Bab 263: Chapter 263: Glory and Downfall
In reality, the Goddess of Misfortune herself was unclear about the consequences the Imska Empire would face after she unleashed the curse of doom. This curse did not possess an overt and direct killing effect. Those cursed wouldn't be directly harmed by divine power, but every event they encountered would turn for the worst under the influence of this accursed divine power, leading to a series of natural and man-made disasters. For instance, a person who might have only suffered minor bruises from a fall could instead break their neck if cursed. Similarly, the Imska Empire, which might have only incurred the displeasure of a few deities due to their arrogance, found themselves the target of an entire pantheon's wrath under the curse.
"Master, a plague has broken out within the empire."
"The contagion is highly infectious and had a long incubation period. It erupted violently after infecting nearly half of the Imskan population."
Sorin, wearing a hooded black robe, reported to Garon with a weary expression in the Dragon Jaw Mountain Range.
The plague-stricken Silver Dragon narrowed his gaze.
"Are only Imskans infected?"
Garon inquired.
Sorin nodded, saying, "Yes, this plague seems specifically targeted at our empire. The empire's great mechanists speculate it's an enemy's doing."
He paused, his expression numb, "In just two weeks, nearly a tenth of the ordinary Imskan populace has died. Low-ranking mechanists couldn't resist the infection either, only those above the intermediate level remained unscathed."
"The empire's foundational systems have collapsed."
"My Maple City is now littered with corpses, every household has lost someone, and the air is thick with the stench of decay. Worse, some of the dead have turned into plague-bearing undead, attacking the living."
As the plague erupted unexpectedly, the Imska Empire's army, previously dispatched for warfare in Phelan, had returned to suppress and quarantine the infection areas, dealing with the plague with a merciless kill-or-cure approach.
Garon gazed toward the Imska Empire. A cloud of resentment, despair, and rage loomed over the empire, like a death shroud similar to the Bone Wasteland, blocking out the sun, even during midsummer.
"This means the Imska Empire has lost over a million people."
Garon's heart chilled.
It had been just three months since he encountered the avatar of the Goddess of Misfortune.
According to Sorin, this empire-wide plague lay dormant after spreading before erupting suddenly, hence the swift but devastating impact. Despite the empire's rapid response, they couldn't avoid severe damage.
"And the plague has only just begun."
"Is the Goddess of Misfortune this powerful?"
"Just one avatar, and she's brought the Imska Empire to such dire straits."
"This kind of chaotic and evil entity is better dealt with from a distance."
Garon thought to himself.
Unknown to Garon, causing a plague of such magnitude with a mere avatar was a Herculean task, even for a deity like the Goddess of Misfortune of moderate divine power. The current situation in the Imska Empire was more than just a curse of misfortune. Deities, as the most powerful beings in the multiverse, can impact the world with their mere likes and dislikes. Gaining a deity's favor could mean divine protection, while their disdain, even if not actively targeted, could bring about a curse-like effect. The Imska Empire, now loathed by numerous deities, had become a land cursed by the gods. The people and things within bore invisible curses from the deities, compounded by the Goddess of Misfortune's reckless sacrifice of her avatar to cast the curse of doom. These factors combined created the current crisis.
Perched atop a mountain, Garon, the Platinum Dragon, looked in the direction of the Imska Empire.
Sorin had already returned.
Garon asked him to report back periodically about the plague.
Time passed quietly.
After many casualties caught off guard, the Imska Empire's mechanist lords finally developed a plague-suppressing potion after half a month. Airships crisscrossed the empire, dispersing the remedy like a downpour.
The red potion, like fresh blood, enshrouded city after city.
Even from the Dragon Jaw Mountains, Garon could smell the pungent mix of medicine and decaying corpses.
Eventually, after ravaging for a month and claiming nearly ten million lives, the plague that devastated the empire's foundation dissipated.
The Imska Empire triumphed over the plague.
At dawn, the clouds dispersed.
Unbeknownst to them, this was just the beginning.
With mainly commoners and low-ranking mechanists dead, and most of the higher-ranking ones surviving, the empire still maintained considerable military strength. However, dealing with the aftermath of the plague would require significant time and resources.
With half the population gone, the empire faced continuous troubles.
"Master, I won't be able to visit the Dragon Jaw Mountains for some time."
"The royal family is summoning all mechanist lords to the capital to discuss solutions for the population crisis. I am one of them."
One day, Sorin relayed this message to Garon.
Hearing Sorin's words, Garon's gaze sharpened.
He recalled the scenes of the Time Shadows he had seen.
He remembered that the Imska Empire was destroyed due to slaves.
The Imska Empire first enslaved others due to a sharp decline in population.
After pondering for a few seconds, Garon showed a meaningful smile to Sorin, "Suggest to the royal family to plunder a vast number of slaves to replenish the labor force."
"Do your utmost to ensure the royal family adopts this suggestion quickly."
Sorin was slightly stunned.
He thought about it but couldn't grasp Garon's intent.
Still, Sorin didn't question further; he just needed to follow orders.
"As you wish."
Sorin left.
"It's near."
"I shall witness the glory and downfall of the Imska Empire."
Murmuring, the silver dragon receded into the darkness, patiently waiting.
Meanwhile, Sorin arrived at the imperial capital.
Possibly due to his appearance, he was quite talented in socializing. Sorin maintained good trade relations with many mechanist lords. Before the official meeting in the capital, he approached his acquaintances, persuading them with Garon's idea.
To Sorin's surprise, the suggestion was overwhelmingly accepted. Mechanist lords initially having their own ideas soon sided with Sorin.
Eventually, the method of plundering slaves to replace the lost Imskan workforce was overwhelmingly approved, swiftly receiving the royal family's endorsement. Sorin, who first proposed this, was greatly rewarded by the empire, significantly increasing his influence.
Everything went so smoothly that Sorin found it hard to believe.
He couldn't understand why the diverse mechanist lords unified so quickly on this matter.
Receiving the empire's rewards, Sorin appeared grateful but recalled the meaningful smile on the silver dragon's face.
Basking in warm sunlight, he suddenly felt a chill.
"How can slaves, under the suppression of mechanists, destroy a magical empire?"
Garon revisited the Time Shadows of the Imska Law Ring.
As the Imska Empire turned to ruins in the final scene, the Time Shadows became disrupted, preventing Garon from discerning the empire's ultimate fate. However, he had a hunch.
"Deities are not to be trifled with. The Imska Empire brought this upon themselves."
Garon shook his head slightly.
Soon after, Sorin returned from the capital.
"Master, the royal family has adopted your suggestion."
Having experienced these events, Sorin held even greater awe for Garon.
His body trembled slightly, kneeling in the shadow cast by the dragon, head bowed.
"You're close to becoming a legend, Sorin," the silver dragon spoke deeply.
"Yes, the empire rewarded me handsomely. Soon, I'll be a legendary mechanist."
Sorin looked up at the majestic, unfathomable silver dragon, "As a legendary mechanist, I can serve you even better."
"By then, I will have won the royal family's favor. Had my power been sufficient and my tenure as a mechanist lord longer, the empire might have entrusted me with an Imska artifact."
Sorin's skills as a high-ranking mechanist were insignificant among his peers.
In the Imska Empire, there were even constructs with half-godly combat prowess.
That's why Garon was reluctant to show himself.
He knew, without reversing time, he couldn't handle a half-godly foe.
A half-god, the lowest level of deity.
But the lowest deity is still a deity.
Possessing half-godly power in the material realm is terrifying. Even if mechanist constructs lacked the versatility of deities, their sheer destructive power alone was enough to devastate Phelan.
"Where does the Imska Empire plan to plunder slaves?"
Garon asked.
While observing the Time Shadows, he was puzzled.
Despite the brutal oppression and ruthless exploitation of slaves, leading to massive deaths, their numbers in the Imska Empire never dwindled. A continuous stream of magic ships brought in vast numbers of slaves.
Sorin's response surprised Garon.
"The royal family has decided to dispatch a magical fleet to other material worlds to capture slaves."
That made sense.
Garon nodded, understanding his earlier confusion. It was as if a weight was lifted from his heart. He exhaled comfortably.
"Why not capture slaves on Phelan?"
With the Imska Empire's strength, despite the plague, capturing various species on Phelan as slaves seemed relatively straightforward.
Sorin spoke softly, "The empire believes divine interference is behind the plague."
"To avoid further antagonizing local deities, the royal family decided to target other material worlds."
He paused, his voice grave, "Moreover, to resist divine malice in the future, the empire's legendary mechanists are researching faith and transcendental divine power."
Great heavens, researching transcendental divine power.
Who else but they would die?
Garon hadn't expected the Imska Empire's audacity to reach such heights.
Having just retaliated against deities, they not only avoided laying low but also targeted deities as hypothetical enemies, researching divine power. Garon could guess with his toes that the gods were now glaring angrily at the Imska Empire.
This... Garon was at a loss for words about this mechanist empire.
Courage to make deities enemies is commendable.
But their contempt for supreme beings is sheer folly.
"Return and use your influence to expedite this matter, supporting the fleet's operation."
Garon ordered Sorin.
Knowing the general course of history and going with the flow, Garon intervened to accelerate the empire's downfall.
Thus, three years had passed since Garon arrived in Phelan.
It would still take several decades to fully charge the Gate of Time and Space.
"I want to witness the downfall of the Imska Empire before the Gate is fully charged."
The silver dragon closed his eyes.
Under his influence, the River of Time reluctantly emitted wisps of temporal power, charging the Gate little by little.
Garon spent most of his time on the Gate.
To draw temporal power, he had to concentrate fully, consuming much time.
In the blink of an eye, over a month passed.
The Imska Empire targeted several human-inhabited material worlds.
Meanwhile, the Imskan lands experienced their first post-plague snowfall.
Elf-like snowflakes fell from the sky, blanketing the earth in a delicate silver.
Facing the first snow, the Imska Empire's magic dock activated. Portals opened one after another, launching sophisticated magic ships from Phelan to other material worlds.
The powerful magical fleet rampaged through less advanced material worlds.
As spring and summer cycled, time slipped quietly by.
Now, regularly, fleets loaded with numerous slaves returned to the Imska Empire. The empire's population gradually recovered with these slaves, even exceeding its pre-plague size.
The mechanist lords treated slaves and Imskans differently.
The Imska Empire didn't need to worry about slave satisfaction or provide them healthcare or education. With a sufficient slave base, the frequency of magic ship launches reduced. The mechanist lords segregated a portion of the population, forcing slaves to breed like livestock.
Life for slaves in the Imska Empire was hellish.
On the blood and bones of slaves, in just five years, the empire regained its former glory, surpassing its pre-plague power due to the exploitation of slave labor.
By then, with a sufficient slave base, the Imska Empire no longer needed as many slaves.
They closed the magic docks, and the interdimensional ships were moored.
As Garon saw in the Time Shadows.
With ample labor, the Imska Empire indulged in constructing super-massive mechanical wonders, each grandiose and unique.
Through Sorin's reports, Garon knew these constructions had deeper imperial significance.
They sought to — create a Mechanical God!
While building these wonders, under the royal family's deliberate promotion, a trend of praying to these mechanical behemoths emerged. The royal family planned to use these mechanical wonders as vessels for faith, creating an empire's Machine God.
Whether it would succeed remained unclear, but the empire's mad idea astounded and impressed Garon.
Perhaps a bit overambitious.
But such courage was commendable.
"A proud, mad, arrogant, yet captivating human empire."
Upon learning of the Imska Empire's mechanical deification, Garon reflected silently.
If successful, the Imska Empire would drastically alter the multiverse's balance, greatly threatening the deities' dominion.
Thus, the empire was doomed to fail.
Meanwhile.
The oppressed slaves, living worse than death, prayed to their gods.
Their suffering and torment only deepened their faith.
However, the Imska Empire anticipated this and built pyramid-like mechanical wonders while capturing the slaves.
True to its name, the Imska Empire constructed nine hundred-meter-tall mechanical pyramids around its borders, forming an immense planar barrier. It blocked the slaves' prayers and calls to their gods, severing all connections between Phelan and the worlds they visited.
Over the next decade, the Imska Empire reached unprecedented prosperity.
But by then, the royal family had lost interest in dominating Phelan. They devoted enormous resources to creating miracles-like mechanical wonders.
According to Sorin, the idea of a mechanical god seemed possible.
A humanoid mechanical wonder in the capital became popular. A year ago, it successfully harnessed a wisp of faith power.
This meant that, given enough time, this mechanical wonder might become a mechanical deity.
With the mechanists' abilities, creating a mechanical god meant they could, given sufficient materials, create an army of mechanical gods. If successful, the name of the Imska Empire would echo throughout the multiverse.
But.
The Imska Empire had no future.
On a stormy afternoon, under dark clouds and thunder, the silver dragon emerged from its lair, braving the tempest to ascend the mountain.
Garon gazed at the radiant mechanist empire, its mechanical giants' outlines faintly visible.
Learning of the mechanical pyramids' construction, Garon understood how the glorious empire would meet its end.
What would happen if the cries and pleas of slaves, oppressed for nearly two decades, reached their gods' ears?
"It's time to act."
"Embrace your grand finale."
The long-dormant hunter bared its fangs.
Whoosh!
Amid the unending rain, the forty-eight-meter-long silver dragon spread its wings.
Then, the massive dragon left Dragon Jaw Mountains, tearing through the stormy sky, heading toward the nearest mechanical pyramid.
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