The Millennium Empire

A cold wind howled through the air, carrying a chill as it swept up the long-dead weeds scattered across the ground. The official highway, built under the authority of the Empire, was desolate and devoid of any signs of life.

Along the road lay discarded clothing, toys, broken carriages beyond repair, animal skeletons, and even human corpses that had long since decayed...

That was until two figures, one master and one servant—one clad in white, the other in black—appeared at the end of the road. The vitality they exuded seemed starkly out of place in the bleakness of this land.

Looking around, despite the dense vegetation and fertile soil, the land felt desolate. If this wasn't the result of a natural disaster, there could only be one conclusion—man-made calamity!

The continuous warfare had destroyed the life of the villages along the Empire's border.

Desolation, barrenness, ruin... These were the sights Selene saw as she traveled, a scene reminiscent of the end of a dynasty...

The legacy of a once-glorious Empire, with its thousand-year-old roads and military fortresses still in use, stood in sharp contrast to the decaying and crumbling state of the Empire's borderlands today, beset by internal and external crises.

"Frequent border rebellions and internal strife—doesn't this present a perfect opportunity for us to take over this world?"

As they walked, Selene playfully asked, "Sebas, do you think we should join a faction? And if so, which one?"

Sebas remained silent.

After passing through a border village that had been ravaged by southwestern tribes, Selene had already figured out the nature of this world through the official notices and maps left in the largest house in the village.

This world was reminiscent of the setting in Akame ga Kill. In that world, there was a great nation that once ruled the entire continent—the Empire.

A country with a thousand-year civilization, the most powerful nation in the world, rivaled only by the western kingdom, while the southern islands and northern tundras were relatively undeveloped, and the eastern islands were considered uncivilized.

But that was in the past. After a thousand years, the Empire had begun to decay. Internal and external crises abounded. While not on the brink of collapse, the hidden dangers under the Empire's authoritarian rule were significant.

This decay couldn't be solved by simply removing one or two individuals; it was a rot that had permeated from the highest ministers to the lowest tax collectors.

When discussing the root cause of this corruption, one cannot overlook the Empire's minister—Honest.

After the previous emperor fell ill and passed away, Honest poisoned all the royal family members except the youngest prince, including the empress. He then placed the young prince on the throne and took power as the regent. From there, he began to eliminate political opponents within the court.

He then filled key positions with his cronies and members of his faction. The original story mentions that the most powerful combat force in this world—Esdeath—was elevated to the rank of general by Honest.

Esdeath was Honest's partner and his most formidable weapon.

However, Esdeath only collaborated with Honest to fulfill her own desires. She enjoyed combat and craved war, being a staunch believer in the law of the jungle. At the same time, Esdeath was a ruthless queen who showed no mercy to her enemies.

Her most infamous act was the massacre of 400,000 northern tribesmen, cementing her as a demon in the eyes of the tribes.

Yet, despite her sadistic and brutal nature, Esdeath was kind to her subordinates and the citizens of the Empire and never accepted bribes.

This was Esdeath, one of the two great generals of the Empire—merciless to her enemies but benevolent to the people under her rule.

While Honest had his faction, there were also neutral and so-called conscientious factions that opposed him. The pinnacle of the neutral faction's military might was the Empire's other general, Budo.

If Esdeath was in charge of external campaigns, General Budo was responsible for protecting the emperor, serving as the guardian of the capital. He commanded the Empire's Imperial Guard, never straying far from the young emperor's side.

Budo was rigid and upright, showing no leniency even to the all-powerful minister Honest.

Although he deeply disapproved of Honest's actions, he adhered strictly to the military code, believing that soldiers should not interfere in politics. So, despite knowing about the corruption of Honest and his associates, he never intervened.

In a way, Budo's existence was one of the reasons Honest hadn't fully seized control of the Empire. If Budo had been more assertive and used his power to eliminate Honest and his cronies, the Empire might have been able to stave off its decline for a few more years.

As for the so-called conscientious faction, they had long lost their influence in the court due to Honest's suppression. Their impact on the court was nearly negligible, reduced to a handful of individuals, and they only survived thanks to General Budo's protection.

Many believed that Honest was the reason the Empire had become so corrupt, thinking that if he were removed, the Empire could be restored to its former glory.

Selene scoffed at this notion. The decline of a feudal empire could never be reversed by the removal of just one or two people. It was more about the widespread corruption of the entire ruling class.

Although this might sound like an oversimplification, Selene was certain that even if you executed the entire ruling class one by one, there would still be some who slipped through the cracks.

Another significant force in the Akame ga Kill world was the religious organization known as Path of Peace. This religion, which preached that doing good deeds would bring happiness and long life, had a massive following of zealots.

However, Selene had little regard for them.

Then, there was the force that stood in direct opposition to the Empire—the Revolutionary Army.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. In response to the Empire's corruption, there were those who raised the banner of rebellion. This was the Revolutionary Army, the second-largest faction in the Akame ga Kill world. The Revolutionary Army existed to overthrow the corrupt Empire, eliminate Honest, and dismantle the Imperial regime.

However, to overthrow the Empire, the Revolutionary Army had allied with the western tribes in their attacks on the Empire. Didn't they realize that the northern, southern, and western tribes had long harbored ambitions to invade the Empire, to pillage and plunder, and to enslave its people?

What kind of strategy was this? "Better to give the land to outsiders than to our own"? This sentiment immediately dropped Selene's impression of them to zero! How could they collaborate with hostile tribes?

To Selene, this was typical of inviting wolves into the house. It was no different from the later Jin dynasty's son-emperor who submitted to foreign powers. This kind of behavior was something she found extremely repugnant.

Although she despised their actions, Selene wasn't particularly moved by it. As she traveled, she constantly pondered how to most efficiently take control of this world.

With Path of Peace and the Revolutionary Army ruled out, the only option left was to join the Empire. And it just so happened that the Empire was already on a downward spiral—internally corrupt, with high-pressure governance, ministers who were tyrannical and vicious toward their political enemies, and external threats from tribal invasions, southern uprisings, border rebellions, and religious forces plotting against the state. The Empire was engulfed in flames of war.

While this situation was disastrous for the Empire, it was an opportunity for Selene. There was more room for maneuvering, more chances to extract as much benefit as possible from the Empire's collapse.

Boiling a frog in warm water—Selene had plenty of time. As long as she could completely take over this world, she didn't mind waiting a bit longer.

As the former ruler of this world, once she took over the Empire, gaining control of the world's core would be a breeze!

And if she aimed to restore and revive the Empire to elevate the civilization level and thereby enhance her own power, she would need to plan carefully. After all, Selene's nature as a Herrscher meant that the higher the civilization level of the world she controlled, the stronger she became.

This trait, aside from plundering, practically compelled Selene to engage in civilization-building and technological advancement.

"But I still don't know exactly what time it is now. The Imperial Year 1014... Has Honest taken power yet? Ugh."

As she thought about it, Selene felt a headache coming on. "Why think so much? I should just start by finding some sign of life."