Chapter 1315: Great Shen Empire: Arrival to the Royal Capital
Chapter 1315: Great Shen Empire: Arrival to the Royal Capital
Blood Realm.
Amanda sat on the ground, lighting incense at the graves in front of her. These graves were empty, but she had built them to represent her fallen clansmen. Everyone from her clan had perished in the tragedy a few months ago, and she was the only survivor left.
She wondered if what she had done was right. Perhaps she should’ve stopped them from going to Imperium. Maybe, just maybe, they would still be alive.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned her head.
She knew it was Gragas.
Gragas glanced at her before focusing his attention on the graves. He stared blankly for a moment before asking, "Where’s Souta?"
"He left," Amanda answered. She glanced at him again and continued, "I’ve heard what happened here... Do you think Souta has changed?"
"Changed? What do you mean by that?" Gragas asked.
"If it were before, Souta wouldn’t have forcefully conquered the Depths of Banquet. I’ve learned that countless people died in the battle to decide the ruler of that land. Souta isn’t the kind of person who would actively kill innocent people. Even when we first arrived here in God’s Continent, Souta simply hid the Guardian Fortress and didn’t actively conquer villages, towns, or cities."
Amanda paused briefly before continuing.
"When he was appointed City Lord of Ekatoe City, he stayed in the city and only eliminated those who opposed his position. In fact, the lives of the people of Ekatoe City became better. Even after he had grown stronger, he didn’t touch the neighboring cities, despite the fact that he could have conquered the entire Mine Valley with his strength and used all its resources for his people. He didn’t do it. There was the contract of the Dragon Council back then, but it wouldn’t have been able to stop him with the backing of Athen’s Champion."
They had followed Souta for a long time and knew what he had done in the past. Although he wasn’t a good person, he couldn’t be considered evil either. Souta had his own morals and wouldn’t actively harm people. In fact, most of the time, he was alone, training himself to become stronger. He wouldn’t bother conquering territories or harming innocent people. He was simply focusing on improving his strength.
Of course, Souta could still harm innocent people. His battles had proven that in the past, as he was so strong that ordinary people would simply perish in the aftershocks of his battles. There was also a time when Souta fulfilled Eilish’s wish to save her brother, even if it meant destroying the chances of survival of hundreds of thousands of witches in Walpurgis Night.
His priority was his people, and then the strangers.
"There must be something that happened in the past few months. Also, it’s not like you’re a good person either. If I’m not wrong, I think you were the leader of a criminal organization back then. You exploited ordinary citizens and drove them to their limits." Gragas glanced at Amanda.
"I know. I’m just saying things. Now that Souta has left, I think another battle will occur. Even as we speak, there are others planning to conquer the nearby lands," Amanda said.
"What do you mean?"
"Where have you been? Are you holed up in your smithing station again?" Amanda sighed, looking at Gragas with condescending eyes. "The expansion hasn’t stopped at all. If you think conquering the Depths of Banquet is all there is to it, then you’re wrong. The expansion isn’t happening in reality. It’s happening here, in the Dream Realm."
Gragas raised his head and looked at the horizon.
"The Light Oracles are moving out right now. They’re scouting the space outside the Blood Realm, and they’ll invade those lands if an opportunity presents itself," Amanda explained.
Yuko, Franklin, and the other Light Oracles had already left the Blood Realm. Franklin had wandered outside the Blood Realm with Kessa in the past, and they knew there were opportunities and resources out there.
"So Souta is determined to expand, even if it means killing other people, right?"
"Yeah, that’s how expansion works. We’ll clash with the borders of other territories, and another war will erupt. I also noticed that Souta really doesn’t care about the people of the Blood Realm or the Depths of Banquet. To him, they’re only there to be used. Perhaps after losing the people of Ekatoe City and Astros, he stopped caring."
In the battle a few months ago, the ordinary people of Astros and Ekatoe City had been evacuated earlier, while only the experts stayed behind. Yet, they all still died in the end.
...
Central Region, Royal Capital of the Great Shen Empire.
The capital was named Xin Xiu in honor of the founder of the empire, the man who had built this enormous empire.
The Royal Palace was unusually quiet.
Emperor Shen sat on his throne with his eyes closed.
Beside him stood Xi Xing, the Royal Court Mage, nervously looking outside. He stared at the dark sky, waiting for someone.
He couldn’t help it.
The entire empire was in turmoil. Different regions were suffering from various battles. Numerous factions wanted to devour their empire, and it was difficult to simply stand here and wait.
Emperor Shen opened his eyes and said, "They are here."
Xi Xing raised his eyebrows as he felt faint, unfamiliar energy fluctuations entering the Royal Palace. He wasn’t surprised that the emperor had noticed them before he did. It was only natural, considering Emperor Shen was stronger than him.
A few moments later, a knock echoed through the door of the room.
Knock! Knock!
"Your Majesty, a woman who calls herself Shen Yao is here to seek an audience!"
A voice sounded from behind the door of the throne room.
"Let them in," Emperor Shen replied calmly.
A light pierced through the gap in the door as it slowly opened, and five people entered the room with calm expressions on their faces. The five people first observed the throne room before settling their gazes on Emperor Shen, who sat calmly on the throne.
The leading figure among them was a tall, valiant woman with long black hair that draped over her shoulders like a waterfall. Half of her face was covered by a veil, and her arms were clad in draconic gauntlets.
"This...!" Xi Xing was surprised when he saw the woman’s appearance. He recognized her, as she had become quite famous recently.
Shen Yao.
A powerful expert from the Heavenly Court and a rising prodigy who had defeated various prodigies from other Holy Lands. She had thwarted numerous plans by various gangs and organizations, quelling unrest in different parts of the Immortal Land.
A rising star of the Heavenly Court.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Shen Yao slightly bowed to Emperor Shen, who was sitting on the throne.
"Greetings. It’s my pleasure to meet Lady Shen Yao. I’ve long heard of your valiant deeds, and it’s reassuring to see you here." Emperor Shen smiled.
Shen Yao nodded and pointed toward the four people behind her.
"We’re the ones who took the request you submitted to the Heavenly Court. I wanted to know the details so that we can make a plan to complete the request."
Emperor Shen glanced at Xi Xing, and Xi Xing nodded in understanding. He explained the details of what was happening in the empire to Shen Yao and her companions.
The assassination of the princess, the plague, and the battles against other sects. Everything was laid out in detail.
After a while, Shen Yao and her four comrades understood what the empire was facing.
"So you should know that the Heavenly Court is impartial when it comes to the wars between forces in the Immortal Land. The Heavenly Court rules over the entire Immortal Land, but we don’t want to strictly control everyone within it. We encourage others to establish their own kingdoms and forces, and we let them fight for opportunities," Shen Yao explained.
Similar to the other Holy Lands, the Heavenly Court allowed the locals to establish their own forces. Those forces had a great deal of freedom, but they still fell under the rule of the Heavenly Court. They could seize resources and fight other people, and they could even wage war against other countries.
Even with that much freedom, there were still rules. Otherwise, everything would descend into chaos. Wiping out an entire nation was forbidden, and once such an act was discovered, the Heavenly Court would dispatch experts to intervene. There could be people in those nations who might become powerhouses in the future, and the Heavenly Court didn’t want to cut off that potential.
The Heavenly Court didn’t want to stop all the battles in the Immortal Land. An expert who grew without experiencing life-and-death battles would be helpless when fighting against other Holy Lands or criminal organizations like the Bringers of Calamity. Moreover, the higher entities of the Heavenly Court didn’t really care much about mortals, except for the few they were close to. This was especially true for those entities who had ascended thousands of years ago. They had watched generations of mortals come and go, from birth to death by old age.