Chapter 88: Ch 88: Wedding
The celestial full moon hung massive and bright over District 3. The Grand Plaza had been completely transformed. Elder Priest Lumis and his thousands of acolytes had worked without rest for three straight days. Every marble pillar was draped in shimmering celestial silk. The massive fountains did not just flow with enchanted spring water; they radiated a soft healing aura that cured minor ailments the moment mist touched the skin.
The air smelled of rare sun lotus incense and blooming twilight lilies. Millions of glowing golden orbs floated gently in the night sky, illuminating the plaza like a second dawn. At the far end of the square, a colossal altar of polished obsidian and gold had been erected. It was not dedicated to the old gods. It was forged specifically for the Zenith Emperor and the Radiant Saintess.
Tonight was the culmination of everything Raidan had planned.
A massive, deafening hum vibrated through the marble floor. The intricate web of spatial leylines Raidan had mapped beneath the city finally activated. A brilliant ring of green spatial magic ignited around the entire perimeter of the plaza.
The teleportation matrix triggered simultaneously across all nine districts of Olympus.
Flashes of emerald light illuminated the night. When the light faded, the plaza was packed with over one hundred thousand people.
Raidan had mandated an open invitation. He bypassed the High Council and their strict segregation laws completely. He used his expanding administrator privileges to send a global system notification to every single citizen in the city. Everyone was welcome to witness the dawn of the Verdian Empire.
The result was a breathtaking, incredibly tense collision of two entirely different worlds.
On the right side of the main aisle stood the ancient nobility and the aristocratic elite of the upper tiers. They wore gowns woven from liquid starlight and suits tailored from the hides of legendary beasts. They sneered behind silk fans and clutched their crystal goblets with white knuckled tension. They were entirely horrified.
On the left side of the aisle stood the rest of the city. The refugees from Earth. The discarded commoners from the slums. The heavily armored engineers from the District 9 plasma forge led by Aaron and Sarah. Standing in rigid, perfectly disciplined formations were the two thousand members of Raidan’s new vanguard. Kael, who had been an emaciated beggar only three days ago, now stood tall in the shimmering dark armor of an Imperial Blood Guard, holding his Void Piercing Spear with absolute lethal intent.
The commoners wore simple wool and cotton. Many still wore patched clothes. But their faces were completely washed of despair. They looked toward the obsidian altar with fanatical reverence.
The sheer proximity of the lower classes was a profound insult to the oldest aristocratic families. They had spent ten thousand years enforcing a strict hierarchy based on mana capacity and bloodlines. Now, the untouchables were breathing the exact same enchanted air.
Lord Valerius, a high ranking patriarch of the Azure Dragon Guild, completely lost his patience. Valerius possessed a level 78 class known as the Arcane Warlord. He was dressed in robes of shimmering blue scales. A young refugee girl, no older than ten, had accidentally bumped into his sweeping robes while trying to get a better view of the glowing floating orbs.
"Keep your filthy hands off me, you wretched sewer rat!" Valerius roared.
His voice carried easily over the low murmur of the massive crowd. He raised his right hand. A crackling whip of pure, compressed lightning materialized in his grasp. The aristocrat did not care that this was a wedding. His pride had been violated by a commoner, and system law dictated that lethal punishment was his absolute right.
He swung the lightning whip directly toward the young girl.
The commoners screamed. Panic erupted instantly. The refugees tried to scramble backward, crushing into one another. The fragile peace of the mixed crowd shattered.
Before the whip could strike the child, a heavily armored hand caught the crackling lightning.
Kael stood between Valerius and the terrified girl. The Imperial Blood Guard did not even flinch as the level 78 lightning coiled around his gauntlet. The absolute blessing of the Zenith Emperor coursed through his veins, rendering the arcane magic completely harmless.
"You dare touch a guard of the Verdian Empire?" Valerius bellowed, completely enraged. He channeled more mana, preparing to unleash a massive area of effect spell that would incinerate Kael and a hundred commoners standing behind him.
The other nobles, emboldened by Valerius, began to draw their own weapons and summon their offensive magic. They saw an opportunity to put the lower classes back in their place. The Vanguard of the Dawn, led by Elder Priest Lumis, immediately readied their spears to defend the commoners, caught between protecting their Godchild’s guests and fighting the nobility they had served for millennia.
A small, violent war was about to erupt right in the middle of the wedding pavilion.
Then, the ambient temperature in the plaza plummeted to absolute zero.
The glowing golden orbs in the sky instantly turned a suffocating, pitch black. The gentle hum of the spatial leylines was replaced by a terrifying, oppressive sound. It was the sound of a heartbeat, amplified a million times over, thudding with the weight of a dying star.
[ Administrator Override Initiated. ]
[ Absolute Silence Mandated. ]
Raidan stepped out from the shadows behind the obsidian altar. He did not wear his combat boots or his forest green tunic. He wore the formal attire of the Zenith Emperor. He wore a pristine black suit woven from pure void energy, trimmed with brilliant gold. The glowing golden ring of the Star Core hovered majestically behind his head.
He did not raise his voice. He did not draw a weapon. He merely looked at Lord Valerius.
The sheer, crushing pressure of Raidan’s aura slammed into the entire plaza. It bypassed magical defenses. It bypassed physical armor. It struck directly at the soul. Over one hundred thousand people instantly fell perfectly silent. They could not speak. They could barely breathe.
Raidan raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
A localized spatial fold materialized directly around Lord Valerius. The level 78 Arcane Warlord did not even have time to scream. The space around him twisted violently, folding inward upon itself. With a sickening, muted crunch, the arrogant noble was instantly compressed into a sphere of condensed matter no larger than a marble.
The marble dropped to the polished floor with a sharp clink.
Raidan slowly lowered his hand.
"This is my wedding," Raidan said softly. His voice echoed perfectly clearly in the minds of every single person present, transmitted directly through the global system interface. "In my empire, there are no nobles. There are no commoners. There are only my subjects. Anyone who attempts to harm one of my subjects will be removed from reality. Is that completely understood?"
The aristocrats trembled violently. The horrific death of Valerius broke their pride in an instant. They dropped their weapons. They canceled their spells. They immediately dropped to their knees, bowing their heads so low that their foreheads pressed against the cold stone.
The commoners followed suit, not out of terror, but out of absolute, fanatical worship. Their Emperor had just executed a high noble simply to protect a nameless refugee child. He was truly their savior.
The small chaos was dead. Absolute order reigned supreme.
"Good," Raidan declared. The suffocating pressure vanished instantly. The black orbs in the sky flared back into a brilliant, warm gold. The ambient temperature returned to a comfortable, soothing warmth.
"Now," Raidan commanded, turning his gaze toward the far end of the glowing aisle. "Stand up. My Empress is arriving."
The crowd rose to their feet in complete unison. They held their breath as the massive temple doors slowly opened.
Naida stepped out into the night, and the entire city seemed to collectively exhale.
She was absolutely breathtaking. She wore a gown of pure, woven starlight that cascaded perfectly over her delicate frame. Her silver halo pulsed with a gentle, rhythmic light that synchronized perfectly with the golden ring hovering behind Raidan. Her face was calm, compassionate, and impossibly beautiful.
Every step she took radiated pure, unfiltered healing mana. The lingering terror from Raidan’s display of absolute power was instantly washed away. The nobles felt their anxious hearts soothe. The commoners felt their exhausted muscles rejuvenate.
Where Raidan was the absolute sword that conquered the universe, Naida was the perfect shield that protected it.
She glided gracefully down the long aisle, her eyes locked entirely on Raidan. A soft, genuine smile graced her lips. She did not see a terrifying Emperor or a ruthless administrator. She only saw the man who had torn down heaven and earth to keep her safe.
Raidan stepped down from the obsidian altar and offered his hand.
"You look perfect," Raidan whispered, his emerald eyes softening entirely as he looked at her.
"You are terrifying them," Naida whispered back, placing her delicate hand in his. Her voice was a gentle melody that completely melted his cold exterior.
"They needed a reminder," Raidan replied smoothly, leading her up the steps of the altar. "But tonight is not about them. Tonight is about us."
Elder Priest Lumis stepped forward. The old man was trembling with absolute religious ecstasy. He raised his glowing staff high into the air.
"We gather beneath the celestial moon to witness the ultimate union!" Lumis announced loudly, his voice echoing across the silent, captivated plaza. "The union of absolute strength and boundless mercy! The Zenith Emperor and the Radiant Saintess! May the system bind their souls for all eternity!"
A massive, global system window materialized in the sky above Olympus. It blazed with a mix of brilliant gold and shimmering silver.
[ Global Announcement: The Celestial Union is Complete. ]
[ The Verdian Empire is officially established. ]
[ Faction Leader: Apollo Raidan. ]
[ Co Leader: Naida. ]
[ All subjects within the imperial domain receive a permanent blessing: +20% to all experience gained, +50 to all base health regeneration. ]
The crowd erupted.
There was no division. There was no hesitation. The nobles and the commoners screamed with absolute joy, their voices merging into a single, deafening roar of approval. The system blessing washed over them all equally, proving once and for all that the old rules were completely dead.
Raidan pulled Naida close and kissed her deeply under the glowing light of the celestial moon. The universe had tried to discard them. The system had tried to crush them. But they had rewritten the code, conquered the heavens, and built an empire that would last until the end of time.