CHAPTER 416: A SMACK TO THE HEAD

[OP: ]

(Western continent: Barnacle empire: imperial capital, imperial palace.)

An absolute presence glared down at the messenger that had interrupted the important meeting.

"Repeat yourself."

-Thurrrrrrr...!

-Crrrrrrrr...

A voice that was thunderous, filled with the power and authority of the divine- not granted but eared- echoed throughout the heart of the imperial palace, weighing down at the messenger as the order of the divine.

"My... My lord, augh!"

Mere words made the messenger cough up blood, the glasses located on the ends of the room had already shattered down by the thunderous voice.

"My lord, that’s just a messenger. Please show mercy."

The messenger had only one job and that was to deliver the important, emergency messages to the lord that they absolutely offered themselves, and their lives to.

The Divine Sword standing right beside the emperor knew that very well.

There were various things in this place that gave testament to his absolute authority, but there weren’t many things that could withstand his unparalleled powers... especially his rage born from the simple news brought to him by the poor messenger.

"You. Shall I repent myself?"

The Divine sword, the Grandmaster and the highest order swordsman of this empire, one of the six that were loyal only, and only to the golden absolute, the master of this throne... he had requested his lord to show mercy to the poor messenger, the pressure of his wrath did not leave the messenger.

"This morning, one hour, twelve minutes, ago... augh! Avalon... augm! Avalon was raided by... ughhhhh. By... unknown individuals! Ahem!"

The messenger could only say that much, before his soul left the body that was completely crushed under the weight of the absolute authority of the emperor, the ruler of the west, the master of Three divine weapons, and the possessor of eternal Victory.

"My lord."

The emperor looked down from his throne, looked down at the weak mess that couldn’t even withstand his mere presence, and shook his head with a disgusted expression as he looked beside him, at the master of all existing swords.

"Go look into this." The absolute ordered, and the knight that was raised to serve him and him alone bowed to him without asking any questions.

"May the brightest light guide our way."

The emperor didn’t even blink as his divine sword, his most trusted Servant walked out of the hall. There was no remorse on his face even as he saw the servants cleaning up the blood covering the floor and taking out the body that no longer had a soul housing it.

"Qigong." He spoke up in his deep voice once again, however, the anger was not present in that voice anymore.

-Ooooooooooong!

"Master."

A female mage wearing a simple white clock appeared out of thin air, her appearance hidden behind the simple looking yet powerful artifact clothing woven with the threads produced by the divine powers of the divine beasts hunted down by the absolute emperor himself.

She was one of the three mages that served the emperor, one of the six Divine hands of the emperor— the Mage of Heavens.

"Report what that weak thing could not."

"Yes, master."

Inside the imperial palace where the absolute emperor ruled, the grandeur was evident in every corner. The halls were wide and adorned with intricate tapestries depicting scenes of his glory and conquest.

The floors were polished to a shine, reflecting the light that streamed in through tall, arched windows. Soft, plush carpets lined the floors, muffling the footsteps of those who walked upon them.

In the throne room, a massive, ornately carved throne sat atop a levelled dais, its velvet cushions a deep, rich red. Golden magical stones hung from the ceiling, casting a rejuvenating glow over the room.

The walls were adorned with portraits of the emperor, the absolute being that owned every element present on these lands.

Guards in shining armour stood at attention all over this hall, the heart of the imperial castle, their eyes fixed forward, ever vigilant.

The servants that had just finished cleaning up the mess created after the death of the mortal servant were emotionless, as if this was no unique occurrence to them.

Everywhere in this power saturated room, there was an air of supremacy and authority, a reminder that within these walls, the word of the emperor was law.

Here, the emperor faced forward, his mage Servant kneeling down beside him.

"Earlier this morning, we received reports that beasts had appeared out of nowhere in the Avalon.

No one was injured however, the vacinities was evacuated and locked down by the authorities present.

Later, when searching again for traces of the beasts, the rescue teams only found unconscious agents affiliated with palace guards.

With more investigations, they discovered that someone had infiltrated Avalon, defeated every single being guarding the path, and completely emptied out the shelf area containing top secret documents."

She finished her records, and braced herself, her heart, her mind and her body.

-ZHAAAAAAA!

"Who did this?" With the enraged expression back on his face, the emperor frowned at the mage.

And by the time this happened, the servants and guards who had received the signal from the mage lady had already evacuated the hall.

"We do not know, my lord."

-ZAAAAAA...!

"How do you not know?!"

-Boooooooom!

The emperor expressed his rage with only a high voice but his mere voice was so strong that half the things present in this hall shattered away as if glass shattering.

The ground that was shining just a moment ago now had cracks all over the place, and even the fabrics of carpets and curtains present in this place were burned out without a fire ever sparing anywhere in this hall.

"Ughhh... apologies, my... my lord. We are... we are searching for them!" The strength the aura emitting for him, the power of his mere rage was so powerful that even the mage that was considered to be one of the strongest in this entire world was barely keeping herself stable while in this presence.

"The Divine archer... and the Mage of Life are already... already onto them. They should... they should get them by the end of this day."

The emperor was angry, and he knew wanting out his anger at his own people was not appropriate. But, he couldn’t help himself.

He calmed himself down, looked around the destruction that was caused by his anger, and took a deep breath.

"Tell me what they got. Tell me everything we know about them."

He was the emperor of this land and to maintain this position, he had done many things that weren’t morally or ethically correct.

He had unbound strength and there were few that possessed the power to stop him, but the public opinion was one of the greatest matters that would decide his standing in his own land.

There were individuals that were just as capable as him. What separated him and all of those individuals was not the fact that they were weaker than him or had less flowers, but the public trust that they had.

He was the emperor because in the eyes of the common people, he was the only being that was fit for that position.

They did not know what anyone else other than him would do if they were given the same position as him and he had to do a lot of things to condition the public that way.

He also had to maintain a lot of things to maintain this conditioning and reinforce it.

And what he did to achieve that was most certainly not something that he wanted anyone else to know about. Especially the common people that wouldn’t even understand what half the things in those records actually meant.

"Hmmm..."

He had seen the world broadcast of those strange thieves that took down the sky fortress. He knew how there were powers behind them that were operating everything from the shadows.

The voice of this world that was reciting their heroic tale had confirmed that already.

He knew there were individuals in this world now that had already found the key to obtain the sky fortress.

They were no ordinary individuals.

Just like the other absolutes, they were unique people that had an unlimited potential.

They could have become one of the strongest in this world had they walked the same path as the other absolutes, but they were different from them in this matter.

"There is a regressor among them. Or, someone that has lived longer than their age."

The emperor had already listened to everything that she had to say, and he had come to his own conclusions.

"They are the same people that stole the sky fortress."

He was smart and strong. He was an awakened Ascended being that possessed his own divinity.

He could ascend to the higher realm if he wanted but there was nothing in that higher realm that attracted him.

The physical world was what he desired. And he had done a lot of things to maintain himself in this world.

"They are connected to someone close to us."

His farsightedness had allowed him to reach and maintain this absolute position for this long. And in no way he was going to get some half-ass thieves that were dancing on someone else’s palm get in the way of his rule.

"Go. Find out which bastards want to rebel and dispose of them. And, find these thieves.

Under no circumstances must the contents of those documents be revealed to the public."

If that happens, in some off chance though... he will have no choice but to destroy this world, destroy all that he had created, with his own hands.

Only by doing that... will he be able to rebuild everything from scratch. Again.