Armipotent

"No, wait. What happened? Prince Kaiden is dead? How do you know that?" Tristan could not comprehend what actually happened. He was bewildered by the current situation. He knew who this Kaiden was, the youngest Prince and the most dotted prince.

Even though the four old men were retiring at the remote town, they still knew about what happened in the Rosalie Citadel. The trend and important news related to the kingdom. They still paid attention to everything.

"Also, what's the relationship between the Revolution Army and the death of Prince Kaiden? Is the Revolution Army behind the death of Prince Kaiden? Wait, but why? Why would they aim for the useless prince amongst the three princes? This makes no sense!" Tristan blurted out long words. He failed to comprehend what happened.

"As I said, I am not going to tell you anything just because you ask me to. I can't trust any of you! Even if we make an oath, I will still tell you nothing about my plan or anything you want to know about Prince Kaiden. Let's end this pointless talk and make an oath then we will go our separate ways!" Tang Shaoyang looked straight at Tristan, "If you keep avoiding the oath then I assume you want a fight!"

"Let's fight him if that's what he wants. We are four and he was alone, we can easily win against him!" The bald old man was impatient and he was done by holding back. He stood up as a sword appeared in his hand.

Tang Shaoyang was about to activate [Flash Step], he was going to take down the weakest and fight the two Epics. Tristan raised his hand and stopped the fight, "Wait!" He then turned around to meet with his bald friend, "Can you sit there and shut your mouth, Jacob! I am talking now!"

The bald old man or Jacob was taken aback by his friend's outburst. He did not think that Tristan would reach this way toward him. Jacob took a deep breath and calmed down, then he sat back.

"If you are aiming for the Revolution Army and the Lionax Kingdom, I have a proposal for you. What about if we work together, we can make an oath, but I want you to sign the System Contract as well. Don't worry, the Oath and the System Contract will have the same content," Tristan voiced his thoughts as his eyes were gleaming in solemnity.

"Nope, that will not do. I don't want to work together with you but I want you to work under me. If that's fine with you, then I will agree to sign the System Contract and also make the Oath for that," Tang Shaoyang refused Tristan's proposal. If the four old men wanted to destroy the Revolution Army and also the Kingdom, they could work together, but he wanted them to listen to him.

"I don't think there's a benefit of working together with four retired knights who have been hiding for years," Tang Shaoyang added.

Strangely enough, Tristan could not refute Tang Shaoyang's claim about the benefit of working together with the four retired knights. It was understandable since the enemy they would face was not just a group bandit, but a kingdom and also an army that had been prepared to fight against the kingdom. Additional four retired knights won't change that much in the flow of the battle.

Tristan fell silent, this was not something he could decide alone. While he could make some decisions for his three friends, he could not tell his friend to follow his path if he wanted to work under Tang Shaoyang. This was something even more personal and he could not force his friends to join his cause.

"Can you give us half an hour… No, fifteen minutes should be enough. Can you let us time to discuss this? I can't make the decision for them for this," Tristan gave his reply. From his reply, Tristan seemed to be willing to work under Tang Shaoyang, but it was different for his friend. That was how Tang Shaoyang perceived his reply. He did not know the reason, but it seemed Tristan had a deep grudge against the Revolution Army and the kingdom to the point of being a stranger's subordinate.

Tang Shaoyang nodded and stood up from the chair. He left the room with his group, giving the four old men a private space for them to talk it out. Of course, he did not leave the building. He stayed on the same floor, waiting right in front of the room. If something suspicious happened within the room, he would barge in.

However, it did not take that long for the discussion, it was less than ten minutes. The door opened and they came up with a decision. Out of the four old men, three of them agreed to follow his cause while Jacob, the bald old man, was the only one who did not agree to follow him. 

Meanwhile, while the four old men were discussing their future, the kingdom was in turmoil. The news of Prince Kaiden's death was quickly spread, The Queen was mourning for the son she doted the most. The family that rarely got together was reunited after the death of the third Prince.

King Emerson had five children, three princes, and two princesses. The Second Prince who had been away from the capital to guard the borderland returned as soon as possible when he heard the news. The second princess that married Dukedom returned as the family mourned together for Prince Kaiden.

Not just them, but most of the nobles came to the Capital for the funeral as well. While the news of the death of Prince Kaiden spread, no one knew the cause of his death. The Royal Family had not announced it yet.

The next day after the funeral, the Royal Family dropped a bomb on their kingdom. They revealed the culprit behind the death of Prince Kaiden, "The Revolution Army and the Ambrose Family, the traitor!"

After the Royal Family announced this, they locked down the Rosalie Citadel. None of the nobles could get out as an investigation was launched on all the nobles. Half of the Lionax Kingdom was deployed to lock the capital.

The first target was the Malone Family and the family that was closely related to the Malone Family. Earl Derekh became the main culprit behind the death of Prince Kaiden, all members of the Malone Family in the capital were executed on the first day. Of course, the absence of Earl Derekh during the funeral affirmed the accusation. Earl Derekh did not dare to come because he knew about the issue.

The bloodshed was the start of the war between the Revolution Army. The Royal Family vowed that blood should be returned with blood as well.

*** ***

Tang Shaoyang listened to the update about what happened within the kingdom from Tristan. The old man had a deep information network within the kingdom, more useful than a mere retired knight.

"So you are going today? Should we follow you?" Tristan had heard the whole plan. The man in front of him would enter the Gigante Forest and conquer the tribe within.

"Nope, you just continue what you are doing and enjoy your retirement day, I will go with Selena and Ashley," Tang Shaoyang shook his head and refused to bring the three old men, "You will also have a bunch of knights that will come in a few days. If you want to do something, then you can train them if you want."

He needed Selena for the oath. That was the best method to make sure the people he would conquer like Aki and Nol did not betray him. This was a quick conquest so he did not have time to buy their heart, two months. His time was two months until something tower would appear on Earth. He had to return by that time and what change awaited him in stage two. He had asked Tristan if Lukan had a tower summoned by the system. Unfortunately, they knew nothing since they never stepped into the main continent.

"What about Jacob? Do you find something from  him?" When Tang Shaoyang brought up his friend, a frown appeared on Tristan's forehead. Tang Shaoyang suspected that Jacob was working for the Revolution Army, the reason why the old man refused to take the oath to follow his friends.

Roan and Carl were angry when they heard that. They did not like it when their friend was accused like that. However, Tristan was the only one who tried to look at things from Tang Shaoyang's perspective. He understood why Tang Shaoyang had suspicions. From the first interaction, Jacob had been instigating the fight between them and Tang Shaoyang even though Tristan and Roan wanted to avoid the fight. He knew that Jacob was not that careless.

Even after his warning, the bald old man let himself get provoked by Tang Shaoyang. A clash almost happened between them. Tristan decided to watch his friend, no harm was being done by just watching him.

"Nope, he did not show any weird behavior, but I will keep an eye on him," Tristan reported.

"Alright then, I will trust everything on this side to you. We will meet again in one or maybe two months," Tang Shaoyang stood up, "I know your Commander, Alton tried to conquer this Gigante Forest and failed, but I am different. You can expect my return!" After saying that, Tang Shaoyang left the room, leaving the three old men alone.