Chapter 1246

Chapter 1246

When Nerva, who led and ruled the Great Luvien Empire, first appeared, he had said...

–Will you bow your head and submit, or are you going to point your sword at us?

At first, many pointed their swords at him and the Luvien Empire. With the leadership of several empires, countless kingdoms chose to fight the Luvien Empire. But with the powerful Swords of the Gods, the leadership of the dukes, and the outstanding army of the Luvien Empire, they were eventually forced to take the latter choice.

Back then, Nerva then declared...

–

We are the Immortal Nation. The name of this nation is Luvien. This fact will never change, whether in the past, the present, or the future. No nation will ever dare to point their swords at us.

Duke Vakkaman, who was still a count back then, was delighted when he heard those words.

The Luvien Empire was the Immortal Nation, and all other nations had to bow to it. The mere mention of Luvien was enough to make anyone tremble and shake. And these words eventually became the truth. With no nation able to stand up against the Luvien Empire, it had truly become the Immortal Nation.

And of course, the same was true for the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They would never be able to stand tall and proud in front of the Great Luvien Empire. With the peace treaty, the emperor would crawl and beg them to spare his people and empire.

***

“You can’t say anything, right?”

Duke Vakkaman was unable to utter a single word for a long time. Looking around, he realized that everyone present looked at them with contempt and disgust.

The gears in Vakkaman’s head turned quickly. He dragged the remnants of one of the siege weapons and dusted it off. Then, he sat on it and crossed his legs before looking up at Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk.

“You insolent...!”

The vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire glared at Vakkaman. His behavior clearly showed his blatant disregard for the emperor in front of him.

“Your Majesty, I seem to recall that according to the peace treaty, the Beyond the Heavens Empire will cooperate with the Luvien Empire and walk the path of prosperity.” Vakkaman looked at Minhyuk with a cold smile on his face.

“Right now, are you saying you won’t uphold the peace treaty? I don’t understand.” He continued as he looked around, “Your Majesty chose to fight this war with only a four-man team because you wanted to uphold the contents of the peace treaty. But now, you’re reacting so sensitively. Ah. Now that you have won the war, are you saying we will not let you go while we take everything here?”

Vakkaman looked back at the troops of the Allied Races.

“Or are you thinking that we will touch the troops of the Allied Races that have surrendered here? Well, that’s correct. When I said that we will take care of the mess here, it means that the Luvien Empire will slaughter all of the members of the Allied Races who dared to threaten our empire and the entire continent.”

The surviving troops of the Allied Races flinched.

“Our Great Luvien Empire plans to kill all of the surviving troops of the Allied Races and immediately proceed to their lands to annihilate and slaughter the remaining members of their races.”

“...!”

“...!”

It was an inhumane act. They were declaring their intention to carry out a genocide. It was cruel that even the ordinary players could not help but raise their eyebrows in scrutiny.

“If things continue at this rate, it will be tough for our Luvien Empire to maintain the peace treaty with you, Your Majesty.” Vakkaman sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “The Beyond the Heavens Empire has been making rapid progress. I believe you’re around 30% comparable to our Luvien Empire, no?”

Vakkaman smirked. The mention of the number 30% was aggressive. It was an act of provocation, taunting them if they dared to oppose the Luvien Empire with that mere number.

Minhyuk looked at the loud and noisy Duke Vakkaman, and recalled Reikan’s Diary and the Emperor of Races’ Token, which were lying quietly in his inventory.

‘Did he expect this to happen?’

Perhaps Reikan left these things to Minhyuk before he died because he had already predicted that something like this would happen.

Then, Duke Vakkaman whispered, “Your Majesty, please think carefully. Each of those races possesses a specialty of their own. I believe the precious and delicious ingredients that Your Majesty loves will be abundant in their lands. After killing them all, how about we give you 20% of the loot? What do you think? It’s very easy to kill millions of ordinary citizens of those other races once they have lost their troops. You can just sit still and fill your empire’s coffers. How about it?”

Having used the stick before through his threats, Vakkaman was now utilizing the carrot.

[Would you like to read Reikan’s Diary?]

Meanwhile, Minhyuk quietly and quickly chose to read Reikan’s Diary. At that moment, the contents of Reikan’s diary appeared in his head.

***

[Reikan was a human. Abandoned as a newborn, he was picked up and raised by the kings of the other races.]

The scene of the Orc King, the Dragonkin King, and the Werewolf King surrounding and looking at a newborn baby appeared.

The scene scattered and was replaced with another scene.

[Under the care of the other races, Reikan grew up well.]

In the new scene, Reikan appeared, now a ten-year-old boy. The dragonkin let him ride on their necks while the orcs held out a fresh fruit basket. The werewolves crouched down and looked at him in reproach, their eyes filled with helplessness as they spread beneath him. They were worried about him falling from the neck of the dragonkin and getting himself hurt.

[The orcs, dragonkin, and the werewolves were initially at odds. But the appearance of this abandoned child made them abandon their animosity and allowed them to live in peace and harmony.]

[Reikan grew into an outstanding and incredible young man.]

[One day, an unexpected guest arrived.]

The scene changed once again. A group of humans carrying the symbol of the Luvien Empire on their backs appeared.

[They declared that they would kill all of them if they dared to fight back. Just like that, the three races were deprived of their homes.]

Millions of members of the three races were seen marching out of their lands, with Reikan leading the way.

[Not only were they deprived of their food, they were also deprived of a place to rest. To make matters worse, some kind of disease infected them, and they suffered from an epidemic. Knowing that a medicinal herb could cure the epidemic was growing in their former lands, Reikan set out to meet one of the men who went there.]

[However, the man said he would not give them any medicinal herb.]

[Reikan could only go back with empty hands.]

The scene changed once again. Members of the three races began to die from starvation and the epidemic. Unable to hold out any longer, Reikan started to gather troops. He stood among the Orc, Dragonkin, and Werewolf Kings who raised him.

“We’re only doing this to get back what they took from us.”

Reikan went to war.

The kings then turned to Reikan, who was standing at the forefront, and said, “If we lose this war, then Luvien will slaughter all of the members of our races.”

Reikan knew this, too. However, he believed in his power to propagate and reproduce.

At the same time, he could not help but voice his thoughts. He could not understand why the humans were so obsessed with invading others’ lands and looting.

“Do you think there’s a human being that is different from them?”

“...”

“...”

Reikan laughed bitterly when no one answered him. He said, “If there’s someone like that, then I will give him the Emperor of Races’ Token...”

Everyone looked up at Reikan in surprise. Reikan was the King of All Races, so they could only nod. However, the bitter smile lingered on Reikan’s face even after saying all of that.

“Does someone like that truly exist...?”

***

“Your Majesty.” Duke Vakkaman spoke as if he was Nerva. He said, “Are you going to point your sword at us? Or are you going to bow your head?”

In the end, everyone would walk the same path. Then, a noise rang in this thick and palpable silence,

“Chwiiiiik. Chwiiiiik...”

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound. They saw the Orc King holding the throne where Reikan had sat earlier. The Orc King slowly put down the throne.

“Your Majesty? Please give us your answer.” With an arrogant look, Duke Vakkaman released a mocking sigh. “Ah, this is tiring.”

Anyway, wasn’t it tiring? After all, they would just go down the same road and bow their heads to them, no?

Meanwhile, the commentators said...

[We won the war but are suddenly in a situation where we can’t even laugh.]

[The Luvien’s intervention leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth.]

[The history of the game Athenae is unchanging. We are living and will continue to live under the tyranny of the Luvien Empire...]

Then, at that moment, Minhyuk said, “Why does the Luvien Empire speak as if we’re the ones breaking the peace treaty?”

“...?” Duke Vakkaman looked at Minhyuk in confusion.

“There is no such thing as an Immortal Nation: the times and the eras change. Even the kings that the people follow are bound to change. Soldiers of the Luvien Empire...”

Duke Vakkaman looked back. He could tell that many of the soldiers of the Luvien Empire were listening to the words of the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s emperor.

“What kind of world do you want to live in?”

One of the soldiers of the Luvien Empire stepped forward. Then, he grabbed his cloak and threw it away. The soldier, or to be exact the player, who threw his cloak, walked toward Minhyuk. As if on cue, hundreds of thousands of cloaks fluttered above the heads of the Luvien Imperial Army.

[The 580,000 players belonging to the Luvien Empire apply to migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

They had seen it for themselves. If they went to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, they would be able to acquire the most excellent swordsmanship, the Battle God’s Army Swordsmanship.

[The Luvien Empire’s national power has grown 1% weaker.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s national power has grown 1% stronger.]

“This- Thiiiis- This...!”

“Duke Vakkaman, do you only believe what you see in front of you?” Minhyuk said as he stepped forward.

At this moment, Duke Vakkaman realized that the countless foreigners in the Luvien Empire were making the same choice as the foreigners present here. The foreigners were driven by profits and gains. They all realized that they would be able to learn the great Battle God’s Army Swordsmanship as long as they moved to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!

[The 1.53 million players belonging to the Luvien Empire apply to migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The 1.73 million players belonging to the Luvien Empire apply to migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The 2.41 million players belonging to the Luvien Empire apply to migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire...]

“Everything is already in place. The territories that will accept them, the swordsmanship that the mighty army will learn and wield, and the wisdom of the other races, who will never crawl in front of you again.”

Duke Vakkaman could not understand what he meant for a moment. He watched as Minhyuk continued walking until he reached the throne Reikan had once sat on.

Minhyuk looked at him and asked, “Do you still believe your words? That the Beyond the Heavens Empire is only comparable to around 30% of the Luvien Empire?”

At that moment, the players of the five kingdoms, who had watched everything unfold, stood at attention and declared, “Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor! Please accept our Masserrati Kingdom and take us under your rule!”

The five kingdoms’ kings all knelt in front of Minhyuk.

[The Five Kingdoms are now under the command of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s national power has grown 9% stronger.]

Duke Vakkaman scoffed, “You merely swallowed the five foreigner-established kingdoms...”

Minhyuk raised his index finger to his lips and shushed him. “It’s not yet over.”

[The Vaughman Kingdom wishes to become a vassal kingdom of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The Beigen Kingdom wishes to become a vassal kingdom of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The Echine Kingdom wishes to become a vassal kingdom of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

Dozens of notifications rang incessantly in their ears. Everyone quickly realized that the player-established kingdoms had not previously stood on the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s side because they lacked power.

Now, that was no longer the case.

They, who had died because of the Luvien Empire and the allied nations under its protection, drew their swords and pointed them at the Luvien Imperial Army.

[The Luvien Empire’s national power has grown 2% weaker.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s national power has grown 4% stronger.]

Minhyuk, sitting on the throne, crossed his legs and looked at Duke Vakkaman with an arrogant gaze.

Then, the kings of the other races knelt in front of him. The power possessed by the one who had received the Emperor of Races’ Token bestowed by Reikan was displayed to the world.

[The three races swear their eternal loyalty to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has accepted the three races. By accepting the three races, the Beyond the Heavens Empire obtains the advantages and benefits they bring. The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s national power has significantly increased.]

Ring!

At this moment, a world message resonated all over the world.

[An empire with a national power that is more than 60% of the national power that the Luvien Empire possessed has appeared.]

[The name of this nation is the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[The Immortal Nation begins to shake and waver.]

Duke Vakkaman jumped to his feet while Minhyuk sat proudly and arrogantly on his throne. Minhyuk sneered and said, “Let me ask you. Will you bow your head and submit, or will you point your sword at us?”

Duke Vakkaman could not answer. If he raised his sword here, the peace treaty would be broken. Now that they were in a situation where the Beyond the Heavens Empire had become a threat to the Luvien Empire, everything would go out of control if a real war broke out.

Of course, he was confident that the Luvien Empire would emerge victorious. Nonetheless, they would be left in a state of devastation.

Unfortunately for them, Minhyuk was different from Nerva. He declared, “No. There’s no need for that. Let’s just do it like this.”

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire breaks the peace treaty with the Luvien Empire.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has broken the peace treaty. The Luvien Empire grows hostile to the empire...]

“We don’t need to care about you anymore.”

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has declared war against the Luvien Empire!]

“If you’re confident, then come at me. You f*cking Luvien bastards.”