As the alliance leaders departed, Amelie looked at the retreating figures, "Are they reliable, Miss General?"
"They have their own minds." Lysandra said, "They will never be truly loyal. But they don't need to be. As long as the Great Aetherium is powerful enough to deter them, they will quietly remain obedient."
She handed Amelie a space ring. Inside glinted the Godheads of High Gods, "Every True God of the empire receives these to increase their strength. You are no exception."
Amelie accepted the gift. She was a hair's breadth from the peak. With these resources, she could ascend, securing Haru's path to the God King's Throne.
…
On the Nivara River, the slaughter reached a crescendo. The progress was visible by the hour.
By 3:00 PM: The Light Empire's outer positions were erased. Only forty giant fortresses remained.
By 4:00 PM: The city count dropped to thirty. The army was halved to 140 billion.
By 5:00 PM: Thirteen more cities fell. The defenders were reduced to a mere 60 billion. Weary, mechanical, and waiting for the end.
By 5:45 PM: The final eight cities, held by the empire's elite mortal legions, attempted a desperate stand. Magic cannons roared and trebuchets shook the earth, but the resistance lasted less than thirty minutes.
By 6:15 PM: The Blood Moon began to rise and the Battle of Nivara was over.
The two trillion defenders of the Nivara River Basin were gone. Some were corpses; most were now "troops" for the Castle Faction. The gateway to the heart of the Light Empire stood wide open.
The whole army was wiped out.
…
The sky above the Nivara River was a chaotic tapestry of Dragons, Vampires, Phoenixes, and Winged Men. On the blood-soaked ground below, millions of troops cheered, raising notched blades toward the sky. The war that had raged for two sleepless days was finally over.
The cost was staggering. Nearly four trillion Castle Faction troops had been wiped out, triple the casualties of the Light Empire. To any local kingdom, such a loss would mean total national collapse. But to the Castle Lords, it was just another Tuesday. Four trillion deaths was simply a one or two day recruitment cycle.
They didn't mourn; they celebrated. Those who survived had all ascended.
…
The shift in power was tectonic. Beyond the Great Aetherium, the Castle Faction now boasted three million True Gods. For context, the entire native Truth Faction of the Endless Continent had only produced ten million Gods in a hundred thousand years. The Castle Lords had reached a third of that number in two months.
"The outcome was never in doubt." A top-level Castle Lord remarked, watching his troops pick through the wreckage, "From the moment Haru gave the order, the Light Empire was sentenced to death."
"It's time for harvest." Another laughed, "Strip the cities, clean the noble territories. If the Dark Empire tries to snatch our loot, we'll bury them next."
For the Castle Faction, cleaning a battlefield was a gluttonous feast. They didn't just take gold; they took Power Stones, Blueprints, and Equipment, items that local intelligent races couldn't 'drop' upon death.
…
The Great Aetherium's army had undergone its own transformation. Their ranks had swollen to one billion troops. As the hope of victory vanished, The Light Empire's defenders had flocked to Haru's banner in droves, preferring the absolute loyalty of the Scepter over a shallow grave.
Haru's personal Angel Legion was now a terrifying sight. Out of 2.7 million Angels, 500,000 were now True Gods. The remaining 1.7 million had reached the peak of the Demigod realm, lingering just a single breakthrough away from divinity.
High above, Lysandra watched the cleanup. By rules set up by the Endless Continent's Laws, she and the other Supreme Gods were forbidden from intervening directly in mortal-level skirmishes. Their power was enough to accidentally shatter the planet's crust. But once the siege of the Imperial Capital began, the gloves would come off.
…
The World Chat channel was a frenzy of activity.
[Finally hit God Tier! I'm the weakest Lower True God, but hey, immortality is immortality.]
[Anyone got an Intermediate God Tier Artifact? I'll trade 100,000 top-level troops for it.]
[Dream on. Only the Great Aetherium has those in bulk.]
[Do you think we'll ever go back? To Earth?]
[Who knows? Maybe when Haru becomes a God King, he can find a way. I'd kill for some fries and coke while sitting on my bed right now.]
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