Chapter 465: The Negotiation with the Great Sultan
Kai Xiusu’s pale golden eyes flickered with a fleeting trace of disappointment. He shook his head, as if deeply regretful.
Ismael has respawned.
Though he held the Great Sultan in contempt, he couldn’t bring himself to kill the Pasha right before him. Not only was it tactically unwise, but the sheer pressure of the Great Sultan’s fury was already beginning to overwhelm him—after all, even a mere Projection of a Semi-Divine Existence was no trivial foe.
Ismael’s gaze snapped toward the distant, looming Red Dragon, and his expression instantly twisted into panic and dread.
“You— you—”
“How could this be?! You were supposed to be cut off— decapitated!”
“How dare you kill me?!”
The image of his sudden death—head severed, body collapsing—still burned in his mind.
But then he looked down at his own form, now shriveled and diminished. A cold realization struck him: his Strength had been sapped—drastically.
“What… what have you done to me?”
His voice trembled, shaking with fear.
Even in death, he had never felt such terror. Losing his Strength was a fate worse than death itself. Strength—that was everything. Only the mightiest Fire Giants could rise to become the direct servants of the Sultan, honored as Fire Titan Pashas.
Now, stripped of his power, he was no longer elite. In the warlike race of the Fire Giants, he would be easily replaced—by lesser, lower-status Fire Giants eager to seize his place.
“Ismael!”
“You fool!”
The Great Sultan’s voice erupted in fury, cutting through the air like a blade.
Ismael turned toward the distant Projection of the Great Sultan, his entire body trembling with fear. Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees—bowing before the towering figure.
“My Lord!”
“I have failed you! I… I never thought You would spend Strength to resurrect me!”
But the Great Sultan ignored the weakened Pasha. His eyes remained fixed on the Red Dragon, burning with unrelenting wrath.
If gaze alone could kill, the Red Dragon would have already been flayed, gutted, and torn to pieces.
Yet Kai Xiusu paid no mind to the glare. He merely licked his lips with a satisfied smirk, his voice calm and cool.
“Great Sultan, I’ve come for negotiations. Let us pause hostilities, at least for now.”
“Negotiations?!”
The Fire Giant’s voice was incredulous, his tone boiling with rage.
“You barged into my realm, seized my city, slaughtered my people, and murdered my servant!”
“Now, after all this, you dare speak of negotiation?!”
Kai Xiusu shook his head slowly, dismissively.
“Great Sultan, from your perspective, perhaps. But from mine, it was your subordinates who pursued and attacked my followers—and insulted me directly in front of me.”
“My actions were nothing more than justified self-defense.”
He remained utterly unshaken.
The justification didn’t matter.
Even a claim as absurd as “slaughtering a Fire Giant city being justified self-defense” could be uttered without a flicker of guilt.
In the world of evil-aligned beings, only one thing truly mattered—power.
If this were the Great Sultan’s true form, wielding his full Semi-Divine Power, Kai Xiusu would have fled in terror, scrambling to escape.
If escape failed, kneeling to beg for mercy would not be beneath him.
But now?
A mere Projection of the Great Sultan—daring to raise his voice against Kai Xiusu?
“Justified self-defense?”
“If I hadn’t stopped you, would you have kept defending all the way to the City of Brass?!”
The Great Sultan’s roar echoed across the scorching wasteland, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.
Yet, he quickly regained composure. His gaze locked onto the Red Dragon, eyes dark and calculating—his mind hidden behind a mask of silence.
It was too late for rage.
Fury wouldn’t change anything. It only exposed weakness.
“Kai Xiusu,” he said, voice low and dangerous, “I know you. The progeny of Tiamat. The Red Dragon who seized the Great Wasteland of Anzeta in the Material Realm, calling yourself Emperor of the Ashen Flame.”
“Hmm… you’ve certainly made quite a name for yourself lately.”
“But you’ve come to the Elemental Plane of Fire—barged into my domain. Do you not fear being trapped here forever?”
“Do you even know… what kind of being you’ve awakened?”
The threat was bare, unfiltered, and unmistakable.
Kai Xiusu gave a slight nod, as if in agreement—his tone almost reverent.
“I know your status, of course. Master of the City of Brass. Supreme Monarch of the Fire Titan Realm. The supreme ruler of the Elemental Plane of Fire.”
Had this been any other time, the Great Sultan would have dismissed it as flattery.
But now?
The Red Dragon had just killed his servant—consumed his Strength in front of him.
It was a mockery. A taunt.
The Great Sultan’s face darkened further.
Kai Xiusu paused after reciting that long, elaborate list of titles—then continued, with deliberate calm.
“But if you were to appear here in your true form… I wouldn’t dare set foot in the Elemental Plane of Fire.”
He gave the Great Sultan a half-smile, feigning politeness.
“Being pierced through by Prince Zaman Ruur’s Holy Flame Spear… must have been quite painful, wouldn’t it? I hear you were pinned straight to your throne.”
“You—you greedy, arrogant Red Dragon!”
The Great Sultan roared in fury.
The words struck a raw nerve.
Months ago, Zaman Ruur—along with Fire Dwarf rebels—had slipped through a hidden passage into the City of Brass.
The Holy Flame Prince had infiltrated the very heart of the Charcoal Palace, hurling his deadly long spear.
For a moment, the Great Sultan had been on the brink of death.
Even now, he still limped through the city, too wounded to leave the palace.
The entire realm was on high alert. Every passage was sealed, every entrance scrutinized.
And now, the Great Sultan stared at the Red Dragon with cold, venomous eyes.
“Who sent you?” he growled. “What do you want?”
“Who sent me?”
Kai Xiusu repeated the question, shaking his head with a wry smile.
“It depends on your choice.”
“If you insist on waging war with the Empire of Ashen—until one of us falls—then I am merely a surprise force sent by the Holy Flame Prince.”
“I will fly across your vast realm. I will swoop over every Fire Giant city, every fortress, every stronghold. And I will slaughter them all—like a reaper of death.”
The threat in Kai Xiusu’s voice was thick, heavy.
But the Great Sultan’s expression flickered—just for a moment—revealing a tremor of unease.
Because the threat was plausible.
The frontlines were tense. Slave uprisings had erupted in every city. The elite Fire Giant combat forces were stretched thin, fighting the Prince’s followers.
And the Great Sultan himself—wounded, confined to his palace—was powerless to stop anything.
In such a situation, with the frontlines collapsing and the rear hollow, no one could stop a being of Ancient Dragon level—perhaps even more terrifying than that.
And the Holy Flame Prince?
He’d likely welcome such an ally.
This dragon could very well tear the Fire Titan Realm apart—handing the rebels the chance to overthrow their tyrannical leaders.
The Great Sultan fell into silence, lost in thought.
But Kai Xiusu’s words continued.
“Yet… if you choose peace with the Empire of Ashen—if you let go of these misunderstandings, if you apologize to me… if you show goodwill…”
“Then this is just a misunderstanding. I will not interfere in your War of Burning. In fact, I may even offer military support—within my means.”
Kai Xiusu lifted his head. On his fearsome dragon face, a calm, almost serene smile lingered.
“I have always pursued peace. I do not advocate violence. All conflicts can be resolved through negotiation.”
“Wouldn’t you agree… my lord?”
(End of Chapter)
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