Wrath Nihility Academy's Overlord Era

"You can come in with me, but not a word said unless you are allowed. It's the same for me, understand?" Heian Ciemnosc stopped before the large doors. He turned around and spoke to Milyy, who was looking around in a good mood, her hand still held by him. Milyy looked at him and nodded, her face as if that was the usual thing she did. "Oh yeah, sure, no problem. Let's go in. I want to see what's up~."

“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded and walked into the doors. The other second-in-command and commanders were already in. Heian Ciemnosc, as the Commander, was still being waited upon even by the Headmaster, Vice headmaster, Deans, and so on. The moment Heian Ciemnosc stepped in, he saw everyone calmly waiting and looking at the floor in the middle, where a distinctive panel showed the overlay of the Blackotia Kingdom.

The Heraxle Clan’s people were already gone, and it was sure the Academy didn’t show this to them. But according to what the Headmaster chatted with Heian Ciemnosc during the feast, the Heraxle Clan was content and agreed to let the Wrath Nihility Academy make some choices without requiring the Heraxle Clan’s permission or verification that did not extend beyond the Universe they were in.

This was only known to the Headmaster and other upper echelons besides Heian Ciemnosc.

From the floor, which was around 10 meters long and wide, and from it a hologram was raised. It was the exact 3D image of the Blackotia Kingdom with utmost detail. It was also real-time but seemingly reverted to previous months when the war was still ongoing. Heian Ciemnosc said nothing as he walked before the empty floor as everyone else was seated on their chairs and in groups separated by their Step or status as higher-ups or upper echelons.

Heian Ciemnosc saw the incredible images of the Academy’s territory suddenly plummeting to only having a few Cities in green, hundreds of cities erased from the Kingdom, and about 90% of its territory gone blank with gray. That was the initial mobilization the hidden enemy forces employed, directly decimating the flesh and blood that sustains the Academy’s relationships within the Blackotia Kingdom and conquering the rest.

That wasn’t all. The world wasn’t just the Academy’s Region and the adjacent ones. The north, south, west, and eastern Regions were approached previously by the enemy's hidden forces one by one. Even decades before the attack was employed. Most of those near the Academy, in the Kingdom’s center, seemingly joined the enemy. But only about 62% of the other organizations and rogue cultivators joined them in the rest of the Kingdom.

After the war broke loose, the remaining organizations were forced to remain neutral. Otherwise, the hidden enemy forces there would push them into the Academy’s side even if they didn’t help the latter. During the war, they only joined from one part of the Kingdom to another extreme to defend against these mindlessly warring uprising organizations just in case they decided to renege on their word and attack them. It wasn’t a useless effort.

For example, the Far East Region, which holds most of the water in the Blackotia Kingdom, was besieged all year long during the 6 months of the war. There were other Regions in other places of the Kingdom, but they barely suffered compared to the Academy.

Finally, Heian Ciemnosc saw the Academy’s territory sending snakes crawling through the land and flying through the air, mimicking a snake-worm’s movement somewhat. They were of a blue color, and as they streaked across the land taken by the enemy, they suffered many stops and even retreats, which Heian Ciemnosc and anyone else could see. Milyy was also interested as she saw the fireworks. Some labeled words and numbers appear everywhere around the Blackotia Kingdom’s hologram. She even leaned over Heian Ciemnosc to whisper something no one else but Heian Ciemnosc could hear in this room.

“Woah, it’s actually the same as the Blackotia Kingdom. Even the changes in the earth and foliage changing in real-time are the same as what I saw!” Milyy’s words amazed Heian Ciemnosc. He looked at her with a tilt of his head as she looked at the Blackotia Kingdom with praise in her eyes. Not realizing Heian Ciemnosc had understood that she might have been peeking when the war was ongoing. Although he didn’t understand, she could do that via the Universal Conveyance. Why bother so much?

Heian Ciemnosc kept watching, and the next stage of the war commenced. The Academy’s forces scouting arrived at their initial target and set camp. Some suffered, some stagnated, and others triumphed. Heian Ciemnosc saw his army and the Endless Desert Division, a smallish spot of yellowish land on the entire Blackotia Kingdom. Without a Spirit Sense like his Master’s, or even Milyy’s, he could only tell what little he did in his army compared to the whole Middle Kingdom. He fell into a comprehensive state.

He continued watching as he fell further in his own thoughts. The Academy’s forces gained terrain, slowly then faster, until they practically conquered all Divisions they were sent to. Even a couple of armies reconquered 2 Divisions in total. Elena and Yon’s army were among them. On the other hand, the enemy traveled through the underground, surprising everyone in the room as they watched with relish, not imagining the enemy actually and simply just did that.

The enemy came out from their burrows. Their holes. And instantly besieged the large Cities’ protective array formations. They had 2 top-notch machine guns and anti-missile turrets, also top-notch. Their threat wasn’t trim, as they seemed to have so many bombs in their hands. However, the ready citizens charged at the enemy in their vehicles, becoming collateral damage to prevent the enemy from closing in on the Cities. After the student troops in the Cities and the Academy’s specific territory, the enemy was repelled but not exterminated, and the Academy’s forces were almost obliterated.

Later, the armies returned and converged to decide the plan to attack the enemy’s last line of defense, attempting to resist the war to a ‘draw’ to set foot in the Blackotia Kingdom officially. It wasn’t that obvious early on, but after inspecting the Blackotia Kingdom’s war, those in the room recognized the enemy's hidden fores’ secondary goal to be this one. Sacrifice as many cultivators everywhere in the Kingdom and officially set their organization for a future war. More powerful, numerous, and with the initiative.

Then, they saw Heian Ciemnosc’s ‘dark dome’ eroding the enemy’s Small City before a hurl of Second Step cultivators rushed into the Small City and massacred the enemy. The transporting ships from high in the skies nose-dived and proportionated heavier machine gun firepower and Arts attacks flew down, decimating every living being, not a citizen or civilian innocent from this war. In just a couple days of last-stand struggle, the enemy fell.

“... This is the overall recollected information the Academy could gather after everything was over.” The Headmaster spoke from his seat, but Heian Ciemnosc could tell this was not a recording array formation with his enhanced darkest eyes. He didn’t pinpoint anything, and the Headmaster continued explaining. However, the Vice headmaster slightly grinned at Heian Ciemnosc. “You’ve seen the weaknesses of our Academy, but also its raw advantage against this enemy prepared but not well armed.”

“If we were to fight another Kingdom with the same qualities as our Blackotia Kingdom, we would at least suffer 70% of our losses. At least compared to this enemy’s number, there’s no doubt in that.” A male second-in-command in the Second Step said seriously. Then, a female First Step commander spoke, “We didn’t utilize the terrain well. We have array formation Craftspeople everywhere in each army, even those with lower quantities than others.”

“Yet, all we did was use the same cannons as them, but better, and utilize the transporting ships as bombers. They are not fighters, warships, or battleships. If we had access to Fighters sooner, we would’ve been able to decimate any enemy’s hardest defenses and weaponry before sending our student troops to battle.” She made the other commanders feel ashamed as nobody indeed accomplished that during the war. Not even the felled ex-commander Lionel.

“The Academy’s resources for Fighters were too limited to space battles. Even with our ally, we had to lead offensive strikes alone. We lost too many Fighters but also gained more than enough advantage to clear large nods everywhere to send Fighters below. Otherwise, the enemy’s kills on our soldier units would’ve been more than double.” A Second Step commander said with a calm countenance. He and everyone else on this Step understood the casualties caused by the lack of vehicles in the First Step.

Usually, these war scenarios were standard, with only the richest among everyone in the world having spaceships or the top-notch vehicles in the Universal Conveyance market. However, the Academy was one of a kind in a Middle Kingdom, heavily reputed over the entire world. They were different from the rest, from most others. Not having enough arsenal was the same as humiliating themselves whenever they entered a conflict.

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“There are new chances that may come because of that. However, it is uncertain if they can be achieved…” But just then, at this moment, Teacher Conde looked at Heian Ciemnosc with a burning gaze before calming down and showcasing a recollected facial expression before saying out loud. The Headmaster looked at Teacher Conde, frowned, and immediately said. “Conde! It is unsure if we can mobilize again to-”

“Since the war ended, the organizations in the Blackotia Kingdom’s center were annihilated. Not even their civilians were allowed to live under the execution of citizens. But what about the north, south, west, and east?!” Teacher Conde slightly raised his voice. The Headmaster wasn’t backed by the Vice headmaster or those below in status. Thus, Teacher Conde continued. “Everywhere from our territory and Region, there are, once again, tens of thousands of enemy organizations. Regrouping and preparing to annex their surrounding territory like it's a present on our part!”

Teacher Conde was dissatisfied. He even spoke with self-disdain towards himself. And the Wrath Nihility Academy. The Headmaster took a deep breath but let Teacher Conde continue. “Every single time a war just like this breaks out, all they do is agree to cooperate with them, ravage every single resource they see on it, matured or not, and take it for themselves to continue stagnant in the Second Step peak at the very least!”

“Currently, they’ve even started directly exterminating other organizations while we were at war.” Teacher Conde waved his hand at the Blackota Kingdom’s hologram. It changed to show the current images of other Regions farther to the cardinal points filled with endless conquering and mindless slaughter. “They’ve become too used and comfortable gaining endless resources every time we are forced into a war by an enemy, and every time, we let them nourish their greed however they please!”

“I call upon a decision since we’re free now from expanding our might… I request a vote in this meeting!!”

“!!!” - “Woah!!” - “Incredible…” - “I can’t believe it, what are we doing?!” - “I vote for expansion!” - “I vote for neutrality! We have nothing to do with those territories or Regions. It’s their problem!” - “That’s not feasible! They sent their people to kill our students. Why can’t we get revenge?!” - “That would be useless! We’ve just gone through a war, our students are dissat-” - “You don’t know what we want!” - “What?!” - Esteemed Vice dean, with all respect, we students…”

“... Sigh,” the Headmaster attracted everyone’s attention after the room became disordered and every person had a side. Most wanted to leave their territory and expand it, mostly young ones. But those with higher status would prefer remaining neutral, letting the Blackotia Kingdom recuperate in another 200,000 or more years. All along, Heian Ciemnosc watched everyone with interest, but nobody saw him talk or react and couldn’t tell what went on in his mind.

“... … … …” At last, the Headmaster’s sigh quieted everyone. Even the Vice headmaster and Supervisors were heated in the discussion, forming a stagnancy where they were equally stopping the other side from deciding the outcome. The Headmaster’s body shook and intensely blurred. He stood up as his body revealed feathers humongous wings. His overall volume enlarged, and his head became gigantic, with his legs standing at the sides of his seat. He looked at everyone as they fell silent.

The Headmaster’s brown-yellow eyes glowed azure, and his dark gray color appeared magnificent along his enormous stature. He looked at Heian Ciemnosc for a few seconds, enough for everyone to know his intentions, before addressing everyone in the room. “We have always remained neutral to these conflicts, not only because it benefitted us and allowed the Blackotia Kingdom to spread its potential everywhere.”

“We have been under strict agreements for Archeons and grew used to it: neutrality. However, it doesn’t make us stronger or hold a firmer foothold in our Kingdom… anymore.” The Headmaster lowered his head and muttered while slowly lifting his gaze towards Heian Ciemnosc’s body. “I would rather remain neutral like this. We don’t have to face any more trouble for the time being. It isn’t necessary. However, this is the Academy’s future. And if we wait until we resupply our arsenal, those distant, cowardly enemies might grow stronger again.”

“I’ll let you decide. Each Step can have its Commander take on the sole role to decide. They don’t have to be anonymous with each other. If one of the Commanders chooses to battle, they will do so on their terms. The Academy’s current resources and arsenal. Nothing more. You will be given a few spaceships, but most will remain for protecting the Wrath Nihility Academy’s Region. Air, land, water, or underground.”

“Choose, Commander of the Wrath Nihility Academy’s First Step forces,” the Headmaster said as he looked at Heian Ciemnosc, his tone firm and commanding.

“... Paah,” with a sigh spit from his mouth, Heian Ciemnosc slowly chose to sit down, dragging Milyy down with his left hand, pulling down her right wrist. She silently sat cross-legged to his left and placed her right knee below his left one, slightly playing with each other to bump up and down on each other before Heian Ciemnosc began his speech.

With a calm tone, he commenced, “I don’t think another war is needed. As the Headmaster said. However, it is true the Academy is supposedly the strongest in the Blackotia Kingdom and the best Academy in the world. Yet, no matter how great of a reputation an organization might have… Without strength, we should be confident and undeniable, at the very least. Only that way can we truly have a foothold in this Blackotia Kingdom.”

“I am new. But, from what I’ve experienced and just seen in this room… We do not have a real foothold in the Academy’s natal home. The other organizations see us as strong, but not because of our Second Step forces or teachers… But because of the Headmaster and other figures, such as the Academy’s top warrior, Teacher Conde. Without them, they would have flocked here and pecked our nest until it disappeared.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc suddenly became silent. Those in the room, including Teacher Conde and the Headmaster, didn’t notice at first. But when they did, the sensed Heian Ciemnosc had suddenly turned very… terrifying? Everyone looked at Heian Ciemnosc as he seemed to become engulfed in darkness. The room was dimly lit, but it was as if nothing could escape one’s eyes to those in it. Milyy was the only person to notice his change first-hand, as she grinned and looked at him interestedly, her eyes traveling all around his back, where she was tiny things no one else could see.

“I declare war on every organization in this world who didn’t refuse the hidden forces’ proposals and doesn’t submit to the Wrath Nihility Academy in the Blackotia Kingdom. From now on… and in the First Step!”

“!” - “!!” - “!!!”

The room’s silence was slowly lifted. In slow motion, one could even see the aggressive party’s facial expressions slowly turn ecstatic as they looked at Heian Ciemnosc like he was the new divine being in their hearts. The upper echelons had a change of mindset, seemingly understanding something from the depths of their Soul as they looked at every First Step student in the room and some others in the Second Step.

“Then, what about you, Puru?” The Headmaster didn’t show any expression, but Heian Ciemnosc and those close to him knew he had sighed at least a dozen times after Heian Ciemnosc’s decision. Looking at Teacher Puru, who walked forward with the magnificent female Demon beside him, wearing matching rings, he had high expectations but was worried. What if this kid influenced this calm and pacified great strategist?

“... Headmaster, the First Step forces can deal with the Blackotia Kingdom’s First Step organizations… And with the territory, we will gain in the times to come due to these wars, our resupplying will be slightly shortened to a few tens of years instead of around 100 years, but…” Teacher Puru spoke confidently but showed bitterness at the end as he lowered his head. The Headmaster’s heart skipped a beat.

“Those resources won’t be enough for whatever comes after all First Step organizations come into our grasp. Besides, who’s to tell Second Step organizations won’t have designs on the vassal organizations? They would wait until a Region’s First Step organizations are united before forcing them out of our submission to their side. And if we can’t defend them if they now understand the benefits of unification but don’t need us… They’ll start refusing us and fighting back in the future, nonstop.”

“With the Second Step’s help, the Academy will govern the entire Blackotia Kingdom. We would need about a year before we resupply and increase our arsenal. Fighters will flock everywhere in the Blackotia Kingdom like it’s a Divine Kingdom, and our Fleets will finally form back to what they used to be. We can wait, take some time to develop-”

“Urgah, alright, I get it.” The Headmaster lost all hope and interrupted Teacher Puru, causing a wide grin on the latter’s lips. The Headmaster added as he stepped towards the exit through the hologram, appearing annoyed and not wanting to remain here anymore. “Just say you’re joining the war already! However, you can’t fight directly. Let the First Step organizations fight it out against our students first. You can only bring 2 Frigates of each kind to both Steps’ forces. After the enemy’s Second Step organization's First Step soldier units are defeated, or they decide to intervene with their Second Step soldier units, you may decimate them. Bring conde with you!”

“Owww!” The Vice headmaster, who had been all smiles and feeling proud of her Wrath Nihility Academy, suddenly pitifully exclaimed. The Headmaster turned around and barked, “No buts!”

“Okay…” The Vice headmaster nodded and flicked her index fingertips together, dejected.

Heian Ciemnosc: “!”

On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc saw the Headmaster look at him, obscuring his owl’s face from anyone else’s eyes, and winked at him. Then, the Headmaster finally left the room, and several discussions started, with even those opposing before becoming heated and taking the strategist and warmonger inside of them to lay out.

Heian Ciemnosc and Milyy looked at each other, wondrous about the situation, before walking out of the room to let the others deal with these matters. They were busy cultivating, after all!

…