The calamities that struck the Marchioni Empire were terrifying beyond words.

The rivers turned blood red, killing all aquatic life within them while emanating a stench beyond sickening.

Locust swarms infested the farmlands, devouring all crops and leaving none for the harvest. Hail the size of boulders rained down from the heavens above, destroying everything in their path.

Both people and livestock alike dropped dead in overwhelming numbers overnight.

Flies swarmed throughout the lands, infecting the people with various diseases.

Nobles and officials alike suddenly turned corrupt and used their power to abuse the people.

The bodies of the living began rotting before turning into undead monsters that attacked cities and villages.

Frogs sprang up from ponds, singing songs of death that wiped out entire villages. And nearly one-fifth of the empire was shrouded in darkness, the sun nowhere to be seen.

Countless reports of calamities poured in from all corners of the empire, instantly throwing it into chaos.

Naturally, these reports were delivered directly to the emperor.

“The dog I raised turned out to be a tiger...” Emperor Stuttgart muttered, his expression hardening. His once flawless face was now covered in scars. He had been washing his face harshly several times a day, causing his skin to peel off and bleed.

Still, he refused to stop washing his face, which caused the wounds to worsen and inflammation to spread.

Many potions were applied, and powerful healing magic was cast, but it was impossible to cure the emperor’s face, as he refused to stop washing it.

Though the terrorist attack plotted by Siegfried had not dealt any physical damage to the emperor, but the rotten squid dealt immense mental trauma to him.

“Deploy the Adventurers to contain the situation.”

In the end, Emperor Stuttgart had no choice but to send the Adventurers who were enslaved after drinking the Elixir of Transcendence. Turning the Adventurers into slaves was the trump card the Marchioni Empire had painstakingly prepared for years.

What began as a project that would eradicate the Adventurers from this world was so successful that most of the top-ranking Adventurers were now slaves to the empire. Now that the strongest among them were under their control, all the Marchioni Empire had to do was suppress, capture, and imprison those who were left.

Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly until disaster struck.

The Marchioni Empire was forced to divert the Adventurers to the places where Siegfried had unleashed the Ten Calamities.

This severely weakened the empire’s military power, and on top of that, the disasters wreaked havoc across the already ravaged lands, and the people’s morale plummeted even further.

The very foundations of the empire were collapsing bit by bit, and for the first time in the five-hundred-year history of the great Marchioni Empire, the shadows of destruction loomed upon it.

What seemed to be the immortal hegemony was slowly starting to form cracks.

However, Emperor Stuttgart paid no heed to them.

“Order the imperial army to continue marching.”

“As you command, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Even as the entire empire was being turned into a wasteland, Emperor Stuttgart refused to halt the war.

Had any of his ministers or officials opposed his commands?

Their opposition was trivial.

The Marchioni Empire was governed solely by Emperor Stuttgart and the Four Heavenly Kings. In other words, the ministers, no matter how high their rank was, could always be replaced at a whim.

***

“What? They’re not pulling back their troops?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Siegfried was honestly a little surprised after hearing Hansen’s report.

It had been three days since he had unleashed the Ten Calamities.

He made sure to continuously receive updates on how the calamities were affecting the Marchioni Empire through the intelligence agents deployed, so he knew exactly what was happening.

And yet the Marchioni Imperial Army had actually decided not to stop their advance?

There were only two reasons behind that. They had some secret weapon prepared for the war and were confident they could clean things up later, or they had decided to go all-in, the Ten Calamities be damned.

‘Hmm... They must be hiding another trump card,’ Siegfried thought.

There was no other explanation.

Going all-in and risking everything in a single war? The Marchioni Empire would not make such a foolish decision.

What was the reason they waged war in the first place?

It was to eliminate the Proatine Empire, which posed the greatest threat to the Marchioni Empire’s hegemony, as well as to exterminate the Adventurers. In other words, the very purpose of the war was for the Marchioni Empire’s prosperity and glory.

Thus, the Marchioni Empire would never gamble everything and go all-in.

Of course, there was a chance that Emperor Stuttgart’s rage could be clouding his judgement, but the likelihood of that was quite slim.

‘Ah, I really have no idea what they’re thinking. If they bring their trump card out while the fighting is happening, then I guess we will have to deal with it then.’

Siegfried suppressed his unease for the time being and focused on preparing for the war.

“Your Imperial Majesty! We have received good news!” Hansen exclaimed, his face beaming.

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and muttered, “Huh? What can possibly be good news in times like these?”

With a large-scale all-out war between the Proatine Empire and the Marchioni Empire about to break out, how much good news could there possibly be?

“What is it?” Siegfried asked.

“Adventurers are enlisting in our army in droves!”

“What?!”

“Their numbers are staggering! They easily exceed five hundred thousand!”

“Ooooh!” Siegfried couldn’t help but cheer at the news.

The Marchioni Imperial Army had severely outnumbered them, so the Adventurers enlisting for war would greatly help them.

“It seems that the Adventurers greatly resent the Marchioni Empire for what they have done. Also, the Adventurers are most likely aware that there'll be a disaster if the Marchioni Empire wins this war. They'll be forced to live under the empire’s persecution and oppression.”

“That makes sense. I’m sure the Adventurers don’t want to see the Marchioni Empire win either.”

“Yes, sire.”

“That’s great then. It feels like we’ve gained millions of troops,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“Hahaha!” Hansen laughed heartily after seeing Siegfried happy about the news. Then, he lowered his voice and whispered, “Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“I have devised a strategy.”

“Oh?! What is it?”

Siegfried was greatly pleased to hear that Hansen, a natural-born strategist, had devised a plan for the war.

Hansen was a Hero Unit specialized in devising crafty tactics and strategies. He could even use foresight, too. Although he couldn’t use foresight at will, he was still an excellent strategist.

“Our main strategy is to avoid large-scale battles as much as possible and fight small battles in favorable terrain.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“With Your Imperial Majesty’s martial prowess, we can easily achieve great results if my lord moves around the battlefield and wreaks havoc.”

“Y-Yeah...” Siegfried already felt tired at the thought of running around the battlefield, but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, he planned to run around anyway if it meant he could reduce casualties by even a single allied soldier.

“Also, our empire has many Masters. If those Masters lead small units and shake the Marchioni Imperial Army’s flanks and rear, then they won’t dare attack us head-on. If they do, they will be giving up strategic locations and end up fighting surrounded by unfavorable terrain.”

“Oooh!”

“To do that...”

Siegfried understood what Hansen meant and continued his words, “We need to move now. Deploy our troops one step ahead of the Marchioni Imperial Army to increase the number of battlefields.”

“A wise decision, sire,” Hansen replied with a smile. He couldn’t be happier that his lord, Siegfried, had recognized and acknowledged his strategy.

“Send out five divisions tonight to strike the Marchioni Imperial Army from the flanks and rear.”

“As you command, sire,” Hansen replied with a bow. Then, he added, “I will have the rebels Your Imperial Majesty recently took in to move in first to sow confusion among the enemy by attacking a vulnerable point in the defensive lines of the enemy.”

“Okay.”

“Shall we begin right away?”

“Let’s go.”

“Then I will mobilize our troops. Loyalty.”

“Loyalty.”

Thus, the allied forces assembled by the Proatine Empire were ordered to deploy in the dead of the night.

Finally, the war for world hegemony between the Proatine Empire and the Marchioni Empire officially began.

***

Before the imperial army was mobilized...

“May I have a moment, Your Imperial Majesty?”

Quandt came looking for Siegfried.

“Sure!”

Siegfried was surprised to see him after such a long time.

Quandt’s appearance was an absolute wreck. It was hard to tell if he was a blacksmith or a deserter who had crawled off the battlefield. His cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were hollow, almost soulless.

‘I think he will really die if I make him craft another one of these,’ Siegfried thought. Then, he asked, “How are you? Are you all right?”

“Hoho! I am fine, sire,” Quandt replied with a laugh.

“R-Really...?”

“My body may be weary, but the urge to craft keeps welling up deep from my core. It’s the crafting of a Universal-rated artifact! It wouldn’t make sense at all if it weren’t this exhausting and challenging!”

“As expected!”

“I’ve finished the foundation.”

“Really?”

“There were many trials and errors, but I got the hang of it now, and our pace has picked up."

“That’s great news!”

“At most, two months. Or a month and a half at the earliest.”

“Oooh!”

“Soon, Your Imperial Majesty will wield a Universal-rated artifact.”

“Don’t push yourself too much. I’m worried you’ll collapse if you keep this up.”

Siegfried was sincerely more worried about Quandt than about becoming the first person to wield a Universal-rated weapon.

“I’m fine! Hohoho!”

“But why go through the trouble of coming to me personally? I’m sure you’re tired and busy. You could’ve just sent word through your men about the progress.”

“I could’ve. But there’s something I need, so I came personally to get it.”

“Something you need? What is it?”

“I need Your Imperial Majesty’s blood.”

“Eh...? Why, though?”

“Universal-rated artifacts are not easy to wield—especially weapons. Among all artifacts, weapons tend to be the most stubborn ones. So based on my judgement... It might be impossible for Your Imperial Majesty to control this weapon completely.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Yes. And it feels as though the weapon is developing a will of its own during its creation process. We will have to wait and see, but one thing is certain. It will be impossible for anyone else to handle that weapon unless it is Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Whoa...”

“That is where Your Imperial Majesty’s blood comes in. By using it as a medium, your affinity with the weapon will become better. That is why I came.”

“Sure. You can draw my blood now,” Siegfried replied nonchalantly. Then, he rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm, “Take it.”

“As you command, sire,” Quandt replied.

Then, he pulled out a set of blood-drawing equipment from his inventory.

“Huh...?” Siegfried muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

The thickness of the needle and the capacity of the storage tank were anything but ordinary. In fact, they looked far too large for normal blood-drawing equipment.

“By any chance, do you need quite a lot...?” Siegfried asked.

“Ah, yes. I need a fair amount. Haha...” Quandt replied with an awkward life, avoiding his gaze.

“H-Hey...?”

“I’ll begin now.

Quandt drove the enormous needle into Siegfried’s arm and activated the apparatus.

Shwik!

Almost immediately, Siegfried’s blood was sucked greedily by the silver tubes and stored in the tank.

“G-Gghhrk!” Siegfried gasped from the sensation.

The blood-drawing equipment devoured his blood as if it were a starved beast.

‘T-This thing is gonna suck me dry...’

Ding!

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You are suffering from anemia!]

[Alert: You are dizzy!]

[Alert: Fatigue has peaked!]

[Alert: Replenish your nutrients to create more blood!]

By the time Quandt had drawn all of the blood he needed, Siegfried was as exhausted as someone who had suffered a fatal wound in battle. Even with Siegfried’s extraordinary stats, the blood he had lost was so great that he couldn’t even stand straight.

“Please take this and recover, sire.”

“...”

“Then, I’ll be off! Hohoho!”

Quandt thrust a box of Chocopie into the hands of the barely conscious and staggering Siegfried.

The old blacksmith hurriedly fled the scene after sucking Siegfried dry.

Tokki’s Thoughts:

The last scene is funny because blood banks in Korea will give you a Chocopie plus some coupons after you donate blood. Quandt giving the whole box to Siegfried was his way of being considerate.

But then, the fact that he had a whole box ready meant that he knew what he was gonna do and planned the whole thing.