Armipotent

"Duan Ya leaned her back against the wall, her right foot tapping on the floor as she grew anxious. Chang Jie was still inside the office after she left the office which was around an hour. Not knowing what they were talking about made her anxious. She was afraid that Chang Jie would get into something horrible, especially when they were still in a war. The fear of the Tang Empire using Chang Jie as a disposable pawn made her restless.

She was on the verge of knocking on the door, but then the door opened. Hearing the sound, she looked up. Chang Jie came out of the office, sweating. His hair was wet from the sweat, and his face was red, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Chang Jie smiled widely, the joy was reflected in his expression, "I am fine. His Majesty just rewarded me with something precious, and now I need to get ready."

The answer was too vague for Duan Ya to be relieved. But she caught the keyword, reward, and got ready, "Does His Majesty request something for you? What is it?" There was nothing free in this world. If The Emperor rewarded something to Chang Jie, that meant they wanted something from Chang Jie.

"I am sorry, not that I don't want to tell you, but His Majesty is right. It's better for me not to mention the reward because that will make many people jealous of me. It's better that no one knew, including you," Chang Jie shook his head. His Majesty did not specifically ask him to keep it secret, but that was advice from Zhang Mengyao.

"I will not tell anyone. You know how good I am at keeping a secret. Don't you believe me?" Duan Ya frowned. A single meeting with The Emperor, and The Emperor made Chang Jie distrust her. Chang Jie always shared his secret with her, and this was the first time.

Chang Jie had a silly smile, shaking his head, "I trust the sober Duan Ya, but not the drunk Duan Ya. How many times have you spilled my shameful past while you were drunk? Too many times. But it's just a matter of time before you will know my secret, so please keep it secret from the others if you know it."

"Then what do you mean by getting ready? Are you leaving? Is that supposed to be a secret too?" Duan Ya gave up when he brought up her drunk behavior. If the secret was that big, then she also did not want to risk it. If it brought danger to Chang Jie later, she better not know the secret.

"I am now His Majesty's Sword Guard, and I will be leaving for Europe in half an hour. The Sword Guard title is just a decoration to my name. His Majesty actually will personally train me and help me level up. We will launch an attack on the World Government in Europe," Chang Jie motioned to Duan Ya to follow him.

"Where are you going now? Which Legion will follow his Majesty to Europe?" She followed Chang Jie. From what she knew, Chang Jie could leave at any time, so she wondered where he was going right now.

"Ah, I am going to meet the dwarves," Chang Jie was excited upon mentioning the dwarves, "His Majesty told me to get better equipment and told me to go to the underground city."

The dwarf's existence was known to the public, including the underground city. However, the access to the underground city was restricted. Not by the Tang Empire, but by The Dwarven Confederation's Council. Only a few people with the Council's permit could visit the underground city. Chang Jie was one of the few who had access to the underground city with The Emperor's pass.

"And there will be no legion that will follow us, only one small group. There might be three to five people who will join us later," Chang Jie answered casually as if it was nothing serious.

Duan Ya halted her step, blinking her eyes, processing what she just heard. She saw the army outside Lisbon, millions of them. The army spread out as long as Lisbon's wall, from the north to the south. The Emperor planned to attack those armies with just a small group. There was only one word that would precisely describe the decision, idiot. Only an idiot would do such a thing, or maybe a madman, or maybe both, an idiot madman.

Duan Ya snapped out of her thoughts and chased after Chang Jie. She caught his arm and pulled him, "And there's no way you agree to that nonsense idea, right? You will die, and he can easily escape if the situation is dangerous!"

Chang Jie smiled and shook his head, "I already take the reward, and I have to take responsibility for my decision even if it means dying. I will fight and die for the Tang Empire, just like Uncle Gan Shuo did back then."

"It's different!" Duan Ya raised her voice, holding Chang Jie's shoulder, and shook him a little bit, "It's different, Chang Jie! Listen to me, back then, Uncle Gan Shuo had no choice but to fight, but you are different. You don't have to fight millions of armies with just a few of you. You can back down, but Uncle Gan Shuo did not have a choice but to fight! Give back whatever His Majesty gives you, or you are just wasting Uncle Gan Shuo's sacrifice for you!"

Chang Jie shook his head, "I can't give the reward back, and I don't think I will die or His Majesty will let me die after what he gave to me. Don't worry Duan Ya, I will not die," The elevator door opened, and he walked in, "His Majesty said you can also get one set of equipment if you want. Do you want to get a new one?"

Duan Ya realized that she would not be able to persuade Chang Jie. She knew him too well, and this was what she worried the most when she came out of the office. The worst came true as The Emperor took advantage of Chang Jie's gullibility to do something very dangerous. She released a sigh and followed him into the elevator.

"Can I also follow you?" Duan Ya asked, in a less emotional tone than earlier.

"His Majesty did not say anything about you, but I can ask later if you want to follow me. However, it's better for you to stay with the expansion team…." Chang Jie's words trailed off, "It's dangerous for you."

*** ***

Tang Shaoyang was on the portal floor, standing in front of the portal to Lisbon. He thought of assembling a team of three or four people, but he ended up making a team of eight people including him. The team was Chang Jie, Pride The Demonic Ape, Wen the Jade Eagle, Kairu the Flaming Lion, Zaneos The Demon Swordsman, Zowen The Lightning Magus, and Areth.

"Are you sure you want to bring him with you? This is more dangerous than just fighting the beast. We are fighting millions of armies, and dozens of them are probably Legend Ranks. Can you protect him from them? I will not babysit him because I have one already in my hand," Tang Shaoyang did not agree for Areth to join the team even though the young man was an Epic Rank. Areth was the young man from the village who was slaughtered by the Mistovel Family. The young man swore to take revenge against the Mistovel Family, and he was following Zowen and Zaneos for the training. The three recently returned to Earth after their exploration in the Dimensional Tower and decided to join the fight.

The young man had the Fire Drake King bloodline, and it was a strong bloodline. Tang Shaoyang did not want to lose Areth before he could contribute anything to the empire.

"I will not die!" Areth replied confidently.

Tang Shaoyang wanted to say something, but he ended up shaking his head, "Let's depart!"

Duan Ya stared dagger at him, clearly, she resented him for taking Chang Jie with him. There was no point convincing someone as stubborn as Duan Yan. He just needed to bring her man back alive, "You don't want to hug or kiss your girlfriend? We will look away, so don't be embarrassed. This might be the last time you will see her."

Chang Jie smiled sillyly, shaking his head, "She is not my girlfriend, Your Majesty. She is my childhood friend, and she is like a sister to me."

Tang Shaoyang let out a chuckle, "What is this? Friend zone or brother zone?" He shook his head and waved at Zhang Mengyao before entering the portal.