Austronesia Empire, Inside The Exclusive Economic Zone, In The Ocean, Below The Ocean, Inside A Nuclear Submarine.

YNA 1, Friday, 1st Week, Month Of Noah

The sun is about to set, which is a perfect time for the nuclear submarines carrying the special operation forces to move into their intended locations.

Based on preliminary calculation, it could take days or even weeks to arrive at their destination. Once there, the teams would only have a few weeks to gather intelligence, as the rations they have would not last long enough. Furthermore, they must hide as much as possible, and if the situation calls for it, then it is good to open fire.

Each piece of equipment they possessed had a backup system that could trigger an explosion if activated by the user or remotely by central headquarters. A lot of faith and trust are being laid out on the table by the special operations soldiers.

In case of both failure by the central headquarters and the user, then there is also a backup button for each set of equipment in the main headquarters, which was the military high-command back in the Austronesian People's Empire.

One of these nuclear submarines was heading for the Iron Kingdom of the Dwarves, one of the many kingdoms by the dwarven people.

They chose this dwarven kingdom as it is not only one of the strongest nations in the Third Civilization Zone beside the Kingdom of High Tarxan, but it is also one of the nearest against the People's Empire.

The dwarves are known for their metallurgy, a unique type of magical ability that allowed them to craft superior military equipment and sell the defects or unsatisfactoriness to trade with. However, even if it was a defect or unsatisfactory, many other kingdoms widely sought it, as these pieces of equipment have strong magical affinities to help themselves.

Another one of these nuclear submarines was heading to the lands of the Orcs, and they are one of the cursed races of the world they were on.

According to legends, the Orcs originated from beyond this world and, upon their arrival thousands of years ago, they immediately wreaked havoc across the Third Civilization Zone, spreading like fungus that destroyed kingdom after kingdom with their numbers and devastating weapons.

The most dangerous aspect of the Orcs was not their numbers or weapons, but their strange form of reality-warping magic and rapid reproduction, despite lacking male sex organs.

Acknowledging this threat, several nations from the Second Civilization Zone sent out a few individuals that were blessed by their respective Gods and Goddesses to push the Orcs back. Additionally, the Orcs' reproduction rate decreased significantly in areas with higher mana density, preventing them from reaching other Civilization Zones.

Over the centuries, the Orc population slowly dwindled as the spores they released upon death became less and less due to increasing magic density in the air.

Noticing the changes, the Orcs have to find other ways to reproduce.

Fortunately for them, when more time had passed, the Orcs' biology slowly changed and adapted to this world, such as developing male sex organs in their bodies.

With this, they have more ways to reproduce, and what is a better thing to use their 'new weapon' for reproduction?

Simple... woman.

Therefore, Orcs became the highest pest in every kingdom. Killing and plundering is a problem for them, but now they began kidnapping women. Furthermore, a significant problem arose for each kingdom as the Orcs' population increased dramatically once more. They formed entire hordes, and have now taken down multiple kingdoms on their path, killing men, and enslaving women for reproduction.

Fortunately, several strong nations surrounded the lands occupied by the Orcs, and were strong enough to hold them back by land and sea. However, a small number of Orcs managed to bypass border defenses, roaming the lands and continuing their menace.

Back to the topic, another of these nuclear submarines is heading to the Kingdom of High Tarxan, the homeland of Floria Melian Shelberry.

Among the nations that are morally corrupt, the higher ups of this nation are most probably the most morally degenerate. Whether it's men to women, men to men, women to women, or a whole group, they all have unrestrained sexual activity, with consent from both parties involved of course.

Thankfully, despite witnessing such atrocious acts, Melian's father had not partaken in it, including Melian. Instead, they both focused on builing a new society, where all races were treated equally.

Therefore, the Elf Queen is as virgin as an unpopped cherry.

Another submarines is heading not to a nation, but to the Free Trade City Of Aquarius. It is a massive city on an island just east from the Kingdom of High Tarxan, and on the very center of the Third Civilization Zone. Aquarius is a bustling trade hub, drawing merchants from many kingdoms and hosting a diverse population including elves, dwarves, merfolk, and many other races.

However, it also has a darker side. Not only do they trade commodities but even exotic, such as high-class slaves or high-class sex slaves, which are to be the most beautiful women from different manaless races and magically superior races. After all, there are also people in each race that have no mana, therefore they are also treated as inferior and soon a slave. They have also sold here not only slaves but also forbidden drugs, and most importantly the underground syndicates operate here.

Another submarine is heading to the lands of the Fairies, known as Fairyland. Fairies are extremely small but can take humanoid forms while retaining their ability to fly and their strong magical affinity.

Finding their community is very hard, as they are extremely well hidden within their forested country. Furthermore, they don't live in open areas, making them difficult to find unless one is exceptionally lucky.

A nuclear submarine also went off to the tribe of the Valkyries.

They are a race of individuals with angel-like wings, but lack the divine power compared of true angels. And one thing is for certain, they aren't led by men but rather by women, all of whom are immensely strong, and they only take men who seem to have satisfied them when they have a battle.

In order for the sake of reproduction, only through the battle of life and death can a man earn the right to be a groom. The strong takes all here. For the past centuries, there were no men who won the title of leader and thus it became a matriarchal society.

Men who perform the perfect satisfactorily in combat may earn the right to father the children of the Valkyrie Queen.

Last but not the least, a nuclear submarine is heading towards the Kingdom of Merfolk. Even though their country lives in the water, many of them lived in the Free Trade City of Aquarius to trade with the outside world and interact with other races.

The merfolks especially have a high affinity towards Water Magic, and so fighting them on the seas is an immensely tough decision. It is much better if you were to fight it on land as they'd lose the advantage of having a large amount of water reservoir nearby.

--------------------

Kingdom of High Tarxan, New Tarxa, High Elven Ville, Tarxan Palace, Royal Chambers.

YNA 1, Friday, 1st Week, Month Of Noah

Upon seizing power in High Tarxa, Acheron immediately initiated a ruthless purge against all his enemies and those who showed even the slightest sympathy for his sister.

Political enemies were tortured, publicly disgraced, and stripped of their titles. In the shadows, the Dark Legion, composed of Dark Elves, were assassinating the enemies of the state. Those whom they assassinated are those whom even Acheron couldn't publicly strip of their title, so he decided to just go off with them in the shadows.

After the purge, Acheron opened the kingdom's treasury and rewarded his allies who had helped him rise to power. To regain these money he had given out, he raised the taxes tremendously even towards those who are in the slums of the kingdom, which resulted in the standard of living in the nation to drop by a lot.

The slums suffered immensely, with people dying each day, and not even a single ounce of help was being given from the palace. No matter how hard the starving masses were to ask for help, they were given either of the two answers. One is that they are turned away or immediately shot on the spot, depending on their manners.

Despite his victory, there was one thing that has been bothering Acheron's mind, and that is the fact he was haunted by the memory of the explosion that supposedly killed his sister, yet when he took the throne and attained the power of inheritance, it seemed like he angered the Elven Goddess, which is certainly proved by the storm that formed above the palace.

Whatever it was, he couldn't let his guard down. After all, if his sister is indeed alive, then she must be scheming something against him.

To appease his worries, he had been continuously sending a few members of the Dark Legion into finding the corpse of his sister, but no source of information had been ever found. It seemed like those they'd have sent had also disappeared into the depths of the ocean in the place where he last left his sister.

Desperate for answers, Acheron didn't send any scounts. Instead, he ordered a mage to use Divination Magic through a large ritual to observe the area from afar.

Unfortunately, when the mage performed the spell, a mysterious explosion erupted from his body, killing him instantly.

It suggested that place was really indeed filled with demons, as they had indeed seen when they got there. Which means there really isn't anything he could do but to appease his worries.

To confirm his sister's fate, Acheron would need to deploy the entire navy. However, this was impossible as other kingdoms as of now had been eyeing his territories because of the fact that their navy has been weakened, and because of the political instability that have been taking place in his country.

Even though Acheron had finally achieved his dream of taking the throne for himself, he still doesn't seem to be satisfied. The luscious body of his sister, he has been long desired for it for a very long time, now that there is the possibility of her really dead, then that could only mean that he could never touch that extremely gorgeous and precious body of hers.

Under the silent night, Acheron continued to curse his sister's name, all the while engaging in morally degenerate things. Over the past month, he had done nothing but to have constant unrestrained sexual activity, showering high-status women with lavish gifts to gain their consent of having sexual activity with them. Despite his power, he adhered to the rule that both sides must consent to it. After all, they are all magicians, and a battle might take place if he broke it.

--------------------

Austronesian Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Luzon, Manila, In A Military Barracks Near Malacanang.

YNA 1, Monday, 2nd Week, Month Of Noah

It's now been over a month since Floria Melian Shelberry was captured by the Austronesian People's Empire. During her time in this human nation, she has been experienced a lot and was recently opened into various new perspectives, which certainly widened her horizon. She believes that if she stayed longer, she would learn even more insights. However, according to her agreement with the government, she must wait until the Empire has recovered on its feet.

Though she isn't sure how such a torn nation by the demon invasion could ever recover, but she has witnessed remarkable progress over the past month.

Furthermore, such revolutionary measures are emplaced on her. If she wanted the help of the Austronesians, however, for her it was a perfect one, as it heavily aligned with her and her father's ideals for their nation. Moreover, these revolutionary measures are bound to flip the world of her nation upside down, though she believes it was necessary. It is, after all, for a brighter future for her citizens.

Once she reclaims the throne once again, she would make sure to follow the form of government of the Austronesian Empire, with a few modifications here and there, so that it would fit into the culture and traditions of her nation. With the backing of the Austronesian People's Empire and the curse on her family now effectively gone, she'd make sure to purge the corrupt nobles from her nation.

Even if nobody from the ranks of the noble supports her, she still has a powerful supporter from overseas, which was the Austronesian People's Empire. The period of reformation will soon dawn upon her nation, and she must be on the lead of it, so that she could protect the interest of her people and most of all her nation.

Her brother must have already thought that she was dead, and it is better for him to think so, as when she comes back and reclaims the throne, she would be a newly reformed woman, one that is immovable and with the power of authority.

The only thing that was keeping her from being overthrown by her brother's backers was the fact that it was to maintain stability throughout the nation. While she sat on the top powerless, they'd do anything they wanted with the government and other executive departments. Basically, it was a war of intrigue between many factions of nobles.

Nobody wants to have a bloodshed, because if it happened, then they might just as well lose everything they have worked for their entire life. After all, once a civil war starts, other nations who were vying to conquer territories surely wouldn't turn a blind eye.

For now, the only thing that Melian could do now is to bide her time, and bide her time, she shall, patiently waiting for the moment to strike and reclaim her rightful place.

------------------

Austronesia Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Luzon, Manila, In A Coffee Shop

YNA 1, Monday, 2nd Week, Month Of Noah

Right now, Melian was sitting in the corner of the café somewhere in Manila along with a few elves, which were part of her Reformist Party. They were deep in discussion about politics and their future plans

She took a sip from the coffee and licked her lips. Most human food and drink seemed fine compared to her native fare, but it served its purpose of satisfying her necessary caloric intake, and after a month of being here in this nation, her palette had adapted accordingly.

The humans around them seemed unaware that they were elves, except for their striking European features and exceptional beauty appearance than the rest of the people here.

The reason none of them knew they were elves is because one of the elves she's with has a simple illusion magic to hide their pointy ears.

As their conversation flowed, Melian's attention was drawn to the television at the other end of the café, where it shows the news covering a range of topics, from weather forecasts to a new mineral discovery, and an interesting program aimed at protecting and reproducing endangered animals like dogs, cats, cows, and chickens, many of which had died during the New Year Tragedy.

What truly captured her attention, however, was the live feed of a protest in the Mendiola Street on Manila, which is not that far from her. There, a large crowd of men and women, all dressed in black, were gathered, chanting slogans and facing a wall of Riot Police, who stood firm, armed with shields, rubber bullets, tear gas, and even lethal weapons.

The protesters' placards bore slogans such as "Where is Our Freedom of Religion?" "Government Lies!" "Fascist!" and "Religious Liberty For All!"

While they were raising those signs up high, there were some burning the Austronesia flag to the ground.

Many countries in her world see such acts would lead to arrest, but she knew they were only burning cheap pieces of fabric.

However, whether it is just a fabric or not, it is deeply disrespectful as a country flag symbolizes the essence of a nation and what it stands for.

Melian was aware of the new government law that arrested anyone worshipping Satanism or built an encampment that will convert them to other religions, whether they like it or not. It is a measure that seemed authoritarian yet necessary given the reports of people making pacts with demons. These protesters, in her view, were suspect, especially considering the nation's recent traumas.

She even wondered why the protesters still held faith in such religious ideals even when their country is almost destroyed by demons.

Deciding to ignore the news, she returned her attention to the elves, especially to the radio playing nearby, and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. The best thing she loved about these humans was their music. Right now, the radio was blaring one of her favorite songs, "You've Made Me Stronger."

Just as she began to relax, her enhanced eyes caught sight of someone in the crowd approaching a riot police officer. When she focused, her eyes widened.

The person was wielding a pistol, and not only that, Melian felt a strange, familiar sensation within her body.

Something... unholy.

Before she could utter a word, a thunderous sound echoed from the television. The café patrons immediately turned their attention to the screen, where they saw many screams and shouts within.

------------------

Austronesia Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Luzon, Manila, Mendiola Street, San Miguel

YNA 1, Monday, 2nd Week, Month Of Noah

"Man down!"

"Someone's armed among the crowd! FIRE!" a police officer shouted, rising from his station and open fire, unleashing a burst of 5.56mm rounds.

And then all hell broke loose.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The whole street became a shooting gallery, the large space echoing with the cacophony of dozen different types of firearms being discharged within.

Protesters ran in fear, but many fell to the ground, riddled with bullets. The shooter, however, was unfazed by the rain of gunfire despite numerous bullets punctured through her body, but she stood her ground with a shit-eating grin on her face.

Then, the next thing happened shocked the officers as they watched the blood from the lifeless bodies of the protesters begin flowing out and coiled around the body of the shooter.

"Foolish humans... I would like to thank you all for killing these people for me."

The familiar, deep, and cruel voice of a demon echoed, and the blood-red iris in her pitch-black eyes proves more that she is definitely a demon in human flesh.

However, the officers didn't stop shooting and continued giving her more wounds which would empty their magazines, but the woman laughed maniacally as her wounds began to heal, and the blood that coiled around the woman's began to transform into some sort of armor, rendering bullets ineffective.

Summoning a blade made of blood and demonic energy, she lunged at one of the police officers at a speed none of them could react to.

"This bitch is fa-... AAARRRGGGGHHHH!"

The sword impaled the officer right in the chest with such force that blood spurted out from both the front and back, lifting him several feet into the air. He hovered there, eyes wide with shock and agony as his blood began pouring out of his body and coiled around the demon's blade, absorbing his essence and strengthening her.

"Holy shit, EVERYONE OPEN FIRE!" shouted one of the other officers.

Fifty officers unleashed a vicious stream of semi-automatic 9mm rounds at the woman. However, the bullets seemed to have no effect on the woman, leaving sparks where they struck her body harmlessly.

At that moment, the steady thump-thump-thwomp of helicopter rotor blades could be heard rapidly approaching the scene.

"This is Stagecoach Four!" shouted the chief officer into the radio, his face pale with fear. "We need assistance, we are being attacked by a demon!"

[This is Marine Four,] the radio replied. [Copy. IR's picking up a thermal sign just a few yards in front of you. It looks like... a human?]

"That's it! Him! Her! Whatever, just kill it!"

[Roger that,] the radio crackled back. [Alright boys, light 'em up!]

A helicopter swooped low over the street. As it arrived, the officer could see the side door swing open, and a .50-cal machine gun emerge from within. For a split second, he could even see the fearful but determined face of the soldier behind it.

"Sir, eyes on the target!"

"Fire!"

All hell broke loose as spent bullet casings rained down all around the demon from above. For a moment, the chief officer thought they were clear. He breathed a sigh of relief and muttered a prayer of thanks.

But at that moment, his eyes caught the sight of some sort of crimson spear launched from the demon at incredible speed.

Then an explosion erupted behind them.

He turned around just in time to see the helicopter aflame, crashing down towards the ground in a great ball of fire.

BOOM!

"Fuck."

------------------

Meanwhile, an Imperial Secret Police Field Agent watching from a rooftop widened his eyes in shock.

"Fuck," the agent cursed as he called through the comms.

[You called?]

"We have a Code Crimson!" He spoke urgently into his comms, "Demon sighting among the protests in the capital. I want a command sent to all State Security Service and Field Agents to be on the lookout for any demons!"

He turned to the armed law enforcement below, who were continuing to shoot the possessed individual with pistols, shotguns, and SMGs.

"And bring more reinforcements. The demon in sight took down a chopper and might be a higher-tier one!"

------------------

"I hope you like it up all three holes, bitch!" shouted an officer.

"DIE!" another screamed in pure hatred, "Just fucking DIE already!"

"This is for General Santos, demon scum!"

One of the riot police stepped forward, loading a tear gas canister into a launcher.

"EAT THIS!" he shouted, firing it directly at their foe.

Throughout all of this, though, the demonic human was moving fast as lightning, bolting, jumping, ducking, dodging, and twirling through the air, running this way, running that way, running up the vehicles even. Surely some of the relentless barrage must have been hitting her, and yet she just seemed to ignore them.

When she saw that tear gas grenade flying right at her, she leapt up, spinning in mid-air, and her foot made contact with the grenade, which kicked it right back in the direction from whence it came.

"Oh, fuck," muttered the officer who had thrown it.

The grenade unleashed a cloud of tear gas, sending two officers stepping back with tears in their eyes before being incapacitated.

A demonic sword materialized in the demon's hand, spinning and whirling around, so fast it was a blur and impossible to see it half the time with whatever frame-rate the television screen had to offer. The blade was severing heads and limbs, sometimes even slicing through metal guns in half, and left deep gashes in the pavement and buildings.

In mere seconds, she had slashed down and killed almost a half a dozen dozen officers.

Here, she kicked a wooden baseball bat into the air with such force that it smashed into an officer's face, breaking apart. There, she leapt and landed on an armored police truck like a cat.

In half a second, a spear of crimson demonic energy materialized behind her and launched at bullet speed. Twenty feet away, an officer fell back against an armored truck with a long crimson blade protruding from his neck.

With a psychopathic grin, the demon assassin turned her attention to the news reporter and her cameraman in the distance. They wore expressions of sheer terror at the sight of her massacring the law enforcement.

"P-Please don-" the reporter began.

The demon assassin jumped toward them, and the next moment, the screen went to static.

However, the audio feed were still active.

"Back up! We need back up!"

"Fuck this demon-bitch! Fuck her to hell!"

"Arrrgggghhhh!"

"Oh God!"

"Olly! No!"

The patrons in the café watched in horror as the screams echoed.

In the corner of the café where Melian and the elves had been sitting, there were only empty seats remained, with a paycheck left on the table.

------------------

"They're getting destroyed in there!" gasped one of the Imperial Secret Police agents, "Sarge, we gotta do something!"

"I'm working on it," snarled another agent in his chair, his patience wearing thin as he spoke into his headset. "Sgt. Matthews, do you read me? I want your team to lay down a suppressing fire, lock and hold that thing. I'm calling the Liberation Army right now. Sgt. Matthews, do you copy?"

"That's not gonna work! We're just sending more bodies to add to the count!"

The first agent angrily shoved his colleague aside and continued, "I repeat, Sgt. Matthews, I want you to lay down suppressing fire until the army arrives!"

"God damn it!" hissed the second agent. "We should send the Archangels unit to deal with it!"

------------------

"HAHAHAHAHA!!"

With a maddening grin, the demon assassin continued to slash down one officer after another. She was fast enough to dodge bullets, her armor durable enough to withstand a hail of gunfire, and the more enemies she slew, the more blood she absorbed and strengthen her drastically.

"ALL OF YOU HUMANS ARE SO WEAK! I DONT GET WHY THEY KEEP TELLING ME NOT TO EXPOSE MYSELF YET, BUT THIS IS REALLY PATHETI-!"

BOOM!

Before she could react, a large golden fireball slammed into her abdomen. To her surprise, she noticed cracks were formed on her armor as she was launched back.

"WHAT!?" The demon assassin was startled. Blood and internal organs spilling from her mouth from the impact of the magical attack.

Looking ahead, the possessed human met the cold eyes of the Elf Queen, who summoned a sword of magical energy in her hand.

Sensing the massive amount of mana within the elf, the demon went pale and staggered several steps back.

"...So you were the one who single-handedly fought the demon generals? You are stronger than those weak primates."

"Those weak primates you talk down on are stronger than you can imagine," Melian said indifferently, "Now, if you still have a bit of sanity left on you, stop resisting. Whatever you try is useless. Just die quickly so I can bring back peace to this place."

"Oh, an elf who reeks false righteousness. That's what I hate," The demon stared at the elf with a trace of disappointment. Then chuckled, "I know I'm going to die in this battle. However, resisting is not useless. In fact, it already achieved its objective."

Melian frowned. But before she could understand what the demon meant, a blood-red aura started to ooze from the demon assassin's skin.

The aura was like a cursed flame, burning with sin. It seemed ominous and cruel, and carried the power of a demon at a Noble-class

Then, the demon smiled, "The little bit of time I gained will be useful... to kill you!"

With those words, the demon roared. Instantly, her mana turned into a horrifying dragon-like fiend that opened its mouth and attacked Melian.

The fiend was so powerful that everyone who witnessed it paled. It had already surpassed the power of a Tier 7.

However, Melian did not panic. When the dragon-like fiend was about to touch her, she raised her hand.

"[Heavenly Flames]"

Instantly, a small white-hot flame was shot from her fingertips and completely ignited the dragon-like fiend whole. The flames burned so fiercely that the fiend the demon created was instantly turned into nothingness.

"What!?"

Before the demon could move, the elves behind Melian raised their hands and cast their spells, unleashing tens of magical attacks all advancing towards the demon.

"PATHETIC!" The demon cried in fury, creating a barrier of mana in front of her. The barrier managed to stop all of the magical attacks, but the last one from Melian shattered it with ease.

Behind the barrier, the demon looked at the elves with bloodshot eyes. With a wave of her hand, she summoned dozens of blood-red spears.

"DIE!"

When Melian saw that, she shook her head.

"How pitiful."

Then, she gripped the energy sword in her hand... and slashed toward the spears.

The slash seemed strangely slow, but for some reason, it was completed before the spears could arrive in front of Melian. When the slash finished, all the blood-red spears had been sliced in two.

Seeing this, the demon opened her eyes wide, but that didn't stop her.

"Stay back!!!" The demon snarled and created several more blood-red spears, but Melian just shook her head and took a step forward. That step put her in front of the demon.

Calmly, Melian wielded her sword, destroying the blood-red spears around the demon and stabbing towards her heart.

Spurt!

The sword pierced the demon's blood-red armor and her heart before exiting through her back.

"This is your end," Melian said.

The demon vomited a mouthful of blood, glaring at the Elf Queen with rage. Then, she made a decision.

"No! I have survived from the war until now! I've grown too close to the Viscount rank when I possessed this girl's body!! I AM NOT DYING TODAY UNTIL LORD ANDROMALIUS RETURNS!!!"

With a thought, she released all her power and let it go berserk!

But Melian's gaze remained completely indifferent.

Without giving her even half a second, Melian instantly cut the demon into hundreds of pieces at a speed almost too fast for anyone to react.

After slicing the demon's body into little pieces with only her head remaining, she turned her back and waved her hand again.

And the head of the demon exploded into a bloody mist.

------------------

After the intense battle, which would be known as the Mendiola Massacre, which stands out not only for its unexpected violence but also for the shocking revelation at its heart.

During what at first appeared to be a protest against the government's decision by a large crowd of Satanist protesters, that is until an officer was shot, and the chaos began.

No one except for the Imperial Secret Police expected a demon to be among the crowd, a Baron-rank to say the least, which are classified to be extremely dangerous demonic entities that is beyond the capabilities of local law enforcement, and only a large military intervention to contain the threat.

This incident resulted in 58 deaths, including 25 police officers, 2 civilians, and 31 protesters.

But the most surprising of all is when they investigate the shooter, or rather, the demon and her background.

It revealed that this woman was raised as a Catholic, a complete Saint, and had no criminal records nor anything bad, not even curse in her whole life according to her family.

But there is something interesting. They stated that she seemed a bit different and strange, until it was proven when she cursed... to Jesus, of all people.

According to them, the change of behavior began after the New Year Tragedy.

With this revelation, it prompted increased vigilance from the government, Imperial Secret Police and every department, emphasizing the need for heightened security measures and more investigations into potential demonic influences within the population.

Watching as the police reinforcements and paramedics attended to help the injured police and the remaining protesters, Melian noticed a lot of civilians watching the scene, and couldn't get closer with law enforcement in their way.

Then she began to notice many people, both civilians and News Reporters, picturing and cheering for her. Widening her eyes as if to realize something, she glanced at the elf who had the ability to use illusion magic.

Noticing Her Majesty's gaze, the Elf looked at her and noticed something.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, I might've canceled the spell when we fought the demon," he sheepishly admitted.

Melian shook her head and shrugged it off, turning her attention back to the crowd. For the second time, she felt a wave of adoration from the people and never thought she would be loved by many.

"This is nice," she remarked with a smile.

There were many things that Melian was able to witness during her month-long stay in the Austronesian People's Empire, she was able to see the lively faces of the people of the land, despite having succumbed to a catastrophic tragedy, never before seen on a scale of their nation, where the people were as still lively as them.

Their crops were all but destroyed, and so food became scarce. The industry has effectively halted, and the energy that they call electricity and its produce the generators stopped supplying most of the areas in the Empire.

The death toll of the tragedy amounted to over one-fifth of the Empire's population. All these tragedies and economic fallout, would force the people to abandon the nation.

However, these people that she had seen around her and talked to some were all but sure that they would never abandon their home and nation, and so they persisted in rebuilding their nation. Such patriotic fervor burns immensely bright in the eyes of Melian.

Furthermore, she once doubted the leadership of the Emperor of this nation. Their first conversation doesn't seem great with the Demon Lord's Heart, but upon having undergone such tragedies, he wouldn't start to point the blame at others or any excuse. Instead, he and his entire government made a rousing speech while also taking the blame for the shortcomings of the Empire.

With such a leader with such a good conscience, won the hearts of the people of the Empire.

Melian had also thought that with such a large number of casualties, they would also dump the bodies of the deceased into mass graves. But to her surprise, it wasn't the case. They gave all the casualties a grand ceremonial funeral. For those who had to lay down their lives fighting for the Empire were all given a simple yet emotional military funeral.

Such military funerals were very foreign to her but deeply moving. Those who died on the battlefield back in her nation would be left to rot in the battlefield's area. Only those who are ranked higher in the military high command and aristocracy were given the treatment of being sent back home.

Not only that, they gave all the casualties, even those civilians were given a gun salute that was only reserved for the highest of the nations, which includes those of the President, Prime Minister and the Emperor.

While those soldiers who had sacrificed their lives were given another gun salute however, it was not for the majority but for each soldier, and so each coffins of soldiers, had a set of soldiers that would perform the military gun salute, and they all did that in unison, which so as to say very impressive and such discipline were unparalleled. Such a massive amount of resources wasted would be the thought of the higher-ups in her nation.

She thought the masses would get pissed and angry at such a lavish display of wasted resources. Yet, they all were grateful for their Emperor, and in that moment, she saw that the eyes of the people on every person who she saw on that day were filled with a burning passion to get back up. To get back up and rebuild and make those who made them suffer pay a thousandfold.

Not only that, as she saw that the prices of commodities were on the free fall, the government and the Emperor made a move that was so revolutionary, she would never have thought of it, unless she actually saw it.

That is to freeze the price of each commodity in times of crisis. Back in her nation, merchants and nobles would use this opportunity to squeeze the masses out of money and to enrich their pockets with money.

Since the Empire has undergone such a tragedy, there would be of course who will try to take advantage of the situation and to move their pieces for their own self interest. To prevent that from happening, the government and the Emperor made a move on them, which they never had expected as the government was too busy fixing the problem. They would never have thought that they were a national security concern.

And within the past few days, multiple cells of people who intend to rebel against the government were all but raided and were promptly executed for those who didn't surrender. As to her surprise as she thought, there were people who sided with the government among the rebels, which made the job much easier for the government, and those who surrendered were pardoned and were reintegrated back into the society.

She didn't have much knowledge of the history of the Empire, though she could guess that it is a newly born nation borne out of chaos and war. However, contrary to her thoughts, the empire seemed very much stable, except for those who were trying to take advantage of the situation.

All over that, she concluded that the Emperor and his government were decisive people, and those people only exist in times of hardships. Which means they were reliable and goal-oriented with the people's interest in their mind.

She came to another conclusion that the Empire attained where they are now, through pure effort and perseverance from the flow of time. No matter how tough the sanctions of time were giving them, they were able to come out of the problem.

Thus, she was now very interested in how the Empire would change, as they met the other races of this world. How would they react? With such advanced technologies and ideas that threaten the very foundation of each society in this world. Would they still stay the same, or would they also fall into degeneracy and immorality?

Now is not the time to think that, and the first thing she has to do if she wants to see where the Empire would arrive at its own conclusion, she firstly needs enough authority and power to remain significant in the changing landscape.

———

*

*

*

*

*

A/n: Anyone who is unaware, this is a reference to the actual Mendiola massacre, which was an incident that took place on Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines on January 22, 1987, in which state security forces under President Corazon Aquino violently dispersed a farmers' march to Malacañang Palace in protest for the lack of government action on land reform.