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After the conversation wrapped, Elunara bid Haru farewell and led the Nature Pantheon from Angel City—including Diane, now officially one of theirs. Although she was just a freshly ascended Lower True Goddess and was still weak, Diane's value lay in her Castle Lord status and the ability to recruit Nature Elves through her barracks, the Elven Mother Tree.
That caught Elunara's eye immediately, and she decided to nurture Diane by daily mentoring her, but it was different from Svetlana nurturing Lily as that was her getting groomed as the Goddess of Fate's successor. Meanwhile, Diane was purely a promising asset. Once she matured, Elunara would let her fly solo.
Before departing, Diane spotted Aria striding back from beyond the walls. The two friends locked eyes, grinned and embraced tightly, but just after a short greeting, they parted.
…
"Your Majesty!" Aria burst into the palace hall, eyes sparkling, "I just met Diane. Those goddesses trailing her… they're next level terrifying."
She had no idea that all of those were either late stage or peak High Goddesses, whose mere presence made many Pantheons start sweating.
"Diane has joined the Nature Pantheon," Haru said casually.
Aria's cheeks burned with envy, "Haven't seen her in a while, and boom, she not only became a Goddess, but also joined the Nature Pantheon!"
She playfully glared at him, "You promised we will take our relationship to the next level after I become a Goddess. I'm still waiting, you know!"
Haru smirked, "Oh, aren't you getting a bit impatient?"
She blushed, "Maybe a little."
He laughed, "Get ready. Since we're visiting that planet for the Demon Slayer Tournament tomorrow. You'll become a Goddess soon."
She exclaimed, "Really?"
"Yes, What's your territory's current status?"
"I've rebuilt it, it's an advanced city," She beamed.
Haru asked, "How many Dynasty Heart fragments do you have?"
Aria answered, "Two in total. One was obtained in a war, I bought the other one from the Hyperspace Trading Channel."
"The Royal Army will definitely have about 60–70 fragments when they return tomorrow, I'll give you enough to build a legitimate subordinate dynasty for the Great Aetherium."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
…
The blood moon rose, veiling Angel City in a crimson haze as the Royal Army returned home from the Endless Prairies and Andes Highlands. After the previous war against the allied forces, he obtained 200 million fresh subjects. Some were natives, others Castle Lords' troops, all fanatically faithful to Haru thanks to Seraphina, the Angel of Love.
Among them, Haru chose 120 million elites from them to join the Royal Army. As for the rest, they would become 'civilian' citizens of the kingdom, who would provide him with the power of 'faith'.
Haru called over Lysandra and said, "Sort out the spoils first. I'll upgrade Angel City to become an Imperial Capital, so give those resources to me."
"Immediately, My Lord." Lysandra bowed and left to convey his orders to the Royal Army. She was the eleventh High God Tier subordinate under Haru's command after absorbing multiple Godheads.
Except for her, four other Fourteen-Winged Angels who participated in this war also reached High God Tier. They were:
— Seraphina (Angel of Love)
— Ariel (Guardian Angel)
— Aureole
— Amaris
The Great Aetherium now had one Supreme Goddess and fifteen—no sixteen High Gods, including Haru. They were:
1. Haru
2. Stella
3. Mary
4. Eveline
5. Thessaly
6. Nora
7. Gemina
8. Vespera
9. Tessa
10. Zylo
11. Tigranov
12. Lysandra
13. Seraphina
14. Ariel
15. Aureole
16. Amaris
Although they now had enough High Gods, their overall numbers were less than 400, which was really low compared to any other Pantheon which had hundreds of thousands or even millions of Gods.
…
Two hours later.
The Royal Army counted the resources from hundreds of thousands of Castle Lord territories and almost seventy local dynasties. The Wood, Stone, Refined Iron and Food alone totaled up to almost 100 Billion Units.
In addition, there were an extremely large amount of Blueprints, Power Stones, Magic Crystals, Equipment and other resources. Haru directly handed them all to Celestia and decided to level up his territory.
More than twenty billion units of resources vaporized, and a golden light enveloped the entire capital that had a diameter of 5,000 kms. The ground quaked as the moat yawned wider, the walls also expanded outwards and rose even higher to become two kilometers tall. As a result, terrains, like forests, hills, lakes, etc. transformed into flawless paved bluestone.
Soon, the light died and a system notification arrived:
[Congratulations to the Divine King Kazehaya Haru, Angel City has been upgraded to an Imperial Capital, and you are qualified to build an Empire!]
[Congratulations Divine King, because your territory has been upgraded to an Imperial Capital, your influence, and prestige in the Endless Continent have been greatly improved! Your kingdom power is now World Famous throughout the Endless Continent!]
[Congratulations to the Divine King, for unlocking the 'World Famous' Prestige Rank! You have gained the special reward: A 'Major Level Up' in your strength!]
[Error! Error! Error!]
[In view of the fact that your current strength is already at the High God Tier, the reward is automatically corrected to two 'Minor Level Ups'!]
[Special Reminder 1: Since Angel City has been upgraded to an Imperial Capital, the Light Empire will pay special attention to your territory!]
[Special Reminder 2: Since Angel City has been upgraded to an Imperial Capital, the Dark Empire will pay special attention to your territory!]
[Special Reminder 3: …]
[…]
[Special Reminder 9: Since Angel City has been upgraded to an Imperial Capital, the Ocean Empire will pay special attention to your territory!]
…
A tsunami of Divine Power crashed through Haru, instantly elevating him from an intermediate stage High God to a peak High God.
"Stingy GM!" He snorted.
[A breakthrough to the Supreme God Tier requires one's own efforts.]
The prompt answer made Haru roll his eyes. Anyway, since he reached the peak of the High God Tier, he can kill a few peak High God Tier Demons in the upcoming Demon Slayer Tournament and reach the Supreme God Tier now.
For now, he chose to continue leveling up his territory. An Intermediate Imperial Capital required 20 billion units of Wood, 15 billion units of Stone and 10 billion units of Refined Iron.
Haru noticed that he had just enough resources to level up Angel City again and pressed [Yes] as he saw the golden light envelop Angel City again.
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