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"NONSENSE!" the shady commander flared up, his aura exploding. The walls began to crack under his overbearing strength and anger, but the Runic Dome quickly diffused it.

Arrays lit up on the Runic Dome, preparing to attack the commander. Seeing this sight and remembering how this dome defeated an Astra-ranker before, the commander hurriedly restrained his aura. Thus, the Runic Dome halted its attacks.

"Please restrain yourselves in Helios," said Saint Ai with a cold expression as she glared at the commander. "I might not be strong enough to defeat you, but a simple command of mine can vaporize you into nothingness."

"Disrespectful!" said the Vice-Commander at the threat made against his superior. As soon as he touched the hilt of his sword, Saint Ai snapped her fingers. Shadows rose from the ground and placed their weapons against his neck, making the deme-ranker freeze.

"Try me," said Saint Ai as she raised two fingers for the shadows to hold their blades. "You might be fast enough to kill them, but you will lose your neck before that happens."

"Please forgive him, Saint Ai," said Old Babo to appease the situation. Her chin rested on her hands, which were supported by the cane. "You must understand that we cannot obey someone we don\'t know. Helios is only one city, and Ilios is an empire."

"She is right. Our families used to be lords of their regions before the Light Emperor united them. Ilios answers to strength, not threats."

The one who interjected was the female armored commander, taller than all men. Most would mistake her figure for a mighty muscular warrior if not for her voice. Saint Ai was silent as she stared at the commander. She knew how headstrong the Iliosians were.

"If strength is what you demand, then I would be happy to oblige," said a voice from the sky. All commanders grew alert as they reached out for their weapons. "All of you can attack me at once; whoever defeats me will be the new emperor."

"We cannot do that if you don\'t show yourself," said the Vice-Commander as he looked around. Then, before the commanders could reprimand him for being arrogant, black lightning struck from the sky.

Nine Astra-rankers stood atop the walls, and all nine were pushed back by the bolt of black lightning. It did not disappear but spewed out a man wearing black robes with golden engravings. As soon as the crowd saw his face, theirs paled.

"Arthur… Silvera…"

The name used to be no more than a promising genius in the runic path, but it has now turned into a symbol of strength. Anyone could question his motives or character, but even his enemies could not underestimate his capabilities anymore.

Arthur Silvera defeated an empyrean rank and a calamity. This happened in less than a month, so none of them felt they could win against him.

"Is this how you want to rule Ilios? Through intimidation?" asked the political commander, who was more versatile in debating than battle. "We came here for negotiations, not for another war. Hand over Ilios, and we will take care of the rest."

"And if I refuse?" asked Arthur Silvera with intrigue. Faced with his smiling face, the commander looked for the right words. In the end, the one who answered was the female commander.

"It will be war."

"I admire your bravery to challenge me even after I defeated Osian," said Arthur while clapping his hands. His slow claps seemed more insulting than rewarding. "However, not a single drop of blood will be shed in this land anymore. If any of you refuse to swear allegiance to Saint Ai and her two advisors, I will erase their existence."

"Tyrannical!" said a bony commander who seemed to be one foot in the grave. "I will not abide as a tyrant sits over my shoulders! This will not be an era of darkness for Ilios!"

"It seems we have the first one for our execution line," said Arthur without turning toward the old man. Instead, he addressed the rest, "Anyone else?"

The old bony commander shook at the words. Arthur Silvera did not even acknowledge him but simply sealed his fate. He did not even attempt to convince or threaten him any longer but started executing his threat.

"Please wait, Seika," called Saint Ai, stepping beside him. "I believe that all of these commanders are here for the wellbeing of their citizens. If we can win them, there will be no need to kill anyone."

Arthur was silent as he turned toward Ai before he nodded. Then, he waved his hands to draw a rune that opened a gate atop the walls. Then, under the apprehensive eyes of the commanders, Arthur walked into the portal after leaving an invitation to them.

"Those who wish to survive the upcoming wars, follow me. I will give you a good reason to swear your loyalty."

After that, Arthur Silvera walked into the portal. The rest of the commanders were confused before following him with Saint Ai in the lead. On the other side of the portal, the group found themselves inside a giant hall with a single woman inside.

"Welcome to Ascent. My name is Julia, the Vice Guild Master," said the woman as she gestured toward the seats. "Please sit, and let me tell you the benefits of working with Ascent. I promise we have more than powerful awakeners and a calamity spider."

After making up their minds to hear the proposal, the nine commanders took their seats with their followers standing far behind them. Julia then presented them with the benefits and downsides of working with Ascent.

In fourteen minutes, all commanders made up their minds. It took less than a quarter of an hour for these Astra-rankers to oppose the entire world and choose Arthur Silvera as their new backer.

Julia used no tricks, only hard facts and predictions of what would happen. Ilios was on the verge of being devoured by the world, and Ascent had the only method to prevent that: genuine artifacts.

These items were strong enough to give awakeners another ability. All nine commanders realized that the benefits of refusing to follow Ascent were slim while accepting gave them immense power and wealth.

However, they all needed to form spiritual contracts with Julia and Ai. As long as these contracts were not broken, none of those present would be harmed.

The nine armies then retreated to their cities through the teleportation arrays of Helios. After that, the world heard the news of Ilios having a new empress. The world also knew that Ascent started supplying Ilios with artifacts after it swore loyalty to the guild.

This caused ripples worldwide, each moving giant that has been dormant for countless years. The first of the Titan Guilds to move was Dragonir, as it invaded the border to loot one of the trial grounds of Ilios.

In response, three commanders arrived with their troops to stop them. In normal circumstances, Dragonir would have won. However, the Iliosians used artifacts that allowed them to emerge victorious. Once again, Dragonir took another hit to its reputation, worsening its relationship with Ascent.

After realizing that Ilios had not weakened but got stronger, such attacks ceased as new economic relationships began. Merchants started visiting the empire once again after discovering that it started to rival Runera in terms of artificial artifacts.

As for Helios, the situation could not get any more chaotic. Ai and her two advisors were combing through the nobles to weed out any that could harm them in the long run. Although none agreed to form spiritual contracts, most learned that refusing the new rulers was not wise.

The walls between the three districts were abolished, while more knights were assigned to the lower districts. This allowed merchants and street vendors to try their luck with the upper districts, the best customers anyone could ask for, filthy rich ones.

As for the gangs, all of them were arrested by the knights who had sworn loyalty to the new empress. Those harmed by them were compensated too with homes and food. However, it took a few days for Helios to lose half of its darkness, making one wonder why the previous emperor chose to turn a blind eye to it.

Grandma Mo was still cleaning the inn when several workers arrived and refurbished it. She yelled at them to stop and kicked them away until she saw the one who had brought them. Rain waved an awkward hello under the fierce eyes of the grandma before being allowed inside, where the two of them chatted for the first time in years.

"I came here to talk about Zonas," said Rain as soon as she sat down. "He might be old and wise, but he is heartbroken for losing his son. It was his only reminder of Averie. So I wanted you to visit him in the palace."

"I will not step inside that cursed place," said Grandma Mo while glaring at the workers hiding outside. "…then Lyle is truly dead?"

"He is."

Grandma Mo was silent for a few seconds before her tears started falling. She bit her lips before taking a deep breath and wiping them away. Then, she started cleaning the plates and cups on her counter.

"It was what he wanted, right?"

"It was."

Although the fighting was over and life was getting too good to be true, that did not change how many lives were lost during the rebellion. As for the man who devoted his entire life to the revolution, he died before witnessing its success.