The Emperor's Declaration

The choice of the people of the empire.

Upon hearing Keosius's words, Olivia's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't help looking at the people on the ground, especially at their faces—

How could that be?

Instead of showing the expected fear, panic, or disgust, the imperial people who heard the news of the war were all flushed and beaming with smiles.

The workers in the arsenal were delighted because the war would bring a flood of orders.

Although working overtime is extremely tiring, it also brings them higher pay, allowing them to buy a house in the city sooner and become true Istaria.

The soldiers in the army were happy because war would bring honor and status.

In the soldiers' minds, under the protection of the Embers of the Burned Emperor, who symbolizes power and victory, they were invincible and unstoppable. War was merely a ladder to climb to higher positions and a trial for the brave.

The tavern owner and waiters were also very happy, because war would bring prosperity to their business.

After the war, soldiers who received their pay and spoils would flock to taverns, squandering their wealth and partying all night, sometimes even scattering Gold Coin everywhere.

The players were even more excited, popping champagne and even streaking in the streets to celebrate the long-awaited good news.

In their eyes, what is this brutal war? These are all large-scale dungeons for grinding experience and looting equipment!

After seeing these imperial citizens of different identities and statuses, yet all of them cheering for the arrival of war, Olivia fell into deep self-doubt.

She didn't know what to say for a moment.

Why, why are all the people celebrating when we are about to fall into war? Is she the only one who is wrong?

Was this war of aggression truly just?

Olivia recalled Keosius's words, "War is a means, not an end." "The Empire will bring true order to the Feanso Continent." "This is not out of selfish desire, but the common choice of the people of the Empire." The Red Dragon's voice seemed to have some kind of magic, making Olivia feel a deep sense of agreement, dragging her thoughts into the Abyss little by little.

In an instant, countless oil painting-like images flashed through Olivia's mind: the people of Fadlan wailing amidst the gunfire, the Red Dragon circling in the sky, and the imperial workers toiling day and night in the factories.

Finally, the scene freezes on the Ancient Silver Dragon, symbolizing the old order, falling from the sky. Olivia shakes her head violently and murmurs, her eyes already blurred. "No, it shouldn't be like this. The future order shouldn't be like this. It's too cruel and too tyrannical."

Keosius lowered his head, smiling as he approached the silver-haired girl, his Sulfur Scent, somewhat hot breath washing over Olivia's fair face.

The Red Dragon's pale Golden Vertical Pupils pupils held a strange look, as if it were looking at a newborn infant, which made Olivia feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Olivia, you're still too naive."

Keosius looked up at the sun in the sky and sighed, "The old order is crumbling, and all the outdated economic forms, all the relations that are associated with it, and the political system will be crushed."

After the collapse of the old order, an era of chaos will come, and a new order will emerge from the darkness and turmoil.

Like any metamorphosis in nature, this process is inevitably bloody and cruel, accompanied by the deaths of countless people and the destruction of countless families—something no one can stop.

Keosius lowered his head again, staring intently at Olivia, who looked so tiny in the giant claw, and said in a heavy voice, "Olivia, I thought you would understand me."

I simply want to use the power of the Empire to accelerate this inevitable process, to make people's suffering shorter, like cutting open the skin with a scalpel and taking out a newborn baby.

"Keosius, you..."

Olivia looked up, stunned, at the dignified face that revealed a hint of sadness, unsure whether it was a genuine expression of emotion or yet another deception.

Although she still couldn't fully understand what Keosius was saying, she had been vaguely persuaded by him.

Perhaps—this extraordinary Red Dragon really is saving the world? Olivia felt the space before her eyes distort and spin, and when she came to her senses, she had already broken free from the Red Dragon's giant claws and was standing unsteadily on the Istaria Great Altar.

She looked up and saw the Red Dragon Emperor displaying his majestic and imposing figure to his people, spreading his incredibly wide wings and casting a huge shadow over the Istaria City.

"Roar--"

The Red Dragon slowly raised its head, roared to the sky, and let out a long, earth-shattering roar that resounded throughout the entire Anzeta Great Wasteland.

Olivia looked down and saw the people in the city staring at the Red Dragon in the sky with piety, almost fanaticism.

"By Keosius, it really is His Majesty the Emperor! It really is Him!"

"Praise be to the Great Red Dragon!"

"As long as His Majesty is here, we will surely achieve victory!"

They pushed forward like fanatical pilgrims, some even kneeling to kiss the ground, for it was a great honor to be in the shadow of the wings.

In that boiling crowd, people shouted themselves hoarse. Their cries and shouts were like surging waves, one after another, as if their enthusiasm would never stop and their strength would never run dry.

—Because the emperor in the sky is their greatest spiritual pillar and source of strength, giving them an inexhaustible source of power.

"Long live His Your Majesty Keosius! Praise be to Anzeta's one and only supreme emperor!"

"His wings are wider than the sky; his back is more majestic than the earth; his tail is longer than the mountains. All people worship him, the Great Red Dragon in the sky!"

The knights of the Dragon Oath Temple solemnly recited their prayers, while the monks of the order sang the majestic Keosius Anthem together.

In this enthusiastic atmosphere, even Olivia was infected and felt a strange excitement welling up inside her.

When she looked up at the sky again, the sun's rays shone on the crimson scales, and the Red Dragon spread its wings against the light, golden lines outlining its near-perfect body contours.

Accompanied by stirring music, a solemn and sacred atmosphere spread out. In her beautiful blue-gray eyes, Keosius at this moment was like a statue of a god, sacred, majestic, and inviolable.

For a moment, Olivia felt confused, her delicate face showing bewilderment; she could no longer make sense of it all.

She couldn't tell which one was the real Keosius: the fiery Red Dragon from before or the god-like emperor now.

Or perhaps, they are all just one facet of the Embers of the Burned Emperor. Olivia couldn't help but murmur to herself, "What is the real you, Keosius, really like?"

Meanwhile, the Red Dragon flapped its wings high in the sky, looking down at the masses below and receiving the fervent gazes of the imperial people.

With his extremely high rank and various constant spells such as the True Sight Eye, Keosius was able to see the nectar-like power surging from the souls of the people of the Empire—it was faith, an extremely pure faith.

"Very good, that's it. When I possess true godhood, they will all become my source of power."

"But now, it is more important to awaken them, to bring them the passion for war, and to fully awaken the resting beast that is the Embers of the Burned Empire."

Keosius looked down at the crowd, he thought to himself.

The next moment, the Supreme True Dragon Crown, inlaid with jewels, appeared on the Red Dragon's head, shining brightly in the sunlight and adding to his majestic aura.

"My dear subjects"

The Red Dragon slowly opened its mouth, and a thunderous roar echoed throughout the Istaria City, even spreading throughout the entire Anzeta Great Wasteland with the help of the power of the Empire Domain.

In an instant, huge dragon head phantoms appeared in the skies above all cities belonging to the Embers of the Burned Empire, whether it was the northern Bator City and North Wind Fortress, or the southern cities of Strasbourg and Blackstone Fortress.

—This was their ruler, the Embers of the Burned Emperor Keosius.

As Keosius spoke, the phantom dragon heads also opened their enormous maws and uttered the same solemn voice.

At this moment, not only the citizens of Istaria, but also nearly ten million citizens of the entire Embers of the Burned Empire —whether humans, Hobgoblin, Tiefling, Ogre, or Wyvern Chimera —all raised their heads and looked up at the emperor high in the sky.

"Greetings, my dear subjects."

"I am Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius, the sole ruler of the Anzeta Great Wasteland, and the emperor of the Embers of the Burned Empire."

The Red Dragon's tone was not very varied; he simply stated his identity in a flat manner—even though it was known to everyone in the empire.

However, just this one sentence caused the entire empire to boil over, with millions of people shouting and cheering.

"Long live!"

"Long live His Your Majesty Keosius!"

"Praise be to the Great Red Dragon! May His Majesty bless us to be invincible and unbreakable!"

No further embellishment or retelling of his astonishing achievements is needed. The mere presence of the Embers of the Burned Emperor is enough to symbolize victory and hope, bringing boundless power to the Imperial People.

Of course, there were also players from various "Dragon Control Club" branches who shouted out treasonous declarations, wanting to touch His Your Majesty Keosius's tail, claws, or even his final moments. They were reported by enthusiastic citizens who could no longer tolerate it and were arrested by the Imperial Guard's Tiefling.

But Keosius, high in the sky above Istaria, paid no attention to these trivial matters; he continued his speech in a steady and powerful voice:

"Today, I am sending you out to war not only for war, but also to defend justice and challenge those who are unjust."

The "Eloquent Speaker" unleashed his full power, making Keosius's distorted and righteous rhetoric seem so convincing that millions of imperial citizens were unaware of the problems involved.

"These southerners possess land far more fertile and abundant than ours, which, in the words of the former Fadlan emperor, is a divinely bestowed land flowing with honey and milk and buried with gold."

But we were trapped in the desolate and barren Anzeta Great Wasteland, enduring poverty for thousands of years until the establishment of the Empire, when this situation began to improve.

Keosius flapped his wings again, creating a fierce hurricane, and his voice became somewhat impassioned, even revealing a hint of indignation.

"But—they didn't cherish it! Foolish descendants of the gods fought each other for the legacy of the Holy Fadlan Empire. They greedily occupied all the land in the central part of the continent, turning what should have been paradise into Hell! Don't we, the people of the Embers of the Burned Empire, deserve such land? Are we just supposed to watch those arrogant Fadlanites fight each other?"

"Cannot--"

Countless citizens of the empire were moved by Keosius's words; their faces flushed red, and they shouted angrily, their voices rising like a tsunami.

Seeing that people's emotions had reached their peak, Keosius said firmly and resolutely, "As the emperor of the Embers of the Burned Empire, I cannot allow such a thing to happen! I hope that my subjects can also have land under the sun, and can also stand tall with pride as citizens of the Embers of the Burned Empire!"

Only when our flag flies high over the land of North Aisel amidst cheers of victory, allowing the remnants of the Fadlan to accept the arrival of peace, can I truly find peace and tranquility.

We will also make the name of the Embers of the Burned Empire resound throughout the land of Fei An Suo, so that those despicable southerners will fear us and never dare to look down on us again!

"Conquer--"

"To give everything for the Great Blueprint of the Embers of the Burned Empire!"

"We will establish a new order! We will make the name of the Embers of the Burned Empire their nightmare!"

This series of declarations caused the emotions of the imperial people to rise wave after wave, becoming increasingly intense. They waved their fists, and their shouts and battle cries swept across millions of square kilometers of Anzeta.

Despite the fact that Keosius's speech was full of sophistry and logical flaws, the imperial people, swept up in the fervor, had long lost their reason and even their sense of self, becoming part of the brutal war beast.

Workers, officers, citizens, and merchants alike were all caught up in this inexplicable war frenzy, which intensified under the catalysis of the imperial order.

This is precisely the effect that Keosius has tried every means to achieve. Compared to the Anzeta Great Wasteland, the Feanso Continent is too large, so much so that if the empire stops, it is likely to suffer a severe backlash.

Therefore, once war begins, the Embers of the Burned Empire needs to relentlessly conquer until it occupies the entire Feanso Continent.

Now, at the call of its master, the terrifying behemoth that is the Embers of the Burned Empire has been fully awakened, and its target is its prey in the south.

At the top of the Istaria Great Altar, Olivia looked at the frenzied crowd and felt out of place among them, as if she was naturally unable to fit in.

Perhaps, she really was wrong.

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