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At the forty-ninth fragment, a burst of intense golden radiance suddenly erupted, completely enveloping the Dynasty Heart.
"Is this it?" Haru's eyes fixed on the glowing stele. After a long moment, the light receded. Haru immediately pulled up the new status and saw what he had hoped for. The [Dynasty Heart] had evolved into an [Imperial Heart].
"There are still nineteen Dynasty Heart Fragments left." He fed twelve more into the Empire Heart to further reinforce his newfound empire's luck, then stored the final seven pieces for Aria to establish a 'True Dynasty', vassal to the Great Aetherium.
[The Aetherium Kingdom has fulfilled the required conditions for establishing an empire. Do you want to establish an empire?]
[Yes] [No]
"Yes."
[Please name your empire!]
"Aetherium Empire."
[Congratulations on your establishment of an empire-level force—the Aetherium Empire!]
[You have become the first Castle Lord to establish an empire on the Endless Continent! All races in the world look up to you!]
[Congratulations to Kazehaya Haru, the Emperor of the Aetherium Empire. Your influence and prestige in the Endless Continent have been greatly improved, and your title of Divine King has also upgraded. You now bear the title of Divine Emperor!]
[Special reminder 1: The Elven Goddess of Nature, Elunara, sends her congratulations to you!]
[Special reminder 2: Goddess 'Medusa' Christine, leader of the Beast God Pantheon, sends her congratulations to you!]
[Special reminder 3: Ice Queen Eira, the ruler of the Ice and Snow Kingdom, sends her congratulations to you!]
[Special reminder 4: Empress Aurelyss, the ruler of the Elf Empire, sends her congratulations to you.]
[…]
[Special reminder 9: The ruler of the Holy Empire, the 'Holy Lord' Asher has greatly increased his hatred value towards you and has blacklisted your Aetherium Empire!]
"So they have also finally blacklisted us." Haru muttered under his breath when he saw Asher's name. The Holy Lord's reaction didn't surprise him in the slightest. With those two empires practically breathing into each other's necks, how could they live in peace?
He thought, 'It seems like they're already preparing for a conflict. As soon as I declare war, they'll probably lead their army across the Wilderness.'
Even so, there was no trace of fear in his expression. After all, he held the initiative, as he would decide when this war would begin. The upcoming Demon Slayer Tournament would significantly boost, not only the Great Aetherium's strength, but the whole Castle Lord faction's strength. More importantly, if he managed to become a Supreme God during this time, it would almost guarantee his victory.
Another thought popped up in his mind and he reached out to the GM, "By the way, where's my reward for founding an empire?"
When he'd founded his kingdom, he'd been given the lord type artifact, the Scepter of Sovereignty. It would be very on-brand for the system to hand him something like that now.
[Rewards are being distributed…]
[Distribution successful!]
[Congratulations to the Divine Emperor, the lord of the Aetherium Empire, for establishing an imperial power. You are rewarded with a Major Level Up and a Divine Artifact, exclusive for the Divine Emperor!]
[Error! Error! Error!]
[… In view of the fact that the Divine Emperor is currently a peak High God, the Level Up reward has been cancelled! Only the Divine Artifact will be rewarded!]
"???" Haru's eyebrow twitched, "What do you mean canceled because I'm already a peak High God?" He muttered, "That's dirty."
[A breakthrough to the Supreme God Tier requires one's own efforts.]
He went quiet, helpless and a little amused. Clearly, the GM had boosted him as far toward peak upper god as they could; the main-god threshold was locked behind his own effort. Otherwise, they wouldn't have "corrected" his realm rewards twice.
[May I ask the Divine Emperor whether you want to immediately summon the artifact?]
"Sure, go ahead."
A golden light appeared in front of him, condensing into a set of white-gold armor.
[Armor of Sovereignty]
[Owner: Lord of the Aetherium Empire, the 'Divine Emperor' Kazehaya Haru]
[Type: Growth Artifact]
[Grade: Top-level Lower True God Tier]
[Description: This is an artifact exclusive to the strongest Kings and Emperors. Only the strongest Lords of thousands of planets are qualified to own it. It is a symbol of strength!]
[Defense Value: 100 points of Divine Power]
[Upgrade requirement: 1,000 Divine Crystals]
[Next Grade: Low-level Intermediate God Tier Artifact]
"A growth-type lord artifact." Haru's expressions changed, "This is on par with the Scepter of Sovereignty, apparently it's a part of the same 'Sovereignty' set."
Any lingering disappointment about the canceled level up reward evaporated. A growth type artifact like this was priceless, while he could always grind some exp by killing a few High God Tier Evil Gods or Demons.
"Unlike the Scepter, this one's all about defense." He analyzed, "If I push its level high enough, killing me is going to be… extremely difficult. If the armor is strong enough, even Supreme Gods wouldn't be able to damage me!"
He laughed, "Of course, that means another bottomless pit for my Divine Crystal reserves."
Most Gods, when obtaining a Growth Type Divine Artifact would be so thrilled by a growth type artifact that they wouldn't be able to sleep for days, while Haru, on the other hand, was already calculating his expenses. With these two growth type artifacts and his Angel Reincarnation Pools, no amount of Divine Crystals ever felt like 'enough'.
"First things first, let's bind it." He used his Divine Power to refine the armor and with a single thought, the white-gold plates covered his entire body from head to toe. It was pure defense, no wasted frills, no gaps, extremely functional.
Haru immediately began feeding it Divine Crystals:
1,000 Divine Crystals - Low-level Intermediate God Tier Artifact.
3,000 Divine Crystals - Intermediate-level Intermediate God Tier Artifact.
5,000 Divine Crystals - High-level Intermediate God Tier Artifact.
8,000 Divine Crystals - Top-level Intermediate God Tier Artifact.
100,000 Divine Crystals - Low-level High God Tier Artifact.
When he checked his reserves, just over 262,700 Divine Crystals remained, while the next upgrade required 300,000 Divine Crystals so he stopped the level ups.
"It's good enough for now." Now, most attacks below the High God Tier would barely scratch him.
He equipped the armor again and headed out to the throne room of the Imperial Palace. There he spotted Aria standing stiffly, eyes wide with shock. He had been intending to find her anyway and asked, "What's with that look?"
She drew in a deep breath and answered, "The World Chat Channel has exploded. Every Castle Lord on the Endless Continent knows that you have just created an empire. There was a World Announcement."
"So that's it." Haru said with a small smile, "Nothing strange about it. It's pretty normal, actually."
When he'd founded a dynasty, there had been a World Announcement at that time too. Of course, the GM wouldn't miss the chance to announce the rise of a new empire. This was all within his expectations.
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