Chapter 42 — Intermission

Eldriel, newly occupied city of the Third Reich.

The war was over. Eldriel was taken a week ago.

Soldiers heroically and eagerly controlled the city, marching through the streets. Their faces were filled with pride, the dream of the country had somehow been achieved. Residents throughout the city nervously watched the soldiers outside. Their faces were filled with unease, unsure of the future ahead. What now?

With the disappearance of the emperor and ruthless crackdowns, virtually all resistance had ceased. Soldiers in the city cooperated with the battleships hovering in the sky to eliminate any remaining guerrilla fighters. There was only a small number of determined resistors but their military literacy, weapons and especially numbers were all vastly inferior to the People's Army. This meant that the city's rule was rock-solid even after the absence of the First Fleet. After all, the upkeep to keep battleships in the air was very high.

The Third Reich faced less resistance than they expected and easily filled in the power vacuum left by the fleeing nobles and ruling class. They were smart, they knew while the common people may be spared, they would no doubt be executed as an example. They would not be able to escape responsibility. High-level adventurers and mercenaries not affiliated with the Empire had also long fled the country. Powerful magic professionals not under the control of the country were a dangerous and unstable factor to any nation's rule, and there had been countless cases of a victorious country cracking down on such people. And such like this, the war ended not with a bang, but a slow drizzle.

Now under the rule of the Third Reich, a series of reforms were forcibly pushed forward. There was now a curfew, a strict identification system, strict restrictions on speech and complete control of the country's sources of economic production. Konrad also summoned a large amount of industrial equipment for the former Elsass Magic Empire to quickly accelerate their industrialisation under the instruction and training of many skilled workers created from source energy or migrated from the former Canary Kingdom.

A vigorous propaganda campaign had also started to some initial effect. However, the effect was predicted to be lower than satisfactory. As such, Konrad hoped to find more results with the assistance of magic. While technically the research of brainwashing the human mind with magic was taboo, no government cared about that. However, they still needed to be mindful of the image they put to their people, so such research was generally hidden from public view. The Imperial Magical Academy and numerous underground facilities hidden around the Third Reich had been hard at work with some mild success.

Daiki's making of his Imperial Army had actually caused a tremendous amount of backlash across the Elsass Empire and played a key factor in the weak resistance of the country. The Emperor was unaware of his plans at first, only knowing that Daiki was training an army for him with some magical methods. However, he didn't expect him to be so crazy as to turn hundreds of thousands of people into puppets, and by the time he found out it was too late.

He could only bite the bullet and hope Daiki would carry the country. In fact, when he first heard of his death he already knew deep in his heart that the country was over. The people would revolt and neighbouring Empires would use excuses of "freeing the people from tyranny" to carve up his land. And now, the Third Reich would use this fact to vilify and further demonise the Elsass Empire, an evil empire that was rightfully taken over for the good of humanity.

Completely separate from the large city, Konrad was in the newly captured palace, silently sitting and digesting his gains. The grand building had thoroughly been cleared of all dangers and had been restored to its former extravagant state.

Closing his eyes, he felt the state of his body. With his superhuman enhancements, his control of his body had reached the stage where he could control his autonomic nervous system, his bodily functions that happen without conscious effort, such as heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, and pupillary response. Flexing his exhausted internal organs, he noticed a gradual but noticeable enhancement.

Konrad opened his eyes to see his Magnetic Resonance Angiography scan results. Looking carefully at the black-and-white results, he noted that his blood vessels looked more pronounced and well-defined.

Konrad pulled out a glass and metal cylinder the length of his hand. He started summoning source energy and slowly ran it from his body into the metal vessel, slowly creating a small, suspended ball of volatile psychic energy. The stimulation of his nerves as the energy ran through the small blood vessels in his hand made him involuntarily grip the vessel tightly.

This was the latest advancement in the research of psychic energy. This storage device allowed for the short-term storage of psychic energy as long as Konrad was nearby, and it could be released in an instant as a sort of psychic energy bomb. While it might seem magical, it actually just amplified Konrad's ability to control psychic energy outside of his body. In this regard, it was similar to how a wizard's staff allowed the user to channel his power through a medium.

[What's next on the schedule?]

A soldier standing next to Konrad's desk instantly responded.

[The delegation of the Holy Church will be visiting for a discussion and to attend the military parade]

Officially, the public reason for the visit of the Holy Church would be to discuss the legitimacy of the occupation of the Elsass Empire. In this world, the Holy Church acted as a mediator and peacekeeping force, whose official intention was to minimise infighting and unite humanity against the threat of demons. The whole world would be keeping tabs on this event, waiting to see the attitude of the Holy Church.

However, the Third Reich and the Holy Church already had secret negotiations before, and a lot of them at that. They both had something they wanted from the other side; the Third Reich being holy metals and the Holy Church being firearms and "modern" technology. Several small-scale dealings had been made before, and this was going to be the first large-scale nationwide cooperation.