The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 182: The Ambitious Brother

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Near the Wildlands outside of New York, a huge golden and red-colored portal opened out of nowhere. This wasn’t a Gate where monsters would randomly pour out, forcefully breaking the pillars of space.

No, this was a special Portal created using Magic or an Item from the Tower itself. The Portal opened, widening for over a hundred meters and then stabilizing, remaining open for several minutes.

Until someone started coming from the portal. A large, towering man wearing crimson and golden armor, with a helmet resembling the helmets of Roman warriors, holding on his hands a long golden spear and carrying a huge shield decorated with the head of a lion carved into the metal.

He glanced around, as suddenly, dozens of men, then hundreds, then thousands, started marching out of the portal, all of them wearing similar armor to him, wielding mostly spears, and carrying huge shields.

“It seems to be clear! There does not seem to be any enemy awaiting us for ambush!” The man roared. “That man wasn’t wrong; he seems to have truly betrayed your brother, my lord.”

He smiled as a huge carriage made of gold emerged from the portal, carried by massive horse-like monsters set ablaze, with golden horns above their heads and fiery blue eyes.

They roared, making a loud noise as they stepped forward, making the ground tremble, carrying the carriage with ease.

And in the carriage itself, a man, there was a man.

Someone perhaps just as big as the general of this entire army, with huge muscular arms, a tall body, cascading blonde hair, and fiery red eyes. He wore lighter armor that only covered a few parts of his body, completely made of gold.

He looked around his surroundings with pride and arrogance, inspecting the “Wild and Uncharted Lands” as if he were looking at something that could be taken, something that he could make part of his ever-growing territory.

“Hmm, this place seems... fine, I suppose,” he nodded, crossing his arms. “Hm, there’s a lot of Mana Crystals that could be mined all around this place. Why is Caesar doing absolutely nothing about this? The rumors are true, it seems; my younger brother has lost all motivation. He seems stagnant, and he hasn’t even bothered to conquer the rest of this pitiful planet.”

“Our informants have said that he hasn’t even expanded past this area of the continent since his visit eleven years ago,” said the general. “Lord Claudius, your majesty.”

Claudius glanced at his General, his golden locks waving by the wind; his fair face and majestic appearance, coupled with his tall and muscular body, seemed to be the embodiment of masculine beauty.

“General Germanicus, what is it?” Claudius seemed too distracted by the uncharted wild lands, so he seemed slightly absent-minded.

“The one that gave us the coordinates, and also the one that told us much of the information we’ve learned and confirmed, should be getting here in a minute,” the General said. “Once he appears, I would prefer if his majesty remained behind the army to ensure his safety.”

“Pah! Are you implying I am a weak little lamb that requires protection, my loyal general?” laughed Claudius. “Don’t think so lowly of me, you.”

“I-I wasn’t implying that, your majesty…” the General muttered, feeling nervous his master was looking at him with a calm smile.

It was in these moments that Claudius would release it.

His Aura.

RUMBLE!

Everything suddenly turned gold, sparkling with small stars made of white light. The soldiers stepped back in awe as the Magical Aura of Prince Claudius was released.

“I think I can fend for myself; don’t you think?”

Everyone felt a tremendous pressure, as if the skies themselves were coming down; some soldiers couldn’t bear with it, falling to their knees; eventually, most did, prostrating before the golden-haired lord.

“Yes, of course your majesty,” nodded Germanicus. “Nonetheless, as your general, personal guard, and the man given the task of protecting you by his majesty the Emperor, I must still ask you to stand behind.”

“Haaah… What a pain, whatever then,” shrugged Claudius, his huge carriage moving back while the soldiers finally were able to breathe once his Aura dissipated.

“Hm? Oh, so you’re here already.”

Germanicus smiled, sensing a presence approaching him amidst the bushes nearby, as there were large forests within this area, expanding across the Wild Lands for hundreds of kilometers.

A tall figure stepped in, a man with long black hair and a stoic face, his eyes glowing bright green. His presence was so strong that Germanicus recognized it instantly.

“So you’ve made it well here, good,” nodded the man. “Welcome to his majesty Caesar’s domain… Or well, his majesty Claudius annexed territory, as it will be very soon.”

“Hahah, Atticus, I am amazed you’ve betrayed his majesty, Lord Caesar, and you dare come here with such a straight face, saying such words,” laughed Germanicus. “I’ve always despised unloyal dogs like you. And I find what you’ve done distasteful and devoid of any honor. Yet, it was still useful and needed. His majesty, Lord Claudius, accepts your conditions to accept you as one of his sub-generals within his personal army upon the successful conquest of this territory.”

“Yes, Germanicus made such a tantrum,” laughed Claudius. “But I can recognize a valuable asset when I see it, Atticus. You will make for a fine addition to my army. Your strength, your virility, and your loyalty shall now belong to me, just as everything that my brother holds dear will be mine.”

Atticus eyes widened as he saw the aura of grace, arrogance, pride, and beauty that Claudius exuded—something completely different than his first lord, Caesar, who always seemed like such a gloomy man.

Claudius exuded elegance and charm like nobody else, and his beauty and magic strength created a lethal combination, almost becoming something close to divine!

“Ah, it is just as I thought,” Atticus smiled. “Your majesty, Lord Claudius, I swear my allegiance to you. My life, my everything.”

“Hm~” Claudius nodded, walking towards the man and showing him his pristine, white feet. “Kiss them.”

This was a personal ritual he did; for those that wanted to serve him, they had to kiss his feet, like the good dogs they were.

“A-Ah…” Atticus felt both embarrassed and shocked; he hesitated, but ultimately lowered himself to such an extent.

“Fufu…” Claudius giggled mischievously, patting Atticus face and then kneeling before him, looking at him in the eyes. “Such a good dog you are~ Serve me with your life, Atticus.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Atticus nodded with a stoic face, although red with embarrassment.

Then…

FLUOSH!

A golden aura surged from his body as he gasped in disbelief, his strength skyrocketing to even higher realms never seen before!

“T-This is…?!”

Germanicus smiled, nodding.

“The blessing of his majesty,” he said. “Once you’ve sworn complete loyalty to him, he will give you his divine blessings. You thought that was humiliation? It was simply a way for him to give you more power. Now, you’ve finally broken through that wall, isn’t it? The wall you have yet to even pass through after reaching your level cap.”

“You’re welcome,” Claudius smiled gently. “Now tell me more about my big brother. What is he doing? And what made you change your mind?”

“It was only a day ago.” Atticus sighed. “When he told me that I shouldn’t pursue the criminals tormenting this kingdom. That I was overstepping my own boundaries, even though I’ve been working for his wellbeing this entire time... But it started much earlier. When he was pathetically defeated by that woman and swore royalty to her, becoming nothing but her dog. I couldn’t accept it, my king! My prince! Kneeling, lowering his head to a woman?! I-I…!”

“I see, calm down,” nodded Claudius. “We’ve heard a lot from this woman, yes. Bing Xue was her name? Or Katherine? She had two names, whatever. The important thing is that this woman is the true ruler of this planet, huh? Once my brother is defeated, I suppose I’ll simply have to slay her later.”

“H-Her powers… are on another level; I’ve heard that she had even slain many gods already,” said Atticus. “Your majesty, I am not doubting your strength, but—”

“Many gods, you say?” laughed Claudius. “Well, isn’t that cute?”

Claudius walked back to his carriage, looking into the distance.

“Then shall we march? If we move quickly, we might get to the city where my brother’s castle is,” he said. “Let’s advance through the skies!”

His Golden Aura surged, connecting to the Golden Auras of everyone else as they suddenly grew golden wings and flew into the skies.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, all of them above Level 6000, flew across the skies, commanded by someone already at max level.

Claudius glanced into the horizon, laughing.

“Hahaha! What a beautiful world! It will be mine, mother! I will show it to you once we’re done!” he kept laughing.

Although his loyalty was almost cemented, Atticus couldn’t help but feel an uneasy feeling, as if he couldn’t completely believe what he was doing.

“Was this… the right thing?” he wondered. “I… why does my head feel strange?”

It was strange, as if something was missing from his own memories.

“Uh… It must simply be my imagination; perhaps I am still euphoric from what I’ve done, but this is for the best. I shall not serve a lord that has bent the knee to a woman.”

In the distance, mixed between the bushes and trees, there was someone watching, giggling.

They wore colorful clothes, a pointy hat with bells, and a white mask.

Half of the mask showed a laughing face, the other half, a crying face.

“Heheh... Hahahaha! I can’t believe it worked?! Oh my! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA! I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

The laughter of the wicked reverberated as chaos spread further across the land.

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(Bing Xue’s POV)

“Mamamama…”

“Babah…?”

“Mamama!”

“Babauh… Bauh!”

“Mamumaaaah!”

“Aaahh! Baaahh!”

Right now, I was experiencing at first glance what most experts would call “baby talk,” where two babies talk with one another, making cute noises.

Of course, it cannot be understood at all, and I doubt they understand each other either; they’re just making noises.

But at the same time, they’re trying to communicate, imitating how they see us talking and trying to do the same themselves!

It’s wonderful, isn’t it? How babies learn these things on their own!

“So cute! But I don’t understand what they’re even talking about,” laughed Urbosa.

“Yeah… I can’t even get it,” Hekita muttered.

We were right now enjoying the beach of the Northern Region of the continent, where my palace was located.

The sky was sunny and clear, with the calm beach waves slowly hitting the sand, and my family and disciples were enjoying the natural beauty of my inner realm.

Meanwhile, with Urbosa, Merkite, and Hekita, we were enjoying the day with the babies.

“Orion! Orion! Look at me! Do you recognize Mama?" Urbosa asked.

“Abuuh… Babah?”

We named the boy Orion, mostly Urbosa’s idea, as she wanted to give him the name of a god of my world, perhaps to honor this world's human mythology.

Nonetheless, I had told her I didn’t really care about such things, but she put a lot of emphasis on that. Well, I was fine with that anyway.

I had considered giving them a name like those from Murim, but I decided to free my children from the shackles of that world.

They’re free, and so I decided to call him Orion; although not a god, he was a strong hunter, which is all I want my kid to be.

Knowing his future self doesn’t mean he’ll become him either, so I began to think of both the Orion of the future and the present as different children.

He’ll probably develop much differently than his future counterpart.

“Mama!”

However, instead of Orion, who seemed a bit distracted by everything all the time, his sister ran towards Urbosa, calling her mama by accident.

“Hahah! I’m not your mama, dear… I’m your auntie!” Urbosa laughed.

“Hey, Athena! Why are you looking at my sister like your mama? I’m your mama!” Merkite cried, feeling a bit hurt.

“Heheheh!” the baby girl laughed.

She was smart; that’s why we called her Athena; she likes playing pranks at this age, and she’s often more focused and sharp-minded than her brother.

I don’t know why that’s the case, perhaps because she inherited some of Merkite’s rashness, while Orion is calmer, like his mama.

“S-She’s playing pranks on us again! This girl…” Merkite sighed.

“Mama!” Athena ran towards Merkite and hugged her. “Wawah? Bauh!”

“Hm? Oh, you want watermelon?” Merkite wondered, noticing Athena pointing at the distance. “I see, alright, alright… Here.”

She gave her a big piece of juicy watermelon, which the baby girl started munching.

Her teeth were already well developed, and so were those of my son, who was catching little crabs and… eating them.

“Nam! Nam! Nam!”

He was definitely the wilder of the two as well; he liked running around on all fours, barking sometimes, and hunting little critters.

It has been roughly two months since they were born in the Inner Realm, and they had grown and developed to the point of acting like children in their two to three years of age.

They were still developing and growing, but their personalities seem already well defined, and they had also learned to walk just fine.

They’re rapidly learning new words every day as well! They’re so smart!

“Orion! Athenaaaa! I caught a big one!”

As we played with the babies, Hekita came running from the beach with Anubis behind her, who was carrying a giant fish with his metallic jaws.

“Oooh! Fishu!” said Orion. “Fish! FIshu!”

“Sister!” said Athena. “Sis… shishter!”

“Heheh! You’re learning so many words every day!” Hekita giggled, greeting the two and kissing their foreheads. “Let’s eat the big fish we caught!”

Seeing Hekita finally having siblings and loving them so much filled my heart with so much happiness.

Ah, this is the break I needed! I’m so happy to be alive.

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