The airships pouring out were like black stars that covered the sky, bringing with them a pressure even greater than storm clouds filling the heavens.
On those terrifying steel hulls, countless heavy cannons shimmering with natural energy radiated endless danger.
Amid the dull roar of machinery, the entire royal capital seemed to be instantly shrouded beneath the shadow of a terrifying threat.
Under that oppressive darkness, the residents in the central square widened their eyes as overwhelming fear surged through them.
Their bodies trembled as they stared in disbelief at the sky swallowed by blackness.
"What... what is that?"
"Technology from the Lesser family. I think they're called airships... I've seen them before in Tiyebo in the south..."
"No... I'm talking about those turrets on top! What are those?!"
Countless nobles felt the crushing pressure as they stared in shock at the dazzling heavy cannons covering the ships.
Every noble wore an expression of confusion and fear.
If even the nobles were like this, the ordinary people were even more dumbfounded.
At that moment, an absurd thought rose in their minds, 'Are we really living in the same world?'
'Airships that could fly through the sky?'
They had never seen such a thing before, much less the black gun turrets mounted on them.
Their understanding of the world still revolved around horse-drawn carriages, mana trains, and ships sailing across the sea.
They simply couldn't understand how those steel airships were floating.
Nor could they understand what those magic-filled heavy cannons actually were.
At the same time, the Crown Prince also looked toward the sky.
His clear pupils trembled on their own.
He understood the Lesser family's technological power better than anyone.
That's right.
The Lesser family called it... "technology."
Even humanoid weapons like Saphiloth had been created by the Lesser family.
Of course, Saphiloth's creation had a great deal to do with the Crown Prince.
Because he needed a weapon capable of protecting all the humans of the Empire.
So "Saphiloth" was created by the Lesser family.
And now, according to what he knew, these were all high-tech weapons the Lesser family had developed in secret.
He never imagined that Hermes would summon these weapons and bring them above the royal capital.
Albany understood the power of these weapons better than anyone.
The reason the southern front had been able to hold out for so long wasn't just because the City of Adventurers had so many adventurers.
A large part of it was thanks to these powerful weapons supplied by the Lesser family.
Because they needed the monsters emerging from the monster rifts to test the power of these weapons.
Then they improved and adjusted them through repeated testing.
The Crown Prince knew all of this because the Lesser family had never hidden it from him.
They told him these weapons had all been created for the safety of mankind.
So Albany believed them.
He had always believed the Lesser family would use these weapons to drive away every monster that harmed humanity.
But now...
As he looked up and saw countless gun barrels in the sky aimed directly at humanity, Albany realized, these weapons weren't meant only for fighting monsters.
They would be even more effective against humans.
At that moment, the Crown Prince looked at the airships suppressing the entire sky.
His legs began to shake, and his eyes filled with panic.
Why did the Lesser family possess such advanced "technology," capable of creating such powerful weapons?
Because it had been brought by the gods...
"The power of the gods..."
The gods who stood high above had never cared about the safety of mankind.
The Crown Prince knew exactly how powerful those airships were.
He desperately wanted to push through the crowd and report everything to his father.
But fear had already spread throughout his entire body, rooting his feet to the ground so that he couldn't move.
Just as he helplessly turned his head toward the throne at the top of the stairs, he saw that his father was still sitting there leisurely, looking completely calm.
As though... he didn't regard the airships in the sky as a threat at all.
Aubrey merely raised his eyelids slightly.
He calmly watched the airships gradually covering the entire royal capital.
Then he let out a soft chuckle.
His aged yet confident voice slowly rang out.
"So this is what gives you confidence, Leopold."
At that moment, Hermes stood upon the earth, looking with satisfaction at the fleet of airships gradually blotting out the entire sky.
The corners of his mouth lifted, as if victory were already in his grasp.
But when Aubrey's voice reached his ears, Hermes froze.
With confusion, he turned his gaze back to Aubrey, who was still seated upon the throne.
After hearing Aubrey's words, he suddenly realized something.
From beginning to end, Aubrey had never once addressed him by his divine name.
Even though he had never hidden his identity, Aubrey continued calling him by the name he had already abandoned.
As though...
Aubrey still regarded him as the subordinate he could manipulate at will.
Hermes raised his head, his gaze passing through the clouds as he looked at the steel fleet he had summoned with his own hands.
How dared he...
He had seen this kind of power... so how dared he...
But the next moment, Aubrey's voice interrupted his thoughts.
As cold as ice and filled with authority, it shook the surrounding air.
"You amassed wealth in my country and built weapons."
"And now you actually think you can use them to defeat me?"
After saying those words, Aubrey's eyes became incomparably fierce.
Like a lion that had locked onto its prey, sharp and savage.
His terrifying voice was like the roar of a lion, shaking the space above the royal capital until waves rippled through the air.
As soon as he finished speaking, another sharp question followed.
"You think you can deceive a king?"
Hearing those words, Hermes' golden pupils suddenly contracted, and intense unease rose within him.
He couldn't understand why Aubrey could be so confident.
He was a god, and the sky was filled with his giant warships armed with heavy cannons.
Wasn't Aubrey afraid that when all that power was unleashed at once, it would destroy him, every resident present, and this entire land together?
He couldn't understand it.
Anger welled up inside Hermes.
Because he couldn't accept it.
"A nation that does not respect the gods."
Because he couldn't accept it.
"A nation that does not believe in the gods."
"A nation that dares challenge the gods!"
At that moment, the golden sand within Hermes' eyes spun like whirlwinds, rotating at incredible speed.
It was as though towering waves had been raised before crashing heavily onto the earth.
Again and again...
Finally, his voice turned as cold as ice. As though issuing a final command of separation, he gently released the last of his power.
"Be destroyed..."
Buzz!!!
The instant the words fell, the energy cannons aboard the black star-like warships covering the sky gathered together, forming a blazing mass of light.
The terrifying power completely twisted the winds across the land, drawing them toward the thousands of cannon muzzles.
Layers of light continued converging as the glow within the barrels became increasingly brilliant.
In an instant, countless dazzling emerald points of light lit up across the black sea of stars, growing larger and larger high above.
BOOM!
All the energy within the heavy cannons erupted into the sky, expanding as it surged upward.
Countless streams of light merged together, forming a massive fluorescent pillar that pierced through the clouds.
The pillar of light, which nearly enveloped the entire city, began to rotate within the endless night.
It rapidly absorbed the natural energy in the sky, forming an incomparably chaotic vortex.
Swept up by that terrifying energy, the royal capital, already resembling ruins, was thrown into chaos as fierce winds rose and sand scattered everywhere.
Everything upon the earth was caught in violent rotation, spiraling toward the enormous pillar that stretched beyond sight.
Broken stones and dust flew wildly through the storm, nearly filling the entire space.
Within the powerful pull of the vortex, the terrified residents huddled together, their fearful eyes fixed on the blazing pillar.
The elves hiding inside the nobles' carriages were even more frightened.
They all raised their heads, eyes wide, staring at the light that pierced into the heavens.
But just as panic consumed them, an overwhelming weakness spread through their bodies.
Tiny green specks of light floated from the surfaces of their bodies.
Their natural energy was gradually being absorbed.
And the one absorbing it was that terrifying pillar reaching into the sky.
At that moment, Cocotte, one hand covering her ear, felt her mind fall into chaos.
She looked up in shock at the towering light continuously gathering overhead.
Because she could clearly feel that the immense power gathering there was not magic.
Yet it surpassed all magic.
"Natural energy..."
Because it... came from nature.
The next second, countless sharp beams poured from the pillar, spreading wildly across every corner of the royal capital before crashing into the ground.
Each massive beam left a scar upon the earth like a bolt of lightning. Like a woven net, the dense power raged across the land in a relentless, chaotic pattern.
Wherever it struck directly, the earth split apart at once as soil and gravel were blasted into the sky.
Every ruin touched by the light was instantly reduced to dust.
In that instant, the earth became like thin paper carefully sliced apart by a sharp blade.
Too fragile to resist.
It split apart into countless pieces.
The terrifying radiance gradually swallowed everything, while the destructive force overturned all that existed.
It nearly pushed the land to the edge of destruction.
Standing in the central square before the royal palace, the residents facing the approaching catastrophe had nothing left on their faces but despair and terror.
They could only stand there in a daze, watching the devastating beams destroy their homeland.
Fear held their bodies firmly in place, leaving them unable to move.
Yet just as the light was about to reach the city walls,
Aubrey merely raised an aged yet broad hand toward the sky.
The corner of his weathered yet confident face lifted slightly into a smile.
At the same moment, a powerful sense of shock instantly swept through Hermes' entire body.
Hermes hurriedly fixed his golden eyes on Aubrey ahead of him.
He froze.
Because in that instant, it was as if Hermes were seeing an illusion.
He saw a young man with white hair, strong and vigorous, clad in golden armor from head to toe, sitting solemnly upon the imperial throne.
His illusory figure seemed to gradually merge with the present-day Aubrey.
The younger him was full of spirit, his resolute face overflowing with confidence.
The moment he ascended the throne, Aubrey reached his hand toward the sky, slowly clenched his fist, and declared to the entire world, 'This is the era of Aubrey Sol.'
'Whether man... or god.'
'All shall look up to me alone.'
Suddenly, Hermes' vision blurred.
When the illusion faded and his senses returned, he looked at the now somewhat aged Aubrey before him.
Finally, Aubrey clenched his fist.
Crack!
Amid the explosive roar of the chaotic world, a sudden crisp sound rang out, overwhelming all the surrounding chaos.
The air... shattered.