Epilogue – Part 01
And so, the brief period of normalcy came to an end.
“Lancelot Douglas. Give us a status report.”
“If I were to say it’s not going well…” An elderly man, dressed in a faded robe, forced a grim smile as he spoke. “Is my head going to roll? Hmm?”
Three figures surrounded the round table in the conference room.
Lancelot Douglas glanced over everyone’s faces and gave a nervous shudder, muttering, “Oh, knock on wood.” He stroked his thick gray beard with his gnarled hand, his throat trembling painfully each time he spoke. “You’re results-oriented. I never know when you’ll decide to get rid of me.”
“Douglas. Enough with the jokes.”
The voice belonged to a man with cropped hair. A knight, his robust physique encased in black armor.
Augustus Arthur, Grand Commander of the Imperial Knights, narrowed his eyes. “I have a short temper,” he warned grimly.
Lancelot quickly backpedaled, offering an immediate apology. “Sorry about that.”
Lancelot Douglas was a mediator between the Crowd Powers and the Empire. He had represented the Crowd Powers at the Tri-Nation-One-City conference but had long maintained ties with the Empire, even playing a role behind the scenes during the merger.
“But it’s true that things aren’t going well,” the old man continued. “There are still many small nations refusing the merger. Some are even breaking away, saying they can’t agree to it. They apparently have a negative view of the Empire and don’t see any benefit in joining. It’s quite troublesome.”
“A negative view of the Empire?”
“See, the Empire is a regular customer of the slave states in the Crowd Powers. Slaves are quick to die, so they are frequently replenished. Not all the nations in the Crowd Powers are slave states, so in those countries, the Empire’s reputation for buying up slaves isn’t very good. What’s more troublesome is that nations with similar goals are starting to form alliances. If things go wrong, there’s a risk they might even turn to other countries. Well, it’s unlikely they’ll abandon their homeland that easily, though.”
“Why? They’re slaves. I would think replacing them is only natural.”
“I think so too, but that’s not how it looks to them. The fact remains, several nations share that view, and that is why the integration of the Crowd Powers has never been smooth.”
“I don’t understand.” Augustus shook his head, genuinely confused.
The merger of the Empire and the Crowd Powers had resulted in the formation of the Imperial Federation.
It was a historic event that had reverberated across the continent, but as Lancelot had pointed out, the integration was far from as seamless as the term formation would suggest.
The designation Crowd Powers was originally coined for convenience to refer to a group of small nations. These nations had been independent, each with its own characteristics and organizational structures. The term came about when a king from one of these nations sought to unite them under a single banner, aiming to strengthen ties with both the Empire and the Militant Nation.
While other nations called Valbanill a god or a beast, the Crowd Powers saw it as a machine that creates Aetheria, and eagerly sought the benefits it could bring. This was why they had chosen that name.
The king who had worked to unite the Crowd Powers had died under mysterious circumstances not long ago.
In the wake of his death, the territories he had been uniting were absorbed into the Empire under the guise of a merger. It was unclear who—or what—had been responsible for his death, but the heavy-handed methods were all too obvious. As a result, the formation of the Imperial Federation had stalled.
“Honestly, I just need a little more time.” Lancelot let out a weary sigh. “They need time to better understand the Empire.”
“How long do you intend to put this off?” Augustus said, furrowing his brow. “The Bi-Nation-One-City conference is coming up soon.”
The summit, commonly known as the Valbanill Conference, was to be held soon in the Independent Trade City. Without a doubt, the merger would dominate the discussions. The current situation, the intentions behind it, and its impact on the Valbanill Campaign—all of it needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.
“We can not afford delays. These nations oppose the slave system. Do you really think time will convince them?”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?”
“Just crush them already,” a voice cut in.
Lancelot and Augustus abruptly fell silent. They glanced at the final person seated at the round table.
A silver-haired man. Wearing the same black armor as Augustus, there was something about his aura that called to mind a sharp blade. He lounged casually, one leg propped up on the round table. The leader of the Imperial Warriors, Siegfried.
“Why not just destroy them?” he asked boredly. “If they’re against us, destroy them. What’s the hold-up?”
“B-But…” Lancelot tried to explain.
“If we suppress every rebellious nation by force, we’ll exhaust ourselves,” Arthur said. “Besides, if we keep up this kind of oppression, the country will collapse from within. We might gain land, but not people.”
“The nations defecting are the small ones, not the slave states, right? Then I see no problem,” Siegfried replied flatly. He spoke from his own perspective. “If they provide Inhumans and slaves, fine. The rest can sink.”
Lancelot and Augustus went silent. They had always treated slaves as mere objects, but even they were taken aback by his words.
Let the country sink if it’s deemed unnecessary. Such a thing couldn’t be said lightly.
Seeing their silence, Siegfried raised an eyebrow. “Ah, my apologies,” he smirked. “I see no problem for us, I mean.”
An indescribable tension filled the air, but the silver-haired man seemed entirely unaffected.
“Lancelot Douglas. I lent an Infernal Blade and a warrior to the Crowd Powers, didn’t I?”
“Ah… yeah.”
“Use them. They’re perfect for wiping out a whole nation.”
“Th-That thing…” Lancelot’s face twitched as a thought crossed his mind. “I can hardly control it. It doesn’t listen to a word I say.”
“They don’t care for small, petty tasks. Don’t worry. If you tell them to destroy a nation, they’ll do it gladly.”
Siegfried flashed a sinister smile, amusement glinting in his eyes.
“Eliza Eva is the kind of Infernal Blade that can do that.”
Hilda Cavendish couldn’t escape.
“Ugh!”
A flash of light, followed by a small explosion, tore through the air, lashing the ground like a whip. The streak of light didn’t travel in a straight line. It cut through sharp angles, moving at lightning speed, circling Hilda and striking her skin without mercy. For reasons she couldn’t comprehend, wherever it hit, the flesh went numb, followed by searing pain a second later.
The faint smell of burning flesh reached her nose. Her flesh.
The numbness stole away any control of her arms and legs. Hilda couldn’t even keep herself upright, and she collapsed awkwardly to the floor. Her body, face down, trembled sporadically, writhing as the current surged through her, taking command of her every movement.
Her jaw felt entirely numb, and she couldn’t even close her mouth. Her tongue hung out limply, like a stray dog’s. Her body no longer seemed human. This phenomenon, this electrocution, was something Hilda had witnessed before.
It was the same thing that led to the slaughter of her brethren, right in front of her very eyes.
But even through the fog of pain, a small part of her mind clung to clarity.
The electric field around her was so intense it could stop a person’s heart. Some of her comrades had been struck by shock waves resembling lightning, their bodies charred to ash. And yet, she was still alive.
She felt numb, her skin scorched in places, and completely immobilized. But she wasn’t dead. Why?
“So we could keep you as a pet.” A voice descended from above.
A foot nudged her side, flipping her onto her back. The movement disturbed the electric shock still coursing through her body, and she let out a faint scream.
Through blurry vision, Hilda looked up. A woman stood above her.
Hilda realized the electric field had vanished the moment the woman appeared.
“We value your skill,” the woman said.
“Lancelot Douglas said to dispose of you quickly.”
“That man is a poor judge of character. You’re a useful puppet.”
“So, we’re taking you for ourselves.”
“Yes, a very good idea. Wonderful indeed.”
Their disdain was clear in both their words and their gazes. Yet being called a puppet left Hilda more confused than angry. She had heard the rumors, witnessed the massacre of her brethren, so she already knew the woman’s face and appearance. But seeing her up close, her eccentricity was even more striking.
She had an asymmetrical hairstyle. The right side was tied into a neat bundle at her temple, while the left side flowed freely without alteration. Her bright and gorgeous dress had different designs and skirt lengths on each side.
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