As the encirclement of soldiers tightened, Sterl wore a rxed smile on his face, exuding an air of ease.


    The cautious attitudes of the princes and princesses had indeed caught him off guard. Sterl hadn''t expected this group to be so vignt. Once they realized the rescuer''s identity didn''t match, they immediately distanced themselves.


    However, this didn''t bother him much. From the very beginning, Sterl never intended to truly y the role of the civil officer "Nathan." It was merely a disguise to cover his actions this time.


    As long as his true form''s ability to disguise wasn''t exposed, his use of aliases would almost always be sessful.


    As Sterl watched a group of second-ss soldiers from the ck Armor Army approach, he could almost see countless second-ss ritual progress bars beckoning to him.


    "Kill!!"


    Soon, a soldier couldn''t hold back and shouted, drawing his sword and shield from his waist and charging forward.


    Sterl, wanting to appear as a master, stood motionless.


    But this time, unlike the usual trope in novels, no one thought Sterl was paralyzed by fear and unable to move.


    Both yers and NPCs focused intently on this mysterious figure, suspected to be from an enemy nation.


    A person capable of instantly killing three third sswarriors was formidable. Even though the soldiers could enhance theirbat power throughbined tactics, achieving an easy victory would be nearly impossible and would likelye at a great cost.


    However, the minds of all the soldiers and generals were filled with a single thought: "Loyalty to the Emperor." This enemy, daring to provoke in the capital, hadmitted an egregious offense and must be dealt with harshly!


    They were unafraid of death, charging bravely, their standard ck weapons reflecting the sunlight, causing a momentary dazzle.


    Before Sterl could make a move, the scene suddenly changed!


    Golden beams of light transformed into shackles, halting the soldiers in their tracks. It was Emperor Octavius who had intervened, effortlessly pausing the battle with a mere gesture.


    Even though they were restrained by their own emperor, the fervor in the soldiers'' eyes remained undiminished. They trusted Emperor Octavius implicitly and were ready to die for him at any moment.


    With amanding presence, Octavius stepped forward a few paces. "Brave warrior, I don''t know which country has hired you."


    "You must have noticed that all forms of teleportation within the capital are sealed. I have countless elite soldiers at my disposal. No matter your skills, escape is impossible."


    "Why not join me from now on?"


    He spoke with great confidence.


    The three third ssindividuals killed earlier were merely yers, not members of the Divine Mountain Empire. Thus, Emperor Octavius wasn''t overly concerned with "Nathan''s" ughter.


    On the contrary, Octavius was quite intrigued by "Nathan." A person with such formidable strength should be under hismand!


    Upon hearing this recruitment offer, a group of yers nearly cried with envy.


    "What the hell, is this for real?"


    "Weren''t those three third ssguys just cannon fodder for this guy?"


    "With strength like that, you can really do whatever you want."


    Especially in Faye''s mind, Felicia was muttering non-stop: "Is the emperor really this generous??"


    "If we had known, we shouldn''t have surrendered so quickly. You should have shown off some skills to the emperor first!"


    "Maybe we could have snagged some decent rewards."


    "Now, when we get to the Hall of Valor, there will probably be a lot of double-S grade yers, and our advantage won''t be as significant."


    They were all veteran yers, second ss and above. Naturally, they knew that in this situation, the mysterious figure would trigger a quest, and the rewards would be extremely high.


    Octavius, being the most powerful NPC and the most influential emperor of the Divine Mountain Empire, undoubtedly had the most quest lines, including various hidden main quests.


    His recruitment offer guaranteed at least a hidden quest, possibly even a hidden main quest. If "Nathan" epted, he would be making a fortune without having to risk fighting a legendary NPC. It was a win-win situation!


    What could the yers say? They could only drool in secret,menting theirck of strength. If they had been stronger, they could have fought first to show their value before joining the emperor, thus earning a bunch of rewards for free.


    This was particrly true for Faye, who had considerablebat prowess herself. She felt she had really missed out, causing Felicia to sigh repeatedly.


    As for the soldiers and ordinary NPCs of the Divine Mountain Empire, they were initially stunned. But soon, they all shouted in unison:


    "Surrender!"


    "Surrender!"


    "Submit!"


    "Submit!"


    Moments ago, they had been ring at Sterl with hatred, but now their attitude changed instantly.


    "What incredible control!" Sterl couldn''t help but marvel.


    Unlike typical yers, Sterl had studied history before transmigrating. Throughout the various dynasties on Earth, no emperor had ever wielded such strong control, uniting the entire nation to serve him.


    Faced with the recruitment offer, a notification indeed shed before Sterl''s eyes:


    [Do you wish to abandon the current hidden historical quest: Join the ''Rebel'' route?]


    [If you abandon it, you will receive a random hidden quest (overall rewards will be significantly reduced).]


    He was speechless.


    Offering so little to make him work for them, and asking him to give up his second ss ritual progress? That was a tough sell.


    It''s not that the old emperor was stingy. The main issue was that the route Sterl originally chose was incredibly difficult, essentially defying fate itself, and naturally, the rewards were astronomical.


    The new quest route, in fact, could be seen as a system bnce in [Transcendence], offering stronger yers a chance to abandon an erroneous quest path.


    However, the rewards would undoubtedly be much less.


    But Sterl wasn''t pleased. Having been in the game for so long, he knew that quests involving facing legendary figures would only offer increasingly higher rewards.


    Originally, he was just aiming for the second-ss ritual, but now it seemed that the final quest rewards would also be quite substantial!


    Sterl responded with action. He raised his hand and released a de made ofpressed liquid infused with star power.


    With a swift throw, the de shot forward!


    Instantly, the Flowing Water Law formed the de, shing forward at incredible speed.


    The target was none other than the emperor himself!


    Before transmigrating, Sterl had read many history books. He knew that if he didn''t retaliate with overwhelming force, the emperor might persist in persuading him several more times, trying to appear magnanimous and appreciative of talent.


    Was he nning to build his reputation at Sterl''s expense? Dream on!


    Swish!


    Sterl''s move didn''t have any shy effects, just a blue de cutting through the air at a speed reminiscent of the Heaven Water God''s earlier attacks. It was as if a still photo had been suddenly edited with motion!


    The de seemed to have no travel time. It appeared directly in front of Octavius!


    The emperor of the Divine Mountain Empire hurriedly dodged!


    His reaction speed was incredibly fast! Octavius turned into a blur, barely visible, his form flickering momentarily before standing still with a grim expression.


    The blue de had managed to carve a huge crack into his heavy armor, with blood seeping from the fissure.


    Octavius was clearly injured!


    In that brief moment, both their expressions changed.


    The emperor, who had initially exuded overwhelming confidence, now looked inexplicably terrified!


    He had thought that as a legendary figure, he could crush everything in his path, especially when facing "Nathan." Although Nathan''s disguise remained oddly imprable, Octavius was confident that the leap from third ssto legendary was monumental!


    Upon merging with the legend points, both yers and NPCs transitioned from ordinary life forms to entities connected with the very world of [Transcendence]. This connection was the foundation for their future godhood.


    Thus, Octavius was certain that the mysterious figure who had effortlessly in three third ssyers was not a legend. He didn''t possess that unique connection to the world.


    He believed he could overpower everything!


    But the reality was...


    "I actually got hurt?" Octavius''s face showed significant trepidation.


    Moreover, it seemed like Nathan hadn''t even used a major move, just a casual attack.


    Was this really a third ssyer??


    Instantly, the emperor''s expression became uncertain, and his desire to recruit vanished.


    It wasn''t that he doubted his ability to control a legend under hismand—after all, the Divine Mountain Empire already had two loyal legends.


    However, Octavius was adamant that his power and reputationin the Divine Mountain Empire should remain unimpeachable. Being injured in front of everyone and then having to swallow his pride would undoubtedly diminish his standing.


    "In the eyes of my people and subjects, my reputationwill inevitably decline!" His face darkened.


    Octavius had ascended to legend by refining the blood of his kin, without experiencingbat with equally powerful beings. Now, being injured by Nathan in a mere instant made him feel a deep unease.


    ...


    However, what Octavius didn''t know was that this non-legendary, merely third ssindividual, was also somewhat surprised.


    "So this is a true legend."


    "And not just the watered-down legendary soul avatars?"


    Sterl had already used Star Insight to examine the emperor''s stats.


    It was no exaggeration to say that Octavius was the strongest enemy Sterl had encountered, aside from the gods he had met in the Netherworld!


    Octavius was aplete legendary figure, possessing his own legendary abilities, fully developed attributes, and no need to burn his soul to maintain high-intensity states. He also had golden skills for defense and enhancement.


    Unlike Sterl, who had skyrocketed in power as a yer, Octavius was equipped with many purple and blue-quality skills, covering various situations, including control immunity, purification, detoxification, flight, and short-range teleportation.


    Although his equipment wasn''t entirelyplete, with many pieces only being high-quality third ssgear, the attribute boosts they provided far surpassed the ragtag items Sterl wore.


    At this moment, Sterl could feel a significant amount of pressure.