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Leveling up the World (Chapter 810)
🕑 Added 2023-09-19 14:19:58 +0000 UTCTamin Emperors had always been described as decisive in all available historical sources. In the past, Dallion had believed it to be highly embellished, and a way for the scholars to gain the rulers’ favor. Now, he found that if anything, the accounts didn’t do the people justice.
The weapons alone were enough to make him the man the single dominant person in the world, more feared than the Order of the Seven Moons or any other empire past or present. There had been hints of such weapons in the fallen south, but not once had Dallion expected for there to be anything functional and not in such numbers.
It had taken weeks of preparation and a full day of vicious fighting off two massive armies to stop the progress of the Azures at the vortex fields. And yet, the emperor had glassed a massive chunk of the coast within minutes. Over twenty cities and hundreds of smaller towns and villages were no more, the very solid they used to be transformed into glass… It was the Glass Mounts all over again. And the most scary part of all, the emperor had made sure that virtually all of his subjects knew of the event in real time. The projection artifacts had made sure to display the image in all its horror, only to be met with cheers by everyone in the emperor’s domain. The masses were glad about the victory; Dallion—not so much. He could see the limiting echoes in play everywhere, replacing the horror to joy.
From this perspective, Alien’s fear was well founded. If Dallion had failed to achieve a victory at the vortex fields, another target would have been added to the emperor’s list, destroying anyone there as a result.
“Is it over?” Diroh asked.
Dallion glanced at her with an instance. After fleeing one of the sites of destruction, he had returned to the archmage’s cloud fort, spending most of his time looking at the west.
“Is it?” the dryad pressed on.
It would be easy to say that it had, that the emperor’s attack had obliterated the entire Azure federation to its core. In a way that was true, deep inside, he felt that there was more to it. The cluster of nymph cities that had been destroyed—the one that Tisaku had sacrificed his life to summon from the banished realm—didn’t have any nobles in them. It was always possible in the heat of the moment, the battle mage had messed up the spell, allowing him only to summon simple awakened, but something in the nymph’s words made Dallion doubt that.
“Let’s hope so,” he said. “Were you able to learn much?”
“Yeah. I learned a whole lot of things not to do,” Diroh said with a spark of her former snark. As she spoke, Skye floated around her in pure cloud form. “Glad I’m not taking over from you. It’s like herding cats.”
“Herding cats isn’t that hard.” Dallion kept looking at the horizon. Despite all the new glass far away, there was no telling whether this was just an overture. For the moment, though, he had other issues to deal with.
Although vastly overshadowed by the following events, his appearance on the stage of nobles had been noticed. Alien was the first to begrudgingly acknowledge it, addressing Dallion as baron upon his return—the lowest noble title.
Anyone possessing even a faint music skill could sense the anger and bitterness emanating from the archmage. His carefully crafted plan to get rid of Dallion, whatever that plan was, had gone up in flames. Even an archmage couldn’t hurt a domain ruler without consequences, and if there was one thing that Dallion had learned, Alien was a coward. The remaining two members of the shimmering circle didn’t seem to care. Katka saw it more as annoyance, envious that he had stolen her chance of obtaining the spotlight, and the third mysterious member hadn’t even shown up to congratulate him.
The presence of a noble was also felt in the fleet of cloud forts. While Dallion’s behavior hadn’t particularly changed, everyone treated him differently. Lesser mages and furies stopped addressing him, leaving only the higher-ranking ones to do so. The crimson furies started treating him with a bit of respect, which was almost as shocking as the emperor’s weapons. Not least of all, a cadre of white-haired furies constantly followed him about, ready to assist him in any way. At even the faintest sign that he could use some food or drink, a fury would appear, bringing it on a sea iron platter.
No wonder the general back in Nerosal always moved about with a few of them at hand.
There was no sign of the Alliance of Stone and Steel. Their forces had retreated even before the emperor had launched his rockets. According to Diroh, the gorgon had taken down one of the colossi, before giving the retreat order herself. The remaining two, considerably worn-down condition after taking the brunt of the Azure attacks, had been chipped down by the empire’s mages from a safe distance. Normally, Alien would have taken the credit, but considering the circumstances, it was more likely that he’d snitch to the emperor.
A day after the major event, an emissary arrived at the cloud fort, informing everyone that the emperor had summoned them to the capital to mark the glorious victory. It was telling that while the ruler had the means and ability to send messages anywhere instantly, he wasn’t going to waste them on trivial matters, especially when he could use furies for the same.
The trip to the imperial palace was identical to the last one: mages and furies casting speed and air current spells until they dropped, only to be replaced by the next batch. By the time the imperial capital came into view, three quarters of the crew were exhausted.
Katka, who still needed to resort to healing spells, made special attention to make herself presentable. No illusions were used—there was nothing more unappealing for high-level mages than seeing something wrapping itself in illusions. Probably that was the reason many of the senior mages liked going about the Academy; unlike apprentices and novices, they could see the fakeness all about.
Dallion, on the other hand, had only taken the time to venture into the realms of his clothes and mend them. He could easily have improved them a few levels, but for some reason he didn’t see the need. Even with the level cap removed, he found the effort pointless right now.
Looks different’ doesn’t it? Vihrogon asked as the cloud gently ventured towards the palace. That’s what area realms really look like.
The simplest thing was to say that they looked like marbles in the vast sea that was the wilderness. In the eyes of a domain ruler, they were so much more. Every building and area was its own bubble realm, filling in the giant sphere that held the city itself. It was a testament to a noble’s strength and the delicate game of politics that went into keeping things together. Come to think of it, there was no better metaphor for politics: arranging the interests of all people in such a way that the construct wouldn’t topple. Domains of guilds, important awakened, nobles, and even the branches of the imperial family itself filled the space that belonged to the emperor. Coincidentally, or not, the realms of the weaker were beneath the ones they supported.
You should have taken Gleam along, the dryad added. Entering with her would have created a good impression.
“The emperor’s already aware of her,” Dallion whispered.
Really? Vihrogon mocked. It’s not for the emperor. It’s for everyone else. For the next few weeks, no one will know what to make of you. This is the only time to make an impression. Since you’re still a hunter—
“And mage,” Dallion added.
—you’re expected to be rough round the edges. Would have been better coming here riding on a dragon, but Eury got you beat there.
That was true.
“Gleam needs to settle things before she comes back.” And naturally, Ruby had tagged along.
Dallion was the first to set foot in the imperial palace, followed by Alien, Katka, and a small selection of crimson furies. Dihor, despite her royal lineage, remained viewed as an apprentice and as such remained on the cloud fort.
“You made it back.” It didn’t take long for the overseer child to appear.
Glad to see your attitude hasn’t changed. “Same place as before?” Dallion asked.
“The emperor is busy at present.”
Busy? He summoned me! Dallion wanted to say. It was a clear provocation, and the start of his political tightrope routine. If he appeared openly too aggressive, the emperor could decide it would be more trouble controlling him than it was worth. If he appeared too obedient, all the more important nobles would rush to take advantage.
“Then I’ll return when he’s available again.”
The overseer’s eyes narrowed. “That would be a mistake, baron.”
“Are you saying I should go see him even when he’s busy?”
There was a long pause. For a moment it seemed that even guardians had frozen, observing how things would unfold from here. Judging by the platinum-blond’s frown, no one had confronted him in this manner before. Technically, he was the master of the current area realm Dallion was standing in. As a key guardian, he could have distorted the realm to attack Dallion, not to mention charge at him himself. Judging by the emanating ruthlessness, the overseer was contemplating it. Before anything had a chance to happen, another overseer appeared, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Forgive him, baron,” the newcomer said with a polite smile. “My junior has only been in the role for a few years. He still has a few things to learn.”
The new overseer appeared to be in his early thirties, dressed in black, as all overseers were, and with a black half-mask covering his place. It was obvious to any awakened that he was a lot more powerful than the other.
Clever move, Dallion thought. On the surface it was the boy that had gotten the warning, but in truth it had been issued to Dallion. The imperial overseers were aware of his position and strength and were telling him to know his place.
“You won’t have to wait long. The emperor is not the one who summoned you,” the older overseer clarified. “Duchess Elazni was the one who made the request.”
From what Dallion remembered, she was of the first imperial branch family and the one “proper” one. A nothing noble like him to be summoned by her had to be viewed as a great honor, although it also was a sign of danger.
“My apologies,” Dallion said with a slight bow. Getting in tune with the overall act, he wasn’t bowing to the overseers, but to the emperor. “I wouldn’t have expected any of the duchesses to request seeing someone as insignificant as me.”
You’re overdoing it a bit, Vihrogon said. Self-deprecation isn’t a virtue. Most would view it as sarcasm.
“Rising stars are always noticed. After your exploits in Nerosal, it was expected that you’d join the ranks of nobility a while back. It was only your sudden magical detour that made that attention fade. Now that you’re pushed through nonetheless, the interest is back tenfold.”
It was getting difficult to determine whether that was praise or a threat.
“Will you take me where I need to go?” Dallion asked.
“Of course.” The overseer then turned to Alien. “Archmage, the emperor has requested to see you.”
Based on the other’s silence, that wasn’t a good thing.
“I’ll leave them in your hands,” the overseer told the platinum-blond boy. “This way, if you will, baron.” He started walking.
Not terrible, but you really need to learn a bit of noble etiquette, dear boy, Adzorg said. On the other hand, it will be fun seeing Alien squirm.
Right.
While the thought did provide some amusement, Dallion still wondered why a duchess would summon him. There had to be more than just making his acquaintance. What was more, it had to be important enough to demand the urgency. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to be anything he would regret.
Comments
Maybe :P
I smell a side/main quest coming.
