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Chapter 187 - Central Powers (1)

News that the emperor had died and that the Eurasia Empire had collapsed spread like wildfire across the continent.

Everyone thought it was just a rumor at first because no one could’ve imagined the vast Eurasia Empire collapsing overnight. People were especially skeptical because the empire had never gone through a war impactful enough to cause its collapse. However, the rumors turned out to be true, as the servants residing in the imperial palace had been sent across the continent.

"What? The imperial palace is gone?”

“The empire fell?”

“Then what’s going to happen to us?”

“Damn it, once again, there’s going to be bloodshed all over the continent.”

Some were afraid of the chaos that would soon break out, while others couldn’t wait for a full-blown war to happen. Even though a war implied danger, it was undoubtedly also a good opportunity to rake in wealth.

The moment the Empire collapsed, the currency and bills it issued became worthless. Instead, the value of primitive goods, such as gold and rice, rose significantly. It seemed like the continent had plunged into chaos.

Because the capital was in the center of the continent, the rumors traveled at a steady pace. However, it didn’t take long for new information to spread as quickly as the initial rumors.

“What? Aenia Empire?”

“It’s a country the Grand Duke Arthus founded?”

The news picked up when the nobles who had converted to Aenia got rid of their nameplates of the Eurasia Empire to replace them with the nameplates of the new one. Along with this, the landlords of the Aenia Empire were busy following the orders of gathering their peasants together to praise the newly established empire.

Of course, it didn’t matter to these peasants who had become the emperor. Regardless of who was in charge, they knew that their lives wouldn’t change. However, Arthus had different policies.

The people of the empire welcomed him because he lowered the tax rate that the Eurasia Empire had imposed down to twenty percent.

"Oh-oh! How great is Grand Duke Arthus! No, His Imperial Majesty sure is different from the other ones!”

“Long live His Imperial Majesty Arthus!”

"Hurray!"

The peasants couldn’t stop praising him because they knew that lower taxes meant that they would become richer. In addition to lowering the taxes, Arthus focused on eradicating corruption because he knew that doing so was essential for his empire to run smoothly with the modified taxes.

However, the people were oblivious to the truth that lay behind the lowered taxes and the eradication of corruption.

The previous tax rate had actually been a recommendation Arthus had proposed to the cabinet as the Grand Duke of the previous empire. He was the one who had imposed the staggering forty percent tax rate.

The people cheered for Arthus, not knowing that he considered them filthy and insignificant.

Back then, the members of the States Contributors had been focusing on eradicating corruption prior to the tax raise, so there wouldn’t have been any problems running the empire even without the tax raise.

Therefore, all these changes were merely for show. Arthus was well aware of how to sway public opinion in his favor in order to give his empire a good start.

With his newly established empire, what Arthus needed the most was a new image that would set him apart from the previous emperor.

* * *

“Everyone on the same page?”

“Of course, Archmage.”

The meeting that everyone had expected to end early actually ended up being surprisingly long. It had turned into a marathon meeting that lasted a whopping three hours. However, every second of the three-hour meeting was fruitful.

“Then, let’s conclude the meeting here, since we don’t have much time.”

"Yes!"

Despite the meeting having lasted three hours, the topic of the meeting had been relatively simple and straightforward. It had been about sending delegations to the former allies of the previous empire, specifically, the areas Arthus hadn’t been able to unify while establishing his new empire, so that Henry could form alliances with them again.

‘Given that Arthus didn’t build his empire by conquering the entire continent, no matter how hard he tries, he’ll only be able to claim at most sixty percent of the continent as his territory.’

The reason the Eurasia Empire had been able to take control of the entire continent was because they had conquered the entire continent with the goal of unification.

As far as Arthus was concerned, his approach had been different. He had gone for a relatively peaceful method where he had taken on the role of the emperor while making the nobles side with him.

Spectacularly enough, Arthus’ plan had succeeded.

However, because of his peaceful approach, he couldn’t take over the entire continent like Golden Jackson Edward had done, and Arthus himself was well aware of this.

Now that Arthus had founded a new empire, Henry knew that the first thing he had to do was to ask his former allies to form alliances with him again before they heard the news.

‘I can’t let him win them over.’

The Central Powers owned a surprising amount of territory, more than one would expect. It was about thirty percent of the entire continent, which was a good percentage, given that the remaining ten percent consisted of useless land like the Demonic Beast Forest and Salgaera.

Thus, if Henry failed to make the Central Powers that held thirty percent of the land into his allies, he had to make sure that they didn’t ally themselves with Arthus either, because that would just make them his enemies.

‘Things would be extremely difficult if that were to happen.’

The Central Powers were allies just in theory. Most of them were countries that Henry hadn’t been able to take down when he had been conquering the entire continent. Therefore, he knew more than anyone that he absolutely couldn’t do anything foolish to turn them into his enemies.

‘I already have Shahatra in my hands. I just have four more countries left.’

The empire had five allies. The first ally was Shahatra in the desert, where Herarion Khan III was the king. Then there was Deucekain, a kingdom full of strong warriors. The next one was the Sore Empire, and despite being the smallest among the five allies, they had ethnic groups talented in various fields.

The fourth ally was Zipan, a country consisting of people from the Eastern Continent with black hair and dark eyes. Lastly, there was Amaris, a country with its population made up exclusively of women.

Henry sent school heads as envoys to the four countries, excluding Shahatra. Each of them carried letters that Henry had written. Each letter had something different written in it. In addition to the four school heads, Henry assigned Agas, the head of the biology school, and Maker, the head of the alchemy school, different tasks to do.

“Lore.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“I’ll make my way to Shahatra. In the meantime, I want to ask you to take control of the Snow Spire.”

“Do not worry, Archmage. I shall make sure the move is completed before you return.”

“How reliable.”

Henry didn’t send a school head to Shahatra on purpose. He thought it was only right for him to go in person since Herarion had close ties with them.

"Teleport."

At the 7th Circle, Henry used Teleportation so easily that it couldn\'t compare to before he was an Archmage.

Poof!

With that, Henry disappeared in an instant. Afterward, Linky Black, the head of the movement school, looked at where Henry had just been a second ago with eyes full of admiration.

"Oh-oh...! What amazing movement magic from the Archmage...!”

As Linky admired Henry’s magic, the other school heads also stared intensely. Their eyes were burning with the passion of wanting to reach the 7th-Circle as soon as possible.

* * *

“Your Majesty, I have returned.”

“Oh, Lord Henry!”

Given that Shahatra was located in the desert, news was bound to take a little longer to reach this region. It made sense because no one from the imperial palace wanted to make their way through the desert.

Henry put on a faint smile as he saw Herarion practicing his sword dance under the scorching sun.

After noticing his smile, Herarion spoke up, “Lord Henry, has something pleasant happened to you?”

“Your Majesty, as a matter of fact, yes, yes it has. I also brought some news that will please you as well, Your Majesty.”

“News that I’ll also like?”

"Indeed.”

“Haha, when you say it like that, I can’t help but get excited. Let’s hear it. What is this news that you talk of?”

“The empire has fallen.”

"Pardon?"

“The emperor is also dead.”

"How...?"

“And Arthus has established a new empire.”

“What???”

Clunk!

The moment Henry finished sharing the news, Herarion dropped the wooden sword on the ground. Herarion kept an expressionless face for a while. He then spoke up as if he couldn’t believe the news Henry had just told him.

“Lord Henry, everything you said... Is all of it true?”

“Yes, everything is true. And there’s no need for you to call me ‘Lord’ anymore.”

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“Eisen is also dead.”

“...?”

There didn’t seem to be an end to the shocking news. However, everything Henry had shared was true.

“Arthus rebelled and exhibited his supremacy to take over the continent. It just so happened that the emperor died, and the empire collapsed in the process.”

“So what’s going to happen to the continent now?”

“I’m glad you asked, Your Majesty. In fact, that’s why I’m here to see you. It won’t be long before an envoy from the new empire that Arthus has established pays you a visit.”

“An envoy from Arthus?”

“Yes, if he moves the way I anticipate, Arthus will try to start discussions with the countries that were considered allies, since the Eurasia Empire no longer exists.”

“Hmm, that’s a bit surprising.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is there any reason for Arthus to make the Central Powers side with him again? If his goal was to take over the throne, hasn’t he already achieved that?”

“It’s because of his greed, of course. He was the Grand Duke of a great empire that had already taken control of the continent. So, even if he becomes the emperor of a few kingdoms, he won’t be satisfied unless he himself takes control of the entire continent.”

“Well... That seems likely, since we’re talking about that Arthus.”

“Indeed. The greed of men has no limits.”

“If that’s the case, it’s obvious what the consequences are if I refuse his offer to become allies.”

"Of course. Arthus will try to completely destroy Shahatra this time.”

The consequences that a country had to face if it refused to become allies with the emperor were obvious. The royal family and the nobles of the country would be exterminated, and the kingdom would probably be downgraded to a free city to be directly managed by the empire through a mayor. Moreover, those living in those kinds of cities, especially in the case of Shahatra, would likely be forced to produce specialty goods for the rest of their lives.

For a brief moment, Herarion imagined the bleak future of his country if he lost the war against Arthus. He was disgusted just thinking about it. With this, Herarion finally said, “It makes the most sense to accept the alliance with him, since it’s the most ideal way, but...”

“But Your Majesty has no intention of doing that.”

"Precisely.”

Herarion had already suffered because of Arthus, which was why he had joined hands with Henry and planned to bring Arthus down. Considering what Arthus was planning, siding with him was something that even a person who had hit rock bottom in life would scoff at.

At least, that was how Herarion felt.

“But I can’t imagine withstanding an all-out attack from Arthus’s Empire.”

“What makes you think you can’t?”

“Well, things were different when my father was alive... And now, Benedict is gone as well. He used to be the best warrior in the desert. On top of that, we’ve just finished suppressing a rebellion, so we haven’t been able to fully recover our military forces yet.”

“But Your Majesty, you’ve just gained new forces.”

“What new forces?”

“Me.”

Henry answered Herarion\'s concerns nonchalantly. Hearing this, Herarion couldn’t help but put on a radiant countenance.

“Don’t worry too much, Your Majesty. You’ve already allied with me before Arthus got to you.”

Henry’s words continued to move Herarion. However, the latter knew that emotions weren’t enough to overcome the reality his country was about to face. Soon, Herarion spoke up with an uneasy expression, “Those are very reassuring words, but no matter how strong and talented you are, do you believe that just the two of us can handle such a big army?”

“It’s not just the two of us, Your Majesty.”

"Pardon? Are there more people involved?”

“On the topic of the Central Powers, aren’t there four more besides Shahatra?”

“Four countries? Oh Henry, have you already...?”

"Yes, Your Majesty, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. I plan on gathering the four remaining Central Powers in order to make one nation. We’ll name it ‘the Allied Powers.’”

‘The Allied Powers!’

A fight between the Empire and the Allied Powers. It was the most ideal scenario Henry had in mind.