Respite

In the week that followed the end of the operation, the deaths of Frostbite and Morgan, and the release of all the people involved in the assault on the centaur homeland, the war shifted. First, the battles became smaller, and the Alliance was able to take back most of their territory. The following week brought on a cold war, where neither side attacked nor was attacked.

By the third week, there were enough protests back on Earth and enough pressure from various governments and institutions to force the guild to admit their loss. It took the Alliance yet another week of constant negotiations to completely recover all their territories. The humans still tried their hardest to maintain control over as much as they could.

What caused the guild to lose all semblance of control over the war were the publications of several reports by well-known journalists exposing the corruption and greed of those in power. Once It was revealed that the guild chairman, along with most of the board of directors, not only shared ownership in New Dawn but had also received significant payments from the now-deceased CEO, things began unraveling quickly. 

The final blow came from a leaked video, published by one of their assistants. In it, a general was discussing a specific plan and arguing against starting an operation to attack a particular city to claim a room. The general warned that they needed more time to gather reinforcements to conquer the area without significant losses.

In response, the chairman asked how much money would be lost during the couple of days it would take for reinforcements to arrive. Someone else answered, explaining that it would cost ten or so million to supply the troops for that long and that delaying the operation would reduce projected revenue by one hundred million in the first quarter after conquering the area. The delay would slow preparations for the infrastructure they wanted to used to exploit the resources in the room. The aid who explained also made sure to mention that the values of cost were only inflated because of the layer the battle was taking place in. 

With that, the chairman decided it would be too expensive to delay and gave the orders for the army to attack. That particular battle turned out to be extremely bloody, with both sides suffering heavy losses. As a matter of fact, that one day of combat was considered the deadliest day for the human forces since the introduction of the Soldiers of Strength. Hearing that all those lives could have been saved was too much for even their most die-hard supporters.

During this time, Hera and her friends stayed at the agency headquarters until it was safe for Blue to leave. When she finally did, they all accompanied her as far as they could without causing any problems. Bonnie, Alex, and Helena took the controller all the way back to Earth and only returned once they confirmed Blue's family was safe, along with her closest friends. Hera herself had to stop much earlier, as she had gained significant notoriety after the live stream of the operation. Her presence in the lower layers could cause all sorts of issues.

The people from the Alliance already knew about Hera, but when it was revealed that she had once been a human, the media went into a frenzy. There were countless articles exploring the ramifications of that revelation, from theories that all species started as humans to ideas that humanity itself was not meant to remain as it was, but to transform into something else. That was only the cherry on top, as the Empress was already being hailed as the tenth hero, even though there was no official announcement about it.

Hera was not the only one who had gained fame during the war. Alex and Bonnie had a massive impact on those who were rescued from the labs, earning them the title of saviors. Helena became a well-known scientist specializing in magic. Not only did she help create various defenses for the Alliance, but she was also working on a project to detect Wendigos anywhere within a room. That project was still in its early stages, but a couple of cities already had functioning prototypes with an eighty percent accuracy rate.

Lastly, there was Blue. Hera did her best to keep her friend out of the limelight, mostly because she worried it would be too much for the controller. But the live stream had shown Blue's struggles in full detail, and she ended up becoming a martyr of sorts. She was living proof that not all humans were bad or against the Alliance. After all, if Blue had truly agreed with the guild's rhetoric about other species being inferior, she wouldn't have gone through so much suffering.

Inadvertently, this also resulted in Blue and her family being extremely well-protected. People worried that someone might try to take out their anger on them. To prevent that, a few high-level explorers bought houses near Blue's family. That alone was enough to deter anyone from thinking about causing harm. Any plans for revenge were completely abandoned when Wildborn announced he was moving there as well.

With someone as strong as Wildborn nearby, it would be nearly impossible to cause lasting damage. On top of that, any attackers would be caught by one of the high-level explorers in the area. Thanks to this, Blue was happy to stay with her family and no longer had to worry about her safety.

Over the course of the next month, Hera was finally able to take a break. She returned to Zaxalam and found her dad, Shane, and all the dwarves not just living but thriving. The ruins had been mostly repaired, with only a few chambers left in their original state. The outside of the city had received a complete makeover, with improvements made to help fortify the area if needed. There were several outposts across the room where people hunted specific monsters or farmed certain types of plants. There were even stations near other dungeons so explorers could stay there overnight without needing to camp outside.

They were not alone. The Children of the Sky were present in large numbers, along with elves, beastmen, tritons, and dwarves from other cities who had joined the community. The people of Boothudurn were still the majority, and there was no fear of them being pushed out, but the room was becoming a diverse place. 

Luckily for the Empress, Shane did not pressure her to explore Deakoshara right away. Despite the explorer being so close to the Naga homeland, she understood that Hera needed time. With the Naga defenses still active and dangerous, Shane could not afford to go by herself, no matter how eager she was.

Unfortunately, the month of rest was not without trouble. Many politicians and nobles from the Alliance requested audiences with Hera. Despite being a hero who fought in the war, she had to give them her time repeatedly to avoid potential problems in the future. Dealing with them was exhausting. Everything they said was focused on subtext, and they never spoke their minds directly. On top of that, there were always backhanded comments from those trying to assert some form of superiority.

In the week that followed, Hera focused on finalizing the integration of the legacies into her own. As much as she wanted to ignore the countless politicians and nobles requesting her attention, she knew she could not. She was the Ophidianite Empress, and it was her responsibility to pave the way for her future people to interact with the MAZE as a whole. Still, she found herself daydreaming about the day when others who had undergone ascension could take over some of these tedious tasks. Of course, she would never force those responsibilities on anyone who did not want them.

Still, she focused on better things, such as her new skills. The skill known as Living Tapestry became [Imperial Crest], and it carried forward the essence of inheriting and passing down skills. It worked similarly to her court, allowing Hera access to all the skills of the previous owners of the Tapestry of Body legacy, or, at least, versions of them. The skills retained their general effects, though they were not as powerful as they originally were. To use these skills effectively, Hera had to assign a crest to each of her titled blades and noble houses. However, this was a permanent process. A crest given to one house or blade could never be reassigned.

Or more specifically. They could be replaced once. Just like changing the titles of her titled blades. But this could only happen once per crest, and the replacement skill had to come directly from Hera. Removing her ability to use that skill.

After a long conversation with her court, they finally decided who would receive which skill.

Forge took [Craftweaver's Insight]. The crest appeared on his apron as a hammer and anvil. The skill lost its ability to assist in crafting clothing but instead allowed Forge to empower the bladed weapons he created.

Viper and Crimson both received [Night's Veil], as they already had an edge when it came to seeing in the dark compared to the rest of the court. The increased stealth was too good to pass up. Their crests appeared on their tails, taking the form of black masks covered by veils, with Viper's scales marked in red and Crimson's in white.

The Verdant Marquessate, specifically Storm and Clay, took [Unity of Strength]. This passive skill allowed them to grow stronger with every ally nearby. For noble houses, crests were shared among all members, meaning that both Storm and Clay could use the skill, though active skills shared their cooldowns across all users. The crest, shaped like two hands shaking, appeared on the pommels of their weapons.

[Balm of Life] was reserved for the Mistress of the Hunt, the titled blade Hera had yet to add to her court. As none of the current court members were capable of proper healing, it made sense to save this skill for the future. They did not know what the crest would look like yet, but the skill itself could heal people and quickly repair any damage done to the court members.

Hera took [Will of Ancients] for herself. Mental attacks were among the most dangerous threats, and everyone understood that if the Empress was ever knocked unconscious or confused into giving random orders, the entire court could be in jeopardy. The skill's protection increased based on the number of blades in the [Blade Graveyard] and how long they had been there. And the crest appeared as a small cartoon ghost on her shoulder, where her pastel purple scales deepened to a darker hue. 

Nimbus received the [Tattoo of Storm shroud]. This skill allowed him to create clouds that could act as shields, leave trails to attack enemies, or form protective barriers for allies. A crest depicting the head of a mighty griffon appeared on his chest above his heart. Hera couldn't help but notice the image resembled the Sky Ruler. 

The Cerulean Marquessate, consisting of Twiggy and Robin, took [Magnetic Dominion], which allowed them to control metal in the area. It overlapped a lot with [Magnetic Rule]. Daskka even mentioned that in different circumstances, the two skills would combine. Still, the skill allowed them to focus their control with incredible precision. Despite its name, the skill did not create a persistent magnetic field but instead targeted specific metals. When Twiggy and Robin worked together, their power was immense, capable of standing toe-to-toe with any titled blade as long as enough metal was nearby. Their crest was a crown with red and blue magnet tips. Located in the inner parts of their forms. 

[Hunter's Mark] was given to the Alabaster Dukedom, comprising Shadow, Pyro, and Sun. The debuff-stacking skill perfectly complemented their role as the court's disruption team. The crest for this skill took the form of four simple lines forming a crosshair.

At Eira's and Hoop's request, the Fiord County received [Fleet Formation], which increased the speed of everyone moving together. The crest was a pair of winged shoes that appeared on the handles of their weapons.

Lurize claimed [Thundering Charge], an attack skill that became stronger the farther he ran before striking. The crest appeared on his back, framing the orange skull already present with a pair of horns crackling with lightning.

Livy was the one who took the longest to decide. She really liked the idea of [Earthbreaker Strike], but at the same time, [Frostbound Fury] could synergize very well with her abilities. [Light Blade] also sounded very powerful since it could let her attack with two elements at once, and the Leviathan really enjoyed using the chains created by Blade Accord. But in the end, she decided to stick with [Frostbound Fury]. Being able to freeze targets was already extremely powerful, and doing that while she had already covered them in water would only increase the strength of the skill. The crest turned some scales on her biceps white, forming the image of a glacier splitting in half.

This left three skills for Hera to assign to future noble houses. She had to create those houses immediately, even if they would not have members for some time.

The Flaxen County was created with the [Light Blade] skill, which imbued all their attacks with the light element.

The Sinopia County received [Earthbreaker Strike], a powerful attack skill that could alter the terrain.

Finally, the Carmine County took the [Tattoo of Azure Grasp], allowing them to hold targets in place with powerful blue chains.

With her court and noble houses organized, Hera felt ready to face anything. That is, until Typhera came to her with a proposition.