Victoria's capital, Londinium.
Perhaps because it had just suffered a round of looting not long ago, this city—possibly the most prosperous on all of Terra—now appeared distinctly desolate.
Theresis and the Sarkaz troops under his command were, by all appearances, utterly desperate for money. With a "grab one last haul before leaving" mindset, the extent of their plundering of Londinium could only be described as insane.
Food and supplies—whether from the state granaries or ordinary civilian homes—were all hauled away without exception. Anything even slightly useful that could be seen on the streets was stripped clean. The royal palace was dismantled until only an empty shell remained. Forget the furnishings—even floor tiles made of slightly better materials and layers of wall plaster were pried off and taken.
One could strongly suspect that if they hadn't been in such a rush to leave, those bastards might've gone so far as to dig three feet into the ground—or simply dismantle Londinium piece by piece and ship it back to Kazdel for recycling.
When Talulah and An Xora arrived, this was the city that greeted them.
There was no sign of a defending army at all. Without even needing the two army groups and the Wendigo Legion that followed them, Talulah and An Xora simply swaggered straight into the city, effortlessly occupying Victoria's capital.
Along the way, scenes of chaos were everywhere. All stored food in civilian homes had been looted, and under the looming threat of famine, people poured into the streets, smashing and grabbing in a desperate attempt to find something—anything—to eat.
Fortunately, after the two army groups entered the city, they quickly took control of public order. An Xora also summoned the Shadow Troops and had Talulah use the Shadow Kingdom's teleportation ability to transfer in a batch of grain, ensuring that Londinium's residents wouldn't starve to death.
After handling all this, An Xora and Talulah headed for the Victoria royal palace.
At this point, there wasn't much left to see.
As mentioned earlier, Theresis's Sarkaz troops had stripped it so thoroughly that even the floor tiles and wall plaster were gone.
The good news, however, was that—for reasons unknown—the crown, scepter, and coronation robes used for ascension were all neatly placed upon the throne. The throne hall itself, where the coronation ceremony was to be held, was also completely intact.
Theresis's Sarkaz had looted every other corner of Londinium, yet for some reason, they seemed to have deliberately left this place untouched.
Although it was unclear what considerations had led them to do this, it was undoubtedly good news for An Xora and Talulah. With all the necessary regalia present, and with Talulah's Draco bloodline, even if no nobles were left in Londinium to bear witness, she could still ascend the throne directly.
"In that case, immediately spread the news,"
Talulah ordered.
"Tomorrow at noon, a coronation ceremony will be held before the throne. All Londinium residents are to watch on time."
As long as the coronation ceremony was held, Talulah would become Victoria's legitimate empress. No matter how much the Victorian dukes cursed her under their breath, they would still have to grit their teeth and accept it.
After all, the Victorian throne had been vacant. Now, at such a critical time, a Draco descendant with legitimate royal blood completed a coronation ceremony within the royal palace itself. You couldn't exactly refuse to acknowledge it just because you were late and didn't make it in time.
Of course, this didn't mean that once Talulah ascended the throne, she could rest easy.
After all, what did becoming Victoria's empress really amount to? At most, it meant holding the banner of legitimacy. If she couldn't suppress the Victorian dukes and nobles, wouldn't she just end up like Vina's dog-donkey father—the previous Victorian emperor in the original story—sent straight to the chopping block?
Likewise, even if Talulah became Victoria's empress, those dukes wouldn't pass up the opportunity to march their armies forward. To reach Londinium as quickly as possible for the coronation, An Xora and Talulah had only brought two army groups deep into Victoria's territory.
In the eyes of those dukes, this was the perfect chance to annihilate Talulah while her forces were insufficient and her supply lines thin.
That said, neither An Xora nor Talulah cared in the slightest.
An Xora's confidence came purely from strength. Even if he didn't personally intervene, the moment those dukes dared to gather their armies and march on Londinium, he could simply summon Jibril to flatten those ignorant fools on the spot.
As for Talulah, she was well aware of An Xora's various methods. Even in a truly unfavorable situation, the Shadow Kingdom's teleportation ability alone was enough to let her and their forces withdraw safely.
And so, Talulah began arranging personnel to prepare the coronation ceremony, while ordering the two army groups and the Wendigo Legion to rest and recuperate, and dispatching soldiers in batches to continue maintaining order throughout Londinium.
The next day, at noon.
Before the eyes of all Londinium's residents, Talulah held her coronation ceremony—and successfully completed it.
She became the empress of yet another nation following Ursus, and also Terra's unprecedented first-ever dual empress.
Kazimierz wasn't counted, because after being conquered by Ursus and incorporated into its territory, it was no longer an independent state.
After ascending the throne, the very first thing Talulah did was declare several Victorian dukes as traitors, forcibly slapping them with charges of treason.
Upon receiving the communication, those dukes exploded with rage. They hadn't even had the chance to make a move against Talulah yet, and she had already struck first!
They immediately accelerated their military mobilization, angrily leading their forces straight toward Londinium to surround it.
One would've thought the next step would be a quiet wait for the dukes' assembled armies to arrive.
Yet, to An Xora and Talulah's surprise, the day after Talulah's coronation in Londinium—under these circumstances—someone actually came to request an audience.
"The leader of Dublinn seeks an audience?"
Inside the palace, Talulah sat upon the throne, stunned by the guard's report, and quickly asked,
"What kind of organization is Dublinn?"
Talulah swore she didn't mean any disrespect.
It was just that she genuinely had never heard of Dublinn before.
As the empress of Ursus, prior to coming to Victoria for her coronation, the only people and factions worth remembering were the top leadership of heavyweight nations like Yan, Columbia, and Victoria itself.
An organization like Dublinn—remnants of the Tara dynasty that Victoria had long ago purged—was nothing more than a roadside nobody. Intelligence about them simply wasn't even qualified to be delivered to her desk.
Naturally, Talulah had absolutely no impression of this group.
"Forget it. Let the leader of Dublinn come in first."
"Whoever they are, coming to see me at a time like this… aren't they afraid of being dragged into the war?"
After ordering the guards to bring the visitor in, Talulah muttered to herself with a puzzled expression.
"They probably have some special purpose,"
An Xora said, seated on another chair that had been moved beside the throne.
"Or maybe they simply have confidence in us—confidence that you'll win this war."
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 70 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/BlackDevil808