Chapter 077: The Most Powerful Elder in History

The king neither dodged nor flinched, still watching the mysterious man with that same expressionless gaze.

Though the mysterious man had expended considerable effort, he had only been using small-scale magic circles. While their power was limited, they consumed little energy and could be cast swiftly, so their use had not greatly affected him. He still had ample magical energy left to burn.

Just as the prime minister was about to signal the mysterious man, the beast soldiers underwent a sudden and dramatic transformation, as if they had instantly evolved to a higher state of intelligence. Their previously bewildered and chaotic faces shifted to sly, knowing expressions, as if everything was within their grasp. Within each group of beasts that had been separated by the humans, a single beast, still in human form and not reverting to its original shape, stepped forward to assume temporary command. At their orders, the beast army instantly reverted to human form and, in response to Li Yi’s current battle formation, swiftly reconfigured into a counterattack formation.

Initially, the beasts’ collective return to their original forms had hindered their ability to fight effectively in the relatively confined palace—which, though grand for humans, was rather cramped for creatures accustomed to the vastness of the forest. Li Yi’s aggressive deployment, placing the charge-focused and high-attack soldiers at the front, had allowed him to maximize the output of his own weakened fighters. This strategy had given Li Yi a fleeting advantage on the battlefield.

Now, however, the beasts’ abrupt shift caught Li Yi off guard. Returning to human form did nothing to diminish their ferocity; every blow was vicious and laced with the magical power they had cultivated. The human soldiers, whose defenses were weak and whose attacks could not match the beasts’, suffered heavy losses in an instant.

Li Yi had no choice but to abandon his plan to immediately rescue the king. He ordered his troops to fight on the spot, pulling back the weaker soldiers and bringing the shield-bearing guards forward to steady the line.

Yet the mysterious man’s actions did not cease just because the tide of battle had turned. His lightning bolt slashed downward, swift as ever, and only as it neared within five centimeters of the king’s chest did a victorious smile finally curl upon his lips. No matter what happened next, once the king was dead, the greatest threat to him would be gone. The White Tower Kingdom would be plunged into chaos for some time before it could regain its footing. The thought made his smile shine even brighter.

But that brilliant smile was cut short when a hand intercepted him midway. A surge of excruciating pain shot through him. The mysterious man’s face tightened as he realized that, without his noticing, an old man had appeared by his side. Though aged, the elder’s grip was unyielding, and the mysterious man found he could not move at all beneath it. Killing the king was now out of the question—he couldn’t even muster the strength to struggle.

As the pain intensified, the mysterious man was forced to withdraw the lightning he had been sustaining. Since he couldn’t act, he might as well conserve his magical energy. When he did so, the old man, with a certain graciousness, eased his grip just enough to keep the pain at a barely tolerable threshold—enough to immobilize him but not enough to make him faint.

He couldn’t help but lift his head to look at his captor. The man’s face, though marked by age, was dignified and resolute; his hair was streaked with white, but his eyes shone with a sharp, penetrating light. Though he looked the very image of a sage, his hand was merciless. Even after the mysterious man retracted his lightning, the pain in his wrist did not subside in the slightest, and under the elder’s control, he was left rigid and powerless.

“Who are you, and why have you brought such calamity upon my White Tower?” the old man demanded in a harsh voice.

Seeing their mysterious leader seized by an unknown elder, the two temporary beast commanders exchanged glances and leapt into the air, rushing to his aid. Two streams of red magic shot down from above, aimed at the old man. With a fluid motion and a thought, the old man deftly shifted, pulling the mysterious man in front of himself as a shield.

In that instant, the would-be rescuers became unwitting assailants of their own leader. The two loyal beast commanders gritted their teeth and forcefully withdrew their spells; one, in his haste, disrupted the flow of magic within his body, and the backlash caused him to cough up blood—he had nearly given his life before even reaching the scene.

When they finally landed, they realized their efforts had been in vain. In fact, their intervention had only made things worse, for now there were not one but three elders on the field.

The temporary commander caught by one elder could do nothing but surrender bitterly. There was no helping it—skill crushes all. They hadn’t even seen where these elders had come from before being subdued.

The prime minister stood to the side, his face ashen, while the king remained as composed as ever. He flexed his arm slightly, then offered the elder a respectful bow. “Thank you, venerable one, for your assistance.”

The elder nodded in acknowledgment.

With these formidable elders present, the once-fierce battlefield fell silent. The beast warriors, seeing their leaders one by one captured, hung their proud heads and shrank away like timid animals.

Indeed, the ancient wisdom holds true: to capture the bandits, first seize their king.

Seeing that the battlefield had settled, Li Yi set aside his misgivings and stepped forward to bow to the elder. Then, dropping to one knee before the king, he pleaded, “I failed to protect Your Majesty. Please, punish me.”

The king’s face remained cold, but his mind was clear. “This is not your fault. It was my own blindness that allowed such a malignant traitor to remain at my side.” As he spoke, the king’s gaze drifted toward the prime minister. “So, you conspired against me, and not only that, you colluded with the beastfolk as well. If not for the intervention of these three elders today, the entire White Tower Kingdom would have been destroyed because of you!”

“Take the prime minister away. I intend to reclaim every loss!” The king’s smile turned predatory, and at once, soldiers stepped forward to drag the prime minister to the dungeons to await judgment. In truth, there was little left to decide—death was certain for the traitor. The only question was what punishments the king would exact before his execution.

Order gradually returned to the chaos. The beastfolk, seeing their masters so thoroughly subdued, lost all will to fight and were taken prisoner one by one. The mysterious man’s hat was removed, revealing a youth with striking crimson hair and fiery red eyes—an arresting sight.

“Are you the heir of the Beast King?” the elder’s expression softened ever so slightly at the youth’s appearance. “What, tired of being a prince and now stirring up trouble in the White Tower Kingdom?”

The youth flashed a dazzling smile, betraying none of the despair of recent defeat. “How can you call it troublemaking? If not for you old men interfering, I would have already succeeded. By my calculation, the White Tower Kingdom should be mine by now.”