Chapter 388 351 – Submission and Expansion

The Direwolf leader saw Setsuna, who had shown no trace of demonic energy moments earlier, suddenly erupt with a terrifying aura.

Claws of bitterly cold ice formed over her hands, and strands of crimson power coiled around them as she murmured,

"Crimson Ultimate Claw!"

The path Setsuna followed was a branch of the Authority of Slaughter!

Fully aware of her own strengths, she had pushed her combat capabilities to their absolute limit.

To her, the dozen or so Direwolves lunging forward seemed to be moving in slow motion.

"Too slow. Far too slow!"

A flash of blood-red light crossed Setsuna's ice-blue eyes as she violently swung one claw.

The icy talons wrapped in crimson power tore through the air, producing an explosive roar as though the atmosphere itself could no longer withstand the strain!

Whoosh!!!

Blood-colored frost surged outward, slicing through the surrounding trees at the waist like bone-scraping steel blades.

The dozen Direwolves charging toward her were torn to pieces in an instant!

The blood and chunks of flesh filling the air left the Direwolf leader both horrified and terrified.

He could not understand how the seemingly delicate Setsuna could be such a terrifying god of slaughter.

Panic began to set in, and he realized that he had provoked someone far beyond his ability to handle.

However, the Direwolf leader knew he could not retreat now.

The Direwolf tribe could only display its true strength through unity.

As their leader, he had made the wrong decision, and the consequences were obvious.

The moment the tribe lost faith in him, he would face a fatal crisis.

A leader had to demonstrate his strength!

He had to prove that his decision had not been wrong!!

"Awooo!!!"

The Direwolf leader released a roar, bared his fangs, and prepared to counterattack.

Faced with his threatening display, Setsuna revealed a cruel smile.

"Blood-Ice Bursting Spears!"

She made a beckoning motion through the air, and the blood and flesh scattered across the battlefield instantly froze before transforming into crimson ice spears.

In the next moment, more than a hundred blood-red spears shot forward, piercing the Direwolf leader like a torrential storm of needles.

Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!

In the span of a single breath, the Direwolf leader, who had still intended to resist, was reduced to a pincushion.

After finishing him off, Setsuna coldly looked toward the remaining Direwolves.

They all retreated half a step, trembling in fear as they lowered their heads.

Seeing their behavior, Setsuna immediately lost interest.

"I haven't even used the Sacred Gear Takumi-sama gave me. What a bunch of weaklings."

Setsuna made no effort to conceal her contempt and questioned them with absolute arrogance.

"What is your answer now?"

"We choose to follow you and join the empire!"

The Direwolves dropped to the ground in unison, prostrating themselves like dogs as they offered their loyalty.

"Follow me? Who would want a bunch like you?"

"You only need to join Takumi-sama's empire. Come with me."

Setsuna curled her lips, then turned around and began leading the way.

Inside the imperial palace, Takumi dismissed the image at an appropriate moment.

The matter had been simpler than he expected, though the result was essentially what he had anticipated.

Having witnessed the scene as well, Kagali gained a clearer understanding of the strength under Takumi's command.

The women who called themselves Amazoness possessed the strongest fighting spirit, but their overall strength was the lowest.

Most of them ranged from B to A rank, while the strongest had reached S rank.

The truly powerful forces were the Demon Shadow Army Takumi had created and the few girls who received the most favor from him.

Thinking of this, Kagali suddenly straightened her back.

She was now one of his most favored women too!

With her motivation soaring, Kagali immediately moved on to the next stage of her arrangements.

"Master, I've already sent Laplace and the others to investigate the movements of the nearby kingdoms."

"I've also deployed all the forces I had previously gathered."

There was one matter Kagali did not mention: Clayman's movements after leaving.

Clayman, the weakest among them, had always been plotting to evolve into an Awakened Demon Lord.

In this world, the most direct way for a Demon Lord to evolve was to offer human souls as sacrifices.

That would inevitably result in a large-scale massacre.

Kagali could already foresee that Clayman would probably cause a considerable disturbance later.

She only hoped he would not stand in Takumi's way.

With that thought, Kagali pushed Clayman from her mind and moved on to their current arrangements.

"Master, because of the Storm Dragon's disappearance, human adventurers have begun exploring the forest."

"The location of our empire is gradually being exposed."

"Should we announce our existence openly, or wait for the proper opportunity?"

Faced with Kagali's question, Takumi waved his hand with little interest.

"Do whatever you want. It doesn't matter if word spreads."

"I'll leave the empire's affairs to you, Kagali. Just keep expanding outward."

"Come to me when something important happens. You can handle the minor matters yourself."

"I have some things to take care of, so I'll be leaving first."

The moment he finished speaking, Takumi departed without another word, leaving the enormous imperial palace entirely in Kagali's hands.

"…"

Looking at this utterly unreliable emperor, Kagali had countless complaints she wanted to make.

Why did it feel as though she had suddenly been given an absurd amount of authority?

She had started as a secretary, yet somehow she had become the empire's chancellor!

More importantly, their kingdom did not even have a name yet!

Kagali could not shake the feeling that Takumi viewed nation-building as nothing more than a game.

Unable to understand why he had such an attitude, Kagali could only do her best to govern.

"The nation was only recently established, and the surrounding countries still haven't reacted. Under normal circumstances, we should seize this opportunity to develop our foundations."

"However, the Demon Shadow Army Master created is far too powerful. There's no need to focus on developing the empire. We only need to continue invading outward."

"The nearest nations are the Kingdom of Blumund and the Armed Nation of Dwargon."

The Kingdom of Blumund bordered the Great Forest of Jura and lay directly to its west.

It was one of the Western Nations, a small kingdom with a relatively low population.

The only thing truly worthy of praise was its intelligence-gathering ability.

"That happens to be exactly what we currently lack."

"The empire has no shortage of military strength, but our intelligence-gathering capabilities are insufficient."

"Once we occupy the kingdom, we can absorb its intelligence department."

Kagali quickly made her decision.

The small country was nothing to fear. Sending a group of Demon Shadow Maidens along with an envoy for negotiations should be enough to subdue it.

No matter how strong the kingdom's espionage capabilities were, they would be useless in a direct confrontation.

After all, Kagali's side intended to rely entirely on overwhelming strength and steamroll everything. There was no need for elaborate maneuvering.

"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever seen such an excessive military force."

Kagali smacked her lips, still stunned by the Demon Shadow Army Takumi had created.

There were a full hundred thousand of them, and even the weakest possessed S-rank strength. On top of that, they were immortal.

No wonder Takumi was so relaxed.

With an army like this, there was nothing he needed to fear.

"Our main focus should still be the Armed Nation of Dwargon. The dwarves living there excel at forging."

"If we subdue them, they should be useful for our military equipment… probably."

Kagali sounded somewhat uncertain.

After all, Takumi's Demon Shadow Army did not appear to need weapons at all.

She also knew that Takumi himself was capable of mass-producing Sacred Gears.