Feeling the blood boiling within her body, Najenda's face turned pale to the extreme. From childhood to adulthood, she had never experienced such pain, nor had she even heard of it!
A God Slayer who seized the Authority of gods...
This was how Cerydra had introduced herself earlier. Najenda had originally scoffed at it, but as she felt the energy rapidly surging within her body, her worldview completely collapsed.
Do gods actually exist in this world?
Najenda didn't think so.
The reason Najenda was able to attain the rank of General within the Empire, besides her outstanding personal ability, was her pragmatism. She didn't believe in legends of ghosts or gods, only in what she saw with her own eyes...
Since birth, although Najenda had heard legends about gods, she had never seen one. When she investigated those so-called legends, she never found any useful information.
They were either lost Teigu or shingu being used by ill-intentioned people to cause trouble, or they were powerful Danger Beasts...
In short, Najenda did not believe that gods existed in the world!
If they didn't exist, then what was this inside her body?
As the golden blood entered Najenda's body, her soul seemed to detach from her physical form, arriving at a place enveloped in molten gold.
Where is this?
Just as the thought surfaced in her mind, a massive divine body appeared before Najenda's eyes...
Without a doubt, this was a god!
That majestic figure exuded a presence far beyond any ordinary human, something even the legendary Super Danger Beasts could not possess.
The sight, never seen before, made Najenda's eyes widen. She didn't dare make a sound, nor did she dare move even an inch!
In the next second, the deity lowered its head, looking down at the tiny Najenda.
Confusion, fear...
Countless emotions were jumbled together in Najenda's mind, to the point where this brave female general completely lost her original perception of the world.
At that moment, the majestic deity reached out its palm, and a mark resembling a set of scales appeared before the woman's eyes. Then, Najenda's consciousness vanished...
In reality, as she watched blood seep from Najenda's body, the light on Cerydra slowly dissipated.
"Phew, the conversion seems much more difficult than it was for Esdeath. Is it because Esdeath is too strong?"
In Cerydra's mind, Esdeath was equivalent to the pinnacle of humanity in this world, so converting her was naturally quite simple. But to her surprise, converting Najenda was more than five times harder than Esdeath!
"It seems I'll have to be a bit more careful when using the Authority of Law in the future..."
People who are too weak are not suitable for conversion into Golden Descendantss because Cerydra must pay a great price to use the Authority of Law, which is a bit taxing even for a demigod like her.
But even so, it was much simpler compared to the world of Amphoreus; at least Cerydra didn't have to use her own life to engrave rules onto the world...
Well, this wasn't the world of Wand Calculus after all, and she didn't know what the world would change into if she sacrificed her life.
"Lord Caesar!" Esdeath's voice rang out from the side. "What should be done with this green-haired man? Do you need me to get rid of him?"
Even though Najenda was a general from the Empire and had suffered a total defeat at her hands, Esdeath had no objection to her becoming a Golden Descendants.
Firstly, it was Lord Caesar's decision.
Secondly, Najenda was a Teigu User.
Lastly, in the previous battle, Najenda had indeed managed to injure her and even helped her obtain even greater power!
There was no way Esdeath would oppose such a person joining their forces... provided the other party was truly willing.
If she harbored thoughts of betrayal, then she couldn't blame Esdeath for being ruthless!
"Ah, this guy..."
Lubbock, a member of the protagonist's group in the original work, joined the army because he liked Najenda and joined the resistance for the same reason.
Although he had a habit of peeping, he was single-minded toward his true love. If Cerydra were to grant him a title, it would surely be the 'Pure Love Duke,' right?
In the original work, Lubbock seemed to use a thread-type Teigu, but now... he was just a slightly stronger ordinary soldier, with no value for the time being.
But not having value now didn't mean he wouldn't have any in the future.
Najenda had already seen the fictional Tarenton created by Cerydra through her Authority of Law. She believed Najenda would make the right choice...
And if this future 'Pure Love Duke' truly loved Najenda, he would bound to make the same choice!
If both of them could join her side, then the system's requirement of 'five named original characters' would be mostly complete.
If they didn't join, Cerydra wouldn't be soft-hearted just because they were part of the protagonist's group... Mercy was reserved for the citizens of Caesar, and for those who were useless or even a threat to her, there was no need for mercy!
"Let's keep him for now. Though he's weak at the moment, who knows if he might become a powerful aid in the future?"
Flicking her cloak, Cerydra stopped looking at the two captives lying on the ground and walked toward a nearby passage with a wave of her sleeve.
"Let us continue our operation, Dux Frigium..."
"Since the Empire has already moved against us, it's about time they understand our situation."
"Dux Frigium, can you unify the North with the greatest speed?"
To Cerydra's question, Esdeath smiled slightly and spoke confidently: "Of course I can!"
"Very well!" Cerydra's lips curled up. "Once the entire North is unified, we will march east collectively!"
"The East is where the true ocean lies. The Daughter of the Sea should quite like the scenery there, wouldn't she?"
As her voice fell, even Esdeath could detect an indescribable tenderness in Cerydra's tone...
—
Inside the Imperial Palace.
"To... Total annihilation?"
Upon receiving the news from the scouts, a look of panic clearly appeared on Minister Honest's face.
What was that woman Najenda doing? Why was she defeated so thoroughly?
In Honest's impression, Najenda herself was extremely gifted and talented. Logically, even if she failed, she shouldn't have been completely wiped out, unless...
The opponent was too strong?
"Why has the strength of the Northern Tribes become so great? They were just subjugated once half a year ago..."
Honest's eyes narrowed. No wonder no useful intelligence had come out of the North for the past six months; it turned out some fellows had been suppressing the information!
Fortunately, he had now obtained the critical intelligence and absolutely could not continue to watch the Northern Tribes grow stronger.
"Pass down the order to immediately assemble all available armies within the Empire. We must not let the northern threat continue to expand!"
"Yes!"
Just as Honest thought the matter would end there, another messenger rushed in, even tumbling several times on the floor before crawling to Honest's feet.
"What is there to be so flustered about? Can't you be more elegant? This is the Imperial Palace, what's the rush?"
Honest was about to reprimand him, but the soldier suddenly spoke, and the content even made Honest realize something was wrong.
"It's bad news, Minister!"
"The resistance has suddenly launched attacks on multiple noble territories within the Empire, and many regions have already fallen!"
Pfft—!
The moment the soldier spoke the news, blood spurted from his neck. His panic-stricken head fell directly to the floor, scaring those around him into backing away several steps.
The Minister, who had been elegantly eating a chicken leg, now had a face full of ferocity, with veins even bulging on his forehead.
"I knew things wouldn't be this simple!"
"So the resistance had already reached a cooperation with the Northern Tribes. No wonder I haven't had any news!"
"Go call someone, bring Syura back to me, the sooner the better!"
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