Lord Shadow

Chapter 252: No regret (3)

With it, he slowly strengthens back his kingdom and revives the economy with trade, agriculture and the promotion of talented people.

When the Emperor of Holy Thonos Empire heard this he could not help but being enraged.

Not long after that, Azief began entering Illyria and capturing many cities, each city become easier to be captured as his soldiers swelled either by people joining the rebellion or warlords that pledge allegiance to him in his way of conquering more lands.

The large amount of soldiers that Azief possess and his keen mind in strategies had enabled him to never lost a battle.

People began calling Azul as Azul the Undefeated.

Azief himself is still young and such a dashing and talented king was made into a hero in many traveling bards stories and song.

In some places he become a folk hero for the peasant class, while in some other places he was a hero for the old ideals of Aethenspania among the noble circle.

Even though Azief declaring himself King goes against the old custom of Aethens and were even objected by many elders and nobles of Aethens, their objection fell to deaf ears as the peasant treated Azief word like the laws and his popularity among the people is at an all-time high.

And unlike corrupt kings or fatuous King that the peasants were used to, Azief action as a king wins the people hearts.

He and Tyr are slowly building that world they dreamed of. Zinar however was forgotten in the background.

People only remember, Tyr, Azul and Ymir. With Ymir and Tyr were regarded as the Two Heroes of Aethens.

And Tyr is also regarded as the co-founder of the Aethens Kingdom as everyone knows that he shares the same ideals as Azief and helps him immensely from the first day of the rebellion.

Azief the moment he became King, he search for talented people whether it be nobles or peasant, as long as they are talented, they are rewarded.

Many of the people he taught how to read and write in the earlier years of his rebellion was hired and he created a bureaucracy with Six Ministries that governs his Kingdom.

It was a new kind of governance in this world. Minister and officials are promoted and can be demoted.

Azief is creating a system of governance that even if he is not present his kingdom will not be in chaos.

He creates a ministry to investigate any corrupt officials, and he himself as a King would accept the remonstration of his officials if he done something wrong.

And Azief as a king refrain from overindulgence.

Other than his Palace that is being built by prisoner of wars or defiant soldiers of the Empire, the King of Aethens is rarely seen overindulging himself.

He rewards meritorious subject and dole out punishment regardless of the status of birth or race.

He employs agronomy as the focus of his governance and musters troops and balances it with careful logistic

He also venerates literature by promoting the peasants to learn how to read and instituted Imperial Examination where regardless of status of birth, one could be elected to become an official.

With him as the sole ruler of Aethens and with his large army, this reform is easily implemented.

In the eight years of his rebellions he fought with Imperial Army in Ashaya.

It lasted for a year with almost a million men died on both sides.

But Azief army won and he conquered Ashaya and repels the Empire presence from the Kingdom of Phrenicia.

When he found his siblings, his father pleas to spare them from death execution. Azief however, executed them without mercy and his father fainted on the spot.

None of his officials objected.

They all know their King Brothers did not share the same ideals as the people that have built the new world that the King and Prime Minister Tyr are trying to build.

Since that was the case, why leave an uncertain factor such as the sibling of the King. The officials were worried because the King has no heir.

If Azief die, then if the sibling of the King survives then according to the Royal Law of Aethens, then they are legitimate contender for the throne.

That is why when the executioner blade separated the heads of the King sibling, none of the officials remonstrate the King decision.

By the ninth year of his rebellion, Azief conquered the entire Phrenicia region and claim himself as the High King of Aethens and Phrenicia.

Azief did not liberate the Kingdom instead he absorb the kingdom into his realm but none of the peasant in both regions were angered at this.

In the three years since Azul become King, his policy appease the people and his agronomy policy has kept the people of his dominion fed and well and a semblance of a normal life could be seen in both Phrenicia and Aethens.

By now Azul is 25 years old, still young and has already conquered two regions out of the Four Regions the Empire controlled in this island continent.

In The Thul’nos continent, the threat of the barbarian has been neutralized for a while and the Empire is now setting their sights to the island continent of Aethenspania.

The Emperor no longer saw the leader of that rebellion as just a mere rebellion leader. The story of Azul the Undefeated has reached even the continent of Thul’nos

That young kid that comes from a small city rebellion is now a High King with three million soldiers, fed, and equipped with steel weapon and steel armor.

And combined that with his reputation to never lost a war and undefeated in a single one on one battle, it creates a mounting pressure on even the Empire greatest legion.

In the three years Azief rules Aethens, he focused on provision and digging any steel mines and forge it into weapons.

And now even though Azief did not yet set foot into Illyria and Caragond region, the rebellion leaders there are impatient for Azul to come and absorb them into the new Empire with Azul as its Emperor

A new world order is being built.

Azief treatment of rebellion leader is extravagant.

Any rebellion leaders that surrender their forces and their territory to Azief would be given an official post and a nobility status that will only be demoted after the second generation.

Of course this only applies to rebel leaders all around Aethenspania.

It is why Azief easily took down Phrenicia.

In the tenth year of his rebellions, Azief consolidated his power, gathering supplies and provision as the rebellion raged on in Caragond and Illyria.

The Empire sends an armada to reinforce Illyria and fought the rebel group there.

The Empire wanted the reinforcement to defeat the local rebellion of Illyrian and then pushed down to Phrenicia and took back Ashaya.

But….how could Azief let that happens when he has eyes?

He looks on as both the rebellion in Illyria getting weaker and the Empire force being whittled down by the rebellion before finally entering the fray.

At the end of tenth year he finally moves and strike.

In one week he captured twenty cities belonging to Illyria and surrounding the Empire army shocking the entire Empire.

He then march his army with extreme speed and help the local rebellion leader, crushed the Imperial reinforcement and took down the entirety of Illyria in seven month.

With no obstacle and no resistance from the common populace, Azief has now conquered three regions of the four regions the Empire control in the island continent of Aethenspania.

By now, everyone could guess what will happen to Caragond but unexpectedly Azief did not attack the region in the eleventh year.

In the eleventh year of his rebellion, Azul claim himself the Emperor of Erania and united Illyria, Aethens and Phrenicia into the Erania Empire.

Erania is the old name of Aethenspania. Azief however still did not attack Caragond

But there is a reason why in the eleventh years Azief did not attack Caragond.

It is because of the meteor coming down from the heaven to strike the area around Shurley which shock the new Empire.

Zinar, who by now forgotten by most people other than Old officials who followed the rebellion from the beginning went there and disappeared.

Azief by now knows who the betrayer was all those years ago when he began his rebellion in the Vast Forest.

Zinar, was as he suspected, the secret agent of the Church, one of the members of the Left hand of the Church whose job is to infiltrate peasant rebellions and crush them.

But maybe Zinar….though this is only speculation in Azief part…but he think Zinar truly falls in love with Azul and abandoned her church orders.

Not to mention by now, all influence of the church has been uprooted and their riches were put into the a national treasury, the Learned Ones, Avengers of the Chaos and the Left hand of The Temple to be hunted and executed on sight by royal decree.

It is also why he no longer hides the secret that he could sue blood magic without using the Holy instrument of the Church.

When Azief destroy the church institution in the three kingdoms he did try to seek the so called holy instrument of the Church but when he arrived at the Papacy, whatever items stored in the Secret Chamber of the Sage, is gone.

Azief when he heard Zinar disappear he himself contemplate the matter. For some reason, now, he felt pain…yet no regret.

He did not understand why Azul is feeling like this. Azief knows whatever feeling he has in this world is not entirely his feeling.

It is Azul feeling. He was just an instrument to solve Azul regret. He pondered this for days until he become depressed.

Zinar disappearance is a shock. But it was not the one thing that causes Azief not to attack Caragond.

It was the fact that when he went to Shurley, in the Vast Forest where he started his rebellion, there is a Temple.

This temple seems to produce a melody that incites devilish desire.

The melody is a melody of melancholy and those who heard it is subjected to terrible illusions and dizziness.

Depending on the heart, some people would be fine; some people would succumb and become unconscious.

And Azief himself found that he could not enter too deep into the Temple without feeling dizzy even after he uses blood Magic to strengthen his mind and body.

Though Azief could see there is an inscription in the walls of the temple that resembles notes of a melody.

And in one instance, Azief even saw a floating green flute in the sanctum of the Temple before being unable to defend against the dizziness.

Azief left the Temple and cordoned the area and in his twelfth year, Azief march his million men strong army and brought down the last influence of the Empire in the new Erania continent

The world rejoices, the four corners of the island continent are pacified, the peasants were given new right and the world is at peace…..at least that is how it is for a couple of years.

Fourteen year since the first years of the rebellion, Azief expanded his navy with the wealth he amassed all those years and now he started and oversea expedition.

His Crown Prince has now grown up and helps him in managing the Empire while he went out and win wars after wars.

A large fleet of ships landed in the land of Thul’nos and Azief army began sacking cities and burning towns.

In the ten years that followed his landing on that beach, his army began conquering the Thul’nos land slowly encroaching deeper and deeper into the Empire of Thul’nos territory.

In ten years, Azief has carved half the Thul’nos Empire into his dominion.

With the weakening of the Thul’nos Empire, the barbarian comes attacking on their northern border without restrain.

Azief capitalizes on this advantage and he himself sail the stormy seas and arrived at Thul’nos, now he is even more formidable as he is adept at Blood Magic.

He and his elite Dragonguard join the frontline and the legend of Azul the Undefeated once again rang true to the people of the world.

In five years, Azul topple the Empire of Thul’nos and then for three years, there is a period of consolidation, assimilations with the Capital of Erania in Ashaya.

His Queen bears two princes for him in that period of peace. Azief immediately name the first prince as the Crown Prince, and clam the national populace and his officials and Prime Minister and focus on the national policy once again.

The Barbarian now held one third of the former region belonging to the Empire of Thul’nos.

This happens because the barbarian tribes take advantage of the Empire inability to fight in two fronts when Azief attack the Empire all those years ago.

Now that the economy once again moving and the provision stocked, Azul now around 50 years of age once again go into an expedition of war expelling the invaders.

That took only one year.

This time Azul has mastered the power of the elements using his blood magic.

When he went into battle lightning and d firestorm followed him and the blood of his enemies only causes him to become more invincible in the battlefield.

He then proceeded north conquering all of the barbarian tribes and executed any tribes that refuse to surrenders

In one year all the vast plain of the barbarians tribe was conquered either by employing the local weak tribe and supporting them with weapons or incited rebellions in one clans or tribes while Azief Imperial army would take advantage of the situation and pick them off when they are in their weakest moment.

The region were given autonomous authority on certain matter but is still supervised by the official of the Empire of Erania.

Azief finally end his conquest with almost all of the known world under his feet, creating a large Empire.