70 Imperial Doom (1/2)

The Day of Disaster.

Initially, it was the Imperial Rule who always had the right to summon the hero as instructed by the priests of Safir in the Temple of Humanity located at one of the busiest streets of the Imperial Capital Empyria. However, this time, the Hero was summoned at the backwater kingdom of Acadria because of a foolish Imperial minister of the lowest rank sent to Acadria as their representative. That Chancellor was supposed to tell the King of Acadria that he has been selected as the representative to become the summoner in the Imperial Palace's Summoning Hall as suggested by Duke of Raflesia, who was related to the queen of Acadria by blood. It was supposed to be a honor for the backwater kingdom, yet the Chancellor sent to Acadria took his being sent there as an insult and plotted against the Empire.

Originally, the Empire had received news that the hero had been summoned in Acadria and this infuriated the whole Empire. The Emperor though, was not that affected. He sent for word to be delivered to Acadria and its Hero specifically to be invited to the Empire to have an audience with the emperor. Typically, a trip to the Imperial Capital would take about 1 to 2 years by carriage and with a lot of escorts, however, an event that needs that long a march on the road only happens once every 50 years, when the Imperial Summit is held there.

However, the command of the Emperor could not be easily dismissed and so, they sent for word through messengers, yes, not one, but many messengers taking different routes.

However, even that measure resulted in failure all credited to the politicians of the Empire.

Not one minister let go of the messengers that they found and killed them. They though that if the Hero were to be summoned here, then the Emperor would gain even more power instead of dying appropriately for their schemes and political power.

A year passed, it was as expected so the Emperor was patient, a second year passed, and the Emperor had slightly begun to worry. A third year currently, and the Emperor had begun to be anxious. After the initial news that the hero had been summoned through the priests, it had already been three years since he sent for the Hero and he had yet to come.

As the Empire that held most power in the Human Realm, or even in the entirety of the continent that has yet to be explored to the fullest, they believed that the God of Humanity, Safir had continued to bless them until they can amass forces to finally force the other races out of the continent or annihilate them altogether. However, now that the hero had been delayed so much, the Emperor have become anxious for the plotting and schemes of the ministers under him. There was none that he could trust and even his family and children are plotting against him to dethrone him or even worse, kill him.

\”Summon the Ministers!\” The Emperor shouted as he sat in his throne.

Over an hour later. In the Throne room of the Palace.

\”Imperial Majesty, the Son of God. What troubles you?\” Asked the Minister of the left.

\”Your Imperial majesty, we have received your summons, what is it that you wish to accomplish?\”

One by one, they started to voice their \”concern.\” These treacherous bunch! Screamed the Emperor in his mind.

\”What has become of the Hero? Why has he yet to arrive when it has already been three years since I sent for him?\” The Emperor asked with a calm demeanor, a stark contrast to how he truly felt. Just as you would expect from a veteran politician. The Emperor has already become old enough to be called an Uncle by the children around him, so politics and the like were his constant plaything.

\”Imperial Majesty, we also have not heard from the messengers that we have sent at that time. They may have been delayed or worst case, killed on the way to or back. What we do know is that they have not come back for these three years.\” A minister said to answer him. It was one of the ministers that had the messengers killed. A good politician so to say, able to lie to the face of the Emperor without any problems at all in conscience.

\”What was the point in sending a squad of them if they all failed the same?! Send word to the hero again. This time, send it via the wyvern riders!\” The emperor commanded.

I should have done it this way from the start. Thought the Emperor.

\”By your will!\” Everyone agreed and did not try to argue about it. In fact, they could not argue about it. If they did so now, they risked getting suspicion on them and ruin their plans. So, they allowed the Wyvern Riders to take the summons towards Acadria. At most it would take 3 months flying.

Crash!

Just as they were all about to head out of the audience room, the crashing sound of buildings and a slight earthquake erupted suddenly.

Roar!

Then a roar followed the crash. A terrifying roar that would paralyze every citizen in this imperial Capital. And soon, panic blanketed the whole Capital of Empyria. Those who saw the Nagataurus for the first time still were able to hold a tiny bit of sanity as the appearance of a monster in the middle of the capital was a first for them and so the shock was also at the initial stage. However, when the Nagataurus started its Rage, buildings and stores around it were crushed as if made of sand. A light swing of its arms and tail could pulverize human fortresses. Those who saw it for the first time were still better off, however, those from the Imperial Palace were not so peachy. The Empire had been in existence for a long time and the records of their ancestors about wars and encounters with monsters had all been recorded in their libraries. One of the ministers who served to preserve knowledge saw the Nagataurus and his eyes began to bulge, and his legs gave way.

\”Old Librarian, what happened to you, is your sickness getting to you now of all times?\” A minister that he was close with asked half-jokingly and half worriedly. However, the answer he was going to get also gave him a ton of fright and loss of complexion.

\”O-Old Mage, will you remember if I told you… a Na-Na-Na-Nagataurus' appearance?\” Said Old Librarian. And that was enough for the Old Mage to remember their discussion on the extinct monsters of old that had ceased to exist after the cleansing war many centuries back.

\”Oh… no!\” The Old Mage also remembered clearly and sure enough, his complexion got worse by the second and even his legs started to shake as well. As if he was doing a dance move.

\”M-M-Men! Report to his I-I-Imperial Majesty immediately! Tell him, a Na-Na-Nagataurus has appeared!\” Ordered the Old Mage who still had better complexion and courage compared to Old Librarian that knew all too well what a single Nagataurus' threat was.

***

The Nagataurus stood at more than 50 meters in height when it stood up, so it was Gigantic. However, when including its tail to the length of its body, then that doubles in size. A Nagataurus' tail is longer than its main body and so its strength at the tip of its tail was even more deadly than its arms combined. And now, it was using that same tail to smash buildings apart and kill hundreds of people in the process.

Where it landed was a distance away from the Imperial Palace but the way it was moving, it got closer and closer to the Palace. All the plotting ministers and even the Emperor had bated breaths. Because of the Old Mage's emergency report, the Emperor also learned of what has appeared and what it can do. He wanted to order a sortie, however, he realized, there were no warriors as strong as the Nagataurus in the Capital. Although, there were S Rank Adventurers who stationed themselves in this Imperial Capital, it was so that they could retire in piece, so the adventurers of the S and Triple A rank here, were retirees or those who wished to enjoy their life after all the hard work they have done for themselves.

That is not to say that they are weak, it means that these people were strong but was evaluated against the Nagataurus, they still could not hold a candle.

\”Send for the rank S and Triple A rank adventurers and have them stall the monster so that we can proceed with evacuation of the citizens! They take priority!\” The Emperor gave out orders. Although it looked like it was out of pure intentions, the Emperor still included calculated risks and other calculations in his move. First, the citizens were the one who made him Emperor, he understood this more than anyone else, maybe too well that he was able to give orders like that without difficulty. Second, having the ministers to evacuate with the citizens would put him in a better light among the ministers after the disaster. However, all this were still gambling that he had to cash out on when this disaster is over. Question is, when would the disaster end? After the whole Imperial Capital of Empyria falls to ruin or when all the citizens are dead?

***

The moment Clay disappeared from the hallway where he had just sentenced his subordinates a hellish nightmare, he reappeared in the skies above the Imperial Capital. He had noticed that FG-23 had been flying quite slower than he had designed it to and found that it had something in tow while it went to spread the seeds of the dungeons he had wanted to sprout in this world, artificially.

\”FG-23 is without emotion and only lives to follow my will. Any other consequence for its actions is all pinned on me. Sigh. I have to clean this up since it was my creation that gave birth to this disaster.\” Clay muttered under his breath. However, when he was about to subjugate the Nagataurus, he found that there were some people who held their own against the Nagataurus. Although they moved as a team to minimize damage and stall the Nagataurus while the citizens were being led to evacuate somewhere, they still were able to effectively contain it. In interest, Clay started to watch them fight. He thought he might learn from them even more than his subordinates' fights.

The reason Clay wanted his subordinates to grow through fighting is because he also wanted to learn their techniques and the way they cope with situations. Not so that he could guide them better but so that he could learn how to better utilize his strength. Having no one to fight and no one that could make him go all out in a fight was the downside of being powerful after all. Look at Saitama, he fights while holding back all the time, look at Superman, he had to control his strength so that puny humans would not die when he fought them, and even when fighting other galactic beings, he still held back even to the point of death. Clay was also undergoing the same dilemma. He wanted to fight but could not because he had to hold himself back and to do that, he had to focus on minimizing his strength output to the barest minimum. That was no fun at all.

He wanted to fight and enjoy his strength with his subordinate's growth as well, thus, he made his body double. And now, the time to test whether this body was durable enough to withstand a full powered fight.

As time went by, the adventurers who stalled for time each suffered major injuries and were grasping at straws on the verge of death. It was at that time that Clay's body descended at a rate faster than a bullets' after releasing the magic he was using to fly.