When Rudra finally reached the palace, the throne room was already in chaos.
King Gustav sat on the throne looking exhausted while several ministers argued around him. Some of them kept repeating the same thing.
"Your Majesty, we should surrender and try to negotiate. Our kingdom is weak. Fighting will only get everyone killed, we should seek our survival."
Lucia tried to speak up more than once.
"Surrendering won't help us. They don't want treasures or land. They want to wipe Nasca out completely so every other small kingdom learns what happens when you refuse them."
No one really listened to her.
The doors were pushed open with force as they slammed onto the wall, and Rudra walked in. The room went quiet for a second.
"Father," he said, "there's no need to talk about surrender. I'll take charge. Anyone who attacks Nasca will have to face my sword first."
A few of the older ministers immediately shook their heads.
"Prince Rudra, even if we call up every man we can, our army will only reach around seven thousand at best. That's nothing compared to sixty thousand soldiers, not counting their mages and generals."
Rudra looked at them and said simply,
"You old men don't need to worry. I'm enough by myself."
Some of the ministers frowned hard.
"Prince, this is not the time for empty confidence. We have to think carefully—"
"I am prepared."
Rudra turned to his father.
"Father, I have finished my training. I can handle that army easily with no problem at all."
King Gustav stared at his son for a long time. Something in Rudra's eyes made the king slowly nod.
"…Alright. I'm trusting you, Rudra. The fate of the entire kingdom is in your hands now."
The ministers almost panicked immediately hearing this.
"Your Majesty, you can't be serious! How is the prince supposed to fight sixty thousand men alone?!"
Before they could keep shouting, Rudra released a wave of Hero's Haki.
A heavy strong spiritual pressure filled the room. It was the kind that made them want to lower their heads and listen. The fear and noise in the room quietly died down. Most of the ministers stopped talking and just stared at him.
Rudra pulled the Haki back after a few seconds.
"Do you believe me now?"
No one answered, but no one argued either.
Lucia looked at her brother carefully. He really had changed. The training with Mister Origin had clearly worked. He is different now, more mature, and he finally lost his childish thoughts; seeing the elder brother like this gives hope to everyone.
Rudra turned to her with a small grin.
"Hey Lucia, did I look very cool just now? I've already decided—when I face their army I'm going to release my Haki the same way. Then I'll say something like, 'Those of you who can't even stand under my Haki still dared to attack my kingdom? Who gave you the courage?' It'll look really cool, right?"
Lucia stared at him for a second, then sighed, thinking.
"…I take it back. Brother only got stronger. His head is still full of the same childish thoughts."
Rudra just laughed seeing her sister's face and looked back at the king.
"Father, I'll go deal with them. Don't worry."
Around two hundred and fifty kilometres away, the combined armies of Valerius and Khorvegas were still marching.
The overall commander, a man named Zankt from Valerius, rode near the front with a wine flask in his hand. He took a long drink and laughed.
"This war is going to be too easy. Nasca is a weak little kingdom. How dare they reject us? We'll just wipe them out clean and easy, as well kill those people."
He turned to one of the officers beside him.
"I heard the princess of Nasca is pretty good-looking. Is that true?"
The officer hesitated, then gave a small nod.
Zankt licked his lips and crushed the empty wine glass in his hand.
"Then I'll take her for myself. Pretty women shouldn't be wasted."
The men around him laughed along as the army kept moving.
The next day the army had closed to about one hundred and fifty kilometers from Nasca's border.
One of the lead soldiers suddenly called out.
"Commander! Someone is standing in the middle of the land!"
Zankt looked ahead and saw a young man with blonde hair holding a sword. He didn't look like much.
"Boy, get out of the way," Zankt shouted. "Stand there any longer, and we'll kill you."
The young man didn't move.
"Are you the commander?"
Zankt nodded.
"I heard you're marching to attack the Kingdom of Nasca."
A soldier near the front laughed. "Of course we are."
The blonde youth spoke calmly.
"I'm the eldest prince of Nasca."
There was a short silence… then the front ranks of the army burst out laughing. The laughter spread for a while before it finally died down.
Zankt wiped his eyes and grinned.
"Boy, you're really funny. Did you come here to surrender and abandon your kingdom? I guess that makes sense. Your father is an idiot who refused both our offers."
He licked his lips again.
"I'll give you a chance. Join us. I heard you have a beautiful little sister. Bring her to me, and I'll let you live under my command."
Rudra had been willing to play along for a bit. These people were so confident it was almost entertaining. He had even thought about drawing things out a little, the same way some characters did in the Manga he read during his break time when training with Origin.
But the moment Zankt mentioned Lucia, that thought disappeared.
Rudra's face went cold. He forced down the killing intent rising in his chest and asked in a quiet voice,
"Why do you need her?"
Zankt grinned wider.
"To enjoy her, of course. A pretty woman like that should be—"
He never finished the sentence.
Rudra disappeared from where he stood and reappeared behind the general. His sword flashed once.
Zankt's head flew into the air. The body stayed sitting on the horse for a second before sliding off as blood spewed out of his corpse.
Rudra stood over the corpse, sword still raised.
"You dared say something that disgusting and vile about my sister right in front of me? Did you think her brother was already dead?"
Only then did the soldiers around them fully understand what had just happened. Everything had been too fast. One moment Zankt was talking, the next his head was gone.
Rudra looked across the huge army and raised his voice.
"I'll give all of you one last chance. Anyone who wants to live can leave right now. I won't chase you. But if you still plan to attack Nasca… then you'll have to face my sword. Choose."
At the same time he released his Hero's Haki.
The pressure rolled over the army like a wave. Many soldiers dropped to their knees immediately. Others could only tremble and stare. The pressure was heavy, but it also carried a strange warmth that made some of them feel like they were looking at something far above ordinary men.
Rudra watched them and thought to himself,
This really does look cool. Next time I fight, I should always start with Haki. The weak ones just fall down on their own. Haha.
A few of the stronger mages managed to stay on their feet. They desperately threw out spells—fire, lightning, wind blades.
Rudra's sword moved once and cut every spell apart. Before the mages could even react, a soft breeze seemed to pass through them. Their heads fell from their shoulders and their bodies collapsed.
Rudra pulled his Haki back.
"Now surrender. Your lives will be spared."
One after another, the soldiers dropped their weapons and went down on one knee. Sixty thousand men knelt across the plains.
The troop leaders at the front carefully raised their heads.
"Your Majesty… what will you do with us? We were ordered to attack your kingdom…"
Rudra looked at them without anger.
"You're soldiers following orders. It's not really your fault. You didn't even reach my borders. The ones at fault are your kings."
A heavy silence followed. Then one of the troop leaders spoke, voice rough.
"Your Majesty… please save us from Valerius and Khorvegas."
Others began nodding. Some even cried. They talked about high taxes, about nobles living well while commoners struggled, about being forced into endless fights. They talked about how anyone who tried to resist was killed by Zankt along with their entire family. That was why no one had moved when the general died.
Rudra listened until they finished. Then he raised his chin a little and said with full confidence,
"Don't worry. I'm the man who's going to conquer the whole world. Valerius and Khorvegas are nothing more than grains of sand. I'll take both of them."
For a moment the army stayed quiet.
Then a loud roar rose from thousands of throats.
"Hail His Majesty Rudra!"
"We will follow Your Majesty to the death!"
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Author's Note- Hello this is the chapter , I guess you must be finding this boring right , so many chapters yet nothing interesting is happening, I am also not able to find what to write any longer, In fact I wanted to ask till where should I write about Tensura universe and then move back to Marvel , because it's been more than 20 chapters of Tensura , I need to move back to marvel so tell till where should I write, I am thinking of writing it till the battle of Rudra and Guy, plus what should I do about the Ultimate skill of Rudra should I let it be Michael as Original or let him have his original US Uriel.