A Very Casual Invasion
...But what have you been doing all this time?
Roverian Chen Imperium.
The head of the Eight Swords of the Empire, and one of the Three Great Dukes, named alongside the Spirit Duke and the Duke of Demon Suppression.
With the Duke of Demon Suppression reduced to an idiot, the Empire is now split between only the Duke of Yellow Embers and the Spirit Duke — and the Duke of Yellow Embers' power and legitimacy are overwhelming by any measure.
He carries the blood of the imperial house. An emperor does technically exist, but the title means little; the Empire's strength and its mandate flow solely from the Duke of Yellow Embers' hands and lips.
The Spirit Duke, by contrast, absorbed a portion of the Demon-Crushing Duke's faction after her fall, yet even now falls short of him.
In effect, the Duke of Yellow Embers is the master of the Empire.
Above all — he is a celestial.
"......"
"Hyaah... great work today."
Would I really be able to keep my composure, the way I did that day? He's nothing like the Forgotten Emperor, who cast off his body and latched onto another — he's the genuine article. A true celestial.
Yena stretches her arms to the sky and glances back at me.
"Today's collab was so fun. We literally just chatted, and the numbers blew way past what I expected. Guess it's because it's been a while since our last collab? Over two hundred thousand, too..."
"I have to go to the Empire."
"...Huh? W-what, nyow?"
Scrape.
I rose from my seat and headed straight out of the fortress. It was this direction, right?
The moment I began making preparations to leave, Yena came rushing out after me. Quick on her feet, for an assassin.
"W-why the Empire all of a sudden?"
"Didn't you say it yourself? The root cause of the kingdoms' problems lies with the Empire."
The Empire simply stands by and watches as these kingdoms blockade one another and hike their tariffs — no, it doesn't merely watch. It feeds on it. If they were simply profiting off an economy thrown into chaos, that could arguably be left alone. But their head, the Duke of Yellow Embers, is a shrewd, calculating man. He would absolutely move on the kingdoms devastated by the Kraken and swallow them into the Empire. Even things that weren't wrong, he'd bend until they were wrong enough to take.
If it's that Duke of Yellow Embers.
"I have business in the Empire anyway, and I was planning to go eventually — so I'm just moving it up to now."
"What about the stream? You turned it off earlier — want me to turn it back on?"
"For the stream? Not really necessary."
I'm not going there to fight. I'm going to talk. They won't believe the truth no matter how I present it, but there's no reason to show everything — certainly not the parts that were never meant to be seen.
Yena hums a thoughtful "hmm..." and nods.
"Then at least record it. Make a VOD."
"A recording?"
"A visit to the Empire. Think about the view-count power that carries — it'd be a waste to just let it slide. You can cut the unnecessary parts in editing and upload it later."
"Hmm... that might actually work."
Not a bad idea at all. My NewTube material had been running thin — I'd been trickling out older footage to fill the gaps — so the timing was perfect. And the editors would love having fresh footage to cut. White Autumn most of all.
"So how are you getting there? A portal? Or are you flying yourself?"
"Obviously..."
Flap.
"Whoa?!"
"We ride the dragon, obviously."
"...Someone's coming?"
The imperial capital, Imperidium.
The commander of the Empire's magical barrier — the man charged with the capital's skies — doubted his own eyes and ears.
The magical barrier of Imperidium: the eternal bulwark that shielded the Empire's heavens without a single flaw, a sanctuary of absolute impenetrability.
And into that flawless ward, an unidentified object had been detected.
That object was...
"A dragon, sir. An ice-attribute dragon — not yet a mature adult, as far as we can determine..."
"Forget the damn dragon. I'm asking about the thing riding on top of it. Are you certain?"
A dragon. 'A mere dragon.' Dragons were the pinnacle of every living creature short of celestials and demons, the very wellspring from which all magic flowed. Dismissing one in such terms should have been unthinkable — but in the Empire, it was simply the norm. Six beings lived here, each strong enough to make a dragon mere.
The barrier unit member answered with a face tight with tension.
"Yes, sir. It matches the reported description exactly — hair, eyes, everything."
Blue hair and blue eyes. A pure-white saintess's habit, and a beauty that stood out even from a distance.
"Lily Elbrit is coming to the Empire? Over the capital's skies, no less?"
It was absurd.
This magical barrier was the crowning work built jointly by the late Duke of Demon Suppression and the Spirit Duke. Once friends, the two had put their heads together to forge a mighty ward to protect the Empire, and that ward had held unbroken to this very day. No living thing could enter without authorization; even a Grand Archmage's Meteor could not punch through it. Short of an approved route, entry was simply impossible.
Screeeee—!
"...Nothing? It just... went through?"
The dragon had torn straight through that barrier, and now it wheeled across the sky above the capital, circling around as if the place belonged to it.
"Whoa! A dragon!"
"Everyone, look! It's a dragon!"
"Mom! Over there, look!"
The capital's residents, delighted by the novelty, pointed at the dragon and chattered excitedly — while the commander of the magical barrier broke out in a cold sweat.
Isn't that thing... dangerous?
The people living in the heart of the eternally peaceful capital felt no sense of crisis even at the appearance of a dragon. Most of them had never felt danger once in their entire lives; they had always lived cocooned in protection.
But right now, this was an extremely dangerous situation.
A dragon's breath decomposes mana and erases everything within its path. Magic is useless against the species, and its hide of incredible toughness turns aside even the most serious physical blows.
The only reason this could still be called safe was that two of the Empire's Six Swords happened to be present. The real problem was the woman on the dragon's back — a monster even the Six Swords could not defeat.
No. Truthfully, the red alert had already been raised the instant the barrier was breached.
"...They're not actually here to invade, are they?"
"Commander! Your orders! Do we intercept per the manual?"
"No! That is Lily Elbrit! If we provoke her, this could spiral into an even bigger disaster!"
"But the manual says—"
"There is a separate manual for Lily as well! Yes, the two contradict each other — but for now, we observe!"
"......"
What a nightmare.
By the manual governing the barrier and acts of invasion, the correct response was to attack Lily on the spot. She was already an 'invader' who had assaulted the Empire, and her crimes should by rights be answered.
But the manual issued on Lily Elbrit mere days ago read: 'Response is prohibited, so long as we are not attacked first.'
He couldn't say which took precedence. The only thing certain was that this was not a decision to be settled by the hands of a 'mere' commander.
"What on earth am I supposed to..."
"Commander! Contact from the palace!"
"Give it here — now!!"
Esther hurried over and stood before the magic orb his subordinate had brought.
As commander, he held a fairly high rank, and he assumed — as on every ordinary occasion — that the palace's proxy would receive the call. He squared his shoulders with practiced formality.
"...!!"
Thud!
A heartbeat later, his knees had buckled so hard and so fast it was a wonder no sound of impact escaped him.
The magic orb was blazing golden.
─Barrier Commander Esther.
"Great shield of the Empire! Esther, commander of the Grand Magical Barrier, standing to receive your command!"
It was the Duke of Yellow Embers.
Not some proxy — the Duke of Yellow Embers himself had appeared in person!
Why would someone so exalted...
It spoke to how grave the matter truly was — and yet never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the great one would show himself to someone as lowly as him. The unit member who had carried the orb over swallowed hard and held it up reverently in both hands.
─As you know, someone has intruded into the Empire's skies without permission.
"That is correct!"
─It would appear she's headed this way... but I find myself a little busy at the moment. Could you attend to her in my stead?
"Y-yes?"
The question slipped out of Esther before he could stop it.
This was the Duke of Yellow Embers, the very apex of the Empire. Once an order was given, it could not be refused — and could not be refused. Ordinarily he would have accepted it without a second thought; he was simply so flustered that his mouth had run ahead of his sense.
Thud!
Esther slammed his forehead to the floor.
"This humble one was out of line! I shall carry out your command!!"
─No, no. It's a fair question. You are superb at barrier management, but you are hardly strong, are you?
"......"
And the barrier got pierced precisely because that management failed, didn't it?
Granted, the intruder was someone no barrier in existence could have stopped — but the fact remained that it had been pierced, and Esther's head would not have been out of place rolling on the floor for it. His throat bobbed at the ghastly thought.
─I'm not telling you to fight her. Let's see... think of it as hosting a guest, briefly.
"U-understood! With the utmost devotion, I shall host her so that she does not become the Empire's disgrace!"
─I trust you will do well, for the sake of the Empire's future. Then I leave it in your hands.
Click.
The mana in the orb vanished.
Only after the last trace of mana had faded and a full minute had passed did the tension finally drain from his body.
It was like being caught in a storm.
"You've worked hard, sir..."
"What in the world just happened?"
Esther let out a long, shuddering breath and pushed himself unsteadily to his feet.
That single brief exchange had aged him ten years, he was sure of it. If it happened even one more time, he was going to have to seriously consider retirement.
"It's heading over there!"
"Look this way! Look!"
"It's... kind of cute, actually?"
The real problem was only just beginning.
"Lily. No — am I simply to attend upon Her Ladyship, then?"
"Yes... for now, establish a mana link and get the communication line set up. Pull her out quietly, where no one will notice."
"Understood."
The barrier unit member hurried off, and Esther dragged his boneless body into a chair.
Seated, he had a clear view of the dragon wheeling through the sky — and of Lily riding atop it.
She didn't appear to have any intention of attacking, but...
"...So what have you been doing all this time?"
"Having fun?"
"Yeah!"
The wind rushes past.
Sre, crossing freely over the enemy's sky without the slightest interference — and me, riding on her back.
Hmm.
"I'm having fun too."