Dictator From Outer Space

When the rumor spread that Leobold had cut off the arm of Galisto’s diplomat, not only Galisto, but even Zaium was dumbfounded.

They wondered if that was a normal response in this situation.

Even Zaium and Elvrande, who had nothing to lose, would not go that far.

Especially Bagran, who was suffering from a lot of troubles due to the Blue Dragon incident and the princess assassination case.

They could not understand why he would cause another incident in such a situation.

—How will Galisto deal with the Grand Duke of Pangral?

—Of course, the personal combat power of the Lord of Vanduss is formidable, but the difference in military strength is too great. And the Black Knight is not even properly deployed yet.

—Above all, the Grand Duke of Pangral has the authority to activate Meteor Strike alone. Is there a way to stop it?

From Asterain’s point of view, Meteor Strike was a magic that boasted absolute destructive power.

It was common in the Great War 200 years ago, but it had not been activated once in the last few decades.

Naturally, things like its destructive power and range were exaggerated, and the boastful ones said that Bagran would be wiped out in one shot.

—Elvrande must be waiting for a chance too. Why on earth is he making more enemies…?

—With the power of Meteor Strike, it’s no big deal to blow up one Bagran. If the Lord of Vanduss does not want to commit suicide, he should stop at this point.

—He doesn’t really trust Prince Barak of Barak, does he? He sent him the arm of his diplomat, he should give up the illusion that he will back him up.

This incident was something that even Prince Barak of Barak, who had made a secret pact with him, was surprised and withdrew from.

He contacted Leobold as soon as he heard the news and asked him why he did that. When he got an unsatisfactory answer, he threatened him.

“Do you think the Grand Duke of Pangral is a joke? I might be able to save one neck, but not the rest. I don’t understand why you are provoking him.”

“He provoked me first, Your Highness.”

“It’s just a matter of talking, isn’t it? Especially if it’s about the princess of Elvrande. Anyway, this matter cannot be overlooked. I’ll send Countess Croitz, so explain how you’re going to handle it.”

Sending her was rather a considerate act for him.

Leobold took advantage of her visit and called his confidants.

He had caused so much trouble that even they looked bewildered.

The West was devastated, and he had cut off the arm of a diplomat after killing the princess. People who didn’t know the situation would think he was going to ruin himself.

Camilla arrived at the conference room and Leobold sat in his seat and looked around them.

“You’re all here. You must have had a lot of questions about this situation. You must have doubted if I was crazy or not. But I’m not crazy. I’ll prove it to you now. Zigarion.”

The door opened and Zigarion entered with his blue hair proudly exposed.

The people who saw his physique and face were shocked.

“Zion… was a dragon?”

“I never doubted him until now…”

Especially Stephina, who had been researching with him right next to him, looked very shocked.

Granden seemed to have suspected something, as he nodded his head with a stern face.

Zion shouted as if he felt relieved.

“I am Zigarion, the Blue Dragon. You should worship me if you know that…”

Thud.

Leobold’s fist hit Zigarion’s head hard.

“Ouch!”

With a scream, the confidants closed their eyes and shrank their necks.

Apparently, the Blue Dragon couldn’t do anything against Leobold.

“Be quiet and sit down. I’ll give you instructions later.”

He glared at Leobold and then moved to the other side of the table when he saw a more fierce look coming at him.

“As you have seen for yourself, Zion’s identity is Zigarion. He has been helping me since two years ago. So you can rest assured about the situation in the West.”

Relief appeared on their faces.

What they were worried about was whether the dragon that suddenly appeared was on Leobold’s side or not.

Since he was a dragon who proclaimed justice, they thought he wouldn’t get along well with Leobold, but they didn’t expect this outcome.

Leobold declared to them.

“And I will soon stabilize the western territories. The transfer of administrative rights and property assessment are mostly done and only reassignment of officials remains. Arma will take care of that.”

Arma was a superhuman who seemed to have nothing she couldn’t do in every aspect.

She led the people in various fields such as administration, finance, law, etc. and also played an active role in the takeover of the western territories.

There was a huge gap in the number of nobles who died or were driven out, but she solved it quickly.

Of course, not all of the western territories were under Leobold’s control yet.

There were knights who hid in the nearby forest and continued to resist, and sometimes the people of the territory defied him at the risk of their lives.

They heard wrong rumors about Leobold.

But even they were not expected to last long.

—The Lord’s control is amazing. It’s not a joke to take over the land of Count Townsend, but he already swallowed it up.

—The power of the Black Knight is one thing, but the combat power of Balgard is beyond imagination. He can destroy a territory by himself.

—The officials are not like the old ones either. I never imagined they would conduct land re-measurement so quickly.

Anyway, Leobold unified the whole Bagran by swallowing up the western territories.

Many nobles returned their titles in fear as many nobles died.

Who would manage it then? There was criticism, but surprisingly there was no big problem.

New talents appeared who had hidden themselves and received education from the nobles.

They were people who had received thorough education for several months at the educational institutions owned by Leobold.

Usually, when you think of an official in Bagran, you think of someone who is out of touch with reality and only does desk work, but they were not like that.

They spent more time on site than in the office.

Thanks to them, Bagran was reborn as a fully centralized state.

The central figures were Leobold and Arma, who had too much work to do, but strangely enough, it was not a problem.

People who knew the situation well marveled at Arma’s administrative skills.

—I don’t know how she found out that Samson’s cow died a few days ago…

—She knows the cultivation status so well that there is no way to hide it.

Thanks to Arma’s efforts, things like transition to centralization, sudden expansion, and nobility gap were not a problem at all.

The people were convinced after hearing this explanation.

But the real problem was from now on.

The princess assassination and Galisto’s diplomat disaster were external problems that could not be overlooked.

Leobold had made a promise beforehand about that matter.

“What you hear from now on must never be leaked outside. I will rule with death, so please understand that.”

What on earth was it that he emphasized so much?

“Please come in, Your Highness.”

There were very few people who could be called Your Highness in Asterain right now.

The people opened their mouths when a woman wearing a hat entered the conference room.

When she took off her hat, her long platinum hair and green eyes revealed her long ears characteristic of elves.

Katina, who had a hasty personality, jumped up.

“Pri, Princess?”

They couldn’t believe that the elf princess, who they thought was dead, was alive.

***

“My name is Margareta Rustel. I’m ashamed to say that I have temporarily put aside my status as the princess of Elvrande and am indebted to Count Vandus.”

“Grandversia…”

“Yo, you’re alive…”

They had no idea what had happened.

How did the princess survive?

Why didn’t she inform Elvrande of her survival?

Questions piled up and Count Kroitz, who couldn’t bear it any longer, stepped forward.

“This requires an explanation, Your Excellency.”

“It was a coincidence. Zigarion, who happened to be passing by, confirmed the explosion of the airship and rescued her.”

“That was really close. She would have died if I was a little late.”

Zigarion shrugged his shoulders and Margareta bowed her head to him.

“I didn’t get to thank you for saving me. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude.”

“Hmm.”

Zigarion’s cheekbones were almost ascending and Count Kroitz quickly asked.

“Airship explosion…? Does that mean it was Elvrande’s doing?”

“There are plenty of factions that consider the princess a thorn in their side. For example, the Council.”

They didn’t know much about what the Council was, but it sounded like a nasty group just by hearing the name.

Margareta clenched her fist and said.

“I apologize for showing you the shameful side of Elvrande. The only thing that is certain is that the Council tried to kill me. Dresden must have led it.”

“Dresden is the core power of the Council’s elders. He has almost taken over the whole of Elvrande by now.”

“But why didn’t you explain…”

Count Kroitz’s voice was full of frustration.

Indeed, the atmosphere inside Zaium was no joke.

Even Prince Barak, who could be considered his supporter, and Duke Prozan were worried.

Leobold gestured her to sit down and said.

“You must have a lot of curiosity. From why she didn’t announce that she was alive to what my purpose is. I’ll make it clear on this occasion.”

He sat himself on the king’s seat.

Everyone held their breath at his unprecedented action.

“If you don’t trust me even a bit or don’t want to join me, leave now. I won’t chase you or harm you. What I’m going to say from now on requires extreme security. You must never utter it.”

Despite his stern warning, no one left.

They all trusted him and recognized him as one.

Leobold looked around them and said.

“I’m not from Astera. I came from a faraway place… a world called Earth. The Holy Kingdom called me a hero from another world. That’s right.”

“…”

“Uh…”

The people were too surprised to accept his words quickly.

Some rubbed their ears and Count Kroitz opened his mouth wide.

They couldn’t believe that there was a real place called another world and that someone came from there.

But if that was true.

It explained everything if Leobold came from another world.

He looked at their faces and continued.

“The saintess of the Holy Kingdom said she received a divine trust, and that’s true. I came here on a huge ship. Zigarion and Valgard have already confirmed it.”

Zigarion stepped forward and shrugged his shoulders.

“That was really a huge ship. Even the giants of the Great War couldn’t match it. It could burn down the whole Astera and still have some left.”

“Burn down the whole Astera?”

“It’s over 700 meters long. Another world is completely different from ours.”

“Gracious…”

“I can’t believe it…”

There were many rumors that Leobold was a hero from another world, but he never confirmed or denied them, so they sank into oblivion.

In the midst of that, he himself spoke out and everyone was dumbfounded.

Count Kroitz couldn’t hide his flustered expression.

“Then what happened to your body? You didn’t use that body in another world, did you?”

“This is not my original body. I borrowed the body of Leobold Vandus. He died at the hands of an elf more than two years ago.”

“My name is Yu Ji-ha. A prophet… or as they call it here, a creation god Rasa. I’m an otherworlder who came to Astera to find him. My goal is to find him and conquer Astera.”

“…”

It was a series of shocks.

Katina, who had always been impatient, choked with excitement and even Granden, who had been stern, couldn’t hide his confusion.

Leobold Vandus was already dead and an otherworlder took over his body.

Count Kroitz stared at him with a stiff face.

“You deceived us.”

“I didn’t deceive you. I just didn’t tell you.”

“Your goal is to conquer Astera… Do you look down on this place?”

“I’m not a fool who would say that without any chance. I’ve already calculated everything and only need to execute it by pulling you in.”

“You… What about me? Who is Leobold Vandus, who I married? Who are you?”

“Nothing has changed, Camilla.”

He softly called her name and she shivered as if she had been struck by lightning.

It was the same voice that whispered in her ear in bed.

“Nothing has changed, you say, but you clearly said you took over Leobold Vandus’s body. That means your soul is different.”

“You didn’t marry me for this ugly face, did you?”

Everyone almost laughed at the sudden self-deprecation, but barely held back.

Indeed, Leobold was not a handsome face and Camilla was not attracted to his face either.

“What matters is my ability and vision for the future. I’ll tell you clearly here, I will conquer Astera and become the emperor of the human empire. You will stand by my side.”

“…You’re going to betray Prince Barak?”

“I’ll betray anyone if necessary.”

“M, me too… Will you betray me too?”

“I’m telling you this in advance so that it doesn’t happen. You’re my woman.”

Her expression became complicated.

Valgard, who was watching, intervened.

“I don’t know why you’re thinking so complicatedly. You’ve already slept with him, so why don’t you just say you’ll follow him? He’s even offering you to be his empress.”

Camilla glared at him with venomous eyes at his sudden bombshell.

“Who are you to open your mouth so rudely?”

“Can I introduce myself?”

Leobold nodded and Valgard slammed his greatsword on the table.

“My name is not Valgard Gran, but Gram. I’m the champion of the gold dragon Altima and a member of the Gram royal family. If you have any grudges with the Gram Empire or the Silver Circle, speak up. I’ll take care of it.”

“A dragon’s champion…”

“I thought that was only in legends…”

“It’s nothing surprising when a dragon shows up, right?”

“We, well…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

They seemed to have a hard time feeling real about the dragon because of what Zion had done so far.

Leobold spoke in a serious tone.

“As I said before, my goal is to conquer Astera. I was shocked when I came here. It was too backward compared to Earth’s civilization. Even though they have ether, an energy that is almost omnipotent, the only conclusion is that someone is deliberately interfering with it.”

“The pointy ears.”

Valgard muttered and Leobold nodded.

“They are our enemies. But we don’t need to turn all elves into enemies.”

At this point, Princess Margareta sighed and put her hand on her chest.

She was already confused by his words that he came from another world, but she felt a little relieved when he said he wouldn’t make all elves his enemies.

Now Leobold was looking at her.

“There’s a saying in the world. The only good elf is a dead elf… Of course, there must be a similar saying in Elvrande. I came here to cut off that hatred completely. In my own way.”

“…Is that an efficient war? Is there no other way?”

“I’m a soldier, so I don’t know anything else. If you have a better way, please teach me.”

He waited for a while, but no answer came.

She knew it too.

It was impossible to break this long and stubborn cycle of hatred with any ordinary means.

And there was only one person who could do it.

***

Declaring world domination didn’t mean it would happen automatically.

It was possible to build up some foundation in Bagran, but it required a lot of preparation to attack and rule Galisto, which had more than twice the population.

Not to mention Zaium, which had a population of 100 million, or Elvrande, which had a different race altogether.

Fortunately, Leobold and Arma had experienced a lot of such things.

Compared to Earth’s complex inter-state relations, raw material supply chains, and military and political issues, Astera was nothing.

“The construction of the space plant is complete. We also established an outpost on the floating continent. The factory using golems will start trial operation in 48 hours.”

Arma’s report continued.

The results of what he had ordered were visually displayed through holograms.

It was definitely smaller than what he had done on Earth, but it was enough to overturn the whole Astera and still have some left.

“What should we use for the Galisto war?”

“We need to dismantle the aristocracy-centered system, so this would be good.”

What Arma showed him was a portable ether bomb launcher.

He redesigned the information analyzed and sent by the Imir Republic and made it smaller for soldiers.

The soldier holding the launcher looked no different from a 21st century soldier holding a portable anti-tank missile launcher.

“How powerful is it?”

“It can destroy a Goliath that doesn’t use living metal in one shot.”

“What about the price and range?”

“It’s only 1/00 of Goliath’s and the range is over 100 meters.”

Since it didn’t use rockets, the range was relatively short.

But Goliath itself was bulky and had a short range, so it didn’t seem like a big problem.

The simulation played and Galisto’s official machine, Vine-class, fell one by one to the ether bomb launcher.

“If we wipe them out like this, they’ll bring out magicians.”

“Good magicians are rare. On the other hand, we can make as many ether bomb launchers as we want with money and materials.”

“Right… Let’s show them how bitter the commoners are.”

What Leobold valued in this war was the complete dismantling of aristocracy-centered system.

The reason why aristocrats could have absolute power in Astera was because they monopolized war.

They made and controlled Goliaths with their innate ether bloodline, so commoners were completely subordinate to them.

But that world would disappear soon.

What would they think when they were swept away by crude weapons held by commoners?

The real change would start from then on.

“Training has begun to train shooters for the launcher. It should be simple since they only have to press a button and run away.”

“It’s not easy to press a button against a Goliath. You have to train them well.”

Next, the report on Lucia in Mare followed.

“They’ve erected a statue here. According to the satellite, it looks like Master’s face.”

It was very intimidating to see Leobold’s huge face in the middle of Lucia’s nest.

He gave a bitter smile.

“They don’t need to prove their loyalty like that. So how is her conquest going?”

“She’s overwhelming in both combat power and numbers… She’s much stronger than the previous demon kings. Even a few factions united can’t match her.”

It wasn’t that she wasn’t, but Lucia’s army was sweeping away the surrounding hordes with a bang.

The existing demon kings were shocked and formed a united front against her.

It was only a matter of time before she completely conquered Mare.

As long as there were no major problems, that was expected.

“Lucia is doing well on her own. Then let’s do our job.”

There was no need to stage a drama or find a reason to smash Galisto.

The relationship between the two countries was already so bad that it wouldn’t be strange if anyone attacked.

And there seemed to be no problem with the rule either.

There were many descendants of Valgard in Galisto right now.

If he used him as a pretext, the integration would likely go smoothly.

“The only obstacle is Grand Duke Pangral… How do you think he’ll react?”

“He’s been itching to correct Master’s habits, so he won’t just let it go. He’ll probably threaten us with Meteor Strike.”

“He wants to crush us with force rather than politics. Then we don’t have to worry.”

Our power was overwhelmingly strong.

By the time Grand Duke Pangral realized that, Galisto would be shattered.

Leobold gave Arma specific instructions.

And soon after, Tirendell succeeded in entering Bagran.