**Side: Divine Emperor**
The castle is in an uproar, and I know why. It’s because of that ridiculously huge Airship that suddenly appeared to the West of Abaricia this morning. That brat must have brought his army to invade. I ended up having to give orders to the Four Spirit Armies first thing in the morning, which just annoyed me even more.
“Huh? You’re telling me their entire army, including Chimeras, was annihilated from the town believed to be their landing point? When did this happen?! In the past few days? Why wasn’t I informed of this!!”
What’s even more infuriating is that ever since they landed in Abaricia, the armies deployed in the towns along their presumed path have been wiped out, and not a single Chimera remains. The reports had been transmitted to Abaricia via telegraph, but it only reached me at the very last moment. Every single one of them is useless.
I tried to vent my frustration by striking the slave in front of me, but the moment he was slammed against the wall, it was as if he died, not even twitching anymore. He’d smeared my room with his filthy blood!
“My deepest apologies! It seems the person in charge deemed the report unbelievable and suppressed it!”
“Then bring that person to me! Now!”
“Y-yes!!”
The attendant, terrified by my rage, scurried out of my chambers. Death penalty for harboring such an incompetent subordinate, but it won’t change the situation. Since they came from the West, the Kirin Army would be the first to confront them. So, I’ll have them buy time while the remaining three armies and the Chiyou Army merge. The Ouryu Army in the East might take time, but we can just rush them, and since they have a Chimera research lab there, they will be able to merge quickly if they use the Chimeras.
“Hey! Is anyone there! Send urgent communications to Ouryu, Phoenix, and Spirit Turtle! Order them to prioritize this! Especially Ouryu, tell them to bring the Chimeras along!”
“Y-yes!”
I gave orders to the attendant who rushed into my room in a panic, and I also began preparing myself to depart at any moment. At the same time, I picked up a stone displayed on my desk, not forgetting to cast a hateful glance at it.
To be precise, this stone, the Seal Imprint, is the reason I was summoned to this world.
When I first came to this world, I was lost, and the only salvation was that I could understand the language. I subdued everyone who tried to deceive me, those who wanted to enslave me and use me as a fighting force, and many others, by my own strength, and I succeeded in unifying this country called Abaricia. That was all well and good.
But the real problem came after that.
I don’t know what’s sealed within this Seal Imprint, but I heard it was stolen as a trump card. The reason I possessed it was simply because I was entrusted with its safekeeping until I returned to my hideout. Thanks to that, I survived by transferring to this world the moment I was killed by that brat’s father, which I find detestable, but on the other hand, it’s like a charm that saved my life.
Moreover, this Seal Imprint seems to be coveted by the God who named himself Abaricia, the one who summoned me to this world, and he keeps asking me to hand it over. I wouldn’t mind giving it to him, but I wouldn’t be able to get away with being discarded afterward, so I’ve been evading him. He also seems to think that enough for the Seal Imprint to exist in this world is sufficient, and that he can easily obtain it after I die, so I’m grateful he hasn’t made a serious move yet. However, he apparently insists on being worshipped, so I grudgingly built a church modeled after Sagrada Familia, which he seems to have liked. Right after its completion, he taught me some knowledge. Telecommunication technology using Magic Power was one of them.
“Hm? Who is it?”
“Your Majesty! I have brought the messenger and the chief of the communication bureau!”
“I see, bring them in!”
They’re here. I didn’t expect the chief of the communication bureau, but perhaps he brought him because he’s the person in charge, or maybe he’s involved too. If it’s the former, I’ll let him live, but if it’s the latter, I’ll kill him too.
The attendant who brought them in gestured for them to enter the room and then closed the door from the outside. It’s an action that shows he knows well what is about to happen, but it’s not uncommon for them to get in the way, so I don’t mind. Most importantly, the current issue is this messenger.
The two of them entered the room, took a few steps, and knelt before me.
“Yo.”
As I confirmed, their shoulders twitched. They’re trembling, unable to hide their fear, but this is beyond disrespectful. My anger from earlier flared up again.
“You– Is it true that you suppressed the report saying the invaders were advancing while defeating our armies and Chimeras?”
“M-my deepest… apologies!!”
“When, where, and who gave you such authority?”
“My apologies! My apologies!!”
They only apologize and offer no answer to my question. This is truly infuriating.
“Hey, I told you to answer. Are you messing with me by just repeating the same words? Answer me already!!”
I generated a Life Reaper and thrust it forcefully before his eyes. For a moment, I saw his face, a dirty face smeared with tears and snot.
“Hey, what is it? If you don’t answer, I’ll just execute you like this.”
“Y-your Majesty, I beg your pardon! Please allow me to answer directly!”
“What? You have an opinion? You seem eager to die. Fine, say it.”
“I am deeply grateful! The reason that person judged the communication to be false was on the orders of his superior! I myself only heard about it a moment ago!”
So, it’s his superior. It’s possible he’s trying to make excuses, but that’s also something I need to look into. However, I don’t have time right now; I’ll investigate that matter thoroughly later.
“In other words, this is due to your negligence. Managing your subordinates is also your job. You neglected it and gave me extra work. You’re prepared, aren’t you?”
“H-huh?”
“Even if you were ordered by your superior, you were the one who did it. Therefore, you two are sentenced to death here and now. Oh, don’t worry. If your superior really did such a thing, I’ll send them to follow you!”
With that said, I activated the water-based B-class target interference術式 Blue Coffin, trapping the two of them in a coffin of ice. A dirty ice statue was formed, but it’s not even worth being called an ornament. However, if I shatter it here, the room will get dirty, so I’ll have them removed for now. After everything is done, I’ll shatter it myself.
After the two ice statues and the corpse of the slave I beat to death were removed, the door to my room was knocked on again. Upon granting permission, the attendant who had relayed my orders to the Four Spirits entered.
“Report. We have received confirmation from the Spirit Turtle Army and the Phoenix Army that they have understood the orders. The Ouryu Army also sent a similar message, but it mentioned that the Chiyou Army would also accompany them, so they would stop by the castle once.”
“Understood. Then tell Chiyou too. When Ouryu arrives, launch with all our forces, merge with the Spirit Turtle and Phoenix who should be fighting ahead, and slaughter them. Don’t forget to mention that I will also be participating.”
“Yes! I will relay it immediately!”
I don’t know what they’re thinking by coming here, but since they’ve come this far, I’ll face them. I seem to recall that there’s a phenomenon called evolution on the other continent, and a considerable number of them have evolved into Ancient beings. I don’t know how many are attacking, but since they’ve already scattered the armies and Chimeras in their path, we’ll have to commit all our forces. The Kirin forces will have to consider themselves unlucky, but since the other three armies are still operational, it’s best to merge them with Chiyou and attack. After that, if we order the Four Symbols to gather in Abaricia, we’ll have the advantage of terrain and outnumber them in both quantity and quality. Ah, the White Tiger in their path… I guess that’s impossible. Well, that’s fine, I need to issue orders for that quickly too. While I was indeed forced to retreat at that time, the reason was the sudden appearance of that brat’s father. It’s true that I’m at a disadvantage against him, but the fact that they haven’t attacked until now probably means they’ve returned to Earth. If that’s the case, that brat is no enemy of mine, so only Makoto Katagiri remains. If I can defeat her, the rest will be a disorganized mob. Plus, if I can obtain the Airship, this is a lucrative battle.
Although I was annoyed at first, when I think about it, the only threat is Katagiri, and she can indeed annihilate the armies and Chimeras in her path, so this result was not unusual at all. However, I can’t afford to be careless when she’s the opponent, and I’ll have to deploy all the Chimeras near Ouryu as well. The Chimera research was completed after my return, and they are said to be quite easy to use. However, they are far inferior to Dragons, so more research is needed. All of this will be dealt with after we annihilate those foolish invaders.
As I pondered these thoughts, I began to prepare for battle.
