“Holy City Diamat, inner district…” After his loyal knight finished the daily briefing, Isaac, First Crown Heir of the Heavenly Spirit Empire, sank into thought like mist folding over stone courtyards.
Two minutes slid away; the rising sun pulled free of the horizon, and the last drop of dew fell like a bead of glass.
A thread of clarity tugged free. He looked at the knight kneeling on one knee by the desk, frost in his gaze. “The Holy City in the report is a major religious city of the Dark Spirit Empire. You’re certain their cunning weapon is built in a place like that?”
The Celestial knight glanced back, eyes cold as a winter blade.
He bowed his head, voice steady as a drumbeat. “The intel’s reliable. As true as iron.”
“Then it gets interesting.” Isaac’s smile curled sly, like a fox in moonlight.
His tone lay flat, like a blade on stone. “Park it for now. Next item.”
The knight answered, crisp as a snapped twig. “Yes!”
After a breath, the knight continued, words falling like measured rain. “Next report is the field feedback on the Divine Warrior deployment. Will Your Highness hear it?”
Isaac tipped his chin, a hawk acknowledging wind. “Speak.”
“With the Divine Warriors in the fight, our combined legions cut through like split bamboo. The enemy collapsed like a landslide. Yesterday we seized the strongpoint on Twinfish Plain and wiped out the diehards—our own Commander Rick took the enemy general’s head.”
Light flashed in Isaac’s eyes, bright as sunrise on steel. “That’s good news.”
It meant his hunger for glory had more laurels to harvest, his merits piling like stacked shields, a step ahead of other houses.
“But…” The knight’s tone tried not to foul the fair weather.
His voice cooled like quenched steel. “Say it.”
“Though we won, one of our Divine Warriors fell in that battle.”
“What?!” The word hit Isaac’s chest like a dropped stone, heavy and cold.
Every Divine Warrior was priceless to the Heavenly Spirit Empire, each worth a small human vassal state, jewels of war glittering on the empire’s crown.
Pride flared in the Celestial prince; anger surged like wildfire. “Tell me how it fell, now!”
The knight was used to the blaze and spoke slow, like water calming embers. “Your Highness, the enemy struck during the resupply window. Our resupply squad and the Divine Warrior’s knight died. The enemy tried to seize the unit. It triggered self‑destruct, and so the Divine Warrior fell.”
Isaac cut him off, words snapping like a whip. “I didn’t ask for the aftermath. I want to know—”
“Why were we resupplying on a dangerous frontline?” His roar cracked like thunder over the table.
“This…” The knight paused, breath frosty. “Your Highness knows our forward units are mostly second‑generation Divine Warriors. Second‑gen can’t endure the long, grinding fights our knights favor. After each fierce clash, they must be resupplied.”
“So some of our men set up resupply stations on freshly taken strongpoints. The enemy read the weakness. That’s how the mishap happened.”
Isaac burned, yet kept his mind clear as ice. “We need a more complete logistics spine.”
His assent was smooth as oiled steel. “As Your Highness says.”
He paused, a hook in the air. “And—”
His patience thinned like winter sunlight. “What else?”
“The Wayne family lost a Divine Warrior as well.”
Isaac’s laugh carried a bitter sparkle, like broken glass. “What, their logistics blundered too?”
“Not so.” The knight’s face tightened, a storm drawing in. “Their Divine Warrior fell in a head‑on clash.”
“What?!” Isaac’s eyes widened, round as moons. “Our Divine Warriors are the empire’s pride, the strongest single‑soldier weapons.”
“How did we lose in a frontal fight, under open sky?”
“The enemy has a formidable knight. Her power’s shocking; she could grapple a Divine Warrior with her bare body.”
He grasped at a name like a drowning man. “A Sun Knight from their side?”
“No, Your Highness. Not a Sun Knight. A Demonic Human Race female knight, codename ‘Nether’. Assessed at Sky Rank. In theory she shouldn’t beat a Divine Warrior easily, yet she did.”
“Unbelievable…” Isaac froze a moment, then smiled like a blade sheathed. “Well, that makes the Wayne loss equal to ours.”
The words fell like pebbles. “As Your Highness says.”
“Seems our Divine Warriors still need forging.”
“As Your Highness says. Though a few fell, the overall trend is bright. The enemy main force has retreated inside the Dark Spirit Empire’s borders, a shadow line drawing back.”
“Excellent!” Isaac’s laughter rang, wild as wind over banners. “Hard to believe this happened under my tenure. At this rate, the next emperor will definitely be Lord Isaac—ha!”
His laugh spilled free, like wine over porcelain.
The knight reminded him, voice low as a temple bell. “By royal tradition of the Heavenly Spirit Empire, Your Highness’s father still reigns. For a lawful succession, the earliest is fifty years from now.”
Isaac drew in the laughter, sealing it like a lid over boiling tea. “I know.”
The question rose like smoke. “What will Your Highness do in those fifty years?”
Emotion settled, firm as stone. “Prepare for coronation.”
His prompt was a needle. “Specifically?”
Isaac’s light smile moved like a thin blade. “Expel the humans of the Doran Kingdom. Turn Doran fully into imperial land.”
“What?!” His most faithful knight panicked, heart kicking like a startled deer. “Your Highness, you can’t!”
“Why not?” Isaac’s indifference was snow on a high peak. “We have ample reasons to expel Doran’s humans.”
“First, Doran sits on the empire’s air routes, a chokepoint in the sky.”
“Almost every cargo skyship entering or leaving the empire passes over Doran. We have no reason not to control such a vital place.”
The knight snapped back, voice like a drawn bow. “But the Doran Kingdom is already our vassal. Sending troops to occupy it is redundant!”
His smile was a crescent blade. “Randall, you don’t get it.”
“We Celestials are Nordland’s most noble race. Imperial authority must be extended in the most fitting way.”
“Many of the empire’s recent crises tie back to Doran. We need tighter control over Doran.”
The knight pressed on, worry fluttering like crows. “Even then, why expel the local humans?”
“Aren’t you worried the elder council of the Silver Moon Forest will pass a no‑confidence motion against us?”
“Expelling humans is reclaiming land that belonged to the empire five centuries ago. We’ve given Doran’s humans sunlight, air, and soil for far too long.”
The knight warned, voice like a cool stream. “We can’t ignore the elves’ views. Our empire needs their alchemy.”
“So what?” Isaac laughed, sharp as flint. “Elves want to stay lofty and also live in peace with others. Where on earth does such foolishness work?”
The protest frayed like thread. “But—”
“Enough.” Isaac’s hands opened, vows rising like flames. “I, Lord Isaac, will prove with my own hands that the Heavenly Spirit Empire is Nordland’s greatest and most noble realm.”
“We who rule this mighty realm, we who are blessed by the Light Deity, will be Nordland’s finest beings—above all living things.”
