Green Monster Epic

The funeral continued in an orderly manner. The two princes and princesses, having received the treatment they deserved, behaved themselves quite well. Their speeches revealed memories of the past and longing for the late old king, stirring emotions and drawing praise and resonance from many below.

Although Dazzle had already indicated his favored heir to the kingdom's nobles and officials before his death, various forces had their own demands. Coupled with the struggle between the royal family and the Church of the Suffering, many nobles and forces within the Lionheart Dynasty were actually still in a wait-and-see state, not truly revealing their attitudes.

This was also an important consideration for Hussein and Diana in their desire to compete with Fleming for the throne. Otherwise, with the arrangements Dazzle had made during his lifetime, having already purged the supporters behind Hussein and Diana, the two of them would not have much leverage to compete with Fleming now.

Of course, it goes without saying whether the Church of the Suffering did anything else behind the scenes.

Their so-called remembrance was actually an opportunity for the two heirs to showcase themselves to the forces and nobles present. Because they were even more aware that although Fleming seemed stronger, his opponents were far stronger than him, and the ultimate victory actually depended on the Church of the Suffering's trump cards.

"Huff ~ ~"

A gust of wind swept through, and the auras of many strong individuals in the field surged. However, after clearly seeing the identity of the person who came, they gradually concealed their auras again.

"…Your Majesty, your old minister has failed your trust, failing to protect Pope Lees's safety, and even failing to protect His Excellency Edward…"

Milko, who arrived late, was still clad in heavy armor, presumably having galloped all the way just to see the old king one last time. Supporting himself on Dazzle's coffin, which had not yet been closed, Milko knelt on the grass in grief, repeatedly kowtowing to express his inner guilt.

"…Please rest assured, Your Majesty, this old minister will definitely avenge this. Those damned beastmen and the uncivilized, dirty natives of the wilderness will all die under my greatsword sooner or later!!"

"Cough cough, General Milko!!"

Sunak's face flashed with displeasure. Today's protagonist should not be this derelict old thing. What exactly was he trying to do by attracting attention like this now!!

As the commander of the border fortress and the most trusted general under King Dazzle, the collateral impact of Milko's failure caused the kingdom's already unclear struggle to once again develop in a direction unfavorable to the royal family. Moreover, upon closer examination, the source of His Majesty's tragic end was not without a contribution from Milko and his failed mission. If His Majesty were still alive, he would probably severely punish this old thing!

"Prime Minister Sunak, this old minister requests to be transferred to the Barac border fortress, willing to be the vanguard for the future attack on the Beastman Empire!!"

Milko seemed not to see the dissatisfaction in Sunak's eyes, raising his head and solemnly saying again with a resolute expression.

"Today is an important day for His Majesty's physical burial and the soul's return to the divine kingdom. What do you want to do right now!!"

"Get up quickly!!"

Sunak's tone became increasingly cold. If Milko was not a legendary powerhouse and not so easy to deal with, Sunak would probably have had Sidney arrest him by now.

"General Milko!!"

Sidney's killing intent rose, directly pressing towards Milko, who was disregarding his image in front. Although there was a certain gap in strength between the two, Sidney would not hesitate to turn hostile with the other party for the sake of His Majesty's dignity. After all, the place was currently Sidney's territory, and countless soldiers around could be summoned by Sidney at any time.

"This old minister only wants to be loyal to His Majesty and avenge His Excellency Edward and the others, please allow it, Prime Minister and esteemed gentlemen!!"

Milko's eyes were filled with grief and indignation, still not thinking of retreating.

"As an army commander, transfers need to be based on the kingdom's laws. Now that the new king has not yet ascended the throne, we do not have the authority to transfer you!!"

The Minister of Military Affairs, Jonathan, showed a troubled expression, earnestly trying to persuade him.

"Then quickly choose an heir from the royal family, so that the kingdom's political situation can return to the right track!!"

Upon hearing this, Milko then spoke solemnly.

Sunak and the others' expressions changed immediately upon hearing this. Milko's series of abnormal actions at this time were probably for this one thing.

"The kingdom's important ministers and the heads of the various noble families are all here now, and His Excellency Bishop Vucic and the others are also present. Let's decide this matter today in front of His Majesty's remains, so as to avoid a situation like His Majesty's in the past, causing the kingdom to fall into turmoil for nothing!!"

"Bold! You are just a border military officer, how can you presumptuously discuss state affairs!!"

Sunak felt the aura of approaching danger, his expression becoming stern as he loudly rebuked him.

"Although I am a military officer, my loyalty to the kingdom and His Majesty can be judged by the gods. I think there are quite a few gentlemen who have the same thoughts as I do now, everyone might as well express their attitudes!!"

Milko was obviously prepared, turning his head after getting up to look at the other observing ministers and nobles around him.

"…Hmph!"

Sidney, Jonathan, and other ministers stared coldly at Milko, as if watching a clown perform. In their opinion, Milko's rash move would not win the support of other colleagues or even opponents.

"I think what General Milko said makes a lot of sense!!"

Just as Jonathan and the others were waiting contemptuously to watch the joke, a voice suddenly came from the crowd. The expressions of several people changed slightly as they looked towards the source of the voice, just in time to see Count Runa, who had a lot of influence among the kingdom's neutral forces, walk through the crowd and come to Sunak and the others.

While nodding slightly to Sunak and the others as a greeting, Runa continued to speak: "The assassination of Pope Lees this time is very serious. If our kingdom cannot give those old guys a strong counterattack, it will inevitably become a laughing stock for other kingdoms."

"Based on the existing evidence and witnesses, we can basically confirm the assassin's identity. It should be the Orcs, who have always been hostile to us humans and want to provoke internal strife within my human kingdom. Although there is also evidence that this matter is related to Bishop Vuchek and your Church of the Suffering, this is likely a means for the enemy to confuse us."

Giving Vuchek an apologetic look, Runa continued, "If this matter is truly the work of the Orc Empire, then my Lionheart Kingdom alone will definitely not be able to retaliate. To say nothing of mobilizing troops for a distant expedition to the Orc border, it would require crossing the territory of the Kingdom of the Four Seasons, which would require the kingdom's leader to discuss with their king."

"Or, simply as a member of the alliance, launch another war initiative against the Orc Empire to the alliance, which would also require the name of the kingdom's new king."

"Yes!!"

Many of the officials and nobles below actually began to echo. Sunak carefully scanned around and discovered that, in addition to many originally neutral individuals, there were even members of their own faction defecting. A cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

"The matter of the new king's coronation is related to the overall situation of the country. To discuss it at the old king's funeral is simply disregarding etiquette!!"

An official, having received a signal from Sunak, immediately jumped out and loudly denounced.

"Your Majesty..."

Someone else echoed, their words filled with sorrow.

The three princes had different expressions, with Prince Fleming's being the most terrifying. A gloomy and angry look floated on his face, and he almost couldn't help but vent, but his good education ultimately made him hold it back.

"Although today is King Dazzell's funeral, and discussing the matter of the new king is somewhat inappropriate, since Earl Runa mentioned my church, then I, as the church's representative, should also express my opinion."

Just as the two groups were arguing, a kind voice interjected. The voice seemed ordinary and not loud, but it could be clearly heard by everyone, and it even had a magical aura that calmed people down, immediately suppressing everyone's voices.

The demigod bishop of the Church of the Suffering, who had always been impossible to ignore, finally spoke.

"Decades ago, my Lord chose King Dazzell from among the dozen or so heirs of the royal family, wisely selecting him as the new king. Over the years, King Dazzell has also proven the correctness of my Lord's initial choice with his actual abilities."

"Now that the old king has passed away, a new king must inherit the throne. Logically speaking, the heir cultivated by the old king should be a suitable candidate, but after observing this heir, my church believes that His Highness Fleming may not be able to shoulder the responsibility of king."

"Nonsense!!"

Minister of Military Affairs Jonathan glared coldly at the seemingly fair and selfless bishop. He was a witness to the turmoil of the monarchy more than twenty years ago, and personally witnessed the church disregarding the entire kingdom for the sake of power. "His Highness Fleming has been receiving guidance from the kingdom's most outstanding teachers since he began to read at the age of three, and he has also been trained by our old fellows. If even he cannot be the king of a country, then looking at the entire royal family, I am afraid that no one else can be competent for this position."

Back then, if the Church of the Suffering hadn't insisted on stubbornly delaying the coronation ceremony for the new king, it wouldn't have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in a natural disaster that required the mobilization of the kingdom's forces for rescue.

And Jonathan's family happened to be in the area most severely affected by the disaster. In the end, when Jonathan returned to his family with the resources he had raised, more than half of the large family had died, and even his two favorite children had perished in the disaster.

"My Lord is wise, insightful into the future, how can you mortals understand His vast and profound vision?"

"My church obeys the divine decree of my Lord and has decided to establish a new heir for the kingdom. I wonder if everyone supports it?"

Suddenly, Vuchek, who had always been kind and friendly, changed his face. His demigod aura, like a suddenly rising mountain, enveloped the spiritual world of all the nobles and officials. For a time, many human guests with insufficient strength showed painful and heavy expressions, struggling bitterly.

"Damn it!! You are provoking all the citizens of my Lionheart Kingdom!!"

The situation changed too quickly, catching Sunak and the others somewhat off guard. Although they didn't know why Vuchek would suddenly turn hostile, now that the other party had said so much, they could only brace themselves and prepare to confront him head-on.

In any case, the place where everyone is now belongs to the royal family's land. If they can't compete with the Church of the Suffering even here, then Sunak and the others will have even less chance of winning outside of here.

Without making a sound, he winked at Fleming and quietly poked Sidney's armor with his hand, signaling him to summon the surrounding soldiers to react in order to resist the demigod's pressure.

Sidney's actions were actually not slow. He shouted loudly, "Men!! Surround the garden for me!!"

"Clang! Clang! Clang!!"

For this funeral, Sidney had placed all the palace guards he could bring around the garden. At the same time, he also selected thousands of elites from the Royal Capital Garrison to maintain today's funeral together with the palace guards.

The dense and heavy footsteps mixed with the noise of metal armor and weapons colliding, making the already heavy atmosphere even more tense. Many family heads and officials who had not yet made up their minds and expressed their positions secretly lamented in their hearts, regretting that they should not have personally attended the funeral.

In the sky, several fireworks suddenly exploded, and it was unknown whether they were signals sent by the church or the kingdom to their other colleagues in the royal capital.