Chapter 235
Chapter 235
Chapter 235
New Order (3)
The five demon kings fought madly against Rebecca.
Balefor frowned as he looked at his claws that had massively torn through the earth.
"Damn, even with causality's backup, is this all I can manage right now?"
It was powerful enough to tear through dragon scales like paper, but Balefor was completely unsatisfied with the power he had just displayed.
"Hmph."
The reason was Rebecca's existence—she had taken a direct hit from his massive claws without even a tear in her clothing.
SWOOOSH!
A blood-colored wave gathered in Rebecca's grasp, forming a bead-like shape.
"Damn, a power that has both Diablo's wrath and Baal's persistence..."
Soul Devourer.
The blood-colored bead that seemed about to explode in all directions didn't burst at all—instead, like a black hole, it generated a gravitational force that devoured everything around it.
"Kruuuh!"
"If we let our guard down even a little, we'll get sucked in!"
"That's not the problem! That damned bead is gradually stealing our power!"
Rebecca's power, combining the Red World, Baal, and even Diablo, displayed strength that transcended even the demon kings' common sense.
"Does she dare want a contest of strength against us!"
As if technique or strategy were unnecessary, Rebecca consistently forced the demon kings into a power-versus-power confrontation.
"If that's what you want, I'll oblige!"
"Wait, Barbatos! There's no way the enemy would come at us like this without any strategy!"
Balefor stopped Barbatos, who was about to rush forward boldly.
But Barbatos dismissed Balefor's opinion.
"Nonsense! Where could there be any trap in such confident fighting spirit!"
Barbatos belonged to the purer side compared to Balefor in terms of being a warrior.
For him, seeing Rebecca display such pure fighting spirit right before his eyes could only increase his curiosity and favorability toward her.
"Weren't you the one who said we should test that woman's power, Balefor! So why are you trying to back out now?"
"Ah, no... that's not what I meant! I only wanted to test her qualifications as a king...!"
"Shut up!"
Barbatos had originally not thought very highly of Rebecca's existence.
But seeing the queen's appearance, scattering such vicious energy that it overlapped with the image of the former Seven Seats, Barbatos was instantly captivated.
"Kuhehe, fighting comes first now. A fierce battle awaits me—one that will scatter blood and squeeze out every last demon core!"
Barbatos roared, emanating rough magic energy.
"Mmm..."
Rudian groaned slightly watching Barbatos' appearance.
'Even if the lines he's spouting seem like middle school syndrome, when he looks like that, it comes off as cool.'
Certainly, in this era, spouting such lines wasn't embarrassing but rather counted as spirited.
Rebecca, belonging to this era's people, smiled slightly and said:
"I like you a bit."
The four demon kings who came with her immediately became passive toward Rebecca's divine authority, but Barbatos was the exception.
"Kahahaha! Thanks for the praise! But let's see if you can say the same thing after I break your neck with my own hands!"
"...Good. If that's the dynamic you want, then by all means."
A chilling smile immediately formed on Rebecca's lips.
***
"Hmm... this doesn't look like it'll be as easy as I thought."
Balefor, Barbatos, Aamon, Beleth, Leraje.
The technique Rebecca had demonstrated was an improved and developed version of the magic Adi had created—Diabolic Gluttony.
It was in the realm of authority rather than magic, and possessed power ten times stronger than Rudian's existing magic.
"As expected of a brainless combat faction... the same breed as Rigos and Agares."
The problem was that because of that guy, the plan to seize early momentum by showcasing new techniques had been broken.
"Rebecca's momentum is good, but... the opponents aren't pushovers either. In the current situation, at best it would be mutual destruction... Should I go help?"
Elvin's perspective as a third party observer was accurate.
Rudian felt the same way.
But Rudian's judgment was different.
"No, I'll trust Rebecca."
"Are you sure? If I joined, the tide of battle would immediately turn in our favor."
Elvin, who possessed the Yellow World, certainly had the qualifications to say such things.
"If it were simply about killing them, there wouldn't be a problem. But those guys need to be made to submit and become pillars of this world. For that, the existence of a powerful leader is essential."
"Hmm... Are you talking about the demons?"
"We can't leave them as dangerous elements in the world forever. Considering the future, even if it's a bit troublesome, we need to eliminate their function as variables."
A way to reduce the danger of magic energy and accept them as members of this Middle realm.
They had already begun developing that method through Adi.
"If worst comes to worst, there's also the method of terraforming one of the Middle realm's planets."
"Te, terraforming? Hey, that's easier said than done...!"
Elvin opened his mouth in disbelief.
A realm considered nearly impossible in both the magic world and the psychic world.
Of course, it wasn't theoretically impossible, but it was known to require astronomical resources and magic power—something that could only be attempted after about 2,000 years.
"There's nothing particularly impossible about it."
Rudian looked at Elvin with pitying eyes.
"Hey, what's with that look?"
"It's nothing at all."
Despite gaining power and perspective that transcended humanity through obtaining the Seven-Colored World, Elvin's common sense was still bound by this era's culture and civilization.
In Rudian's view, the technological capability of the Adora civilization that created Adi and those terminals was in the realm of over-technology—sufficient to traverse and pioneer space.
Wasn't the lunar base built by Elli's avatars part of that as well?
"Well, even without going that far, if Heaven's affairs go well, the demons won't need to swarm into the Middle realm. The desolation of the Demon realm was caused by Heaven's machinations... if Heaven is purified, the Demon realm will also become self-sustaining again..."
If that happened, the demons wouldn't need to desperately covet the Middle realm.
Unlike other forces that targeted the Middle realm in preparation for the Day of Great Liberation and the new Genesis, the demons invaded the Middle realm purely for their survival.
Elvin, whose mind was tangled, roughly scratched his hair.
"Ugh... what kind of plan are you weaving so complicatedly?"
"I know, right. Drawing this and that, it's become quite complex."
But if all of Rudian's plans came to fruition, wars and conflicts would disappear from this world for about 500 years.
'Well, the premise is that Heaven's affairs must be concluded first...'
Rudian turned his gaze to Adi.
"Adi, how are things on the 'other side'?"
Adi, understanding the meaning, replied:
—Maria Kepler entered battle 5 minutes and 41 seconds ago. And the situation on Luciella's side doesn't seem to be going very well either.
What Adi was referring to was none other than the secret societies currently scheming within the continent.
After the space war ended and the continent stabilized, these were the ones who broke their oaths and were slowly harboring different thoughts.
"Sigh, stupid bastards... they should realize by now that the game has completely changed."
Rudian sighed and pressed his forehead.
Actually, the demon problem was the most important, but gradually, problems that had barely been patched up inside and outside the empire were beginning to leak out bit by bit.
Those who had directly participated in the space war and personally witnessed the divine authority of Rudian and his companions knew their place and remained silent.
But the others—those who had been relegated to ground standby and support roles at the lunar base—were beginning to show signs of different thoughts one by one.
Those showing strange movements.
Or those who erased their traces and went into hiding.
Rudian found all their locations and sent his companions after them.
And this was the result.
'Tsk! So, what are the odds?'
To Rudian's question, Adi replied confidently:
—The average combat power of those who rebelled against Master doesn't exceed the capabilities of the Seven Arks or the Iron Guards at maximum estimate. Even without deploying Master's companions, just deploying the avatars of Terminal Elysion would be enough to sweep them away.
'But the problem now isn't their military strength.'
—Yes, the 364 variables discovered by Terminal Elysion are being perfectly controlled. The possibility of them obtaining what they call "fateful encounters" is infinitely close to zero.
'...Good work.'
If their military strength combined with the fateful encounters hidden in the original work, there was a possibility it could develop in a direction that wouldn't be easily handled.
But thanks to Adi's thorough work, their attempts amounted to nothing more than desperate struggles.
—It's only natural.
"Good. There's no reason to show mercy to those who kicked away the opportunity they were given."
—What do you mean by that?
"Tell them to eliminate all of them."
There was no need to judge good and evil.
If they opposed the order he had established, even if they claimed to follow good, Rudian was prepared to eliminate them.
—Anything else you'd like to order?
"...Keep a close eye on the religious side. I can't predict what might emerge from there."
—Understood, Master.
It was quiet now, but once they started acting up, the religious world would become more troublesome than secret societies.
Their true danger wasn't military strength but "influence."
The Seven Great Gods' denominations were spread like a spider web across the entire continent, and besides that, the names of various high-ranking gods were hidden as minor religions or folk beliefs.
If Heaven learned that Rudian was participating in the Heaven's Fall plan, Heaven would overturn the earth by any means necessary.
He had to prepare in advance before that happened.
Just then:
—Master, there's contact from Nevan.
"Hm? Lady Sonya?"
He had told them not to contact him unless there was business, but if they were calling like this, it didn't seem like an ordinary matter.
But Rudian's expectation was beautifully wrong.
—It's not her.
"Then who?"
—The Emperor.
"...Huh?"
—Emperor Rausa Wilhelm von Morian has requested an audience with Master.
***
Even for Rudian, he couldn't openly ignore the Emperor's request.
"Have you been well, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, it's been a while since we've had a private meeting like this, Count."
Leaving Rebecca's situation to Elvin, Rudian quickly crossed space and returned to Nevan's imperial palace.
This was his first face-to-face meeting with the Emperor since the Continental Conference.
"I won't waste time on useless pleasantries with you. In effect, you're no different from someone who has achieved continental unification... there's no need to observe the courtesies of a subject."
"...Thank you, Your Majesty. But right now, this is more comfortable."
"Well, if that's more comfortable for you, do as you please."
Emperor Rausa seemed tired as he rubbed his eyes and continued speaking.
"I called you here for a specific reason. To give you something."
"Give me... something?"
Those words meant that Emperor Rausa had also been entrusted with something by someone else.
"Take it."
Emperor Rausa handed Rudian a sword wrapped in a pure white scabbard that had been placed beside him.
"...What is this?"
Rudian thought this was the 'Sword of Ascension,' the sacred relic of the Morian Empire that he had previously borrowed from the Emperor.
But the moment he gripped the handle, the tremendous divine power he felt immediately proved that assumption wrong.
'Could this be...'
Rudian's expression hardened greatly.
A 'holy sword' that emanated such intense divine power—there weren't many of those in existence.
An unprecedented power that even surpassed Daylight with ease.
When he slightly drew the sword and confirmed the pattern carved on the blade, Rudian's guess became fact.
"...Why is this here?"
The pattern of the Order God Medaiel carved on the blade.
This was unmistakable.
The sacred relic of the original work's protagonist, Abel, and the mascot of
This was definitely 'Grandia.'