Talulah's Blitzkrieg in Victoria; A New World Begins / The Abyssal Hunters' Leader Comes to Pay Her Respects! Talulah: What's the Abyssal Hunters?

"This war ended far too quickly. They had clearly been locked in a standoff at first, but once the large-scale conflict truly began, the Kazimierz border defenses were torn apart by the group army and the Wendigo Legion in less than a day. Kazimierz then fell in its entirety, without giving anyone any time to react."

"Besides, the Nearl Family does not care who rules Kazimierz. As long as this country can become better, we are willing to offer our respect."

The Nearl Family's motto was: Fear neither hardship nor darkness.

But Nearl felt that, under Emperor Talulah's rule, Kazimierz's future was now very bright.

The Commercial Union, which had once used capital to oppress the people of this country, had disappeared. The various new political decrees issued by Ursus were all focused on national development. The Infected had also been granted the human rights of lawful citizens. It could be said that, apart from the noble class, the people of Kazimierz had not worsened after being incorporated into Ursus following their defeat in the war. On the contrary, things were trending for the better.

Since that was the case, why would the Nearl Family resist Talulah's rule?

Although the knightly Nearl Family was, strictly speaking, part of the noble class, Nearl, Zofia, and Maria all felt that Kazimierz was doing very well now.

Even Nearl's current ability to sit in a café and drink coffee during his lunch break was thanks to the eight-hour workday and lunch break system Emperor Talulah had implemented in Kazimierz.

"Rather than sitting here and trying to guess the thoughts of those above you, you should think practically about your future path. That is my advice to you."

The Commercial Union had already been crushed to pieces beneath the group army's trampling, and the new Kazimierz would no longer need an assassin organization like the Armorless Alliance.

Roy naturally understood this as well. Even without Nearl's reminder, he would have realized it early on. It was just that...

"Every major city in Kazimierz is under martial law right now. Leaving the country during this period is still rather difficult."

It was not that Roy and the other members of the Armorless Alliance did not want to flee. It was simply that, if they did not want to run into the Ursus group army and Wendigo Legion at the border, they had better honestly hide in the cities for the time being.

Moreover, aside from the Armorless Alliance's low-ranking cannon fodder and a few individuals, higher-ups like the Lapis Lazuli Seats and Black Iron Seats needed time to transfer their assets.

Though no notice had been given, virtually every higher-up in the Armorless Alliance had already prepared to flee the moment the heat died down.

After all, Emperor Talulah was unfamiliar with this country's power structure. She probably would not trace things back to the Armorless Alliance so quickly, right? Probably...

"Heh."

As though he had sensed something, Nearl swept his gaze across the café. After discovering that there were no customers left besides himself and Roy, he set down his newspaper and walked to the counter to pay.

"It looks like you are about to have some trouble."

Roy had also sensed that something was wrong. Although this upscale café charged high prices, meaning that it rarely had customers despite being located downtown, there was no way it should have remained empty for so long aside from himself and Nearl.

However, before the Lapis Lazuli Seat of the Armorless Alliance could rise, an arrow wreathed in crackling electricity suddenly pierced through the wall, setting off a massive explosion inside the café.

Boom!!!

In an instant, a hole several meters wide was blasted through the café wall, and the entire interior filled with smoke.

When the dust settled, Roy, who had retreated into a corner of the café, looked through the hole in the wall and saw a figure holding a longbow walk in from outside.

"Platinum, have you betrayed us?"

Seeing that familiar figure, Roy's mouth twitched as he spoke.

The moment he was attacked, Roy had considered many possible people who might make a move against him: Ursus soldiers, the recruited Silver Lance Pegasus, even Emperor's Blades. But he had never imagined that he would be stabbed in the back by his own subordinate.

"By His Majesty's order, I will end the Armorless Alliance and make this assassin organization disappear from Kazimierz."

One Shadow Trooper soldier after another emerged from the shadows, surrounding Roy in the corner. After assigning Platinum this mission, An Xiu had granted her partial authority to summon the Shadow Troopers.

It was also with the Shadow Troopers' assistance that Platinum had been able to locate Roy and the other high-ranking members of the Armorless Alliance so quickly. After all, though she was a member of the Armorless Alliance, neither the Lapis Lazuli Seats nor the Black Iron Seats would reveal their usual whereabouts to a Platinum Seat.

"Just these people and little Platinum? I'm afraid that won't be enough, will it?"

Although he had been extremely tense when the attack began, Roy seemed to regain his confidence after sensing that the people who had appeared so strangely from the shadows to surround him were not particularly strong, and that Platinum was the only person who had entered from outside. His expression relaxed considerably as he spoke.

He knew Platinum's strength. She could not possibly be his opponent, and the people around them could not stop him either. Though being targeted made Roy deeply uneasy, he was still confident that he could defeat these people and escape.

Platinum said nothing. She merely drew her bow and nocked an arrow, firing at Roy. Roy did the same, shooting an arrow toward Platinum's incoming arrow.

The two arrows, each carrying immense force, clashed in midair. Platinum's arrow then shattered Roy's arrow and continued toward him without losing any speed.

"Something's wrong!"

At that moment, Roy finally realized the problem. Platinum's strength seemed to be seriously off!

Boom!!!

A tremendous explosion resounded through the entire café. Roy was sent flying backward from the center of the blast and embedded directly into the wall.

It was known that, in Arknights' original story, Roy was stronger than a single Silver Lance Pegasus, yet he needed to join forces with another Lapis Lazuli Seat to contend against two Silver Lance Pegasus. Three Silver Lance Pegasus were roughly equal to one Inner Guard, while Platinum's current strength could match two Inner Guards. So just how vast was the difference in strength between Roy and Platinum now?

At that moment, Roy broke out in a cold sweat as he watched Platinum approach him expressionlessly, step by step.

"At the very end, do you have anything else to say?"

Looking at the superior who had repeatedly exploited her in the past, Platinum spoke calmly.

"Hiss... Can we reconcile?"

"At a time like this, are you joking?"

Boom!!!

Another thunderous blast rang out within the café. Roy crashed straight through the wall and fell heavily onto the street outside, where he promptly passed out.

The waiting Shadow Troopers immediately sprang into action, binding Roy where he lay before transporting him directly to Kazimierz Prison through the Shadow Kingdom.

And so, with the Shadow Troopers' reconnaissance, the entire Armorless Alliance did not even last half a day. Platinum wiped them out through a strategy of defeating them one by one. Every higher-up was thrown into prison to await reform through labor, while all assets under their names were confiscated.

Several days later, in Kazimierz, inside a luxurious mansion.

An Xiu opened the system interface and first glanced through the shop. After discovering that this month's discount section had not refreshed with anything good, he closed the shop page and entered the traversal interface.

It was not that An Xiu intended to go to the One-Punch Man world or the DanMachi world. Rather, after consecutively conquering Ursus and Kazimierz, together with the continuous points provided by Makima and Seele in the Jujutsu world as they hunted Cursed Spirits over the past few months, An Xiu's accumulated points had once again surpassed five hundred thousand, filling the progress bar for unlocking a new world.

Among them, Mobius and Talulah had earned An Xiu one hundred thousand points by helping him rule Ursus, and conquering Kazimierz had earned another fifty thousand. Defeating twenty-finger Sukuna and Gojo Satoru during the Shibuya Incident in the Jujutsu world had earned roughly one hundred thousand points in total. Adding the enemies defeated and killed along the way by the Wendigo Legion and several recruited Group Armies, as well as the roughly two to three thousand points contributed daily on average by Makima's army of Cursed Spirits and Seele in the Jujutsu world, he had now reached the threshold of five hundred thousand points.

In other words, An Xiu could use another new world unlock attempt and see what new world options were available.

On the map interface with its background of infinite void, the number of new world unlocks in the upper-right corner had changed from 0 to 1. At the same time, the previously filled progress bar had been emptied again, replaced by a new one labeled one million points.

An Xiu was not surprised by the change in the points required for the progress bar, since it had been expected. Looking at the four glowing world points on the interface, he raised his hand and selected the option to unlock a new world.

At once, new points of light lit up on the map, signifying the appearance of three new worlds.

Clicking on the points of light, An Xiu checked the information for those three new worlds.

The three new worlds were: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Konosuba World, and Genshin Impact.

Looking at the three new worlds before him, An Xiu fell into thought.

The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure world was one where the gap between the upper and lower limits of combat power was enormous. But most Stand Users who appeared there were extremely limited in strength compared to An Xiu and the clones under his command. Even many final bosses were merely so-so in An Xiu's current eyes. It was a world he could visit for fun if he was interested.

Konosuba World had a medieval setting similar to DanMachi, and it also had Gods. However, the Gods in that world controlled many worlds under their jurisdiction. While its overt combat power was not particularly high, its waters ran deep. Still, there should be no problem with visiting it for fun when he had time.

As for Genshin Impact...

"Good grief. Genshin and Arknights are already here. If Honkai: Star Rail comes too, will I have the full set in this life?"

In his previous life, An Xiu had been the ultimate kind of player who had gathered the powers of Genshin, Star Rail, Arknights, Honkai Impact 3rd, and Fire Emblem into one. It seemed that after transmigrating in this life, he might have a chance to accomplish what he had achieved in his previous life once more.

He wanted to visit the new worlds, but he truly could not leave the Arknights World right now.

According to intelligence, Theresis, who had originally occupied Londinium, Victoria's capital, had apparently gone mad. After suddenly leading all of his Sarkaz troops in a frenzied plundering of Londinium's wealth and supplies, he had simply left and fled back to Kazdel.

This meant that Victoria's capital was now poorly defended. An Xiu, Talulah, and the others only needed to face the armies under a few Victoria Dukes. For Talulah, who now held both Ursus and Kazimierz, she could fully mobilize the Wendigo Legion and Group Armies under An Xiu's instructions, charge all the way to Londinium, and complete her ascension to the throne.

As for the rear, with Doctor holding the fort, there was no need to worry about anything happening in the short term.

And once Talulah completed her ascension in Victoria, Ursus, Victoria, and Kazimierz would effectively merge into one. Two of those three countries were already the strongest nations on Terra. Once merged, they would become a superpower powerful enough to make every nation on Terra collectively freak out and enter Spinosaurus Form!

By then, aside from Great Yan, which had Giant Beasts beneath its feet, Aegir, which battled the Reaper of Death in the sea, and a few other countries, every other nation would become insignificant trash.

An Xiu was very interested in seeing just how explosive that scene would be. Thus, the armies, which had only just begun to settle after the conquest of Kazimierz, began mobilizing once more. Two Group Armies and the Wendigo Legion headed straight for the Victoria border.

The forces stationed at Victoria's border clearly had not expected Talulah to be so insane. Only days after conquering Kazimierz, she had actually marched on Victoria.

What kind of war was this supposed to be?

The Victoria Dukes who received the news had no time to react at all. By the time they began gathering their troops, the Ursus Group Armies and Wendigo Legion had already torn through the border and charged toward Londinium, Victoria's capital.

PS: I suspect some readers may think the protagonist having Talulah wage war so wildly will cause the other nations of Terra to unite and attack them, just like Kazdel. But let me say this in advance: there is no need to worry about that, because Jibril will soon make her official appearance.

Deep Pool's Leader Comes to Pay Homage! Talulah: What Organization Is Deep Pool?

Victoria's capital, Londinium.

Perhaps because it had just suffered a round of plundering not long ago, this city, possibly the most prosperous on all of Terra, seemed somewhat desolate at the moment.

Theresis and the Sarkaz troops under his command had likely been driven mad by poverty. With the idea of making one final haul before leaving, their looting of Londinium had been utterly deranged.

Whether it was food and supplies in the national treasury or in ordinary civilians' homes, anything they could seize was taken away. Every remotely useful item visible on the streets was stripped clean. The royal palace itself had been dismantled until only an empty frame remained. It was not just the contents inside; even the higher-quality floor tiles and wall coverings had been ripped away.

One strongly suspected that if they had not been in such a rush to leave, those bastards would have put on a performance of digging three feet into the ground, or simply dismantled Londinium and transported it back to Kazdel in batches for recycling.

When Talulah and An Xiu arrived, this was the ruined city they saw.

There was no sign of any defending army at all. The two Group Armies and Wendigo Legion that had followed them did not even need to fight. Talulah and An Xiu simply swaggered into the city and effortlessly occupied Victoria's capital.

Chaos was everywhere along the way. Every bit of food civilians had stored in their homes had been stolen. Under the threat of a food crisis, people flooded into the streets, smashing and looting everywhere in an attempt to find something to fill their stomachs.

Fortunately, once the two Group Armies entered the city, they quickly took control of the situation. An Xiu also summoned the Shadow Troopers and had Talulah use the Shadow Kingdom's teleportation ability to bring in a batch of food, ensuring that Londinium's residents would not starve to death.

After finishing all that, An Xiu and Talulah headed for Victoria's royal palace.

There was not much left to see in the palace now. As stated earlier, the Sarkaz troops under Theresis had stripped it so thoroughly that even the floor tiles and wall coverings were gone.

But the good news was that, for some unknown reason, the crown, scepter, and coronation robes used for ascending the throne had all been placed neatly upon it. The Throne Hall used for coronation remained entirely intact as well. Theresis's Sarkaz troops had looted every part of Londinium, yet seemingly left this place untouched.

Though they did not know what considerations had led to that decision, it was clearly good news for An Xiu and Talulah. Since every component required for the coronation was present, combined with Talulah's Drac bloodline, she could ascend to the throne directly even though no nobles remained in Londinium to witness it.

"Then release the news immediately. The coronation ceremony will be held before the throne at noon tomorrow. Have every Londinium resident watch it on time."

As long as the coronation ceremony was held, Talulah could become Victoria's legitimate Emperor. No matter how much those Victoria Dukes cursed inwardly, they would have to accept it.

After all, Victoria's imperial throne was vacant. A Drac descendant with legitimate Victoria royal blood had completed a coronation ceremony in the palace during such a time. They could not refuse to recognize her merely because things had happened too quickly for them to attend, could they?

Of course, that did not mean Talulah could rest easy after ascending to the throne. After all, what did becoming Victoria's Emperor really amount to? At most, it gave her the name of legitimacy. If she could not suppress Victoria's Dukes and nobles, would she not still end up like Vigna's dog-and-donkey father, Victoria's previous Emperor in the original story, and be sent to the guillotine?

Likewise, even if Talulah became Victoria's Emperor, those Dukes would not miss this opportunity to press their armies forward. In order to reach Londinium and ascend to the throne as quickly as possible, An Xiu and Talulah had brought only two Group Armies deep into Victoria. In the eyes of those Dukes, this was the perfect chance to destroy Talulah while her military strength and supplies were insufficient.

However, neither An Xiu nor Talulah cared about that.

An Xiu was simply confident in his strength. Even if he did not take action himself, as long as those Dukes dared to gather their armies beneath Londinium's walls, he could summon Jibril at any moment to sweep away those ignorant fools.

Talulah, meanwhile, knew of An Xiu's various methods. Even if they truly faced an unfavorable situation, the Shadow Kingdom teleportation ability alone would be enough to let her and their armies retreat safely.

And so, Talulah began arranging the coronation ceremony while allowing the two Group Armies and Wendigo Legion to rest and reorganize. She also dispatched soldiers in batches to continue maintaining order in Londinium.

The next day at noon, Talulah held the coronation ceremony before all of Londinium's residents. She successfully completed her coronation, becoming Emperor of another country after Ursus, as well as Terra's first-ever Double Emperor.

Kazimierz was not counted because it had been conquered by Ursus and incorporated into its territory as a defeated nation. It was no longer an independent country.

After ascending to the throne, the first thing Talulah did was declare several Victoria Dukes rebels and forcibly charge them with treason.

Faced with this situation, the Victoria Grand Dukes who received the communication immediately exploded with rage. They had not expected that before they could move against Talulah, she would strike first. At once, they accelerated the gathering of their armies and charged fiercely toward Londinium to surround it.

They had expected to simply wait for the armies assembled by the Dukes to come to them. Yet, to An Xiu and Talulah's surprise, someone actually came to visit the day after Talulah ascended to the throne in Londinium under such circumstances.

"Deep Pool's leader has come to pay homage?"

Inside the royal palace, Talulah sat on the throne and listened to the guard's report with a shocked expression before hurriedly asking,

"What organization is Deep Pool?"

Talulah swore that she truly did not mean to look down on them. She had simply never heard of an organization called Deep Pool before.

After all, as Emperor of Ursus, before coming to Victoria to ascend the throne, the people Talulah remembered were generally top-level figures from heavyweight nations such as Great Yan, Columbia, and Victoria. Remnants of the Tara Dynasty like Deep Pool, which Victoria had eliminated long ago, were nothing more than roadside strays. Intelligence regarding them was not even worthy of being delivered before her.

Naturally, Talulah had no impression of this organization whatsoever.

"Forget it. Let the leader of this Deep Pool organization come in first."

"Whoever it is, they came to pay homage to me at a time like this. Are they not afraid of being dragged into the war?"

After instructing the guard to bring the visitor in, Talulah muttered to herself in confusion.

"They probably have some special purpose. Or perhaps they simply have faith in us and believe you can win this war."

An Xiu, seated beside the throne on another chair that had been brought in, spoke.