One minute earlier, in the Holy Land—Mary Geoise, deep within Pangaea Castle, in the Chamber of Flowers.
"Imu-sama, we are incompetent. The rebels have repelled the Marine Admiral stationed at Mary Geoise—'Green Bull'—and have now advanced onto the Red Line."
The Five Elders, the highest authority of the World Government, bowed their heads humbly toward the Empty Throne, prostrating themselves with utmost reverence.
Shrouded in shadow, clad in a long robe and wearing a towering crown, Imu-sama—whom the Five Elders addressed with such deference—stepped slowly out from their private garden.
From the silhouette alone, Imu appeared slender and tall. The arms hidden beneath the shadows were long and delicate, bearing distinctly feminine traits.
Taking a seat upon the throne, Imu looked down at the Five Elders with dark crimson eyes.
"I already know why you have come. I will handle it."
Imu's eyes were unusual—dark red, their pupils layered in concentric rings like reincarnating cycles.
"However." The tone shifted abruptly, turning icy. "To have been struck all the way to Mary Geoise—truly incompetent. The rise of the rebels, the corruption of CP0, the siege of Mary Geoise, the Navy's internal discord... you all bear responsibility for these matters."
"Yes, Imu-sama."
The Five Elders kept their heads lowered.
Had anyone else spoken such words, they would have flown into a rage. But before Imu's questioning, they could only obey. They did not dare offer even the slightest rebuttal.
Eight hundred years old. Leader of the Celestial Dragons. Master of the Empty Throne. The one who had existed alongside the World Government since its inception.
Imu was the true sovereign behind the World Government.
The Five Elders were merely its public face, directly accountable to Imu.
Imu waved a hand. "Your responsibility will not be pursued for now. Dealing with the rebels is the priority."
"Uranus, the power that has not been used in eight hundred years—it is time for it to awaken."
"You may leave. I expect to hear good news soon. Any existence that dares to scorn the World Government or threaten it must be strangled in the cradle..."
Just as the words fell, Imu suddenly looked up. The dark crimson pupils contracted sharply.
"Not good..."
A threat of death descended without warning.
In the next instant, as Imu spoke, dazzling light erupted from the surrounding corridors. Even the Void Throne Hall at the deepest part of Pangaea Castle was illuminated.
RUMBLE—!!!
Pangaea Castle was gone.
The Holy Land—Mary Geoise—was gone.
When the pillar of light descended from the orbital fortress, everything was annihilated in the most literal sense.
As the Honkai energy output of the fortress light-lance emitter continued to increase, the world-piercing beam of destruction thickened, shifting from orange to a terrifying violet-red.
The brilliance of the sun was eclipsed. Heaven and earth were dyed an ominous violet-red. The atmosphere ignited. The air reeked of ozone.
Whether they were the "lowly" slaves captured and abused by the Celestial Dragons, or the so-called "descendants of gods" themselves—under the light-lance, all were equal.
Centered on Pangaea Castle at the heart of Mary Geoise, a colossal sphere of light—millions of times brighter than the sun—erupted atop the Red Line.
Like divine retribution, the light-lance expanded at incomparable speed.
Within a fifty-kilometer radius, every member of the World Government herded into this zone by the Blood Angels suffered extensive burns and skin sloughing. Countless flammable materials ignited instantly.
And this was only the beginning.
Fires spanning over a hundred kilometers in diameter merged into a blazing inferno beyond the reach of the initial shockwave. In an instant, flames soared into the sky.
The next second, the violet-red sphere surged outward at a thousand meters per second.
Within a twenty-kilometer radius, accompanied by radiation and the overpressure formed by the shockwave, countless magnificent palaces in the so-called "Abode of the Gods" disintegrated like fragile building blocks.
Buildings burst into flames under the intense heat, then turned to dust in moments. Debris hurled into the air was ignited mid-flight, scattering in every direction.
Some flaming boulders even fell from the Red Line like volcanic meteors, blanketing vast stretches of sea—a vision straight from the apocalypse.
A few unfortunate spies were caught in the disaster. Their sailing ships were struck by flaming meteors, blooming into burning flowers upon the ocean.
BOOM—BOOM—!
Only after the destructive radius reached the preset energy limit of the weapon system did the world-spanning beam suddenly contract, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The tremendous shockwave swept the sky clear for hundreds of miles, leaving only a visible ring-shaped wall of air connecting heaven and earth—testament to the divine punishment that had just descended.
"Destruction is always easier than construction."
Floating calmly, utterly ignoring the air wall that swept past like a barrier, Sanguinius sighed.
Click.
"Magnificent. So that's why you didn't choose to simply bombard everything from the start? How gentle of you, Legion Commander Sanguinius."
Lowering her camera after taking a photo, Arisa applauded enthusiastically.
There was no trace of mockery in her tone. Arisa genuinely admired Sanguinius.
As the Legion Commander of an Astartes Legion personally created by Selene—one who walked the worlds of his assigned domain in Selene's stead, exercising sovereign authority as a demigod among mortals—Sanguinius was undoubtedly one of Selene's finest masterpieces.
He possessed a warmth that clearly distinguished him from his fellow Legion Commanders.
He bore no unspoken arrogance toward mortals. No discrimination against the native populations of conquered worlds. Nor did he oppress his subordinates through authority.
"Oh my—Sanguinius, so kind indeed. If Leman Russ or Azem and that bunch of brutes had come instead, who knows what state this beautiful world would be left in?"
Arms folded, Liver raised a brow at Sanguinius and teased.
"Not at all, Lady Arisa. Senior Liver flatters me. I am not as kind or gentle as you imagine. We are all ruthless killers."
Shaking his head, Sanguinius replied evenly.
"The reason I did not immediately use orbital weapons—yes, part of it was to preserve this beautiful world as intact as possible. But more importantly, it was to train the new recruits and cultivate more outstanding soldiers."
Cruel, wasn't it?
But that was the truth.
Sanguinius did not shy away from allowing the grime of battle to stain his beauty.
The Servitor Army required training—and elimination.
The soldiers yearned for merit. They needed heads to earn promotion, to raise their military rank, and to elevate their social standing.
As for replenishing the Astartes—most were conscripted from the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Capital. A smaller portion were selected from outstanding soldiers of the Imperial Auxilia.
Beyond the obligatory conscripts drawn from the Empire's core worlds, those early in the conquest sequence were also being considered. Distinguished soldiers within the Servitor Army would likewise be transferred and elevated.
As for the Servitor Army, they stood at the very bottom of the Imperial Army's hierarchy. They typically used weapons phased out by the Auxilia. They were the most numerous, largely drawn from conscription worlds conquered by the Empire.
Under the Empire's mandated tithe system, every world under Imperial rule was required to unconditionally surrender one-tenth of its total production capacity—that is, one-tenth of all categories of resources and wealth produced by the world, including population. Specifically, one-tenth of its adult population between the ages of 20 and 40.
The former was collected annually.
The latter was levied once at the beginning of incorporation into Imperial rule. A second levy would occur at an unspecified time, determined by each Legion Commander.
Generally speaking, the second conscription would not occur until at least five years had passed.
Within the prescribed timeframe, a second population levy for a single world required only filing with the Imperial Ministry of War before execution. Multiple levies across several worlds, however, required Selene's personal approval.
Thereafter, on the battlefield, under the Empire's overwhelming martial authority and tempted by the Imperial merit-based nobility system, the Servitor Army's combat effectiveness was by no means weak.
The principles Selene had learned from the pioneers of Legalist thought flourished within the Empire with unimaginable vitality.
In short—the Empire's continued stability and development required war. Society yearned for war. Soldiers needed kills.
The sudden upheaval before them caught all onlookers off guard. An uproar erupted everywhere.
Though everyone knew that once Mary Geoise had been attacked the World Government was at a disadvantage, seeing it truly destroyed still left many in disbelief. Eight hundred years of rule—overturned just like that?
The Den Den Mushi slipped from someone's hands and fell blankly onto the deck. A spy hidden among the reporters muttered in a daze.
Click.
"The Holy Land—Mary Geoise has been destroyed. Th-that means the World Government that ruled the world for eight hundred years has fallen?!"
Atop the Red Line, that magnificent city symbolizing the pinnacle of maritime authority had been wiped away as though erased by an invisible hand.
In his vision, debris hurled skyward by the orbital bombardment streaked downward from the Red Line, trailing flames.
The overwhelming shock caused him to completely overlook the nearby scene of an unfortunate ship being struck by one of the flaming meteors.
"Quick! Inform the President! This is huge news! Mary Geoise has been destroyed! The world is about to welcome a new master!"
After hearing the shout from a professional reporter of the World Economic News Paper, the spies dispatched by various forces finally snapped out of their stupor and hurriedly transmitted the news of the World Government's destruction back to their headquarters.
"Report to Fleet Admiral Sakazuki immediately! Mary Geoise has been destroyed—the World Government has fallen!"
"Notify Leader Dogra. The World Government is gone—what should our next move be?"
"Inform the Admiral at once—the World Government has perished!"
"Tell MOM—Mary Geoise has disappeared!"
"Quick, notify Big Brother..."
"Inform the Young Master..."
...
At this moment, atop the Red Line.
As far as the eye could see, there were ruins. Scars covered the land. More than half of the enormous city had vanished, and the searing imprint left by the light-lance was carved deep into the Red Line.
Beyond the boundary of the ring-shaped crater, a thousand meters from ground zero, along the front line—
Upon the hastily erected anti-shock barriers, the Astartes disengaged their large-scale energy shields.
Knightmare Frames that had braced themselves in bombardment posture rose back to their feet. The Auxilia and Servitor soldiers who had taken cover behind them straightened from their crouched positions and stepped forward.
When they saw the three figures descending slowly from the sky, cheers and battle cries erupted without end.
"Unlike nuclear weapons, the light-lance emitter is far more convenient. Its destructive yield remains strictly within the system's preset energy parameters, and there's no troublesome radiation zone to consider."
Wings beating gently as he landed beside Arisa and Liver, Sanguinius continued.
"A fifty-kilometer energy release was just right—enough to annihilate all diehard resistance while preserving the structural integrity of the Red Line itself."
"Lady Arisa, Senior Liver—please look."
Sanguinius gestured toward the vast ring-shaped crater before them.
Within it lay a field of glassy crystalline formations forged by extreme heat. Multicolored and shimmering, the crystallized surface covered the entire basin, forming a uniform circular boundary around the collapsed zone.
At the very center—where the light-lance had struck—temperatures had not yet cooled. A sea of orange-red magma churned and flowed, radiating heat that made one's scalp prickle.
"Here, the Blood Angels will construct new halls. This shall become the Empire's governing center in this world—continuing to overlook all seas... hm?"
Mid-sentence, Sanguinius frowned slightly.
"There is still life?"
"Yes. I can sense it. The aura is extremely weak—but it is indeed still alive." Turning her head, Arisa asked curiously, "Shall we go over and sever its head?"
"There's no need for that trouble. I think it would be best if we did not meet. Let it die gloriously."
Shaking his head without drawing his blade, Sanguinius calmly activated the Legion Commander channel within his power armor.
"Order: orbital fortress light-lance emitter, prepare for secondary strike. Three-kilometer energy output. Target lock. Fire."
Hummm—BOOM!
As another beam pierced the heavens, Sanguinius lowered his head slightly in acknowledgment.
"Farewell."
It came swiftly and vanished just as quickly. By the time his words fell, the massive orange-red beam had already disappeared.
"Uh... well. It's probably—most likely—completely dead now." Arisa covered her face, not expecting Sanguinius, with those upright brows and bright eyes, to have such a subtly ruthless side.
Clap, clap.
"In that case, the campaign is effectively concluded. Only the latter half of the Grand Line—the New World—remains unconquered, according to the prisoners' accounts. Sanguinius, we split our forces."
Clapping his hands, expression bright with enthusiasm, Liver spoke eagerly.
"Just now, the detachment I sent toward the New World reported back. A group claiming to represent the Marine Headquarters made contact. From the tone they conveyed, they seem inclined to surrender. I intend to personally go and accept their capitulation."
"Very well."
Nodding cheerfully, Sanguinius replied, "Senior Liver will handle the surrender negotiations. I will lead the Blood Angels to eradicate the pirates entrenched in the New World and strive to cleanse it within a short time."
"Good. Then it is settled. Let us conclude this campaign swiftly—Her Majesty still awaits our good news."
...
"Hey! What about me?"
Seeing that neither of them intended to bring her along, Arisa immediately jumped in dissatisfaction.
"Ah..."
Exchanging a helpless glance with Liver, Sanguinius suddenly thought of something.
"Lady Arisa, weren't you interested in fish-men and merfolk?"