasure vault to complete it successfully. This was one of the privileges given to high-ranking members trusted with important operations. And this mission had one of the highest levels of importance for the Organisation.

Normally, some kind of restrictions would be set on the things that a core member of the Organisation could take from the vault, but for this mission, Leo allowed him to take whatever he needed.

The treasure vault of the Organisation was even more grand and valuable than the treasure vault of the Celestial Dragon Empire itself. But this was not surprising at all. After all, the Organisation had existed for far longer than the Empire. Over countless years, it had accumulated an unimaginable amount of wealth, rare resources, artifacts, and hidden treasures.

Leo himself had travelled all across the world over the course of a million years. During those journeys, he collected countless valuable items that could one day help either himself or the Organisation. Some treasures were meant for missions, some were useful for cultivation, while others existed purely as strategic resources. Everything was gathered with one purpose in mind: to ensure that the Organisation always possessed the means and resources necessary to carry out any mission it undertook successfully.

”Any questions?” Ren asked them.

”How do we deal with your grandfather Boris?” Sophia asked. Renji also had the same question. The person that he feared the most was the former emperor Boris.

Boris would undoubtedly be the biggest obstacle to their success. Unless they found a proper way to deal with him, completing this mission and leaving this place alive would be nearly impossible. Just his presence alone was enough to place immense pressure on everyone involved.

Even though Boris had remained in seclusion during the last two or three decades and appeared ready to quietly embrace death, his cultivation had barely weakened. Whatever slight decline he experienced could easily be compensated for by his overwhelming combat experience and battle instincts built over more than twenty thousand years.

And that was not the most dangerous part.

As the former Emperor of the Celestial Dragon Empire who ruled for over twenty thousand years, Boris undoubtedly possessed countless hidden methods and trump cards that no one else knew about. He had seen too many battles, too many schemes, and too many wars to be underestimated. Whether it was breaking their formation or countering whatever preparations they made against him, no one believed Boris would simply sit there helplessly.

”You guys don’t need to worry about him. I have a plan for my grandfather.” Ren was very confident in his plan.

Initially, this entire plan had been created with the sole purpose of taking out Aditya. Everything was prepared while considering his movements, his strength, and the people around him at that time.

However, the sudden arrival of Boris and the fact that Aditya was now staying together with his grandfather, Harrington, introduced a completely new variable that they had not originally accounted for. This changed the overall situation and forced them to rethink several parts of their strategy.

Even so, they did not believe the situation had become hopeless. With a few modifications and adjustments to the original plan, they still felt that things remained under their control. As far as they were concerned, the overall advantage was still leaning in their favour.

”Victor, your job is to kill Aditya. Don’t show him mercy.” Ren said in a cold tone.

A part of him still felt a bit of pain when saying these words. But his cousin Aditya had become a really big problem for the organisation and especially for him.

He still would have thought of sparing his cousin, but the fact that his cousin had managed to get so many duchesses and Dukes to be on his side made him a bigger threat than he had initially assumed.

If he wanted to continue being the emperor and rule the Celestial Dragon Empire, then his cousin must die. There was simply no other option left.

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