Chapter 77

POV Calca

Me: Impossible…that cannot be! There must be a mistake!

Aides: …

Me: Minister, please say something!

Minister: My Queen…everything you have seen and heard has been reported as nothing but the truth. Everyone in this room has had a hard time accepting it but…when all testaments line up to be one, then it can be concluded as the truth.

Me: The Crystal! Show me the recorded scene now!

Minister: My Queen. I strongly do not recommend you do so. You heart will be—

Me: Enough, I must see. I must learn the truth, and if it is so…how we can fight against our enemies.

As I stated my wishes, the door opened and a magic caster holding a magic crystal appeared. This was our country’s holy artifact. One of the few in which we managed to take from the Slane Theocracy. Now that they were no more, it would seem that the rest of the Holy Artifacts belong in the false gods now…how disrespectful.

Magic Caster: My Queen…are you sure? In all my life I have never seen such a scene before.

Me: What is the matter? I said I must see

Magic Caster: From what I have saw, their magic and power have no equal…yet it is strange to see that this crystal, which holds a permanent 5th tier magic for spying can see it all. My guess is that they purposely did not stop us from spying, as the rulers of the Arcanian Empire has made multiple eye contacts with the invisible eye…and more

Me: You’re telling me that they WANTED ME to see this? And what of it?

Magic Caster: I can no longer see any land that belongs to the Arcanian Empire…never was. It was just during the duration of the war that whatever was placed to block our view was lifted. They were asking for an audience…they wanted us to witness what they did to the Kingdom.

He looked as if he was about to throw up as he remembered the images and screams he heard from inside the crystal. Before he soiled himself in the Royal hall, he collected himself before continuing on.

Magic Caster: Such a scene would make anyone weak hearted. Please, for our Kingdom, I beg you not to witness the carnage held in this very sphere.

He sounded so sincere and worried, as was my minister and others in my court. I guess I only really had one choice.

Me: Remedios, please.

Remedios: Of course, my Queen. “Lion’s Heart”

Suddenly, I felt calm, as if nothing in the world could ever harm me. I felt confident that nothing could ever truly harm me and that the scene I was about to witness was nothing more than a tragic past. I looked up with a confident smile to the Magic Caster.

Me: Show me.

With my words, the crystal swirled as the fog inside it began to shift until it formed a clear image. In the next moment, I saw the Katze Plains. The Plains where the Kingdom and the former Baharuth Empire had fought for years, and thus began to be called the cursed lands due to the abundance of undead in that region.

What I saw was a scene straight out of a nightmare. From the beginning, it was obvious that the Kingdom never stood a chance. They were locked in with a force so much superior to theirs in both numbers and quality. To make matters worse, the Emperors themselves decided to join the fight…and not make a single Arcanian Soldier fight.

The scenes that followed could not be described as anything other than a nightmare. Flower petals that was shaped masterfully began to explode people into blood and gore on contact. Meteorites crashed into the ground, leaving the landscape into that of an apocalypse. Somehow, there were still survivors who were running around, trying to escape from the transparent hemisphere that was placed around the entire plains. Then, a gigantic wooden monster wiped out the remaining until the remaining few simply exploded, as if they were bombs themselves.

That was where the recording ended as whatever was used to block their sight returned. As I thought about what I had just saw, even with Lion’s Heart I felt as if I was about to barf.

Me: Survivors…?

Minister: From the recording…we have confirmed that the Royal family has survived. Though I believe it was intentional.

Me: There’s no way that wasn’t intentional. All of this was a show of force to make the Kingdom bend their knee. Tell me what happened.

Minister: The Re-Estize Kingdom has officially dissolved and is now in the process of assimilating into the Empire. It seems there is no resistance from either the people or the nobles.

Me: *sigh*

Remedios: My Queen! We must fight against this evil. This is surely a challenge the Gods gave us!

Me: Remedios…did you not see the recording? That things…they were gods themselves. We can’t fight them. It’s impossible.

Remedios: My Queen! No…my queen wouldn’t say that. She has always stood for the right things! We must fight those abominations who are wearing human skin!

Me: And what if they are gods? Perhaps not ours but gods nonetheless. As much as I hate to say this, and as much as I curse myself for dismissing the lives of all that lost their lives…that was war. The Arcanian Empire officially declared that they will fight and they did exactly that.

Remedios: They have killed so many people! So much humans! No Gods must do that!

Sometimes, I really wanted to smack both her and myself because of how dense she is. What is important now is not the debate of whether they are divinity or not but rather how we can avoid a war with them. We saw what happened if a Kingdom resists the Empire, so how can we resist?

Should we surrender…? No. We must not. I am a loyal servant of the four gods. I must never surrender our country under any circumstance to another. How can we make sure that the Kingdom keeps their eyes off of us?

Especially in this time when we have no more allies…the only nations that are not part of the Empire now are us and the Beastman Kingdom…who have been enemies for who knows how long.

Me: We will stand alone in a long fight. Cease trade and negotiations with the Empire but never aggravate or provoke them. We’re closing off the country into isolation.

Minister: My Queen!

Remedios: Yes!

Me: Enough! I understand the consequences that will follow due to my decision but this is a necessary decision. We must do this unless we wish to meet the same fate as the Re-Estize Kingdom.

At my words, the nobles in the hall bowed. In the corner of my eye, or perhaps it was my part Valkyrie blood activating but I think I saw a shadow move in the corners of the room. It must be my imagination…right?

POV Kara

Me: So the Roble Holy Kingdom has decided to go into Isolation and cease all contacts with us…quite smart. Now we won’t be able to get a proper excuse for war.

4: My Lady, surely there is anoth—

Me: No, this is better. Let them be. If they chose isolation, then we’ll reap the benefits of this.

3: My Lady, are you sure?

Me: Yes, These are humans we are talking about. Our subjects feel their satisfaction and happiness not based on what they have themselves but how much more they have than others. We’ll leave the Roble Kingdom alone as an example of a nation that did not join the glorious Arcanian Empire. 2, you know what to order.

2: Yes, I will immediately order Sir Crocodile after his current task.

Me: Good. A permanent drought ought to plummet their Kingdom into poverty. Then they’ll beg us to take them in. No better way to ruin a Kingdom than with hungry people.