Chapter 339: A Hard Choice To Make

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

"So if you want to try and do things your way, then don’t blame me if I kill you. Because I totally will. I’m losing my patience here, so let me propose something–"

"How dare you?!"

Just as Adrian was about to speak more, one of the older barons pushed himself up from his chair. The wooden chair skidded backward from the force as the man yelled at Adrian with spit flying from his mouth.

"How dare you go against our great Emperor?! How dare you speak such trea-"

Before the man could even complete his sentence, a silver flash shot towards him.

A steel chakram flew toward him at such unbelievable, supersonic speeds that the other nobles couldn’t even react to it. They were barely even able to see a silver blur flash through the air and none of them could do a single thing to stop it.

Shck!

The spinning blade sliced through the screaming baron’s neck without any resistance. It seamlessly curved through the air and flew right back toward Adrian, floating right beside his head while it quietly spun in place.

The baron’s severed head tilted forward and fell straight onto the long wooden table.

Thick, dark blood violently spurted up like a fountain from his severed neck stump, raining down on the nobles sitting nearby and painting the expensive canvas walls of the tent in blood red. The man’s body remained standing for a second before it slumped forward. The severed head rolled off the edge of the table and hit the dirt floor with a thud along with the body.

The other nobles simultaneously sucked in sharp breaths. They were completely paralyzed with sheer terror as they watched the blood pool onto the floor before slowly turning to look back at Adrian.

The law did not matter if justice arrived too late. And they all deeply understood this reality right now.

There was no point in waiting for the Emperor like loyal dogs to punish this madman when they would just lose their heads and fall dead on this table right now. They did the calculations in their minds, and every single one of them kept their mouths firmly shut.

Adrian slowly leaned back in his chair and watched as none of them spoke up.

He placed his hands flat on the table and just stared at them.

He didn’t speak for two whole minutes. He just sat there in silence, as if he was waiting for another person to boldly stand up and complain about his treason.

But none of them did. The only sound in the tent was the dripping of blood.

It was only after those two agonizing minutes passed that Adrian finally opened his mouth again.

"Now," Adrian said casually. "The Emperor sent you guys all the way out here to fight a proxy war. And what is exactly going to happen if you somehow manage to win it for him? He will praise you a little bit in court. He will toss you a little bit of gold from his overflowing treasury. He might even give you a little bit of extra barren land on the borders."

He looked at the nobles.

"But what else? Absolutely nothing. And if you guys are incredibly lucky, if you have deep connections, if you are really good at kissing his boots and pleasing him, then he might actually promote you from a Baron to a Viscount or something."

Adrian scoffed.

"But what about the other stuff? What about the actual valuable stuff that the Emperor is getting out of this? That guy is not even fighting this war, and if we win today, he gets his hands on an entire, untouched mana crystal mine."

Adrian leaned forward again, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous tone.

"Did you guys lose your minds to not understand how much you are losing over here? You are fighting for someone else’s wallet, and you are using innocent people’s lives to fight for it. I don’t think that is fair at all. And I am not going to let you do whatever you want in this camp anymore. And from now on, this camp is mine."

He tapped his finger against the table.

"The Emperor has already been pissing me off for quite a while now. And I have officially decided to rebel."

The nobles collectively flinched.

"And I’m going to ask you guys right now," Adrian said. "Which one of you is going to take my side?"

The nobles stayed completely silent. They just nervously looked at each other, sweat dripping down their foreheards.

Adrian leaned back against his chair again and took his hands off the table.

"I won’t harm you if you decide to side with the Emperor," Adrian offered smoothly. "But you will have to leave this camp immediately. I will be the one fully in charge here now, and I do not want anyone who is siding with the Emperor to be in this camp. That is all."

He let the spinning chakram hover a little closer to his shoulder.

"You can leave with your lives completely intact right now. But do keep in mind that if we do meet on a battlefield after this, you will have the worst death possible. And I will not spare your families back home either. So do think a lot before you make your final decision."

Draven took a deep breath.

He already fully knew about this. He had already talked this through with Adrian a few nights ago, so he didn’t hesitate for a single second.

Draven firmly placed his massive hand on the table.

"I will side with you," Draven said.

Frankenstein immediately did the exact same thing, slapping his hand down. "I am with Lord Adrian as well."

The remaining nobles just looked at the Northern Warlord and the Count, and then nervously looked at each other. It was clear that they were currently stuck between two extremaly hard options.