CHAPTER 3
Archenemy
1
More than five thousand meters underground, the Imperial capital.
A hundred years ago, the excavation site once known as the Planet’s Navel had become the present-day location of the Imperial assembly, where the supreme authority pulling the strings behind the Empire existed.
After taking a step off the elevator, one would be greeted by the solemn sight of several hundred seats set up in the hall. Naturally, everyone, including Iska, had expected to be greeted by such a sight as well.
But it was empty.
The ceiling had collapsed.
There was a gigantic hole inside the hall like someone had fired a rocket cannon, and the Eight Great Apostles’ monitors had been left strewn across the ground, mercilessly shattered to pieces. But the most surprising was…
“Eek?!”
The moment Sisbell saw it, her voice cracked. The hall was in such disarray that Mismis and Nene standing next to Iska gasped in surprise, and even Jhin narrowed his eyes in bewilderment from behind.
“Hey… Is this some kind of joke?” Jhin clucked his tongue as he looked at the walls. Among the scattered debris was a silver mechanical soldier that barely retained its original form. “Iska, that huge thing, it’s…”
“I think it’s an astralnomical soldier. It looks the same as the one Luclezeus used.”
There had been another one.
However, this one had been destroyed to the point that it was almost unrecognizable.
Had it been crushed by the falling ceiling? No, that couldn’t have caused this. The machine had been mercilessly decimated. There was also one other thing that was concerning.
“Where are they…?”
Iska looked over the vestiges of the hall. The only light source was the feeble illumination of the elevator. When she noticed Iska scrutinizing the scene, Sisbell approached him out of curiosity.
“Iska? What have you been looking for?”
“The Eight Great Apostles.”
“What?”
“All their monitors have been smashed. There isn’t a single one left. The astralnomical soldier has been completely destroyed, and the assembly hall is in ruins…”
He broke out into a cold sweat.
It couldn’t be…
Iska could think of only one possibility, but could it even be?
The Eight Great Apostles had been defeated.
They must have fought against something in the assembly hall. That was what he could gather based on the astralnomical soldier, but he couldn’t imagine what sort of power could have caused this destruction—at least not easily.
“So even the Eight Great Apostles couldn’t stand a chance…,” he heard someone whisper. Risya seemed to have been talking to herself, but it echoed through the quiet hall. “What a monster they’ve created. Based on this, it looks like they’ve gotten pretty far into completing their work. What should we do, Your Excellency?”
“That’s exactly why we’re here to investigate.”
The silvery beastperson turned to the girl with strawberry-blond hair and urged her, “Come, Princess Sisbell. I have one more job to request of you.”
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