Chapter 329: 173. The Preparations for the Future -3 (Part One)
Chapter 329: 173. The Preparations for the Future -3 (Part One)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
The heads of the twin brothers, Marvel and Marcel, were lowered deeply while their whole bodies were frozen stiff.
It had taken them a whole month to visit Aslan and return to the Theocratic Empire, despite travelling as fast as humanly possible. The weather conditions made it difficult to fly on the back of the Bone Wyvern all the time, so sometimes they had no choice but to travel on carriages instead.
The twins shuddered away. They were deeply fatigued by their lengthy itinerary, yet there was no time to rest.
It wasn’t just the twins who were frozen stiff and rooted to their spots, however.
Inside the Imperial Audience Chamber...
Paladins were standing in orderly rank and file. These brave knights, who wouldn’t normally budge an inch from anything, were all dripping with cold sweat under their helms at the moment.
On their left and right sides were members of the empire’s aristocracy, as well as the clergy. All of them were also frozen stiff, their heads lowered deeply.
In the centre of them all, on top of the crimson carpet, were the ambassadors sent from various other kingdoms.
‘What exactly has happened?’
‘Why, especially in front of us, representing the empire’s allies...?’
They were joined by the leader of the dwarves, as well as the top blacksmith of Hilda’s fiefdom, Master Belrog. Even the leader of the Paladin Corps, Harman, was also present.
‘He’s gotten way stronger then back when he last paid a visit to Lady Hilda’s territory.’
‘...Is he angry about something? Maybe, because I failed to find any leads on Ruppel?’
Belrog was inwardly sighing in admiration, while Harman could only shed thick drops of cold sweat in silence. He hadn’t yet heard about Ruppel’s matter in the Kingdom of Frants, after all.
One of the ambassadors worked up his courage and cautiously lifted his head a little. His consciousness threatened to abandon him just then, a bout of powerful lightheadedness taking over him.
But his blurry vision still took in the sight of a certain individual.
‘That... that is the Holy King!’
A man kitted out in the mountain goat’s skull helm and bone armour was perched arrogantly up on the throne. Just staring at the pure white streams of air oozing out of him made the ambassador feel that his whole body had grown so much heavier from the sheer pressure alone.
On his left side was the Death Knight version of King Rahamma, wearing pitch-black armour and a hood, wielding a large mace with both of his hands. On his right side was an undead Lich covered in a thick robe and hood, gripping onto a musket at least two metres long.
‘It’s like staring at Oscal the Sword King and Cardinal Raphael.’
As for the Holy King himself, it was like staring at the demon king from a scary fairy tale or some such. No, wait; he might be even worse than those imaginary beings, in all honesty!
Rounding out this trio were twin brothers standing on the either side of the throne. They seemed to be deeply nervous as well, because they kept their heads bowed and their shoulders occasionally flinched uncomfortably.
-You dare to raise your head tall in the presence of the undisputed king?!-
Rahamma held his head high and roared out threateningly. Two glowing eyeballs burned fiercely within his skull.
The dense killing aura he emitted sent chills down the spines of all the gathered ambassadors. The one who cautiously raised his head hurriedly lowered it again.
Nasus spoke up as his teeth clattered, -Kneel down, oh you humans.-
Everyone present instinctively went down to their knees. They shuffled about and hesitantly placed their hands on the floor to kowtow even deeper.
It would have been fine for the ambassadors to simply bow their heads, but such actions now felt like a form of discourtesy after they oh-so naturally started kowtowing like this.
Terror had paralysed their reasoning.
“Everyone else, leave.”
One command from the Holy King, and the empire’s Paladins and nobles began filing out of the chamber.
‘N-no, don’t leave!’
‘Don’t leave us alone in here!’ the ambassadors cried out in despair inwardly.
Unfortunately for them, though, the others with deep-seated fear of the Holy King still abandoned them inside the Imperial Audience Chamber.
The chamber’s doorway closed firmly shut.
The ambassadors felt their hearts wildly pound away as this sense of desperation filled them up.
THUD...
The noise of the doors closing shut signalled the beginning of a spooky silence inside the Audience Chamber.
One of the ambassadors began panting laboriously. He thought he might lose consciousness from the sheer pressure alone.
‘N-no, keep it together, man!’ he cried out inwardly, but without him realising it, his words leaked out of his mouth. “K-keep it together...”
The other ambassadors flinched nastily in surprise, and their expressions hardened. They glared murderously at their fellow ambassador who had muttered those words just now.
At the same time, though, the silence was shattered for good.
“I know full well why all of you have gathered here today. It’s because the Theocratic Empire has been raising a mighty army recently.”
The weighty voice came from the Holy King, and none of the ambassadors dared to reply. All they could do for now was to bow their heads even deeper and express their agreement.
“However, be at ease. We do not plan to invade you. We simply desire to stop Ragnarok. To stop the advent of the end of the world.”
“E-end of the world?” The ambassadors couldn’t quite process what they heard just now.
Did he say the ‘end of the world’? Even the term ‘Ragnarok’ sounded foreign, too.
When judged solely by the situation they found themselves in, it was not all that surprising for these ambassadors to get confused. The part about stopping the end of the world hadn’t even registered with them.
To them, the Holy King before their eyes seemed more likely to bring about the destruction of the entire world, instead!
‘The Holy King is scheming to take over the entire continent!’
‘Oh my gods! Does he really wish to conquer the whole world?!’
‘He’s definitely an existence similar to the demon king from the fairy tales. There is no guarantee that he won’t do it.’
Just as the confusion of the ambassadors spiralled nearly out of control, the Holy King loudly declared, “We shall show it to you, then. Marvel, Marcel.”
He didn’t call the twins his older brothers. This was an official occasion. As such, Allen held a far higher position than them.
The twins flinched in surprise, and their trembling eyes shifted over to Allen.
The Holy King held his head high. “Show it to them, and let them hear it. Let them experience what will happen during the end of the world.”
The twins squeezed their eyes shut. When they activated their abilities, the ambassadors began screaming at the top of their lungs.
They held their heads, remained prostrate on the floor and trembled pathetically away.
They must have seen it, it being the horrifying scenes of the giants ruthlessly slaughtering humans and destroying the civilisation humanity had built up over thousands of years. They must have heard it, too.
Heard the name of the sole existence capable of stopping them!
“T-that is...”
“His Majesty the Holy Emperor!”
Right at that moment, the ambassadors regained their wits. As tears streamed down their cheeks, they collapsed on the spot. They totally forgot to observe the correct etiquette in front of the Holy King, too.
Their dazed faces soon shifted over to Allen.
“How was it?” The Holy King’s dignified, solemn voice rocked the audience chamber. “That is Ragnarok.”
The eyes of all the ambassadors trembled uncontrollably. They sucked in deep, deep breaths, and tried to relax their tense bodies.
“The monstrous giants, led by the Army of Blood, will soon invade us.”
The vile, evil undead and the Jötnar would devour the entire continent.
“My goal is to stop them. That is precisely why I need your strength, too.”
The ambassadors had personally witnessed that horrifying scene. Only the Theocratic Empire was capable of stopping that future.
“For the sake of humanity, we need your strength.”
All these ambassadors had been dispatched by countless nations around the continent. Not only were they the appointed representatives of their respective nations, these diplomats were also in the position of deciding the fate of their homelands, as well.
They sobered up right away and fixed their attire in silence. They then knelt smartly again and observed the correct etiquette.
“...Please tell us what we need to do, Your Majesty.”
“Do not hold back on supporting our cause. We shall become not only your shields, but your swords, as well.”
The ambassadors hesitated slightly before cautiously raising their voices. “We have personally witnessed the advent of the end of the world, Your Majesty. However, we foresee that our own monarchs will claim it to be lies and not agree to your terms.”
“In such cases, it will be even simpler.” The Holy King interlocked his fingers and addressed them. “If you fail to convince your leaders, then convey them your ‘guesses’ of the Theocratic Empire secretly scheming to invade them in the near future.”
“...”
The ambassadors all stiffened up where they knelt.
“When you do, surely your leaders would be a lot more willing to prepare for war.”
“B-but Your Majesty...”
“Our war will commence in five years’ time. Until then, you must nurture strong knights, train powerful magicians, develop better weapons, and research new magic spells.”
“...”
“Those acts will become the necessary strength to protect humanity. Can you do that much, at least?”
The ambassadors bowed their heads deeply. “As you command, Your Majesty.”
The Holy King shifted his gaze and stared at Belrog and Harman behind the group of ambassadors. “Leader of the dwarves, hear my words.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Belrog got back up to his feet stiffly, walked to the front of the group, and knelt down again.
“You have a new job you must perform for me.”
“Please give me your command, sire.”
The Holy King lightly waved his hand in the air, and almost at the same time, a weighty tumbling noise came from right in front of Belrog.
The dwarf raised his head to look, only for his brows to shoot up high.
In front of him was the warhammer Holy Emperor Kelt used to wield, plus Amon’s staff and the grimoire that the Holy King used.
“I shall entrust all of these to you.” The Holy King pointed at the legendary tools of battle with his bone-covered finger. “Forge a spear that I can wield, using them.”