Dead silence.
Dead silence that lasted a full half minute.
In the main hall of the Imperial Palace, one could have heard a pin drop.
All the ministers lay prostrate on the floor, their bodies trembling like leaves, their robes already soaked with cold sweat.
The summit of Mount Fuji!
Go alone!
One second late, and he would burn down the Imperial Palace!
That demon's ultimatum echoed over and over in everyone's minds like the vilest curse.
At last, a piercing cry broke the suffocating silence.
"Your Majesty! You must not go!"
A man in military uniform-the Defense Minister of Eastern Japan-jerked his head up, his face filled with madness and resolve.
"Our Greater Eastern Japan Empire has only warriors who die fighting, never an emperor who surrenders!"
"That Dragon Kingdom thug has humiliated you and the entire Empire! We must never submit!"
He crawled on his knees to the Japanese Emperor's feet, roaring through tears and snot:
"Your Majesty! Give the order! Let us embrace 'Jade Shatter'!"
"Jade Shatter?"
The Japanese Emperor shuddered violently, staring in disbelief at the Defense Minister, who had descended into madness at his feet.
"Yes! Jade Shatter!"
A sick fervor gleamed in the Defense Minister's eyes.
"Isn't that demon on the summit of Mount Fuji? That is our Sacred Mountain! And our finest burial ground!"
"At your command, we can immediately deploy the Self-Defense Forces and launch our most advanced Kamikaze-series tactical missiles, wiping the entire summit of Mount Fuji off the map!"
"Let that Dragon Kingdom demon turn to ash alongside you upon the Sacred Mountain, for the glory of the Empire!"
"There is no greater honor, Your Majesty!"
The Defense Minister grew more excited as he spoke, as though he could already see that magnificent sacrificial explosion.
Several ministers from the Radical