Chapter 81

Chapter 81. Emperor's Authority (3)

"Jesus Christ!"

Jesus's eyes went wide enough to burst.

The Ruzbella Empire in the Republic of Korea.

He had beheld the crimson Satan-demon that appeared there.

'Even if one brought the lord of hell, could it defeat that thing?'

She'd clearly manifested in the form of a small girl to beguile people.

But Jesus's "eyes" saw her essence.

A being that should never, ever exist in the mortal realm.

"I trust brother, but......"

That satanic brat-demon was brother Si-woo's vassal.

An ally, in other words.

Even so, the ominous aura she radiated was impossible to find reassuring—.

[Death Star]

Because above that woman, he felt the energy of a cruel star.

A star that killed the heavens—the world.

Jesus's gaze sank deep.

SWOOSH—.

His vision left the Church at the Grand Canyon and pierced through worlds and dimensions.

Past the Dimensional Wall enveloping Earth, through the cosmos where Elon Mask drifted, into the fathomless realm of nothing.

A red star was illuminating the small girl.

Following its light, Jesus gazed upon the girl.

And the small girl turned her gaze toward Jesus.

——How impudent, daring to spy on the Sword Master.

Will filled the girl's eyes.

Jesus hastily withdrew his gaze.

FLINCH—.

A holy, sacred miracle performed within the Church.

The grace of God, conducted by Jesus's own black hands.

It had been pierced by a small girl's glance.

Jesus squeezed his eyes shut.

He gripped his cross and drew the sign of the holy cross.

"Endlessly—."

He had gazed into a deep, dark abyss.

Gaze into the abyss, and the abyss gazes back.

And so the abyss's master had perceived Jesus in turn.

In that brief crossing of gazes, Jesus came to understand.

"—Fierce."

That abyss had been a chilling crimson, the color of blood.

Within it lay a cruel fate that could kill all things.

A being capable of annihilating the entire universe.

Even so, Jesus had to acknowledge one truth.

'She poses no harm to humanity.'

That terrifying satanic brat-demon had zero interest in the world's fate.

"Exalted love......"

Everything the abyss's master dwelled upon was solely, entirely about the Sword Master—Si-woo.

"Exalted and pure, and therefore obsessive and fierce."

Some would call such a heart love.

Indeed, she was a being who thought of only one person and lived solely for that person.

And that person was undoubtedly my brother, Si-woo.

A truth that should have brought relief.

And yet.......

TREMBLE, TREMBLE—.

Jesus's black hands, clutching the cross, shook uncontrollably.

Though he'd withdrawn his gaze from the crimson girl some time ago, his body still exhibited instinctive reactions.

'A truly fearsome power.'

Yes.

That Jesus had felt fear.

"Jesus...... what on earth did you see?"

President Bill Johnson asked, watching this Jesus.

Beads of sweat dotted Bill Johnson's forehead and smooth scalp.

He'd never once seen Jesus this terrified.

That alone was frightening enough.

"A—men."

Jesus steadied himself.

For the devout Christians who believed in and followed him.

For the three hundred million American faithful.

The one true god of humanity must not falter.

"Bill, I have beheld it."

A being that made even the one true god tremble in fear.

A being no ordinary human should ever lay eyes upon.

Jesus summarized her existence in these terms:

"Bill, China will never leave the continent."

As long as she existed, China could never bare its fangs.

So take comfort.

I, Jesus Christ, personally guarantee it.

"In the name of Jesus Christ, I decree."

Jesus commanded.

His tone was utterly resolute.

"From this moment forward, the Ruzbella Empire is America's top-priority allied nation. Send a diplomatic delegation immediately."

Whether the Ruzbella Empire belonged to Korea, or Korea belonged to the empire.

Or whether it was an independently sovereign nation.

Whether they could establish an embassy within the colossal citadel that had appeared in Pyongyang and open diplomatic relations.

There was far too much to investigate.

"Orders received. However......"

President Bill Johnson nodded at Jesus's sudden pivot.

If the one true god was acting this way, the "Ruzbella Empire" must truly be that important.

But there was one problem.

"May we redirect personnel from other projects to the Ruzbella Empire initiative?"

There weren't enough people.

America's landmass was absurdly vast.

Managing that absurdly vast territory required an absurd number of people.

And after the Gate crisis, Canada's absorption as the fifty-first state had only worsened the labor shortage.

"Redirect all the personnel preparing for Elon's return to the Ruzbella Empire."

"A-are you sure that's alright?"

"Elon seems preoccupied with observing Earth."

When he'd looked into space to find the Death Star, Jesus had spotted Elon Mask floating in Earth's upper atmosphere.

Elon had been staring into the void, attempting something.

Perhaps.......

"Elon may be trying to return to Earth on his own."

Knowing Elon Mask, he'd find a way back under his own power no matter what.

"Let him come back on his own."

Jesus deprioritized the Elon issue.

"Effective immediately, establishing diplomatic relations with the Ruzbella Empire is America's highest priority."

US President Bill Johnson declared total national mobilization.

***

Demon worshippers had ranks.

Common followers were mere vermin who simply worshipped. Bishop-level ones were vermin who cultivated worshippers.

Above them, at the Apostle level, they evolved into vermin who could directly borrow and wield demonic power.

All the same kind of scum, but when they gathered in numbers, troublesome things happened.

'That's......'

When they exceeded ten thousand, a "demon" descended to lead its worshippers.

But this was an army of a million.

I saw the demon.

BOOOM——.

A giant of fearsome visage wielding a massive halberd.

Like Guan Yu, presumably drawn from the Three Kingdoms—a Chinese Demi-God that had Fallen and embraced a demon.

Two strands of hair jutting forward like long antennae. The master of the Sky Piercer halberd.

'Lü Bu.'

The commander of the forces advancing past the Great Wall into North Korea.

The true identity of the Dark God leading a million worshippers was Savagery—a demon that had seized the body of Earth's Demi-God, Lü Bu.

By anyone's reckoning, Lü Bu and Savagery were a match made in hell.

Which meant the Authority it wielded would be formidable, but.......

SPLATTER———!!!

That being was reduced to a handful of blood by a single flick of Iris's finger.

There wasn't even time for an explanation before it vanished.

"A bug with cockroach-like antennae, daring to look down upon the Sword Master. How utterly insolent."

Savagery was a demon that appeared in Raise a Sword.

Similar to Necribas but a rank above in Caliber.

Moreover, the Savagery that had just appeared had completely dominated Lü Bu.

Which strongly suggested it had descended using its true power.

And yet.......

'It just died instantly?'

Truly shocking.

To clarify, I wasn't shocked by Iris Ruzbella's power.

Nobody in the world knew better than I did how overwhelmingly strong she was.

What shocked me was that her physical form had used its power.

"This maiden got a little carried away."

A single flick from Iris, and the Dark God-possessed Lü Bu was dead.

'The mightiest warrior of the Three Kingdoms, gone just like that.'

A truly empty death.

At least when I'd decapitated Guan Yu, there'd been some buildup. Lü Bu dissolving into blood spray was.......

I felt a pang of anticlimax, but quickly refocused.

"Iris, is it okay to use your power so freely?"

"This maiden only used the energy stored within the palace, so please don't worry!"

She beamed at me.

Only then did I register the change that had occurred in the palace.

What had accumulated here was the power of successive Ruzbella emperors.

Some of it had diminished.

'The Emperor's Authority.'

Empress—Iris Ruzbella.

She was the palace's master and the legitimate bloodline of the Ruzbella imperial house.

Naturally, she could freely tap into the imperial energy stored here.

"Was it wrong to use this energy?"

When I kept staring at her, Iris tilted her head.

She seemed worried.

"Well done. Use it as much as you want."

The Emperor's Authority replenished over time anyway.

From now on it would be dyed in Iris Ruzbella's far deeper, far more intense energy.

And honestly, a good chunk of the stored authority could stand to be depleted.

'A few more shots and even civilians could enter the palace.'

Right now, any civilian who came here would be crushed by the sheer authority.

But if it kept being spent?

Ordinary people would be able to enter the central Imperial Palace's audience chamber.

'Instead of the enthronement I couldn't hold—.'

The enthronement had already happened.

'If I want to hold a coronation, I'll need people to show up and at least applaud.'

Maybe the Shop even sold crowns?

If the opportunity arose, I'd prepare a coronation for her.

"For now......"

First, I had to deal with everything that had come across from China.

I gazed at the black tide surging past the border.

As a child, I'd heard that China's true strength lay in its human-wave tactics.

The scene before me made those words painfully real.

SWOOOSH———.

A haze of dark-red mist and blood spray hung thick.

As if demons were being thrown into a blender.

The one hundred and two Imperial Transcendent Knights projected this much destructive power.

'Are they insane?'

Even so, China's forces advanced without breaking, marching relentlessly toward my citadel.

Their lord—Savagery Lü Bu—was dead.

The leaderless million-strong army was literally melting away.

Yet they did not stop.

The reason being.......

BOOOM——!!!

Tremors originating from the gap in the Great Wall.

Intense enough to reach Pyongyang where I stood.

BOOOM——!

The earth shook in every direction as if an earthquake had struck.

Beyond the gap, a giant with empty eye sockets appeared.

Black fog churned within those hollow eyes—clearly another vessel of demonic power.

'Another million......'

This was human-wave tactics incarnate.

Push in a million. Push in another million. War waged by grinding through population.

"Remember, the Ching are impossible to handle with unmanned bombers. Their population outnumbers the bombers even if they generate infinitely around the clock."

The Patriot's emphatic warning echoed in my mind.

At the time, I'd scoffed at his ignorance. But watching millions pour in wave after wave, my thinking shifted.

'Even infinitely generating bombers might struggle against millions of Chinese soldiers flooding in nonstop.'

There were only twelve carriers.

Was my common sense gradually being corrupted by the Patriot?

Or had China's reality simply broken my brain?

My uncertainty was resolved by a single word from Iris.

"Sword Master......"

Iris gazed at me with eyes drunk on ecstasy.

***

What is the Emperor's Authority?

For someone who'd lived in twenty-first-century Korea, intuitively grasping the Emperor's Authority was exceptionally difficult.

But a being who could show me stood right before me.

Iris, sitting on the windowsill, kicking her small legs.

She asked.

"May this maiden use her sword?"

Raise a Sword—the trial I'd been so deeply immersed in.

The girl who'd become a sword when the trial ended now existed before my very eyes.

The sword I'd raised was asking me for permission.

"......"

To me and to my swords—what was a "sword"?

Proof of the years we'd shared. An honorable symbol of having witnessed the world's end. A marker connecting past, present, and future.

And—.

'What I must become.'

Even if the swords took physical form, I would grow stronger in my own right.

The world within the trial had been merciless.

Now that it was reality, it would be even more so.

This was an opportunity.

'So that's why they carry swords—.'

The souls who'd completed the world alongside the swords I'd forged lived on in the Sword Realm.

They'd clearly been holding swords.

Hadn't Iris appeared here with [■■■]—her crimson greatsword?

Now I understood why.

"Freely."

In truth, Iris didn't need my permission.

She'd only asked out of deference to me.

She knew better than anyone how to use my sword.

Perhaps better than I did.

'I need to learn.'

I was an ordinary human.

I'd vicariously experienced the merciless world through Raise a Sword, but I didn't truly know what it was like in the flesh.

This was my chance to find out.

I would watch and learn.

The Eye.

Heat pulsed behind my eyes.

My vision tinged crimson.

Within the red-tinted world, I looked upon the deepest-hued woman.

She still appeared as a girl, yet through my Eye, Iris's true form overlapped.

A domineering empress.

The cruel woman who'd killed the world.

And yet, the girl who'd cherished and loved her sword more than anyone.

"It has been a long time."

She pressed her lips to the blade.

Then she stood upon the window ledge and leveled the sword.

Its tip pointed toward the brutal, horrific battlefield.

My Eye followed the blade's edge.

The battlefield came into view.

SWOOOSH———.

The imperial knights slaughtered the Dark God's vassals.

Black fog poured from the corpses, and North Korean soil began to corrupt once more.

Within that corruption, the enemy endlessly reformed like mud and revived.

Dying and dying again, they pressed ever closer toward where I stood.

'A million-strong army.'

Four simple characters in a novel.

Seeing it in person, it was too vast for two eyes to contain.

Even from a great distance, they filled the horizon to its edges—an endless tide of humanity with no visible end.

Toward that staggering mass, Iris swung her sword.

"Demons——."

The master of the Million Demons.

The Empress of Blood unleashed her sword's power.