Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 736 He Is Prince Basil

"Sabina," Marcia called out. "Tell His Majesty everything that you know."

Sabina looked up at Marcia's impassive face, and then knelt on one knee. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Sabina Ji," she said respectfully.

"Sabina Ji? That sounds familiar..." the emperor murmured to himself.

"Your Majesty, she is the second daughter of the head of the Ji Clan, and also my niece," Allen told the emperor.

"Oh, I remember you now, Sabina. I heard that you left the Ji Clan all of a sudden a few years ago, and I haven't heard anything about you since then,” the emperor remarked. At that time, Sabina deeply impressed him, because she was the only gifted spirit manipulator in the Holy Dragon Empire that was on par with Isis. However, he didn't know much about why she ran away from home.

"I took Sabina as my disciple several years ago, and she had been following me around all these years. Then, not long ago, she went to the Gehenna Border under my command. And after that, she followed Commander in Chief Rocky and had been with him all this time," Marcia explained shortly. "So that's what happened.” The emperor nodded to himself, satisfied with Marcia's explanation. But then he asked, "You just said that Rocky was dead. What happened? Why are there rumors of his betrayal if he is dead?"

"Your Majesty, here is the thing..." Thus, Sabina told the emperor the whole story, which included the fact that Alyssa had tortured Rocky and that he almost died in her hands just so they could live to see another day. After that, he pretended to betray them so that he could save them. She added that she saw Woods" and his bodyguards’ dead bodies and that she also witnessed it when Rocky went to his doom right in front of her eyes.

When the people heard everything that Sabina had to say, the whole Grand Holy Hall fell silent. It shocked them because they had never expected that there was such a truth hidden behind the rumor.

And at that moment, almost everyone's impression of Rocky had also changed. Previously, the people believed that he was a traitor, but now they saw him as a hero, someone who had chosen to die for the safety of his men.

“Damn it! Why did it turn out like this?" Alston cursed inwardly, outraged by the mess that his plans had become. He never thought that Sabina would tell everyone the truth, and the worst thing was that everyone was believing her. Of course, what she was saying wasn't strictly the truth, but it was believable enough.

He had originally planned to use Rocky to kill Woods and then stir up a conflict between the Holy Dragon Empire and the Timber Deity Empire. His plan had seemed perfect in his eyes, but he didn't expect that Sabina would witness Rocky's death herself. At that point, everyone thought that Rocky had a huge fight with the prince of the Timber Deity Empire and his three bodyguards at the Heavenly Stage, and they all died. And Alston couldn't refute it either, because he could give himself away, and they could all find out that he had engineered everything.

So even though Alston hated that Rocky had somehow turned from being a hated traitor to a beloved hero, there was nothing he could do without incriminating himself.

“Rocky might've become a hero, but he is dead. That's what's important. I don't need to get angry, * Alston comforted himself, but his rage and frustration revealed themselves in his trembling fists. "So you are saying that Rocky pretended to betray us to save you, but he didn't intend to betray the country at all. And to protect his reputation, he fought with the prince of the Timber Deity Empire and his bodyguards and they all died. Am I right?" the emperor asked in all seriousness. Although this was quite different from the truth, it wasn't a bad thing, because the rumors of Rocky's treachery could finally be clarified. It was also a good thing that the Timber Deity Empire had lost a prince, as that meant that their enemies’ morale was cut at the same time. Although it might lead to a huge dispute, it could also bring honor to the Holy Dragon Empire.

"Your Majesty, Commander in Chief Rocky is innocent. And I also heard that the Timber Deity Empire was forced to stop fighting because of his superior strategy, and through him, the Crimson Dragon Army had gained a great advantage. There is no doubt that he contributed greatly to the Holy Dragon Empire. It is such a tragedy that because of this, he was killed.” The hall stayed hushed, and everyone bore a melancholic expression on their face, as they pondered Rocky's death and all that he sacrificed.

It was such a great jump, when just a while ago, everyone had been cursing his name as a traitor. However, on the other hand, Lance, Isis, Marin, Allen, and Sabina showed genuine grief because of Rocky's death.

"Your Majesty, I have something else to tell you. It's about Commander in Chief Rocky's identity," Marcia suddenly blurted out, and at once, every eye in the whole Grand Holy Hall was riveted to her. Alston tensed as well when he heard Marcia. He tried to hide his unease and shock, as he wondered if she truly knew what she was saying. He wanted to jump out and stop her, but at that moment, he couldn't do anything but clench his fists tightly and gnash his teeth in frustration.

"His identity? What do you mean by that?" asked the emperor.

He tilted his head in confusion and impatiently gestured for the woman to continue.

"Rocky is..." Marcia took a deep breath, while everyone, in contrast, waited for her to continue with baited breaths. "He is Prince Basil!"

Marcia revealed as shocked gasps escaped from the people in the hall. They couldn't believe what they had heard, and some even thought that they had misheard.

Rocky was actually Basil, the prince of the Holy Dragon Empire! It was more than a year ago when Basil was injured, and at that time, he also spiraled into madness during cultivation. They had thought that he was practicing in seclusion so he could heal himself, but why would he suddenly turn up as the Commander in Chief of the Crimson Dragon Group? It was such a fantastical story, so much so that no one knew quite what to believe. "General Marcia, what did you just say? Rocky is Basil?"

the emperor asked dubiously like he couldn't understand what the words even meant. The news was echoed all through the crowd in waves, as everyone passed the news to another.

Meanwhile, Lance and Isis looked at each other in dismay. They had been trying to uncover Rocky's identity all this time, but they had never thought that he was Prince Basil. On the other hand, the emperor was still coming to terms with the truth. He looked helplessly at Marcia and the others, and his eyes were begging them to deny the truth. His son couldn't be dead, right? "Does this mean that... Basil is dead?!" the emperor cried out brokenly, his voice hoarse and pained. There was a flicker of regret on his grieving face, and he flashed back to the last time that he had seen his son. "That's right. He died for the Crimson Dragon Army and for the Holy Dragon Empire. And yet people even slandered him!" Marcia's voice was steady, outraged by the people's disrespect, but she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.

"What? Basil is dead?!" Just then, a woman's cry sounded above all the others. Their heads swiveled at the same time, and they saw a delicate figure who was walking into the Grand Holy Hall. Her eyes were wide with shock and shiny with unshed tears.