Once, their nation had vied with the Empire for the position of civilization's supreme ruler. Unfortunately, they had become the losers. Their last bloodline could only hide beneath the sunless underground, barely clinging to life.
The stars belonged to the Empire, the ground belonged to the mutant beasts—this world no longer had a place for losers like them.
Even their survival was merely because they posed no threat whatsoever to the Empire. After the Empire departed for the stars, those who lingered on in miserable existence were not even worthy of being specifically targeted by it.
Now, when the victors returned in such a posture, looking down upon this land like gods, the feelings of the defeated were beyond words.
At the same time, the warship made it clear that over these past years, the Empire's technology had advanced by leaps and bounds. The gap between them—the defeated—and the victors had only grown wider and wider.
Bzzzz!
High in the vault of heaven, the warship that had shattered vast swathes of atmosphere let out a hum. Dazzling white light erupted, blanketing heaven and earth.
In an instant, an incomparably powerful force burst forth. Within a radius of hundreds or thousands of kilometers, the movement of all matter and the transfer of energy were slowed by tens of millions of times.
It was as though the entire world had had its pause button pressed at that moment. The slowing of matter was one thing, but the changes in energy were especially profound. Energy that had once been active fell silent.
Many colossal beasts whose very structures leaned more toward the energy side suddenly lost their energy supply, their every scrap of power vanishing into nothing.
Such technological strength was undoubtedly terrifying. This was also why the Empire had previously only built