"I knew it! You are Basil! But what's wrong with you? Why did you behave like this? What on earth
happened?" Isis asked in a husky voice. She never expected that Rocky would suddenly be twisted in
this kind of scenario. In her mind, she believed that he must have had some pretty serious and
complication reasons for being in such a situation.
Needless to say, Rocky did not express any eagerness to explain himself, or at least, he could not
begin to articulate his defense. Perhaps, this was because he found it too hard to put the right words
together because it involved too many secrets, reasons, and too much helplessness that Isis might not
even understand. Now, he could no longer have any connection with the past. Otherwise, misfortune
would come to his life in the most unpredictable way possible.
That was why, at that moment, he did not utter a single word. Instead, he turned around and left
immediately.
Isis saw nothing but Rocky's back as she felt her heart ache. Next thing she knew, she opened her
mouth and shouted at him, "Don't you know that Father is critically ill? He wants to see you one last
time."
Before she could finish that desperately, Rocky had vanished.
The night fell and the dark sky enveloped the quiet and serene Palace City. It reeked of depressing
aura as the emperor was dying from his illness at that time.
Dead silence crept the royal chamber where the emperor lived. No one dared disturb his peaceful
resting, with only two maids guarding his door from the outside.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew and howled where the two maids were stationed. Their delicate
bodies trembled for a moment, but the atmosphere quickly returned to its original state not long after.
Almost at the same time, a man's figure appeared inside the chamber. There, he stood beside the bed
patiently and looked at the dying emperor who had his breaths numbered.
The emperor slowly opened his eyes, looked back at the figure beside him, and said in a shaking voice,
"Basil... Is... is that you?"
Nothing but a slight hum was heard as a reply.
"You finally... finally... came back! It is so great... to see you, son... for one last time... before I rest in
peace. I'm glad. I can now die without any regret. I'm really happy!" the emperor said in a hoarse and
feeble voice.
A groan was heard from the figure beside the emperor.
"I... I only have... one final... wish. I hope you... can help... the Holy Dragon Empire... survive the crisis
this time. No... no matter what... happened... to you... I always believe... in what you can do... The Holy
Dragon Empire... is... counting on... you... Don't... let me down!" As the emperor said his words, he
opened his seemingly weak eyes widely and grabbed the figure beside the bed with enormous strength
as if he were not ill.
"I won't let you down, Father. I will take control of the Holy Dragon Empire and run it with the best of my
abilities. After all, it belongs to me..." But all of a sudden, a low sneer was heard after the figure's voice
trailed off.
"But you... You are not... Ba— Basil! Y...You are... Als—" The emperor was stunned to his core.
Immediately, he raised his other hand and slowly pointed at the figure beside the bed.
But before the emperor could even lift his hand up completely, he felt a serious stimulation that
prevented him from doing so. He took a few and quick deep breaths as if he was suffering from
extreme lack of oxygen. Without warning, his face turned deathly pale. His tight grip suddenly loosened
and he finally stared at the figure in front of him with absolute regret.
"Ha, ha, death has finally claimed your soul! I'm afraid you won't be able to rest in peace under the
nether world when you see me for the last time before your demise. This is your retribution. In the hell,
you'll see how I take back everything that belongs to me and how I kill your favorite Basil..."
The next day, the news of the emperor's death immediately spread throughout the Imperial City like
wildfire. Cries of agony and sadness filled the entire city as everyone mourned the emperor's death.
Three days later, the golden coffin housing the emperor's corpse was sent to the imperial tomb, with a
large number of citizens watching the ceremony. After seven days and nights of sleepless vigil, the
coffin was finally buried in a grand tomb, allowing the emperor to depart from the world for all eternity.
At that moment, Nigel had been conferred the title of the successor. Since the old emperor had
perished, he was the rightful heir to the throne. But because Nigel was still young, he still couldn't take
charge of politics. And now, the Holy Dragon Empire was in an extremely passive predicament
because of Rocky happened to be Nigel's father. Moreover, the royal family had already been against
it, thinking that Nigel was not qualified to inherit the position of the new emperor.
As this happened, the other princes of the empire also took advantage of the opportunity to form
groups and secretly prepared for whatever might happen.
However, with the support of the Three Great Generals and the support of several big clans, including
the Ximen Clan and the Ji Clan, the crowning ceremony was already scheduled to be held in five days.
Upon completion of the ceremony, there would be no more objections to Nigel as the new emperor, no
matter how opposed the royal family was. If the opposition still continued to deny Nigel's right, they
would be labelled as usurpers.
Five days later, officials filled the square in front of the Lofty Dragon Hall, including the members of the
royal family that were led by several princes, as well as the chiefs or representatives of the major clans.
In addition, some important figures of the Holy Dragon Empire were also present at the event.
At the same time, seven of the royal family elders, the Three Great Generals, and Lena the Witch,
stood side by side as if they were supervising the crowning ceremony. In front of them was the
controversial throne that Nigel was supposed to be sitting on.
Meanwhile, on red carpet paved road, Isis led Nigel, who was wearing a dragon crown and a golden
dragon robe. Slowly, they walked to the throne under the watchful eyes of the public.
On the other hand, this was Nigel's first time to experience such a big scene. Hence, he still seemed to
be a little afraid of strangers who had their eyes glued to him. As a result, he looked up to his mother
from time to time, as if asking for assurance.
"Don't be afraid. Your father must be watching us somewhere. I am sure that he will protect us no
matter what happens. Now, what we need to do is to move forward and do what we must do," Isis
consoled the child. In fact, she also knew that her son could not understand anything that was
happening around him at all, and that comfort was actually directed to help herself. Apart from this, she
also knew that it was not easy to ascend the throne, especially when Rocky was a wanted man by all
the spiritual race clans in the entire Wild Spirit Land. She knew that as long as her son ascended the
throne, he would surely suffer an unprecedented situation. Despite the messy situation, she had
already mentally prepared herself for whatever might happen. She knew that she had to fulfill the
wishes of the deceased emperor and Rocky, and let Nigel inherit the throne.
Not long after, Isis and Nigel reached the throne. There, she assisted her son and led him to his rightful
seat.
At that moment, the leading elder among the several elders of the royal family immediately came up
with an imperial edict in his hand. Written by the deceased emperor in person, this imperial edict was
considered to be a testament and could not be changed. Therefore, as long as the decision on the
imperial edict was announced in public, Nigel could ascend the throne smoothly.
The leading elder looked around at everyone present. Then, he picked up the imperial edict and
announced the words written in it publicly. He tried to make his voice loud and clear as much as he
could so that everyone present could hear it with distinction.
After the leading elder finished the last word, he shouted with all his might, "Your Majesty, please
ascend the throne!"
Then, Isis carried her son and helped him sit on the throne. All of a sudden, a gloomy voice echoed
from the sky, "He is not qualified to inherit the throne at all!"
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