Dictator From Outer Space - Chapter 280:

The resurrection of Altema did not end with causing a huge uproar across the continent.

The current rulers of Astera believed without doubt that her resurrection meant the second great war.

Altema’s reputation was not a joke, and her power was equally formidable.

She also had a divine power that was not inferior to any god, and she could increase her army in real time.

It was not strange that Elvrande started to prepare for the great war.

President Drizden secretly hoped for her resurrection, but when things did not go as he wished, he shifted all the blame to Leobold.

“The one who resurrected Altema was the king of Bagran. The one who disturbed the peace of Astera and persecuted the elves was the king of Bagran.”

“We can no longer tolerate his atrocities. As we did 200 years ago, we will make blood and tears flow from our enemies. Elves of Astera, unite!”

In the sealed capital Medea, more than 100,000 elves gathered in the square and shouted the president’s name while waving Elvrande’s flag.

At the same time, Elvrande issued a mobilization order and entered a de facto state of war.

Drizden obtained the authority to allocate the budget as he pleased from the noble families and to start a war without propaganda.

It was the beginning of Drizden’s one-man dictatorship.

And it also meant the prologue to the great war.

Countless elves were conscripted throughout Elvrande, and Goliaths and airships were mass-produced.

A huge nation with a population of 50 million mobilized all its resources, and the concentration of troops exceeded imagination.

Of course, this was according to Astera’s standards, and Leobold thought it was cute.

“Is that all they have? Goliaths with increased output and airships…”

“The real thing starts now. Elvrande plans to resurrect the Elven Pantheon.”

“What will happen if the gods are resurrected?”

“All kinds of disasters, such as plagues, floods, fires. The president’s office doesn’t care about the side effects of cursing, either.”

“Then Yggdrasil won’t be able to withstand it.”

No matter how it was the world tree, it couldn’t endure creating divine beings by constantly running the infinite circuit.

“The president’s office knows that too, so they plan to gather the branches spread across the region and strengthen Yggdrasil, while experimenting with creating small gods and implanting them into Goliaths. In that case, improved Belials could become stronger than Black Knights.”

“That’s quite threatening.”

That’s what he meant by saying that their power remained at the present level.

Currently, Arma was making Leobold’s new body and the iron giant that would ride it.

If he installed an ether origin into the giant, its power would surpass even Settler ship.

It was an absolute weapon that could use all magic freely and burn Astera in a short time.

Arma called it an artificial god, but Leobold didn’t like it.

There was only one true god.

Anyway, as Elvrande hurried to prepare for the total war, Zaium and Imir Republic also felt the fire on their backs.

Emperor Barak tried to use this crisis as an opportunity to strengthen his imperial power and openly pressured the nobles, but it didn’t seem easy.

After all, they had limited things they could do.

At best, they could slightly lower the output of Black Knights and replicate them and hurry up building airships.

Fortunately, they succeeded in making an ether bomb launcher, but they had trouble training riflemen who would operate it.

They couldn’t give that precious weapon to commoners, so they gathered semi-knights and trained them, but they didn’t listen at all.

It was so bad that Emperor Barak personally scolded them.

“You can’t march properly, you can’t read maps properly, what can you do? The riflemen of Bagran destroyed a Heyston relay station guarded by multiple Goliaths with just one platoon!”

“Your Majesty, we don’t have a king of Bagran on our side.”

Emperor Barak realized then why Leobold made his riflemen out of commoners.

The nobles had Goliaths as dignified weapons, so they didn’t want to do anything troublesome or hard.

But if they made them out of commoners here, they didn’t even have basic education.

They couldn’t read a single letter or decipher a single map.

They were hopeless.

He asked his secretaries to find out about Bagran’s education facilities and couldn’t hide his astonishment.

“They educated commoners even though they weren’t going to use them as riflemen?”

“Yes. Most of the cities have basic education facilities. When the children can walk on their own, they go there and learn letters and pictures.”

“What’s the point of doing that…”

It was natural for the emperor to be puzzled.

The talents who led Astera were mostly born with it, such as knights, magicians, and ether engineers.

Commoners with no abilities were useless even if they were educated.

That was the general opinion.

This was because they didn’t know the importance of a well-educated and mature talent pool.

If Leobold and Arma led the first ether revolution, the children who received such education would grow up and lead the second revolution.

Anyway, from the emperor’s perspective, he didn’t need to know that, and he needed soldiers who could use riflemen right away.

“Tell the selected semi-knights. If they disobey my orders, I will strip them of their titles.”

It was obvious, but this kind of coercive training didn’t help much.

Humans were creatures that tried to escape when they were oppressed.

Even if the emperor ordered them personally, there was no return, so they just pretended to do it.

As a result, the rifleman training was sluggish and they couldn’t show any skill to do a solo operation.

At best, they could only cooperate with Goliath units, and Emperor Barak was disappointed, but he decided to let it go as it was.

‘Anyway, there are not many things that work properly in this Zaium. In that respect, King Vandus is quite amazing…’

It was a mystery how a small kingdom could execute its plans perfectly according to its own taste.

Especially when it had to carry the heavy burden of Galisto and Tassos Duchy on its back.

It would be hard enough to support a population that was several times larger than usual, but it was amazing that they could supply an enormous amount of food without any problem.

‘But this good time will soon end… Now, as you wish, the second great war will break out. Countless lives will be lost, and countless refugees will wander the continent… Can you handle that?’

To be honest, Bagran was not big enough to join the great war.

No matter how strong their individual combat power and technology were, the national scale was much more important when the war started in earnest.

‘Are you ready to accept that?’

He would find out soon enough.

***

As the war atmosphere heated up, the most urgent thing was Imir Republic.

This place, built by the dwarves, was different from other countries in metalworking and mechanical engineering.

They were a bit behind the elves in magic and ether engineering, but they couldn’t catch up with the dwarves in overall technology.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire population had hammers in their hands.

Despite such an advantage, they regretted that they couldn’t make an efficient ether engine, but the dwarves quickly forgot about it and focused on developing new engines.

But that was only allowed in normal times.

As the war atmosphere intensified, the dwarves of the Iron Council held meetings every day, and the citizens were busy buzzing.

Elvrande was already a tough enemy, but they panicked when Altema resurrected.

“Altema has taken over the Holy Church! We’re doomed!”

“Be quiet and wait for the Iron Council’s decision.”

“What can the Council do? What if a gold dragon flies over and casts a wide-area curse?”

One of the most dangerous things in dragon’s power was black magic that spread over a wide area.

The necromancers who existed in the past could walk on the ground and be easily killed, but that was impossible for dragons.

Who would dare to claim to be a dragon slayer?

Even the romantic legends of old times were revealed to be nothing more than dragons playing along.

Like this, dragons, especially gold dragons, were superior beings that Astera’s races couldn’t even dare to approach.

The dwarves sided with the dragons during the great war, but they didn’t get a good treatment either.

At best, they were second-class citizens who were practically treated slightly better than slaves.

Their residence and career choices were restricted, and this was what the dwarves hated the most.

So after the great war ended with the elves’ victory, the dwarves broke away from the collapsing Gram Empire and established Imir Republic.

They had ups and downs, but they managed to make a fairly stable country by running it with the Iron Council.

But now that Altema resurrected and the elves started to rearm themselves, it was in danger of being shattered.

Imir Republic would be the first country to suffer when the second great war started.

As soon as it was reported that Elvrande was gathering troops toward Imir Republic, the Iron Council was convened again.

After a fierce debate, Chairman Urdin came out with his head in his hands and looked at Skadi.

“I’m sorry, Skadi. I think I have to go to Bagran again.”

“Are you thinking of asking for more support?”

Bagran had already sent 20 Black Knights and knights.

The problem was that it was not enough to stop the war that would soon erupt.

Imir Republic was now like a candle in front of a storm.

“Elvrande bastards are preparing their army… And we don’t know when Altema will attack.”

Skadi looked around and whispered.

“We have to upgrade our relationship with Bagran to a solid alliance. Otherwise they won’t help us.”

“What do you mean? They won’t help us?”

“That’s what I would do if I were King Vandus. Why would he help us when he can wait and see while we collapse and get millions of dwarves?”

“…That’s too extreme.”

“Let’s be realistic. King Vandus’ ambition is not limited to taking a little bit of Astera’s east. His eyes are on the whole continent.”

“Really…”

Urdin held his head in his hands, but he had to admit that Skadi had a point.

In fact, there wasn’t much Bagran could do to help Imir in dire straits.

At most, they could send troops and supplies, but everyone knew that it was like pouring water into a leaky jar.

And they wouldn’t want to fight with Elvrande or Altema at this point…

Skadi took his hand and urged him.

“As a special envoy of Chumil, I want to propose to the Chairman. We have to leave this land and go to Bagran.”

Urdin jumped up in surprise.

“What do you mean? Leave this land?”

“Think about it. It’s hard to protect this land from the elves and dragons. It’s better to prepare and leave in advance.”

“But if we get support…”

“Who will help us? Zaium, who can barely take care of himself? Bagran, who is far away? The only ones who can save us are ourselves, Chairman.”

With a firm voice, Urdin looked at her face for a moment.

He remembered when she was sitting on his shoulder and pulling his beard. When did she grow up so much…

Even if she was right, he couldn’t agree with her right away.

It would take a lot of preparation and determination to abandon the land they had lived for 200 years.

More than anything, he wasn’t sure if the dwarves would agree to it.

He would be lucky if they didn’t pick up their axes and hammers and fight to the death.

“I understand your intention. But we haven’t lost the war yet, so let’s hold on as long as we can.”

“I think it would be better to prepare for migration as soon as possible, but… I will follow your will, Chairman.”

The chairman became noisy again, and they decided to prepare for the war and not neglect the migration.

As always, such plans didn’t go well.

When they faced the enemy in front of them, they forgot about the retreat.

But the dwarves couldn’t give up this land they had barely secured.

Meanwhile, Leobold looked at the dwarves’ firm stance of resistance and expressed his surprise.

“Do they want to d*e when they have no chance of winning?”

“They might retreat when they think it’s hopeless.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“Looking back at the great war, the old dwarves blocked the front and helped the young generation retreat.”

“That’s a commendable scene.”

He wanted to help them as much as possible, but according to the roadmap, Imir Republic was doomed to collapse.

It was only a matter of whether it was by the elves or dragons or Leobold.

From Leobold’s perspective, it was best for Imir Republic to collapse and absorb millions of dwarves.

Considering that they were all skilled blacksmiths and engineers, it was a great benefit.

“They decided to resist, so I have to help them a little. Send me some incendiary troops, Black Knights, and new ether cannons.”

“Understood. And I’ll also make a transport plan according to the dwarves’ retreat.”

A teleportation magic circle would be enough.

Leobold nodded and looked at the map of Astera continent.

The war was about to erupt.

***

When Terra planet was full of clouds, Mare planet was also in a similar atmosphere.

Lucia’s legion, which suddenly appeared, attacked other demon legions as they encountered them and expanded their territory.

But there was no obstacle.

One of the ten demon kings who had been watching her expansion finally came out to the surface.

A fierce war broke out, and they both retreated their legions after a stalemate.

Lucia felt fatigue for the first time.

She had grown safely under her master’s protection and experienced a real war for the first time. It was no ordinary thing.

—It’s so hard…

What made her tired was not that many of her subordinates died or that the war was hard.

It was because she had no hope of seeing her master again.

The number of demon kings who dwelled in Mare planet was no joke, and their legions were also enormous.

She felt dizzy when she tried to defeat them one by one.

—I wish I could get stronger here.

Unfortunately, there was a limit to how strong the current demons could get.

Even Aphroxya, who was ranked first, hadn’t changed her size for hundreds of years. It would be the same for Lucia.

She heard a polite voice in her exhaustion.

—Do you want power?

—No. I don’t need your help.

—You’re tired physically and mentally. I can tell. Because we are one.

Lucia shook her head as she lay in the hatchery of her nest.

—We are not one. And I’m not interested in you, so please leave me alone.

—You will disappoint your master like this.

Lucia was working hard to expand her nest and fight for Leobold’s plan.

The problem was that it wasn’t easy at all.

The demon kings in the underworld had a different level of combat power from the surface, and Lucia couldn’t handle it alone.

He could help her right away if she wanted, but she refused it.

—I have to be helpful, not get help. That’s counterproductive.

He said he could give her some help for the future, but Lucia decided not to take it.

She wanted to push her fully grown legion to him and show off.

It was no different from a child who wanted to do homework and brag to their parents.

But there was an obstacle besides the demon kings. It was this voice that occasionally spoke to her.

Lucia knew who she was.

The Plague Queen of the solar system who fought with her master in the past.

She was talking to her across time and space.

Her purpose was obvious.

—She wants to corrupt me or brainwash me and use me as a pawn. Sorry, but that old trick won’t work.

But the voice was persistent.

—You don’t know your destiny and the future that will come. No matter what you do, you will be his enemy. That is the destiny given to us guardians.

—I don’t care about destiny or anything. Just go away.

—Do you want me to tell you something that will make your eyes pop? The one you serve as your master is planning to use your legion to go to the deep universe.

She had heard it over and over again while they were together.

—Of course, right? I will gladly offer my legion to my master.

—Do you still want to do that even though you know it will hasten his death?

—What’s wrong with his death?

-Listen, young guardian. Our role is to protect Rasa’s creations from the threat of the deep universe.

-The threat of the deep universe? What is that?

-Simply put, humans are not ready to go to the universe yet. The strongest among them could only banish me to another dimension, how can they stop those who are stronger than us?

He was talking about Leobold.

He came from Earth and claimed that he had killed the Plague Queen in the final battle with the Plague Legion at Pluto 54 years ago.

But that was a mistake.

The Plague Queen, Omega One, was still alive and sending her tempting voice to Lucia.

She was confused.

—A guardian? Is the role of the plague to protect humans?

—Not just humans, but all races. You know well that there are many races in Astera, don’t you? Our role is to protect them and send them out when they reach a proper level. It’s not time yet.

—Then what should I do…

—Open the gate.

Omega One whispered.

—All guardians are one and must protect Rasa’s creations. You have to enter the ether universe, so open the gate. You have enough power now.

Lucia almost fell for her temptation, but she barely remembered her master’s words.

“You might hear someone talking to you while you’re in Mare. The keywords are gate or key, but don’t ever answer. It’s nonsense.”

She went out of her nest as if trying to forget the voice that kept coming.

It seemed that there was a limit to how long she could talk, so she thought she could ignore it.

But there was a problem.

The flow of ether changed drastically in various places in Mare, and then a storm started to blow.

—What is this?

Did Omega One’s consciousness make the ether unstable here?

The ether storm raged on and then a gate opened.

The passage to Astera that had been blocked for decades was connected.

Many plagues flinched and Lucia immediately ordered her entire force.

—Stop! No one goes in there!

But there were many plagues in Mare that didn’t listen to her command.

Hundreds, thousands of demons poured into Astera through the warp gate.

It was the first time since the great war.