The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

The enormous golden great tree directly broke through the boundary of Berland’s Shadow, standing between heaven and earth. Its trunk was as thick as a mountain range, its branches and leaves blotting out the sky and sun. Countless streams of golden light fell from its crown. In that moment, every person in this city couldn’t help but be shaken by the golden great tree’s grandeur and sanctity.

And beneath the golden tree was a throne of utmost splendor.

Albert sat upright upon the throne, holding the King’s Sword. His face was solemn and imposing. The aura around him seemed to be sublimated in this instant—lofty above all, looking down on Celicia and even all of Berland, like a true emperor.

“Rebel, come and kneel!”

The resounding voice shook the four directions. Terrifying pressure surged like a tide. Under that dreadful pressure, Celicia’s body began to bend and sink uncontrollably, forced into submission.

So this was that sword.

The King’s Sword that symbolized the Empire’s emperor’s supreme identity.

When one held that sword, there was no doubt—by law and by rule, one possessed the ultimate honored status of the Empire’s emperor.

But...

Something was off. ℴℴ𝘮

Still off.

Celicia’s body trembled slightly. She forced herself to straighten her back, forcing herself to meet that dazzling golden light that seemed like it would burn her blind.

She stared fixedly at the King’s Sword. The King’s Sword trembled faintly, as if it were also staring at her with indifference.

Albert had gained the King’s Sword’s acknowledgment. No matter how she thought about it, she seemed to have already lost everything, with no chance of turning things around. But before that...

What was this intense sense of incongruity?

Yes—an incongruity.

She was also genuine, true royal blood, and yet why had she never felt even the slightest closeness from that King’s Sword...

Only malice.

Why did the King’s Sword... hate her so much?

Just because... it didn’t acknowledge her?

All of a sudden, Celicia felt another stab of pain. She frowned slightly and lowered her gaze.

Perhaps forcibly resisting the pressure just now had stirred the injury from earlier. The blood-red patterns on her arm flickered into view again, and at the same time, a faint, rushing noise of blood flow sounded by her ear.

Celicia’s eyes flickered. Cold gathered, and those blood-red patterns vanished once more.

“So? Still not kneeling?”

Seeing that Celicia was still putting up a desperate resistance, Albert couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.

“Heh heh, Celicia, my dear little sister. For the sake of our ‘shared bloodline,’ if you kneel on the ground right now, kowtow, and submit, I might spare your life. After all, I’m a good emperor—I won’t be like that idiot Andrew and personally slaughter my own family. Don’t you agree?”

“......”

Celicia didn’t answer—or rather, she already had.

The instant Albert’s words fell, Celicia raised the thin sword in her hand without the slightest hesitation. Compared to the King’s Sword, it looked incomparably frail—and without the slightest hesitation, she thrust it toward Albert beneath the golden great tree...!

Wind and snow howled, laced with terrifying sword intent. Celicia poured out everything she had learned in her entire life without holding back. The sharp sword-light almost split open the hall’s vaulted ceiling.

But this was still only...

a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

With the King’s Sword in hand, Albert—once a mere ordinary person—now possessed terrifying strength comparable to the peak of a Crowned One.

So, facing Celicia’s sudden strike, he only curled his mouth in disdain and waved his hand casually.

A branch of the golden great tree seemed to sway lightly with that wave.

Then a vast golden tide swept through space. Celicia felt as if her sword had stabbed into the sea inside a storm—futilely adding one more ripple, and then... a towering wave crashed down.

Celicia let out a muffled groan. Her delicate body was instantly blasted away like a sandbag. She had no power to resist this strike at all—her battle aura and cold were almost instantly crushed. A faint spray of blood scattered as she fell into the eternal, profound night.

This was the gap.

With the King’s Sword in hand, as long as Albert sat on that throne, he was almost unbeatable.

“Overestimating yourself.”

After blasting Celicia away, Albert sneered. He didn’t give Celicia any chance to escape, as if he had already tossed aside what he’d just said—wanting to eliminate future trouble. He extended his hand again, like crushing a tiny insect, and lightly pressed toward Celicia.

A horrific pressure that nearly compressed the air into something solid crashed down. Celicia was even less able to withstand it. Still flying backward, her face turned paper-white in an instant. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and her consciousness rapidly began to blur.

Yet in that blur, she heard a familiar voice.

“Celicia!”

That voice drew near quickly. Then a warm embrace tightened around her, holding her firmly.

She hadn’t been held in this embrace many times, but every single time had left a deep impression on her.

This time, it was reassurance.

“Indra King!”

Muen, who had rushed over and finally arrived at the critical moment, held Celicia. As they flew backward together to offset the tremendous force, he roared loudly.

So the pitch-black ninefold circular rings stirred the heavenly thunder. A gaunt, tough old man arrived with a boom—clearly moving later than Muen, yet crossing an immense distance in an instant. He drove a fist of lightning into the golden great tree.

“Indra King?”

Albert froze for a moment, then roared in fury.

“You’re going to betray me?”

“I have never submitted to you. How can there be betrayal?” Indra King was expressionless. He raised his hand and threw another punch.

Under this punch, the golden great tree shook. Countless branches trembled, as if swept by a violent gale.

Indra King’s intent was to directly attack Albert, but at this moment, Albert seemed to have fused into one with the golden tree behind him. Any attack could only land on the golden tree.

“You dare attack me? Aren’t you afraid I—”

Halfway through, Albert suddenly frowned, his gaze turning toward somewhere. Though it was an immense distance away, it was as if the entire city was clearly visible beneath his eyes. Realization dawned on him.

“So that’s how it is. The source blood of that experimental subject has been cleared? That can actually be done? What a pity—beast blood is a good thing. Who helped you? The Church? Muen Campbell really does have ties to the Church?”

Indra King said nothing, continuing to attack Albert.

“Hmph. Fine if you won’t say. For the current me, that experimental subject is useless anyway. I originally planned to erase her afterward. After all, the Empire’s emperor can’t have a stain like conducting human experimentation, can he?”

Albert raised the King’s Sword in his hand.

In an instant, countless points of light dripped down from the golden great tree’s branches, like golden willow catkins.

All of Berland was illuminated—bright as day. And within this resplendent imperial might, even the dignified Indra King couldn’t help but seem somewhat small.

“Ha ha, come!”

Albert laughed loudly. “Perfect. I’ll use your head, Indra King, to display the might of me, the Empire’s new emperor!”

...

...

“How spectacular...”

Somewhere within the royal palace, the Pink Bear lifted his head to gaze at the golden great tree that blanketed the grand city, and sighed.

The window glass in front of him reflected half his face. That bear face, usually comical, under the golden light, seemed to carry a certain solemnity as well.

“As expected of something left behind by the First King. Heh heh—an empire lasting a thousand years without falling really does rely on that thing.”

“Can you still hold on?”

Beside him, the former Saintess looked at him worriedly. “I can still perform one more Holy Light Baptism.”

“This simplified version cast by a single person is already basically useless.”

The Pink Bear shook his head. With that motion, inside his bear suit, it seemed as though thick blood was flowing. A pungent stench of blood and the sloshing sound of liquid seeped continuously from the fur of the pink suit.

“Rather than wasting time and stamina on something meaningless, we might as well prepare first. I also need to complete what I’m supposed to complete.”

“...Can it work?”

The former Saintess turned to look toward the golden great tree, thick worry in her eyes.

“Compared to our side, that side is the most important, right? If that side fails, everything we do is in vain. And it seems like you haven’t told her anything, have you? Is that really okay?”

“If we tell her in advance, it’ll be sensed. I don’t have a choice.”

The Pink Bear paused, as if recalling that icy face, and couldn’t help scratching his head. Then he smiled.

“But don’t worry. That girl... is smart. And besides, with what I know about her, she’s not someone who gives up that easily.”

...

...

“Old Ghost, you lost.”

Lower City, Flander Street.

Even within the Lower City, this was a place known for chaos. In tonight’s upheaval, it had basically already turned into ruins.

Flames and smoke burned everywhere. Ferocious thugs wailed everywhere. Broken corpses lay everywhere. Blood flowed everywhere, with a stench so thick it hit the nose.

And amid this wreckage, the Rat King still stood, relatively intact. There were several clear wounds on his body, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. The magic repeating crossbow in his hand was aimed at the figure half-kneeling in front of him.

“Any last words?”

“Cough... cough, heh. Never thought I’d really fall into your hands, Sam.”

Old Ghost still wore a trench coat, but it was already tattered and stained with blood. One of his arms had been completely severed. Several bolts were embedded in his body, and the various negative properties attached to them were continuously corroding him, causing him unbearable pain.

—In the chaotic battle just now, one side had relied on excellent equipment and personnel quality, while the other relied on berserk beast-transformed monsters, and the two had been locked in a stalemate.

But as that crying suddenly stopped, all the beast-transformed ones actually returned to human form and collapsed, drained of strength. In an instant, the balance tipped, and he was defeated under the siege.

Could it only be said that in the end, he still lost to the will of heaven?

“Looks like your final words were just nonsense.”

The Rat King gave a cold laugh. His finger tightened slightly, and without hesitation, he pulled the trigger...

Hng.

At that moment, dazzling golden light abruptly surged up, illuminating the night.

The Rat King reflexively lifted his head, staring blankly at that golden great tree that made people unable to resist wanting to submit.

“Not good...”

He was only dazed for a moment before he snapped back, realizing that this brief lapse had ruined everything.

Sure enough, the instant he recovered, along with Old Ghost’s hand closing as if grasping something, the Rat King immediately felt a violent suffocation, like an iron clamp crushing his ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) throat.

Whoosh!

The Rat King’s subordinates fired in rapid succession. Old Ghost’s twisted face flickered, and in the end, he chose survival over everything—hurling the Rat King toward his own subordinates, while he seized the chance to swiftly melt into the night.

“Chase... go, chase!”

Ignoring his violent coughing, the Rat King issued orders at top speed. But by now, Old Ghost had already vanished into the crisscrossing, narrow alleyways.