Ch.308309. Afterwards, the World

The demonic invasion that had engulfed the world was successfully repelled thanks to everyone temporarily setting aside their personal grudges and uniting.

They sealed all dimensional gates, exterminated all demons, and restored the world damaged by the extra-dimensional invasion, returning to how things were before the invasion.

…Yes, to how things were before the invasion.

The Isle of Albion, which had been devastated by the demonic invasion, was reclaimed through the full efforts of the High Elves, who managed to restore the cities and natural environment to their former state.

However, during this process, a catastrophe occurred when the High Elves’ New World colonies declared independence, claiming they were being exploited, and more than half of the High Elven colonies worldwide followed suit and broke away.

As a result, though entirely unintended, the High Elves ultimately depleted much of their power as a superpower capable of exercising global hegemony.

The Rus Khanate, which had enthusiastically plundered the human empire in cooperation with the demons, was nearly devastated by the enraged human empire and seemed about to be incorporated into imperial territory, but…

In this process, the fuse of discontent arising from the military achievements and damages suffered by the empire’s elector principalities was ignited, resulting in four of the nine elector principalities declaring independence.

Normally, this would have called for immediate suppression, but the human empire, having suffered great damage during the demonic invasion, had no choice but to approve their independence.

Ironically enough, as the empire shrank in size, its system became more flexible and the need for military power greatly decreased, making life significantly better than before—a truly ironic turn of events.

Meanwhile, in the Frankish Kingdom, the war had caused many lords to perish and a significant number of conscripted soldiers to die, resulting in a scarcity of manpower.

Consequently, the social status of serfs inevitably rose, and the oppressive feudal system became more moderate and flexible—similar to how the Black Death led to the decline of serfdom in medieval Europe in our reality.

As serfs were conscripted and decimated, the workforce available for farming on manors and estates decreased, forcing lords to sell their agricultural lands or hire freemen as tenant farmers.

And while the Western Continent was undergoing these changes, the Eastern Continent, despite having barely recovered from chaos, began waging war among themselves.

First, in the Jin Empire, the strongest nation in the Eastern Continent, a civil war broke out when the newly enthroned emperor’s uncle raised a rebellion in his territory.

The situation was already tense with public sentiment deteriorating after sacrificing manpower to stop the demonic invasion, when a “record-breaking” famine struck, plunging the empire into chaos.

In the north, the emperor’s uncle rebelled and proclaimed the Northern Dynasty, while in the south, massive peasant uprisings overthrew the Jin Empire due to the famine caused by abnormal weather conditions.

To make matters worse, a cult called the Blue Lotus Religion spread throughout the land, causing further turmoil. The Mandate of Heaven, which had continued for 700 years, finally collapsed, but…

“…I shall step forward.”

Thanks to the transcendent ability of the Jin Empire’s 7th Emperor, a descendant of dragons who could transform into a dragon himself, the empire, caught in the middle, barely preserved its power and awaited an opportunity to rise again.

Meanwhile, right next to the Jin Empire, a war was raging between the Kore Republic and the Yamato United Kingdom.

During the demonic invasion, Hashiba Tokichiro, the Shogun (de facto ruler) of the Yamato United Kingdom, had lost his mind, and in that state, having already mobilized troops, he invaded the neighboring country to gain territory.

This war, which seemed reminiscent of something seen elsewhere, could be said to have progressed similarly in some ways due to the success of the surprise invasion, but… there were several miscalculations.

First, Hashiba Tokichiro had not fully secured his country’s hegemony, and at sea, the Admiral of the Three Provinces Naval Forces, appointed as the commander of the main fleet, was actively hunting supply ships and disrupting the war.

Additionally, underestimating the military power of the Kore Republic was another miscalculation for them.

Due to their obsession with artillery and gunpowder weapons, they had long ago imported firearms from the Dawn Empire and succeeded in reverse engineering them. Moreover, more than half of the Kore Republic’s army consisted of beastkin from carnivorous animal lineages.

Particularly, some of these species with the strongest physiques were even classified as mid-tier races by birth, so the orders of a leader consumed by senile ambition resulted in utter destruction.

Meanwhile, the southern archipelago of the Eastern Continent likewise returned to its usual state of discord and chaos, becoming a hellish neighborhood rife with conflict.

Human greed knows no bounds, and history tends to repeat itself.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, the Dawn Empire, which had made the greatest contribution to repelling the demonic invasion, was in a festive mood due to several pieces of good news that had arrived in succession.

They had achieved victory with minimal damage against both Yuptes’s undead legion attack and the second demonic invasion, and the Dawn Empire’s armies, dispatched to various battlefields, had demonstrated their “special status” through tremendous achievements.

Furthermore, after defeating the demons that appeared on the Southern Continent, they had acquired all the territories in the southern part of that continent, and decisively—during these exploits in the Southern Continent, the Dawn Empire’s sole emperor, Bjorn Wolfson, had returned.

Bjorn Wolfson, the founder of the Dawn Empire and both the first believer and apostle of the God of Bloody Vengeance, enjoyed such popularity that he would have been worshipped as a deity had the Dawn Empire and the Vengeance Order not regulated it.

The fact that the most commonly apprehended heretics by the Inquisitors were the God-Emperor faction, a heretical sect that equated the God of Vengeance with the Emperor, demonstrated that the imperial deification of the emperor had reached a level beyond words.

A savior who overthrew the oppression of the evil old empire, a victor who overcame hardships, a hero who achieved countless military exploits to make the world more peaceful before disappearing—he possessed a perfect heroic narrative with a complete beginning, development, climax, and conclusion.

Given that he would naturally become a hero even without any manipulation by the state or religious order, Bjorn’s popularity upon returning to the empire was beyond imagination.

Under the leadership of the imperial administration and the religious order, a new holiday and commemoration day called “The Day of the Emperor’s Return” was created, and more than 3 million people from across the empire gathered on the day of the victory ceremony to catch a glimpse of his face.

The officer in charge of protocol, unable to contain his excitement, conducted a salute using live ammunition, and Lisa had to cast protective magic throughout the capital to prevent people from being crushed to death by the enormous crowd.

And on the day of the parade:

“””””””””””WAAAAAAAAAAAAH────!!!!!”””””””””””

Through the cheering crowds, soldiers who had earned the right to participate in the victory ceremony marched forward with valiant steps.

At the very front were the regular soldiers of the Black Sun Legion armed with rifles, fully equipped in armor with gleaming emblems, their steps perfectly synchronized with disciplined precision.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Following them were those who had distinguished themselves in the Avenger Legion, and behind them, veterans mounted on Iron Golems entered with thunderous footsteps—

And then, at the next moment, the Emperor, mounted on a black steed, finally revealed himself.

“””””””””””LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR───!!!”””””””””””

“H-He looked at me! He looked right at me!”

“Fool, he wasn’t looking at you specifically, he was just scanning the crowd!”

“No, he turned his head and looked straight into my eyes! I swear he did!”

“It wasn’t you, he was just observing all of us! Stop talking nonsense!”

“No, he chose me. He’ll guide me to the path of glory!”

“……..Sigh, whatever. They’ll do as they please. LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR───!!!”

“””””””””””LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR───!!!”””””””””””

When Bjorn revealed himself at the height of the victory ceremony, people showed tremendous enthusiasm, captivated by the overwhelming charisma emanating from the aura he unconsciously projected.

About dozens of people fainted upon actually seeing his face, and whenever he simply turned his head or waved his hand, people in that direction would swoon and fall backward.

The popularity of the emperor who had returned after hundreds of years of absence was beyond imagination.

And after this splendid parade ended—

“Well, Father. Do you have anything to say?”

“…I’m sorry, Lisa.”

“Sigh, that’s enough. Now, shall we get to work?”

Bjorn, who had abandoned everything and fled, now humbly accepted his karma and began diligently attending to his duties.