"The next issue is empire governance." Lucien stated. "Yes, I will be Emperor, but even I cannot be perfect in everything, so I am forming a council of advisors who can help me in ruling the empire."
"The Royal Council."
A ripple of surprise spread throughout the chamber in the face of the unexpected news. Historically, the Underworld Emperor had counsellors to help "Him" in "His" reign; in some cases, they even ruled the empire indirectly during "His" absence. But the Underworld Emperor never acknowledged them like Lucien as a separate legislative body, granting immense political power to the members.
"The seats of the royal council will be filled by Saints and Angels." Lucien continued, his voice growing solemn and dignified with each word.
"The positions are the Lord of Coins, who will be chief treasurer—they will oversee the economy and finance of the Empire;
The Lord of Whisperers, who will be chief intelligence advisor—they will oversee the intelligence sector of the Empire, protecting it from shadows;
The Lord of Information, who will be chief communication adviser—they will oversee the media, image, and relations of the Empire.
The Lord of Order, the chief legal advisor—they will oversee the laws and rules of the Empire;
The Lord of War, who will be chief military advisor—they will oversee the Army, Navy, and Air Force of the Empire;
The Lord of Faith, the chief spiritual advisor—they will oversee the beliefs of the Empire;
The Hand of the Emperor, the Chief Advisor—they will oversee the Empire itself;
And last but not least, the Emperor himself, who is the leader of the Royal Council—he will rule the Empire."
A reckoning silence fell over the council, each in their own thoughts, though a visible excitement flashed past the eyes of each Saint—this was a golden opportunity; political power may not hold much importance when compared to extraordinary power, but it was still very substantial in the current order of civilization. This would be even more so with the resurrection of the Bayam Empire, where the concept of hierarchy was held in very high regard—so, how could they not be excited?
Lucien took note of all of their reactions. "I will personally select and appoint all the seats of the Royal Council right after my coronation, under the witness of the Balam Empire."
At his words, a veil of tension fell over the hall. The fact that the Reaper himself would be selecting the members of the council just put a lot of weight on their shoulders.
Lucien took a moment of silence, allowing them to digest the information: "Moving on, the beliefs of the Seven Gods."
Bernadette Gustav, who had been impressed by the Royal Council to the point where she began to analyse and infer about the underlying tasks and responsibilities each seat would possess, got distracted by his remarks. 'Don't tell me he is going to…' she thought, suppressing her rising shock.
"Their faiths will be considered unorthodox within the empire." Lucien proclaimed, a grin on his lips. "Thus, the Seven Orthodox Gods will be deemed evil gods in the Balam Empire."
What followed his proclamation was a pin-drop silence as the entire chamber was frozen in shock except for the angels, but even they looked somewhat uncomfortable at his words.
How could they not be? If his proclamation were enacted, it would cause an uproar all around the world, no less than the one that was caused by the assault.
After all, the faiths of the seven were one of the most significant components of current civilization, if not the most important.
From the beginning, people were taught that there were only seven orthodox gods and that all other gods were evil and wicked. The current society was based on that concept; millennia of indoctrination had etched it into the very soul of humanity, to the point where people were unconsciously distrustful and terrified of any deity other than the seven gods, but to them, they would subconsciously begin to give their faith, their trust, their soul, and in the end, everything.
It could even be considered the Order of Civilization itself!
Lucien wasn't jesting when he said they were going up against the Order of Civilization. He meant it literally. And he knew that by doing this, he would be pouring oil into an already raging fire.
But did he care?
No, not at all.
After all, it wasn't only his people who were labelled with names and slurs; even he himself didn't escape their defamation—the Seven Orthodox Churches made a joint declaration that deemed him an Evil God.
Lucien wanted to give the Seven Gods and their countries a taste of their own medicine, and his grin widened at that thought.
'He is enjoying this…' Bernadette recoiled in her seat, her gaze flickering at his grin. She was still reeling from the shock of his terrifying proclamation.
Even though she hadn't been particularly faithful to any of the seven orthodox gods, hearing them described as evil gods still shook her heart. She could already imagined the repercussions—the zealous believers would go mad in rage at the blasphemy against their gods, especially the inquisition of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. She wouldn't even be surprised if they decided to launch a crusade on the southern continent.
Bernadette looked around the chamber; she could literally feel shock and discomfort coursing through the air, but as she expected, nobody spoke up against the proclamation in the end.
There was no point; the Queen Mystic knew it. The situation had already deteriorated to the point where adding more fuel to the fire didn't really matter.
All the bridges that could be burned had already been burned.
"It will be enacted after my coronation." Lucien continued contentedly, his silver gaze sweeping his silent and grim council.
'Oh Gods, this war is going to be hell on earth..' Bernadette thought gloomily, reclining in her seat.
"Next," Lucien said, moving on to the next issue, melting the atmosphere in the hall. "The status of extraordinary,"
'He really is going all out, isn't he?' Hermes thought, suppressing the twitch of his lips. Even Roselle was not this audacious when he tried to oppose the Seven Gods in his years of madness.
Perhaps Amon had found his successor.
In retrospect, labelling the Seven Deities as evil gods would not trigger a strong retaliation from them; expect the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and possibly the God of Combat, as something similar occurred in the fourth epoch.
In the Solomon Empire, the Six Gods were deemed evil deities by the Black Emperor. At the time, the distinction between Gods as Orthodox and Unorthodox wore thin, and towards the middle of the Fourth Epoch, it didn't really matter.
Either way, the coming war was bound to get worse with the way his student handled things, but he couldn't really blame Lucien, as in this situation, there was no right or wrong.
All that mattered was victory.
"By the end of the fourth epoch," Lucien continued, elaborating on the status of extraordinary. "The extraordinary withdrew from the stage of the world."
There was a flash of surprise on the faces of everyone who didn't know much about the society of the Fourth Epoch, where the extraordinary and ordinary were integrated seamlessly into the civilization thanks to the efforts of the Black Emperor and the Night Emperor.
"It was a decision made by the Seven Gods to reduce the number of beyonders in the world and limit the existence of the extraordinary in order to give the world time to heal from the devastation that was the War of Four Emperors."
'Oh…' Bernadette thought in realisation, her brows raising to her hairline. 'But I have a feeling that there is more to this…'
"Since then, beyonders have disappeared from the public eye, only operating from the shadows of the world, but not anymore. As the apocalypse nears, the secrecy will be harder and harder to hold from the public, so in the Balam empire, the existence of the extraordinary will be slowly revealed, step by step, to let the people accept it eventually as a norm of our civilization."
'Again, the Apocalypse..' Bernadette thought with gloom, and her mood mirrored everyone else's. There was also an undercurrent of curiosity, as if they were wondering how exactly the apocalypse would result in the ultimate exposure of the extraordinary.
"Lucien," Hermes suddenly spoke up, capturing the attention of all to him—the mysterious angel in the assault. "You don't mean to bring back the Order of the Fourth Epoch?"
"Yes, teacher, at least in form." Lucien nodded. "The beyonders are the core part of civilization in either epochs. So I think it is better to properly recognise and integrate them into the empire."
Hermes hummed, reclining in his seat in silence.
'Did the Reaper just address the mysterious angel as "His" teacher?' Sharron thought, her glassy eyes subconsciously shifting to her teacher, who was as impassive as always. 'Just who is "He"? Maybe teacher knows..'
"The appointed Lord of Information will lead this endeavour." Lucien decided, ending the issue. "Further details will be issued afterwards."
Then the council continued on; with the major issues over, the minor issues were brought up by Sia and Haiter in turn. It was all about the conception of the Balam Empire, of its sectors and districts, of its lower positions and seats, and so on. They used the map of the southern continent to illustrate their declarations.
Bernadette had tuned them out by then, her mind flying with thoughts about Lucien, the Mysterious Angel, and the World War, but it was truly well thought out considering how little time they had to plan and decide.
She was engrossed in her thoughts until a white owl emerged into the chamber, interrupting not only her but also the council.
Lucien raised his hand, allowing Merlin to land on his arms, and then his messenger told him the dire news he had awaited. "Everyone," he said, meeting the curious and inquisitive eyes of all, "the council is temporarily halted. We have a situation."
He delved into the spiritual connection that Merlin carried with another spirit, which was currently possessing an insignificant parliament member of Loen, then extracted and displayed it before the council.
Above the painted table, a flickering projection revealed the image of Loen's parliament, with all of its seats occupied by its members. In the middle of it all walked a man with a grave face and an old-fashioned moustache. He was wearing opulent robes, bearing the coat of arms of the Augustus family. He was followed by an ascetic woman dressed in a black hooded robe and a stern man dressed in a flamboyant dark-blue robe.
"George Augustus III is addressing his parliament." Lucien declared, his gaze fixed on the variation of spiritual projection, admiring his creation. He wasn't concerned about his prying being discovered because what was about to happen wasn't really a hidden event. A lot of eyes from all over the world should be turning here already. If his predictions were correct, George would appreciate all the attention, especially his own.
Bernadette looked at the projection, her heart thumping painfully against her chest.
She knew it now.
The cause of her terrifying foreboding wasn't Lucien or any of his declarations.
It was George Augustus III, the King of Loen!