Dragon Raja: History Simulator

Page 15

The emperor smiled. He had lived in Beijing for so many years but never had the chance to meet the Dragon King, who loved eating potato chips, drinking cola, watching old movies, and was as docile as a cat, at the subway station. However, he had seen this Hunnic prince, now in the guise of Attila, many times in the Roman court.

He slowly began to speak: "Fenrir, Mephisto, my general, are you telling us that the Roman army is fighting against mythology?"

The emperor himself was well aware of the fear and worship of dragons by these ancient secret societies and hybrids. They regarded dragons as gods or demons. The "science" that symbolized the divergence between human civilization and dragon civilization had not yet taken root. Hybrid society and human society were not as alienated as they were in later generations.

Because "kings and nobles are truly powerful."

Without the scalding dragon blood flowing through their veins, how could they subdue and rule those hybrid families who possessed the power of words, alchemy, witchcraft, and mysticism? This wasn't the era later, where guns and cannons dominated, and hybrids didn't seem so terrifying anymore.

Looking at the emperor like this, Trigegios felt no satisfaction, but rather some fear. "Your Majesty, your family also possesses divine blood, which is why you are able to rule Rome. Why then deny the existence of demons?"

Looking at the silent emperor, the general continued, "If you were to ask me whether there are demons in this world, I can tell you that there certainly are."

His current incarnation on earth is Attila. Mortals, with their limited understanding, cannot see the truth and mistakenly believe him to be God's messenger. However, in the eyes of the wise, his demonic image and the stench of sulfur cannot be concealed.

The emperor shook his head. In this day and age, people regard dragons as gods and use the fiery dragon blood flowing in their bodies as a way to distinguish themselves as "nobles." On the other hand, they also degrade dragons as demons and regard them as the source of disaster.

The difference between gods and demons is whether they actually appear on earth.

All that appears in the human world is a demon, while those that are ethereal and intangible can be "permitted" to be worshipped as gods.

"Your Majesty, don't you agree?"

Trigeus seemed somewhat disheartened. Among the many powerful ministers of the Western Roman Empire, although he was not considered a loyal minister, he was relatively close to the emperor. It was like among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms period, if you look closely, I, Prime Minister Cao, was actually the most "loyal" to the emperor, although it was only during a specific period.

For this reason, he was both afraid that the emperor would think Attila was too strong and be tempted to surrender, and worried that the emperor would underestimate Attila and suffer a major defeat—the empire could not afford a defeat.

As the emperor looked at the valiant general, memories of the past and future gradually surfaced in his mind. In the past, this general had always been a confidant of Queen Dowager Placidia, a close confidant of the Roman royal family, and also an elder of the Secret Society, serving as a link between the royal family and the Secret Society.

However, things became somewhat delicate after the Empress Dowager passed away two years ago.

In later historical records, this general was the leader who led the Knights to knock the Dragon King Attila into the mercury pool three times. Other "important figures" such as the Chief of the Senate Avinus and Pope Leo I all understood the principle of self-preservation.

Dragons must be slain, and one's own life must be cherished.

Only Trijejus had no such ambitions. He risked his life to slay the dragon. In later generations, his sword became a legendary weapon because it was stained with the blood of Attila the Dragon King. When it reappeared a hundred years later, it was given to the paladin Roland.

“No, General,” the Emperor stood up and walked forward, passing by the commander of the Imperial Guards, “I know the Dragon King’s power, and I know their strength, but they are ultimately the losers.”

Chapter 30 The Queen of Rome

"General, I'm going to see the Empress now. You and your soldiers may leave!"

Trejejus stared blankly at the departing emperor. The emperor of the past was not as "magnanimous" as he was now. When he heard of a rebellion, he was as terrified as a mouse seeing a cat, and then he would shout at the top of his lungs to every one of them that he would wipe out all the traitors.

In addition, His Majesty himself did not care much about the Empress, who was also a princess of the Eastern Roman Empire and his cousin.

The reason is simple: the Roman princess did not give birth to a son to ensure the succession to the throne. To this day, she still only has two daughters and has not brought a future emperor to the Western Roman Empire.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The general, who came from the Roman court, was trusted by the Queen Mother, and served as an elder in the Secret Society, lowered his head and looked at the slightly faded portraits of the ancient Roman heroes on the marble columns, their former heroic figures now dulled by the passage of time. He was lost in thought until the emperor had already gone far away, at which point he came to his senses and continued to direct the army to clean up the remaining mess.

……

Walking through the familiar Roman palace, Wang Anzhi also seemed somewhat dazed. He had personally witnessed the gradual decline of this empire time and time again, and passed away before its complete demise.

The causes of death can be varied. Some died in childhood after being imprisoned for trying to rebel against the tyrannical empress dowager; some died after being corrupted by dragon blood in an attempt to become a mythical hero; and some, like Valentine III, lived unremarkable lives and died peacefully from assassination.

The court at the end of the dynasty was also shrouded in a deathly atmosphere. Even without mentioning Attila's tens of thousands of troops outside the city, the recent rebellion in the palace had added to the gloom.

The maids, heads bowed, were cleaning up the still-wet bloodstains and corpses of the soldiers on the ground. Before they could finish cleaning, they saw the emperor arrive. Before the maids could figure out how to greet him and hurriedly leave the corpses aside to clear the way for the emperor, they saw that he had already stepped over the corpses without hesitation and continued forward.

The maid looked at the emperor, who was all alone, without even a single servant by his side. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she remained silent and continued her dull life.

Two years earlier, Empress Placidia, who had never relinquished power to her son, died, and before the dust of her funeral had settled in the palace, Attila, who had once "loyally" helped the Western Roman Empire quell various rebellions, revealed his true identity as the Dragon King and launched the first Western Expedition.

Fortunately, this westward expedition ended in failure. Even Aetius, who had once relied on the Hun king to become regent, fought bravely and organized a Roman-barbarian alliance in the Battle of the Chalons, joining forces with the dragon-slaying family of the Secret Society to defeat Attila.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Attila launched another westward campaign the following year. This time, luck did not favor Rome. Attila advanced triumphantly, and everything north of the Alps fell. Even south of the Alps, the former capital Lavender had officially fallen.

Even now, having fled in panic to Rome, a city where the empire's dominance was just beginning, they have not escaped their misfortune.

The Dragon King declared that Rome was his fiefdom from ancient times, and he was unwilling to leave even the last half of Italy to these defeated enemies. The so-called "nowhere to retreat" not only referred to the Western Roman Empire itself, but also to the mixed-race families bound to the empire.

This is the reason why Rome was able to continue to hold out, and also the main reason why the rebellion was able to be quelled.

The ancient palace stands lonely, its flowers blooming in solitary splendor.

Looking at the somewhat familiar face of the man lying in a pool of blood due to the rebellion, Wang Anzhi couldn't help but recall this satirical poem.

The emperor walked alone in the palace, and no one dared to disturb him. Trigejus, the commander of the royal guard, sent several noblemen who were eager to appear before the emperor to follow him at a distance—the rebellion had just been quelled, and the situation was far from stable.

But at least within the palace, the emperor still had the right to be capricious.

Upon arriving at the palace of Empress Lycinia Eudosia, they were again guarded by guards. These guards were part of the dowry prepared by the Eastern Roman emperor for his daughter's marriage. They dared not naturally obstruct the emperor, nor did they have time to report to their princess, who was also the empress of the Western Roman Empire.

Because the emperor arrived so quickly and his imposing presence was so overwhelming, even the commander of the imperial guards, who frequently saw the emperor because he was with the empress, couldn't help but bow in respect.

"His Majesty."

Odosia looked at her husband who had rushed over and her face lit up with joy. War was everywhere, and even the palace was stained with blood. For those who were forced to live apart because of the rebellion, even if they were only separated for a day, there was a wordless joy when they met again.

The rebels' main goal was to coerce the emperor out of the city and surrender, while the empress was actually in a safer position.

Wang Anzhi looked at the Empress in front of him. Her skin was an ivory white from careful maintenance. She wore a purple robe embroidered with gold thread, and the rubies on her earlobes accentuated her tired face.

"Thea, you've worked hard."

The former princess, now the empress, felt a pang of sorrow. She was a princess born into nobility, but who would have thought that one day she would personally witness blood staining her robes?

"What about Eudogia and Pracidia?" Wang Anzhi asked again. Eudogia and Pracidia were the emperor's two daughters. Since the emperor had no male heirs, their husbands were the heirs to the empire.

“They are already asleep,” the Queen said softly. “They can rest well in my room, where six maids will stay to look after them.”

The emperor nodded, then asked:

“What about General Aetius’s sister? I remember she once swore to serve God for the rest of her life and was placed by your side.”

Aetius was the most powerful man in the Roman Empire at the moment. He had once ascended to the position of regent with the support of the Hun king, and fought hard against the Hun king's invasion. Even the Empress Dowager Placidia, who had the support of the Eastern Roman Empire, was helpless against this powerful minister.

The queen's expression changed. The relationship between her and the emperor was not particularly pleasant, and Aetius's sister, who was in the convent, was known for her beauty. She looked somewhat pale.

"Your Majesty, you've come at just the right time. Aitina just came to visit me and is currently reading in her study."

Wang Anzhi nodded, looking at the queen who was on the verge of tears, but did not offer much comfort. For individuals closely connected to Rome, the times were getting worse every day, and tomorrow would always be worse than today; no one could see the future.

He turned and went into the study, watching the almost perfect girl there carefully turning the pages of the parchment. He murmured to himself:

"We meet again, Jormungandr."

Chapter 31 Jormungandr in History

"His Majesty."

The girl turned around, as if she had expected it, showing neither fear nor surprise, but rather a calm indifference.

Her name was Aetina, and she was nominally the sister of Aetius, the most powerful minister in Rome at the time. After Attila the Hun besieged Rome, he sent his sister, who had long been sent to a monastery, back to the palace.

Aetius rose to the political stage of Rome in his early years by relying on the status of the Huns. He even had a close relationship with Attila the Hun, who was now besieging Rome. The two were close friends in their youth and supported each other. Now that they were at odds, Aetius needed to show his loyalty to the entire court.

He had two sons and a little-known sister who was sent to a convent. Sending children to convents has been a tradition in Europe for thousands of years. Countless noble families sent their sisters and daughters to convents because they could not afford the high dowries.

As a powerful minister in Rome, Aetius was certainly not poor. Holding the greatest military power in Rome at the time, he was among the wealthiest among the senators. However, it is rumored that his sister voluntarily went to a monastery, which was rare among the extravagant Roman nobles at the time, and thus the story has spread widely.

Looking at the girl's near-perfect appearance and the pure white veil she had placed to the side, the Queen couldn't help but hope that she truly lived up to the virtues of a nun by always wearing a veil. She also recalled the rumors about her and her husband who was silently gazing at the girl without saying a word. She unconsciously touched her own face. Though youth remained, the letter could not be sent.

Her smile was stiff, yet she still maintained the grandeur of a Western Roman empress and an Eastern Roman princess, saying to the girl, "Aitina, His Majesty has important matters to discuss with you."

Unlike most Roman noblewomen, Etina was quite reserved. She nodded silently and then looked down at the parchment in her hand, pretending to be nervous.

She should indeed be nervous, because even someone as powerful as Aetius did not control the Imperial Guard; these soldiers were not under the control of this powerful minister.

At present, all parties are putting up with each other for the sake of the country. Neither the Senate nor the emperor wants to clash with this general, but it is still very easy to cause trouble.

Odosia then turned around, looked at the emperor who was both strange and familiar, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I'm going to take care of our daughter."

The emperor heard the sorrow in his wife's voice and the desolation in her words. He hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. Everyone else was still unaware, but he knew perfectly well that Aetina was not Aetius's sister. Her true identity was the sister of Attila the Hun, the Hunnic king who had besieged Rome.

His real name is Jormungandr, one of the twins on the throne of the earth and mountains, the serpent that encircles Midgard in mythology.

Even Aetius himself was unaware of this, but it was merely a false memory implanted in him by Jormungandr when the general traveled with Attila.

In the eyes of these dragon kings, the struggle between humans and hybrids is meaningless; only they are each other's greatest adversaries. Once Attila awakens his memories, he can transform into the "Scourge of God," defeating the invincible Rome and bringing it to the brink of destruction.

In a time before the rise of science and with alchemy merely borrowing from its ideas, it's hard to imagine what kind of resistance humanity could possibly mount against these "defeated generals" who have survived from mythology.

For this reason, Wang Anzhi did not want Odosia to be too involved in these matters. He nodded and said, "I will go and see Odosia and Pracidia when they wake up."

These are his two daughters.

After the Empress left, Aitina was not afraid, nor was she worried that the Emperor would suddenly go mad or become lustful. She looked at the Emperor, a hint of confusion naturally showing on her face.

"Your Majesty, what brings you to me?"

The girl pondered silently: was it because he wanted to fight alongside her "brother" against the barbarian army outside the city? Or was he simply after her beauty? Having lived through millions of years, the girl had considered everything.

What puzzled her most was the familiar aura emanating from the emperor—the aura of the mountains boiling with life.

But that's impossible. She and her brother Fenrir were both inside and outside the city, and nothing had happened between them. No one had the opportunity to usurp their power. So where did this familiar aura on the emperor come from?

The girl was naturally unaware that this was her, who had transformed into "Xia Mi" 1,600 years later, personally burying her egg into Wang Anzhi's body. Now, she had traveled upstream with the river of history to reach this place. As the Jormungandr of the current era, even though she was a dragon king who transcended time, she had never had such a miraculous experience.

She was naturally completely unaware of this.

"I have accepted your brother's proposal," the emperor said casually, as if it were nothing more than the abundance of weeds on the ground.

"What?" The girl was somewhat surprised. Her nominal brother, Aetius, had been trying to arrange a marriage between his son and the emperor's eldest daughter, Eudoria, but the emperor had refused outright.

The reason is simple: the emperor has no sons yet, and his eldest daughter's husband is the future emperor of the empire. If Aetius's marriage proposal is successful, then this most powerful minister in Rome will have a promise that his son will ascend the throne in the future, which would naturally be a great thing for him.

However, for the emperor and even the royal family themselves, their greatest hope was the "name" of being the "emperor." If even this "name" were to be relinquished, Aetius might not be able to suppress his desire to experience being the emperor while he was still alive. He might even secretly murder the emperor and install his son on the throne.

This is something no emperor would allow.

Before the girl could finish her surprise, the emperor continued, "In return, I need your brother to marry you to me."

The girl could no longer maintain her composure. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please don't tease me. As noble as you are, you already have your own empress. Even in the vast Roman palace, there is no place for me. If you truly wish to marry my brother, you might as well speak with him personally."

"Is Rome big?" the emperor suddenly asked.

“Very big.” The girl was puzzled, wondering why the emperor had suddenly asked this question.

The emperor smiled, looking at the enigmatic girl before him. He saw in her the shadow of Xia Mi from 1,600 years in the future. This was not surprising, as they were essentially the same person, the same person in disguise.