Calstein Babylon
Kahlen, Vice Minister of the Central Database Management System Department, was checking his uniform over and over, cold sweat trickling down his back.
"You will be granted an audience with His Majesty shortly. Mind your words and conduct."
At the cool female voice, he nodded urgently. Even as he did, he let his eyes slide sideways to confirm the speaker's identity.
The woman who served concurrently as the Galactic Empire's First Chancellor and Chief Secretary was running her hawk-sharp gaze over him from his heels to the crown of his head.
Whew… Calm down. Stay calm.
The identity of the Empire's First Chancellor had never been revealed to anyone. Rumor had it she was even a candidate for Empress, so there was no harm in being careful.
Kahlen had to keep taking deep breaths, struggling to force the tension down.
Empress candidate or not, she was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the man he was about to meet.
Calstein Babylon.
The Monarch of the End, the Omniscient Emperor, the Maestro of Slaughter, the Starbreaker, He Who Sings of Butchery, Genocide Deep Impact — the sovereign bore countless blood-chilling epithets without number.
It was said that any talented individual who so much as caught his eye would willingly kneel and beg to serve beneath him, and that once he set his mind to something, nothing was beyond his power.
The first thing he had done upon becoming Emperor was to massacre the corrupt officials infesting every corner of society, and the blood spilled in that purge was said to have blanketed an entire planet. Emperor Calstein was the blood-soaked monarch who had even forced the Space Pirate Alliance 'Sparrow' — notorious as the cruelest of the great cosmic powers — into submission.
Even the unidentifiable hostile alien lifeforms, mindless things that they were, dared not rashly charge at him. His greatness was beyond what words could describe.
Hailed as the hero who ended the Third Great Cosmic War, which had raged for twenty-eight thousand years, and judged to possess a war deterrent no faction in existence could afford to ignore, Calstein was a monarch utterly without precedent in history.
Beneath the Emperor stood countless hidden blades who supported him like his own shadow, and there were even whispers that his eyes and ears watched over the entire galaxy.
Lies did not work in his presence, the rumors went, and anyone who let slip a single falsehood would be made to surrender his eyes and tongue before being allowed to leave.
Standing on the eve of an audience with an emperor of peerless, unprecedented magnificence, it was only natural that Kahlen's nerves were fraying at the edges.
Kahlen had been a commoner — a factory worker on a border world who had thrown his body into grueling labor just to scrape by, living on with his lifespan cut in half, unable even to die. That same man had risen to the post of Vice Minister on a single word from Emperor Calstein. The Emperor's influence needed no demonstration; it was plain to see.
"Enter."
Was it his achievements, or his very genes, that made a single word radiate majesty even from beyond the door?
Swallowing the question, Kahlen kept his head bowed at the prescribed forty-five degrees and moved forward without a single misstep, performing the formal rite of audience.
"Hmm."
At one unhurried snort, a heavy tension settled over the audience chamber. It was only then that Kahlen realized he was not alone — Minister Makia was also present in the chamber. And when he stole a glance at the man's complexion, he noticed it was little different from his own: tense, watchful, determined not to make the slightest mistake.
That one shared circumstance — having a fellow sufferer at his side — brought him an inward sense of relief.
Now is not the time for that.
He hastily collected himself and turned his ears to the Emperor and the Chancellor.
"I have work for you two…."
They tried to read the Emperor's intent, keeping their heads bowed so their eyes would not meet his, and turned their minds taut with attention.
Having left the grand audience chamber, Vice Minister Kahlen had to steady his trembling legs once he was outside the imperial palace.
And His Majesty barely even spoke to me. Who knew it would be this exhausting?
The Emperor had opened his mouth only a handful of times — "Yes." "Can you do it?" "Show me results, without fail." — while the orders and explanations came entirely from the Chancellor's lips. And yet the sheer presence, the untouchable majesty, had made it impossible to so much as raise one's head.
As he paused to catch his breath, Minister Makia appeared at his back.
"Vice Minister Kahlen. Walk with me a moment."
"Yes, of course."
Kahlen boarded the vehicle together with Minister Makia. The moment they were inside, the car started itself, set its destination, and began to lift off into the air.
"Whew… His Majesty's realm seems to deepen by the day. These days it is a struggle just to share the same space with him."
"Is it only you, Minister Makia? I was thoroughly humbled myself."
"No, no. Perhaps it is because I've grown old, but it strikes me all the more strongly."
"Haha."
After listening to a few of Minister Makia's groans, Kahlen broached the matter of their assignment in earnest.
"It seems what His Majesty desires is the expansion and conquest of other dimensions."
"…Pardon?"
"His Majesty is surely gazing upon a Galactic Empire of the far distant future — one beyond anything we could imagine."
"I… suppose so."
Kahlen hid his bewilderment.
Wait. Wasn't the order basically "hack the unidentified Community and prep it so I can add whatever features I want"? And while we're at it, harvest the users' data and trace the coordinates.
No. The solemn, dignified Emperor would never issue a direct command over so trivial a matter.
Kahlen shook his head inwardly and nodded along to Makia's words.
He's obtained an immortal body, after all. From a mortal's standpoint, there's simply no judging what he's thinking.
That was the conclusion he settled on. In Kahlen's mind, at least, the image of Emperor Calstein spamming posts on the Community while snickering to himself was territory beyond all imagination.
"In any case, with the Chancellor activating the ACC, we have less to worry about on the failure front."
"Indeed. And even setting aside His Majesty's direct orders, discerning his hidden intentions and preparing in advance is simply the duty of those who serve him."
"Yes. It looks like we'll be busy for a while."
"We will. Let's get it done as fast as possible."
Kahlen and Makia continued discussing their assignment as the vehicle carried them steadily away from the imperial palace.
So this is what the Big Bang was like.
Against the pitch-black void at the heart of space, clusters of red and blue light flickered in and out of existence.
Vmmmm—
Behind Calstein, who floated in the void, a planet was meeting its death, shrieking out its final scream.
Cracks split across the star's surface, sending fragments tumbling away, and between the jagged fissures hot, blinding red pulses throbbed. The planet broke apart endlessly, and broke again, until it erupted in a flash like a second sun, unleashing a ring of shockwaves that spread horizontally before scattering into a fistful of dust.
Gooooh—
The death of a star.
Calstein, who had sentenced an entire planet to death with a single strike, turned away and released the two-kilometer dedicated weapon from his hand.
Zeeeeng—
Panels that had hovered about the spear-like weapon like satellites spilled forth blue force fields, wrapping around the blade, and with a clack—clack— they folded together in an instant, transforming into a storage casing that swallowed the two-kilometer spear whole.
Around Calstein, clad in golden full-body armor, officers in reinforced suits flew up in quick succession.
—Thank you for your labor, Your Majesty.
Nod.
Calstein inclined his head gravely and shot off, returning to his flagship.
The officer who remained where the Emperor had departed continued the task of recovering the imperial ether weapon. Even without pausing his work, he had to clench and unclench his fists repeatedly, straining to calm his racing heart.
No one but His Majesty could wring this level of performance out of a multi-probabilistic physical-computation ether fusion weapon.
A single swing had annihilated a major planet swallowed by the Plants. Even for a man who had toured every battlefield imaginable, that sight had sent chills down his spine. The Plants' colossal defenses were nothing before His Majesty — a lantern in the wind.
Meanwhile, Calstein, having returned to his personal flagship, snapped a selfie with the planetary explosion as his backdrop.
Click.
It was a feature built into the Dimension Integrated Community. Photo filters included, incidentally.
That took some effort. Craving a beer rn.
If they had known that the planet in the photo was a Jursna-class giant some dozens of times the size of a sun, they would have fainted on the spot.
Calstein curled his lips upward and posted a reply.
Ding—!
The renown of 'Universe Emperor' began to ripple across the Community.