Metalwork was the heart of the Empire. Built upon a foundation of solidified molten steel, the Ardynian God Emperor, Curt Diamante Ardyne, made himself the de facto ruler of the world. Whatever he desired, his subordinates would make it happen. His throne was the human wrench thrown into the gears of time, preventing them from turning forwards.
In this fishtank of a world, the Emperor was the most powerful a human could get. Wrath went ahead and revealed to Aria that the Emperor was level 101. As far as people knew, they believed that the human level cap was 99. To surpass that was to be something above a human.
Aria and Wrath’s boat were fished out of the sea, picked up by the giant warship who ferried them off to shore. The crew of the ship seemed to be afraid of the two SDS soldiers, choosing to back away and keep their distance.
With Wrath, it made sense, since he walked around with a conspicuous straw hat over his head. With Sloth, on the other hand, it was odd. She took her time, nonchalantly walking about with her accordion strapped to her. Occasionally, she’d give its keys a tap — causing nearby soldiers to take cover as if it were a bomb. She was probably entertaining herself with their reactions.
When it came to Aria, however, the soldiers all fell silent. They all looked away, refusing to make eye contact, as if she didn’t even exist. When they accidentally did, they were quick to turn to something else.
Aria knew better than to lurk. Wrath was quick to take her to a special room of her own where she was locked in. It was a cage of sorts and the walls were marked with talismans that protected them from the transforming influence of alchemy. Magic seals made the walls extra resistant against magic and steel reinforcement made them immune to physical attacks.
The cage was built to last, and judging from the dents and scorch marks on the walls, it was clear that Aria wasn’t the first to be locked inside.
The one thing they didn’t cover for, however, was soundproofing. She pressed her up against the wall to listen in on a peculiar conversation between a pair of soldiers — presumably the guards of her cage. She could hear the surging of electricity infused weaponry meant to stun.
“Looks like the SDS captured another one,” she heard.
“Locking them up in a room like that — it’s inhumane. It’s practically a cage, something that monsters are supposed to go in, not people.”
“Cages are meant for criminals, aren’t they? We were told that the SDS caught wanted criminals so wouldn’t that make this just?”
She heard a pause, then was forced to shut out all other senses to listen in close.
“Something tells me these people they’re capturing aren’t criminals. After all — most of them have been young children.”
I’m not the only one? Looking over, she saw a bed. It was small enough to fit children. Already, it was a bad sign.
“I heard that Professor Cinni’s been locked in his laboratory for the past six months, and that no one has seen his face since he last left,” one of them said. “What do you think is going on in there?”
The other’s response was simple silence followed by the beratement of their commander. The two were quickly shut up, leaving Aria devoid of clues to what was going to happen to her soon.
That’s when she heard it. The familiar sound of that accordion Sloth loved to play. It was like it was coming from above her cage, and seeing a pair of feet dangle down through her window, she realized who it was.
The roof of the cage was thick, yet thin enough for her to hear footsteps leak through like rain in a leaky ceiling. That included the voice of a lazy woman and her accordion which played a slow and soft melody, like that of a lullaby. For whatever reason, Sloth seemed to be trying to comfort those who are and have been caught in the cage.
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“Aria?” Sloth asked. “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Why are you protecting your servants? Why not the other way around? Aren’t soldiers supposed to die for their commanders?”
Aria, hearing that, could do nothing but stumble back and allow herself to fall into bed.
“Well, what good is a commander who can’t fight? Imagine fighting for a commander who’s only level six. It’d be humiliating.”
“You did a good job, beating a demoness who was way higher of a level than you were,” Sloth said. “I was there, you know. I saw it all happen. It’s not everyday you see someone defy the level system.”
“Level system?”
“It’s our boss’ way of categorizing people. It’s like a game of war. Bigger card beats the smaller ones, but sometimes the top tier ace gets crushed by the little two. You, Aria, are a two.”
“Was this cage built for twos like me?”
“It was built to cage aces, but at the same time it’s barely tough enough to house a two. Think of handcuffs. They’re built to be tough enough to cuff the strongest bad guys with the biggest, most muscular wrists, but what happens if you cuff a weak bad guy? They shrug and they slip out of them, that’s what. Big guys have muscle. Small guys got grease.”
“Why are you telling me this? Do you want me to escape?”
Sloth paused her music, then leaned over to peek her head through the barred window of her cell. Her only response was to smirk — whatever that meant.
The military vessel wasn’t very fast, but despite that, it managed to bring her back to land in record time. She saw the galvanized gray walls of the industrial Empire. Surrounding the capital city were walls that both protected and trapped people inside. Giant chimneys rose out of the city like the pipes of a church organ, spilling out toxic gasses that were the result of metalworking.
The Empire was built upon blood and steel. Nowadays, it relied mainly on steel to prevent the spilling of blood. Peace was brought in through the invention of gunpowder and explosive crystal dust — forming the firearm weaponry that equalized the strong and the weak.
Of course, that meant having a firearm, which was a rarity. The authoritarian Empire had a tight grasp on every citizen.
The Empire gave them what they needed. Artificial and cheap food designed in alchemical laboratories, housing in the form of apartments built upon ever-growing complexes that rose up to the sky and socialization through potato-based alcohols made and made cheap by the government — a clear and obvious ploy on the Emperor’s part, to sedate the population with vodka.
The people knew they were poisoning themselves, and yet, they just couldn’t stop.
The only ones that could escape the rampant alcoholism were those who could leave the city, and leaving the city meant never coming back. They lived their lives as vagrant adventurers with no home. Life outside of the city and its controlled prices meant that everything outside of it was either too expensive and costly or the jobs too low paying to afford to live.
Aria was brought in through a back entrance of the city, through a tunnel that secluded her from the prying eyes of journalists curious to find out the inner workings and the secret plans of the Imperial army. The SDS separated from the navy soldiers and following Wrath, Aria found herself brought straight into the Imperial palace.
From the outside, the palace looked like the beating heart of the world where every decision is made. With regal white walls, towering architecture and elite soldiers posted outside, you’d be right to think it was the most influential spot in the world.
However, the Emperor had a strict set of rules, with the most important one being that no one was to enter without permission.
When she stepped inside, she found out exactly why that was.
It was regal. It was brilliant. It was the culmination of the world’s greatest architects and builders.
It, however, was devoid of any life. The halls were utterly empty, with withered flowers, rusted sets of armor displayed for no one to see and dull weaponry displayed for the Emperor’s eyes only — dull weapons that were once holy relics.
It was a sad sight to see, a sight that was made worse when she saw a little rat scurry past her ankle to dive into a hole bored into the wall.
“What happened here?” Aria asked, but the two were completely silent. They led her down the halls, past more rusted, ancient relics and towards a basement.
They passed by the throne room where the Emperor was meant to meet subjects. Instead, they made their way towards a hidden elevator shaft, one that led them deep into the earth. While the world was trapped in its fish tank, that fish tank had quite the depth to it. The two SDS soldiers stood still, facing forwards like statues until the door finally opened.
The familiar smell of iron poured in, and when Aria stepped out, she saw the true face of the Empire.