SAINTESS [Chapter 51: Everlasting Imperial Crown]

“Now this is no longer your kingdom.”

“The divine favor will no longer be on your side.” Isatia spoke slowly and clearly, as if each word she uttered carried weight.

“Where exactly is this place?” Cantarius finally noticed that this place indeed felt different from his dominion.

Although it appeared identical on the surface, fundamentally, there was a vast difference. The undead guards he had so carefully selected to bring into this tomb no longer revived and stood ready for battle as they usually did, and his once-effortless power had completely disappeared.

It seemed as though everything was slipping beyond his control.

“This is the empire forged by the Lanteville family with their utmost efforts. As for what the Lanteville family and the Tyrell Empire will become, each past Lanteville head has left their own answer here, along with their achievements and marks.”

“This is the 'origin' of the Lanteville family, a place that vividly illustrated the long and glorious history of the Lanteville family, much more than the cold words written in the Lanteville Family Records.”

“This is the Lanteville main household.” As she finished speaking, after breaking through the enemy formation of Mars' guards, these heavily armored imperial knights rode tall steeds near Isatia and formed a protective circle around their imperial princess.

These knights seemed to share a connection with Isatia. Some of them dismounted and came toward Winnie, helping him up and escorting him to a safer location.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Winnie asked the knight assisting him.

The knight did not reply. Due to the fully enclosed metal armor, Winnie couldn't even see their face.

Yet, Winnie managed to observe that these imperial knights appeared to be from different eras.

Some of their armors resemble those from the ancient Carillian empire period, and even bore styles inherited from the 'Carillian Squads.' Others were more modern in appearance, visibly showing the evolution of armor styles over time.

But without exception, they were all knights loyal to the Lanteville family, loyal to the Tyrell Empire.

Could it be that just now?

Winnie recalled the sphere that had erupted from Isatia earlier, accompanied by the thunder of creation itself, seemingly enveloping this place and everyone within it in an instant.

That... Was that Isatia's [Divine Blessing]?"

Winnie remembered that one of the most crucial elements of Isatia's [Divine Blessing] was [Construction].

Suddenly, it occurred to him, could it be that they were no longer in the Mars palace, but rather inside Isatia's [Divine Blessing] itself?

These imperial knights from different eras were part of Isatia's [Divine Blessing], naturally existing within it.

As for Cantarius and the other people from Mars, their 'undying' nature came from the fusion of the two divine fragments, [Eternity] and [Continuance], granting them the ability to persist. Once they leave the deeply buried sacred realm, their 'undying' trait will be stripped away.

So, previously, Isatia used the Mars palace she had constructed within her [Divine Blessing], an exact replica, as a portal, synchronizing it with the real Mars palace buried deep within the sacred realm, pulling everyone into her [Divine Blessing]?

This possibility came to Winnie's mind.

“This is the Lanteville family's sacred inheritance that has carried them through the ages, the [Everlasting Imperial Crown].”

"Within this place, every building was crafted by past Lanteville heads. Layer upon layer of accumulation and inheritance has built this magnificent city of interwoven architectural styles."

As Winnie was lifted onto a tall steed by the knights and escorted out of the arena, these were the last words he heard.

So that's it, Isatia's Divine Blessing is named [Everlasting Imperial Crown], huh?

As for letting these knights lead him away, Winnie understood Isatia's reasoning. She probably thought it would be too dangerous for him to stay inside, so she sent him out of the area, considering him an injured man without combat ability.

As the horse jostled along, Winnie lost track of time. Eventually, he was taken out of the Mars palace by the knights. When he finally stepped outside, the sky was filled with rolling dark clouds, as though a great storm was about to descend.

Looking at the buildings around him, his eyes broadened in astonishment.

After exiting the familiar Mars palace, everything surrounding him was completely unfamiliar.

Well, not entirely unfamiliar, Camella Kingdom had once been part of the ancient Carillian Empire, though it belonged to a different developmental branch, all were still human-styled architecture.

Especially the tall tower standing at the center of the grand architectural complex, it looked particularly familiar.

Aesphyra had once explained to him that the ancient Carillian Empire had a custom: upon building or conquering a city-state, they would erect a grand and intricately crafted tower at its center, in the style characteristic of the ancient empire.

For example, the tower he saw now was entirely in the ancient imperial style. Moreover, this tower appeared quite old. Upon closer inspection, one could see numerous cracks left by time, and many parts seemed worn and neglected, raising worries that it might collapse at any moment.

Not just the tower, this entire city shares the same aged appearance.

As soon as he exited the Mars palace gates, Winnie felt as though he had entered a lost city of the ancient Carillian Empire, isolated from the rest of the world.

This circular city was shockingly vast. At its edge, he faintly saw several watchtowers piercing into the clouds, resembling the sharp tips of a crown.

Winnie somewhat understood why this Divine Blessing was named [Everlasting Imperial Crown]. If one could look down from the highest point of this massive city from a distance, it would probably resemble a finely crafted and luxurious tile-covered crown.

The towering buildings resemble a dense forest of stone, packed tightly together, most of them appear quite ancient, covered in the marks of time and fractures.

In addition, the architectural styles were particularly odd.

For example, not far from the Mars palace, Winnie spotted a building that was definitely not in the human style.

It wasn't necessarily because Winnie possessed an exceptional grasp of history, but rather because the style of these buildings was greatly different from human architecture, so distinct that even Winnie could instantly tell it wasn't built by humans, but rather resembled the architecture of certain demi-human races.

Winnie recalled that many demi-human races had been incorporated into the ancient Carillian Empire during its unification of the continent. After the fall of the ancient Carillian Empire, the Tyrell Empire inherited most of its legacy and culture, and these demi-humans continued to live within the Tyrell Empire.

Just like the ancient Carillian Empire, the Tyrell Empire treated all its subjects equally, humans and demi-humans alike were considered citizens of the empire, not treated as conquered slaves, and were given equal status.

Because of this, although the demi-humans were initially resistant, after several generations passed, most had come to identify themselves as imperial citizens.

Winnie recalled what Isatia had told him before, that the completion of the [Construction] in [Everlasting Imperial Crown] required either a deep understanding of a civilization or its defeat and conquest.

It looked like this building was constructed in [Everlasting Imperial Crown] after the demi-human civilization was defeated.

At that thought, feeling as though finally he had understood the mechanism of Isatia's [Divine Blessing], Winnie gazed toward the millions of clusters of buildings near and far.

These clusters, filled with diverse architectural styles, were the legacy stones of every Lanteville head throughout history. Each head would contribute a few buildings in their lifetime, and over time, the [Everlasting Imperial Crown] had become a massive city filled with millions of architectural styles.

Every possible race's buildings were here.

This was the Lanteville family's [Divine Blessing], the [Everlasting Imperial Crown].

Winnie even saw the inner city walls and, beyond them, the imperial palace of the Tyrell capital, although it also appeared somewhat aged.

Was the imperial palace of the Tyrell capital replicated here at a 1:1 scale as well?

Then, what about these imperial knights?

Winnie looked at the heavily armored imperial knights silently standing beside him, the ones who had escorted him out.

He even noticed one of the knights had a hole behind their armor from which a fluffy cat tail extended.

These imperial knights weren't all human, they included cat-like demi-humans as well.

So, were these imperial knights the very knights who had been loyal to the Lanteville heads throughout history?

Suddenly, Winnie realized something, he recognized the path the knights had taken him on as the same one he and Isatia had walked earlier. As for paths he hadn't taken before, he had yet to discover what lay beyond.

Winnie wondered, if he hadn't walked those paths, did that mean they were still blank spaces, incomplete constructions within [Everlasting Imperial Crown]?

If that were the case, then wasn't the Mars palace constructed inside her [Divine Blessing] merely superficial? Its interior was not fully built.

At that thought, Winnie felt a slight unease rise in his heart.

Wasn't this forcing a construction? If so, wouldn't something go wrong eventually?

“Don't you all go back and assist your imperial princess?” Winnie, having regained a bit of strength, couldn't help but ask the imperial knights around him.

The imperial knights glanced at Winnie but remained silent.

Meanwhile, inside the arena of the Mars palace,

“Heh, heheh, I understand now.” Cantarius suddenly laughed coldly, directing his guards to resist in a corner of the arena.

“Understand what?” Isatia folded her arms.

“I understand now. Foreign queen, you and your ancestors are exactly the same as me.” Cantarius laughed. “Look at you, though you accuse others, you also enjoy having people die in your service. Do you think you're any better than me?”

“Barbarian king, are you misunderstanding something? The Lanteville family has never had such a twisted custom.” Isatia replied calmly. "The dead are dead. Just as one enters this world, so too shall one depart. Nothing is brought into life, and nothing is taken from death. Why cling to such things?"

“Don't mock me! If that's not the case, then where exactly did your soldiers come from?” Looking at his guards still fighting desperately to protect him, Cantarius scoffed.

“In truth, my ancestors have also been curious, why do our knights who devoted their lives to the family appear within our [Divine Blessing] after death?” Isatia admitted.

“Stop fooling yourself! Your family must have used some method to bring your soldiers into your eternal grave as well, right?” Cantarius sneezed. “In the end, you and I are the same.”

“Your soldiers are not living beings, just like mine aren't. You built yourself an eternal tomb after death, while you have even built yourselves a tomb with living sacrifices before your own deaths.”

“We are the same. You are even crueler than I am.” Cantarius mocked.

However, Isatia was unmoved by his words.

“Want to know the difference between you and me?” Isatia lifted her pale, graceful swan-like neck.

“Your soldiers are, in a sense, your slaves. You placed shackles upon them, and they could not resist you. If they had more developed thoughts and the ability to resist, they would have done so without hesitation.”

"You didn't care about your soldiers at all when you were within the sacred realm, because you couldn't die. But now? What about now?" Isatia's violet eyes stared at Cantarius accusedly.

“Would you dare turn your back to your soldiers?” Isatia asked. “Are you and I really the same?”

“Of course we are…” Cantarius began, but suddenly fell silent.

Because he had noticed it.

Isatia stood before her soldiers, commanding them to attack the enemy, her back turned to the imperial knights who shielded her like an unyielding wall, completely unafraid of betrayal from behind.

He, however, was different.

Now, he was retreating to a corner, commanding his soldiers to die for him, while he himself cowered at the very back, placing every guard in front of him. No one was behind him.

Why was that? Could it be that he was afraid his soldiers might stab him in the back?

“Do you now see the difference between us?” Isatia locked eyes with Cantarius, her tone devoid of emotion.

“My soldiers didn't come from living sacrifices. They appear here because they willingly remained as loyal spirits after death, continuing to defend the Lanteville family.”

"If they were unwilling, they could leave at any time. I cannot bind their freedom."

“But these knights, throughout the centuries, have never lost even one of their numbers. Do you know why?” Isatia's voice was sharp. “Barbarian king, you were disrespectful from the very beginning.”

“You insulted me, and insulted the most trusted and loyal subordinates of my ancestors.”

“In contrast, your soldiers are pitiful souls, helpless beings trapped and manipulated in your grasp. Even in death, their souls cannot rest, still tormented and controlled by you, a demon.” Isatia stared at Cantarius, her beautiful eyes piercing through his soul.

“Behind me stand my ancestors, the imperial capital built by them, and the knights who are eternally loyal to me, while you… have always been alone.”

It will take time I guess 😔