Behind her followed the Sage of Corruption, who was clearly the youngest Great Demon besides Ash yet looked like an old man, along with over ten demon generals.
Judging from a normal perspective, whether it was the Central Lands or the Southern Lands, even combined they could not stop this group, however...
"For now, retreat first. Hide for now... then send someone to ask which country the Hero reported to," Even with a far more luxurious lineup, the Demon King still failed to destroy the Empire. Though the old Demon King Army had the issue of being too spread out and fighting too many targets at once, causing them to be defeated one by one.
And the Hero of the South had wiped out most of the Seven Sages of Destruction while dying together with Schlacht, who was second only to the Demon King. Rivale, the strongest demon warrior, had disappeared somewhere to fool around. Solitar simply had no interest in the conflict at all. The national defense barrier also hadn't been deciphered... all sorts of troublesome problems piled together.
Even so, the Demon King's side still had more top-level fighters than they currently did, yet they still failed to invade the Empire's core territory.
If they rushed into the imperial capital now with only this many people and ran into trouble like this again, Rivale and he himself might survive the blast, but what about everyone else?
He did not want the elite forces he had worked so hard to build up to be wasted in this place.
And before anyone could object, his gaze landed on the assassination squad members who had been casually pulled into the demons' defensive circle.
At this moment, the heavily injured group trembled like lambs waiting for slaughter. Anyone suddenly surrounded by a bunch of demon generals and Great Demons would panic.
If they were overly righteous people, they probably would have shouted before dying, "The kingdom actually colluded with demons to this extent!", or something like that, but... they obviously were not that righteous.
"W-We are willing to do this for the kingdom—"
"Alright. Though I said I'd let you be free, you've now seen things you shouldn't have seen. So from now on, obediently go live in the royal capital for a while."
Before the priest, who should have been the most righteous among them, could finish speaking, Ash waved his hand and had people take them away.
———
The sudden explosion lit up the sky, and even the clouds dropping heavy snow were blown apart by the shockwave.
Everyone in the imperial capital was awakened during the night.
Even if they were not awakened by the intense light, the continuous tremors were enough to stop anyone from sleeping, but, the imperial capital's defense forces did not immediately mobilize, because the explosion was simply too massive. They worried there might be a second one, and nobody even knew why, there was such a huge golem outside the imperial capital.
Though the Empire inherited most things from the Unified Empire, many things had disappeared during various palace struggles and battles over the throne. Otherwise, civilization would not have regressed like this.
Precisely because they did not understand the situation, they chose to stay still for now and wait to see what exactly was happening.
But this also let them avoid being slaughtered by a group of Great Demons. Only after waiting a long time did they finally remember to send mages out to investigate, but, all they saw was a gigantic crater like a lake.
Even the water from the moat outside the imperial capital poured into this "lake," yet... it still failed to fill it and dried up first instead.
———
At the core of the imperial capital, atop the towering mountain peaks, inside the castle serving as the imperial palace within the imperial city—
The emperor's bedroom was spacious and luxurious beyond the imagination of ordinary people, and it could not simply be described as glittering with gold and pure golden decorations.
The real scene surpassed even that. The bedroom was as large as the hall of a normal castle. Exotic beast fur carpets covered every corner, every strand of fur seeming to tell of the craftsman's effort and skill. The refinement was so incredible people would hardly dare step on it.
The surrounding walls were covered with breathtaking treasures of art and history, various priceless paintings and sculptures.
They were not just decorations, but witnesses to the Empire's glorious past. Large amounts of extremely expensive magic nullifying crystals were also placed throughout the room to ensure the bedroom's safety.
However, behind this golden brilliance, the emperor of the Empire showed no smile.
He stood beside the window, his gaze passing through layers of palace walls toward the distant and blurry edge of the imperial capital.
There, a giant crater like a greedy beast had swallowed the surrounding satellite city, to the point even its outline had disappeared into dust.
This sight caused the emperor's anger to burn uncontrollably.
"Why... what exactly happened? The captain of the imperial capital guard is dead, the assassination squad failed, and now even the southern district of the imperial capital has disappeared! Who exactly is going to take responsibility for this?"
This seemingly ordinary middle-aged emperor tightly gripped the window frame with both hands, his fingers turning white from anger, yet it seemed he was still trying his best to suppress the rage inside him.
"Your Majesty, please calm yourself. The current losses are still within a controllable range. We may as well let the enemy taste a small victory first. Once the time is right, we can wipe them out in one move. After all, how could the foundation of our thousand-year Empire compare to those tiny kingdoms?", An elderly white-haired minister knelt on one knee behind him, his voice filled with worry and loyalty as he sincerely persuaded him, "But if Your Majesty damages your health from anger, the loss would outweigh the gain."
The emperor's eyes flickered slightly, as though considering something.
"Then... shall we use that as well?"
"For the Empire's safety, preparing both options would naturally be safer," The minister continued, "And if the treasures the Holy Teacher left behind for the Empire remain sealed forever, then they are only treasures in name. Why not use this chance to let those insignificant fools witness the Empire's true power and restore our Empire's might."
"Fine!", A trace of determination and ruthlessness flashed through the emperor's eyes. He slammed the window frame hard, as if venting all his anger and unwillingness, "It's time those ignorant clowns understood why the Empire has remained undefeated for a thousand years!"
———
Ash naturally did not know the emperor's thoughts.
After separating from the demons, he quietly returned to the imperial capital.
However, before even reaching the base, he discovered the entire imperial capital was brightly lit and busy everywhere.
"Lord Ash, are you alright? What exactly happened?", The moment she saw him, Fern hurried over and carefully looked him over with concern, afraid he had suffered even the slightest injury.
But he only pretended to look relaxed and shook his head with a smile.
"I only went to check the situation. How could anything happen to me?"
"Only checked the situation?", Frieren, who woke up due to the disturbance and still had messy hair, looked at him suspiciously.
In her mind, besides this guy, probably nobody else could create such a huge commotion.
"I wouldn't casually kill innocent people, nor would I create an exaggerated explosion like that to slaughter civilians," Ash said honestly.
"Then what happened?"
"A giant golem exploded on its own. Probably because Flamme didn't tune it properly herself."
"Really?", Frieren clearly did not believe him much.
"Alright, actually that golem suddenly wanted to fight me. It couldn't beat me, so it self-destructed. What could I do? I didn't even have time to stop it. I was helpless too."
Ash simply spread his hands openly and directly told the truth of what happened.
For this sort of situation, it could probably only be described as a natural disaster, something unavoidable that could only be accepted.
And because her master repeatedly made wrong choices, set the wrong self-destruct conditions for the golem, and wrongly nurtured the Empire, this nation had unknowingly turned into a monster completely lacking conscience and gratitude after a thousand years.
All of this filled Frieren with bitterness. She could not help sighing lightly as she asked, "You fought that golem, so there should've been a reason, right?"
"To save people oppressed by the Empire."
"People oppressed by the Empire?", Frieren looked at him suspiciously, "I can still believe you help people, since you really did help a lot of people in the kingdom. Just saving people from famine and starvation alone is already impossible to count, I admit that, but..."
"To be exact, it was a group of hired shadow warriors. They received tiny amounts of pay but had to carry out extremely dangerous missions. So I gave them a chance to work for the kingdom, but the Empire refused to let them leave. That caused a bit of conflict, and then the golem got accidentally activated."
"You're hiding another part, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"They receive tiny wages, so why would they do those extremely dangerous jobs? Couldn't they change professions or refuse?", Frieren felt the logic did not quite make sense.
This time, however, he could not help laughing as he reached out and rubbed her already messy hair, "You really think nicely. But how could they have the right to refuse? Changing jobs would count as desertion, and they'd be killed."
He was not hiding anything. That was the complete truth.
The assassination squad truly had no choice. Facing a giant like the Empire, they had no ability to resist.
And although their loyalty toward the Empire was not especially high, it also was not low. As long as life remained manageable, they would just continue enduring it.
Hearing this, Fern handed Ash a cup of hot tea while asking in confusion, "If that's the case, then how is the Empire any different from demons?"
"They already went as far as wanting to kill Lady Serie out of ingratitude. They're no different from demons to begin with, right?", Sense, who already disliked the Empire, gave her evaluation mercilessly.
"H-Haha... honestly, even I can hardly defend the Empire anymore at this point," At first, Frieren naturally had goodwill toward the Empire, a nation she stayed in for a long time and regarded almost like her master's children. But now... only bitterness remained on her face.
She scratched her head hard, let out another deep sigh, and stopped speaking. Silently, she turned and returned to her room.
Fern still kept carefully looking over Ash as she asked worriedly again.
"Lord Ash, are you really not injured?"
"What could happen to me? You worry too much," Ash casually patted Fern's head, his expression looking very gentle and calm.
Only then did Fern truly relax and smile, "That's good. Then I'll go sleep first. You should rest early too."
———
After the two of them left one after another, only Sense and Ash remained in the empty living room.
Watching Fern gently close the door behind her, worry quietly appeared on Sense's face as she softly asked, "Lord Ash, are you really alright? Wouldn't it be better for you to leave the Empire first?"
Hearing this, Ash looked at Sense gently, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"What are you saying? You're all still here. How could I leave?"
Sense seemed to have already expected his answer. She sighed softly before continuing, "I heard... you want to meet the emperor together with Frieren. Could it be... you want to..."
"That's exactly what you're thinking."
Ash lightly nodded, not denying her guess at all.
But this made confusion appear on Sense's face.
"Why? Going to such a dangerous place just to do something like that, even if you succeed, there are still many princes who would inherit the throne, right?"
"Yes, the Empire indeed has many princes. But as far as I know, the emperor is still in his prime. So even though there's already a designated crown prince, not much power has been handed over, and he definitely hasn't been given enough authority to suppress the other princes," Ash slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the night outside as he softly said, "Based on the Empire's tradition of loving internal conflict, if the emperor suddenly dies, those princes definitely won't just watch the crown prince ascend the throne peacefully. No matter what, they'll fight for it."
"You want to... wait for them to fight among themselves and then take advantage?"
"No. Once they lose their leader and start acting separately, every prince and their faction will absolutely focus on preserving their own forces. At that point, I only need to make a few promises and can casually pick one as cannon fodder. Then with attacks from multiple directions... taking the imperial capital directly will be easy. After that, dealing with those princes one by one will be simple."
Naturally, he had already investigated the Empire's situation before taking such a risky step.
Sense could not really comment on this. As a mage specializing entirely in magic, she did not understand political schemes at all. But...
"The Empire would definitely fall into chaos without the emperor, but aren't you also the kingdom's core? If you die... you don't even have children."
"Though that's true normally, whether the kingdom can outlive me is another matter."
And if he died, the demons would probably scatter again too. It really did feel a bit like an extreme one-for-one trade.
But he still had plenty of confidence in his own strength. There were also many top-level demon fighters outside the city acting as reserve forces.
Not to mention anything else, even if he failed, escaping should not be difficult.
However, looking at the worried girl in front of him, because Sense's appearance was just too small and cute and often made him want to tease her, he unconsciously wanted to mess with her a little again.
"I don't really have a suitable partner anyway. Since you're this worried about me, how about introducing me to someone?"
"Introduce... someone?"
"Yep~"
"Y-You're a demon... and a very powerful one at that. Could humans really... accept that? And... can humans and demons have children?"
A blush spread across Sense's face as she unconsciously lowered her head shyly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.
Ash was amused by her serious yet cute reaction. He crouched down so their eyes were level, looking at her troubled expression while barely suppressing the smile on his lips.
"Mhm~ I don't know whether humans and demons can have children, but why does it have to be a human~"
"Eh? Ah, r-right! Um...", Hearing that, the girl instantly turned red all the way to her ears. Panicking, she stammered helplessly without managing to say anything coherent, both little hands waving around as if she had already lost the ability to think normally.
Seeing this, Ash could not help reaching out to lightly pinch her cheek while teasing with a smile, "Sense really is super cute~ If I were human, I'd definitely propose to you."
"I-If... Lord Ash wasn't a demon, I-I would also... definitely marry you...", Though Ash's words left her face bright red with embarrassment, the girl still forced out those shy words.
Hearing this, Ash deliberately sighed sadly, "Mhm! Saying it like that makes it sound like I got indirectly rejected?"
"Eh? N-No, that... that..."
That casual question immediately threw the girl into confusion. She desperately tried to explain herself, yet... had no idea where to begin.
Her pitiful and cute appearance made Ash feel an urge to tightly pull her into his arms and simply carry her home like that.
However, reason told him he still could not do that.
Before finding a way to let humans live forever, he felt he could not do something so irresponsible. Right now, he could only place both hands on her shoulders and gently push the panicking girl back into the room.
"Alright, alright, I was only joking~ I'm not thinking weird things, so hurry up and go sleep too, okay?"
Sense still wanted to say something, but once she thought about Ash's identity and the difference between their races, the words stuck in her throat and could not come out.
In the end, she could only silently nod and watch as Ash gently closed the door.
"Oh right, hearing you say that actually made me pretty happy too. Mm... that part wasn't a joke."
"Ah... um... thank you?"
Ash's final teasing words before closing the door left Sense standing there blankly again. She subconsciously nodded, then pressed her lips together and fell into a daze alone in the closed room.
She did not know how much time passed before she finally calmed down. Throwing herself onto the bed, with her little face still flushed red, she softly muttered, "Feels like there's a strange itchy feeling in my body. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight. But at times like this, honestly feeling happy... should be okay too, right?"
[🎉 Shoutout to Salty, Steffen, what_iz, julien and archer for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]