Ch.220220. Recent Situation

Dawn Empire’s Capital, Dawn City.

After the city once called the Holy City was completely destroyed and collapsed.

At the center of the newly constructed Dawn City stands the Grand Temple of the Vengeance Order.

In the secret meeting chamber beneath this temple—the second largest of only five Grand Temples throughout the Dawn Empire, known only to an extremely select few—right now…

“The weather bureau has informed us that a storm will arrive within days.”

“…Then it would be best to refrain from fishing for the time being. I’ll notify each temple.”

A summit on sensitive topics that couldn’t be discussed openly was being held by those very few individuals who knew of this secret chamber’s existence.

There were three participants in total.

“…More importantly, Imperial Regent. Is there any news of His Majesty?”

First, the Prime Minister of the Dawn Empire and also an exceptional mage, the Red Dragon.

A great ancient dragon who has supported and guided the empire for centuries.

In response to the question from Ben Gaitenpaeng, who appeared as a young mage with red hair, the Imperial Regent herself spoke.

“…Of course not. The Imperial Intelligence Bureau hasn’t confirmed anything either.”

The Imperial Regent who serves in place of the missing Emperor, acting as both the Emperor’s proxy and governing as the Dawn Empire’s Regent.

Also one of the few officially recognized Saints of the Vengeance Order, she appears as a white-haired, red-eyed priestess named Lisa Raeldotir.

She is the second apostle of the Blood-Shedding God of Vengeance and also the Emperor’s daughter—the strongest vampire alive and the most powerful priest in the empire.

“This is troubling… How many years has it been now?”

And expressing concern about the Emperor’s situation was another figure, the most bizarre-looking man among them.

A man wearing vestments identical to those of a Catholic Pope, but dyed blood-red, pitch-black, and bone-white.

His flowing robes completely covered his body, with partial armor worn over them, and he even wore a metal mask resembling an expressionless man’s face, concealing every inch of skin.

In one hand, he held a massive staff nearly four meters tall, topped with what looked like the charred upper body of a human that burned endlessly. This was Gracchus.

Using the name Gracchus I as the first Pope of the Vengeance Order, he was a man who had not aged for centuries due to divine blessing.

“…Haah.”

In any case, these three comrades—who had been working together since the time when the Vengeance Order operated underground cities before the Dawn Empire—let out deep sighs.

The reason, naturally, was the disappearance of Bjorn Wolfson, the first and last Emperor of the Dawn Empire.

At this point, more than 600 years since the founding of the Dawn Empire.

At least 500 years had passed since Bjorn Wolfson’s disappearance.

Normally, someone missing for 500 years would be considered dead, no matter how superior they might be.

When one awakens to Aura or reaches a level capable of using advanced magic, their lifespan increases, and even if they belong to a short-lived race, a superior being can live at least 100 years longer.

By common standards, a superior human would die naturally after about 300 years.

Including their original lifespan, they could live 360-380 years longer… but 500 years is too long.

However, the supreme level that Emperor Bjorn Wolfson had reached was beyond conventional understanding.

A supreme being, or transcendent, merely possesses a physical body.

Essentially, they have reached a position where ascending to godhood at will wouldn’t be strange.

From the moment one becomes a transcendent, the limits of lifespan disappear, they cannot be killed, and they can resurrect themselves instantly if they so choose.

Therefore, these three weren’t worried that Bjorn had been killed by someone; rather, their concern was where that damned man had run off to without doing his work.

About 350-some years ago during the demon invasion, Bjorn had briefly fought on the front lines while hiding his identity.

Of course, his overwhelming power, unique chaos-attribute aura energy, and combat style using a greatsword made him so conspicuous that rumors spread to the point where there was essentially no reason to hide.

Moreover, occasional stories circulated about a knight in red armor appearing to save people, and among the folk tales of the Dawn Empire, the story that the Emperor would return when the empire faced crisis was treated as established fact.

Therefore, while Bjorn’s survival was undoubtedly true and there was no immediate major problem…

“…Why did Father just run away?”

“Well… Could he really have disappeared just because he didn’t want to work?”

“No, that can’t be. …Right?”

This trio gathered here, the leadership of the Dawn Empire, treated Bjorn more like a stress-relief punching bag than an actual emperor.

With the Emperor having been missing for hundreds of years now, it would be stranger if problems hadn’t arisen.

The evaporation of an asymmetric military force like a transcendent led to increased pressure from other powers, necessitating military expansion, but that was the least of their concerns.

They had to normalize the administration that had become tangled due to the disappearance of the highest decision-maker, and the tasks Bjorn had personally handled now had to be resolved by subordinate officials.

One might wonder what administrative duties a warrior like Bjorn would handle, but surprisingly, Bjorn performed his duties well based on his high base abilities as a transcendent…

No, beyond that, he was practically an administrative monster.

The transcendent’s unique thinking speed comparable to a supercomputer, and intelligence stats so overwhelming they exceeded even first-class mages.

Add to that his ability to work for dozens of hours without tiring, his perfect memory, and crucially, the insight that all transcendents possess.

He was literally like having a supercomputer with Excel installed in his head, processing thousands of people’s work daily—until he finally fled.

Although they hurriedly recruited personnel and distributed the workload to somehow manage, the reduced speed of administrative processing compared to the past couldn’t be ignored.

Among the problems caused by Bjorn’s disappearance were others just as serious, namely the shameless individuals trying to exploit his absence.

From mentally deranged imperial pretenders trying to depose Bjorn and become emperor themselves, to lunatic cult leaders claiming to be Bjorn’s reincarnation.

Additionally, heretical sects created ideologies equating Bjorn with the God of Vengeance, while others outright worshipped the missing Emperor as a god.

They seemed to think that by invoking the Emperor, they could prevent the Vengeance Order’s zealots from acting freely, but the existence of Inquisitors with complete immunity symbolized their failure from the start.

Each Inquisitor possessed independent investigative and punitive powers to root out heresy, naturally wielding overwhelming authority.

The Inquisition they belonged to answered directly to the deity, making it impossible for other groups to interfere, and Inquisitors could kill anyone with impunity if they had just cause.

The Inquisitors maintained the empire with a principle of zero tolerance.

Would they ever forgive these heretics who invoked the Emperor’s name?

Naturally, these heretics were thoroughly punished by the Inquisitors, while those operating abroad were executed by Imperial Intelligence Bureau agents.

And some heretics were executed by the hands of a mysterious secret organization (assassination order) whose existence even the leadership only vaguely knew about.

Anyway, returning to the present.

“…So, Regent, how is ‘that’ new implementation going?”

Breaking the long silence, Ben Gaitenpaeng, the current Prime Minister, asked the Regent, who also served as the empire’s Commander-in-Chief, about the response to the newly introduced weapon.

“The response is excellent. My aide, who also serves as my staff officer, says that once mass production begins, we can practically ignore lower-tier forces.”

“That’s wonderful news!”

The atmosphere, which had sunk due to the talk about Bjorn, improved somewhat with the discussion of the new weapon.

This wasn’t merely hopeful talk to lift the mood—it truly represented an innovation that could bring about a revolution in the Dawn Empire’s military power.