Chapter 77

Chapter 77. Enriching the Nation, Strengthening the Army (4)

"Good heavens......"

"Dear god."

Exclamations of every sort.

Yet none contained any proper subject or object—just vague, shapeless words.

"S-Si-woo...... what on earth have you done?"

Even Seol-a, with her nerves of steel, stood gaping.

I was just as surprised.

The reason we were all stunned was the Imperial Citadel of the Ruzbella Empire, which had swallowed Pyongyang whole.

'I didn't expect it to be this enormous.'

I'd had a rough idea, but seeing it in person was overwhelming.

A crystallization of spatial magic.

The imperial capital was incomparably larger than it appeared.

Its scale was so overwhelming it warranted a Voice of the World.

That must have been why every government figure had converged on the Ruzbella Citadel.

"Si-woo, are you...... dreaming of a Great Korean Empire?"

Seol-a tilted her head.

I was in a position to give a definitive answer.

Per Iris's definition, I, Shin Si-woo, had become the Emperor of the Absolute Empire and the Emperor of the Ruzbella Empire.

The Republic of Korea proclaiming itself an empire in front of someone like me?

'Then I'd become the Emperor of the Absolute Empire, which encompasses the Great Korean Empire.'

Iris had probably named my empire "Absolute" because it subsumed all empires.

"You can just say that out loud?"

Seol-a's eyes went round at my explanation.

Senior Prosecutor Kang—the next president—along with the sitting President, all turned to me with stunned faces.

"It's fine in front of you and our government officials."

To overcome the demons consuming the world, I alone wasn't enough.

Our government and my allies needed to know the plain truth.

There was nothing to gain from hiding it.

"Why go out of your way to build an empire?"

I had a grand design in mind.

I didn't know what the "pride of the British Empire" meant exactly, but having provoked it, major changes would sweep the world.

Which meant I had to think seriously about the empire.

The plan that emerged:

An empire that encompasses empires—the Absolute Empire.

My Absolute Empire would be a consolidation of six empires, each ruled by one of my swords as its emperor.

On Earth, not in my Sword Realm.

"S-Si-woo. You declared an empire to make your swords into emperors?"

A shocked question came back.

It was Senior Prosecutor Kang.

He stared at me, then—apparently at a complete loss for words—squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

'My swords can be emperors if they want.'

Maybe it was because the power had originated from Raise a Sword, which I'd started during my middle-school syndrome phase.

Saying it aloud in reality felt slightly embarrassing.

I swiftly changed the subject.

To something everyone would care about—the Imperial Citadel of the Ruzbella Empire.

"Civilians absolutely cannot enter the central Imperial Palace."

The central Imperial Palace was a space suffused with the Emperor's Authority.

The authority imbued in my uniform radiated twenty-four hours a day, meaning at minimum you'd need to be a Transcendent to enter.

Even among Transcendents, I had no intention of admitting just anyone.

The reason—.

"The World Tree?"

Exactly.

I'd placed the satanic tree at the dead center of the Imperial Palace.

Crushed under the Emperor's Authority so it could never grow taller.

Below, Inviolable Walls blocked its path. Around it, Ferocious Demons maintained a constant perimeter.

"Si-woo, isn't that the man-eating tree the Patriot mentioned?"

"That's right."

"Why are you growing...... wait, does your sword like it?"

I fell silent, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Seol-a possessed a breathtaking beauty and looked nothing like the stern-faced Senior Prosecutor Kang.

Yet somehow, in the moment she squeezed her eyes shut, the two looked exactly alike.

With that idle thought, I got to the main point.

"I need people."

The Citadel stretched from what we knew as Pyongyang proper all the way out to the greater metropolitan district.

Such a vast territory naturally needed inhabitants.

"Is there really a reason to relocate citizens?"

President Lee Seok-hyeon asked.

Reasons abounded.

"Simply living on this land will allow people to harbor mana like Awakened."

Moreover, since every facility of the Imperial Citadel had come along with it, incredible things had become possible.

"If we activate the Imperial Transcendent Knight Order's barracks, we can forge the most powerful military from my trial. The Mage Tower can mass-produce mages."

The capital of that world's foremost nation—its very existence brimmed with staggering potential.

But the real reason the Ruzbella Empire's capital mattered lay elsewhere.

"Beyond combat mages, the Mage Tower can also research Arcane Engineering. And with alchemy and mana stone generation, we could replace existing energy sources and medical treatments."

With a government full of competent people, someone instantly grasped my true intent.

"Everything you've described runs on Mystery."

My goal was to build a nation that could function without Mystery.

"Exactly. We can drastically reduce our Mystery dependency."

Mystery was an imperfect metal.

Muratan's opinion was that it could disappear at any time.

"Are you saying we should prepare for a world without Mystery?"

Everyone looked at me with heavy expressions.

Present-day humanity maintained a Mystery-based society.

The fresh air we breathed, the fish we ate, the safe living zones maintained by redirecting Gates—all of it existed thanks to Mystery.

"Someday......"

I spoke a truth I'd kept silent until now.

"Mystery will definitely disappear."

By my estimation, Earth was being protected by an unknown entity.

Someone who'd bestowed Awakening and Status Windows, who contained catastrophes through Gates.

The evidence was simple.

Hadn't I seen the British Doctor and confirmed China's reality?

They operated under some kind of restriction.

Without it, Earth would have already been consumed by billions and completely collapsed.

President Lee Seok-hyeon distilled my intent into a single line.

"A reform plan wagering humanity's survival. We shall carry it out."

***

FLASH!

[A Gate has spawned south of the Ruzbella Empire District 5 gate.]

President Lee Seok-hyeon's final act in office was recruiting a thousand volunteers.

Before attempting anything at scale, we'd run various tests with a small group first.

Excess volunteers would be sorted by the government and deployed in a second round of Awakening tests.

'It'll work out.'

The Guardian Sword—Kim Jun's abilities had already been verified.

Plenty of time had passed since the Jeonju Void incident.

In the interim, our government had cooperated with Kim Jun to concretely verify and confirm his Awakened abilities.

And so, the first batch of Awakening-test volunteers vanished into the Gate.

'The Gate level is low, and I've attached demons as a precaution.'

The Gate that had spawned was an ordinary monster nest.

A mid-tier Gate suitable for practice runs in Awakening tests—the kind that produced orc settlements.

"Iris, I'm counting on you."

Thanks to the Sword Realm growing more vivid, demons summoned by the Baby Sword could now be controlled by Iris.

Through the demons, she would observe events inside the coffins and neutralize any variables within the Gate.

[Just trust this maiden!]

The moment Iris's presence faded, Reinhardt stepped in without missing a beat.

[Sword Master, Earth really is different. I never imagined there would be so many opportunities for cooperation......]

He seemed amazed by the sight of a thousand volunteers disappearing beyond a Gate.

"In your world, everyone did as they pleased."

The reason my swords had taken extreme routes in Raise a Sword wasn't simply my personality or my middle-school syndrome.

The humans of that world, despite their small population, had violently opposed one another over species, skin color, or religion.

Because of that, even when my swords appeared, unifying humanity had been an impossibly distant goal.

But Earth—Korea in particular—was different.

'The problem is we have plenty of willing people but not enough leaders.'

The possibility of most citizens becoming Awakened had opened up.

Even without Awakening, paths to strength through aura and mana had appeared.

But there was a dire shortage of people to teach them.

[If that Sword Emperor fellow were still around, he could have utilized the imperial facilities far better. That is truly regrettable.]

And yet, I had a feeling I could solve this problem easily.

The Shop I'd glimpsed while collecting Coins from Im Ji-a.

It had definitely contained things like these.

FLASH!

[Muratan's Failure 145—Fusion Sword of the Imperial Transcendent Knight Commander and Royal Mage Tower-Master]

[Muratan's Failure 122—A Sword Forged by Binding the Entire Imperial Transcendent Knight Order.]

[Muratan's Failure 156—Composite Sword of the Imperial Mage Corps.]

⋮

A blacksmith who viewed everything in the world as "iron."

A madman who'd used his sword as a hammer to reshape everything.

The things he'd created—yet classified as failures and discarded.

All of them had appeared in my Shop as merchandise.

[Oh! To think such things exist. Their essence is human!]

Muratan, who'd been silent, suddenly called out.

I knew the fact well enough.

'Hm.'

Our enemy was a nation that generated people from people.

Surely buying a few swords made from people would be fine?

***

[Buckingham Palace.]

The sole empire on Earth.

Now, the one of two.

<Announcement: the world's second empire—the Ruzbella Empire—has appeared.>

<The pride of the British Empire trembles.>

The British Empire, caged within its great Ring.

They couldn't leave, but they could view WorldNet and hear the Voice of the World.

And the Voice of the World had shaken the pride of the great British Empire.

Her Majesty the Queen was furious.

KRRRRUMBLE———!!!

The whole of Britain began to quake, centered on Buckingham Palace.

Space itself warped as if dimensions had been carved away.

At the violent upheaval, every noble rushed to the Queen's audience and prostrated in supplication.

"My Queen. Please, compose yourself."

The wrath of the British Empire's ruler—the Queen—was that fearsome.

So intense was her fury.

That the ripples threatened to reach even the Ring encircling Britain.

CREAK———.

The Ring was the shackle caging the British Empire.

An unidentified catastrophe that blocked their ambitions.

As the Queen's power surged, the Ring tightened its grip on Britain's isolation. The senior officials scrambled to soothe her mood.

"My Queen, we present one million fresh citizens, just imported from China. Please, compose yourself!!!"

Only after an offering of a full million people did her fury subside.

Even so, the scratch on the British Empire's pride remained.

Britain's sky was dark beyond measure.

Within that darkness, one million pairs of eyes glinted.

A sign that the Queen, having received her tribute, was about to deliver a solemn command.

——Destroy that empire.

A single command descended from the abyss-dark sky.

The British Prime Minister summoned every noble.

"How can two empires possibly exist beneath the same sky?"

"Two empires......"

"This must never be allowed to stand."

The nobles of the British Empire—each bestowed their title by the Queen—rushed to address the matter.

Yet even the first step proved difficult.

"What on earth is 'Ruzbella'?"

Not the Japanese Empire, not China, not Persia, not Rome—.

"It's reportedly an empire that appeared in the Republic of Korea. A nation ruled by an emperor and an empress, but......"

Empress—in British terms, a Queen.

What an insufferably impudent name.

"The emperor, called Si-woo, is Korea's new Transcendent, but there's absolutely no information on the female ruler."

"Columbus, have you ever heard of it?"

The Ruzbella Empire.

A bizarre name no one had ever seen or heard.

Even the Pillager-Pioneer Columbus, the foremost authority on world geography, merely shook his head and shrugged.

"How can an empire with no basis whatsoever appear on Earth? It'd make more sense if that Hitler had come back to life."

Amid the confusion, someone spoke up.

"The opium I'd been distributing—it's been decoded."

Information presumed to be connected to this situation.

"Janet, your opium?"

"It's tied to China. Not something to take lightly."

A blonde woman with sharp red nails.

Once called Britain's jewel of an actress. After the Gate crisis, chosen by the Queen and elevated to the rank of Marchioness—the Dream-Pharmacist, Janet Smith.

She surveyed the room with a meaningful expression.

"The Doctor vanished and Jesus went silent. And now this empire appears."

The British Empire hadn't even stepped onto the stage yet.

How could such an ominous development be unfolding?

Korea alone was dangerous enough, having unified the peninsula. And now they'd seized the name "Empire."

"The British Empire is still isolated, isn't it?"

She languidly waved her fingertips.

Her red-tinged whites and pale-white pupils glinted.

Will burned in that gaze.

"Surely...... you're not suggesting we act ourselves?"

Those gathered here were "true nobles"—incomparable to the un-Fallen Doctor.

Every one of them possessed eyes inverted in their own unique color.

And so—.

"No. If we act, the Ring only tightens."

They could not act.

They could only wait for the world to cross its critical point.

"But we have pieces that can move for us, don't we? Our allies under contract."

China.

The British Empire's ally, still maintaining the form of a nation on Earth and thus not isolated from the world.

They maintained a close cooperative relationship.

"Let's put the outstanding drug tab to use and get China moving."

The Dream-Pharmacist Janet Smith declared.