"No, I don't need the innate magic of your peoples. It is the foundation on which each of your peoples stands. I don't want to conquer you, and I don't want to control your fates, either."
Lyka's words left everyone present stunned.
Some of the peoples close to Lyka knew that he had once been an upright, brave, and kind man. But now he had become the strongest in the world, and the Empire he led had surpassed the Orc race, the former overlords, in an astonishingly short time.
By all rights, a man in his position could speak noble words while resorting to less noble methods behind them.
"There's no need to be surprised. I, Lyka, have no intention of restraining you. This world is vast enough for the Human race and all your peoples to flourish together.
"What truly worries me is not any of you, but the Divine Calamity that struck not long ago."
At the mention of the Divine Calamity, pain and sorrow surfaced on Lyka's face.
Many elders he had known had died in that disaster. It had also shown him that the historical truths he had uncovered were no fiction.
And it had left a scar on his heart that would never fade.
Grief appeared on the faces of some of the other peoples as well. Though the disaster had struck the Human race head-on, most of their peoples had also been caught in it.
"So what I intend to do is not guard against your peoples. It is to guard against another terrifying catastrophe like that one."
At that moment, everyone present except the Sea Clan representative was drawn into the matter.
Only a few years had passed since the Divine Calamity, and its scars were still visible across the continent.
Compared with