The World Is Mine For The Taking

While all of that was happening from Leon’s point of view, another situation was unfolding at almost the exact same time.

***

Leona’s POV

Everything happened so suddenly that it almost felt like a violent storm appearing out of nowhere without giving anyone even the slightest chance to prepare for what was coming.

The emergency bell echoed throughout the Empire with deafening force, and I immediately rushed outside to see what had happened. The instant I stepped into the open air, my eyes were drawn upward, and the sight waiting for me made my heart skip a beat. The entire sky was covered by countless mechanical flying objects moving in organized formations while continuously dropping strange objects toward the Empire below.

Despite having absolutely no idea what those flying machines actually were, something deep inside me immediately recognized the danger they posed. My instincts practically screamed that whatever they were dropping absolutely could not be allowed to reach the ground.

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who realized the situation almost immediately.

The Imperial mages reacted with remarkable speed.

Without wasting even a second, they began casting countless defensive barriers across the Empire. We had an enormous number of mages stationed throughout the capital, and although the barriers they produced weren’t anywhere close to the absurd defensive strength of Leon’s Guardian, they were still more than powerful enough to shield the Empire from a large-scale attack like this.

Naturally, I reinforced the defenses with my own barrier as well, pouring my mana into strengthening the layers already being created by the other mages.

At that point, all we could really do was hope they would hold.

My fears were confirmed almost instantly.

The very moment those strange objects collided against the magical barriers, they exploded with overwhelming force.

Explosion after explosion lit up the sky.

The bombardment didn’t stop for even a moment.

Massive cracks rapidly spread across the barriers as one blast followed another without mercy. It almost looked as though the sky itself was shattering apart from the sheer pressure behind those explosions. Even then, the barrier mages refused to give up. The instant a crack appeared, several of them immediately reinforced that section before another explosion could completely break through.

"Hold it!" one of the barrier mages shouted with everything he had. "Just a little longer! Keep reinforcing the weak spots! Whatever happens, don’t let those things reach the ground!"

His voice was practically hoarse from shouting.

Looking around, I could clearly see the strain on everyone’s faces.

Sweat poured down their foreheads.

Their breathing had become rough and uneven.

Quite a few of them were already trembling from mana exhaustion, yet none of them dared to abandon their positions.

The relentless bombardment continued for what felt like an eternity before the mechanical aircraft finally passed beyond the Empire’s borders.

Only after the attacks had completely stopped did everyone finally allow themselves to relax, if only a little.

One after another, the barrier mages collapsed onto the ground.

Most of them had consumed so much mana that they couldn’t even stand anymore. Several were breathing heavily while others simply lay flat on the ground, staring at the sky as though their bodies had completely given up listening to them.

I took one last look toward the retreating machines before turning my attention to the soldiers nearby.

"Ready yourselves!" I ordered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Destroy every one of those things still flying through the sky, and if you find whoever is responsible for this attack, capture them alive if possible. If that isn’t an option, then make sure they never threaten this Empire again."

The soldiers acknowledged my command without the slightest hesitation.

They immediately mounted their wyverns before launching into the air in organized groups. The pursuit began almost instantly as they chased after the retreating machines, intercepting them one after another before destroying them high above the Empire.

The battle continued for nearly five hours before the last of those strange flying machines was finally destroyed.

However, the reports that returned afterward were far stranger than any of us expected.

When the soldiers recovered what remained of the wreckage, they found absolutely nobody inside.

There wasn’t a single pilot.

There wasn’t even a corpse.

Apparently, those machines had been flying completely on their own from beginning to end.

That discovery was quickly reported to Emperor Carl.

Ironically, when the attack first began, His Majesty had been busy having sex with several of his mistresses.

The Emperor’s greed extended well beyond military power and political influence.

Marriage had never interested him.

He refused to choose a single woman to stand beside him as Empress because he considered that unnecessarily limiting. As a result, the Empire currently had no Empress at all.

His mistresses were simply women who belonged to him.

Although they enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, none of them possessed meaningful authority within the Empire. They certainly had influence inside the palace, but when it came to politics, military matters, or the actual running of the nation, their opinions carried very little weight.

"It seems our enemies are attempting something they really shouldn’t," Emperor Carl said while calmly looking around at the retainers gathered before him.

One of his hands casually rested on the butt of one of his mistresses as he spoke, almost as though the recent attack had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Honestly, his priorities could be a little confusing sometimes.

"Considering these weapons are mechanical and appear capable of piloting themselves, I’d say the Republic is behind this."

His expression gradually hardened.

"That usurper..."

His lips slowly curled into a cold smile.

"He actually believes he can challenge my authority?"

"It appears that other nations were attacked as well," I reported. "Even territories belonging to the Seven Deadly Sins suffered similar bombardments. At the moment, however, we still have no reliable information regarding how much damage the stronger nations actually sustained."

"That hardly matters to me," the Emperor replied without much concern. "At this point, I have absolutely no intention of tolerating anyone bold enough to attack my Empire."

His fingers tightened slightly against his mistress.

"I won’t allow something like this to go unanswered."

His expression became noticeably colder.

"If this is their way of declaring war against me, then I’m going to make them regret..."

"Your Imperial Majesty!"

The audience hall doors suddenly burst open before the Emperor could finish speaking.

One of the warriors hurried inside while carrying a large object with both hands. His breathing was uneven, and judging from the panic on his face, he had probably sprinted all the way here without stopping.

"What is it?!" Emperor Carl demanded, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

For just a brief moment, it honestly looked as though he was considering cutting the poor man down simply for interrupting him.

Fortunately, the object in the warrior’s hands immediately caught everyone’s attention.

"H-Here..." the warrior stammered while trying to catch his breath. "We discovered this while examining the wreckage. We were searching the machines to see whether there was anything left inside them, and this was among the recovered items."

The object resembled an enormous screen.

In some ways, it reminded me of one of Leon’s smartphones, although that comparison only went so far. It was significantly larger, much thicker, and clearly built for an entirely different purpose.

A faint glow suddenly spread across the display.

The screen flickered for a brief moment before stabilizing.

Soon afterward, the image of a man appeared before everyone gathered inside the hall.

It was the General who had overthrown the Principality before declaring himself President.

He calmly looked straight ahead with the confidence of someone who already expected the entire world to be watching him.

Then, without showing even the slightest hint of hesitation, he finally began to speak.

"Greetings, countries of this world," he began.