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Chapter 13: Bridges of Accord

On the Northern Continent of Gremous, there has been increasing activity among goblins, orcs, and undead, as if preparing for someone's arrival.

All of them were converging toward a mountain when a massive explosion erupted from its peak, releasing a wave of energy that signaled their master's return.

An aura of darkness filled the surrounding area. At the site of the explosion, a shadowy figure emerged as the dust settled, revealing a demonic entity with a longhorn, clad in minimal clothing except for shoulder armor. This was the demon lord, Nosgorath.

The goblins and orcs cheered for their master, who was finally free from his sealing. Beside him stood his well-known second in command, the Red Ogre, and the Blue Ogre, two of the original ogres who had survived against the emissary.

"Great Demon Lord, we welcome your return," said the Red Ogre.

"We have been waiting for your return," echoed the Blue Ogre.

"For so long, I have finally broken that seal. It is now time for us to reclaim what belongs to the Ancient Sorcerous Empire," Nosgorath declared happily. As he surveyed his minions, noting the increased numbers of goblins, orcs, and undead, he felt confident that this time the Emissary of the Sun wouldn't be able to stop them if summoned again.

Unaware of a new threat lurking out there, Nosgorath continued, "My faithful servants, we will change our course of action this time. Red Ogre, I want you to awaken the Kraken and march south to eliminate all those pesky parasites," he ordered.

From a distance, a shadowy figure watched the scene and then melded into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

"This time, Emissary, you won't be here to stop us," Nosgorath said as he removed his two eye patches, looking towards the sun with a smile on his face.

Tomorrow morning, the Solstice Empire's diplomat is scheduled to be assigned and sent to the Palpadia Empire within a week to attempt to resolve the issue peacefully. However, before that, the Solstice Empire decided to send envoys to both the Holy Milishial Empire and the Republic of Mu to build relationships.

Given that these two countries are renowned as the world's strongest superpowers, the Solstice Empire hoped to use them as mediators in case tension kept on growing against the Palpadia Empire.

The envoys embarked on a Coast Guard battleship, accompanied by four destroyers, one aircraft carrier, two corvettes, ten frigates, and four submarines, to protect them from potential pirate encounters.

After a half-day journey, they arrived at the Holy Milishial Empire, only to be rejected because the Empire was isolated from outside civilizations. The envoys were furious and wanted to retaliate, but they restrained themselves to avoid causing a scene. They then returned to their Coast Guard vessel and set sail towards the Second Civilization to reach Mu.

As they approached the Republic of Mu's territorial waters, they prepared to establish contact and announce their intentions before entering.

Captain Redbeard of the Coast Guard took his radio and communicated. [Attention. This is the Solstice Empire's envoy vessel, requesting permission for innocent passage through your territorial waters. Our intentions are peaceful, and we seek to engage in diplomatic relations. Over.] He waited for a response.

After a few minutes, a reply came. [This is the Coast Guard of the Republic of Mu. Your request has been acknowledged. Stand by for routine inspections.]

All Solstice vessels halted and descended to the waterline, activating their invisibility cloaks to hide, leaving only the Coast Guard visible. After half an hour of waiting, the Mu Coast Guard finally arrived.

In the Mu Coast Guard control room, the captain observed the Solstice Empire's vessel, initially mistaking it for a battleship due to its identical turrets. He realized it was a Coast Guard ship only by the "Solstice Coast Guard" (SCG) markings on its sides.

As they approached, the Mu captain marveled at the colossal size of the Solstice Coast Guard ship, which dwarfed their own vessel. "Look at that ship, such a colossal ship being classified as a Coast Guard," he remarked, realizing the need to photograph it and send it to headquarters.

Republic of Mu, Ainank Air Force Base, 10:24 AM

On a busy road, Technical Officer Myrus was riding in a taxi on his way to Ainank Base, reading a newspaper.

As the car sped along the concrete road, it eventually transitioned to a dirt road. Following the path, it wasn't long before they reached Ainank Base. The taxi pulled into an available parking spot, and Myrus quickly exited the vehicle and headed towards the building to meet with his colleagues. Upon entering, he was greeted by two officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I am Technical Officer Myrus, reporting for duty," Myrus introduced himself.

"You finally arrived! Everyone, he may be young, but he is one of the best technical officers in the army," a fellow officer said.

"Hello, Mr. Myrus. It is wonderful to have you here," one of the officials said, extending his hand for a handshake. Myrus took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Let's get straight to the point. Just now, a ship from the Solstice Empire entered our waters carrying a diplomat. We want you to assess their technology as an emerging country," the official explained.

"You mean the country that defeated the Kingdom of Louria, which had been building up its army for years to reunite the entire Rodenius continent, only to fall apart due to the intervention of this country?" Myrus asked.

"Yes, that's them. Just a few hours ago, they sent a ship to open diplomatic relations. What caught our interest was this photograph taken by our Coast Guard," the official said, placing a photo on the table.

"It's an all-metal ship with no sail or detectable magic, as our magic detectors didn't register anything," the other official added, unaware that the Solstice Empire possesses magic technology that blocks magic detection entirely.

"According to the Solsticians, this is a patrol ship, not a warship. The hull of the ship is marked 'Starlight.' It's really big, according to our Coast Guards," he continued.

Myrus analyzed the information. "If they used Magic Stone, we would detect it, but we couldn't, so the Solstice Empire must be using something similar to ours," he speculated.

"But seeing the size of their turret, I can say that even though this is just a patrol ship, it could potentially go toe-to-toe with our battleships. However, with only one turret, we could outgun them," Myrus observed, examining the photo for hidden weapons or features.

"Myrus, you may be exaggerating, but since you're the expert, I'll believe what you say. Also, the Solstice declared they would be arriving using an aircraft," the official said.

This confused Myrus. "What do you mean by aircraft? This ship is definitely not a carrier. It isn't equipped like an aircraft carrier!" Myrus exclaimed. "Wait, are they going to use a seaplane?" he wondered aloud.

"Calm down, Myrus. Using a seaplane might be the most logical answer," the official replied.

"In any case, they will be here for a week. We want you to show them our technology and assess their level of technology," the other official added.

Thinking for a moment, Myrus responded, "I understand the importance of the mission, and I accept it. When are they arriving here with an aircraft?"

Looking at his wristwatch, the official said, "I think they should be arriving within a few minutes."

"Excuse me, sir. I'll be waiting for their arrival to greet them personally," Myrus said as he left the building. A few minutes later, he heard a strange noise coming from the sky. He looked around but couldn't see anything.

"Strange, where is that sound coming from?" he wondered aloud. Suddenly, a large object slowly materialized in the sky.

The sudden appearance of the aircraft shocked him. He noticed that it had no wings or propeller, yet there was still wind coming from it. 'Is this an aircraft? This thing resembles an ancient theory, but how is it flying without a propeller? ' he thought.

As it landed, Myrus couldn't take his eyes off the advanced technology. Once it touched down, a hatch opened, revealing two people in very expensive-looking tuxedos.

'Calm yourself, Myrus. Don't embarrass yourself by tripping in front of diplomats,' he reminded himself as he walked towards them to greet the guests.

"Welcome to the Republic of Mu. I am Myrus, a technical officer, and I will be your guide during your stay here," Myrus said, extending his hand for a handshake. The diplomat took his hand and returned the gesture.

He noted that their complexion was pale as a corpse but shrugged it off, believing that it must be their regular skin color.

"Thank you for having us. I am Damien BloodFallen from the Solstice Department of Foreign Affairs, and this is Drusilla BloodMoon from the Department of Business," Damien introduced. "We look forward to our visit to your country."

Now that introductions were done, Myrus thought of showcasing their technology. "Allow me to tour you around the Ainak Air Force Base," he said, guiding them to a nearby aircraft.

"This base was originally built for refugee camps until 1605 when the 35th President was elected. Ainak Air Force Base is used for both civilian and military aircraft, so it functions as an open airport," he explained as they approached the aircraft.

'The Marin is our latest military aircraft. It's impressive, isn't it? ' Myrus thought to himself.

"This here is our most advanced fighter aircraft, the Marin, equipped with a machine synchronized with the propeller for increased hit probability," he said, showing the aircraft to the diplomats.

Damien and Drusilla examined the aircraft closely. "So this is your country's most advanced fighter aircraft. It's nice to see it in person. Mr. Myrus, what is the maximum speed of this aircraft?" Drusilla asked.

"Yes, this is our most advanced aircraft, with a maximum speed of 380 kph, currently the second fastest aircraft," Myrus replied.

"This biplane fighter looks identical to the FIAT CR.32. It's old tech, but it's nice to see one still in use," Drusilla said, taking pictures.

"This plane should be powered by a radial engine, if I remember correctly," Damien added, both comments confusing Myrus.

'Is she calling our state-of-the-art Marin old? And how did he know about the radial engine? That information was never made public. Did someone leak it, or do they have similar technology?' Myrus wondered.

"Excuse me, may I know what type of internal combustion engine your aircraft uses?" he asked, hoping for an answer.

"Our aircraft don't use combustion engines. We use something called a quantum reactor," Damien answered, taking out an aircraft picture book.

"Here, Mr. Myrus, you can see some of our aircraft in this book. Consider it a souvenir from us," Damien said, handing the book to Myrus.

"Thank you for the gift," Myrus said, immediately opening the book to assess the technological prowess of the Solstice Empire's aircraft.

"So this is a book about your advanced aircraft. The paper is so smooth; it's a very nice book," Myrus said, opening it. He looked shocked when he noticed the aircraft did not have any propellers. 'How... How can this thing fly without a propeller!? Are they also using that so-called quantum reactor? ' he thought.

Myrus was puzzled as to why they would willingly show him this. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Damien, is it really alright to reveal this to us? I mean, the military should always keep such things secret, right?" he asked.

"To answer your question, all the pictures in that book are considered outdated. The engines these aircraft use are called turbofan or fanjet, but all of them have already been decommissioned, so it's quite alright," Damien said, noting that the book contained no further sensitive information.

"I see. So, what is the top speed of this aircraft, if you don't mind me asking?" Myrus said, pointing to a picture of a jet fighter.

Looking at the picture Myrus was pointing to, Damien replied, "That is an FS-15 fighter jet, with a top speed of Sonicron 2.5."

Never having heard of Sonicron before, Myrus asked, "Sonicron? What is that? I've never heard of it."

"Sonicron is equal to the speed of sound, so Sonicron 2.5 is approximately 3,087 kph, so that would be 2 and half the speed of sound," Damien explained.

Myrus couldn't believe that what they considered an outdated aircraft was that fast. 'How? The Marin can only do 380 kph. Just what kind of technology allows them to exceed the speed of sound? ' he thought.

"That's wonderful and astonishing to be able to go faster than the speed of sound." Myrus was concerned about this, if they were to engage in battle, the Marin would be a sitting duck against Solstice aircraft.

"Please follow me, we will continue our tour," Myrus said, guiding them to the parking lot where the taxi he rode in was still parked. As they got closer, he opened the door for the diplomats to get in.

Expecting a reaction upon seeing the car, Myrus was surprised when neither diplomat reacted. 'Strange, everyone usually reacts when they see a car. Do they also have cars in their country? ' he wondered.

As the car started moving, Drusilla said, "Hey Damien, doesn't this car look like a complete replica of the MGTW before it was replaced by HT?"

"Yes, it does look the same. It brings back old memories," Damien replied.

Hearing this, Myrus thought, 'Replica? So they do have cars like ours. I may need to visit their country to see it for myself, but for now, I hope this tour goes smoothly.'

Their trip went smoothly with almost no traffic, reaching the Mu Shipyard Military Outpost, where most of their ships were docked. Upon arrival, Myrus guided them toward their flagship.

"Allow me to show you our latest warship, the La Kasumi," Myrus said, presenting the battleship to the diplomats with pride.

"Ah, a battleship. This brings back old memories," Damien said, recalling the time when the first two Supreme Beings decided to convert the Guild into a country. They built many battleships, including the Petunia, the fifteenth battleship. The Petunia was only commissioned for two months before being replaced by a much more advanced battleship.

The Petunia and the La Kasumi looked almost identical, with the main differences being that the La Kasumi was slightly smaller, had smaller guns, and was powered purely by diesel.

"Damien, take a picture of me with this battleship," Drusilla said, handing her camera to Damien.

'I finally got a good reaction! They are impressed by our most advanced state-of-the-art warship,' Myrus thought with satisfaction.

"I have to admit, I am quite impressed. This battleship almost looks like a replica of the Petunia," Damien said, taking out a juice box from his inventory.

'A replica of the Petunia?' Myrus wondered. "Excuse me, is this Petunia Battleship you speak of similar to our La Kasumi?"

"Yes, it is very similar. The Petunia was only commissioned for two months before being decommissioned and replaced by a more advanced battleship. Her Majesty decided to turn the Petunia into a tourist museum," Damien explained.

'WHAT? They had a similar ship, and it was only commissioned for two months. That's way too short of a service for a battleship!' Myrus thought, baffled by the short commission time.

Damien then took out a picture from his inventory and showed it to Myrus. "Here, take a look. This is the Petunia Battleship. You can see for yourself how similar our battleships are to yours."

Looking at the detailed, colored picture, Myrus noted the similarities to their own battleship. However, what caught his eye was that the Petunia was floating, and its turret was glowing as if it were about to fire. The photo was taken during a battle against the Trinity Kingdom back in Yggdrasil.

This was confusing to him, as he had never seen a ship float in the sky before. The closest thing he had encountered was the Holy Milishial Pal Chimera, which, for some reason, was classified as a warship. 

"Is the Solstice ship actually floating, or is it just an illusion caused by the camera angle?" he asked Damien, wanting to confirm what he was seeing.

"Yes, it is indeed floating. All of our ships can float like that," Damien confirmed.

Hearing this, Myrus struggled to grasp the extent of the Solstice's technological prowess. 'We cannot measure the technological prowess of the Solstice by our standards. This could be a problem. I need to report this as soon as possible,' he thought, as he began guiding the diplomats back to the car to take them to the museum to show them a bit of their history and origin.

Arriving at the Mu Historical Museum, Myrus guided Damien and Drusilla inside until the official tour guide arrived. As they waited, both Damien and Drusilla observed the numerous paintings on display.

After a short wait, the museum guide arrived. "Welcome to the Mu Historical Museum. Please follow the indicated route."

Following the route, they observed various artifacts. The guide explained, "In addition, another civilization existed alongside Mu before they merged together: the Great Civilization of Atlantis."

Damien and Drusilla, though uninterested, masked their disinterest politely.

"That was over 12,000 years ago, before the great continental transference that brought us to this world," the guide continued.

They stopped at a globe. "And here is a map of where we came from, the planet Terra."

"Interesting, so you also have a map of Earth," Drusilla remarked, scrutinizing the map for accuracy compared to theirs.

Myrus, following behind them, was puzzled. "Do you also know about Terra?" he asked.

"No, not really, but Her Majesty and the other supreme rulers do know of this planet. We called it Earth because that is its current name," Drusilla replied, still analyzing the globe.

Damien, also examining the globe, noted, "This map looks a bit different, but understandably, it should be since this is an old map." He then addressed Myrus, "You see, in this land, this is now called Asia, and this one is the Unified American Continent." Damien took out a device from his inventory, projecting a holographic map.

When the holographic map was activated, Myrus was taken aback by the Solstice's technological capabilities. "This is the current map of this planet called Earth," Damien stated, showing it to Myrus, who gazed at it in surprise. Nothing much had changed except for the fact that most of the land had disappeared.

Myrus was astounded to see the map immediately projected from such a little device. "Is this what Terra currently looks like, and what happened? Because it was missing a large portion of its land?" Myrus inquired, curious about what had happened to that region.

"We only knew a little, but from what I know, the ocean began rising when the continent they called Antarctica began melting due to the increasing pollution," he informed Myrus. Explaining what he knew so far, which he discovered while Darkor and Darnathil were conversing in the Imperial Hall.

While analyzing the information he had acquired from the diplomats, one of the things that piqued his interest was how they knew or had this knowledge; hence, he believed they were also Terrans. "Does that mean you also came from Terra if you guys knew of this?"

"We do not come from Earth, Mr. Myrus, we come from Yggdrasil. We know about this planet because Her Majesty and the other Supreme Beings used to visit it every day," Damien said, adjusting the map to show Yggdrasil.

Damien went on to explain what he was permitted to divulge, showing Myrus the Yggdrasil and Earth, as well as their respective histories. Meanwhile, Drusilla followed the directions and detected a magical mana source. She tracked it back to an artifact, which turned out to be a global object.

"And here we have what we call the unbreakable paper. We tried tearing a small piece to see what it was made of but to no avail. That's why we called it unbreakable because we couldn't rip a piece off," the guide added, unaware of the artifact's true origins.

'How did this get here?' Drusilla wondered, attempting to determine whether she was hallucinating. She was looking at a global artifact known as the Sanctified Doom, which brought widespread death to all characters below level 120. The only method to counter this item was to achieve level 130 or above or to have another world item to counter it. 

Drusilla instantly cast a communication spell rather than using the equipment to relay her findings. 'Messages.' [This is Drusilla, and I have something to report.]

[This is Dominus, what did you find?] Dominus inquired while performing tests on captive goblins.

[I found something concerning, a world item, specifically the Sanctified Doom. Fortunately, the Muish don't know how to use it or what it is,] Drusilla reported. Hearing this, Dominus paused his work.

Her Majesty will definitely be interested in this worldly thing, Sanctified Doom. [I'll transmit your report to Her Majesty. For the time being, do your responsibilities and avoid doing anything that may alert them,] Dominus said, removing his gloves and preparing to return to the Solstice Empire via the magic portal. [We will dispatch some shadow demons and doppelgangers to keep a watch on the World Item.]

[Understood], Drusilla said, disconnecting the call. She returned to Damien, who had completed explaining everything to the pale Myrus.

"Drusilla, did you enjoy sightseeing around the museum?" Damien asked, sensing her discomfort, though she hid it well from Myrus.

"Yes, I did enjoy it," Drusilla replied.

"Mr. Myrus, I think it would be good to leave now so we can rest," Damien suggested.

Recovering slightly from what he had heard, Myrus said, "Oh, right. Please follow me. We've already prepared a room for you at a nearby hotel where you can stay." He then led Damien and Drusilla out of the museum.

Solstice Empire, Sunspire State, Aginite Harbor

After a week, the diplomat designated for the Palpadia Empire awaited the arrival of the Nova Fury, one of the most advanced battleships in the Solstice fleet. This formidable vessel could submerge like a submarine and was equipped with a divine-class magical barrier. It boasted six double-barrel particle beam turrets capable of striking targets at any distance. Additionally, the ship was armed with numerous kinetic gun turrets positioned around its sides, and the ship was powered by the Quantum Star Engine, an upgrade from the previous Quantum Pegasus Engine.

The chosen diplomat for this mission was Custodian Reginald. The Solstice Empire, having developed a strong animosity toward the Palpadians due to their use of slaves, was considering aggressive actions against them.

As the Nova Fury docked, Reginald prepared to board the ship. Before doing so, he needed to meet with the captain of the vessel. When the battleship finally came to a stop, a gate was cast to transport Reginald aboard. One of the ship's captains emerged from the gate and knelt, acknowledging the Custodians' higher status, only surpassed by the empress and other supreme beings.

"Greetings, High Steward. I am Count Dracula, the captain of this vessel. It is our greatest honor to have the privilege of escorting you to Palpadia. Please follow me," Dracula said, pointing toward the entrance.

"Good day to you, Count Dracula, from this moment on, I place myself in your care," Reginald said as they approached the gate.