If life could not compensate them, then they naturally demanded more in the way of power and status.
The Star King shared this sentiment.
However, Remod's authority had already reached its zenith; he had reached the point where there were no more rewards left to give.
The Star King had granted him the Amber Plains of the west and the various cities surrounding the mountains. He already enjoyed so much, yet he remained unsatisfied.
This wasn't just because human desire is bottomless; the real problem lay with the King himself.
This King hadn't been chosen by the deity; he had become King through regicide!
It was supposed to be the Divine Right of Kings, yet the current ruler had usurped the throne through murder. Was this authorized by the deity?
Clearly not!
If he could become King through regicide, why couldn't Remod?
The seeds of rebellion had been buried in his heart long ago, and only today did they truly take root and sprout.
But he didn't voice everything in his heart yet, because his power wasn't enough; he still needed more strength.
Therefore, he had to absorb energy—absorb even more energy!
"We attack the city tomorrow!"
"When the walls fall, there will be no mercy!"
...
The next morning, at dawn.
Remod's Star Army marched west with thunderous momentum, effortlessly smashing through the city gates and storming inside!
Countless humans raised their hands in surrender, but the soldiers brought down their blades without hesitation!
When Remod said "no mercy," he meant a massacre!
He intended to slaughter the entire city, sparing no one, neither the elderly, the weak, women, nor children. Even the livestock and poultry were not to be spared!
Remod snatched up a dead infant, extracting the energy from its small body, leaving only a puff of gray ash to scatter in the wind.
"Keep searching! There are more!"
A woman unfortunately witnessed this scene. She clutched her mouth, leaning against a wall, not daring to make a sound.
But a second later, a sharp blade suddenly burst through the wall from behind, stabbing straight into her chest!
SPLURT!!
Remod flicked his sword; the wall shattered, and the house collapsed.
The woman died tragically on the spot.
His act of slaughtering the city drew the ire of many of his own!
"Lord Remod wants us to wield our swords against women and children?!"
"Kill them all? Where does that leave the empire's honor?!"
"This is the command issued by the King!"
"Where is our glory?!"
Facing those questioning voices, Remod answered them with his blade!
FLASH!!
"Is glory really that important?"
"Compared to harvesting more energy, the glory you speak of has been worthless from the start!"
After killing the lead dissenters, Remod absorbed and converted their corpses into energy right in front of the survivors!
Terrified into silence, the others watched as Remod issued a direct decree.
Once this city was purged, they would march back to strike the Royal City!
His inner circle followed him willingly, while the ordinary soldiers, coerced by his threats, were forced to follow him back to his personal territory, the Amber Plains.
That was three months later.
Remod summoned the lords of various regions, forcing them to provide their private armies to assist him in his march back to the capital.
"Lords of the Amber Plains, glory or survival, which one truly matters more?!"
The answer was undisputed: survival was paramount.
Under Remod's coercion, the private armies of the lords converged into a massive rebel force. Their goal was singular: kill the Star King and re-establish royal authority!
The rebellion in the Amber Plains reached the Star King's ears quickly, but Remod's speed exceeded his imagination!
Three days later, the rebel army laid siege to the city, surrounding the Royal City so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through!
This was the first rebellion in the empire's history, occurring in the seventh year of the Unification Calendar.
Remod's rebel forces soon breached the city gates. The commander of the imperial guards, Gawain, led his legion into the inner city to engage the rebels in a bloody melee.
As the rebellion escalated, fires of war began to engulf various parts of the empire!
"Gawain, the King ascended the throne through regicide yet still preaches about so-called glory. If that's the case, why can't you or I be King?"
Gawain's and Remod's blades clashed repeatedly. "Is what you're doing now not exactly seeking the throne through regicide?"
Remod sneered. "That is why I have discarded glory!"
"I am not a hypocrite like him!"
After absorbing the energy of an entire city, Remod and his subordinates had grown significantly in strength; Remod had even reached the Upper 3rd Step!
Facing him was Gawain, also an Upper 3rd Step. Their battle was a deadlock!
"The empire's current prosperity is thanks to the King's efforts."
"If I were in charge, I could do it too!"
CLANG!
"Begone!"
With a shout, Remod struck Gawain back. Gawain immediately drew his twin swords and began to push back with a counter-offensive!
The two fought from dawn until dusk, battling all the way into the temple!
In the end, Gawain proved superior.
Inside the temple, Remod was cut down by Gawain!
Remod tumbled from the altar, falling into the bottomless abyss.
"Gawain, today you kill me, but tomorrow another will kill you. The empire... is destined... to wither away like this..."
The crystal in Remod's chest was shattered, completely dissipating into energy that was absorbed by Gawain.
With Remod dead, the rebel forces within the empire were swiftly suppressed by Gawain; the insurrection ended as abruptly as it had begun. The various lords of the Amber Plains were executed one by one for their treason.
Afterward, Gawain went to see the Star King.
"It seems keeping you in the Royal City was the right choice, Gawain."
Gawain knelt on one knee. "For glory and for duty, everything for my King. May the empire be eternal and incorruptible."
The rebellion had been a predictable outcome. Stationing the strongest, Gawain, to guard the Royal City was a safeguard specifically for such an occasion.
The Star King stood up. "Remod actually gave me a reminder, the power of the regional lords and commanders has grown a bit too large."
"Have Messaka come see me."
...
In the west, within the city that Remod had slaughtered.
A raven landed on the city wall. Looking down at the horrific state of the inner city, the raven's eyes gradually turned cold as ice.
The raven's form shifted, transforming into a young girl clad in black.
Only a few survivors remained from this massacre; they had crawled into the underground sewers to escape death.
The girl looked down at the bruised and battered people below the wall and asked in a frigid tone:
"Who did this?"
They looked up at the girl and collectively fell to their knees.
"A divine envoy!"
"It was... it was a pack of demons clad in purple armor!"
"They came from the east!"
"We had never seen them before. They suddenly stormed the city and killed everyone they saw. They didn't even leave the corpses behind!"
"Lord Envoy, you must deliver justice for us!"
001 heard this and looked toward the east.
"The moment I look away, you slaughter an entire city of my people. You really think I'm a pushover, don't you?"
001 was furious. Regardless of who the opponent was, they had started something today.
Although this was only a border city, it was one that 001 had watched being built piece by piece.
With a flash of her silhouette, 001 flew back to the capital of their nation.
"Mobilize the troops for me. We march South!"
...
Empire of Stars, January of the Eighth Year of the Unification Calendar.
Due to the rebellion sparked by Remod, the Star King gradually realized that the authority of regional lords and commanders was far too great.
Consequently, he implemented a policy of centralization to strip them of their power.
However, because previous structures had already become somewhat solidified, this reform was not smooth. Aside from Messaka, regional lords everywhere voiced their protests.
They argued that Remod was the one who rebelled and that it had nothing to do with them. The lords involved previously had only joined under Remod's coercion.
Thus, they claimed the problem didn't lie with them, but with the high-ranking commanders.
This was a difficult issue to resolve. Due to internal reforms, the Empire of Stars' expansion began to slow.
Messaka was recalled, leading her legion to discipline the various regional lords.
During this process, an uninvited guest quietly arrived.
One day, the sky over the Mountain City region of the Amber Plains suddenly grew dark.
Immediately following, the lord of Mountain City heard the voice of a young girl.
And it wasn't just him; all the citizens of Mountain City heard it as well.
It seemed to be... a declaration of war?
"A notice to all humans here: your army set foot on our land, slaughtered our people, and destroyed our city. I do not expect your King to atone."
"Therefore, our army shall repay blood with blood!"
Although the voice was loud, it was quite young, sounding like a twelve or thirteen-year-old child.
The soldiers guarding the city looked at each other and laughed it off.
"Just a prank, right?"
"Should we report this?"
"Report?"
"Report wha"
BOOM!!
Before the soldier could finish, a massive boulder hurtled toward the city gate, crushing two men instantly beneath it!
At that moment, the pupils of the city guards shrank in horror!
"What is that?"
The soldiers scrambled to the top of the gate, staring in disbelief at the boundless army outside the city!
Most striking of all was a giant over three hundred meters tall!
That giant clutched boulders and hurled them like balls. One strike had obliterated the city gate!
At the same time, the army pressed forward, and countless non-human hybrids charged directly into the inner city!
The local garrison of ascended ones received orders and rushed to the battlefield!
However, facing those non-human monsters, the previously invincible Ascended Legion was defeated today!
The giant stepped into the inner city and crushed a Star Familiar with a single foot!
Armor was crushed, and the stellar crystal in the chest shattered along with it, dissipating into the world as a burst of energy!
"What is this thing?!"
"Is it... a god?!"
"What god? It's just a big person! Cut his legs out from under him!"
War erupted. 001, in her girl form, sat on the giant's shoulder, observing the soldiers and people in the city with cold indifference.
"How did they do it back then?"
Hearing 001's words, the giant let out an angry roar. "From women and children down to the livestock, they didn't spare a single one!"
"Then do exactly that," 001 said.
"Understood!"
"ROAR!!"
The giant let out a furious cry and leaned down to strike the earth. For a time, the entire Mountain City shook as if the earth were groaning.
The Star Familiars fought back desperately, but their opponents were of strange races they had never encountered before!
As the lord was crushed by a single punch from the giant, the last remaining soldier raised his sword, severing the great locks in the mountains and cutting the bridge!
However, a robust monster with a wolf's head and a human's body charged at him, wielding a massive blade!
The soldier pulled back his sword to counter-attack, but the Werewolf kicked him in the chest. The terrifying force tore through his armor, and a blade was plunged into his chest!
CRACK!
The crystal in his chest shattered. The soldier instantly dissolved into a burst of energy, leaving only an empty suit of armor behind.
"Convenient, really. We don't even have to clean up their corpses!"
"Just a bunch of empty shells in armor!"
...
Like the other monsters, 001 had only one usable ability: mimicry and transformation.
However, the monsters she mimicked could also only use one specific ability.
For example, if she transformed into the Sea King, her silhouette would vanish, and she could use the Sea King's ability to create familiars.
To put it simply, whatever ability other monsters could use now, she also could use, subject to the same restrictions.
Take the Giant King's transformation, for instance.
The giant beneath her was originally an ordinary human, a survivor of Remod's massacre. 001 had transformed into 037, the Giant King, and turned this human into a giant.
However, the Giant King's transformation ability was restricted. Only one giant could be created every 365 days. 001 faced the same restriction.
Even though the giant was only an Upper 3rd Step existence, everyone knew that Upper 3rd Step status varied wildly across different races and could not be compared directly.
001 sat on the giant's shoulder, marching all the way toward the Royal City.
...
The Royal City, Anganas.
News of the foreign invasion reached the capital swiftly.
However, the regional lords paid little heed at first. Their ascended armies were the strongest; they had never tasted defeat, and they held firmly to that conviction now.
But the development of the situation this time exceeded everyone's imagination.
The invincible legions, the mythical armies, suffered one defeat after another.
Eventually, the Star King ordered both Messaka and Gawain to lead their respective legions together to the Amber Plains to confront the invaders.
They remained unaware that all of this stemmed from Remod's single act of genocide.
A formidable enemy had been summoned by Remod's actions, but he was dead; the sins he committed could only be borne by the entire Empire of Stars.
War erupted like a whirlpool, sweeping across every corner of the land.
The troops of various regional lords were mobilized to the Amber Plains, launching a war of attrition.
The moment a giant appeared, Gawain drew his twin swords and charged out!
The giant slammed his hand toward the ground, but Gawain leaped onto the giant's arm and ran upward. He then vaulted into the air, slashing at the giant's arm with both blades!
The giant let out a roar, his blood spilling onto the ground and turning into flames!
Gawain's strength was beyond his expectations!
As the war dragged on, the lead giant was eventually slain by Gawain. The colossal corpse crashed to the earth, gradually piling up into a small mountain.
However, the enemy's reinforcements only grew in number. Even one as strong as Gawain was pushed back multiple times!
The conflict stagnated for five years, finally ending with the fall of the Amber Plains and the death of Commander Messaka.
The front lines retreated continuously, drawing perilously close to the Royal City.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties. To cope with the war, Principal Starry began frantically transforming Star Familiars!
As the five years passed, their population plummeted annually!
Because humans became fewer and fewer, with the remainder all being turned into Star Familiars who were incapable of reproduction!
In the end, even the Star King was forced to stand upon the city walls!
They had reached a state of total mobilization, yet the enemy had successively produced five more giants over these five years!
Although Gawain and Messaka had managed to slay three of them, the enemy still had two giants remaining!
"Is the empire destined to be destroyed today?"
Where the invaders came from, the Star King did not know. Just like the civilizations they had conquered, those people had no idea where the Star Empire had originated from either.
The Star King looked out over the world beyond the walls. This place had once been the richest and most prosperous region on the continent, but now, it had become a lifeless wasteland.
To sustain the war, more and more people were being transformed into Star Familiars. Their demand for energy had become an unstoppable tide. War alone could no longer solve their energy crisis, so they were forced to turn on nature, their own people, and their livestock.
They extracted energy so ruthlessly that this fertile land turned into a dark, dead zone; ten thousand miles of territory had become a barren plain. Not a blade of grass grew; all vitality had scattered, and nothing living could thrive here. By the time they regained their senses, it was already too late to turn back.
The Star King reached up to touch his chest, but he could not feel a heartbeat.
"King, go now! If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
"Yes, King!"
"As long as we're alive, we can rebuild the city! If people are gone, we can seize more! But if you die, everything is over!"
"Commander Gawain is still holding the line just to buy you time, Your Majesty!"
"Please, go quickly!"
The Star King turned around and looked at the Star Familiars behind him. They had all shed their flesh and blood, becoming energy encased in armor.
"Children of the Star Nation, look at the land beneath your feet, and look at the way we are now."
"We weren't always like this."
"We were once like ordinary people, loving and quarreling, drinking and making merry, believing in the honor of the empire. That was the reason for our prosperity."
"But the world changed, and powerful enemies forced us to make a choice!"
"We altered our bodies, extracted nature's energy, slaughtered our own commoners, and cast aside our so-called glory..."
"And after letting go of that glory, we are nothing more than prisoners inside suits of armor, lingering on by clinging to energy!"
"We all know that we must absorb stardust, we must consume energy, or else we simply die..."
"But today, I finally realize that what we cast aside wasn't just glory; it was so much more."
"We have lost too much. Even if we are lucky enough to survive today, Anganas will never return to the way it was!"
"Look at the ground beneath us. This land once held the most prosperous soil and the most vibrant tribes on the continent!"
"Now, all of that has left us!"
"What do we have left now?"
"Lords beneath the stars, soldiers of the empire, to reclaim our glory, or to merely endure for the sake of survival, which one truly matters more?!"
The same question.
Remod believed that survival was more important.
But the Star King chose glory.
Rather than fleeing like a coward to linger on in shame, he chose to stand and fight alongside his soldiers and his people!
"The Son of Heaven guards the border; the King dies for the altar of the state." This was the honor he upheld. If the city fell and the people perished, what use was a King left alone?
The Star King drew his sword, pointing the blade at the distant army. "There is no King here, only warriors!"
"Those who serve honor do not fear death! If the empire cannot be eternal, let it be destroyed today!"
The moment he spoke those words, the deity roared in fury!
"I commanded you to leave!"
Hearing this, the Star King pointed his sword directly at the sky. "I have had enough of so-called divine commands! A King is not a god's puppet; our fate shall not be decided by a deity!"
"Our fate can only be decided by ourselves!"
At the front lines, clashing with the enemy army, Gawain heard this and ripped the cloak from his back, stabbing his greatsword into the earth!
"We no longer need the gods! Everything for my King!"
"For the King!" echoed the voices of the soldiers.
...
From the high sky, 001 looked down at everything below. "Truly loyal warriors. It's a pity their loyalty is directed at a man, not a god."
Principal Starry's form rippled with energy as he clenched his fists, then slowly lowered his head.
"Please... spare my life."
001 let out a sudden laugh. "And to think you're a 5th Step. Are you really this afraid of death?"
Principal Starry had been pushed to a dead end. With the King defying his orders, things had reached a point where he was powerless. He could only beg 001 for a way out!
"As long as you spare my life, I will grant any request!"
"I refuse."
001's rejection was cold and final.
Hearing this, Principal Starry looked toward Iset, but the Goddess of Life took a step back.
Her King was not under Principal Starry's control; her King had gone into hiding. Otherwise, in a desperate situation like this, Principal Starry would have likely killed her King and seized the crown for himself.
Principal Starry burst into laughter.
It was all over. The path to godhood ended here.
Of course, the road to godhood being cut off wasn't the scariest part; it was the price of failure.
Principal Starry could only watch as 001's army swarmed the capital, watching as the sky-piercing giant crushed the city gates with a single stomp.
He watched the King and his soldiers raise their swords in a desperate, final stand...
Unification Calendar, Year 13.
The Empire of Stars has fallen.
The King's crown was seized, falling into 001's hands.
001 played with the crown for a moment, while Principal Starry, at that exact second, disintegrated into a burst of energy that streaked toward some distant corner of the world. No matter how unwilling he was, no matter how powerful he believed himself to be, these were the rules.
001 glanced back at Iset before walking away without a word.
Her army withdrew simultaneously. Having secured the crown, 001 saw no need to carry out a total genocide.
Less than a thousand people remained in the Royal City.
Gawain survived until the very end. Looking at the shattered ruins of the city, he jammed the hilt of a broken sword into the dirt and trudged back to the palace with a heavy greatsword.
Facing the crumbling throne, Gawain drove his sword into the floor and knelt. He never rose again; the light in his eyes beneath the visor slowly faded away.
The remaining few hundred survivors gathered outside the palace and knelt in unison. They, too, never moved again.
As time passed, the Royal City eventually collapsed into ruins. Those men turned to stone, buried forever beneath the debris.
...
From then on, the name Empire of Stars was forgotten by most.
The world came to call it the Broken Kingdom. That once-invincible, all-conquering army was recorded in the history books of other nations as the Legion of Destruction.
They were remembered as the oldest and most powerful empire, with territories that knew no bounds.
And their downfall was painted with the colors of myth. Legend said the Broken Empire's god had angered the pantheon, so a divine envoy delivered the word, and a coalition of gods tore the empire down.
One knight, however, left a lasting mark on history.
He was known as the Last Knight, a figure celebrated by poets and singers of other nations, his life the subject of countless fabricated legends.
Yet, the true beneficiaries of the Star Empire's collapse were The Vermin and the Gold King. Following the fall, Iset, the Goddess of Life, officially joined their alliance.