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　　Hm……? Where am I? Oh, wait, I know that ceiling, am I in my room? I glanced around groggily, before spotting Key seated next to me, reading a book. 

  　　She smells nice, I wanna……wait, hold on, when did I get back here? What was I doing again? Let's see……oh, right, the meeting with the other nations, I……oh, no, the barrier! 

  　　Key jumped in alarm as I sat up with a start, getting out of bed in a hurry before collapsing in a heap, as my legs were still asleep. 

  　　"Hey, what's wrong? Take it easy," She remarked, as she helped me up and sat me down on the edge of the bed. 

  　　"There's no time, the barrier, the Spectre, where's Jhin!? And the other nations, what's……!?" I blurted out. 

  　　"Just take a breath and calm down, okay? That was five hours ago, you've been asleep this whole time. Relax, I'll explain what's been going on," She said in a soothing voice, as she pulled my head onto her chest and stroked my head. 

  　　"O……okay. Alright, I'm……I'm calm now. Sorry for the outburst, I just……anyway, tell me, what's happening out there?" I asked her with a sense of dread. 

  　　"Well, after Jhin knocked you out, he activated the barrier. Or, well, more specifically, he activated the relay for the actual barrier spell, which is located right in between Abyss and Liberty. And, now, we're sealed in, with no way to contact anyone outside of the barrier. 

  　　Both Liberty and Abyss are within the bounds of the barrier, but we have no idea what's happening outside of it……although, well, we can certainlyguess. Jhin has already explained the situation to the people, he informed Esta to do the same. He decided that there's no point in hiding what's going on from them, so instead, he told them our exact situation right now. 

  　　Fortunately, they took it well……naturally, there's been some resistance and criticism, but the majority seem relieved that they no longer have to worry about the Spectre," She informed me. 

  　　Damn it……so, he really did it. He activated the barrier, abandoning the rest of the world and leaving it at the mercy of the Spectre. But……I can't say he did the wrong thing. Not when I don't have any ideas for what we could've done instead. 

  　　Because, that really is the case, there was nothing else we could've done. This was the only option we could take to keep ourselves and our people safe……and he made the tough decision to opt for it. 

  　　In my desperation to find a solution that didn't exist, I inadvertently let him……no, forced him-to shoulder that burden himself. Damn it. I'm the worst. 

  　　"I……I see. So, that's it, huh? To maintain our peace, we've imprisoned ourselves. We let this problem drag on for more than two decades, taking it for granted that, eventually, it'd be resolved. All we were doing was overly relying on one person to resolve it for us, we had placed all our hopes on Shiro defeating him. 

  　　But he's dead now. And there's no one left to take his place, no one who's even half as powerful. So……we had no choice but to do this……," I muttered with a grimace, clenching my fists in frustration. 

  　　"Yeah, but……but it's not over. It might take some time, and we probably won't be alive by then, but……eventually, Luell will likely figure out how to create a spell that'll undo this barrier. And the time to bring it down will come. When Kuro and the others manage to take down the pyramid barrier, that's when. 

  　　Until then, it's our job to keep things under control. Establish a system that keeps this nation we all worked so hard to build going strong, so that when they all return……they'll be welcomed by a beautiful, thriving nation. One that didn't put their efforts to waste."

  　　Yeah……she's right. Moping and regretting what's happened is pointless. Completely and utterly pointless. Now, more than ever, we need to keep moving forward. 

  　　To keep driving this nation in the right direction, to keep the people happy and content with their lives. And to prevent anything from compromising that. 

  　　Yeah……anything that threatens to disrupt this nation from moving forward, we'll have to eliminate without hesitation. It won't be easy, but……we can do it. No, we have to. It's the least we can do after how badly we screwed things up…… 

  　　———————————————————————————
　　Point-of-View: Damien Romer 

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　　Ahh, now this is fucking nice. Finally, no more sneaking around in caves and forests, I can finally live like a king while terrorizing people to my heart's content. 

  　　Sure, it sucks that close to half this world's population is now out of my reach, but still, I've got plenty of victims to choose from. 

  　　I'll go a bit easy on this place, the Democratic Republic of Rustlands, since I need them to continue developing this nation, so that I can keep living an increasingly luxurious life in this world. 

  　　I'm really liking this throne room, should look even better once all the blood is cleaned up. And this throne is super comfy, I feel like I'm on top of the world! 

  　　"Mmm, there we go, nicely done. Okay, now swallow it all," I instructed, as I stood up with a content sigh and pulled my pants back up, "What was your name again, by the way?" 

  　　"It's……Cusnai," She responded in a dazed tone, after swallowing. 

  　　After I made her kill her mother and the former princess of Silvland, I took my place on the throne, put both their heads on the armrests, and then had Cusnai here give me some lip service, if you know what I mean.

  　　"Alright, go gather everyone important, would you? All the best spell creators, those in charge of handling inventions and innovations, as well as others like the heads of the Guild and Academy. I need them all alive and to continue developing this nation, so they get to live. 

  　　But if any of them resist, I'll have to put them under my control. Ugh, I may to kiss some guys to do so, not looking forward to that," I sighed in disgust and exasperation, "Well, run along and gather them up, and make it quick. Threaten them, if you have to."

  　　"Okay. Understood."

  　　I sat back down and slumped into the throne with a grin as she left, savoring the moment as I stared up at the high ceiling. I finally did it……I killed Shiro, ensuring that there's no one left who can oppose me, and now, this world is mine. 

  　　I think I'll make this throne room my bedroom……yeah, I'll have a bunch of hot maids to serve me in every way. Heh, I think I'll go after married women too, cuck their husbands and make them watch. 

  　　Ooh, or even better, I'll put them under my control and make them reject their husbands while I have my way with them! And maybe I can also make them torture their husbands afterwards, to really crush their spirits. 

  　　Yeah, that's freaking genius! Just imagining their expressions is getting me hard, even though I just came a minute ago. 

  　　What else can I do to amuse myself? There's so many possibilities that I can't decide……oh, well, that's fine, I have nothing but time on my hands, I guess I'll just have to do them all! 

  　　I should hold my own tournaments too, but without that stupid safety barrier crap. No, I want brutal fights to the death! 

  　　I'm sure there'll be some resistance, but I'm sure that I can persuade the potential competitors to do as I say. 

  　　Taking hostages of people they care about is bound to be insanely effective. I shouldn't waste too many Adventurers though, I'll need them for gathering resources and stuff. 

  　　There may not be any monsters anymore, but there are still plenty of wild animals out there, so normal people are bound to struggle. 

  　　Ohh, that's it, I can just force everyday civilians to battle it out! Yeah, that should be pretty damn entertaining in its own right. 

  　　And while they suffer, I'll be watching over them from my cushy position in here. Hm, on that note, I gotta say……the blood stench in here is starting to get a bit annoying. I should've asked Cusnai to get someone to come clean this up too. 

  　　Sure, I like the whole blood splatter aesthetic and all, but the smell is a bit much. Once I'm done dealing with everyone who's responsible for operating the nation, I think I'll have myself an exquisite meal, made with the finest ingredients, along with the best alcohol they've got to offer.

  　　I'm gonna live my best life from now on, I'll enjoy myself to the utmost extent, and no one, absolutely no one, will be able to stop me…… 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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