Chapter 34: Rich History of Terminal Decline

The girls were still fighting. Lux was tossed across the road after one triumphant roared from Melodina. To my surprise the normally harmless Cy blew the succubus mid-charge across the ground with [Photon RIng]. Melodina was tossed like a rag doll from the blast. Still the girl refused to go down.

But let ignored the fact the Melodina was running past Cy trench bombing and succeeded in beating her in the [Photon Shield]. We had more interesting thing to focus on.

For example: politic.

Unlike Melodina, her mother Ebony was quite a conversationalist. She explained the situation quite nicely as well.

"My husband, Majesty, was the previous emperor's younger brother in charge of the Continent's administration. It was a thankless job. The entire dynasty save my husband was a complete loser at bureaucracy."

"Wow," I sipped the tea as Lux's flew into a badly maintained wooden fence. Melodina had one mean punch. "At this point I am fascinated that Aztellic Empire actuallly survived for...(okay at this point I admit I fell flat) How long is it again?"

"95 years," Ebony sighed. "We have 6 emperor. The first one died in battle. The second one was assassinate by the outside force. The third was placed there by Emma Enterprise who removed him once he become a handful. The forth end up like the third. The previous emperor, all thing divine rest his sensible soul, was my husband's older brother and superior. He was poisoned and my husband was slated to be the next emperor because he was incredibly popular with the common-folk."

"He sound like a nice guy?" I said and tried to sympathize with her. "Given how you end up. I guess didn't end well. I gave my condolences but what happened to the royal guard? Isn't it their job to protect the emperor?"

"The royal guard was the one who assassinated most of the emperor," Ebony said humorlessly. "Including the first one."

"Oh." Wow, the system was not broken, at this point, I think it was non-existent. "Now I don't think I am going to like the answer: but who would want to be the emperor at this point?"

"Seriously, I don't know how to answer that one. " Scathach said. "The emperor of Demonic Continent was infamous for being a bonehead idiot who gave out enough bribe to maintain his position. Then when the treasury ran dry they had to raid another continent and then the cycle of bribing and raiding repeat. It was only the extremely hatred center propaganda that kept the citizen from rebelling. The Aztellic Dynasty also drank the pill they feed their citizen and produce some of the most entitled bastards I had ever seen. The only white sheep in the system is Majasty and they executed him when the man who became the current emperor bribed the imperial guard and noble to back him up on the throne."

Melodies and Lux wrestled each other on the ground. Lux lost the strength matched and got pinned down. Yet, I was cheering inside when my elf buddy sent Melodina was steaming from electric shock.

"Isn't Majesty beloved by the people."

Ebony sighed.

"My husband pleaded his innocence in public but no one wanted to be his lawyer." Ebony said. "The current emperor, Jekyll Wilson, bought the entire court. As you may guess our legal system was as terminally ill as our bureaucracy ."

"What about the people?"

Cy, defying all odd, got in a tackle that send Melodina off-balance allowing Lux to land in an electrical shock and tipped her over.

"The people?" Ebony snorted. "They are a bunch of coward! The Dynasty already whipped them into docile masses. You know what is the favorite saying among commoner? 'Join the military for bribe and glory.'"

I almost choke.

"Let me guess this straight," I raised my hand. "Your emperor bribe the court and the military took bribe from the citizen. Given the saying, the citizen was willing to took bribe from whoever on the job and what about the Bureaucrat and the police? Are you telling me that everyone in the Demonic Continent has no standard."

"Young man, the police is part of the military." Ebony zipped her tea. "And let me confirmed your suspicion. Our economy was run on bribery."

In the back ground Mel breathed fire, torching the hem out of Cy's summer dress. Lux duck behind her landed a high kick on her neck, shutting off the fire.

What could I say at this point? Let them fight.

"So let me put this straight. Your country was ran by arrogant despot who don't know how to run an empire. Your sovereign consisted of 2 count of foreign manipulation and 2 more assassination victim. All emperor so far was murdered. The entire country's best solution is bribing. Your GDP consisted of plunder and slave trade. To top this of with the icing, your smartest government official was tried under a rigged trail and executed."

"No he was torture, got four of his limbs amputated and executed," Scathach topped of the grisly detail. "The Aztellic are not just incompetent kid. They are pointlessly cruel."

Ebony shrank down in a catonic shell. I guess some wound would never heal.

"Great, now I get why you run away with your baby." I said. "But what do you meant that Melodina was your only hope."

Ebony looked at her bickering daughter solemnly.

"Melodina was, by blood, fit to take the Aztellic throne and remove our pursuer from power," Ebony said. "She had to survive and grew powerful enough to contest for it. But the deck was stack against her. That bastard Wilson have spies everywhere. The moment she tried to rally any forces, Wilson will detect it and take her down. Plus, no one would want to back-up the heir to the throne of the hated Aztellic."

"Yeah," I said. "Gave up on the throne."

That one hit both of them by surprise. On our background the bruised princess of the Demonic Continent slammed the disciples of Nuwa into the ground with a beautiful duplex before turning to face the former heir of the Drakokia clan. Now that I think about it...the girls in my group all had an interesting past weren't they.

"What do you mean give up on the throne?" Ebony said looking at me like I grew a third head.

"Yes, Ebony and I already talk about this," Scathach said. "You want to recruit Melodina right?"

"Yes, but I hate having power I didn't need or deserve." I said. "Think about it. What do you truly want? Please tell me you didn't want to actually put your daughter on the throne of tragedy? Assuming Melodina took over the throne, would things get any better. She will just be replacing the figure head until someone essentially got her or she died of natural course. When that happen we are back to square one. No, if you truly want peace and happiness, you need to prove that concept can actually exist in a country fated to die."

Melodina and Lux traded punch after punch. Melodina was without a twice as strong but Lux was much faster and she was nothing but determined.

"You cannot change the system by changing the administrator." I said. "Even if we, through some incredible odd, put her on that chair it would just be like swapping a battery. To rule, you need keys to power, namely the noble and the resource management. The people would likely raze all the citizen's food, flee outside or sabotage country defense at anytime to get on Emma Enterprise's good side when you actually takeover. Trust me your country would not be able to reorganized itself in time if you are dealing with a succession crisis, a civil war, a trade cut and invasion for people who wanted payback. What is your trade figure the last time? What is your food production? What is the wealth disparity? Do you think the citizen would get up and help you sail to victory instead of being bribe into rebellion? Do you think Emma would not cut all the trade channel the moment you try to cut off from them? If all of that happen, you had to feed an entire continent while fending of spies and unrest. It would be a good thing if your continent could feed itself, and I believe it could. You had to remember that all the bribing meant that all the wealth and resource of the nation lies not with the king nor the citizen but the noble who would likely flee at first sight of trouble and taking everything with them."

"What are you trying to say?" Ebony said.

"The throne price is overrated. The power lies with the key to power. Those guys cannot be removed or else the Aztellic Dynasty would collapse even faster than it already is."

"We can just purge them and redistribute the wealth." Ebony said with the hint of steel.

"That would work but there more than one noble. Are you going to kill them all?"

"I will remove as much of them as I have too."

"What about the families of those you removed. They would certainly want payback."

"I will put them under control?" Ebony said. "A house arrest would be fine."

"What if they ran before hand?" I said. "I don't think Demonic Continent sign any contract to transport prisoner cross country."

Ebony struck hard and I pressed further.

"I guess you didn't sign it afterall or they considered the assassination of the last emperor and the stance of the current one breach of contract purpose for diplomatic peace and guarantee reform. You should realize that your life work already went up in smoke along time ago."

I looked in the distance horizon.

"Emma Enterprise still need your continent as a beat stick. And given that they had the power to pull the rug under you no matter what you do. A will admit the you had the chance to take back your husband prestige but is that what you truly want?"

Ebony stayed silent.

"Are you telling me to let him died in vain?"

"Funny, it really funny when you think about," I said. "I want to laugh but the raw bitterness of the situation is unbelievable."

"What is it about my life is funny?" Ebony finally snapped. "I was chased from my home, my husband was murder, everyone I know think I am dead and I have to raise one daughter without any help. I had to teach her how to be stood for herself when everyone call her a demon spawn and watch as she grew up far from the only land that welcome her. What is so funny about that?"

Scathach tried to stop us but I waved her down.

I looked back at Ebony and told the hard truth.

"It so funny because if Melodina actually get to the throne, there will be another noble family who had to run from their home. Maybe another widow who had to raised her child alone, telling the kid about the evil queen and her mother who destroyed the life of their father and force them to ran away from their homeland. Maybe they will tell the story about how their father receive a 'fair' trial and got off to be hang drawn and quarter like certain man who name happened to be MAJESTY? Irony is the greatest joke of them all."

I emphasized on that last. The message had to be clear.

"Here is a thing Ebony. When Melodina tried to reclaim that throne, it will be a war. Even if you win despite the deck stacking higher than Everest. You will still lost because you never achieve your objective. You see every war have a loser. And those loser, they will be an exact clone of you. They will wait and dream for payback. That how you guys got in this mess in the first place. Your emperor either die a saint or rule like a demon who hunt down helpless woman and children to quell rebellion."

"It..." Ebony was lost for word.

"How much life would be lost when you took that throne? Do you ever think about it?"

In the distance, the bruised Lux delivered a final uppercut, knocking out Melodina, and immortalized the winner of this argument. Giving a small smile to herself, she fainted face first into the ground.

Ebony couldn't answer that question. It would likely never occur to her in her grief. She would likely never see the people who executed her husband as people. Never think that they had happiness, love one or family.

"You cannot break a cycle by ruling over it." I said looking at the glum out Ebony. "I know you don't know what to do. So I will told you about a certain man."

"I had a feeling I know this man," Scathach muttered.

"When this man was born, his world end and he was jetted of to another. He was raised in the world he never belong. Yet, despite having every reason to be bitter about it, he enjoyed what he have and protect with every fiber of power he could muster. He have ultimate power yet never forced his ideal on anyone. He didn't rule over people or judge them as a god despite the fact that it would be easy for him. No he used that overwhelming power to help them up. He believed that nothing couldn't be saved or that it shouldn't be. And somehow I end up believing in what he preached. That the people I fight is a people not a dispensable robot. So I am going to tell you this: instead figuring out how to get a throne started to figure out how to convince them that there is a better way."

"Oh it that guy." Scathach groaned. "Get real kid. Superman isn't real."

"I know but tell me what exactly did your dear Cu Chulian inspired."

Scathach shut up when march into a battle she couldn't win. And as the sun began to set white aura shined around me.