Emperor Lawrence

The united army slowly advances toward the city of Digarte, capital of the Rising Sun Kingdom. On the soldiers' faces, it is possible to see nervousness, but not only feelings about the upcoming battle, but also about the previous war. Some soldiers look at each other with resentment, they are waiting for the opportunity to kill one of their own during the impending battle.

"Emperor Lawrence, why did you order us not to intervene in the discord of the United Army?"

Prime Minister Red Filament watches the resentment between his soldiers and those from the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom and swallows hard, knowing nothing good will come of this.

"So they can resolve their grudges." Lawrence replies without taking his eyes off the distance, "Because after this war, they won't have another chance to do so."

He is sure of success, the only problem plaguing him is the future. If the united army doesn't satisfy their thirst for vengeance, even if it's partial, future wars will be hindered by their own grudges. After today, they will realize how futile this thought is, because what they can achieve together is far greater than what they can achieve individually.

If that's not enough for them, if they still try to continue their insignificant revenge, what will stop them is fear.

Because their kingdoms no longer have power.

Queen Reminiscent Euphony interlocks her fingers and prays with her eyes closed. She doesn't want to be here, doesn't want to see her soldiers die for the ideals of a third party. Having recently become a mother, she wishes she were spending her time with her baby son, Lion, instead of being with this man, Emperor Lawrence.

The army of the Rising Sun Kingdom watches from the walls as the United Army approaches, unlike the latter, they are truly united, bound by patriotism, the desire to protect their kingdom and their loved ones.

They will win, they have to. Because what they protect is right behind them, they only have one chance, they cannot fail.

Commander Indolent Ice, commander of the united army, looks at the great walls and the enemy commander, Consumed Faith. Neither has made the first move, the United Army is still out of range of the catapults and even more so of the arrows. As soon as he gives the order, the United Army will enter the range of enemy weapons, and the final battle will begin.

'This time will be different, the Rising Sun Kingdom is a cornered beast.'

He is not foolish, he knows that the enemy has surrendered in previous battles to foster the break-up of the united army. Things would have been very different if the united army was formed by the union of two allied powers, victories would only strengthen them, but this is not the case.

'The soldiers from the Dajhir Kingdom still believe they can turn the tables on the current situation. They don't understand that it's much more complex than it appears.'

As a commander, he has the privilege of accessing classified information and the circumstances surrounding these wars. He knows that Queen Reminiscent Euphony is not the cause of them. She would not be capable of this.

Without showing any of his thoughts on his face, he turns around and delivers an inspiring speech to lift the spirits, the flame of the United Army. On more than one occasion, the soldiers raise their weapons and shout aloud, despite the grudges among them, they still want to win.

Because only by winning will they maintain their lives.

"Charge!"

After his war cry, the United Army begins its fierce advance towards the capital of the Rising Sun Kingdom. At the same time, the sound of catapults is heard, and dozens of flaming rocks fall from the sky.

A specialized group within the United Army repels these rocks using magic, achieving very good results... but not for long. Their success rate decreases as the United Army approaches the city of Digarte and the number of flaming rocks increases.

Midway through their advance, the sky is flooded with arrows. The soldiers raise their large shields and protect themselves and the soldiers around them, but from then on, casualties begin to occur.

Although they can fly and evade this tragic fate, Commander Indolent Ice orders them to advance from the ground, because he needs them all in one place, only then will the defenses show their true potential...

Everything changes after reaching the base of the wall.

Those who can fly, soar over the walls and attack the archers and the groups leading the catapults directly. Those who only possess strength, either remain on the ground trying to destroy the gates or use that strength to jump over the wall. In the war between hunters, the walls of a city are only a limitation, there are many ways to combat them, but that does not make them useless.

Thanks to these, the Rising Sun Kingdom has the advantage of being the defender.

"How do you see the situation?"

Lawrence's casual question shows his lack of concern for the lives of the soldiers, in his mind, he is not living in the present but the eventual future wars.

Prime Minister Red Filament completely forgets to wipe his sweat, "The situation is quite bad, the United Army is only fighting against those the Rising Sun Kingdom wants them to. They are not capable of killing the truly important targets."

The strong eliminate the weakest and retreat when they are about to be cornered, normally their honor would prevent them from using this tactic, but not when so many lives weigh on their shoulders. This is one of the scenarios the Rising Sun Kingdom hoped for to save the lives of talented characters, because honor is their biggest impediment!

"Internal fights will soon start, the United Army will enter into chaos when this happens."

Queen Reminiscent Euphony predicts that such an event is about to happen... and she is not wrong.

Some soldiers belonging to the Sky Blue Mountain and Dajhir kingdoms suddenly stop pointing their weapons at the Rising Sun Kingdom and turn around, attacking their own comrades. Casualties quickly start to appear within the United Army because the soldiers could not bear their thirst for vengeance.

The Rising Sun Kingdom also knew of this and the moment it happens, their heroes appear and take advantage of the chaos to destroy the United Army.

The heroes of the Rising Sun Kingdom are extremely talented characters, who defy the logic of levels. They can easily skip levels and fight against hunters who far surpass them in level. Their strength not only comes from their ability but also their luck. Whether it be magic artifacts or weapons, they possess items that someone of their level should not have. No one is their rival at their same level.

There is a hero of the spear, who sweeps through the United Army creating corpses wherever he goes. There is also a beautiful heroine who, using light magic, kills all who face her. Like them, dozens of heroes appear suddenly and multiply the chaos caused by the betrayal of some soldiers within the United Army.

Those who thought of taking advantage of the chaos to avenge their loved ones from the previous war, left behind all thirst for vengeance. Their own lives are in danger! There can be no vengeance if there is no one to carry it out!

When the soldiers from the Sky Blue Mountain and Dajhir kingdoms understand that avenging now is no different from suicide, they discover that from the beginning, vengeance was impossible.

Because they will die because of it.

The United Army also has heroes who survived the previous war, they are in charge of stopping the enemy's heroes. Their battles are splendid, anyone who watches them fight will feel inspired, but they are not enough.

The enemy heroes outnumber them.

"The Rising Sun Kingdom interrupted our peace, I can't stand that a kingdom uses its power to influence others."

A voice resonates throughout the battle, and for an instant, the battle stops.

Some soldiers are able to recognize this voice.

"That voice..."

"It's Emperor Lawrence! Emperor Lawrence will summon the army of the Fafnir Kingdom!"

As soon as the rumors are spoken aloud, the Rising Sun Kingdom immediately withdraws in anticipation of the arrival of reinforcements.

But such an event never happens, instead...

"Do justice in my name."

Everyone is surprised when, instead of an army of dragons, a woman is the one who responds.

"I, Absolute Prominence, will punish the instigating kingdom in his name."

At some point, Absolute Prominence appears at the forefront of the United Army wearing golden armor, very beautiful and resplendent. Everyone is amazed by her beauty and elegance, but they will soon understand that she is a beauty that kills.

"Shadow Regiment."

Hundreds of shadows rise from the ground at her command. From all the enemy corpses, a shadow identical to the corpse but without emotions or feelings emerges. As soon as they take on human form, they scream like a beast and attack the enemy. Their strength is far from similar to their original body, at most 50%, but this is enough.

Because all of them are temporary shadows, disposable pawns that do not have a close relationship with their mistress. They only obey simple orders and their potential is inferior to that of her contracted shadows. Although she have the advantage of summoning hundreds of them, because of this, she will not be able to summon them again. If she misjudges a hero and summons him as a disposable shadow, she will not be able to contract him.

It is because of this that she waited, waited to recognize all the talented characters of the enemy before adding them to her personal collection as soon as they die.

"They are not afraid of death! Don't be careless and deal with them with caution!”

The reinforcements may not come from the Fafnir Kingdom, the kingdom of dragons, but the sudden appearance of such a quantity of shadows is enough to turn the tables if used correctly.

After seeing this, Absolute Prominence smiles, because her summonings have not yet ended.

"Death is not the end, by falling before me, you will serve me eternally!"

Immediately her personal collection of shadows is summoned. All of them are the talented characters from the war between the Sky Blue Mountain Kingdom and Dajhir, but not just the outstanding hunters... but also the fallen heroes.

These latter are different from the dark-colored shadows, because they are summoned with their potential in life, they all have color, they are no different from when they were alive!

When the fallen heroes fight against the heroes of the Rising Sun Kingdom, a look of concern arises on the faces of the latter. Not being afraid of death means that they act with greater frivolity than in life! All their attacks are deadly!

But this ability is not free of side effects. Just like a deep headache attacks Sky Petal when she controls too many plants, Absolute Prominence is able to feel the pain, the senses of the shadows that regain their potential in life. Her innate ability, Shadow Regiment, gives her a certain degree of immunity to this, but it is not absolute. On more than one occasion she clenches her teeth in pain.

"Gather our most talented soldiers to deal with that woman, Absolute Prominence. If the heavens are fair, they will not allow that woman to be talented in close combat."

"Yes, sir."

Commander Consumed Faith clenches his fists after seeing the havoc caused by that woman's shadows. The problem is not that she can summon the shadows of the fallen, the problem is that in a war there are deaths every second! No matter how much they reduce their number, there will always be more to replace them.

"That woman has her sights set on our heroes, we cannot allow her to succeed!"

While a specialized group is formed to deal with Absolute Prominence, the commander of the United Army, Indolent Ice, leads his army, allowing the shadows to take the vanguard. Whenever a shadow faces danger, the soldiers help it with the sole purpose of extending its useful life.

All strategies are based around a shadow, in such a way as to reduce allied casualties as much as possible.

The war quickly begins to tilt in favor of the United Army and the army of the Rising Sun Kingdom cannot allow this to continue.

Absolute Prominence looks arrogantly at the battle, she is constantly creating disposable shadows to join the war, it's not even necessary for her to lift a finger. Until her predictions come true.

A group of enemy soldiers approaches her with a single purpose, to kill her.

"Ha! If it were so easy to kill me, I would have died a long time ago."

The enemy does not respond, they directly attack her.

In an instant, the giant head of a mythical beast emerges from the ground planning to devour Absolute Prominence, she avoids its fangs using a foot technique, but there their joint attack does not end. As soon as she moves away, dozens of golden daggers surround her, blocking all her escape routes.

From one second to the next, all the daggers head towards her at great speed, but Absolute Prominence again dodges them, leaving a residual image in her place.

Like these, different deadly attacks are directed towards her, but somehow she is able to dodge them by a hair's breadth, giving the impression that she is only good at one thing.

"Your innate ability is extraordinary, but your combat ability is depressing in comparison. You're only good at escaping."

"Tsk."

Absolute Prominence wants to respond to the taunts, but she can't.

'Why did Lawrence forbid me to fight up front? If it were up to me, I would easily finish off this filth that dares to speak to me.'

It was her husband, Lawrence, who only allowed her to use her shadows to fight, but forbade her to lift a finger when attacked. She knows why her husband does this, but she simply does not want to accept it. Her husband is too cautious, because she stepped on the Divine Plane, he does not want her to interact with the Inferior Plane more than necessary. Even when she compressed her level to lower it below level 300!

It would be different if Lawrence were not watching the battle from a distance, but since he is, she does not dare to disobey. Not when she is a mere concubine.

In her escape, she is able to attract some shadows of the fallen heroes and fight against the group that pursues her. The ensuing battle is fierce, unexpectedly her shadows are at a disadvantage... but such a thing does not matter.

The moment she manages to hide within the United Army, the defeat of the Rising Sun Kingdom is decided.

Lawrence watches his self-proclaimed concubine lead her shadows from a safe place and smiles cheerfully. Then he directs his gaze towards Prime Minister Red Filament.

"This war will not last more than two hours. Use this victory to intimidate the rebels."

Prime Minister Red Filament's expression is very different from the initial one, now he looks cheerful and optimistic, "They won't even dare to interrupt me, the power demonstrated by the United Army and by the background that leads it, will leave all opposition silent. Afraid to breathe too loudly!"

By background, he is clearly referring to Emperor Lawrence, whose cards up his sleeve are enough to win wars without being present.

"I will punish my soldiers, I hope you do the same, Prime Minister." Queen Reminiscent Euphony remembers the internal fights and clenches her fists. "I will not allow an event like this to happen again."

Prime Minister Red Filament immediately dries his sweat and does not dare to contradict this queen, but even if she had not said it, he would have done the same. Although both understand why Emperor Lawrence did all this, his tactics are too cruel.

He made the soldiers understand that avenging during a battle is no different from suicide.

Now it is their job to make the United Army know the consequences of betraying their own, but such an event will happen later. For now...

"Victory!"

When the doors are destroyed and the shadows of Absolute Prominence along with the United Army act unrestrainedly in the enemy capital, the commander of the Rising Sun Kingdom raises the white flag.

This was one of the orders of King Fair Decree.

Surrender before the worst scenario happens.

Once the enemies lower their weapons, the United Army is sure of their victory. Shouts of celebration spontaneously arise from all the soldiers.