Empire

Biodata

Background / History

The Empire endured for roughly a thousand years under the same royal bloodline. Its founding emperor gathered master craftsmen, legendary Super-class Danger Beasts, rare metals, and lost secret arts to create forty-eight irreplaceable Teigu, establishing the military advantage that sustained imperial rule. 189 205

At its height, the Empire controlled nearly eighty million people and possessed the continent's broadest, most fertile lands. Though its development was comparable to early-19th-century Earth, it possessed unusual crafted technologies such as light-absorbing street lamps that illuminated its cities at night. 184 195

By the time Li Wei arrived, the Empire was decaying internally. Wars raged along the northern border, rebel forces controlled territory in the south, nobles lived extravagantly, and the lower classes—including slaves—were subjected to routine exploitation. 180 196 203

Rule under Honest

The child Emperor was the Empire's legitimate sovereign in name only. Minister Honest had turned the central government into a personal regime, directing the Emperor and controlling the highest level of power. 191 211 212

Imperial society was structured around enforced inequality: the royal family stood above nobles, merchants, free citizens, and slaves. This hierarchy enabled each class to pass oppression downward. 203

Selection Plan

Imperial interest groups created an assassin-selection program in Kivnora Forest. Nearly two hundred purchased or abducted children were sent into a Danger Beast-infested forest and given seven days to survive, with organizers treating them as disposable candidates or test subjects. 180 181

Li Wei discovered the children's corpses, killed the soldiers overseeing the operation, and learned through assimilation that the program was part of the Empire's cruel and irrational Selection Plan. 184

Military & State Assets

Society & Economy

• Nobility and merchants controlled most land and wealth while constituting less than 2% of Sfor City's population; their estates were maintained by large numbers of servants. 195
• Slavery was normalized throughout Imperial territory, with City Guards often ignoring the abuse and pursuit of escaped slaves. 196 203
• Blackstone City was the Empire's northeastern industrial center, sustained by iron and coal deposits, grain imports, and exploited laborers working up to sixteen hours a day. 205
• Heiyao Academy offered basic education in Blackstone City, but did not allow workers to escape poverty or merchant control. 205
• Victory Day functioned as a major imperial celebration, featuring rewards for commoners and lavish banquets for nobles, officials, and wealthy merchants. 207 210 211

Relationships

• Imperial royal family — The dynasty served as the formal source of legitimacy; the young Emperor was controlled by Minister Honest. 205 211 212
• Minister Honest — De facto ruler who manipulated the Emperor and dominated the Empire's central power structure. 191 212
• General Budo — The Empire's highest-ranking military officer and a loyal defender of the royal family, despite recognizing official corruption. 199 211
• Revolutionary Army — A rival force largely formed by dissatisfied former Grand Dukes and other interest-driven figures, rather than a genuine popular revolution. 196 197 214
• Li Wei — Opponent who dismantled Imperial forces, killed Honest, exposed the regime's collapse, and later destroyed all Teigu and Shingu. 191 214 215

Story Role / Major Arcs

Kivnora Forest Incident

The Empire's Selection Plan brings nearly two hundred children to Kivnora Forest for a lethal survival trial. Li Wei's discovery of the victims leads him to confront and eliminate the involved Imperial forces, including Gozuki, Bill, and Kevin. 181 184 189 191

Sfor City

Li Wei witnesses the Empire's class oppression, slave abuse, and corruption in Sfor City. After killing Count Sfor and City Guard Captain Li Gen, he learns that both the imperial regime and the Revolutionary Army are driven primarily by competing vested interests. 196 197

Blackstone City

Li Wei travels to Blackstone City, where industrial workers are trapped in poverty despite the city's prosperity. Revolutionary ideas begin circulating among workers and teachers through anonymously distributed writings questioning the Empire's existence and control over people's lives. 205 206 207

Fall of the Imperial Capital

Li Wei infiltrates the Victory Day banquet and is exposed by Warden Torbjorn's Teigu. During the ensuing confrontation, he kills Minister Honest, obtains the location of the Teigu vault, and causes the Imperial Palace to collapse amid a lightning storm. The Emperor, General Budo, and much of the Empire's senior leadership are killed. 212 214

Aftermath

The sudden destruction of the central government plunges the Empire into internal power struggles. Li Wei later destroys every remaining Teigu and Shingu; in Blackstone City, workers overthrow the local capitalists and redirect merchant wealth toward food and industrial production. 214 215