I will replace the emperor. With my sister.
This means granting the already immensely powerful 'sister' the powerful and massive system of an 'Empire.' No matter how strong she was, my sister was ultimately only an individual, but if she ascended to the emperor's seat, she could spread her will across the entire nation. The Empire would truly become a nation ruled by a god.
And it was shocking to everyone else besides me.
"Heaven's Saintess, who receives the reverence and respect of all. What audacious words are these! Transferring the imperial throne! The Empire protects the Holy Imperial Court, and the Holy Imperial Court blesses the Empire. Will you break the principle that church and state respect each other but do not interfere!"
The Saintess was saying she would arbitrarily replace the imperial throne. No matter how renowned the Holy Imperial Court was, how respected by all, and how it was implicitly known as the real power. Nevertheless, the principle of separation of church and state was firm, and this was something the Holy Imperial Court and the Empire had continuously upheld.
Yet she would replace the emperor after a single defeat? She even said she had waited for this?
The Southern Army Commander could not contain himself. Because.
"Heaven's Saintess, who sees the future, are you saying you even foresaw this defeat?!"
The troops he brought, the Mobile Magic Towers, the Zodiac Twelve Palaces.
It meant the Saintess had foreseen the defeat and death of all of them.
"If this defeat was foreseen, for what did we stand on this battlefield?! Why did you drive us into the battlefield even after seeing this defeat!"
"To acknowledge defeat, Southern Army Commander."
The one who answered was a figure the Southern Army Commander knew well. It was the Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace, Kaus. Having lost an arm and a leg each, he spoke with a pale yet transcendent face.
"When was the last time the Empire suffered a final defeat? The Weijin War. Even that wasn't a direct defeat for the Empire. The Empire forgot how to yield to greater strength. For such an Empire, the only way to acknowledge inferiority in power was through defeat."
"Defeat was decided before even entering the fight. Then what is the meaning of this war! Who decided this!"
"Sanggukgong."
The Three Ministers of the Empire. The benevolent prime minister who governs all administration of the Empire. Sanggukgong, who wears a good-natured smile, is known to have the most outstanding character in the Empire.
Because he was too generous, the Southern Army Commander found him disagreeable, but he still respected Sanggukgong's character.
The Southern Army Commander trembled with a sense of betrayal.
"This war... was for defeat? Sanggukgong used us as fodder to be discarded?"
"No, Sanggukgong also gave his sincere all. After very meticulous calculations, he gathered and deployed the Empire's full military strength. Southern Army Commander, the troops you lead are a military force close to the Empire's total strength, and gathering a force of this quality again is nigh impossible."
Not the Empire's total strength, but close to its full military power. Magic with the Mobile Magic Towers, qi techniques with the Zodiac Twelve Palaces, and numerical superiority against fifty thousand armed elite soldiers. It was a troop deployment that accounted for all of the opponent's abilities, and the Southern Army Commander also considered this strength sufficient.
"But losing these troops won't lead to our annihilation. It's quite a significant blow, but fully recoverable. Above all, the absolute numbers aren't small. Sanggukgong deliberated sufficiently and calculated. Winning would be good. Since the Empire would be protected. However, if we are overwhelmingly defeated as in the prophecy."
But the military strength was utterly insufficient, and even if more were gathered, it would be meaningless.
Sanggukgong, who had heard the prophecy in advance, had considered even that worst case.
"If the Empire remains intact and surrenders, that's enough."
"Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace! Are you colluding with Sanggukgong, daring to commit treason against His Majesty the Emperor!"
"The reason I speak thus to you, is the reason I didn't tell you the prophecy. As the Southern Army Commander, you would have no choice but to order a fight to the death. But that would lead to even more deaths."
"No soldier chooses defeat!"
"Defeat is not a choice."
The Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace lifted the spear he had been using like a crutch. And swung it lightly like a club.
The distance between the Southern Army Commander and the Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace was several tens of meters. Not a distance a spear could reach. However, the Palace Master's spear instantly lengthened and aimed for the nape of the Southern Army Commander's neck.
"Divine Extending Spear...!"
The Southern Army Commander was also a Qi Master. He tried to block the attack by raising his scabbard. His reaction was astonishingly fast. The moment the scabbard was about to collide with the extended spear.
The spear shortened by exactly one hand span. With that difference, the scabbard that tried to block swung at empty air in vain. The spear was placed right in front of the Southern Army Commander's neck, and the Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace slightly rotated the spear shaft and extended it again. The blunt spear shaft struck the Southern Army Commander's throat squarely.
"Keugh!"
"It's the outcome."
Having subdued the Southern Army Commander with the spear shaft, he signaled to the guards behind him. The guards, reading the atmosphere, took the Southern Army Commander and withdrew.
[Thank you, Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace.]
"Stepping onto a battlefield of death is the duty of an old veteran. I merely did what I had to do."
It must have been something the Heaven's Saintess was grateful for. If the Saintess explained politics and stratagems, it would taint the Saintess with the filth of the secular world.
Perhaps that was why she brought the Palace Master of the Human-Demon Palace.
[No matter how many times I look, this number is the one where the fewest die. The belief in never having been defeated denies defeat, and drives more people to their death. Only after experiencing a bone-deep loss can one be grateful for what comes next.]
You don't know unless you try. The strength of 'my sister' is such that unless you directly clash with it and personally experience that power, you cannot accept it.
The Saintess may know, but this foolish Empire doesn't know that fact and must go through trial and error. How foolish. Even with the result clearly visible, they must walk to their death of their own accord.
[However, after the King of Humans ascends to the emperor's seat, no one will be sacrificed in vain through war.]
It was an already foreseen result. If my sister decided to join forces with the Holy Imperial Court and become emperor, no one could stop her. And my sister, the King of Humans, would receive the imperial throne with minimized resistance.
My sister is the King of Humans. Humans acknowledge my sister as their king, find it difficult to harbor clear hostility toward her, and above all, she is absolutely strong.
An absolute king who cannot become the target of rebellion and will never be defeated. My sister has no equal. If you exclude me, the irregular, there is only one King of Beasts in the world...
Because of that.
"My sister doesn't have the qualifications to be emperor!"
Now, while my sister is not yet emperor, is the only chance. I raised my voice and shouted.
"Do you know why an emperor is an emperor? Because of bloodline? Because of outstanding ability? Or, because they were born that way? No! It's because they went through the social consensus that everyone perceives them as emperor!"
My voice, amplified by the Human Rule, resounded loudly across the battlefield. It would probably be clearly audible even several kilometers away. Not only the figures here, but also the ordinary soldiers and observers who hadn't been able to hear this conversation would receive it.
My sudden outburst was abrupt and at the same time bewildering. Everyone was at a loss for words.
Only my sister listened attentively and nodded.
"That's right. When you strip that away, there's nothing left."
"That 'that alone' is not a simple matter to speak of! Legitimacy? That's created by the perception of the governed! If you force your way in, you'll only breed resentment!"
"Are you worrying about me? It's fine because there's a standard."
"That very standard is the problem! I may be nothing but dregs, but I too am the King of Humans, a threat to my sister's hastily assembled legitimacy! Someday you'll try to kill me with that standard!"
My sister shook her head.
"I won't try to kill you. At most, confinement?"
"I hate that too!"
A conversation between siblings, or a discourse on ruler and ruled, or perhaps something like a philosophical conversation. People were bewildered by this incomprehensible dialogue.
However, my intention was conveyed. My plan was the very act of speaking.
To be precise, making everyone hear these words.
That the only sibling of the 'sister' who will soon become emperor is me. That I am the same King of Humans. So that.
[The stronger the light, the deeper the shadow becomes...]
The Heaven's Saintess murmured as she looked at me. The moment her irises, sparkling with seven colors, fixed on me, the space surrounding me turned sharp.
[By deliberately standing at the antithesis of the king, you've made yourself the focal point.]
She saw through me. The Heaven's Saintess pierced my intention in an instant!
The Saintess's intuition, accompanied by precognition her entire life. I had few choices left, and the Heaven's Saintess traced that future and accurately grasped what I would do.
The Heaven's Saintess pressed her temples and grumbled.
[The outcome won't change, but the process has become greatly muddled. Even though it hasn't happened yet. What a headache. You are an exceedingly tiresome existence to have as an enemy.]
"You're going to use me as a trash can to hold sins anyway, so I'm just trying to help a little."
[A trash can that can't close its lid has no value.]
She only wanted to contain sins within me, but she wouldn't want it to overflow from running amok. Rebellion, challenge against the system, dissatisfaction, indignation. If all of that is poured onto me, my presence will also grow larger. I will become the focal point of the anti-system faction, whether I want to or not.
...If only I can somehow survive this situation!
[You earn the qualification to defile the divine king from a throne mixed with filth. If only you survive this situation.]
"Tch!"
[Then, I'll simply 'erase' that future.]
Sensing danger, I kicked off the ground. Just then, the ground suddenly gave way. I barely maintained my balance as if stumbling in the sand, packed the ground with earth techniques to create a foothold, and leaped.
"Ugh?!"
Thwack, I crashed into an invisible wall and was shot down. Falling to the ground, I clutched my forehead and examined what I had collided with.
Wind? No. A massive crystal board that had been blown by the wind and flown in from a shattered magic tower. It wasn't that transparent either, but at the timing I tried to jump, it exquisitely caught the light, so such a large and heavy crystal board was completely invisible!
Thanks to the Human Rule, the impact wasn't significant, but it was already too late. At some point, the half-destroyed magic tower came tumbling over to close range. No distinct thoughts could be read from within it, but the fact that it precisely aimed for my path of movement was so threatening.
"Is this your power?!"
I couldn't feel an immensely huge power. But somehow, it felt as if this world itself was showing hostility toward me. I had no premonition of escaping from here!
My sister's power? No. If my sister had intended it, it would be more certain and coercive. This was the Heaven's Saintess's power.
[My precognition is a little different from other Saintesses. Other Saintesses see different kinds of futures...]
Two irises shining with seven colors reflected me. Two brilliant sky-blue eyes, as if watching me from everywhere.
Manipulating and moving all creation!
[The blessing given to me is the precognition that rejects what is precognized.]
No intention was mixed in. If the Heaven's Saintess rejects that precognition, the world heads in a direction where it won't come true.
If the wind blows and a flowerpot falls? If that flowerpot shatters and startles the horse pulling a carriage? If that horse is startled and rears up? If a person is hit by the carriage that changed direction as a result?
We call that an unfortunate accident. Because no one intended it, and no one could have intended it, and one was injured as a result of something close to coincidence occurring.
The power the Heaven's Saintess wielded was like this. Coincidence, misfortune, accident, and so on. The trivial inevitabilities piled up one by one forced me into a corner. For someone like me who lacked personal power and utilized surrounding objects and environments to the fullest, she was a natural enemy. It was destiny itself that devours humans!
My sister, who had been watching all of this, smiled innocently and spoke.
"You had bad luck, little brother. You can't get out of here?"
"Kugh..."
"My standard seems unwilling to let you go. I suppose I must accommodate the standard."
"Sister, you're smiling right now?"
"Yeah, you can see it, right? I'm incredibly happy! Because we'll keep being together!"
Moreover, it aligned with my sister's wishes. Even just the Heaven's Saintess alone was overwhelming, but with my sister's support, escape by my own power was impossible.
Did I reveal my intentions too easily? No. This was necessary. If not now, there would never be another chance.
And, I still have a move left!
"Heaven and Earth, Sword and Cosmos!"
A reliable voice rang out. Simultaneously, a fierce and sharp wind swirled. For a very brief moment, the sharp glass fragments surrounding me were revealed by an external variable.
Tearing through the invisible barrier that had been separating me and my companions all this time, Shei appeared.
"Huse, come with me!"