Chapter 88: To the Imperial Capital (1)
The war began 400 years ago when Asura wanted to reset the universe at his own discretion, but the Rulers of the Six Realms opposed his decision, leading to his destruction.
It was inevitable because of his end goal. However, Asura was the Coordinator of the world. As he ceased to exist, the aftermath was severe. Until that moment, it was no exaggeration to say that the universe was under the control of his absolute authority and law. Because of that, the entire universe drowned in a pot of chaos like a country that had fallen into a state of anarchy.
Initially bound by all kinds of restrictions and laws, G.o.ds and monsters soon began to run wild. Furthermore, the forces that had a hostile relationship with each other moved to annihilate each other. They didn"t dare to start a feud with each other back when Asura was around as they were wary of his might.
It was a war.
Countless transcendents and G.o.ds died in droves, and innumerable species and civilizations also disappeared into the mist of history. The wheel of blood started rolling and never stopped. It was a period when the whole universe could only be heard wailing.
The same held true for Earth that was divided into 100 planets.
The First-Tier G.o.ds, often referred to as the Great Divinity, divided Earth into 100 planets for some unknown reasons immediately after Asura"s destruction. The problem was that this wasn"t merely CTRL+C and CTRL +V. Each of the divided Earth had fine variables added to them and were adjusted to be of different periods. The Earth with the most advanced period was close to the era of Before Christ[1] while some of the other Earths already had civilization advanced enough to travel the universe.
Thus, when the war began, 27 of the 100 Earths had already reached a level of civilization advancement that they could no longer receive the protection of Sindroia. Before the war was even over, 25 more Earths reached that point too and they were swept away by the harsh universe war.
The damage was severe. Although these Earths were made to possess a civilization advanced enough to protect themselves, the war that spread all over the universe was so formidable that they could overcome those civilizations. Furthermore, the war was so severe that even the Earths with inferior civilizations under the protection of the Blessing of Sindroia were swept away without knowing what happened.
At that moment, a hero appeared.
Lightking Leonhardt.
Surprisingly, Leonhardt, who came from Earth-13, acquired an Intermediate-rank Status of G.o.d with his own strength. With the special bloodline he was born with as a foundation, he completed a low-rank Status of G.o.d. Then, he captured and killed monsters that invaded from the universe and fought until he was covered with blood. Finally, when he was about to die after being contaminated… With transcendental willpower and great fortune, he transcended his own existence.
Of course, even if he had obtained an Intermediate-rank Status of G.o.d, the war would not end because of it. At that time, the war was so severe that even the G.o.ds who possessed a High-rank Status of G.o.d, simply put, the Untouchables, died.
Because of that, while he was fighting desperately, he persuaded humans on other Earths to form a force. In the end, he succeeded in bringing together 47 of the 100 divided Earths that were swept up in the tides of the universe war.
Having finally succeeded in unifying the humans together, he joined forces with seven transcendents from the unified 47 Earths and began to systematically fight against the foreign enemies.
Then, he met him. The mighty Beast G.o.d that shook the universe -- the Golden Lion G.o.d.
"In other words…" Celestia mumbled all over the place.
I interrupted and asked, "Ultimately, you mean we"re going to a place that"s also Earth, right?"
"…"
"Did I interpret it wrongly?"
"No… You"re right."
Celestia was putting on a sulky face as if there was something she didn"t like. I looked at her and started concentrating my mind.
"Hmm. I think I roughly know why."
The Iron Heart that matched my heartbeat was pulsing. I didn"t know who named the Iron Heart, but now it had completely settled as if it really was my heart.
Schururuk.
I maneuvered past the bookshelf inside my heart that was invisible to others. I was worried at first, but it was surprisingly easy to operate.
It was similar to the sensation I felt when I operated through the t.i.tle.
"…That"s incredible."
"Oh my G.o.d. This isn"t about the Earth…"
I was contemplating over that sensation for a moment when I could hear the groans of Bo-ram and Dong-min with the monitor installed on one side of my ear as they looked outside. Since I had not made much progress in controlling my abilities anyway, I went and stood next to them.
"What is so incre-... Ohhhooo."
Albatross"s destination was the home planet of the Leonhardt Empire, which could be said to be the central hub of the Empire. Of course, that was just the name that the Leonhardt Empire"s people gave, but to be exact, it was Earth-13. I had already said this, but the place we needed to go to was ultimately Earth.
The place that I saw on the screen was certainly not much different from the Earth I knew of. The shape of the continent and the color of the sea, all of it was reminiscent of the Earth I knew.
The only different aspect was the satellite orbiting around Earth-13.
"A golden rose...?"
A huge golden rose was literally orbiting around Earth-13. At first glance, it was bigger than the moon, and it absolutely didn"t look small-sized. The enormous rose floating just above Earth-13 was shining gracefully as if Earth-13 was wearing an elegant golden crown. As if there was some sort of special power residing in it, it emitted a brilliant golden light even in the dark.
"That"s right. It"s the golden rose that the Golden Lion G.o.d gifted to Leonhardt The First as he proposed. That"s where we"re supposed to go, the Imperial Capital."
I looked at the golden rose while listening to Celestia"s explanation and I replied.
"So that"s why golden roses are the symbol for a proposal."
"Of course. In particular, the Imperial family of the Leonhardt Empire must use a golden rose when they confess to their significant others. Even among the roses, they had to use the Golden Rose of Detalt."
She didn"t say anything, but for a second, I thought I heard a voice saying, "That"s the rose that you didn"t accept". Of course, it didn"t matter.
"We"re approaching."
Like what Dong-min said in a soft tone, the golden rose was gradually turning bigger. Just then, I heard Celestia"s voice in my head.
You have thorough knowledge about the contents of the contract, right?
"Of course."
Even if she did beg(?) me to marry her, I must never be mistaken. She didn"t ask me to marry her because of reasons like she had a crush on me or she loved me.
However, even so, I intended to go along with her words. Because the divorce papers were perfect and there weren"t any flaws in her explanation.
Furthermore, as long as it"s a.s.sumed that I would be able to avoid the future of dying without a choice by obtaining the Divine Spirit Fragment that she had… It would be common courtesy to repay her for what my life"s worth.
We have arrived at our destination, Imperial Princess Celestia-nim.
"Got it, Genie. Thank you for all you"ve done thus far."
Don"t mention it.
Genie"s SD character, who appeared in front of the door, slightly bent her knees with her hands on her voluptuous chest. Even though her arms and legs were short and her head was half the size of her body, it was a gesture that felt elegant instead of cute.
"Uhhh, it"s a pity. I won"t be able to see the pretty Genie for some time huh."
Oh, oh my. Don"t say something like that.
"Why are you seducing someone else"s battleship control persona…"
As I stepped out into the hallway while listening to Celestia"s jeers, Dong-min and Bo-ram naturally followed behind me. It felt a little strange that I was the only one who was escorted when Celestia had no one beside her despite being an Imperial Princess. However, to be honest, I am not making any comments because I don"t have any combat capabilities.
"Are we going now?"
"That"s right."
"It feels bittersweet."
"That"s right. It feels almost like home at this point."
Dong-min and Bo-ram spoke in a sad tone while we were walking down the corridor to transfer to a small s.p.a.ceship, and Celestia also nodded in agreement.
"I feel the same too. I was dragged around unexpectedly and after having such a hard time, I guess I might"ve gotten attached… Well, even so, it was lucky that the Captain was the bear."
"Are there bad Captains too?"
"Of course. There"s no need to search far; look at Rising Storm that was dragged around. It would literally be game over."
"Well, the Sixth Imperial Prince b.a.s.t.a.r.d said he received it right… Ah, come to think of it, what happened to you?"
A question flashed across my mind, and I stared at Celestia.
"What?"
"No, I mean your battleship. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d was provided with a powerful battleship like Rising Storm. Did you not get anything?"
"Of course I got something, but… It would be quite burdensome if I tell you that."
"Burdensome? Ahhh."
Upon hearing her words, I could somehow figure out what she had received from the Imperial family. It was the Divine Spirit Fragment that she was wearing on her ear. However, it was absorbed by me.
"Haha. I"m just saying so don"t feel too pressured by it. In fact, it was something I was forced to receive because my maternal relatives didn"t have power. There wasn"t any particular effect, and it was useless too. Yet, it was the treasure of the Imperial family, so it had a high value only in name. There were all kinds of constraints imposed on it and a.s.sa.s.sins would come for it whenever they were bored. Furthermore, there weren"t just one or two relatives who tried to bite off more than they could chew. If I didn"t become a d.a.m.ned Idol by selling my face, I wouldn"t have been able to escape from their grasp. Well, that"s all become an experience at this point…"
After saying all that, Celestia"s expression suddenly settled down. Dong-min and Bo-ram turned their head at the change in the air and their eyes narrowed as well.
Just listen to me quietly.
Perhaps because I wasn"t the only one who could hear it, Bo-ram and Dong-min also nodded their heads.
"s.h.i.t, d.a.m.n it. What"s going on? Is someone coming?"
I was the only one whose senses were slow, and I felt frustrated. It would"ve been pretty nice if there was a sensing system ability among Napoleon"s Abilities.
However, whether I was lost in distracting thoughts or not, Celestia said, "That"s not all. Some of my brothers even said crazy things like marrying me and accepting it."
"…Really?"
"That"s right. Of course, we are half-siblings, but… He"s a funny guy. He"s always going around saying old-fashioned things like his name is the only one in the Leonhardt Empire worthy of being announced as Emperor in the universe. He also goes around every day saying that the other members of the Imperial family are insignificant beings that only have remnants of the bloodline in them."
She spoke in a slightly frivolous tone. I heard she was a singer, but her acting skills were also something not to be taken lightly. As if she was a flippant girl bad mouthing someone else without giving it much thought, she changed the mood so naturally just like that.
Then, someone answered in response to Celestia"s action.
"I"m disappointed that you think of me that way, Cel. I always spoke from the bottom of my heart."
From the opposite corridor, a blonde-haired man appeared leading a group of attendants and Major General Chun Hyun-il, the Captain of Albatross.
"Oh my? This is?"
I froze at the intense sensation I was feeling from him. His Aura gently revolved around him and his strength put pressure on the surroundings. All these told me that he was definitely not an ordinary being.
"Ahhh, you"re the groom from the rumors. It"s nice to meet you. I"m Louis Leonhardt, Crown Prince of the Leonhardt Empire."
A handsome blond-haired man who looked like a sculpture held out his hand with a smile that made anyone feel refreshed just by looking at him.
At the sensation that was transmitted to me even more vividly, I realized...
"This guy... Did he awaken his G.o.dly bloodline?"
1. This refers to the B.C. which was used to label the number of years before the Gregorian calendar came to be.