The Mad Gangsters Arrive
In the continent, there is only one nation that dares to call itself an Empire. It had every right to the title. Its territory was vast beyond compare, its lands overflowed with abundant resources, and its prosperity was unmatched. The Empire took immense pride in being the greatest power in the Central region, a belief held even more fiercely by its nobles. To their eyes, the underground kingdom of the dwarves, the great forest of the elves, and all the various human nations were nothing but primitive, feeble forces. They believed they could crush any of them at will.
The citizens of the Empire shared this arrogance. No matter how chaotic the world grew or how harsh life became, they lived with their heads held high simply because they belonged to the Empire.
But there were powers in this world before which even the Empire could not show its arrogance. And those very beings were the true protagonists of this summit—the ones who had trampled the haughty Empire time and time again.
The bizarre and unpredictable South, the West, and the East all yielded to the terrifying demonic landscape of the North, a place that had not ceased its brutal struggle for over a thousand years.
Chatter. Chatter.
The Imperial Capital—the heart of the Empire where the Emperor and his bloodline resided—was unusually quiet today. Even amid the world's turmoil, it had never lost its vitality. Yet now, the streets of the so-called City Where the Sun Never Sets were packed shoulder to shoulder in eerie silence.
The people stood crammed together, gazing beyond the city walls. Some looked expectant, others wary. They had come to witness the arrivals promised for today. Who exactly were they waiting for?
The dwarves of the underground kingdom? They were certainly impressive for building a massive realm beneath the earth, but they weren't enough to astonish the Empire.
The elves of the great forest? The World Tree they worshipped was wondrous, and the mysteries of their forest were awe-inspiring, but they were isolationists who never ventured beyond their woods.
The Holy Kingdom? It had grown frighteningly powerful lately, but it was still just another human nation.
The other human kingdoms? With the Empire—the pinnacle of human power—right here, who would bother waiting for them?
No. What the people awaited were not forces from the Central region. They were waiting for those from outside the Center. From the East, the West… or the South.
Swoooosh!
".....They're here."
The sound of a ship slicing through the sea echoed from afar. The people in the western districts of the capital instinctively knew. Even though they were inland, the salty scent of the ocean suddenly filled the air. For a fleeting moment, the city of towering buildings vanished, replaced by the refreshing sensation of standing in the middle of a vast sea.
The citizens stared in wonder at this mysterious phenomenon. Such sights were rare in the Central region, where Mysteries were uncommon.
Soon after, a colossal structure appeared beyond the massive mountain range that wrapped around the western side of the capital. Those with good vantage points stood up in shock.
It looked as if part of the city itself was moving. No—the ship was simply so enormous that it gave that impression. It glided across what should have been solid ground as easily as if it were water, a lake, or the open sea. As though the very earth posed no obstacle whatsoever.
The people gasped in admiration at a sight impossible to witness in the Center.
"Whoa! That ship is as huge as a castle!"
"Is that the Mystery the Westerners use?"
"Turning land into sea… I can't even begin to guess how it works."
While the crowd murmured their awestruck thoughts, the main figures from the other regions began to reveal themselves as well.
Crackle.
Static noise erupted along the southern main road of the capital. A group appeared with an unsettling distortion. They wore coats rather than armor, their bodies covered in complex mechanical devices. They carried firearms uncommon in the Center and swords with exposed clockwork mechanisms, marching in perfect formation with eerily silent steps.
At their center, massive mechanical constructs moved their enormous legs with heavy, armored grace.
The people on the avenue stared in shock as the delegation ignored the capital's strict security and simply materialized.
"Look over there! It's the Time Knights!"
"I see the Southern Mystery Hunters too!"
"The pinnacle of magitech! Are those the rumored war machines?!"
Everyone tried to identify the delegates based on the rumors they'd heard. However, for some reason, the faces of the delegation were obscured by noise. Those not hidden by static wore metal masks that concealed their identities.
Even though hundreds of people were walking by, they made no sound at all. The eerie sight caused the onlookers to slowly back away, averting their eyes. They muttered lame excuses like having left a window open at home or forgetting to grab something.
Rumble rumble rumble.
"Ahem, I should head back inside… huh?"
"What's that loud noise coming from above?"
Those trying to flee to other districts suddenly found the sky above them darkening. They reflexively looked up—and their faces filled with horror.
A massive floating island was approaching from the eastern side of the capital.
"Th-the Sky Island!"
"The Eastern base is moving in its entirety!"
"It's the Wyvern Knights and the Sky Knights!"
"Those beastmen bastards! Don't they know any restraint?!"
A group was flying around the enormous floating island. Wyvern-mounted knights, avian beastmen with wings known as the Sky Knights, and soldiers equipped with propulsion devices stood guard around it like an escort.
No one could fathom how an island of that size stayed aloft. People aboard hot-air balloons tethered to the island by chains tossed talismans into the sky, summoning powerful winds. Perhaps it was thanks to the mysterious knowledge of the distant East. Even so, considering the absurd maintenance costs, it was likely supported by the rumored floating stones—precious artifacts heard of only in legends.
The capital, which had been so quiet, instantly erupted into chaos at the sight of these extraordinary arrivals. The people who had stayed silent just to witness this moment now made the city louder than ever.
Watching from the imperial palace, the Empire's nobles frowned deeply.
"Honestly, no matter how many times I see them, they're still absurd."
"Just what is the difference between us and them that we can't overcome?"
"We should invest more in the Academy."
They were greedy, but not stupid. A few uncultured nobles—the inevitable flaw of a blood-based class system—had run wild, but most of those fools had been swept away during the heterogeneous migration incident a few months ago.
The nobles who survived were true nobles. They knew how to invest in their territories and in the Academy that would produce the Empire's future talents.
"It's not that the Academy students are lacking. So why is there still such a gap?"
"It must be the environment. Every one of their regions is harsh enough to be called a demonic landscape by Central standards."
"Ridiculous. Does that mean we need to create artificial demonic landscapes?"
"If necessary, we will."
Yet because they were as arrogant as they were capable, the imperial nobles were convinced they would one day surpass them. Given the Empire's resources, it didn't seem impossible.
However, even in the sky-high confidence of the Empire's nobles, there was one exception. A place they believed they could never catch up to—not in the past, not now, and not in the future.
Chill—!
An overwhelming presence that struck at the very instinct of living beings engulfed the capital. The noisy imperial city fell silent as if by magic. Flying wyverns thrashed in terror, and even the mechanical Mystery Hunters from the South showed clear signs of agitation.
……All living things in the capital had gone silent from the aura emitted by a single individual.
Even the animals roaming the city had frozen in place because of one person, holding their breath in fear.
Fortunately, the pressure was soon canceled out by another aura radiating from the imperial palace. Birds shot into the sky in panic, and people everywhere exhaled the breaths they'd been holding.
"Hah! That insane Grand Duke!"
"....No matter how many times I see it, that power is still unbelievable."
"That was… just his presence?"
The nobles inside the imperial palace also let out the breaths they'd been holding, cold sweat running down their backs. Knights and mages alike, regardless of their level, had all felt the crushing pressure. In fact, the higher their realm, the more they realized just how absurd that presence was, leaving them stunned.
The older nobles managed to stay calm thanks to experience, but the shock was overwhelming for the younger ones.
"What… what was that just now?"
"That was the Grand Duke of Libertas."
"Li-Libertas? You mean the Northern Grand Duke did that?"
"Yes. That mad Grand Duke."
The young nobles stared at the elder nobles with shocked faces. The older ones smiled bitterly in understanding. They too had been stunned the first time they encountered that presence.
The sight of a single person silencing the vast imperial capital was an even greater shock to those who believed the Empire was the center of the world.
One of the elder nobles gazed at the sky with bitter eyes.
"The world really is cruel. Seven Transcendents who have reached the supreme realm exist in the North alone."
"Doesn't that just prove how horrific the North is?"
"Even considering that, the number is insane."
The Empire also had a Transcendent who had reached the supreme realm, but there was only one. In the North, there were seven such monsters.
─────!
"Ugh…!"
"Is another Transcendent coming?"
"That aura definitely belongs to the Blue Fanged Wolf."
"The Sword Star must be having a hard time."
"What can we do? The side with more monsters who can face a nation alone holds the upper hand."
A one-man army. Two such monsters capable of easily destroying a duchy or small kingdom—even if the Empire itself would be a stretch—had arrived. It was clear proof of how seriously the North was taking this matter. It was also the North's blatant declaration that any nonsense during the summit would be met with overwhelming force.
The nobles endured the pressure weighing down on their entire bodies and maintained their composure. Once the gates opened and the Northern delegation entered, the aura would disappear. To avoid appearing intimidated by the Northerners marching down the main road, they needed to puff out their chests, mobilize the elite guards they had prepared in advance, and hold a grand military parade…
Grrrrrrrrng!
"Kwaaaaaaaaah!"
"Kroooooooooo!!"
"Keeeeeeeek!!!"
As the massive gates opened, the monsters that appeared roared fiercely, unleashing their presence. Beasts comparable to—or even surpassing—ogres, the rulers of the forest, strode in with majestic arrogance.
Leading them was a massive 5-meter-tall white-furred bear and a multi-tailed fox, followed by other enormous monsters. The nobles' faces twisted in shock, their dignity crumbling.
"Wh-what the hell are those?!"
"What is the capital legion doing?!"
"Wait! There are people riding on those monsters!"
"What?"
"No way…"
The confusion lasted only a moment. The nobles quickly grasped the situation and spotted the people mounted atop the monsters walking down the avenue. Their expressions turned to pure disbelief.
Hundreds of people radiating auras that didn't lose out to the monsters they rode. Though the smallest in terms of delegation size, they were by far the most dangerous group of all. The nobles swallowed dryly.
And Sodrian, the Empire's Sword Star, who had watched the entire scene of the Northern delegation's entrance from beginning to end, spotted Argo and Vergo at the front and let out a deep sigh.
"Those mad gangsters… they really went and caused an incident…"
The two Transcendents waved cheerfully with bright smiles. The Sword Star clutched his throbbing head.
He swore to himself that he would retire from politics before the year was out.