The Dwarves

The Empire has a Public Relations Department tasked with keeping a positive image of the Empire to outsiders. They also took control of Edward's Universe Web's social network page, posting some information and update. So, as soon as Huki said Edward's name, the other mercenaries recognized the Arcane Emperor, the man labeled as one of the most mysterious people in the Milky Way.

During the years of the war, the man rarely showed up, yet, his Empire prospered. Furthermore, his love for the people has not been affected despite his absence. On the contrary, his disappearance and mystery seemed to increase his rating amongst his citizen.

"Your majesty," said Huki Ironflame.

"There is no need for formality. You can be considered an acquaintance."

Huki hesitated only for a moment before nodding. Then, he said with a wry smile: "I never thought you were such an important person."

"Back then, it was not necessary to reveal my identity. Plus, you wouldn't know who I was even if I did."

"True," replied Huki. The wonderful thing about the Arcane Empire is their existence only became known to the galaxy in the past decades. And the moment they showed in the world stage, they became a Tier 8 Civilization. And not long afterward, it was revealed they were secretly a Tier 9 Civilization.

"So, what brings you here?" asked Huki. Before Edward could respond, the barrier protecting the barricade these mercenaries hid in began to tremble.

"We won't hold on for long," screamed one of the Tier 6 Mage managing the barrier. Another Tier 6 Archer used a spell called [Anima Vision], allowing it to display what was happening outside their camp through the eyes of a trained hawk in the sky.

The group could see a large group of undead, led by a Tier 7 Mummy. They immediately concluded that they could not survive this attack, so some people began to ponder whether they should run away and abandon protecting the target. However, considering the latter's identity, they might end up being hunted afterward. And with the galaxy completely blocked, there was nowhere they could run to.

"Let me help you before we can talk," said Edward, instantly giving everybody hope as they finally remembered someone important was in their presence. Some astute mercenaries like Huki and the client could already tell Edward was powerful when he appeared in this room, completely ignoring the barrier.

Edward calmly raised his hand to manifest a golden light. The light then spread from his body to envelop the entire planet, and everywhere it passed, it instantly purified the undead legions. The Second Commander, the Mummy, tried to resist, but it was futile.

'That's the power of Tier 8,' thought Huki. 'I guess he was hiding his power when I met him.' The dwarf would never believe someone to go from Tier 5 to Tier 8 in about 20 years since he met Edward. So, he concluded the latter hid his strength when they met.

"This planet contains large veins of Mithril. It's a great resource for the Empire," muttered Edward, and everyone could hear him. These mercenaries instantly became envious, thinking about how precious this planet was. However, they did not dare have any other thoughts about who was before them. Just the fact the latter was Tier 8 was a deterrence enough, not to mention an entire Empire behind the man.

"Where were we?" said Edward as he looked at the group.

"I asked why were you here?" replied Huki as his intuition told him this acquaintance's presence was not usual.

"One of my advisors divine that I could have a fateful meeting on this planet. I thought it was you, but now I know who it was referring to, King Thazmin Stronghelm."

Thazmin Stronghelm, King of the Stronghelm Kingdom, a Tier 7 Civilization of the Dwarf Race. He was a short man, about 1.3 meters, with long brown hair and a beard. He did not have a crown since he had to hide his identity for this mission.

Thazmin had a severe look on his face as he looked at Edward. Although the dwarves were known for being straightforward and honest, the same did not apply to him as a ruler. He needed to be intelligent, cunning, and observant to deal with foreign relations.

And the moment he saw Edward, many things came to mind. He first pondered whether the Arcane Emperor came to kidnap him to serve as a form of political bargaining. Although the Empire had a positive image, Thazmin had to be weary and think for the worse.

Secondly, when he learned that Edward was Tier 8, he understood how terrifying the Arcane Empire was. During this entire war, the highest-level any individual of the Empire had displayed–including the royal family–was Tier 7. And yet, through magical technology, the Empire was the least affected by this war.

However, he also learned the Empire never used its full power since the Emperor never participated in any battles, and he appeared to be the most powerful individual.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Emperor Edward Bones."

"The pleasure is all mine. But why are you in this faraway place without any protection from your kingdom."

Thazmin did not answer, and Edward smiled in return. "There is no need for them to be on guard. You should understand the Empire's purpose by now, as we have not tried to hide it. You should also understand if we wanted to be the aggressor, no one could stop us."

Thazmin knew of the Arcane Empire's ambitions to conquer the galaxy by using the current chaos to force different races and factions to surrender to them. He had already analyzed the situation with his advisors and knew their race had no choice but to surrender eventually.

The Stronghelm Kingdom survived the Fall of Darkness for a few reasons. Guzznad placed little emphasis on them since they were only a Tier 7 Civilization.

Second, the Elf Kingdom and the Starkins race went out of their way to protect them. These two factions knew the importance of weapons in a war, and the dwarves could manufacture a large quantity of them. Although the dwarves did not have an Enchantment System, they were the best blacksmiths in the galaxy.

Furthermore, these races only needed to outsource the forging part to the dwarves, and they would do the rest. And the dwarves were very important since the elves and Starskins did not have the best enchantment to purify undead, but they had materials with purification powers.

And through their blacksmithing methods, the dwarves could forge Purification Magical Weapons.

Thazmin took the opportunity of the chaos to unite all the dwarves not part of the kingdom under the promise of protection. Unfortunately, as the war proceeded, the Elves and Starskins could not even protect themselves, let alone others.

So, the dwarves allied with scattered races or civilizations affected by the war. They would supply weapons to these people, and they would fight and protect themselves and the Stronghelm Kingdom. But even then, Thazmin had to ask the Arcane Empire for help a few times to survive a few calamities.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness," said Thazmin. "I'm ashamed–especially considering the dwarves owe you a great debt."

"It's fine."

Thazmin sighed, "I came here because I heard the news that a Star Mana Core might be on this planet. But as you can see, the news was false, and I believe I was betrayed and lured here."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Luckily, you've arrived."

Edward nodded. "Star Mana Core. That's a precious thing."

As the name implied, this was a core formed at the center of a star or planet by condensing all the mana of the star into one object. The core is the ultimate form of energy, similar to an Aether Core, and can be used for various purposes.

Edward did not care about the Star Mana Core since the Aether Core was better. Furthermore, with the Mana Grid, he could not artificially manufacture one if he wanted.

"Let me guess; you wanted to elevate Chaosview to a higher Tier?"