Chapter 458: Ch
However, she was deeply moved to see the sincerity in Kallus’s character and felt quite glad about it.
Kallus only smiled seeing her acceptance and the look of pure gratitude on her face. To achieve the elder’s request, he knew he needed to get the elves on familiar, close terms with his forces. It was a bit of a cumbersome task, but sigh, he had to do it. Besides, elves were generally on good terms with humans anyway, so establishing a close relationship with them was by no means a bad thing.
Pushing aside these thoughts, Kallus snapped his fingers. A bottle containing a transparent liquid appeared, radiating a pure, holy attribute, and he passed it to Valoria.
She caught hold of it, looking at it with confusion.
Kallus explained, "This is Holy Curse-Destroyer Water. Drink this, and it will completely get rid of that red gas. And don’t worry—using it won’t trigger any negative side effects, nor will it alert the enemy to any detected abnormalities. Everything will seem perfectly normal to them.
This holy water possesses the properties of illusions and dreams; it will directly create a false sensory realm for those manipulators. When they try to monitor you, they will only see what they expect to see—that you are still entirely under their control. It will give them absolutely no reason to doubt you at all."
Hearing the description of the contents of the vial, Valoria was astonished. But after a few moments, she sighed in relief.
Hearing the description of the contents of the vial, Valoria was astonished. But after a few moments, she sighed in relief. This truly insured that the mastermind behind the scenes knew nothing about her being recovered and out of their control! That would give her the breathing room and time to make everything right within her empire at once.
Thinking of that, Valoria thanked Kallus with a heart full of gratitude. She said, ’Thank you, Lord Kallus, for this favor that you did for me personally.’ Slightly blushing, she spoke more on a personal level. ’I’ll owe you a favor, and whatever you wish, I will comply with it. Even if you need me,’ she said.
Kallus paid no attention to her blushing, already being used to it at this point. Knowing the person in front of him liked to imagine things, he was no longer made speechless by this behavior. He treated it as nothing and hummed along.
’What kind of support do you want from me, Empress? Do speak your mind so I can ensure our success. As you know, my forces will be busy in these upcoming months, either fighting or defending our territory. In no more than a few days, or at max a week from now, the mana storm surrounding the holy region—which I call the Sol region, my core territory—will vanish. Then, anyone who wishes could, and definitely would, try their best to enter it and take over this territory of mine. So my forces will be really busy at that time, and because of that, I want to know what kind of support you want so I can arrange things. Do you understand?’ he asked, looking at Valoria.
Valoria wasn’t surprised by the soon-to-be disappearing mana storm, the natural protective layer of the Celestial Void Empire’s territory. After all, it was created in the first place by the heavenly order of the galaxy to reconnect this part of its body again, making up for the years of starvation the holy region had suffered to return it to its peak state.
Now, she could feel that the density of mana around the region was far too dense, even more so compared to the holy region of the Orbiter race that she had once had the chance to visit. But she generally viewed it as a surged state and not its actual state, thinking it would soon return to a normal level like any other holy region after the mana storm went away.
Anyway, that wasn’t a matter for her to concern herself with; it was for Kallus and his empire to deal with. What was troublesome was her own matter. If Kallus’s Celestial Void Empire was going to be this busy, would it even have the strength to back her up? But knowing she couldn’t judge that herself, she could only muster the courage and speak up.
’Well, I would need at least two, and hopefully three, of your main fleets, or something similar, to quickly take care of my own empire and then force our way through the Life and Death Realm. At least this much strength would be needed!’
Saying that, she looked at Kallus cautiously, fearing her demands might be too much. After all, she was talking about three full main battle fleets. Knowing the information she had gathered mingling with the higher-ups of the Celestial Void Empire in the ceremonial hall, she knew they had no more than ten such fleets (three of which were only recently added) and their total ship strength was at max one hundred and ten thousand strong.
She knew that the Celestial Void Empire’s fleet strength couldn’t be counted by just numbers, as their quasi-titles made up for more than ten times their own count. But still, she felt that her demand of asking for thirty percent of the Celestial Void Empire’s main strength was actually too much.
"Three main battle fleets, hmm," Kallus spoke as he rubbed his chin with his right hand, letting his back fall against his seat. Looking upward, he began to make some calculations in his mind.
Seeing this, Valoria let out a sigh of relief. Kallus hadn’t disagreed, nor had he burst out saying her demands were too much. Because of that, she put aside her random, anxious thoughts and patiently waited for him to think things through.
Meanwhile, various thoughts passed through Kallus’s mind as he weighed his options. He had initially planned to split all ten of his fleets to attack the three neighboring empires in segments: one group of three fleets would lead the attack on the Star Empire, while two other groups made up of two fleets each would strike the remaining targets. The rest of the fleets would be used to clear the path ahead, leaving first.
Yes, clearing the path. Kallus had already reached out to many of the powers surrounding him, and most, if not all, had rejected the idea of being friendly, establishing good terms, or even trading with his forces. Most had rejected him bluntly without even hearing the full terms, while a few had directly attacked his convoy fleets the moment they realized they belonged to a celestial human empire.
Going through the recordings of those encounters, Kallus had noticed the distinct dislike and even disgust in their voices toward his people—especially toward his race. Well, he wasn’t a human anymore by body or soul, but he was still human by birth. No matter what, humanity would remain a part of him now, in the future, and forever.
Even though his innermost core was that of a dragon, being born human in one lifetime was a fate that connected him to humanity, and that connection was something he would never let go.
Those scornful words stung him. Was the human race something to be disgusted by? No. And since these factions refused to understand the normal way, they had better be ready to learn the hard way. He had already planned their complete annihilation.
If they wanted to grovel at the feet of the Star Race and others, they would do so at the cost of their own destruction. They wouldn’t get to come crying later that they were innocent and he was the cruel one.
That thought was firmly planted in Kallus’s mind, giving birth to the path-clearing campaign. But now, he realized something needed to change. He should personally go out, participate, and show the galaxy the ultimate strength of his human race and the human empire he had built! By taking the field himself, he could free up the three fleets Valoria needed, while simultaneously ensuring the galaxy stopped enslaving and preying upon humans for their entertainment.
Having made his decision, he nodded to himself, opened his eyes, and looked at Valoria.
"Good," Kallus said. "My 8th, 9th, and 10th fleets will participate in helping you get rid of the trash in your empire, and will then focus on opening and establishing a foothold within the Life and Death Realm.
But let me be entirely clear: the stronghold my people establish within that secret realm will be a joint operation between both of our forces, but the actual control shall lie with us, in respect for us opening the front. If you agree to this demand, then all is well. If not, then we can go our separate ways, and as for that favor—let’s just say I helped you because of the connection our two parties share."
Kallus spoke casually, crossing his arms as he waited for her reply.
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