"Tang Empire?" King Albertian furrowed his brows and focused on the woman. The woman seemed to be the leader of the attacker, so he focused on her. He tried to recall the name, but he did not know anything about the Tang Empire. The twelve kingdoms, no empire.
"This is bad," Commander Tulahan was shocked after identifying the invaders, especially the beastmen. One Beastmen was Legendary Rank, and two of them were Primordial Rank. It was a rank he had never heard of before. It was clear that the invaders were much stronger than them, "We will stall them all in this room, Your Highness. You have to escape."
Commander Tulahan was the second strongest after the King himself. The Ancient Rank Commander is ready to sacrifice himself to save the King from the enemy. If the King was caught or killed, the Athilia Kingdom was done for. If King Albertian managed to escape, then he could recover by requesting assistance from the other three human kingdoms.
"We don't want to kill the King," Zhang Mengyao took the seat at the other side of the long table, "And you better stay or else I can't ensure what your wife and daughter face. It's not like you can escape, but I don't want to waste time chasing you, or I am afraid that we will accidentally kill you."
"What?" King Albertian raised his voice, "Melina and Larissa are in the Stanion Family territory. You can't deceive me!"
"That's what I asked Videl to tell you, so you no longer delay the attack," Zhang Mengyao shook her head, "I am here not to explain what happened, but we come here with a purpose. The Weingartner Family has survived for years, so I assume your family should know the secret about this world, about the second floor."
She did not try to hide her identity as a player from outside the tower. There was no need to hide it anymore because Albertian would be killed if he did not know anything about the Dimensional Tower and took over the kingdom. At that point, they would take the extreme measure to take down all the kingdoms on the second floor.
"Your answer will decide your family's fate and your kingdom, so tell me what you know about the second floor. Who's the real boss of the second floor?"
King Albertian's expression changed from confused to realization and shock. His expression told Zhang Mengyao that the King knew something, and their effort to take down a kingdom was not fruitless.
The King let out a sigh and pushed the commanders aside as he returned to his original seat. He looked Zhang Mengyao in the eyes, "So you are the players from outside the tower?"
Zhang Mengyao's eyes shone, but she maintained her composure as she responded to the King with a nod not to give that much unnecessary information to the King.
"I will tell you everything I know about the second floor, including the information about how to clear the second floor," The melancholic expression changed to a solemn expression, "But I want you to promise me, no, make an oath for me. After you get all the information, you will never hurt my wife and my daughter, and also protect them from the danger! I will tell you everything if you agree to take the oath!"
Zhang Mengyao squinted her eyes. She could not tell if it was a bluff or the truth. It might be a bluff, the last attempt from a husband and also a father to save his family. There was a chance that the King did not know anything about the second floor at all.
"Then I will just kill your wife and your daughter first, I guess?" She chose a different option, and it was to threaten King Albertian. The King seemed to care about his wife and daughter more than his own life, so she might as well use them, "It's fortunate that we bring Melina and her daughter instead of leaving them in Polaron City."
King Albertian's eyes widened in shock when he heard about the last part, Polaron City. He remembered it was the first city to fall under the Rebel Army, which meant the Tang Empire had taken out all the Rebel Army.
"What is all this about, Your Highness?" Commander Tulahan could no longer maintain his silence amidst the confusion. He did not know who the Tang Empire was, but they came for information about the second floor. On top of that, they used the foreign term he did not understand; Dimensional Tower, player, and outside the tower. He had been protecting the kingdom for his entire life, he dedicated his life to the kingdom, but he had never heard of those terms.
"We can talk later if we have the chance, Tulahan," King Albertian smiled bitterly at his trusted commander, "It's the secret of the Royal Family, and only The King and the successor of the throne know about that secret, but they have come, so there's no need for me to keep this hidden from you."
"Please bring Melina and Larissa here, Lu An. You are the—" Zhang Mengyao was about to command Lu An to get Queen Melina, but a loud boom sounded from outside. The sound came from the next building for sure. Moonsong disappeared from Zhang Mengyao's side to check, but then the wall behind Lu An broke down. A golden snout broke the wall, breaking half of the room.
King Albertian and the four commanders turned around and saw a giant golden creature. The five men's eyes bulged out, almost escaping from the socket. They were so shocked to the point because they saw with their own eyes a mythical creature that only existed in the book, a dragon, a Golden Dragon.
"Greed told me that you need these two humans, so I bring them for you," Wrath grabbed Melina and Larissa from its back and put them into the meeting room.
Moonsong appeared next to Melina and Larissa. Chief Moon glared at the Golden Dragon, "But there's no need for you to break the building, no? I thought it was an enemy attack!"
After putting the mother and the daughter down, Wrath turned into a sixty centimeters long lizard with wings. The infant dragon flew toward Zhang Mengyao, "I can do whatever I want, rabbit." He said to Moonsong as he passed Chief Moon.
"That was fun~ Thank you, Sir Dragon," Larissa waved her hand at Wrath. The little girl did not notice her situation because the Tang Empire had treated her well all this time. She got to play, eat, and sleep comfortably. She did not know that she was a hostage.
Moonsong shook his head. Emperor Tang Shaoyang mentioned it was still the Infant Dragon, so he was told not to take Wrath's words seriously. Essentially, the Golden Dragon was a kid like Larissa.
"Melina! Larissa!" King Albertian snapped out of his shock after the Golden Dragon's appearance.
"Daddy!" Larissa was about to rush to her father, but Moonsong caught her. He picked up the little girl, "You can't meet with your father yet, little girl."
"No, I want to meet Daddy now!" Larissa threw her hands and feet, struggling to get loose from Moonsong. Of course, her effort was futile, and it ended up with Larissa crying. However, no one bothered to comfort the little girl, even Melina. She just followed Moonsong, heading toward Zhang Mengyao's side.
King Albertian's heart was hurt to see his daughter crying while calling him. However, he could not do anything because a single wrong move might hurt his daughter. He tried to haggle, but it failed because he was threatened by his family now.
"What's your choice, King Albertian? Do you want to see your family get hurt, or tell me what I want to know? You are not in the position to make a condition! Make your choice!" Zhang Mengyao ignored Larissa's cry and faced the King once more.
"What's the point of telling the information if you still kill my family," King Albertian tried his last chance.
"Hooo, so you want to see me tear apart your wife's hand again? The first time I did it, she passed out. Maybe she will not pass out this time," Zhang Mengyao stood up from the seat. She motioned Moonsong to knock down Larissa. The latter nodded his head and knocked the little girl.
Melina stood in front of Zhang Mengyao. The atmosphere reminded her of the last incident where her hand was torn apart. Her body instantly shook fiercely as she remembered the pain. Even so, she did not say anything. She did not tell her husband to agree with Zhang Mengyao's proposal to save her from the pain. She accepted it as she closed her eyes.
King Albertian noticed that his wife's body was shaking. He recalled what Zhang Mengyao said to him early, again, meaning the woman did it once before. He wanted to stop everything and told everything he knew about the second floor, but he still wanted to save his wife and daughter deep inside. The moment he found out about Zhang Mengyao's identity, he was doomed. He would not be able to see the next sun the moment the players came to him. That was why he insisted on the oath; he wanted to ensure his family's safety.
"So you want to see me tear apart your wife's hand?" Zhang Mengyao punched Melina in the gut. The latter coughed up the liquid from her mouth as she fell to her knees, holding her stomach in pain. Tears were falling off her eyes.
Zhang Mengyao walked around Melina, putting her right foot on Melina's back as she pulled Melina's left hand. It happened instantly; King Albertian saw his wife's left hand was pulled out. Her wife's scream filled the room as the blood spurted. Some of the blood even fell on his daughter's dress. His heart jumped out as he instinctively rushed toward Zhang Mengyao. Anger and fury filled his heart, but Auron and Olming were prepared for this.
The Grand Elders of the Moonlight Tribe appeared before the King. Auron punched the King on the belly, and the latter could not react because he was focused on his wife. Olming caught King Albertian's face and pushed him down to the ground.
Boom!
The marble floor broke apart as the building shook from the impact. After that, Auron followed with a kick, sending The King back to his four commanders. Everything happened within five seconds. After that, Olming and Auron returned to Zhang Mengyao's side.
King Albertian immediately stood up again with the help of Commander Tulahan. His face was covered in blood, and he did not bother to wipe the blood. This time, the anger and fury were replaced with fear, a fear of losing his wife, "I will tell everything. I will tell you everything about the second, please don't kill my wife. Please don't hurt her!"
Zhang Mengyao threw the hand next to Melina, who was wriggling in pain on the floor. The Queen grunted in pain, suppressing her voice as she did not want to wake her daughter. She did not want her daughter to be traumatized by this scene.
"Why don't you cooperate from the start? You don't have to see your wife getting hurt, no?" Zhang Mengyao wiped the blood on her face and returned to her seat, "Tell me, who's the real king of the second floor? I think we need to kill that True King to clear the second floor, no? That's my guess. So tell me, the True King. We will leave once we locate the True King."
"No! There's no True King! The players just need to kill one of the twelve kings from the twelve kingdoms to clear the second floor!" King Albertian Weingartner fell to his knees and lowered his head. He showed his neck, so Zhang Mengyao could kill her, "Please spare my wife and my daughter. You will accomplish your task by killing me! That's everything I know about the players and the dimensional tower. We are just a chess piece to the System!"