Chapter 9: The Fall of the Louria Kingdom

(Content Warning: Graphic Violence and Inhumane Acts: This chapter contains scenes of extreme violence and inhumane acts that some readers may find disturbing. It includes graphic depictions of death and physical harm.)

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Qua-Toyne, Capital Conference Garden, 12:02 PM

Upon receiving news about Ejie and the swift recapture of Gim, the high officials convened an emergency senate session. The astonishing speed of the operation, coupled with the absence of casualties, plunged some senators into chaos. They found it hard to believe such a feat was possible. Concurrently, Prime Minister Kanata received an invitation from the Solstice Empire.

"They obliterated the Lourian forces in mere minutes!" one senator exclaimed.

"How many powerful mages do they possess? To achieve such a task, it would take perhaps thousands of mages," another wondered.

"We couldn't even detect their mana essence signature. It's as if they don't possess mana at all, yet they can still perform magic. Are they akin to the Republic of Mu?" a third senator queried.

"I heard from Yagou that they do possess magic, but it's different from ours," a fourth senator added.

"Has there been any word from the Solstice yet?" another senator asked.

"I heard that the battlefield smells like a decaying corpse," a senator commented.

"Isn't that similar to the legend about the Ancient Magi-Empire?" another senator questioned.

"No, it's not. I've never seen any records about the Ancient Magi-Empire making the battlefield smell like a decaying corpse," a senator countered.

Prime Minister Kanata, seeing the room in disarray, called for order. "Everyone, please, we are about to start the session. They sent us news today, which aligns with what I was informed of. They also extended an invitation to their capital, but we will discuss this later," he said, capturing everyone's attention.

"Now then, as I mentioned earlier, they provided us with news that matches our intelligence reports. They also proposed that they would be heading to Louria to capture King Haag of the Louria Kingdom," he continued, unaware that the trial wasn't really part of Empress Christine's goal. The Solsticians had simply misinterpreted their Empress's intention to meet the king of Louria.

"Isn't that a good thing? If they confront Louria and win, we would have nothing to fear, right?" a senator asked.

"Well, since they want to do this, it's better not to interfere. We might just hold them back," another senator suggested.

"But what if they turn their swords on us? It doesn't really benefit them to cooperate with us. We would be considered undeveloped, despite all the infrastructure we've built. They haven't even allowed something they call 'Aether Energy' and 'Electricity,' both of which are similar to one another," a senator worried.

"They also haven't allowed foreigners to enter or leave their Empire," another senator pointed out.

"But we can't do anything. All we can do right now is rely on the Solstice Empire," a senator conceded.

"Yes, all we can do now is rely on the Solstice. Without them, we would have already fallen to Louria's military might," Prime Minister Kanata agreed.

"I know that the battle may seem unbelievable, so I wanted to confirm that all of those reports are true. Please do not spread false rumors. I do not want our relationship with the Solstice to be ruined," he continued.

Hearing this, they all agreed. They did not want to antagonize the Solstice Empire. "Now, about the invitation, let's discuss it. Just a few minutes before I arrived, Tharon gave me a letter of invitation, directly from their Empress. They also invited Quila," he informed them.

"They're inviting us? For what?" a senator asked.

Prime Minister Kanata then pulled out the invitation letter he was given. The paper was made of gold, which confused them a bit. They knew that gold was extremely valuable, so seeing gold casually used as paper was surprising. They assumed that the paper was only accessible to their ruler, unaware that almost all papers in Solstice were made of gold.

Prime Minister Kanata was still stunned by the paper being made of gold and the quality of the paper. It took him a few minutes to start reading, as he was completely taken aback by the paper and began to wonder about its value. "Is this paper made of gold or something?" he asked.

Taking out the paper, he started reading the contents of the letter. "Mr. Prime Minister Kanata, Her Majesty Empress Christine Atien Margintin has sent us an invitation along with the Quila leader," he said.

"Mr. Prime Minister, what is the invitation for?" a senator asked.

"It's written here that the Solstice Empire has allowed us to acquire technology from the era they call the Victoria era. If this is an advancement, then let's seize this opportunity to move forward," he told them.

They continued discussing whether this acquisition would be a good choice and if there would be strings attached. They never thought that acquiring advanced technology would be possible, as even the Holy Milishial Empire from the 1st civilization and the Republic of Mu from the 2nd civilization, considered the most advanced countries in this world, don't even allow the sale of their old tech to anyone. After further discussion, they finally reached a decision or agreement. Seeing the benefits they would get from the Solstice Tech when he visited the Solstice to finalize the document, and seeing their technology firsthand, he knew that he was making the right decision.

"Now that we've all decided, I'll send a message to Solstice that we've agreed to visit them to discuss this further," he said, before dismissing them.

Louria Kingdom, Jin-Haag 4:24 PM

Patagene was outdoors, marshaling his troops to march towards Qua-Toyne to bolster their forces on the front line. Unbeknownst to them, their entire force had been decimated in the Solstice Empire Attack. They were busy loading crates and barrels filled with weapons and food supplies into the carriage.

As they loaded the supplies, they were oblivious to the large ship called Stardust Dreadnought that had appeared in the sky. This ship, which only the supreme being was permitted to use, was armed with a triple-barrel Cosmic Wave Discharger, similar to a wave motion cannon, and a Terra Nova Impactor, a prototype designed to obliterate an entire planet. The ship remained camouflaged by invisibility to prevent anyone from spotting it.

On the ground, Patagene, who was still overseeing the loading of supplies, had a sudden feeling that something was amiss. However, he dismissed it, not believing that the capital would be attacked so soon.

On the Dreadnought, Christine was observing the city through a holographic screen, witnessing the medieval world lifestyle for the first time. "Order the Marines to get into their launch pod. We will be starting our invasion," she commanded. The Marines, who were in their room cleaning their weapons, were immediately informed.

Upon receiving the order, they promptly made their way to the launch pod. Once they reached the pod, they began activating all the equipment they would need once they were launched.

Christine, still in the control room observing the Lourians, activated the Holographic Communication for all Marines to see. "Marines, before you fulfill your duties, I have one simple order. Do not harm the slaves and ensure their rescue," she commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they all responded in unison.

On land, the Lourians were oblivious to the fact that they would never again see or feel the bright and warm sun. They were continuing their duties with their captain when suddenly a dozen large metallic objects fell right through them, crushing their captain and several unfortunate soldiers. This took them by surprise and shocked them. They unsheathed their swords and a few ran towards the tower to sound the alarm that they were under attack. Some mages were also startled, not knowing what to do. They thought the large metallic objects in the shape of an egg were just projectiles from their enemy.

Once the bell rang, the large metallic object moved, opening the hatch. Once it was fully opened, they were met by ten fully armored soldiers. They couldn't recognize the logo on their chest plates as they had never seen this type of symbol of the sun with a fox tail.

The armored soldiers were also tall. Not knowing what to do as they were still stunned, the soldiers suddenly charged at them. Some of them were also behind the other soldiers, shooting some sort of magic from what they thought were staffs. They killed them at a rapid pace. As they tried to fight back, once their swords clashed, they were shocked when this unknown soldier cut through them as if they were cutting through butter.

Some of the Lourians were grabbed and used as weapons, smashing them towards their comrades, and killing some of them. Some were thrown afar. As they continued to use him as a weapon, he hit another Lourian comrade, destroying both of their heads.

At the Palace, they could hear the battle happening right outside the palace, which confused King Haag. He made his way to the balcony to see where and what was happening, to confirm his suspicion that there was truly a battle happening. Upon reaching the balcony, he saw that a portion of the city was now burning. The streets were littered with dead Lourian soldiers. As he looked around, he saw unfamiliar armor. He recognized the symbol on their chest plates.

He saw how they cut through his soldiers with ease and shot something that came out of their weapons, with a trail of light hitting his soldiers.

Patagene, who was still at the barracks, heard the bell ring and saw a faint plume of smoke from the city. He ordered his troops to abandon their duties and head to the palace to see what was happening. "Stop what you're doing for now. Let's head to the palace. There might be something happening right now."

"Yes, Sir!" they all responded. Patagene started sprinting towards the palace along with his men to see what was going on and to protect their king.

Once they got closer to the Palace, they saw many Lourian corpses lying on the ground. This made Patagene rush along with his men to see if the king was safe. They were suddenly blocked by 20 soldiers whose symbols his men couldn't recognize. But Patagene recognized the symbol and realized who was attacking them. When one of the spies managed to escape and inform them of the treaty between Qua-Toyne and the unknown country called Solstice Empire, he immediately interrogated the spy to acquire more info. The spy told them that they had a sun symbol.

"What are you doing here, and why are you attacking us, soldiers from the Solstice? We never attacked you nor did we provoke you. So tell me, why are you attacking?" Patagene demanded an answer as he unsheathed his sword, waiting for them to answer his question. But they didn't respond, seeing Patagene as a worm who didn't deserve an answer.

Seeing that they wouldn't answer him, he charged at them, followed by his men. Once he got near, he swung his sword, only for someone to stop him by grabbing his sword and swinging toward them. This shocked him. Unaware that a fist was coming right at him, hitting his chest plate and sending him flying a few feet away. His armor was shattered to pieces.

But his men weren't so lucky. They were crushed by the Solstice Marines, sending many of their body parts flying into the air. The brown dirt floor turned red from their blood. Seeing that this battle was just a one-sided slaughter, some of the Lourians tried to flee but were blocked by the Solstice Marines.

Patagene, on the other hand, held his chest where he was punched. He never expected that they were this strong. If he hadn't had that armor, that punch would surely have killed him. As the pain from his chest still hadn't disappeared, he tried to stand up and look towards his men, only to see that his men were being killed with ease.

As he tried to stand up, he was then grabbed by the head and lifted up, with his feet more than a foot off the ground. He looked at the person grabbing him and started to tighten his grip, causing Patagene to scream in pain. "Does it hurt, because it looks like it does?" The Solstice Marine asked while gripping Patagene's head.

"Damn you!!" Patagene yelled, trying to punch the Solstice arm that was grabbing his head to try to loosen it up and drop him. But to no avail, as the grip kept getting tighter and tighter. As the grip kept getting tighter, his head started cracking, and bloods started coming out of his head.

In the throes of agony, Patagene was suddenly released when a fireball struck the Solstice Marine. Although the attack was weak and didn't harm the Marines, it provided Patagene with an opportunity to escape. He ran towards the source of the fireball, only to find Yamirei, the Chief Royal Court Mage, preparing another spell. Suddenly, Yamirei's head vanished, leaving a trail of smoke where it should have been.

Witnessing the death of his friend, Patagene fell to his knees in despair. Unbeknownst to him, the Solstice Marine aimed his gun at Patagene's head. As Patagene turned around, he was met with a bright flash of light that created a large hole in his head, killing him instantly and painlessly.

His men, however, weren't as fortunate. They were sliced in half, and those who were shot were given a quick death. As the battle raged on, all of Patagene's troops fell at the hands of the Solstice Marines. With the Lourian forces significantly reduced, it would only take 80 Marines to deal with the remaining Lourian forces.

The Marines proceeded to rescue slaves found in brothels and underground, where most slavers were protecting the slaves they referred to as products, waiting to be sold. Upon reaching the underground, the slavers attempted to fight but were easily killed by the Solstice Marines.

Once the slavers were dealt with, the Marines went towards the cages and destroyed them with their bare hands. This scared the slaves initially, but when four of the slaves saw the symbol on the Marines' uniforms, they mistook it for a country they knew. "Are you from the Philippines?" one of them asked.

This confused the Solstice Marine. "No, we are from the Solstice Empire. Judging by your reaction, you are not from Qua-Toyne or Quila. So, may I ask which country you all came from?" the Solstice Marine asked.

Still hesitant, but complying, one of them said, "I'm a Brit, hailing from the United Kingdom. More specifically, we're from Scotland."

"I am from the Philippines," another one said.

"Me too, I am also from the Philippines," a third one added.

"I amu fromu Nihon (Japan)," the fourth one said.

Hearing their answers, which did not exist in their document about this world, left the Marine confused. "Please come with me. We are ordered to rescue all slaves, but later on, we will be asking questions," he said, as he started to leave and they followed him.

At the Palace, King Haag was still sitting on his throne, thinking that his men alone could take care of the enemy. Unaware that the Solstice Marines had now breached the palace and were rescuing all the slaves they could find within the palace.

As he waited on his throne, he could hear screams outside the throne room. When the screams stopped, the door to the throne room suddenly exploded, startling King Haag. Once the door was destroyed, the Solstice Marine entered the throne room and saw Haag still sitting on his throne. When he stood up and walked directly towards them, he yelled, "Stop!! Who do you think I am for you to just burst in?"

"I believe you must be King Haag of the Louria Kingdom," a female voice behind him said. Upon turning around, he saw a beautiful female demi-human sitting on his throne, like a divine being, and beside her was something he could only describe as a demon.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Haag asked casually, maintaining eye contact with the demon. The king's lack of respect towards their Empress angered all the Solstice Marines.

Seeing that the Marines were about to attack King Haag, she held up her left hand, signaling them not to attack. "As for who I am. I am Christine Atien Margintin, The Ruler of the Solstice Empire," she introduced herself.

Haag looked at her with resentment. "Christine, huh? So you are their ruler. You and your men attacked my country. From what I remember, we hadn't provoked your country to give you a reason to attack us," he said.

Christine, hearing this, laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke ever. "It's funny that you thought that just because you didn't attack us that doesn't mean we wouldn't intervene, to help our allies. And let me tell you this, we also do not take kindly to slavery. I hope that little brain of yours can understand this. So I suggest that you surrender," she said.

King Haag looked mad for being mocked and told to surrender. "How dare you mock me," he yelled as he ran towards Christine, intending to strangle her, unaware of how powerful Christine was.

When he was about to grab her by the neck, Christine slapped him before he could reach her. The force of the slap sent him flying towards the door, where the Solstice Marines caught him. The impact made him lose consciousness, she made sure to hold back as much as she could, for she risked destroying the entire city and her men, who did not possess a high level.

With that, they took Haag to the Solstice Empire for trial. Since she had invited the Qua-Toyne and Quila leaders, she thought that this would be a good chance to conduct a trial.

"Take him back to the Solstice Empire, for we will hold a trial there," she ordered.

Once the order was given, they dragged King Haag like a sack. "With that done, lower their flag and raise the Solstice Flag."

When the flag was raised, one of the Solstice Marines responsible for rescuing the slaves came in to report. "Your Majesty, we have finished the rescue mission but we have a slight problem. Among all 2,024 slaves we rescued, four of them claimed to hail from a different country which does not exist in this world," he said, catching Christine's attention.

"Did they say anything about where they came from?" she asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, they claimed to be from the United Kingdom, Philippines, and Nihon. What should we do with them?" he asked.

She never thought that she would still hear the name of a country that came from her world and would be taken by the Lourians. "Give them asylum for now, and some housing and pocket money for them to use, to buy food. If they want to stay, give them a year to register for citizenship," she told them.

Holy Milishial Empire, Runepolis, 5:01 PM

In the midst of a bustling street, a random Milishian civilian was engrossed in a newspaper. The paper was filled with articles about their economy, military, and purported achievements that didn't truly exist, along with various pieces of propaganda. What piqued his interest was the news of a war involving the Outside civilization, a conflict between the Louria Kingdom and Qua-Toyne, Quila, and a seemingly newly established country called the Solstice Empire.

The paper mentioned that the Solstice Empire, presumed to be newly formed, possessed battleships and aircraft. This was dismissed as propaganda and lies by the civilians, as only the Holy Milishial and the Republic of Mu were known to have battleships and aircraft. What the paper failed to mention was that the Solstice's battleships could fly. This lack of information was due to their sources being merchants traveling to Qua-Toyne and Quila, who had only seen the large battleship docked at the harbor and never in flight.

Given that Louria's defeat had just occurred today, the news would be delayed since the defeat had taken place barely an hour ago. "Why even include this in the paper? It's merely wasting our ink by adding news about the Outside Civilized countries," he mused aloud.

As he continued his walk, his opinion was overheard by a random passerby, who nodded in agreement, sharing the sentiment that it was a waste of ink to include news about the outside civilization.

...

Hello, this is the author speaking. Regarding the Earthlings, I intend to summon a few Earth countries into the story, specifically at least two or three island nations.