An Empire That Didn't Matter

"Noisy, noisy! A bunch of buzzing insects are driving me insane!"

Along with the icy words, a curtain of energy like a sheet of water instantly swept across every living thing within dozens of square kilometers. After the faintly black energy passed through, whether they were ordinary nobles still utterly unaware or Master Level experts wearing horrified expressions, all of them immediately collapsed limply to the ground. Within one-hundredth of a second, their souls were scooped away one by one by the black curtain like fish and shrimp caught in a net.

Finally, the black curtain, rippling like water while carrying countless souls, slowly contracted like a breeze. Every soul was effortlessly packed into a gray gemstone.

Legendary Level Abjuration Spell—Soul Curtain!

The caster who had spoken those impatient words and unleashed the Legendary Level Spell was naturally Punk, who had just returned to the Hatak Imperial Nation. At that moment, the grim-faced mage was flying toward his Mage Tower while carefully inspecting the losses suffered by the Hatak Imperial Nation from high in the sky.

However, Punk's inspection was clearly far from pleasant.

The Hatak Imperial Nation was now in complete chaos. Numerous noble lords who believed they knew the "truth" were preparing to flee with their families, while bewildered commoners formed a massive "refugee" army with the mindset of, "If the nobles are running, something huge must have happened, so I need to run too." For a time, the entire Hatak Imperial Nation seemed to have become some hopeless deathtrap. Everyone's reaction was, "I don't know what happened, but I should run first!"

Punk had merely returned a little too late, yet Hatak's riot had already spread across the entire nation. Roughly a quarter of its territory was blazing beneath unquenchable flames. Nobles, professionals, and commoners alike ran