Tik, Tik—
8:36 P.M
Two minutes had elapsed since Leon’s words. So far, everything was still flowing naturally. There was nothing strange with the situation.
“…Julien, we should leave now. If something—”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”
“But—”
“Relax.”
The only unusual thing was Leon, who wasn’t acting like himself. He seemed a bit panicked, though there was no real reason for concern.
‘In this current situation, I can turn back time regardless of what happens. Well… that is as long as something happens within an hour.’
That was the time limit of the skill.
Whether it was the two of us who died, someone else, or even if the entire place crumbled, I would be able to handle it.
But that also begged the question,
‘…Considering just how many powerful people are present. How can something happen?’
Surely Delilah, or the several people who gave off the aura of a Monarch would be able to react in time, right?
That was unless something completely out of everyone’s expectations occurred.
But what?
What could that be?
‘I guess I’ll just wait and see.’
Tik, Tik—
8:41 P.M
Five more minutes had passed.
So far, nothing had yet to occur. This made me frown, but I wasn’t too worried.
Taking a look at Leon who sat next to me, and seeing his face growing paler, I felt more reassured.
His instincts were usually right.
‘I just have to wait a little more.’
I still had give or take fifty minutes. That was plenty of time.
Tik, Tik—
9:02 P.M
Or so I thought.
But as twenty more minutes passed, nothing had still occurred.
This made me frown.
I still wasn’t panicking since there was still time, but things were starting to go in a direction that made me feel uncomfortable.
“Do you have any idea why the Mirror Dimension is growing so unstable lately? Is there some sort of answer to the strange phenomenon?”
Overhearing a certain question coming from the audience, I raised my head to see one of the reporters holding onto a small notepad.
Since he was seated, I couldn’t gauge his height, but he appeared quite lanky. His brown hair was styled in a bowl cut, and a pair of square-shaped glasses rested on his long nose.
Jotting something down on his notepad, he continued.
“This phenomenon has not only occurred in the Nurs Ancifa Empire but in all other Empires. The situation within the Kasha is also extremely dire. Those barb…”
The reporter paused for a brief moment before continuing. However, his disdain for those of the Kasha was quite clear.
“Those people do not have the necessary order to fend off the monsters coming from the Mirror Dimension, leaving the other empires bearing the brunt of their incompetence. How does the Nurs Ancifa Empire plan on handling the situation? Will you be helping the other Empires?”
His question brought a wave of whispers and murmurs throughout the hall.
Even I was surprised by his questions.
‘Does this guy not care about his life?’
To ask such questions in front of the Emperor of the strongest Empire. He really had a lot of balls.
Taking a look around, I could see several vassals belonging to the Nurs Ancifa Empire showing signs of anger and some knights even went as far as touching their weapons.
But thankfully, the Emperor didn’t seem to mind the question as he raised his hand to calm everyone down.
With a smile, he soon answered.
“While you’re only allowed one question at a time, seeing the looks that some are giving me, I’ll just answer all of your questions.”
He looked quite friendly while speaking. His voice was also pleasing to the ear.
So much so that for a moment, I forgot all about the time and just focused on his words.
“The reason for the sudden change in the Mirror Dimension is not known yet. We’ve tried to find more clues regarding the situation, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to figure much.”
“Even after so much time has happened?”
“Unfortunately.”
The Emperor turned to look at the delegates from the other Empires. For several reasons, the other Emperors weren’t present.
…Or it was more like, they were watching the entire thing from another more hidden area.
“It can’t be helped. I’ve tried coordinating with the other Empires, but they too also seem helpless regarding the situation. It’s not something that we can figure out considering just how vast the Mirror Dimension is.”
“I see. Then what about the Kasha? What are your plans? Will you help the other Empires?”
The Emperor smiled before shaking his head.
“No.”
His words were met with a brief moment of silence before suddenly, the hall erupted into an uproar.
“What? You’re not willing to help?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the strongest of the four Empires? Why aren’t you helping? This is a crisis that involves everyone.”
“Isn’t this Congress supposed to be held to improve the relationship between the four Empires? Are you trying to achieve the opposite?”
Indeed, nobody appeared to be pleased by the situation.
I could feel the animosity in the room and my body started to tense.
Tik, Tik—
9:05 P.M
Could this be it?
Could Leon’s bad feelings stem from here?
The uproar in the room continued to persist for the next several minutes until the Emperor finally raised his hand, and one by one, everyone started to calm down.
Regaining everyone’s attention again, the Emperor turned his attention towards the reporter.
“Please don’t misunderstand. It’s not like we’re not trying to help… It’s that we’ve already helped.”
“Uh?”
“What…?”
The hall erupted into a wave of murmurs and whispers.
I could even hear some of them coming from those beside me as they said, ‘They helped? How come I’ve never heard of that? Is he lying?’
I was also confused, but soon, a thought crossed my mind and my brow twitched.
‘This bastard…’
“May I have everyone’s attention?”
Clapping his hand gently, the Emperor brought everyone’s attention back to him as he retrieved a small spherical object from out of thin air.
Tapping onto it, an image of a clear sky appeared.
“What do you guys think of this image?”
It was a simple question. One that made a lot of people’s brows furrow.
“Isn’t that just the regular sky?”
“…What about the sky?”
The more confused the people appeared to be, the more the Emperor’s smile seemed to relax. Looking at him, I felt my mouth twitch again.
This guy…
“What if I were to tell you all that this sky isn’t within any of the Empire’s land?”
“What?”
“How does that—”
“This right here is the sky belonging to the Eastern Kasha.”
Flick.
The image shifted, revealing a vast city in the distance—one surrounded by towering walls, with a massive golden building standing prominently.
The hall fell into a stunned silence as everyone looked at the image in disbelief. Before chaos could erupt, the Emperor spoke,
“What you see here is real. Those from the Verdant Empire can confirm this.”
The Emperor eyed those from the Verdant Empire before continuing.
“Not only that, but the ones responsible for this was none other than my Empire. You say that we should contribute, but the reality of the matter is that we have already contributed. Right now, the burden that the Verdant Empire sustains is a lot less than before! Furthermore, with the improved relations with the Kasha, we’ve also managed to trade more with them.”
Staring directly at the reporter, the Emperor’s tone grew softer.
“….We’ve already contributed more than enough. We have achieved more than any other Empire has. And it cost us dearly.”
Fuck yeah, it did.
My mental health, and a lot of pain.
The list could go on, but before any of that, I felt like throwing a chair towards the Emperor. He was very clearly taking credit for all my hard work.
He was also shameless enough to make it seem like they sent thousands upon thousands of troops in order to achieve this.
It was all me.
‘At least pay me!’
“If you managed to achieve such a feat, then why not do it for the other Empires? It could help ma—”
“At the cost of our Empire’s forces?”
Cutting the reporter off, the Emperor’s eyes narrowed a little.
“You seem to be talking a lot about altruism, but you must understand that I’m the Emperor of a large Empire. The most powerful if I may add. What do you think will happen if I use all my forces to help out the others? Can you guarantee that the other Empires will leave us alone?”
“That…”
The reporter started to stutter.
Indeed, the Emperor was making a great point. If he did use a lot of resources to help the other Empires, it would lead to their forces weakening.
If that happened, then would the Nurs Ancifa still be considered the strongest Empire?
To some extent, helping them out was essentially going to weaken the Empire while making life easier for the other Empires.
The Emperor would be a fool to help.
…Of course, the real issue was that he didn’t have a Zenith to rip the sky for him.
Even if the Emperor wanted to, there was no way he could do what the old man did.
‘He’s as shameless as they come.’
Unknowingly, my gaze fell on Aoife who sat at the front with a stoic expression. No, wait… looking closely, I could see her face was entirely red.
‘…So she’s at least aware of how shameless her father is.’
As if sensing my gaze, her head slowly turned and our eyes met. Immediately, her face started to wince as she bit onto her lips.
I just sliced my thumb across my neck.
Didn’t really care if others saw me threaten the Princess. Either way, time was going to reset anyway.
If—
“Eh?”
It was then that it happened.
Tik, Tik—
9:11 P.M
Before I could even understand what was happening, several people stood up in succession.
Swoosh, swoosh—
I recognized several.
A few were some of the powerful people I presumed to be Monarchs, or at least close to that level.
But most importantly, all such figures were delegates from the other Empires. Their actions were sudden and unexpected, catching many off-guard. At that moment, I intently focused on every little detail around me, imprinting everything in my mind.
I knew that whatever was about to happen next was of extreme importance.
And it was then that I noticed it.
The eyes of those that stood up.
‘They’re hollow…’
Spirit?
“Someone quick!”
“Attack!”
The expressions of many changed, with several springing into action, but by then, it was too late as several spells shot in the direction of the Emperor.
They were so fast that even though Delilah managed to react extremely fast, she was only able to stop several.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your—!”
Bang!
A terrifying explosion thundered throughout the palace, shaking the very pillars that were holding the structure in place.
“Ah!”
“Help…!”
Screams echoed, while the palace rumbled.
Rumble! Rumble!
By the time the dust settled, everyone’s attention fell towards the direction of the Emperor.
“Eh?”
“What…?”
“What is going on? Hes…”
An unexpected scene greeted the eyes of all those present.
Standing before the Emperor was a green-eyed figure, his dark garb swaying gently as several figures in white stood behind him, holding onto a massive shield that guarded both him and the Emperor.
He stood before everyone, his lips gently pulled as his eyes eventually settled in my direction.
“Ah.”
That was when it became clear to me.
Indeed, the reason why my vision was static was none other than because of him.
He…
stole my vision, and prepared for this very moment.
The moment when he would swoop in and save the Emperor.
“Haha.”
I found myself laughing, quietly sitting back down in my seat as chaos erupted around me.
And then,
Tik, Tik—
8:34 P.M
Time reset.