Chapter 425
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 425
Chapter Title: Humans Are Scary, I Tell You.
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"When the Sword Sovereign visited, the Soviet Union was gripped by fear."
It was only natural.
The leaders guiding the Soviet Union at the time were the very ones who had spearheaded the revolution and massacred her family.
No. To her, every citizen who had supported the revolution that toppled the Russian Empire and birthed the Soviet Union was an enemy.
That was why the Soviet Union had obsessively pushed plans to counter Sword Masters.
But in the end, the federation, having achieved nothing, greeted the Sword Sovereign in despair.
They knew that if she sought revenge, they would all be slaughtered without mercy.
It was the Heroes' Age back then.
Sword Masters were absolute beings.
Everyone knew their power and feared them.
"But the Sword Sovereign didn't want revenge."
Not even against ordinary citizens.
Even in front of the General Secretary they offered up or the enemies who had personally gunned down her family, she never drew her sword.
Instead, she simply made a demand.
Her rights as the heir to the Russian imperial family.
The terrified populace naturally accepted her terms.
They acknowledged her as the rightful ruler of the Soviet Union and surrendered everything from territory to wealth.
Including the life-and-death authority over every citizen.
After all, everyone knew that if she wished it, they were all as good as dead.
Yet the Sword Sovereign never exercised those rights.
She merely leased back all the reclaimed property and authority indefinitely to the nation, delegated governance entirely, and chose to watch from the throne.
Thus was born the unprecedented nation of a communist empire ruled by an empress.
"She wanted to reign without ruling? That tyrant, the Sword Sovereign?"
"All she truly wanted was her rights restored."
Was it because they'd only heard of the Sword Sovereign's infamous reputation?
Rimon gave a wry smile to Bachmensky, who openly scowled in disbelief.
Then, in a slightly subdued voice, he murmured.
"...The biggest reason was that she didn't want to disappoint her master."
"The irony is that thanks to the Sword Sovereign becoming their empress, the Soviet Union escaped its crisis."
The federation's decline had begun in the first place from reckless efforts to compensate for the absence of an absolute being.
But with the Sword Sovereign—an absolute being—the Soviet Union halted all such plans and even slashed military spending.
For the federal government, it was a blessing in disguise.
"That said, national strength couldn't recover overnight."
No matter how absolute, the Sword Sovereign was still a Sword Master.
She could protect the nation and fight enemies, but she couldn't work miracles to conjure gold.
Besides, the Soviet Union's situation was so dire that even tons of gold wouldn't have fixed it.
Thus, the high-ranking officials who belatedly came to their senses could only tear their hair out over a country on the brink of bankruptcy.
"The General Secretary at the time, pondering a solution, came up with a revolutionary idea."
"......"
"Their country happened to have a target with immense wealth they could plunder freely without anyone complaining."
As if guessing what came next, Ekaterina's lips twisted slightly at Sergei, who fell silent and darkened his gaze even further.
"Our Silver Dragon Clan."
Even if not to modern extents, the Seven Dragon Society back then dominated the world's crime and amassed vast fortunes.
Moreover, as an open enemy dubbed a demonic cult, plundering them could solve finances in one fell swoop.
The problem was that raiding the Seven Dragon Society, teeming with countless experts, was sheer madness.
But they had the Sword Sovereign.
"The Sword Sovereign gladly accepted the federal government's plea to drive out the Silver Dragon Clan exploiting the people."
In truth, the Silver Dragon Clan at the time was a criminal syndicate cranking out counterfeits with stolen and plagiarized tech to sell everywhere.
Whether as a monarch protecting her subjects...
Or as the disciple of the Sword Duke...
The Sword Sovereign readily set out to subjugate the Silver Dragon Clan.
They resisted desperately, but only at first.
Even the Silver Dragon Princess of that era, who barely managed a draw against the Sword Sovereign, ultimately fled to save her clan.
Leaving behind the immense wealth stockpiled in their strongholds.
"That's how the Soviet Union resolved its financial woes with the money the Sword Sovereign looted from us."
And so dawned the Soviet Union's greatest golden age.
A steadfast guardian in the Sword Sovereign.
Wealth seized from the Silver Dragon Clan.
With those two pillars, the federation lavished welfare on all citizens and basked in their cheers.
"But the money plundered from us ran out quickly."
Only natural.
The Seven Dragon Society, scattered in patchwork branches to evade the Sword Duke, had dispersed its assets across hundreds of sites.
Raiding a few was like pissing in the wind.
Yet cutting welfare now and tightening belts would turn cheers to rage.
The policy prioritizing welfare to regain public support amid the Sword Sovereign's return had boomeranged.
"So the federal government had another revolutionary idea."
"......"
"They secretly threatened our Silver Dragon Clan: 'Hand over your wealth as tribute if you don't want to be hunted by the Sword Sovereign.'"
The Silver Dragon Clan ultimately accepted the threat.
Not just because they couldn't risk their princess dying or getting hurt.
It was the cold calculus that paying tribute and securing safety beat repeating base destructions and flights.
Thus was born yet another unprecedented state: one running on tribute extorted from the Seven Dragon Society.
"That made the Soviet Union's coffers plentiful, but it hid a problem."
"......Which led to even harsher exploitation by the Silver Dragon Clan?"
"Yeah. Even our clan's wealth isn't infinite. To pay tribute to the government, we had to squeeze it from somewhere."
The targets of that exploitation were, naturally, the people.
Hiring workers at rock-bottom wages to mass-produce counterfeits for tribute funds.
The government, receiving tribute from the Silver Dragon Clan, turned a blind eye as sacrifices for the nation.
The result: abundant welfare atop a bizarre structure forcing brutal illegal labor on the underclass.
"Humans are scary, I tell you."
"......"
"To think they'd exploit not just our Seven Dragon Society for the sake of 'equality,' but even a Sword Master."
If exploitation meant labor without fair pay, then yes—it was exploitation.
The Sword Sovereign had provided her priceless power gratis, solely for the nation's sake.
Silver Dragon Clan exploited the people.
Sword Sovereign exploited the Silver Dragon Clan.
Federal government exploited the Sword Sovereign.
Federal government bestowed on the people.
A horrific vicious cycle forged into a nation.
That was the true face of the Soviet Union—idealized by all revolutionaries as a utopia, longed for by every Russian.
Most citizens, save a few exploited, lived lives of leisure.
"And this structural issue birthed yet another."
"......Unchecked power corrupts."
"Exactly. The federal government's top officials—the only ones not exploited—began siphoning funds."
At first, a pack of cigarettes.
Or a bottle or two of booze.
But that pack became trucks, containers, entire ships.
With such vast sums flowing, skimming that much went unnoticed, emboldening them.
The problem: it wasn't just one or two getting bold.
As embezzled funds grew, welfare shrank while the exploited populace swelled.
From 10% at first.
Then 30%.
Ultimately 70%.
The Soviet Union, built for workers' freedom and equality, became the ultimate exploiter—fattening the elite while squeezing labor harder than anywhere else.
The Sword Sovereign, smashing empty Silver Dragon Clan shells for the nation, never noticed.
The government pulled every trick to show her only prosperity.
Raised as the imperial youngest daughter.
Grown into a swordswoman confined lifelong to the sword tower.
Untouched by worldly grime, she was too naive to see through it.
"The Sword Sovereign caught on only after the government could no longer hide the rot."
Protests erupting everywhere.
Visibly dwindling coffers.
Endless crises.
She sensed something amiss and pressed; citizens, realizing the government-Seven Dragon Society collusion, teetered on rioting.
Caught between, the government was cornered.
"And here, they pulled off yet another revolutionary act."
"......"
"They dumped all blame on the Sword Sovereign."
Responsibility was inevitable anyway.
Better minimize it.
Their best ploy: redirect public fury at her.
No matter how they raged, the people wouldn't dare touch a Sword Master.
The issue was her wrath, but...
"They probably figured someone soft enough to spare her family's killers wouldn't punish too harshly."
Having deceived her for years, they knew her subtle naivety.
And whether imprisoned or exiled...
They'd embezzled fortunes enough to live lavishly abroad or in jail forever.
"The Sword Sovereign's response was clear-cut."
One fatal miscalculation.
"She lopped off the entire federal government's heads on the spot."
They should have known.
She'd spared them only following her master's teachings.
Not out of mercy.
And that one bestows favors but never plays the fool—another precept from the master she revered above all.
But with the revolutionary government massacred, witnesses to her innocence vanished.
The people believed she exploited the nation for luxury and silenced the truth-telling government.
To them, those officials were saints doling out money and food for nothing.
In that fury, citizens rioted nationwide.
"Funny thing: even the Soviet citizens saw the Sword Sovereign as a fool."
"......"
"Otherwise, they'd never dare hostage crisis against her."
Imperial survivors from the old revolution: maids and servants.
Fallen nobles turned officers who'd met her.
Even those she'd aided while smashing Silver Dragon bases.
Self-proclaimed New Revolutionaries rounded up anyone with Sword Sovereign ties as hostages.
And threatened her.
Abdicate the throne and atone for national harm.
Serve them as slaves for her eternal Sword Master lifespan—millennia if need be.
She naturally ignored the threats.
Sternly urged hostage release, but...
The reply: twenty corpses, including toddlers barely three, dumped in trash bins.
Men tortured horrifically; women violated in unspeakable ways—traces vivid on the pile.
In that instant, the Sword Sovereign shed mercy.
Drew the sword from her master.
...The moment history's cruelest Sword Master, the Tyrant Sovereign, was born.