We stood outside the East gate in front of the city of First Seoul. There were two hundred soldiers behind my honor guard, led by a the governor Clarissa had arranged and a small group of trusted assistants to help him manage the city once it was taken over.
The city had been ordered to surrender. While I was tempted to just kill everyone, I had been asked to see if this could be resolved peacefully by the new governor. I didn’t like the idea, but it would be his mess after I left. So, I had agreed to speak to whomever was in charge and ask for their unconditional surrender.
That was when I saw three familiar faces. There was Ren, the leader of the Rising Sun Alliance in the lead. To his right was Danian, their main fighter, but was weak compared to be before the heist. The last person was the Avatar’s minion. I wouldn’t forget that face from the heist. Also, Captain Francis leaned in and whispered his identity to me.
The Rising Sun Alliance and I had a rough relationship. I had captured Fuyuka and forced her to help me. But she had been killed in the chaos by an assassin from Normandy who was allied with the Astrologer. Well, none of these people had the stats to resist me as far as I could tell.
They approached me. Captain Francis stepped forward. “You stand in the presence of Emperor Michael! Slayer of the Divine Empress. Custodian of the Avatar. Successor of the United City States.” He then stepped back. It was great to have minions to announce my presence like that. I stood with my arms crossed glaring at them.
How they responded would tell me quite a bit. Ren got down on both knees and kowtowed. Danian winced but copied him. The Avatar’s minion hesitated a bit longer and then copied them. “Rise,” I said after a couple of seconds. They got up to their feet.
“Emperor Michael, we ask for mercy,” Ren said while cupping his hands and bowing his head.
“Ren and Danian. Lift your heads. I must apologize to both of you.” At the end of the day Fuyuka had been under my protection and without her help the heist would not have succeeded. I decided to give both of them a pass for her sacrifice.
“Fuyuka was instrumental in helping me liberate the Divine Empress’s treasury. For that you have my thanks on her behalf. She perished in a plot from the Avatar, who that man serves,” I gestured at the man next to them, who they turned to look at.
“Lies. This Emperor Michael, insults the name of our High Priestess.”
“Were you in my city of Purgatory recently, with an airship? Attempting to assassinate me?” I asked.
“I was only following orders of the High Priestess. The incident in the Forbidden City was something you initiated.”
“And how were you there at just the right moment along with the assassin who killed Fuyuka to create chaos and rescue your High Priestess. There were no coincidences. It was orchestrated by your High Priestess. Already your two cities have been found and will be conquered. Do you wish to protect this man Ren?” I asked.
“No. Him and his people claimed the city was theirs. But they left and we had to manage things after they disappeared on an airship. Their leader, this High Priestess is also questionable. Since you killed the Divine Empress, we have no quarrel with you. Unless you plan to turn people into furniture?” Ren asked.
“No furniture. But it is an absolute dictatorship.” I kicked off the ground. Air Burst. I immediately stopped in front of the Avatar’s hench person. Acid Shot x20. He tried to dodge, but there was nowhere to go. He died screaming.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” I said. As everyone was silent as the man’s death.
“An absolute dictatorship,” Ren said with a sigh.
“He leader attempted to assassinate me with his help. He was no innocent. If you come at me, you better not miss. Since I won’t show any mercy. But I don’t plan on torturing people for laughs. Better to just kill them. Now I will give you both a choice.”
“I am listening,” Ren said.
“You can collect your people and be one of the grinding teams that are attached to this city under the governor that is going to be appointed. Or you can come back to the capital and a place can be found for both of you if you desire as part of the Imperial Government. Or you can go do your own thing somewhere else,” I replied.
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“What of our original cities to the South. Are they free?” Ren asked. It was a bit disrespectful he didn’t use my title, but I wasn’t about to push the issue.
“Yes. They are all under my authority and the Empire of Purgatory. You don’t have to decide now, but I won’t be staying around for long. Captain Francis,” I called out.
“Yes Emperor Michael,” the Captain came forward.
“Prepare a letter,” I said. He quickly got a table, paper, and pen out. “Ren, the leader of the Rising Sun Alliance against the Divine Empress, has earned a favor in my name. Treat him with respect and dignity that he has earned for fighting for countless years. If this letter is given to Supreme Governor Clarissa, he and his people should be given a total of ten million points for their efforts.” Captain Francis wrote that all down. I then signed the letter.
I folded it up and handed it to Ren who took it while looking a bit bewildered. “You are free. You and your people. Go where you wish. Consider it a reward for your hard work. And to not rebel against me,” I said with a grin.
“I…thank you Emperor Michael,” he said.
“We are rich! I tell you rich!” Danian said with a grin. Ten million was chump change in my mind. Split between multiple people, it wasn’t that great, but it would give them a completely fresh start. But it felt good to help these people who had been fighting for years on end against the Divine Empress.
After that, Ren and the governor got together, and he explained what he had done so far. His people were also gathered together. All of them voted to go collect the points and then decide what to do. There had been some fear it was a trap. But I didn’t really care.
I was more interested as the soldiers quickly moved in to kill the Avatar’s people. None of them were spared. Thankfully she hadn’t sunk her tendrils too deeply into the city. It was anti-climactic, but that was the power of being at the head of a large army and having killed the Divine Empress.
That had taken out any objections or complaints Ren might have had. Their purpose and rebellion was completed. Giving them points would wash away any resentment as Fuyuka’s death and spread word of my kindness hopefully.
Captain Francis had already sent a message ahead to Clarissa explaining the situation and with commentary from me that Ren was a capable individual, and she should maybe consider him as an Imperial Auditor or a similar position.
My debt had been paid and there was no battle. After a deek, most of the soldiers would be moving back down South to move in on the last two cities as crystals were shipped to build the road that Clarissa decided on.
I would have to be there to check out the road. It was only a matter of time until my rule was consolidated, and I didn’t have to be present for these things. At least there had been limited fighting and not huge battle.
The fact that the Avatar’s hench person hadn’t fled was foolish. What was he thinking? That I would just let him live. Some people had idiotic notions in their head, and I couldn’t be bothered figuring them out. You come for the Emperor you better not miss.
I am sure some rats had escaped, but it was of little concern to me. There was no way they would be able to match my stats or skills. That was the power of an Empire and minions. It was very hard for any one person to fight effectively. For that you needed personal power, a lot of personal power.
But that kind of power wasn’t easy to come by. Also, I would be getting a tenth of whatever anyone earned, empowering me. While the effect of each stat decreased the more there were, I had such a massive passive income, that it was sickening. I could just promise ten million points, and it truly was nothing.
In time that passive income would only increase to insane amounts. Well before heading South, I planed to head North and check out some more level 4 zones. I might just get lucky and find a way to peek at a level 5 zone or kill a boss monster in a level 4 zone.
I really wanted to test myself against such monsters to see where I stood and better gauge how well I would do against a level 6 monster. As I rested in a building for the night, with my protection detail all around and inside the building, I felt a sense of peace.
I knew that peace was a lie, but it was nice to not be constantly on edge about every little thing and to be able to go at my own pace while addressing issues. To plan ahead and not rush wildly in, hoping for the best. That tower climb still gave me nightmares.
It was horrendous and grueling. Worst of all it had been forced on me and I had limited options. It was much nicer when I had the luxury of freedom. Which is what I had always wanted since I had first arrived in the Systemic Lands. The ability to choose and control my life.
Now that the Astrologer’s influence on my body was being purged, I had hope that I might get abs in the near future. I was even willing to start doing crunches while turning off my Body stat. The dream was in reach, and I wasn’t about to let it escape me.
Lying on a real bed, a smile came on my face in the dark room that no one could see. It was good to be Emperor. Even after all the headaches of getting to this point, the future looked bright, and I wasn’t going to let anyone take that from me no matter what. I had fought too hard and suffered too much to give up any time soon.
Drifting off to sleep I thought about how much better things were going to get and I was the last one standing out of all my enemies. It was kind of sad and satisfying. There was no one left to fight right now. Only my desire for power and to prepare for the next fight. There was still someone out there who had cleared a tower before me. I would need to be ready for them and whatever nonsense they were cooking up in their part of the Systemic Lands.