BXBX NOVEL Chapter 33 Fornol Empress
"Halt!" The guards shouted, failing to recognise Yulna, for her appearance stood out from the rest. Whether it was the appearance, skin colour, hair colour, or attire, Yulna was different from what they were used to seeing. So of course, they were wary of her.
This was especially since there only existed one race of humans in Retura City. There might exist other races of humans elsewhere, but the guards weren\'t aware of such a thing.
After all, they weren\'t even literate in the first place, having trained to become a soldier since young and now posted as guards.
"I\'m an imperial envoy sent to greet your City Lord." Upon seeing the suspicion directed at her by the guards, Yulna changed her tone, acting like an ambassador, "Bring me to your City Lord if you don\'t wish to see your heads roll on the ground."
"I\'ll stay here. You go inform the City Lord about this." One of the guards motioned at the other guard that immediately left to inform the City Lord about her arrival.
They couldn\'t simply bring anyone inside the city and hence, this level of precaution.
Yulna calmly stood at the side, whistling from time to time, acting like she truly didn\'t care about what happened here. In truth, a mere glance at the fortified city, and she knew that this world indeed didn\'t have anything special—a power system—going for it.
The people were mortals in the truest sense. And currently, they were only in an Iron Age, having yet to embark on the Steam Age.
Maybe in the future, they might head on the same route as Earth. Or if some mysterious material pops up or if a System decides to take things up for a spin, then things in this world might change.
Otherwise, they might take centuries to enter a technological era.
Even if there were a million people armed with bows and spears, they wouldn\'t even be able to scratch her.
After all, she was almost on the level of a Celas. Despite her current looks as a fragile woman, her skin was on the same level as the Celas that Rhizen faced first.
So, even if a bomb were to land on her, she would emerge unscathed. Therefore, there truly was no reason for her to be afraid of here.
The only threat to her in this world was Rhizen. And upon seeing that he hadn\'t chased after her, Yulna began to think of a plan.
\'Maybe he\'s already growing an army to target me next.\' She thought, worried as she wished to plant her Tower of Purification immediately and churn out people with power through the fruits it bore.
\'But first, I must know more about this world.\' Thinking as such, Yulna awaited a good couple of hours before someone arrived from the City Lord\'s house, escorting her to the mansion in the centre of the city.
Yulna observed that the buildings were made of stone, noting that the ground was hard, eyes lighting up in surprise, \'This city was carved on a levelled-out mountain?\'
She did observe that the majority of the ground seemed to be covered by rocks, large and undisturbed, akin to a mountain, covered by a couple of metres of soil.
But what she hadn\'t expected was for this entire region to be like this, only having a thin upper soil, with the remainder being hard bedrock.
The person that came to escort her was one of the butlers of the City Lord. He didn\'t ask for any details, calmly escorting her first.
Yulna keenly observed the mild shock expressed by the butler, having never expected a foreigner like her to be here. It seemed he was literate and was aware of there being humans with varied appearances in the world.
That was why he was only shocked mildly at her appearance and didn\'t express anything strict like the guards.
"Please wait here. The City Lord would meet you shortly." Saying so, the butler escorted her into a study before taking his leave.
The study was somewhat cold, a room that spanned a length and breadth of twenty metres. A fireplace was situated at one corner, with the fire snuffed out. The charcoal there had faint embers, emitting a gentle heal.
Though, it wasn\'t sufficient to keep such a large room warm enough. Of course, Yulna wasn\'t in the least concerned with something like that. Whether it was a sauna or a freezer, it wouldn\'t affect her.
Instead, her gaze fell on the books as she approached the rack and pulled out a book, calmly reading through it. As Host to the Apocalypse System, and as a fragment of Apocalypse, being able to understand, read, and speak all languages was commonplace.
Even if she wasn\'t aware of the language, things were automatically translated to her. Moreover, it only took her a minute to grasp the workings of the language based on the translation.
Following that, she flipped through the contents, casually browsing through the books before soon, she obtained one that delved into the geography of the region.
The place she was at was called Retura City, the southernmost city of the Fornol Empire. What surprised her was the fact that Fornol Empire was currently on a conquest for the past century, having destroyed and pillaged countless kingdoms.
They were a reigning power that continued to grow and dominate other regions. Wars sparked everywhere they set their foot upon as people died in large numbers.
The Emperor of the Fornol Empire had an insatiable thirst for power and authority as he continued to send armies everywhere to wage war.
\'Interesting, this is just what I need.\' Yulna smirked as she looked at the map of the Fornol Empire, located the direction of the capital and casually left the room. The reason for the entire ruse was just to obtain the necessary information.
Of course, she planned to rule the Fornol Kingdom from the shadows. For that, taking action on the Emperor was the fastest way to spread her power instead of attempting the same from a mere City Lord.
Condensing her wings, she took off into the skies and blasted off.
A couple of people on the streets coincidentally looked at the skies to see large bird wings. But before they could exclaim, Yulna\'s figure vanished. Thinking that they were seeing a hallucination, the people that witnessed her went about with their daily lives, unaware of the event that would change the fate of their entire world.
"Eh? Where is that foreigner, butler?" A middle-aged man\'s surprised voice resounded in the study as he looked around, failing to find any traces of her.
He and the butler then stared at the faces of each other, feeling that the atmosphere had turned eerie all of a sudden. After all, there were guards posted right outside the study, so anyone that wished to leave would have been spotted by the guards.
So, it was unnerving, as if a ghost had paid them a visit. In truth, Yulna had simply turned into a snake and slithered out through the fireplace, for that was the fastest exit.
A couple of hours of air travel later, Yulna arrived in the skies of Deltonne City, Fornol Empire\'s capital. The sun had just begun to set as the skies began to darken.
After waiting for some more time, once night set in, Yulna used the cover of the night to fly into the Imperial Palace, retracting her wings as she transformed into a snake, slithering through the corners between the floor and the wall, avoiding detection as she quickly made her way through the palace\'s interior.
Soon, she arrived at the Emperor\'s chamber, surprised to see a scrawny figure with swollen eye sockets that seemed to be shivering from cold.
Seated nearby, on a seat that seemed to be positioned higher than him was a lady wearing regal clothes. A single glance at her, and it was apparent that she was the Empress.
And based on the current situation, the Empress was the actual one in control, having stolen authority from the Emperor.
Yulna didn\'t make her presence known immediately, waiting to see what played between them.
"Millions of people might die, Feleokruna." The Emperor stated, controlling his trembling.
In response, the Empress sighed, saying in disappointment, "When we were young, you promised the world to me. And from the moment you became the Emperor, you actively destroyed and annexed countless kingdoms. You were charming back then. But now…"
"Why have you become like this?" She stared at him in silence.
The Emperor didn\'t talk for a good ten minutes, speaking as he seemed to be collating his thoughts, "When I was young, I didn\'t realise the weight of my promise. Even if I conquer the world, what I\'m able to present to you would only be a devastated one."
"It\'s not what I had imagined."
"A devastated one it is then." The Empress, Feleokruna nodded as if it made sense, "With our wealth and power, a command from us would raise cities. If it was razed down during our conquest, we\'ll rebuild it under our rule. We have the manpower, funds, and time to do it."
"I\'m turning 55 in a few days and I\'m already this feeble. Let\'s stop this war, dear." The Emperor said, exhausted, "It seems like I don\'t have long to live. So in my final days, I wish to remain in peace without having to think about war and slaughter."
"You can think about it as you wish then…" Feleokruna said as her voice turned cold, "In the afterlife that is."
"I see…" The Emperor muttered in response, noticing blood dripping from his nose, understanding that he had been poisoned. His eyes darted to a sash Feleokruna had brought with her tonight, \'So, it\'s a poison that triggers whatever she had been feeding me until recently.\'
In the end, he could only say his heartfelt words before his demise, "Even if you manage to conquer the world, your thirst would never be quenched. Try to be content with the glory you\'ve already attained and curb your endless greed."
"You know that\'s impossible." Feleokruna sighed as she closed the eyes of the dead Emperor, "It was you that sparked this desire in me when young. It has become the reason for my existence now."
"I\'ll never stop until I conquer the world."
"Wonderfully said!" Yulna took on her human form, clapping her hands in praise, watching the startled figure of the Empress as she smiled in response, "I\'ll help you realise your dream."