Side Story – Final Battle [9]
[63]
In the history that diverged.
The Empire had to invest a great deal of effort into resolving the issue between the Crown Prince and the Rubia Kingdom.
Simply wiping out the Rubia Kingdom wasn’t a particularly difficult task.
However, due to the failure to bring the situation to an early conclusion, chaos within the Rubia Kingdom grew, and stabilizing and restoring order in a nation was an entirely different matter from merely winning a war.
As a result, even after eliminating the key hostile forces within the Rubia Kingdom and the Crown Prince, the Empire couldn’t simply leave the Rubia Kingdom alone.
Followers of the Dark God continued to sporadically emerge after their defeat in the war, causing harm, and the Empire continuously worked to thoroughly eradicate these corrupt beings from the Rubia Kingdom.
Meanwhile, as the Empire focused on resolving issues with the Rubia Kingdom, the imperial succession, and conflicts in the South,
An uncontrollable, massive calamity struck the nation of Alimo located to the east of the Empire.
It began in the Forbidden Forest of Alimo.
A chimera made by mixing the corpses of powerful beings from ancient times revealed itself.
The chimera, which had originally been nothing more than a stitched-together patchwork of corpses, began to recreate its past immense power and authority under the Blessing of the Dark God.
Even though this power and authority were incomplete, it was enough to destroy Alimo.
Before anyone could properly respond, half of Alimo’s territory was devastated, and the erosion spreading from the Forbidden Forest rapidly expanded.
By the time the Empire began to move to address the situation in Alimo, more than half of its territory had already reached a point where restoration seemed impossible.
No matter how much the ‘mediator’ existed alongside the Blessing of the Dark God, the rapid spread of the Demonic Realm’s erosion was largely due to the fact that the blessings of the transcendental beings who had protected the continent since ancient times were no longer functioning as they should.
At the same time that disaster struck Alimo, ominous signs were also detected in the Demonic Realm adjacent to the southern part of the Empire.
Eventually, while even the Empire’s Swordmasters left the Emperor’s side to head to the front lines, the Elves, who had been silent at the World Tree’s Spirit Stone, came to visit the Empire.
The Elves warned that the blessing of El-Lam, which had been holding back the erosion of the Demonic Realm, was being partially neutralized or nullified.
However, the Empire could not determine exactly why El-Lam’s blessing was being neutralized.
With the calamity in Alimo as a turning point, the entire continent was engulfed in turmoil.
The Empire was certain that the so-called “Age of Calamity,” which supposedly occurred every few hundred or thousand years, was approaching.
Amid confusion and fear, a rather serious opinion emerged within the Imperial leadership: the need to recreate a myth.
Specifically, there was talk of recreating the Spatial Blade. This idea was closer to empty words spoken out of fear.
Six hundred years ago, countless talents were wasted trying to recreate the Spatial Blade.
Being bound to the illusion of a myth and sacrificing outstanding talents during wartime would be meaningless.
Among the talented individuals, only those with Dragonheart-enhanced hearts from the royal family were considered likely candidates for inheriting the Spatial Blade.
However, using the royal family as test subjects was not an option.
Moreover, even if someone belonged to the royal family, they needed extraordinary genius to even attempt inheriting the Spatial Blade.
[…]
There was no way to predict how much worse the situation might become.
Thus, Poibos found himself in a position where he had to make use of whatever resources were available.
Preparing for any possible scenario, Poibos granted Lea the opportunity to learn swordsmanship.
Under what amounted to coercion, Lea picked up her first sword.
“Guh…!”
Johanna dragged her body, whose recovery speed had now slowed down, and retched.
After several mysterious illusions passed by, a strange vision appeared where everything seemed frozen.
Within that vision, Resina’s spirit and Lea faced each other.
[Have you ever seen such a pitiful sacrifice?]
Resina’s spirit sneered as she looked down on Lea.
[I don’t like it. It’s really irritating.]
Resina’s voice carried a sense of lamentation.
Resina hated El-Lam, who had driven Harshia to death.
Therefore, she certainly didn’t wish for El-Lam’s legacy.
However, Resina didn’t just hate El-Lam; she despised all the entities beyond the stars that were involved in Harshia’s death.
Because of this, Resina didn’t want the Dark Gods to seize control of this world either.
What Resina truly desired was revenge, but it was an aspiration that couldn’t be fulfilled with the power she possessed in life.
Ultimately, Resina’s spirit merely watched the Empire over a long period without destroying or helping it.
[It looks ridiculous.]
While the followers of the Dark God possessed the invincible fortress of the Demonic Realm, the continent was always unstable.
If the Empire wavers, the continent collapses.
That much was clear.
Due to this, Resina’s spirit couldn’t harm the Empire, and now found herself in a position where she had to help the Empire to prevent the Dark Gods from taking over the continent.
[Well… Since the scales have tipped, we must adjust them. I don’t like it, but what can I do? I’ll help. Whether or not you can inherit the Spatial Blade remains to be seen, but give it your best shot. Poor little miss.]
With mockery, Resina’s spirit threw the Empire’s divine sword, Moros, to Lea.
This act was deliberately intended to irritate the Imperial House, given that a half-blooded royal had brought back the empire’s divine sword, which would surely annoy the Emperor.
Despite this provocation, Resina’s spirit still helped Lea prepare to inherit the Spatial Blade.
And eventually…
Lea succeeded in partially inheriting Harshia’s Spatial Blade.
Although it was incomplete and drastically reduced her lifespan, Lea managed to complete the core of the Spatial Blade.
Around this time, Speira began earnestly assisting Lea.
[I pay my respects, Your Highness.]
Even at this point, Lea was still a half-princess.
However, to Speira, Lea’s lineage was a trivial matter.
Speira believed Lea was someone who deserved respect, and thus knelt without hesitation, kissing the back of Lea’s hand.
[I hope to overcome this dark period together with Your Highness.]
Please.
[Glory to the Empire.]
Lea grew under Speira’s guidance.
She consumed her life force to wield the power of myth and became increasingly complete.
Even an incomplete Spatial Blade held tactical value comparable to that of a Lord-level entity.
[Ah… I’m tired.]
One day, Speira sighed with a smile.
The chaos and war enveloping the continent showed no easy end.
Nevertheless, the people of the continent held onto the hope that they could overcome this dark era and stood against the corrupted beings.
This was possible because the battlefronts across the continent were relatively positive.
But…
The situation changed dramatically when the fallen dragon Preches, after sufficient waiting, resurrected as a perfect hybrid.
Half the continent was swallowed by the Demonic Realm.
The stable frontlines collapsed, and the production of essential supplies plummeted.
By this point, the continent was already facing extinction.
And soon after, the worst Apostle appeared on the continent.
*
The Imperial Capital.
The troops guarding the capital were on high alert, ready to perform their duties.
Ropheiren monitored the area near the capital in Luna’s absence.
Ropheiren was doing his best, but without Luna, it was impossible to fully respond to all attacks.
The current leadership of the Empire still couldn’t freely utilize the systems of the imperial city.
With the mana veins beneath the capital damaged, a perfect defense system couldn’t be established without Luna.
Thus, Ropheiren kept in mind that sudden situations could arise at any moment.
Then, the movement of a suspicious entity moving while concealing its presence was detected by the barriers near the capital.
Nearby imperial troops immediately moved to intercept the suspicious entity.
Ropheiren thought the entity was likely a follower of the Dark God.
However, it turned out to be a complete misjudgment.
“…!!”
Watching the distant situation through magic, Ropheiren abruptly stood up from his seat.
Far away, a knight clad in armor adorned with ornate and symbolic patterns was cutting down the capital’s defensive troops.
Ropheiren couldn’t fail to recognize the pattern engraved on the knight’s armor.
“Royal Guard?!”
The defensive troops near the capital included many elite soldiers who had fought numerous battles against the followers of the Dark God.
These elite soldiers were well-versed in dealing with the strange abilities used by demons.
However, the Royal Guard did not use strange powers.
The strength of the Royal Guard was simply relentless and sharp.
Their overwhelming martial prowess, built honestly, was cutting down the Empire’s defensive troops.
Ropheiren’s expression hardened.
“Damn it, this is the worst-case scenario.”
The Royal Guard was moving toward the imperial city.
It was the worst-case scenario they had anticipated.
The problem wasn’t just the military strength of the Royal Guard.
They were entities that understood parts of the imperial city’s structure better than the current leadership of the Empire.
There was no telling what variables might arise once they infiltrated the imperial city.
“Those stupid bastards ruining things at such a crucial moment…!!”
Ropheiren nervously muttered about the Royal Guard’s honor falling before hastily leaving his post.
The Royal Guard engaging the Empire’s defensive troops were likely bait to draw attention.
Their true objective lay elsewhere.
Ropheiren couldn’t ascertain how many Royal Guards participated in this raid or their exact objectives.
Thus, he had to prepare even more thoroughly.
Soon, everyone in the imperial city received Ropheiren’s warning.
Subsequently, those who needed protection and those who needed to guard them began to move accordingly.
Saria moved with Eri and Kania’s collars in her grasp.
Karen and Alesya followed behind Saria.
Jimy approached Lea first and spoke.
“Lea, it’s dangerous, so hide for a bit.”
Jimy tried to evacuate Lea as if she were his daughter, as usual.
There were a few areas within the imperial city where safety from external attacks could be guaranteed for a short period.
Jimy intended to guide Lea there, but Lea slowly shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“Lea, now is not the time to be stubborn…”
“I’m okay, Dad. I’m not as weak as you think.”
Lea could now somewhat manage the dragon blood flowing within her.
That alone allowed her to defend herself from minor attacks.
Lea confidently smiled at Jimy.
“I’m the emperor, you know.”
“Lea… It’s really dangerous.”
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t think I should run away.”
Lea calmly expressed her opinion: she had spent her whole life being protected and growing by others’ sacrifices.
So now, she felt she shouldn’t turn away from her responsibilities.
“I’ll do what I can.”
